Erik and Alfonso Ribeiro from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air discuss Life and Golf

Entertainer Alfonso Ribeiro is a student of the golf swing. He podcasts with Erik Anders Lang on the Warner Brothers lot to talk golf with family, his time on Fresh Prince, lessons, and how he first got hooked on the game.

> > Listen to the full pod with Alfonso HERE. < < 

“There’s no way that I could ever repay the game for what it’s given me.”

• 15:00 – Alfonso explains his first experience with golf, in which he and a few friends went to a driving range together around the age of 18.

• 16:00 – Alfonso continues to explain his first experience with golf, explaining that by chance his first three swings were all excellent.

• 17:45 – Alfonso confirms Erik’s statement when Erik asks if he believes he could put back into golf what golf has given him.

• 18:15 – Alfonso explains that golf became such a huge part of his life; he would use it as supplemental motivation when work wasn’t going his way.

• 18:45 – Alfonso continues to explain that golf became such a huge part of his life; he would use it as supplemental motivation when work wasn’t going his way.

• 19:00 – Alfonso explains how playing Carlton on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air made it tough for him to take on any role afterward. He used golf to keep him motivated when he was typecasted as Carlton.

• 21:30 – Alfonso gives his answer to what the negative parts of fame are. In particular, he mentions how when he wants to go get dinner with his wife, he fears getting interrupted and having to live up to the expectations of others.

• 29:00 – Alfonso answers Erik’s question about the commercial he is in at the age of 12, where he moonwalks into Michael Jackson.

• 33:30 – Alfonso explains his philosophy for finding new clubs to play with when Nike stopped making golf equipment.

• 37:15 – Alfonso states that even though golf is now a business for him, his excitement towards the game is driven by passion. This is accentuated through the amount of money he is willing to spend just to play the game/buy new equipment. 

• 39:00 – Alfonso justifies spending so much money on golf. He says the return is priceless. He states that just like in a relationship, you can’t put a price on something that makes you happy.

• 39:45 – Alfonso says that even though he is often unhappy with his scores, he uses bad days as an opportunity to grow as a golfer.

• 41:15 – Alfonso explains how the same reason he got so good is the same reason he drives himself so crazy on the golf course. No matter how good at golf he gets, he will always want to improve.

• 43:15 – Alfonso explains how the desire to get better as a golfer can sometimes outweigh the ability to remain content even when you are playing fantastic golf.

• 48:30 – Alfonso explains that most of the time, he doesn’t listen to the advice of caddies. As a 2 handicap, he explains that most of the time he is the better golfer between the two of them. When he plays a course he has never played, he uses caddies for local knowledge.

• 63:15 – Alfonso explains that he was really happy to watch Tiger win the Tour Championship at East Lake. He says even though his wife does not like Tiger, he is able to justify his fandom by stating that Tiger’s personal life is none of his business.

Watch the full interview on the RGC Films Channel here or below.