Presenting golf authentically to deepen connections with the game

You’ll mostly find me in the proverbial pro shop, serving as the Head of Marketing and Experiences for Fried Egg Golf. I’ve been a friend of the program for years and was honored to join the team in fall 2024 after more than a decade of marketing roles in the golf industry. When I’m not sitting at my desk, I’m trying to play as much golf as I can, encouraging more people to pick up the game, and am always in pursuit of a chic golf outfit.

I thought working the grounds crew and clubhouse at my local muni (shoutout Ridgetop Golf Course in Medina, Ohio) from middle school through college would be my last job in golf. After 10 years as a producer and reporter for USA Today and Golfweek, I’m now lucky enough to call myself the Editor for Fried Egg Golf, a brand I’ve been a fan of for years. When I’m not working you can find me behind a drum set, digging through crates of old records, enjoying a cold and crisp Budweiser, or out on the course trying to keep my driver on the planet.

Founder Andy Johnson started Fried Egg Golf in 2015 by answering his own question: What if we made golf architecture approachable? In looking at an entire golf course holistically, Fried Egg Golf brings another dimension to the game and fills a gap in golf coverage.

You'll find me scouring the internet for memes and the best golf stories online as the Social Media Manager here at Fried Egg Golf.I fell in love with the game watching and playing with my grandfather in Rehoboth Beach, DE and have a trip to Augusta National quite high on the bucket list.

By day, I serve as Head of Product at Fried Egg Golf, where I'm channeling my passion for golf into building better experiences for fellow golf obsessives. After spending a decade in Silicon Valley trying to change the world through software (spoiler alert: didn't quite work out), I feel like I've finally found my true calling here. When I'm not mapping out product roadmaps, you can find me on the range, lost in an endless spiral of swing thoughts and TrackMan data, convinced that my next swing change will finally be "the one."

Brendan Porath has spent more than a decade in digital golf media in multiple roles as a manager, writer, editor, podcaster, and contributor to television programs. He built and expanded Vox Media's golf coverage into one of the most popular destinations on the Internet at SB Nation. He's also written for the New York Times and contributed to Golf Channel programming, most often for the live studio show, Morning Drive. He founded the Shotgun Start podcast with Andy Johnson, and joined The Fried Egg full time as an editor, writer, and manager overseeing content.

My love of golf and art collided as a child and I realized that when I wasn’t on the golf course, I could still be imagining the game through pen and paper. Like many of us, I spent class time doodling golf holes with my 7th grade art teacher telling me at one point that there were too many golf courses in my sketchbook. Luckily, I mostly ignored his request and since then, the game has taken me to some of the most incredible places on earth.

When I was 10 or 11 years old, my dad gave me a copy of The World Atlas of Golf. That kick-started my obsession with golf architecture. I read as many books about the subject as I could find, filled a couple of sketch books with plans for imaginary golf courses, and even joined the local junior golf league for a summer so I could get a crack at Alister MacKenzie's Valley Club of Montecito. I ended up pursuing other interests in high school and college, but in my early 30s I moved to Pebble Beach to teach English at a boarding school, and I fell back in love with golf. Soon I connected with Andy Johnson, founder of Fried Egg Golf. Andy offered me a job as Managing Editor in 2019. At the time, the two of us were the only full-time employees. The company has grown tremendously since then, and today I'm thrilled to serve as the Head of Architecture Content. I work with our talented team to produce videos, podcasts, and written work about golf courses and golf architecture.

I grew up playing golf competitively and caddied for ten years. I've also always enjoyed - usually responsibly - betting on sports. These worlds collided when I went to college, where I spent an absurd amount of time watching PGA Tour Live and building models to predict golf.

When I heard Andy on a podcast for the first time, I immediately knew I'd found a voice I wanted to follow. The intersection between design and strategy captivated me, and I've consumed just about every piece of Fried Egg Golf content since then. While I was finishing up my studies at UT-Austin, I worked for 15th Club (now 21st Club), a company that does data consulting for professional golfers. Upon graduation, I started Optimal Approach Golf, which provides data and strategy recommendations to professional and high-level amateur golfers. I've been full-time with Fried Egg Golf since January of 2024.

Continually pursuing the game I love is what brought me to Fried Egg Golf. As my competitive years faded, I found myself working for a local golf course construction company which appeared to be a great starting point to becoming a golf course architect. After a couple of years in the dirt, I turned to the maintenance side of golf for something new. I just wanted to continue to pursue the game I loved no matter the form. Working at some of the great golf courses across America only furthered my interests within golf design. Finally, a social media job posting from FEG piqued my interest to join a company that had a direct impact on my love for golf and golf design. Today, I continue to dip my hands into several aspects of the company, but most of my work includes writing, photography and creating videos. Outside of golf I enjoy rock climbing, skiing and spending as much time in nature as I can. (INI !)

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I have proximity to thank as the main reason I became interested in golf. The street I grew up on backed up to the parking lot of a golf course, so I tossed my bag over my shoulder and made the short trek to the course most summer evenings. After falling away from golf post-college, the early days of Fried Egg helped reignite my interest in the game. It was a thrill to start writing and helping out with odd jobs back then, and I still feel that same excitement today whether I'm planning and designing the latest merchandise collection or writing and talking about the world of women's golf.

Four years of Big J Journalism school and three seasons with the Detroit Lions have led me to my current role leading podcast production at Fried Egg Golf. You can usually find me editing audio or making sure our Shotgun Start live shows make it to YouTube every Sunday night. I enjoy listening to Noah Kahan, betting on longshots, Aaron Rodgers, and playing my favorite game, "Where In the World is Bob Papa?" As some of you may know, I am a tortured New York sports fan and my personal belief is that Brooks Koepka will win every major until he doesn't. I once walked through an inflatable colon and my life hasn't been the same since.

Pete is the COO of Fried Egg Golf, bringing a wealth of experience as a seasoned startup executive with a proven track record of driving growth and scaling businesses. Prior to joining Fried Egg Golf, Pete led corporate development at Greenlight, a leading financial technology company focused on financial literacy. He previously spent nearly a decade on the executive leadership team at Kabbage, where he played a key role in the company’s successful exit to American Express. Pete brings a unique, outsider perspective to the golf industry, helping Fried Egg Golf expand its reach and impact. He has an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School and a BS in Journalism from the University of Illinois. (ILL…!)

I’ll be making graphics, assisting with videos, and helping with marketing efforts as Brand Creative here at Fried Egg Golf.

I would describe my golf journey as uncompetitive. My sole purpose playing high school golf was to be able to play the private courses. I had a bad baseball swing at the time (it still comes back randomly) so I knew I just had to enjoy the time I had at these courses. Once I started having fun and not worrying about what I shot, that was when my love for the game grew to a level it had never been before.

Golf was a big part of my upbringing as I grew up with a PGA Professional as a dad. I went to the course with him in the morning, helped out in the pro shop, caddied, and ultimately played golf in college before helping out in the early days of Fried Egg. While I’ve been involved in many different aspects of our organization over the years, today you’ll largely find me at our events and helping our membership as our Community Manager. And while I love this position, my dream job will always be starting shortstop for the Chicago Cubs.