Fairways to Friendships: John Robinson & Joshua Butler Tell Their Unique Golfweek Experiences

Speaker 1: 0:45

I just welcome back. It's Merry Christmas time a couple days away from Christmas. Hope you're ready to go.

Speaker 2: 0:51

You know I am Finally got my schedule complete for golf week. Now on to the seniors. Luckily, we start that one a little later than the golf week one, with a super tour that get the season started. We're what? Maybe less than 20 days away from the first regional, if anything. And Once, once that that tournament starts, you know it's, it's a roller coaster all the way to nationals and before you know it we're already having Thanksgiving dinner again. So can't wait to get this whole, this whole ball rolling and see what 2024 has in store for us.

Speaker 1: 1:32

Yeah, let's go ahead and get started. We've got a couple great guests and a couple surprises for everybody, so let's go and get rolling.

Speaker 3: 1:38

Let's go.

Speaker 4: 1:47

Ladies and gentlemen, golf week amateur tour the podcast Talking about all things golf week amateur tour, including interviews with tour directors, players and course pros. Now here are your hosts and Atlanta tour director, tim Newman, and El Paso last cruises director, chris Rocha.

Speaker 1: 2:19

Welcome back, chris, and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Hope you're about ready. You've got all your presents. And then Santa Claus that has has been notified when he's bringing the boys.

Speaker 2: 2:29

Likewise. You know we do a little things different. This year for Christmas we took our family trip as opposed to exchanging gifts figure to be about the same price either way, and I think the boys really loved it and We'll see if we continue it next year. But gonna be the the Interesting thing to see what happens when they wake up and realize there's no Christmas, no gifts under the tree, because we already went on vacation as a family. But um no, I mean it's Can't believe we're already here and yeah, I know already a new year.

Speaker 1: 3:05

Yeah, I, you know. They say the, those memories will last lifetime and they will. You know, when your kids get older they will remember it. They just may have that short-term memory. You know right, wake up Christmas morning.

Speaker 2: 3:18

Right, right, right. And you know, maybe, maybe there'll be something, a little something, we'll see well, they got to be good.

Speaker 1: 3:26

They got to be good for that right. Yeah, always yeah. So I spent some time with my grandkids Recently and my granddaughter is three she's almost four, so so she's very, very aware of of Christmas and Santa Claus and Every day is is Christmas. When she wakes up, every she thinks every day is gonna be Christmas and it's the day. But she's really excited and the my youngest grandchild is year and a half, so he's not quite there yet, but I'm looking forward to going up and seeing them in a couple days and spend a couple more days with them.

Speaker 2: 3:56

Oh, just way. It only gets more exciting, especially when we do 12 days of Christmas here, so they get to find the little treat in their stocking every day.

Speaker 1: 4:05

Well, that's, that's good. And you, you've been doing 12 days of Christmas with your, with your players too. I have.

Speaker 2: 4:11

I have costumes are not as Extravagant as they were last year. I'm gonna hold those to the last couple days and get a little bit more viewers. It'll gradually get better as we go on.

Speaker 1: 4:24

Well, the one thing I need to see from you, though, is you know, you got to be in enough costume with the years, and the hats, and the shoes.

Speaker 2: 4:31

It's, it's only face, face top of the body and face only. You're killing me.

Speaker 1: 4:37

Well, anyway, let's get right into to why we're here. You know it's it's Christmas time and you know We've been talking oh, we've been doing this for over a year and we've been talking for most of that time about how we want to, you know, get around to to some regionals and get out and seeing people. And you know we talked last episode of a couple that we're definitely going to and Really kind of want to share about how this has come along and the people that are supporting us doing that. And, as our listeners know, we don't do commercials. We don't have, you know, we're not like most podcast work. Again, we're, we don't have commercials. We don't have, we're not pitching products or anything like that.

Speaker 1: 5:16

But we do have a couple of of new sponsors this year and we want to bring them in periodically To thank them and and have them, you know, talk about their, their businesses and those types of things. One thing we have to that we were gonna make clear is, you know, the people that have have decided to support us and sponsor us that they're all members of the tour. Yeah, they're not. They're not, you know, just a company X or company Y. These are our business owners who are members of the tour and, again, we can't thank them enough for all the sports that they're giving us.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Yeah, definitely. I mean we talked about it numerous times. You know how the golf week and senior tours it it's not just a competition, you know, every weekend for a golf tournament but it becomes friends and families that you cherish for Years. You know you get excited to see them at regionals if they're not on the same tour as yours or nationals. You team up with them in the team events and nationals. So it becomes a family. And to see the support that we've that you and me have received, which is a podcast that we started out with an idea, I mean we said we don't want to go back to listen to that first episode because it's a little, it's a rough listen to. But being able to have these members, you know, want to support us is just it's overwhelming and you know our gratitude is is more than they know.

Speaker 1: 6:47

Yeah, it really is so. So let's bring in our very first sponsor, john Robinson, from the Hilton head tour. They are welcome to show. And again, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for For your support of the podcast and the support of the tour.

Speaker 5: 7:01

Tim and Chris, it's. It's great, not only great to be your guest On this show, but also to meet you guys. And and let me tell you something, you know, playing on this tour is the golf week amateur tour and also the senior tour is the coolest thing I I've done as an adult. You know, when you're a kid you do a lot of fun things, but as an adult, not as many. But this is, this is the.

Speaker 5: 7:31

I really look forward to these tournaments and you sort of gear up for the nationals and this. It's because it's a national tour. What I, what we players in our own areas I'm in the Hilton, that area play lot in Savannah, georgia and Hilton head and maybe Charleston. But what we don't get is to meet the other players all over the country and to see how they're doing and to see what's going on and what the weather was and who won and what's going on and in different in the different parts of the country. And that's what this podcast can do for everybody. It sort of can pull it all together. So I know what's going on all over the all over the country. I think that's pretty, pretty cool.

Speaker 1: 8:13

What you're saying echoes a lot of the feedback that we've got, and you know the the positive words that we've received from Again, from players from all over the country.

Speaker 5: 8:23

I would love to play, you know, all over the place. You know and play on the East Coast. You know, of course, dennis McCormick is our tour director and that's a treat in itself. You know, to have Dennis running a tournament, that's it's. It's hard to explain how great that is, you know.

Speaker 5: 8:40

After the round yeah you don't just give your scorecard, leave you hang around, you know, and then, because you want to, you want to see what the other guys are doing, you want to hang out with Dennis and and it's, it's a lot of it's a, it's a lot of fun and and I really look forward to these tournaments and and with your podcast, you know it's growing and you guys are going to start traveling, I guess, to some of the regionals and, and I hope everybody pays attention to what's going on all over the place. You know we have our regionals, the icebreaker coming up at Harbor Town and I'm on a dunes coming up and and I know there's regionals all over the place Happening, and through your podcast, I think it's a great way to sort of keep, keep your finger on the pulse, yeah, yeah, and, by the way, I'll see you at Icebreaker and in, you know, in a couple weeks.

Speaker 1: 9:36

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 9:37

I can't wait. I'm signed up and I and I'll definitely Come. Maybe grab your microphone and start talking. Please do, please do, love it.

Speaker 1: 9:44

So let's talk about your you know your your journey with the tour you've been around, you know I think, 9 or 10 years. You know I think about 10 years. You know I've been playing golf.

Speaker 5: 9:55

You know. You know you try to get serious and as you get older you try to get more and more serious because you know there's an end line. So you can't do it all your life. So you want to. You want to play as well as you can and and be as good as you can. And you don't want to be a, you know, you just want to improve at it and and see results.

Speaker 5: 10:15

So years ago I had this golf group and we'd play every Saturday and then all of a sudden they couldn't play Because they all signed up for the tour and they all had tournaments and all of us like and I'm like, where'd you guys go? Like there's nobody to play with now? So I sort of had to join and I didn't want to. I didn't want to join because I was terrified, I didn't want to be the worst guy out there and I didn't want to lose and I didn't want to. You know, embarrass myself so. But because my golf buddies joined, I joined. But I joined, I think, in like February, but the first tournament I played was In like February, but the first tournament I played was probably May. You know, I joined but I was still I was still hesitant to play. But I got into a tournament and it was at the country club of Hilton had and it was the the coolest thing I ever did and and from that point on I was, I was completely stuck. You know, it was Best thing I've ever done.

Speaker 1: 11:17

Well it's funny you say that, that your, your buddies joined. I don't know if you heard. I've got a friend From the DC tour. He's gonna be moving to rural beach here soon. You know we did a golf show Kind of his recruitment thing in DC at a number a number years ago and he and his wife walked by by the booth and his wife was giving him a hard time. He think you're so good, you're so competitive, why don't you join this tour? And she paid for his membership. Well, and now she's complaining that he's playing in in too many tournaments all over the country there you go.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Yeah, you paid for you started this. It wasn't me.

Speaker 5: 11:54

I tell you I think it's fun man. You know I I travel a little bit. I'll go to um, play Kiowa and we played sea island last summer and you know I've played a few tournaments down in florida, um, but I I'd love to get out To the west coast and just experience some different courses and meet some some guys. I love the guys in our tour. You know that's part of you mentioned earlier, it's part of why you play. You know, because you become friends with these guys. You may not see them and you know until each tournament, but you still hope that they do well and and care about them and and uh, if one of them doesn't show up, you you wonder where he is. So it's, it's really creates a lot of camaraderie.

Speaker 1: 12:40

It does and, and you know I noticed you missed the national championship this year for the first time in a long time. Um, I'm assuming somebody scheduled something and didn't check with you if it was alright to schedule that.

Speaker 5: 12:52

Yeah, I had a wedding to go to and I tried to get them to change their dates. But I, and but my, my great friend lisa it's her daughter who got married and I I said, look, you know, I play this tour all year and the whole goal is to to Bring it all together in nationals and see, see if I can take it. And she, her response was, well, you cannot play. You know, you cannot play it in essence. So there was my answer. So I had to, had to miss it for the first time, but I did play the senior nationals. Um, yeah, the next week. But, yeah, I love the nationals. Man, it's denise and susan and and jan and all of them put together such a great, great event is it's just the premiere event of the year.

Speaker 1: 13:38

They really do.

Speaker 2: 13:40

Yeah, we've talked about it, Especially this year at nationals, with our live show on the people on the back end that nobody actually sees at nationals and what they do, um, it's, it's a huge circus that Seems that there's no hiccups and it's so smooth. Um, but you did mention you know you want to come to the west coast. I don't know if you know I'm from El Paso, texas, which is Midwest coast. I guess you could say, um, but it's a whole different ballgame out here. Okay, there's no.

Speaker 5: 14:10

Yeah, well, you're mentioning that you were from Texas. I my first life. I'm a realtor now Harold Hilton there, but my first life I was a tennis pro. You know, in my 20s and my 30s I was a tennis teacher, you know, and I taught tennis in New Braunfels, texas, you know so. I do love Texas, although I'm a big Redskins fan. So I don't like the Dallas Cowboys. But other than that I'm a big fan of Texas, that's for sure.

Speaker 2: 14:40

You know what? Neither do I or Tim, so I think you're in the right room, for at least today.

Speaker 1: 14:44

You're in the right room. Actually, john, you bring up the Redskins. I don't know if you're a Capitals or a Wizards fan. They've made a big announcement a few days ago, which I think is huge, you know and I say Wizards because to me they're still the Bullets. Yeah, absolutely, they're still the Bullets, but that move to Northern Virginia, I think it's gonna be huge for them.

Speaker 5: 15:10

Oh, it's gonna be a premier, premier location.

Speaker 1: 15:13

It really is yes.

Speaker 5: 15:14

Much more room there.

Speaker 1: 15:16

Mm-hmm and well plus and I think for the most part, easier to get to for everybody. You know we're Capital One arenas now. Yeah, you can take the Metro in, but it's not a Tight, it's tight, it really is Right. But anyway, back to golf. Yeah, hey, john, you really do need to get up to the West Coast. You know whether it's for regular, tournament or regional. You know the Vegas is coming up in a couple of weeks. I haven't played those courses, but here they're nice. The regional that they do over Memorial Day weekend at PJ West. If you've never been there, you need to go, that's for sure. And then you know the TBC Scottsdale in Labor Day weekend. Well, let me tell you.

Speaker 5: 16:05

You know I will go in a second, but I don't like to go by myself. I'd like to take some or some of my golf buddies to go. That would be a lot of fun. But that's the trouble Sometimes, getting some of them to go do it too. Not that they don't want to, but it's. You know it's sometimes costly to do the travel. But I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it because that's why we play golf.

Speaker 5: 16:34

We don't play golf just to go play nine on the weekend. You know, we play golf to compete and we play golf to improve your game. We play golf because it's social and it's a craft. You know you want to improve at it and you want to be as good as you can be. And it doesn't mean you're gonna be a scratch golfer, it just means you work on making yourself as good as you can be. And that means traveling to different locations. You know, two summers ago, you know, seven of my golf buddies and I went to Pebble Beach and played, you know, the pebble, and we played spyglass and played a course called Ocean Grove, you know, which is right outside of the pebble resort, and we played Harding Park up in San Francisco, and the biggest, the fullest thing is that the grass is different and the rough is different.

Speaker 5: 17:30

And the undulation and the. You know the trees are different. What does that mean? If you hit a tree down here in South Carolina, it might be a pine tree, might be an oak tree, you might be a palm tree and you know what you get. But there's other areas of the country where trees and grass and undulation, it's all different and you sort of just don't know what you're getting into. And that's so cool about golf and. But tennis, let's say, in my tennis days you could go anywhere in the world and play tennis and that tennis court is the exact same court, exactly the same. And I love tennis, but golf that's what makes it so amazingly challenging is you could be so good on your home course and then you go somewhere else in the country and you got to learn it. You got to learn different things about that course.

Speaker 1: 18:23

It's humbling, sometimes it's humbling.

Speaker 2: 18:27

It takes me three days to just get used to the weather. Going to nationals. I mean, we talked about this, tim. It started sprinkling on me. I didn't know what to do with myself.

Speaker 1: 18:38

You don't know that wet stuff is.

Speaker 2: 18:40

No, so you're right, it's. You can go anywhere in the world and it's going to be a different atmosphere.

Speaker 5: 18:48

You know, I played Harding Park in San Francisco and you know, when we get there there's not a lot of water, the trees aren't too thick and there's not a lot of, not a lot of from your visual. There's not a lot of danger. So I thought, hey, this maybe I'll play. Well, but I'll tell you what if you didn't hit the fairway, that ball goes to the bottom. You know, our grass here in South Carolina will sort of hold the ball up a little bit. You know, it's sort of like maybe a gnarly kind of grass that isn't too sticky. But then you go out there and the ball drops to the bottom and the grass is sticky, and you know it's. You know, if you're in a green side, you know, in the rough next to a green, it's. I had no clue, I had a chip out of there, you know. But it's again. That's what's so great about golf. You try and improve your game, but then again, each course, each shot is different day after day. It's different, and that's what's so great about it.

Speaker 1: 19:54

So what would you say is your most memorable round?

Speaker 5: 19:58

Oh well, when I first started I was in the sea flight and I think it might have been my second nationals and day one. You know, I don't know how many guys are in each flight, maybe in nationals, maybe 200, give or take in each flight to 225, whatever it was. And we played Arthur Hills in Palma de Dunes Resort on Hilton Head. And day one, and historically I don't play well at that course. I'm a. I played better, I guess, on a course where the holes go left to right rather than right to left In Arthur Hills. There's some really finicky holes on that course. For those listening, I don't know if you've played Arthur Hills in Palma de Dunes, but you know Hole 12 and a few other holes. They're just.

Speaker 5: 20:53

You have to be very accurate with some of your shots. You can't just throw it out there somewhere. You've got to be pretty accurate and somehow I shot a 78 that first day somehow and I was either in second place or tied with first place after day one. And I'll tell you what. That really got my attention and I was so super excited. You know, like I didn't win the tournament and I don't know where I finished, but I was very proud of myself for preparing for that, for that those nationals that year, and playing so well that first day.

Speaker 5: 21:47

And I told my friends I just wasn't used to being in that kind of a tournament, in that position, and it really does mean something. It does, you know, when you're, let's say, six, seven strokes out on day two, and you know what you know, you go out and play and try to play your best. But if you're tied with first or in a solid second place and you got all these guys behind you coming after you, it's a different. It's a different feeling and something that you don't really experience that much. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:18

You know, like I said, especially with a three day tournament, you can't win it the first day, but you can definitely lose it. So being right there and then having to sleep on that, and then pressure goes in, and then pressure goes it, it really goes into that third day. It's something that again helps you be a better golfer, because you learn. You learn how to deal with that.

Speaker 5: 22:39

You're not kidding, you know. And another thing, if you're, there was another Nationals where I maybe it was the same one, no, it wasn't the same one, but I was in the last group, I think the beef flight, I think the last group on Sunday. Another thing that you don't really train for until it happens is is if you're trying to compete and you got two or three other players that you're trying to beat, because maybe one or two players are ahead of you by one or two strokes, but then the factor of the other two 100 players behind you, there might be some that are 10 strokes behind you and they're catching up to you. Right, it's not only you're trying to catch somebody, but you're trying not to blow your position by letting other guys go ahead of you Exactly, and that's something in sports that you don't see too much. You know, unless you're in a, in a, you know you're racing, you know you try to catch somebody. Then again, you don't want somebody to catch you.

Speaker 5: 23:45

So it's, it's a very interesting way to compete and it's very healthy. You know. I tell people, you know I say, look, you got to get into this tour. It's a lot of fun and it's good competition and it's, it's you'll love it and a lot of you know there's some people that say you know, well, I just rather play on the weekends and play with my, my other group. But I think it's. It's very, very healthy to to compete and whether you win or lose it, you know you feel like you've given it your best and and competing is fun and not just smiling and laughing it, but it's to go out there and give it your, give it your best to try to chase somebody down there's. There's nothing better than that, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:32

Are you somebody that watches the leaderboard Breath around? Um, if I'm not playing well.

Speaker 5: 24:35

I don't, if I'm not playing because I don't want to see it, um, but if I, if I'm playing well, then I'll, I'll peek at it. I'll peek, but I'll. But I'll wait a few voles and usually I'm the one that that's um doing the, the, doing the scoring app, but sometimes I don't look at. You know the, you know the leaderboard, um. But if I'm playing well, then maybe five, six holes in, then I'll peek at it.

Speaker 1: 25:04

When you do that, does that, does that affect how how you play it? Yeah?

Speaker 5: 25:07

it does and um, it does, it does and I, I won a tournament. I hadn't won a tournament in in I don't know, maybe two years, but I won a tournament this season at Country Club of Hilton Head and um B-Flight, and I started really well and, um, you know, I was paired with two other or three other guys and another guy. I was playing well too, but I, I jumped out to a pretty good lead after the first nine, the front nine, and, but I wasn't looking at the, the, uh, the scoreboard and um, after the turn, that's what I looked and I saw that I was leading by about three. And so then, yeah, I got tight. I got tight because the other guy who was three behind me was in my group, so he was playing without any, any fear and without any tension, and then I started to become tense because he was catching me and then he went ahead. He went ahead by three on me, but somehow I, I won it and we, we got to a playoff and I won it on the first playoff hole, you know.

Speaker 5: 26:20

But, yeah, it does, but I got to fix that. You know, you have to be a player where you can handle looking at the score and and not letting it tighten you up, right, you know it's. It's that sports man you got to, you got to figure it out.

Speaker 1: 26:35

Yeah, the dynamics of that it's it's. It's interesting and fun from my perspective when watching other people. Right, do it. But I'm like you, if I'm playing, I'm playing and I watch the leaderboard. Forget it, I'm done.

Speaker 5: 26:48

I mean, I just yeah it's hard, it's hard and if you, if you're behind, who cares? You got to, you got to just swing out. But if you're leading, then that, then you start to swing with less speed, you try to steer it and then, and then it's, it's, you're in trouble. But I guess the best players figure it out and they and they, they're good leaders and that's that's. That's a you know my, I think my favorite player yeah, obviously my favorite player of all time is Jack Bickles, because of because of what he's done. But my favorite competitor was Raymond Floyd, mainly because he was a great front runner and he rarely, rarely lost when he was, when he had the lead on Sunday, and to me that that was, that was incredibly respectful.

Speaker 1: 27:41

So let's talk a little bit about your, your real estate business.

Speaker 5: 27:45

Well, you know I've been a. You know I first came to Hilton head back in 1990. And I was a tennis pro and I taught tennis at the C Pines Racket Club and another tennis center on the island, hilton head. And then 20 years ago I left tennis and got my realtor, my real estate license and became a realtor and have been a realtor for 20 years here on Hilton head and and I wish I would have done it earlier you know I love my tennis career, met a lot of fun people.

Speaker 5: 28:15

But being a realtor here on Hilton head is exciting to me, you know, partly because I love Hilton head and it's a, you know, so much golf and tennis and beach and biking and and boating and it's it's just such a fun place to be. So people are interested in real estate. It's it's I get excited, just like they are. You know, if I were selling real estate in any town in USA I'm not sure how much I'd love it, but here on Hilton head it's it's a great, great business to be in because people want to be here.

Speaker 1: 28:51

You know you and I, you know, grew up in, you know, in the same same area. It's so, it's so different. Down here it's the weather is nice December still 50 degrees. You know there's a lot to do. You can still go to the beach. The people are nice, the scenery is nice. You know the, you know I can count. You know the bad days of weather, you know cold, let's just say cold weather. You know one, one, one hand over the course of a year.

Speaker 5: 29:21

Yeah, I've always said, you know, when people ask what are winters like, and I always mention that it lasts maybe about six weeks, you know, and from January into maybe first week of March we're starting to smell the spring and and I think that's why people like to be here on Hilton. And I tell you what you know if, if anyone is interested in real estate, on real estate anywhere at the beach, then they should really consider Hilton had, because you know it's not like South Florida. You know I love South Florida, like Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I love Fort Lauderdale, but you know what they don't have down there is the change of seasons and and you know I was down there one Christmas and that was that really got to me. You know, christmas you want a little bit of a chill, a little bit of a, you know, put a jacket on because it's it just sort of gets excited. But you know we do have all four seasons but they're very, it's a mild transfer from one to another. And but if you're considering a second home or an investment property on Hilton head, that's a great idea. You know we're close to Charleston, we're close to Buford, close to Savannah and within reach to Atlanta and Charlotte and Jacksonville, Florida. So it's. We've got all kinds of airports here.

Speaker 5: 30:41

If you're, if you're a golfer and you're considering a place down here on the coast in the Southeast reached other country, you really should consider Hilton head Island. You know, and I'll tell you and this is a testament to Hilton that when I first came to Hilton head I was 25 years old when I was a tennis pro and I got the job at C Pines Racket Club. I came down here by Red Jeep from Maryland tennis rackets and a TV and that's about all I had. And at 25 years old I said this is where I'm going to retire. This is it. I founded beach biking, boating, tennis and golf. There's nothing better. There's not good weather.

Speaker 1: 31:23

Jen and I have been here since COVID. You know I was working in Atlanta and Jen said since we're both working online, you know I'd rather be Hilton head than Atlanta. I couldn't argue with that. So it is what it is. We love it here. And you know, if you think about the number of golfers who've come down from national championship or whatever, who've then turned around in both properties, that number is astronomical really is.

Speaker 5: 31:51

It is. And you know what do we have here in Hilton head? We've got a tremendous amount of condos we have. You know. Obviously we've got homes that if folks are considering a second home to come down the island, you know, more often, and if they want to lawn in a garage and so forth.

Speaker 5: 32:11

But you know, if you want to, just if you want to place, just to come down and throw your bag on the bed and then grab your clubs and go play and then go out to dinner and maybe grab the bikes and go hit the beach and go down to the tiki hut on the weekend, and then you know, then a condo is a good idea and we've got a tremendous amount of condos here. We've got condos and how much we're doing is resort and the sea pines resort and place called forest beach, which is that's where the tiki hut is and you know, and other fun spots, you know. But it's, and our condos here are very reasonable, you know, reasonably priced when you talk, when you compare them to, let's say, you know, south Florida, you know our pricing here is real, real, reasonable, and we've got a lot to choose from.

Speaker 1: 33:01

Yeah, and the island is bigger than it's bigger than people think it is, but it's also smaller than people think it is as well. It's got a small town feel there's things to do all over the entire island that you can go and hide out. Nobody would even know you're here and you could go and everybody know you're there. So it's again. It comes back to me it's a great place to live Well it's it is.

Speaker 5: 33:26

You know you can get a place near the beach and be right in the middle of it, where you can get a place off the beach a little bit. You know this island is 12 miles by five and you know we've got a good number of miles along the beach but there's properties that are a little bit off the beach so you may not be in the middle of all the maybe tourism. And if you like history, you know and I'm a history buff If you like history, we have a lot of history down here, not only on Hilton but all around the what's called the low country region. You know civil war history and and revolutionary war history and you know all kinds of fun stuff.

Speaker 1: 34:06

So, john, how should people you know get in touch with you if they're interested in looking and buying the properties?

Speaker 5: 34:12

Well, look, let me tell you how I am. I'm not the type of realtor that's going to bug you, I'm just not. So if anybody out there listening is interested and they want to just keep keep abreast of pricing or specific communities, please know that, that I I don't like to bother anybody, but I'll keep you updated and you know, if you, if it takes you 15 years to decide to purchase something, then I'll be here, but I'm not going to be the type that that bugs you or presses you. So, and the reason why is because I don't like it. You know, when I go buy a car or if I buy a property, I, I, I don't like that and I want it to be casual and I want to be comfortable. So that's how I work.

Speaker 5: 34:56

If anyone is interested in in real estate here on Hilton Head or the or the mainland it's called Bluffton, south Carolina If you're interested, then get your pen ready. My cell phone number is 843-422-3767. And my email address is easy it's Hilton Head JR at AOLcom. And just, if you email me or text me or call me, just let me know what you'd be interested in and then we'll just keep you updated.

Speaker 1: 35:46

And in JR. I'll put those, the contact information, in the show notes for everybody as well. Excellent, that way it's there and and they can reach out. Thank you Well, john. Again, thank you so much for for being our first sponsor. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it and thanks for coming on and spending some time with us, and I look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 5: 36:07

Great guys. I can't wait to see you at the icebreaker in. What is that about? A month, right? Well, three weeks, about three weeks, yep, we'll see you then. Thanks guys, nice talking to you, thank you.

Speaker 1: 36:18

Take care. Again. We had another great guest in JR. I know I kept calling him John, he wants to be called JR and and you know me, I can't keep things straight sometimes, but I love that he's on how passionate he is about golf and how passionate he is about the tour. You know, it's amazing that that that we have, that we have guys, that that this really becomes, you know, a way of life for them.

Speaker 2: 36:46

Yeah, we always talk about it, how this tour brings everybody closer than you know, your normal scramble event or your charity event or even sometimes the groups you play with all weekend. I mean we. This guy travels, you know, and wants to travel all over the country to play golf tournaments, and also his passion for what he does, you know with the realty. I love how he mentioned that he's not going to pressure you to buy something because he doesn't like to get pressured to buy anything. And that's my type of salesman, because I don't want to be pressured to do anything. You know I'm going to go and look for prices but I'm not going to buy it if you're like pushing me to get whatever you're selling. So you can just tell, no matter what he puts his hands on, he's passionate about, or you know. We can't be more thankful for that.

Speaker 1: 37:37

Yeah, yeah, and I'm glad that we got a chance to talk. You know he's a man of my own heart Reskins fan. You know DC, all DC sports, so so that's good to have somebody close down here in Hilton Head that talked to about, because we don't even get on TV. But anyway, our next guest is another obviously another tour member. We're going to go from East Coast Beach all the way out to California. Let's welcome in Joshua Butler from the California tour. Joshua, welcome bud.

Speaker 3: 38:14

Thanks Tom, thanks Chris for having me. And how about those renoms?

Speaker 1: 38:22

Well, yeah, they put it on the Redskins again, but what everybody does, I'm used to it, you know. Actually I'm surprised they scored. I think they scored 14 points which is, you know, 14,.

Speaker 3: 38:34

as you might expect, they like that.

Speaker 1: 38:38

Well, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 3: 38:38

I mean at the end of the day it was a good game for the round.

Speaker 1: 38:44

Yeah, tell you what you just, anytime, anytime, whoever's playing Redskins, just chalk it up as a win. You know they're bad, it's horrible. You know football season you brought it up on yourself, say it again.

Speaker 2: 39:02

I said you brought it up on yourself by bringing up the Redskins.

Speaker 1: 39:06

Hey, football season for me was over September, man, so it's.

Speaker 3: 39:11

Hey, my just get it started in.

Speaker 2: 39:17

University of Alabama grad. So roll tide. Oh, let's cut this short please. Yeah, I'll, I'm going to save you before we cut. The golf is.

Speaker 3: 39:26

So come song and say well, they won't justice twice in one season. You should ask Georgia about that.

Speaker 2: 39:34

Wow, wow, see what you started.

Speaker 1: 39:42

I'm a Notre Dame fan. We can't beat anybody in the top 20 anyway, so it doesn't matter.

Speaker 3: 39:46

Hey, I mean, tim, we can't get on the same page now because I grew up a Michigan fan, so you can imagine, with the Rose Bowl coming up, I'm a blitz right now, like I could see you down in Michigan play, yeah.

Speaker 1: 39:58

So who are you? Who are you pulling for?

Speaker 3: 40:02

Oh, Alabama. I graduated from there. They took my money. I gave three years of my life. The track and field roll tide.

Speaker 1: 40:10

Okay, All right, so so so you were a college athlete.

Speaker 3: 40:14

Yeah, I ran track for three years. I was one, I was an artiller.

Speaker 1: 40:19

Wow, we learned something new every day. That's awesome.

Speaker 3: 40:22

Yeah, the greatest baronets.

Speaker 1: 40:25

Well, I was not a college athlete. Obviously, if you looked at me, I know we would ever think I was an athlete to begin with. But in my full-time job, some of the things I do I interact in those spaces a lot and what an intercollegiate athlete goes through is incredible. Number one all the time and effort that they put into their sport. Number two the time and effort that they are required to put in for their academics. It's they're special people that they really are.

Speaker 3: 40:59

Yeah, thanks for saying that. I mean. Sports change so much over the years. But one thing that is consistent is that work ethic and it's funny because it translates into golf very well Like when you think about how many hours you have to put in at the range course preparation mentally, physically, emotionally all of those things I can say directly related to track and field. I'm glad that I ran in the sport that I did, especially in hurdles, because you didn't know where you were at at the beginning of the season. You just got on the line hoping that all of your summer training and everything that you did was good. And I take that same mentality into golf, because I'm standing on the T-Box and I'm just like, oh hell, let's see what happens.

Speaker 1: 41:46

I have to stand, that too. You're standing that too. So you're on the California tour. How long have you been on the tour?

Speaker 3: 41:53

So this will be my second season on the tour. I met Don Rissner, the tour director, in December of 21. I was actually playing in a different tournament and had a chance to run into him and he said hey, man, have you ever heard about golf week amateur tour? And I was like heck is that? Plus, I'm relatively new to California. I've only been out here for going on three years and picked up golf rather quickly when I moved to the state. I moved out here from Chicago where my wife and I were at previously. But Don was such a cool guy and just very conversational. I think everybody knows Don, he can talk, but he was definitely, you know, he was just like you don't have what it takes to come to play on golf week amateur tour. And I was like, ok, let's go see what this is about. And when they let it to them up, I joined and I've been in the flight and just loving the guys that I get to play with, loving the ladies that come out as well. It's been a great tour.

Speaker 1: 42:57

Well, you said Don does such a good job out in California. You know he covers the whole state, goes all the way to the place. He does a really good job and has really tried to try to grow it out there. Or sometimes seems like he's out there on an island, but I mean he does a great job.

Speaker 3: 43:16

Yeah, his energy is indefatigable. I mean, the man is everywhere and not been just amazed at how much he gives of himself to ensure that the tour players have what we need. We had scheduling hiccups last year, but a lot of that was out of his control. And the unfortunate part is, as tour directors, a lot of people don't know the stress and headaches that everybody has to take on to make sure it's looped. But I was fortunate to be around Don rather closely to get to experience it.

Speaker 1: 43:46

Yeah, you know, it's just like any other business, right? I mean, we're providing the service and it's not up to us to go out and tell our customers or our members or players hey, by the way, this course over here screwed me, this course over here screwed me. We don't really care. I mean, we just want to put on good tourmets.

Speaker 3: 44:07

No, it's true, man, when you think about it. Even for my situation, I just want to show up and play, and when the schedule changed, of course I'd whine and complain like anybody else would and say, well, shoot, I was prepared, or ready, or wanting to play that course. But you don't know the back-inside of business and being a business owner, I kind of learned to just appreciate the nuances that most people don't get to see behind the scenes.

Speaker 1: 44:34

Yeah, and most guys that just kind of roll with it. Anyway, you always have some that get upset. But I understand. You know, as tour directors and Chris you can attest to this Nobody gets more pissed off than us when we have to change courses. Or, you know, when we find out that greens are just been punched two days before a tournament. Nobody gets more upset than the tour director does because now we have to either change the course, cancel the tournament or, you know, have our players go out and play on a course that is not up to our standards.

Speaker 2: 45:10

Yeah, yeah, I completely agree with that, especially with all the flyers and things that we put out of these courses and then we've got to change a date or something. That just messes up everything and you know the possibility of maybe even getting new members or new players to come out and experience our tour. So I completely agree, it's not a stop, and I mean for as many flags as Don puts out there at your tournaments. He needs extra energy but he makes sense.

Speaker 3: 45:37

Yeah, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 45:39

So what is it that really kind of yeah, outside of down, that really kind of draws you to the tour?

Speaker 3: 45:44

Yeah, man, for me it's the quality of the people that are associated with the tour. You can play golf really anywhere, especially if you can afford it, but the trade is is the quality of the courses that we play. The people that are associated with the tour I mean the schedule within itself is aggressive and difficult in terms of the track. So when you combine all of those elements, it's something that I look forward to. I'm actually excited for the upcoming season. I've seen our slate and how we try to get a pathway back to Nationals next year. But in general, I would say the highlight and overview for me is that it is truly the quality of people. I've developed a lot of friendships because of Golf Week. A lot of good men and women that I've come across that will probably be lifelong friends for family in a larger context. So I don't see myself ever going anywhere, especially with now being so entrenched in the Golf Week family, and I'm just excited every time I get to step on the T-boss with people trying to get better, just like I am.

Speaker 1: 46:48

Well, let's take that just a step further. You talk about being part of the Golf Week family. You're one of our very first sponsors that we've ever had for the podcast. Like we talked with JR Chris, all of our sponsors are tour members. They're people that are invested in the tour and want to help see the growth of the tour.

Speaker 3: 47:15

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 47:19

And so to me, those are really the type of sponsors that we want the men and women who love the tour, are invested in the tour and want to see it grow, and then how the tour can help you actually grow your business as a business owner.

Speaker 3: 47:37

Yeah, I mean, it's a two-way street. The tour opened up doors for Jay Muller Golf that I would have never expected to have opened. That was a big part, too, of my gratitude to Don Rizner. When Don met me and started learning so much about what my company was about, he said hey, man, we've got a lot of great guys. We have a lot of great people associated with this tour. I know you don't have necessarily women's side, but let's see if we can get you some exposure.

Speaker 3: 48:07

And he brought me out and met with several of the people that were playing. He told them about what I was doing. So when people do stuff for you like that, you have an obligation to give back. You have an obligation to be supportive of other people that opened up doors for you and I was never going to forget that. Throughout the year I did some sponsorships of athletes on the California tour. It actually stretched, Chris, as you know, when Stephanie came out on the Memorial Day Tournament, PGA West, which was Memorial Day Regional, which was absolutely outstanding. So it started branching out and opening up these doors and windows of opportunity to really allow my brand to do what it was built to do, which is to support recreational, amateur and early career pro athletes. So I'm extraordinarily grateful to Golf Week and being a sponsor of the podcast and getting to come burst with you all just makes it come to life that much more.

Speaker 1: 49:04

So why don't you tell us what J Butler Golf is, what it's all about and how the business actually came to be formed?

Speaker 3: 49:13

Yeah. So it's a luxury golf apparel brand that's built on affordability. Golf is expensive. Your apparel shouldn't be, and I wholeheartedly believe that.

Speaker 3: 49:22

I walked into a golf club some years ago and I was making not as much money as I made in the last couple of years, but I was around $70,000 to $75,000 a year. My wife had multiple responsibilities rent, car note, all those things to pay and I wanted to go play golf and actually get into the sport. But I walked into a golf shop and I lived to the price tag with a polo and it said $100. And I was like, well, who the flip can afford this? I couldn't at the time not in take care of the things that I needed. That always stuck with me.

Speaker 3: 49:55

Plus, I was in philanthropy for 15 years, which is very altruistic, trying to get back to the community and making sure that people have the resources they need to be successful. Fast forward, as I moved out to California, I was dealing with a lot of stress in my job and I wanted to get back into the game of golf, went out play again and saw the same exact thing, except the crisis had gotten even crazier. So I figured I could do something about it and doing something about it. I developed an access brand, which is what J-Bullard Golf is built off of, so we don't sell anything over $65 and we utilize the proceeds of those cells to sponsor recreational, amateur and early career pro athletes and then building up opportunities of the community to help people go be great at whatever they want to do.

Speaker 2: 50:40

Yeah, I like that and you know it's not just a business, but also giving back, which is awesome, and, like I told you before, we reached out to you during our Arizona Opasso Ryder Cup, which, by the way, I also won, in case anyone hasn't heard lately.

Speaker 1: 50:58

You have to build up.

Speaker 2: 51:04

Oh, he listens, he knows, but no great quality. You know, I love the shirt and, like I told you, you know, we we get red and Gabe gets blue, and the only reason why I get red is because I grew up a Tiger fan and you wear red on Sundays that's when, you know, we end our Ryder Cup. But this shirt has become one of my new favorite shirts to wear and I can't wait to get more of it. But you know, just when, seeing Stephanie come back from that regional she won, and just the excitement to hear that that you were doing what you were doing, and a couple of other members that were there and just texting me throughout the experience, shows that your passion to give back and rather just you know to keep it up, because it's awesome.

Speaker 3: 51:52

Thank you and I will. In fact, I know a lot of business owners tend to get greedy once they start making money and they forget about the original mission and vision of what they put in place. I never aspire for that and it's one of the reasons says I do more and I gain more. I want to do more for the organizations like Boff Week and the athletes that are associated with it. I'm thrilled to know that Stephanie is so happy with her relationship.

Speaker 3: 52:20

I actually feel bad sometimes because I haven't been able to do as much for her, just given the fact that we have not fully launched the women's line yet. Now, I think maybe right before the Ryder Cup, she just got her first polos and I was able to do a matching set for her and her dad as a way of saying thank you for all of their sacrifices and effort. But it's not enough. There's a lot that still needs to be done and I just hope that as the year goes forward, beyond the sponsorship of the podcast, I can continue to do some other things for Golf Week in general to support the growth of the organization.

Speaker 1: 52:58

That's good to hear, but you're in the middle of a project right now. That's really really exciting. I'm excited for you. I don't know how excited you are, but I'm really excited for you and I can't wait to see how it turns out. Tell me about this thing.

Speaker 3: 53:16

Yes, normally a reality show.

Speaker 3: 53:19

It was completely unexpected.

Speaker 3: 53:22

I got an application that came my direction of interest to submit for an entrepreneurial accelerator program and I had no idea it was going to be reality TV.

Speaker 3: 53:35

But this particular show and I can't get into a lot of details just because of confidentiality raises, but we started filming a few weeks ago and as part of that filming process I was selected as one of 12 companies out of over 220 submissions to come and compete in this accelerator for the opportunity to gain $100,000 in investment and prizes, as well as an additional $100,000 in resources that can help the skill business. So it had been a crazy, crazy experience. On this 13, 15 hour filming days, four days a week, you're going through multiple challenges and things that you have to do as a business owner to show that you have business acumen and prowess to compete against other companies, and I'm just trying to put JDG in the best possible position to be successful, both from a visibility perspective as well as being able to tell the stories of those that are associated with the brand, so that we can continue to generate some new opportunities for those that need most.

Speaker 1: 54:41

This is really exciting and number one to be chosen out of one of 12 out of 220 submissions. That in and of itself should say a lot about you and a lot about J-Butter Golf. To begin with, Right, Thank you. And you're still in the competition and you've got something really special coming up tomorrow. And why don't?

Speaker 3: 55:04

you tell us about it and how can we help? Yeah, so we have a live 10 minute and I literally mean 10 minute event.

Speaker 3: 55:16

So you're not 10 minutes and two seconds, you're talking about 10 minutes 10 minutes on the dot and I mean it cannot go a second longer. We were challenged as entrepreneurs this week by the host and by the judges to develop a plan, a marketing plan where we have to compete head to head against another company to get our brand out there, make sales, and we have to generate those sales in a 10 minute time frame. So what I decided to do with this challenge and hopefully the members of Golf Week that are listening to this, I love this our 2024 collection. We were not going to start pre-sales until January or February, but we're going to rip the Band-Aid off and the entire 2024 collection. We're going to launch it in this 10 minutes of challenge and we're going to sell. We're going to pre-sell. We're going to have a ton of incentives. We have scenarios where we're going to be offering free golf lessons for those that purchase over $100 of peril. We're going to be offering a grand prize at the end of the 10 minutes. So we need everybody to literally tune in and stay on.

Speaker 3: 56:32

Where you get a year's apparel sponsorship package. You're going to have a 30 minute virtual session with a PGA certified professional golf teaching professional by the name of Michael Kahn, as well as a 30 minute session with a PGA pro certified teacher by the name of Michael Jordan, and in addition to that we've got some other incentives that are being built in, so we're trying to make that 10 minutes segment very interesting. Exciting. We're judged on engagement. I'm hoping that my golf week exam will show up because I want to be able to provide the apparel at an affordable rate. The golf season is coming up in January. I want people to look great, feel great and be confident when they step on the T-Box. But this really is a significant opportunity for my brand and I'm hoping that for those that are listening, you'll feel like going on to register. It's Thursday, december 21st, at 1130 AM Pacific Standard Time, and if I succeed in this, I move on to the next round and I'm probably going to be in the top four companies heading towards the finale in the month of January.

Speaker 1: 57:41

Well, to me there's no doubt that you're going to succeed in this, thank you. So we'll get into some more detail in your second book. But what's the link to the challenge?

Speaker 3: 57:53

Yeah, so I'll also send this over to you, but it's wwwjbglivecom. So that's jbglivecom, and if you go to that link it's going to ask you to put in your email. You put in the email, you submit, and then you'll get a registration link that ties you to the Vimeo live feed on Thursday at 1130. Now, if you miss that 10-minute portion, all of these incentives and deals go away. We're going to be giving away quite a bit of stuff. We're going to have a fashion show so you'll actually be able to see the apparel before you buy it. We're going to have some graphics up showing the different color variations of what's offered, and I believe you will really love what's in store for the 2024 collection.

Speaker 1: 58:43

Well, I'll make sure I put that link in the show notes and give that to everybody. Thank you, I do have a couple of questions. Chris and I were talking. I was going through your website and I said I see two issues and one of them, direct, affects me directly. You don't have any shirts for big guys. Chris said well, tim, you just got to lose weight. I said come on. Now I'm going to ask you a question. So I do have this element.

Speaker 3: 59:07

I've actually heard that quite often. Very early when I started on JBG, I got some bad advice, was told no, don't go over to Excel. There's not enough big guys that I should play golf. But part of being a business owner is you learn a lot of mistakes or a lot of mistakes as you build a company, and the one thing that I always regretted was that I didn't have the larger sizes.

Speaker 3: 59:32

I think there was a significant miss in making sure that it was truly an inclusive brand. So I hooked up and linked up with a gentleman that's actually he's six foot seven and he's going to be one of the models that will be in the fashion show on Thursday and or tomorrow and as part of him being in there, we're trying to demonstrate that for the new collections that are coming out in 2024, we're going to have sizing going all the way up to Excel. So we're trying to cover the gauntlet, make sure that if somebody is loving with JBG is putting out, that, nobody's missing the opportunity to get it. And again, I'm a luxury apparel golf brand that doesn't sell anything over $65. And I mean outerwear, your polos, your bottoms, the whole none. And I want to create access to the game of golf because it's the most strategic networking game on the planet. And people like yourself, people like my friend, that six foot seven like resources and those types of things don't matter. Everyone needs the opportunity to go out and have the opportunity for the same outcomes.

Speaker 1: 1:00:39

But just so you know, I'm not six, seven.

Speaker 3: 1:00:41

I'm quite a bit shorter, hey you might not be six, seven, you can't see the arm. That's good man.

Speaker 1: 1:00:56

And then the other other piece is how you talk about clothes for females.

Speaker 3: 1:01:01

Yeah. So the first thing we'll introduce are the polos for women. Being a man as an apparel designer, I realized that it is not a smart idea and is highly egotistical if you think that you can design apparel for women without getting women's input. So I've been doing a lot of research, putting some focus groups together, talking with women golfers. So golf is also very much a crossover. It's not just about golf apparel, it's about lifestyle and one people to be able to transition their wear from course to everyday life. So women have a lot of different cuts, a lot of different fits, sizes, pattern requirements, all of those things. Guys, we can kind of throw it together, polo or two, and we're just like, hey, let's go ahead and get some jiggler wiggly, we really don't care.

Speaker 3: 1:01:52

But women are very particular. They're the largest consumer group in terms of purchasing power and buying power. So I want to make sure that this buying experience is meaningful to them. I've taken my time to launch the women's line because I want to get it right. You know they tell you it's a business owner, you just have to re-band-aid off, go with it and execute. But this has been really important and meaningful to me because there's too many crap brands out there that are just throwing women's apparel lines out and not really considering that it doesn't fit right, it doesn't feel right and most women just aren't getting the same types of quality that the men are getting. So if I'm building a luxury brand, if I'm talking about the quality of the apparel, then I want to make sure that the women get it well. We're not charging them just for breeding and taxing them. Well, above what the men are, hate for their apparel.

Speaker 1: 1:02:41

Yeah, so, josh, I learned this a long time ago. I grew up with brothers, married. I have two daughters and, as they were growing up, just trying to buy clothes for them, I just didn't understand. I just didn't understand, and it took crying it was me that was crying and yelling, and it was them that was yelling at me to figure out that what you just said is absolutely, 100% accurate. As guys, we just don't understand. We go to buy a pair of jeans, whatever size it is, and they're just going to fit. We try one pair on by three other pairs that are the same size and we just go, yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:03:29

So how it works. And it's crazy to say that, tim, because traditionally men just have not been as fashion conscious as we're actually starting to become, and that's been kind of the unique transition for my golf brand. Guys are looking more and more now at the quality of what they're buying. They're looking at the price point, they're looking at all the other things that come along with it. So if you can imagine, if men are involved in that space, then it's even more critical and more crucial to ensure that it's done.

Speaker 3: 1:04:05

I was in the process. I taught with Stephanie about this. We were trying to design this very unique golf dress and not just completely scrapped it. I'm big into quality assurance. So when we got the first sample and I was going to send it to Stephanie to try and I was like there's no way in hell, I'm putting this in the drop in the mill for her to put on, it was just unflattering.

Speaker 3: 1:04:29

I had a couple of people that tried it on here and when they looked at it they were just like no, this doesn't fit right, it's shape, funny, all those things. So until that was done correctly, I figured the best and the easiest way to start out with the women's apparel was to go with the polos first the sports will come very quickly after that and then looking at shorts and joggers, as well as pants for women. The dresses will introduce later because we want to make sure that's done correctly. But the goal is to make sure that, as it's going, women get the same quality as the men and we can see that same price point that I'm offering on the bench side.

Speaker 2: 1:05:10

I want you to know, as you were speaking, I registered for your event, so can't wait to see what you got.

Speaker 3: 1:05:17

Thank you for that and, seriously, if you are sewing client share with your networks as well. We have plenty of inventory, especially the current inventory coming out 2023. There's requirements, of course, that I have to fill golf shops and all the other things that I'm building relationships with, but I want the golfers out there to know that J-Bella Golf has a resource too. We can't do everything in this industry yet because we're still a growing apparel company, but the bigger I get, the more we bring in to the company, the more I'm going to be able to support athletes like Stephanie, like a Bartel, like a Randy. These people have been extraordinary additions to my whole life on personal level and I'm glad that, as part of my golf week relationship, that we can continue to try and bring those things forward.

Speaker 1: 1:06:11

Yeah, that's good to hear Back to females for a second. If we want to be more inclusive, then we need more females playing golf.

Speaker 3: 1:06:21

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 1:06:22

They've got to feel comfortable, not only on the course, but they've got to feel comfortable more so than guys and what they're wearing to team and go out and play, like you mentioned. So how they look is, as guys, we can downplay how we look all we want, it doesn't really matter, but it's really important for females and if they don't have the clothes and that feeling then they're not gonna play. It doesn't really matter.

Speaker 3: 1:06:50

Yeah, and that's a big part of confidence building. I mean this why I focus on building an affordable luxury. People don't want to go out until like they don't belong there. We, as men, also need to make sure that we're creating a welcoming environment for women to come out and be a part of the golf course. Oftentimes we develop apparel items that are meant to be on the skin, showing as possible, and not everybody is wanting that. There is a space for it, but at the end of the day, there's versatility in what we can offer, and I think that, as I look at developing a brand, there's obviously multiple different variations will come out with it. In fact, I'm learning about the different lengths of skirts and skirts. I didn't really know that was a thing, but we just had to make sure that it's very accessible for the women that want to engage this force, so that they don't turn away and they don't feel like they don't belong.

Speaker 1: 1:07:49

Yeah, and nobody wants to see me out there in my man for running around.

Speaker 3: 1:07:54

I don't want to see that.

Speaker 1: 1:07:57

Much material as possible.

Speaker 3: 1:07:59

Look, it's funny you say that too, because gentlemen is coming to the fashion show on tomorrow. I was joking with them last night when we were speaking. I said hey, man, I have some ball cutters for you. I'm gonna read you some five inch inch shorts. And he said oh no, brother, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 1: 1:08:19

Yeah, please don't. No, it's okay. Well, josh, thank you so much for joining us, thank you so much for being a sponsor and wish you all the best. Thank you, I know you're doing great and I know the Golf Week family is gonna step up and help you out.

Speaker 3: 1:08:35

Thank you and again registrations at wwwjbglivecom and go be great Thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:08:43

Oh, by the way, before I take you one more time, I'll see you out in Vegas.

Speaker 3: 1:08:46

I'll see you in Vegas. I'm looking forward to seeing you. It's gonna be great Take care brother yeah welcome Roll tide.

Speaker 2: 1:08:55

Jim, what a great interview we had with Joshua. I mean just a passion he has, not just for his own company but for Golf Week in general and just giving back to his community. We hear all the time stories of people that know golf's expensive but wanna be able to make it affordable for anybody that wants to play the game. It's just awesome. I got to meet the guy last year at TPC briefly, but now being able to hear his story and what he has going on for himself is just one of those stories that we like to have, not only in the podcast but also on the tour.

Speaker 1: 1:09:34

He's a squared way dude. He's got together, he's got his head on right, he's getting good advice, and I really also like the flash sale that he's putting on for our members and everybody else for tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 1:09:52

Yeah, I, like I said on the interview, I've already got that in the calendar ready to go. It's only 10 minutes guys, it's only 10 minutes of your day. Kind of see what a member of Golf Week is trying to produce for everybody. Like you said, there's gonna be a little fashion shows. You can kind of see what it looks like. But coming from experience, the quality of shirt that we got for the Ryder Cup was top notch and of course Gabe brings me mind in the plastic bags that they get shipped in and he went and pressed his for his team, all on hangers and everything. So the Ryder Cup rivalry is still there, but even then we look good, we kick butt and the picture looked even better with that belt. So from experience, it's great quality. You're gonna enjoy it and the specials he's gonna have during those 10 minutes not 10 minutes and two seconds, 10 minutes only is something you do not wanna miss.

Speaker 1: 1:11:00

You don't. I mean 25% off of everything that you buy, 30% off if you're buying women's clothing or a couples package, plus the opportunity to win virtual golf lessons, free golf, all these benefits that he's put together for you for just coming in and watching a 10 minute show. And, like you said, Chris, the quality of the clothes that he's putting out there second to none, at good, reasonable prices.

Speaker 2: 1:11:37

Yeah, he mentioned nothing over $65. I mean, you could go to your wherever you get your photos right now, and I would probably bet that you can't find anything under $65 on those websites that you would you'd buy for yourself. So then we go, go take a look. It doesn't hurt to go take a look. You know, I'm gonna have to find something to hopefully get that collection designed and named after myself. That'd be kind of cool to be able to say that I have a collection of golfwear that is under my name. You know something that not anybody can do. Come on now.

Speaker 1: 1:12:19

Exactly and you know. Let's just say you were to buy, you know, the most expensive shirt $65, 25% off it's $48.75.

Speaker 1: 1:12:28

So you know, already you're saving money and free shipping, right? So just looking on the website, they've got some good looking shirts on there, good looking pants, and again, none of that stuff. Right. That they've got there right now is for big guys like me. But, like you said, there's gonna be the fashion show where they're debuting big you know big guy stuff where, if you ever saw the movie Easy Money, you know men's clothes for men. So looking forward to seeing that.

Speaker 2: 1:13:01

No, he announced a lot of big things. You know the women's line coming up and the fact that he wanted to make it right, cause anybody could throw women's clothing together and throw it out there. But he wanted to make it right and make sure that it's not back to the drawing board every season. That it's something that you can just continue to build off, of which is stuff you don't hear often from clothing companies.

Speaker 1: 1:13:28

So wishing him the best and again we'll be there to support him and looking forward to seeing how this turns out for him.

Speaker 2: 1:13:35

Yeah, and definitely check the show notes, register for the event I've already done that and then hop on for 10 minutes every day to see something might catch your eye and next thing you know you're changing your whole wardrobe in your closet for the 2024 season.

Speaker 1: 1:13:52

Yeah, like, thanks for reminding me. I'll put all this information in the show notes. So it's there and I'll put that. Make sure that the link's there so you all can go ahead and register. So he said your schedule for golf week is complete now, right, correct. So what's your best new course?

Speaker 2: 1:14:12

In my area there's not many new courses that we can go to, but one course in Hobbes, new Mexico, called Rockwind Community Links has become one of our favorite courses to go to and we're doing two days out there, one of the top courses in the state of New Mexico. What we do different is they have a part three course out and after the first round we go out there whoever wants to go. You know we put a little side money in there and everybody tees off on the first tee, part three and if you're the last one to make it in, you're out and we go to the next one. And if you're not last one to get them but the highest score, you're out. There's ties, there's three bogeys, all three are out, we'll do the next one and we keep going.

Speaker 2: 1:15:02

And if we got to go around this track three times, we go around this track three times until we find the winner. And that's what's pretty cool, cause you know we'll play games and like, hey, marker ball, play it as a Lies, you got to go around it or over it type of thing, and it's fun. It's fun, a lot of chirping that goes around and that one year we were running at a time and it was me and two of my A flighters no an A fighter and a champ fighter and me, good old C fighter, over here and we're running out daylight, and he said, all right, we're all going to hit at the same time on the count of three and the two closest are going to split and the farthest one's out. Sorry, everybody, we went at it. I was about three feet and the other two missed the green. So I was like man, I should have just done the closest one wins. But it's a good time we have out there. So that's the two day we're having out there. We're going back to a great course we played last year when warriors they're gonna show like a 76 out there 77, you know something, nothing to sneeze at. So we're doing that one.

Speaker 2: 1:16:09

And then a little thing a little bit different I'm doing this year because we are a two city tour. Our tour finals are going to have a course from each city on there. So we'll visit El Paso on Saturday and lost curses on Sunday. They're about 30, 45 minutes apart from each other, but kind of doesn't give the advantage to one city every year. So it makes you have to kind of be able to deal with. Not only you know a little bit of elevation change, little bit of weather change, but also can determine who's the best of the best, or at least our tour final and how has been the last couple of years. You know for points, races to a BC's and champion that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:16:53

I kind of like that idea.

Speaker 2: 1:16:56

Yeah, I hope everybody else does. I picked you in the tougher courses we have in both and both cities, so it's not gonna be an easy challenge whatsoever, but it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 1: 1:17:10

Are you playing up in Albuquerque this year?

Speaker 2: 1:17:13

Albuquerque yeah, that's where Twin Warriors is, so we're gonna play there, and then we're trying to get their sister course, which is maybe a five minutes south of them on the schedules, where it's looking good, as you hear from them. You know, finalize there to after this podcast is released, but we've got the. Yes, this is a matter of helmet, but I don't think we'll be in any trouble with that.

Speaker 1: 1:17:40

How's the 12 days of?

Speaker 2: 1:17:42

Christmas going, it's going, it's going very well. Everyone has accepted their winnings on social media, which is nice. I've had a couple people like you know hey, I don't have social media but my wife watches and she let me know that I won. So can I claim it? And as long as somebody in the household's watching, I'll allow it. I know you know a couple of my senior guys may not be able to know what social media is, but somebody does, will allow it. Little thing I'm doing different this year, though, is I have two wheels going. One kind of shuffles the raffles for the 12 days, so they don't know what they're going to get each day, and I don't even know what we're going to give out that day, and then the next is the names. So kind of mix it up, and it's worked out so far, so we'll see what happens. I like that.

Speaker 1: 1:18:32

So what I did different this year is my raffles aren't going to be until after the first of the year. So give everybody you know through the whole months of December and opportunity to join and have that opportunity to win, primarily because you know we had such a big initial early bird. So we'll see how that goes and see what the guys think of that.

Speaker 2: 1:18:59

No, I think having raffles like this encourages the early bird registration and I've seen that come through every day. It's enjoyable to see emails come through that people are new or returning, and being able to add them to that list is something that's been fun to do.

Speaker 1: 1:19:19

Yeah, really has. But my schedule I'm still two courses short, kind of in that period where they're punching greens and trying to find one that's going to let's have a tournament on Saturday where the greens are healed. So I'm still kind of waiting on a couple of things. So we're not quite finished yet, which I'm not happy about, but hopefully we'll have it all wrapped up for the first of the year.

Speaker 2: 1:19:48

Yeah, and it's just one of those things that I don't think anybody understands what we go through, but we try to make it the best schedule we can, and those are the challenges that we have is punch greens or you know, I'm going to have this huge event that weekend. All right, let me call you back, let me see if I can show you some things around. You know, calling back that course that you just talked to 10 minutes ago and the pro left for the day, it's like gotta wait another day to see if we can move things around.

Speaker 2: 1:20:15

So there's a lot of things that happened in the back end that we do, but we do it for you all and we want to make the best schedule we can.

Speaker 1: 1:20:25

Yeah, and it'll all work out, that's for sure. But when you get down to those, you don't have like one or two dates left. It's real hard to be able to squeeze people in, but based on their schedules too. But it'll be done and we'll have a good schedule. We've got a couple of new courses up there, Like we're gonna have the Georgia South Carolina challenge at Savannah Lakes. I got one at Stonebridge which is a new course for us, and got another one that's just waiting on them to get back to me, which is gonna be a hopefully a nice private course on Saturday.

Speaker 2: 1:21:04

So we'll see. Hey, those are always fun to get, they're hard to get, but they're. They're hard to get. You know, if you are able to get one, go and play that event, cause it's something that you might not ever get a chance to do.

Speaker 1: 1:21:20

Exactly, exactly so we'll see what happens and I'm hoping next day or two we'll get an answer. Well, chris, let's go ahead and wrap it up there. It's Christmas time. I want to wish you and your families the merriest of Christmases. I hope you all enjoy it and hope you have a happy new year, and I'll talk to you in 2024.

Speaker 2: 1:21:44

Yes, sir, likewise have a great time. I know you're going back up to visit family, so safe travels. And once we talk again it's gonna be a new year, my friend, and it's gonna be starting this whole ride all over again for the 30th anniversary of Golf Week.

Speaker 1: 1:22:05

Yes, it's the 30th anniversary of Golf Week and do want to leave on this one note, and I'm probably gonna get in trouble for it cause I'm not supposed to say anything yet. I can't keep it inside. My youngest daughter and her husband are expecting their first child in July.

Speaker 2: 1:22:26

And I'm really excited for it.

Speaker 1: 1:22:27

That was probably one of the best Christmas presents I could ever imagine. I found out a few days ago and I just can't keep to myself anymore, but let everybody else know.

Speaker 2: 1:22:41

Hey, congratulations, my friend, congratulations.

Speaker 1: 1:22:44

Thank you so much and to everybody out there, having Merry Christmas and a happy new year and we'll see you in 2024.

Speaker 3: 1:22:53

Take care, have a good one. Christophyour members are the best.