One of the most popular golf (and, sports) podcasts over the past several years is Barstool Sports' Fore Play. Hosted by a few mid-to-low-handicappers and true friends, Riggs, Frankie, Trent and others share a hilarious mix of struggles on the course and observations beyond golf a couple times each week.
The secret sauce to their success is - in large part - down to their camaraderie alongside a calendar full of buddies trips, high-stakes challenges and tournament events, all filmed for YouTube and podcast release.
So while listening earlier this week, it was awesome to hear Frankie unexpectedly hype taking a break from their usual golf experiences to lean into the benefits of solo golf.
Full episode linked here, the clip on solo golf begins at 1:04:45.
Have a listen at the link above, or check out the transcript below:
Frankie:
"I played by myself the other day at Colonial Springs. And that was my first time playing solo in probably over a year. And just really going out there, playing golf, and not worrying about what's going on around you.
And I will say, it's a really, really nice clean reset on your game. Because I feel like I was just in the midst of playing a lot of matches. We were doing a lot of videos. Obviously, just trying to play as best as you can. We're in Streamsong. Things are getting heated. And then... you know, that can help you in one way where it's like it's it's making you stay focused and you want to play good and you want, you want to play well.
You want to, you want to match the guy to your right. If he hits one in the fairway, you want to do the same. But, but sometimes for me, I feel like when i'm playing so much with people, um, I'm constantly doing like, doing exactly what you said, but in the wrong way.
Like if someone hits a perfect drive, I'm like, all right, I just watched them cut that into the fairway. Now I have to try and do that. Or, you know, you're like changing your game based off of what you're seeing. And it was nice for the first time in however long, like I said, probably over a year to just like hit the ball. And like, that's just what happened to the ball.
And in my head, that's the only option that was available. And it was nice to like, not have to cater to any other ball flight or any other decision. Maybe someone chipped over a bunker. And then I'm like, I have to fucking do that now. If I put like, I was able to make my own decisions. It was awesome."
Dan:
"Did you take a cart or did you walk your..."
Frankie:
"I took a cart. I took a cart."
Dan:
"So you played in like an hour and a half? You played nine holes, 18 holes?"
Frankie:
"I played 18 holes in legit two hours and 45 minutes. You're not pressing as much.
I didn't watch someone snap hook one off a tee and me be like, oh, fuck. I hope I don't do that. And now we're standing over the ball and you're thinking about that. It was nice. I don't know.
It was just... it was like the way games like meant to be played almost like just you in the course. It was just cool. I don't know. It was nice to do. I just feel like people should do it more often. I know that clogs up golf courses and it's not as, it's not as easy to do on public tracks. I got lucky with being able to play on like a tuesday at a private club, but, um, it was nice. It was, it was a luxury. It was unbelievable.
Riggs:
"Uh, Trent Ryan, I feel like in the last couple years you've, done a couple rounds solo and been like, man, it's actually really, really nice to just get out there and play a couple of holes and not have anybody around."
Trent:
"It is. It's really, really nice. And especially when you walk, but cart, you go a million miles per hour faster, but yeah, when you're out there by yourself, Frankie's right. You're just, there's no outside like stimuli that is affecting what you're going to do. So you kind of get, that's really the purest form of your own game for sure."
Frankie:
"It really is like the, over the weekend I played and like someone hit an eight iron and they hit it short and I'm like, fuck, maybe it's a seven. And I knew it was an eight. And I'm like thinking to myself, if I was out there on my own, there's not even that option of second guessing that. So then I knocked down a seven. I hit it short and I'm pissed off at myself. And I'm like, why didn't I just hit a full eight? I knew it the whole time. I'm sitting in the cart being like, why did I just let that person's bad swing affect my game? And when you play solo, that's not even an option."
When you're not in the mood for solo golf, you'll absolutely want to check out all the great stuff from the Fore Play world.
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