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Nine-hole golf courses may get no respect, but they actually have a lot to offer. Podcast host Dave Berner talks to Anthony Pioppi, author of To the Nines, about why nine-hole courses should be taken seriously.

“It’s one of those generalizations that somehow has crept into our mindset that somehow nine-hole golf courses are not looked at as honest to God, full blooded golf courses,” Pioppi says. But they are “just as challenging.”

In the last several years there’s been a shift in the golf equipment world toward hybrid clubs. TravelGolf.com blogger Ron Montesano talks about what to consider when choosing a hybrid.

“The first thing I would tell anybody is don’t worry about the shaft, because they naturally come with a softer shaft,” he says. “The other thing is you have to remember you have to hit them more like irons than woods. As much as anything, it’s understanding how the clubs are meant to be hit as much as it is finding the right club.”

Tempe, Arizona, the ‘rowdy-little brother’ of Scottsdale, is a great place for a buddies’ golf weekend, according to West Coast Bureau Chief Chris Baldwin.

“It’s sort of got the same kind of atmosphere as the movie Old School,” Baldwin says. “It gives you a sense of going back to college without having to take classes.”

This podcast is supported by Pioneer Golf and Florida Golf Travel.