RIDING THE WAVE
INSTAGRAM :
In January 2022 , Stubbe had about 5,000 followers on Instagram (@ thefatperez ). By December , he had more than 130,000 .
5,000
130,000 +
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Berger hosted weekly Zoom happy hours during the pandemic , and Stubbe frequently tuned in . Over time , Berger noticed one
Stubbe quit his job , became Fat Perez full-time and now sports a of the participants , a guy with the handle plus handicap .
“ Fat Perez ” happily drinking beers in his office ( after hours , of course ).
“ It ’ s something I would have never in a normal world been interested in participating in ,” Stubbe said . “ I was interested in my own happy hour at Curbside ( Cafe in Richmond ). I wasn ’ t going to get on a computer . It was just a weird thing , the timing of it .”
One weekend , Stubbe was in Pinehurst with his wife Anne Cole , and Berger happened to be there as well . After some direct messaging , the two met up for dinner and drinks . There was an instant connection .
“ When he came in , he just lit it up ,” Berger noted on GOLF ’ s Subpar podcast . “ And then when we found out how good of a golfer he was , I was like , all right , he ’ s a shoo-in .”
Suddenly , Stubbe had transformed into a full-time Fat Perez , as part of Berger ’ s troupe that also includes Joe Demare ( a . k . a . Joey Coldcuts ) and Binny Shicker ( a . k . a . Binny the Jet ). Berger goes by Bobby Fairways on course . Together , the foursome takes golf adventures across the country and documents them on the Bob Does Sports YouTube channel . It ’ s as much about the golf lifestyle as it is about golf competition .
It ’ s the sort of content that draws the attention of one of golf ’ s most coveted demographics — the 25-to-45 set . Much of the content depicts what the average player may experience in a weekend foursome with buddies — silly hijinks , pranks , laughter , copious beer consumption and more . And it resonates .
Oh , there ’ s plenty of golf , too .
✘ SERIOUS GAME
Stubbe ’ s endeavor wouldn ’ t work if he wasn ’ t a player with some serious chops . He grew up in Richmond and spent much of his formative years at Jefferson Lakeside ( now Lakeside Park Club ), where he worked on his short game and “ probably bugged Tom Barry every day . He had some childcare that he didn ’ t really sign up for , for years and years ,” Stubbe says with a chuckle .
Stubbe played at Mills Godwin High School before spending two years playing for Hampden-Sydney College . He ’ s a past winner of the Bay Creek Amateur in Cape Charles . And now that he ’ s essentially playing golf for a living , he plays better than scratch golf , sporting a plus-1.6 Handicap Index .
A big part of Stubbe ’ s journey involved earning a VSGA- VIP Scholarship Foundation award in 2007 . As much as
PAUL PIERCE JR .
22 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ANUARY / F EBRUARY 2023
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