This Country Star Gives Matt Stell Golf Lessons

This country star gives Matt Stell golf lessons. One of the things we learned while talking to Matt this morning on the show. Matt called in to say hi and chat about his new album Born Lonely and we talked a little sports as well.

Matt has a connection to the Bay area. Not only did he live in Bradenton for awhile, he is a huge hockey fan, specifically a Lightning fan. A few years ago, he performed at our QYK Guitar Pull and he had Pat Maroon and Ryan McDonagh tag along with him. He's been friends with the guys for a long time.

His new album is out now, called Born Lonely. He released it last Friday. Matt talked about how this is a different album for him. He wanted to tell the truth about the stories.

Stell’s favorite song off the album is the song called "Smooth". It's track 6 on the album. He talked about how proud he is of this song. He shared that what inspired the song. Matt says he comes from a small town and as he watches Nashville grow, the farms around Nashville get smaller. As good as that growth can be in many ways it comes at the expense of the farms around it. He grew up on a farm so when he wrote the song from the perspective of what would’ve happened if someone offered to buy their land for property development.

We asked about the cover of the album which is a picture of a wolf tattoo on his arm. The tattoo is actually Matt's. He got the tattoo in one sitting, only took about 2 hours. He had it done to coincide with this album.

Matt talked about all his buddies in Nashville he likes to play around with. So J.R. asked him who is a good athlete in Nashville? Stell mentioned a few. Said Parker McCollum likes to play basketball and is pretty good. He also mentioned Sam Hunt and Kane Brown. Then he brought up George Birge. George is a professional golf player and when J.R. asked if they ever bet songs on the golf course, he said no, but they did bet lessons. Since George lost, Matt now gets free golfing lessons from Birge who is really good. Not a bad deal.

Always good to catch up with Matt Stell. Go check out his new album Born Lonely.

We are officially one week into National Golf Month. To celebrate this and inspire you to hit the links, Home To Go published a report that details the most affordable golf destinations and three Florida courses made the list.

"The ranking explores the affordability of green fees, golf carts, club rentals and nearby accommodations, so you can stay on the green and out of the debt bunker," they explain. To compile this information Home To Go analyzed these four categories and then compiled a list of the 40 most affordable rounds. Furthermore, they listed that the Naples and Marco Island area has the most golf courses per capita in the country. There are 69 golf courses in that metro area.

The sport of golf has many unique components that separate it from many other activities. Hitting the links can be a casual day out among friends, or a highly competitive tournament. Either way it certainly takes practice and skill to master. Furthermore, there are traditions to the game that are respected widely across the globe. In addition to proper golf attire and etiquette, golfers are expected to follow the guidelines each course lays out. Many of these are standard, but different course layouts and features then factor into what the cost to play is.

In Florida, the three courses that named among the 40 most affordable golf destinations in America are actually in two locations. To clarify, two of these course are along the same east coast club grounds. They are among a group of 30 PGA courses that the pros play, and then are open to public usage. Then, if you head about 225 miles south, you will come across the third Florida course to make the list. This popular destination is only an hour outside the Tampa area.

Golf excursions can get quite expensive. So, if you are understandably budgeting your next golf trip to Florida, these three destinations are worth considering given their overall affordability.

"The Players Championship" club in Ponte Vedra has both of their courses listed among the most affordable. The first is Sawgrass coming in at #14. Local accommodations average $94.23. The green fee here is $175 and includes a golf cart. If you'd like to rent clubs, that will cost an additional $80, but your total will still be under $350.

The second TPC Sawgrass course to be featured here is Stadium. While the local accommodation and club rental fee are the same as Dye's Valley, the green fee is the different. That will run you $450, which aligns Stadium to the 34th most affordable.

Streamsong has become a very popular destination for golfers looking for memorable getaway with friends and family. It's about 65 miles southeast of Tampa and comes in at number 17. Here, the local accommodations are expected to be relatively inexpensive at $44. The green fee is as well, at approximately $179, however, this does not include a golf cart ($35). Lastly, if you don't want to travel with your clubs, a rental set will cost you $100.