Lag putting is where this conversation gets specific. The useful idea for Maui listeners is not a new grip tip or a reminder to have better touch; it is Bob Labbe’s attempt to turn distance control into math. On Golf Podcasts USA, Labbe discusses Putting by the Numbers, a quantitative method to lag putting built around what he calls an individual power factor.

That makes this Maui Golf Podcast episode less about putting theory in the abstract and more about how one golfer tried to solve a repeatable scoring problem. Labbe said the method began after he sold his second air pollution control company in 1996. With more time to commit to the game, he described playing 18 holes three days a week and practicing three days a week, only to find that long-distance putting was still producing too many three- and four-putts.

The individual power factor is the heart of his system. Labbe explains it as a personal measurement: how far the ball travels for each inch the putter is retracted, based on the golfer’s own stroke. In his example, his summer green power factor was 20 feet of ball travel for one inch of putter retraction. The point is not that every golfer should use his number, but that every golfer needs to discover their own number if they want the method to work.

Labbe also separates surfaces instead of treating every long putt as the same problem. He talks through different friction numbers for the green, the fringe, the fairway and the first cut rough, then combines those numbers when a putt has to travel across more than one surface. In his example, a ball moving through rough, fringe and green requires adding the needed retraction for each section rather than relying only on feel.

The larger message is that Labbe did not rush the idea into print. He says he spent roughly 25 years proving the method before writing Putting by the Numbers, testing whether it was accurate, repeatable and useful for golfers at different skill levels. He still emphasizes execution, but the book is built around giving players a measurable plan before they make the stroke.

For listeners who want to follow up, Labbe said the e-book was available on Amazon for 99 cents during August, with a review-based offer connected to the softcover. The episode closes with a practical reminder from him: if lag putting can leave more three- to five-foot putts, then practicing those shorter putts becomes the next step toward lower scores.

Heard on Maui Golf Podcast, part of the Golf Podcasts USA network.
​More Maui golf coverage at golfpodcasts.org.

The most important part of this update is the new publishing system Brett Smith says Golf Podcasts USA is deploying. For the Maui audience, the point is not a new episode format or a local recap; it is a network-level explanation of how one recording can be uploaded and distributed more efficiently across the places where the network publishes.

Smith frames the tool as a way to make the basic workflow easier: talk, upload and distribute without rebuilding the process each time. He says the setup is designed for one-click uploading to every platform the network is on, reducing friction while still acknowledging that plenty of work sits behind the scenes.

The timing matters because Smith says interest in golf podcast content has reached a new high. Looking at Google Trends, he notes that searches for “golf podcast” are at an all-time peak. He also points out that the five-year trend had been mostly flat until a recent spike, which is why he sees the network as being in the right place at the right time.

This update also places the show inside the larger Golf Podcasts USA rollout. Smith says the network started in November 2025, and this update is being shared in August 2026. In that period, Golf Podcasts USA has built content for all 50 states, with local shows discoverable by searching a state name along with “golf podcast.”

Rather than focusing on a single interview or topic from the game, this episode is a status report on the network itself: where Golf Podcasts USA stands, why search demand is encouraging, and how the publishing tool is meant to support broader distribution as the relaunch continues.

Heard on Maui Golf Podcast, part of the Golf Podcasts USA network.
​More Maui golf coverage at golfpodcasts.org.