Interview with “Celebrities in Golf Carts” Host Mark Willard
By Matt Cochran
Move over Jerry Seinfeld, there’s a new celebrity YouTube series making its rounds. “Celebrities in Golf Carts” is a new digital video series produced by the Southern California Golf Association and hosted by LA radio host Mark Willard.
Willard, host of the “Mark Willard Show” on Fox Sports and iHeart Radio app, takes celebrities out for a nine-hole round of golf to test out their skills and get to know a little more about the celebs, their careers, and what golf means to them.
This is the first season of the series and so far they’ve released three videos starring Rob Riggle, Kunal Nayyar of The Big Bang Theory, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Other episodes that are yet to be released feature Boston Red Sox legend Nomar Garciaparra, Haley Joel Osment, and Brian Baumgartner, better known as Kevin from The Office.
I was fortunate enough to Skype with Mark to get a better understanding of “Celebrities in Golf Carts” and get his thoughts on the series. Willard was more than happy to take the time to talk about CIGC and share his perspective as host of the mini-series.
How Did This All Get Started?
Right out of the gate I hit Willard with some hard hitting journalism. I asked the Fox Sports Radio host, “How did this whole thing get started?”
Mark told me he was teamed up with the SCGA as a writer for their magazine. One day they were working on some audio for their website when they asked him if he had any good video ideas. Luckily for them, Willard had a gem up his sleeve.
He was scheduled to play golf with Kunal Nayyar, star of The Big Bang Theory. Mark suggested the SCGA send a camera crew along to film the two playing golf.
"It really was supposed to be this little video of Mark and Kunal play golf and here it is on the SCGA website, that’s all we had in our minds at that point…But I walked away thinking ‘Well, that was a cool little day.’"
Through Mark and Kunal’s chemistry on the course and the SCGA’s magic in the editing booth, they came back with an 8-minute masterpiece. The SCGA liked it so much, they had heard enough of Mark’s recommendations. Celebrities in Golf Carts was born.
Next thing they knew, phone calls were being made, tee times were booked, and six more episodes were pumped out to make up the first season.
Spin-0ff of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee?
Not exactly. There may be some inspiration drawn from the Jerry Seinfeld hit series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, but Celebrities in Golf Carts has its own unique twist.
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The SCGA originally came to Willard with the name, which stems from Seinfeld’s digital series. Mark’s originally reaction was:
"“Well I don’t want to copy anybody. That’s not my thing. But the more we kind of looked at it as more personal, than inspired by and in that respect it’s absolutely a compliment. Secondly, the shows couldn’t be more different than outside of the title.”"
Other than the title, the two series are polar opposites.
What to Expect in the First Season
While there are only three episodes released as of now, there are three more on the way. You can see the first three episodes below, but you’ll have to wait patiently for the others.
The episodes are unique in their own way, but they’re highlighted by a competition round held at the end of each episode. Mark challenges the celebrities to different golf-related contests with the losing golfer having some form of punishment.
The wonderful thing about the concept behind CIGC is seeing celebrities in a different light. You can really build a bond with someone on a golf course and that’s what Willard found while working as host.
"“Playing a round of golf with someone, you build a relationship. It’s very different than someone coming on a show and just being like, ‘O.K., we’re going to interview you now.’ We’re just playing golf together, so a lot of these guys who I didn’t know before have become friends. We found something very organic and cool about playing a round of golf with people.”"
He would go on to talk about how the golf course has allowed the conversations to lead down much more interesting roads with the celebrities. Don’t let the golf them fool you, it’s not quite a golf show in Willard’s eyes. “I don’t really look at it as a golf show, I look at it as a talk show with golf as a backdrop.”
Who’s the Best Celebrity Golfer?
Host of Celebrities in Golf Carts Mark Willard describes himself as a “bogey” golfer, although he says he’s gotten down to a 9-handicap when he wasn’t so busy with his kids. So how does he compare to the celebrities he’s gone head-to-head with?
"“We haven’t had that true stick come on the show yet. We’ve had some discussions with people who could go out there and shoot 69s and 70s, but I won’t name names.”"
Their focus with the first group of guests was people they thought would provide some good stories, but who loved golf. Mark says that there were some guys worse than him and a couple of guys a little better than him. You can expect a wide range of skills from the celebrities on the show. It’s reassuring to know that celebrities can be crappy golfers just like the Average Joe.
I had to put Willard on the spot and ask who best interview was, but it was a question too hard even for him. There were the interviews that were funny with guys like Rob Riggle and Kunal Nayyar; then there were interviews where he connected with the guests on a personal level like he did with Mark-Paul Gosselaar.
Where to Find Celebrities in Golf Carts
Mark Willard does a fantastic job conversing with the celebrities that he brings on the show and getting them to open up. Celebrities in Golf Carts allows you to see a side of different celebs that you didn’t even know existed.
He gets Rob Riggle to talk about his dream of appearing on Saturday Night Live after his life in the military. Willard also gets Nomar Garciaparra to describe how different his life was living in the spotlight in Boston to being a family man in Los Angeles.
Thanks to Mark for taking the time to talk about his project with the Southern California Golf Association. It’s a series worth checking out and you can find the videos on their website or YouTube page and you can find Mark on Twitter.