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A former MasterChef finalist is now a professional golfer living in the Austin area.
AUSTIN, Texas – On a typical day, you’ll find Francis Biondi at the ShadowGlen Golf Club in Manor. He runs Beyond Golf Performance, a golf pro training the next round of up-and-coming golfers.
But he has a competing passion that his students may not know about.
"The Food Network and Golf Channel were the two things I watched growing up," said Biondi.
His love for food led him to a part-time job at a restaurant in Orlando while he continued to pursue professional golf. However, a freak accident made him hit pause on his athletic career.
"I was polishing a wine glass, and the stem of the glass went right into my arm," said Biondi. "It ended my career for about eight months."
But it was while working at that restaurant that he ended up being approached by a casting director for MasterChef. After a months-long process, he was flown to LA and ended up being one of 30 chosen to compete on Season 5, out of thousands.
"I was floored," he said.
He made it into the top 15 and impressed the judges with his fusion style, combining his Italian and Filipino roots.
"The food was almost fueling the golf, but the golf was always the end goal in mind," he said.
Two different passions, with some commonalities.
"You can travel all the way up the east coast or west coast and find some unique golf courses that also reflect the passion and the people and the food and the culture of what’s there, so I think that the cultural aspect really binds golf and food together."
Wanting a change of scenery, Biondi and his fiancée at the time moved from Orlando to Austin in 2019.
Though golf is his main focus now, he still has a passion for food.
"I never shy away from business opportunities, and if there’s a way to continue pushing golf and food together, I think it’s great and Austin’s definitely a city to do that in," he said.
Biondi was recently featured in Random Golf Club Films’ recent YouTube series, "Could an Amateur Golfer Break 90 at the 2022 US Open?"
To learn more about lessons and other services offered at Beyond Golf Performance, click here.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton teetered on the brink of impeachment Thursday after years of scandal, criminal charges and corruption accusations that the state’s Republican majority had largely met with silence for years until now.
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