Look at that guy. Does he look like the future of the game of golf? It sure didn’t for me the first time I saw him. But now I believe he may just be the person to take golf to the next level.

That’s Erik Anders Lang and he’s the closest thing I’ve found yet in golf to a kindred spirit. I don’t recall how I first became aware of him. It was probably an Instagram link, but I’m eternally grateful to have discovered him.

Erik is a man of many talents and one of the most amazing golf minds at work right now. His videos are incredible. Hist podcast is at times hilarious, thoughtful, poignant and silly. It’s one of the best podcasts I’ve heard, period. It’s certainly the best golf podcast out there.

He’s a hard guy to pin down. Like so many people I have been initially skeptical of he’s turned out to be a tour de force. For some reason I tend to be instinctively skeptical of bombastic personalities. Often times though, those people like that aren’t bad, they’re just confident.

I guess it’s weird to talk about someone you don’t really know. But he seems from his art to be a confident, self-aware dude who surrounds himself with similar folks. That A+ in my book.

I think the thing that really made it all click for me was his recent video from St. Andrews. Not only did he surprise a Scottish buddy with a round at the Old Course, but had that guy’s dad join for the round too! That’s as good as it gets. But what really struck me was the sheer joy on Erik’s face as he watched his buddy hug his dad. Lang shared that experience fully and it was such a beautiful moment. I could tell then that EAL is a good soul.

So now I’m listening to all his back catalog of podcasts and it’s been illuminating seeing who he chooses to interact with from a golfing standpoint. It’s like listening to Fresh Air. Even if I’ve never heard of the person he’s interviewing I trust that it’s going to be an interesting person with a different and unique perspective on golf and life. He’s the Terry Gross of golf podcasts in that way.

Right now I’m listening to the Toms founder and the founder of Urban Golf Performance talk about polo and Mexican gang violence. Not your typical golf podcast to say the least, but trust me, if you share the love of new voices in golf as much as me, then you’re going to want to check out all things Erik Anders Lang.

So this site has definitely found a new person to follow who is taking golf in the right direction. Who do you feel like your kindred golf spirit is?