The Upstate Golf Guys Podcast · anthonyfarina72382

EPISODE 124 - RICKY REILLY

·54 min·3 clips

Ricky Reilly says he is 86th in the world and second in the U.S. for short stature.

1. The Upstate Golf Guys Podcast episode centers on Ricky Reilly, an adaptive golfer from Syracuse, New York. 2. Ricky Reilly joins Rod and the Upstate Golf Guys as a competitive adaptive player whose rankings and equipment matter to the conversation. 3. The episode asks how Ricky moved from hockey and casual golf into adaptive tournament golf and why the format changes his game. 4. Ricky says he is 86th in the world and second in the U.S. for short stature, and he describes that as the focus of his life right now. 5. He says his parents pushed golf when he was younger because he has dwarfism and knew hockey would have an earlier ending than most sports. 6. Ricky says COVID was the turning point that made golf click because it removed the disadvantage he faced in most other sports. 7. He says he played his senior year at Casanova College, which he notes is now closed, and that college golf led him into tournament play. 8. He says he found adaptive golf at the start of 2024 and planned to talk more about that circuit later in the episode. 9. Ricky says he played hockey through high school, coached youth hockey for two years, coached his alma mater for two years, and still plays every Sunday. 10. He says the hockey conversation matters because he sees the same feisty energy in his golf, especially when a putt drops and his fists start pumping. 11. Ricky says he is blessed to live on a golf course in Syracuse and swings a club seven days a week at Timber Banks. 12. He says the range, short-game area, and all-day access changed his game more than simply hitting nine holes did. 13. Ricky says his driver has always been his best club because he finds fairways and is working on more distance through strength training. 14. He says his best rounds in 2025 came when his short game was on and he was leaving himself five-foot putts instead of 15-footers. 15. Ricky says competitive golf is harder than leisure golf because three-foot gimmes disappear and every stroke counts in the final score. 16. He says the Golf Week Am Tour and adaptive golf both use a triple-max rule, which he dislikes because it limits comebacks late in a round. 17. Ricky says his older clubs were cut down at Golf Galaxy, but Ping later fit him with a customized adaptive setup at Turning Stone. 18. He says the new Ping clubs felt awkward at first, then the irons and driver started to feel correct after time and led to better results. 19. The episode has a loose interview style with long back-and-forth tangents about hockey, Syracuse golf, and tournament rules. 20. Listeners who follow adaptive golf, equipment fitting, or New York golf talk will get the most from it; listeners wanting a short, story-only episode may skip it.

As heard by us

Adaptive golf talk that stays practical about rules, fit, and how competitive players adjust.

Ricky Reilly joins a conversation that keeps its focus on adaptive golf: how the rule book handles strokes, why comeback attempts can be squeezed by limited holes, and how competitive play keeps moving.

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Why you'd press play

Adaptive-golf rules, custom clubs, and snowy Upstate banter with Ricky from Upstate Golf Guys.

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