{"id":3632,"date":"2025-10-02T09:38:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/doamu\/?page_id=3632"},"modified":"2025-10-02T09:38:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:38:14","slug":"phil-landes-07-merging-business-insight-with-a-passion-for-golf","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/doamu\/2025-department-of-accountancy-annual-report\/phil-landes-07-merging-business-insight-with-a-passion-for-golf\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Landes \u201907: Merging Business Insight with a Passion for Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Philip Landes, known to golf enthusiasts as \u201cBig Randy,\u201d is the CFO (i.e., \u201cChief Fun Officer\u201d), cofounder, and co-owner of No Laying Up<\/a>, a golf media and lifestyle company that was born out of a group text message among friends and has evolved to a highly influential presence in the golfing community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a full-fledged media company, No Laying Up produces two popular podcasts\u2014the flagship No Laying Up Golf Podcast<\/em> and the TrapDraw Podcast<\/em>\u2014along with a YouTube channel featuring a travel series, course reviews, and tournament coverage. It has also built a thriving merchandise business and fostered a community of golfers around the world through The Nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Laying Up was named a Redhawk50 honoree<\/a> at a gala on March 14, 2025, at Music Hall in Cincinnati. It\u2019s a distinction given to the fastest-growing Miami alumni-led businesses. Three of the company\u2019s founders are Miami alumni\u2014in addition to Landes, Accountancy alum Chris Solomon \u201908 and Todd Schuster \u201908 (a History major) were part of the aforementioned group text message, which also included Schuster\u2019s younger brother, Neil.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Phil<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Phil
Landes with his family at the awards ceremony (L to R): Eric Goodman ’02, Allie Goodman ’02 (sister), Phil Landes ’08, Kat Landes (wife), with Phil’s parents Peggy Landes ’74 and Chuck Landes ’74<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cCircuitous\u201d Career Path<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo say I\u2019ve had a somewhat circuitous career path to this point would probably be an understatement,\u201d Landes said. After earning his Accountancy degree at Miami, Landes began his career at Ernst & Young in Cincinnati, later completing his MBA before joining RSM McGladrey in Chicago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His interest in sports soon led him to Winthrop Intelligence, a start-up providing data analysis for college athletics. From there, he pivoted to teaching and coaching high school basketball\u2014a move that might seem like a detour but, for Landes, was a chance to reconnect with the sports world he loved. It was around this time that No Laying Up was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The No Laying Up team with pro golfer Ludvig Alberg
(L to R): Phil, Ben Hotaling, DJ Piehowski, Neil Schuster, Ludvig Aberg, Todd Schuster \u201808, Cody McBride, Chris Solomon \u201808<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Enduring Business Foundation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I reflect on my career path to date, I can think of two big influences. First, my background and experience in the world of business and accounting gave me a great foundation which has helped facilitate starting my own company. As our CFO, I put the things I have learned through the years, both in school and out, to use just about every day,\u201d Landes said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He credits his father with his choice to become an accountancy major. \u201cHis point, and I think it\u2019s spot-on, was that an understanding of accounting would allow me to begin to learn how businesses operate, on a foundational level. Accounting is the language of business, and I\u2019ve found this advice from him to be more and more accurate as the years have passed. To get an accounting degree meant exploring a lot of different topics and problems within a lot of different types of businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a Passion for Sports<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second big influence in his career was his choice to follow his passion for sports.
\u201cWhether it was going to Winthrop Intelligence, coaching high school basketball, or now working in the world of golf, I have always had a passion for sports and wanted to do something within the sports world. Taking chances and staying true to this passion has been vital for me.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons in Leadership and Collaboration<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landes also credits the role his Miami education has played in his career and how he tackles various challenges. \u201cMy Miami education allowed me to be a well-rounded thinker, teaching me just as much how <\/em>to think about various challenges and problems, as it did give me the tools and information to work through problems \u2026 A lot of business challenges don\u2019t come with black-and-white answers; instead it\u2019s imperative to think through decisions and results with a more holistic approach, which Miami prepared me to do very well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami also offered a lot of opportunity to work in collaborative settings, and prepared him to seek help and guidance from others when he needed to: \u201cI don\u2019t always have all the answers, far from it actually, but starting with invested professors, both in the classroom and out at Miami, I learned how to seek assistance when I needed to, something that continues to pay dividends for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Innovating for the Next Decade<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Laying Up recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary and the 1000th<\/sup> episode of its original podcast. \u201cWhen we began in 2014, there weren\u2019t many golf podcasts at all. It was a barren marketplace for us to exist and grow within.\u201d With the increasingly competitive and crowded market, Landes and his team are constantly thinking about what they could do to keep from becoming \u201cstale and repetitive.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he looks forward to the next decade of podcasting, Landes thinks about how the company can evolve. \u201cWe have created and published several different types of new shows\u2014narrative, storytelling podcasts; live reaction shows after the biggest pro golf tournaments; in-person shows in front of live audiences; and even making our podcasts a viewing experience on YouTube\u2014challenging ourselves with producing better and more entertaining, and informative, shows. And it\u2019s this same approach we take with everything we do, from original video productions to branded merchandise.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miami Memories<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landes was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, the child of a Miami merger (Charles and Peggy Landes \u201874) and sister to Allie Goodman \u201902, married to Eric Goodman \u201802, an Evans Scholar. Many of his fondest childhood memories involve going up to Oxford for football games in the fall, basketball games in the winter, and Miami basketball camps in the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a Miami student, some of his favorites included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n