Elbin, for 50 years an influential PGA professional at Burning Tree Country Club in Maryland and, for three years, president of the PGA of America.

Elbin’ s freshman year at the University of Richmond was interrupted when Lee Trevino’ s caddie dropped out of the 1979 Ryder Cup. Elbin, who caddied at Burning Tree, took over the bag, even though he’ d never seen the Greenbrier course.

Back at UR, Elbin played for the Spiders for one season as a walk-on before deciding that competitive collegiate golf wasn’ t for him.

Since then, he’ s been a communications specialist for umpteen golf-related organizations. That included 12 years as communications director for the PGA of America, where he produced a 175-page monthly magazine, as well as content focused on the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, and Senior PGA Championship. Some of his work is likely sitting on your bookshelf.

That was Elbin, perched at the podium next to the game’ s greats during the PGA and Ryder Cup competitions, running interview sessions and making what turned out to be valuable contacts and relationships.

Now 65, Elbin has spent the past threeplus years as host of“ Musings on Golf,” a podcast that he created with the late Bob Bubka, Westwood One’ s radio reporter at all the major tournaments. Their debut guest: Jim Nantz, the brilliant lead football and golf announcer for CBS.

“ So, you have this start-up podcast, and your first guest is Jim Nantz?” Elbin said, amazed at their good fortune.“ That gives you a lot of credibility.”

He’ s ridden that credibility and his own well-honed interview skills into sessions

with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Bernhard Langer, Luke Donald, Padrick Harington, architect Rees Jones, and Dr. Bob Rotella. Cameron Young, ESPN golf anchor Scott Van Pelt, and Golf Channel’ s Rich Lerner have been among those representing the younger crowd.

“ You’ re not going to go there to get deep insights into LIV versus the PGA Tour,” Elbin said.“ You can get that a lot of other places. This is about getting great names— and we’ ve had them— and letting them tell their stories, their anecdotes. I just tee them up and step out of the way.”

For example, did you know that every night for two years early in his life, Player went to bed wishing he was dead? With a mother who died when he was nine, and a father who spent 30 years deep below ground in a South African mine, Player was left to raise himself.

Or the one question John Maginnes asked that changed his life? Or the Vietnam soldier without whose guidance two-time PGA Championship winner Larry Nelson might never have pursued the game? Or Morgan Pressel’ s valiant fight against breast cancer? Elbin’ s podcasts are full of such moments. He concludes most interviews by asking guests to name their dream round of golf, and where it would be held. Many give stock answers, like Nicklaus, Palmer, and Tiger, at Augusta National.

But the question also elicits some deeply insightful responses. The first thing Van Pelt told Elbin was that because

Kelly Elbin hosts the“ Musings on Golf” podcast.

his father died before he could see his grandchildren, he’ d include him.

“ That’ s something very different,” Elbin said,“ something very personal. That’ s what the show is all about.”

The guest who drew the largest audience was Rotella, the famous sports psychologist who served as director of sports psychology at the University of Virginia for 20 years.

“ He talked about things that could help your game,” Elbin said,“ how to make the most out of such a challenging game. People could relate.”

A month before Player’ s 90th birthday last November and his appearance on“ Musings,” Elbin contacted Nicklaus’ s public relations representative to ask whether Jack would write a short note with birthday wishes.

What he received instead was an intimate, heartfelt examination of something beyond friendship and how much Player’ s relationship meant to Nicklaus. It brought Elbin to tears.

Without the marketing clout of ESPN or Fox behind it,“ Musings” averages about 5,000 listeners per episode. Elbin does what he can to boost listenership, but it’ s a tough slog.

That said, give it a listen. New episodes of“ Musings on Golf” drop every Tuesday on various platforms.

COURTESY PHOTO