The Big Swing with Jimmy Roberts: Conversations with People Making News in the Business of Golf. Sixteen-time Emmy Award Winner and sports broadcasting legend, Jimmy Roberts, invites you to intimate, one-on-one conversations with some the most significant, A-list executives, entertainers and athletes shaping the future of the golf business — as well as unprecedented, unparalleled access and insights around the trends, deals and investments that define the sport. Check out new episodes every other Wednesday. The show will move to weekly in January 2026. Follow The Big Swing with Jimmy Roberts on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and don’t forget to join our community at bigswingmedia.news for news and updates.
Could professional golf end up with different equipment rules from the game most golfers play? Jimmy Roberts welcomes Gionni Magliocco, the newest member of The Big Swing team, for a look at the proposed changes that could create separate standards for pros and recreational players—and what that could mean for golf’s equipment makers.The conversation also explores why major manufacturers are moving away from annual driver releases, the mini driver’s growing presence on Tour, and how direct-to-consumer brands are changing the equipment business.What you’ll hear in this episode:- Why some manufacturers are moving to a two-year driver release cycle- What mini drivers offer—and how often they appeared at the Alfred Dunhill Links- How proposed equipment rules could affect Tour players and manufacturers- Why OEMs still depend on retailers even as direct-to-consumer brands grow- Headlines on California tee-time resale rules, Pro Shop’s latest funding, and Jon Rahm’s reported decision🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday▶️ Watch on YouTube | 🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify📺 Airing on Golf Channel every Tuesday
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6 Oct 2026
S E51: Can Topgolf's New CEO Fix Golf's Biggest Front Door?
Topgolf was the darling of the golf industry—until it wasn't. Callaway bought the company in a deal valued at roughly $2 billion in 2021, then sold a majority stake to private equity this year after the combined business lost nearly half its value.David McKillips was hired to turn it around. Six months into the job, the former Chuck E. Cheese, Six Flags and Warner Bros. executive joins Jimmy Roberts to explain what he found after visiting 100 venues in 100 days, why guests love Topgolf but don't come back, and how he plans to fix it: new virtual courses every quarter, Toptracer technology in all 103 U.S. locations, a move away from the RFID ball, a membership program, floor-by-floor booking and more entertainment—from arcades to racquet sports—for the 65% of customers who aren't avid golfers.Then Evan Roosevelt, co-founder of golf-only investment firm Old Tom Capital, gives his read on the Topgolf model, why same-site visits declined from the day each venue opened, and whether leaning into entertainment risks alienating the core golfer. He also makes the case that par-3 and short courses are the next big investable category in a supply-constrained game, explains why the definition of a "serious golfer" is widening and shares why his firm invests exclusively in golf.Also in this episode: the Golf Business Intelligence Brief covers NBC's Presidents Cup ratings surge, Five Iron Golf's new smaller-footprint franchise model and L.A.B. Golf's sold-out collaboration with Steph Curry. David McKillips also appears in Making Better Decisions, presented by Aon, Fox News' Bret Baier shares his Big Swing moment and Jimmy closes on the Protect College Sports bill and why college athletics is more broken than golf's governing bodies.What you'll hear in this episode:Why Topgolf's growth story stalled—and what McKillips says the company failed to reinvest inHow a 30-year career in theme parks and out-of-home entertainment applies to golfThe product changes coming to Topgolf: Toptracer, a new ball, new virtual courses and a membership programWhat Old Tom Capital's Evan Roosevelt thinks Topgolf has to get right to win back golfersWhy par-3 courses may be the next great golf investment🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday ▶️ Watch on YouTube | 🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify 📺 Airing on Golf Channel every Tuesday
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
29 Sept 2026
S E50: He Sold Two Companies to Play America's 100 Best Public Courses
What do you do after a seven-figure exit? Daniel Belk decided to play golf—all of America's top 100 public courses, in under a year.The entrepreneur behind a self-storage private equity firm and Cool Down, the run club turned apparel brand he grew to 15 cities before selling his stake, joins Jimmy Roberts from the road at the halfway point of his journey. Belk breaks down the numbers behind the quest: an $85,000 to $100,000 budget built on a $350 average green fee, why renting RVs and sleeping in course parking lots has put him well under that projection, and how a following of more than 100,000 on Instagram has brought coverage from Bloomberg and Golf.com—and a stream of brand offers he has so far turned down.He also shares the stories from the road, including hitchhiking from Wolf Creek to Black Desert, a birdie from the Ryder Cup tees at Bethpage Black, why Whistling Straits tops his list so far and how a $5.5 million self-storage deal that closed with four days to spare became his first big break.What you'll hear in this episode:How Belk budgeted a year of top 100 public golf—and why he's coming in under itWhy he's turned down brand partnerships to keep the series authenticHow a run club of 2,000 weekly runners became a seven-figure apparel exitWhat it's like to play Bethpage Black, Whistling Straits and the most remote course on the listWhy "winging it" beats a spreadsheet when your schedule gets wrecked every weekThe episode also features the Golf Business Intelligence Brief with headlines on the Presidents Cup's record $175 million economic impact and the return of bifurcation to the golf ball debate, LPGA teaching professional Kelly Brook's review of the $120 Golf at Home swing trainer, Making Better Decisions presented by Aon with USGA CEO Mike Whan, Soly from No Laying Up's Big Swing moment and Jimmy's tribute to retiring Mets radio voice Howie Rose.🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday ▶️ Watch on YouTube | 🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts & Spotify 📺 Airing on Golf Channel every Tuesday
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
18 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
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