Golfing Grips and Greens: Inside the Amateur Tour, Crafting Home Simulators, and Celebrating the Spirit of the Sport

Speaker 1: 0:45

Tim, we're back at it again with another episode. How you been.

Speaker 2: 0:47

I've been good and looking forward to this episode. We got some good stuff. I hope everybody hangs with us till the end on this one.

Speaker 1: 0:53

Yeah, we've got two great guests. We have the winner of our first shark contest for January and the winner is from the senior icebreaker. You ready to get this started? Yeah, let's go and get started.

Speaker 3: 1:10

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 Lana Tour Director Tim Newman, and El Paso Las Cruces Director, Chris Rocha.

Speaker 2: 1:42

Welcome back, Chris. You know it's the end of February, so you know what happens on March 1st, right.

Speaker 1: 1:47

A lot of things happen on March 1st, but you tell me Well, that's when the tour really gets going.

Speaker 2: 1:53

That's when the majority of tours are playing. We already have some tours playing and we've had a lot of tournaments already, but March 1st we've got pretty much almost everybody opens up. We have a couple of those northern tours that don't open until like July, but pretty much everybody else is playing come March.

Speaker 1: 2:12

That is true, march is usually our busiest month membership-wise and tournament-wise, so a lot of things are going to kick up there. There's going to be our episodes that are going to come out, which are going to be more exciting, with more content to bring out, with more tours playing. You know, maybe some more entries for that shark contest. Yeah, we have to get more entries.

Speaker 2: 2:35

We'll talk about the January winter here in just a little bit, but need more entries. I do want to bring up something that Shane, the Tampa Tour Director, brought up in the last episode the whole issue with regionals and where we find them. It's I don't know how I want to put it. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine. Guys don't generally read all the emails, right, and they sometimes they don't understand or they don't get the information. And I get it. I mean, I'm guilty of that at times too, but we're talking about golf.

Speaker 2: 3:11

This is important stuff, right. Regionals, right, I mean it's important, you know, and you know if you, if you want to get the maximum amount of points, you got to be playing in regionals, so you got to, you got nowhere to find them. So, understand, guys, there are two main ways to find them. First and foremost, it's the tours homepage. So at amateur golf tournet, if you go to amateur golf tournet, all the regionals are sitting right, right there on the homepage. Yep, it's laid out, it looks nice. All you have to do is click on the picture and it takes you to the regional page, and all the regional pages are all set up the exact same way you can register from right there, you can pay from right there. On the one, each regional page, you can look at the roster. I mean there's all kinds of information there, the courses you're playing, if there's any hotel discounts, everything can be done right from that page. So if you go like, like I said, go right to the tours homepage, amateur golf tournet, that's what you're going to see right away.

Speaker 1: 4:14

Yeah, I mean, it's right there, easy to use, but, like you said, the emails that the director spent the time with to get out to you. There's important information on there. I know me, for one started to do a what we would call a moving day once a month and, if you know, we'll check your handicaps, see if you want to move a flight and still have players asking me when we get, when they can submit their request to move a flight, and that happened the day after Valentine's Day and they're still asking me that. So please, please, read your emails, because they are important. Whether you've signed up for all your events all year long, you might see a snippet in there that might catch your eye for something.

Speaker 2: 4:56

Well, of course I got a solution for your moving day problem. What's that? If they didn't catch it and they want to move, be sure, I'd be happy to move you right up to the A flight.

Speaker 1: 5:09

I mean, it is what it is.

Speaker 5: 5:11

You know, you hear all the excuses.

Speaker 1: 5:14

I have too many emails to go through. I didn't get it. But when you know the things that we use, you can tell if you got it and open it or not.

Speaker 2: 5:22

So, that's a story for another episode.

Speaker 2: 5:26

Right, exactly, but it makes me laugh because you know, I don't know if a lot of people know this, but my full-time job, my day job, is on the college professor and the excuses that I get. I just look at them and start shaking my head and you know, it's normal. Right, it's funny, but normal. The other way to find these regionals is if you it's kind of funny saying this if you're on the tour's homepage and you can't find the regionals from the tour homepage, if you go to find a tour near me, the drop-down menu with all the other tours listed there, all the way down the bottom, there's a regionals page that you can go there as well. Yes, and that's set up and looks just like the tour homepage. There's two ways. Yes, yeah, there's two ways.

Speaker 2: 6:15

So, and you know what, when I I had a conversation and I forget who I was talking to about this it was just the other day and we were having this conversation I said I don't understand how number one, how you can't find it because you go to the homepage every time, you go to the webpage anyway. He says well, I have the Atlanta page saved as a homepage, which, oh, that's great. Even, even like Chris, even I don't do that. When I get log on to the home log on I go right to the tour homepage. I very rarely go straight. I never go straight to the Atlanta page. So even if you're on like a regular tour page, like an El Paso page or you know, like in a or whatever tour, if you go to the find a tour near me and go to the drop down menu there, there is that regional page there.

Speaker 1: 7:00

So definitely, or the drop down menu and just hit home, it'll take you right there.

Speaker 2: 7:05

Anyway. So so, moving on, we do have a winner for the January shirt contest, and, yes, we do, and that's coming up later on the episode. We have some other big news coming up later in the episodes, so so please hang tight with us. But our first guest, he's from from the great white north up in Minneapolis. It's a tour director, matt Foge. Matt, welcome to the show, hey guys, how you doing.

Speaker 6: 7:31

Thanks for having me. No problem, how's the? How's the snow out there? You know what? We've only got a little bit of snow, so we're living the dream.

Speaker 2: 7:39

So so what's the temperature Cause I? You know, I saw a Facebook post from a from a buddy in Milwaukee, mike Miller, who plays on the Milwaukee tour. He said it was 50. He was playing golf in the 50s either yesterday or today.

Speaker 6: 7:50

Yeah, we guys. As a matter of fact, it's I'm looking at it's 49 degrees right now. Pass, Hard pass. Are you kidding? This is like summertime over here.

Speaker 1: 7:59

Hard pass. We were 78 and I'm wearing a sweater. Hard pass.

Speaker 6: 8:03

I'm jealous, very jealous, but we'll see that again.

Speaker 2: 8:06

Matt here here in about two months, when it when it's 90 degrees, he's going to be complaining it's too hot, too so then you'll have to come join us.

Speaker 6: 8:14

That will be perfect.

Speaker 2: 8:16

So Chris likes it like 80 to 89.

Speaker 1: 8:18

We're good. 90s, I'll tolerate it. 100s we better have our early tee time. But low 80. I mean, it's okay, but I'll wear a sweater and not be able to swing. So there's a complaint for everything.

Speaker 2: 8:48

And it's kind of dry too. No rain, no wind.

Speaker 1: 8:53

Very well, I don't. I you know what. Honestly, I love the wind. I play better in the wind because I know everybody else is complaining about the wind and I just they got to head into it and hope and pray to God that it goes with it, and if it doesn't, let's get closer.

Speaker 6: 9:08

I'm with you. I'm mad, I like conditions.

Speaker 2: 9:11

All right. So so you talk a little bit about wind, matt. Matt, you went out to the to the Vegas regional, you know a few weeks ago. You tell us what your experience was like out there. What did you think?

Speaker 6: 9:21

Oh, the Paiou, first of all. Great place. Really liked that place and that term is a lot of fun. Obviously Dennis running it. He does a great job every time, so that was good times. Came up a little short in the end, but I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed my time out there in Vegas every time.

Speaker 2: 9:39

Yeah, you were hanging in there right up, I mean right up to, you know, the last couple of holes of the tournament.

Speaker 6: 9:45

Yeah, and I actually just refreshed my memory, looked at the results and I realized that I dropped down a couple of spots there at the end, because so that doesn't really tell the story I was sitting there come to 18 and all I had to do was make a par and I just didn't get it done.

Speaker 2: 10:02

Well, it happens. So are you a somebody that actually looks at the at the leaderboard, or you just play and let it? You know, let it fall where it falls, you know most of the time.

Speaker 6: 10:13

I'm not a leaderboard watcher. I'll, because it's going to kind of influence you. So I'll let it ride down to the end, maybe the last few days, down to the end, maybe the last couple of holes, because you do. You do need to know what's going on at the finish, right? I mean, if you need a birdie, you may step on one, where otherwise you can just lay an iron out there, which, ironically, that's what I should have done, was lay an iron out there and make it easy far. But I did the opposite and went forward with a driver, put it in the bunker and just couldn't get her up and down.

Speaker 2: 10:46

So Well it happens, the Saturday was kind of windy, but Sunday was relatively nice weather out there too.

Speaker 6: 10:53

Yeah, it was beautiful. I mean all the guys in my group, that's all we were saying was we got real lucky. I mean well chilly, but for the most part on Sunday it was great weather.

Speaker 1: 11:02

No, it was cold for me. Yeah, tim, I'm not lying. When I came in on Saturday, I was shaking, it was cold and we finished ready for sunset. I don't know how the hell we were so late. Yeah, it was frosty.

Speaker 2: 11:21

Yeah, I joke and make fun of Chris, but I didn't even go outside because it was too cold, so I stayed inside.

Speaker 1: 11:29

Yeah, he was supposed to bring me a coffee and some other work.

Speaker 2: 11:33

You're on your own. Nope, I walked outside.

Speaker 1: 11:35

He left me out there to dry.

Speaker 2: 11:37

Well, I walked outside, put the drone on for like 10 minutes and said now it's too cold, I'm back inside, I gotta go.

Speaker 6: 11:42

I gotta go Well to speak to the cold, I'll say this. On Saturday, the first round, I got out to the first green, I took my divot tool out and I stuck in the ground. I twisted it and just bent it in half almost. Oh my goodness, that's a cold green sir.

Speaker 1: 11:58

Yep, he's not lying, it was frozen over.

Speaker 6: 12:02

Yeah, that was a good event Again. That golf course is great, but all those golf courses out there are really nice. I like playing out there a lot.

Speaker 2: 12:09

Yeah, did you spend any time in any casinos out there?

Speaker 6: 12:13

You know, not really. We stayed at the oil because I booked kind of last minute for the hotel. So we play a little bit of blackjack there, but no, not too much, I'm not a big game but Okay. Only on the golf course. Okay, I understand, that's fine too.

Speaker 2: 12:33

So you've been in charge of Minneapolis tour for a few years now and you've been growing. It has been getting bigger and better every year. So what's your secret?

Speaker 6: 12:44

Well, it's kind of boring. I guess it's just putting the ads out there. So you know, early on it was all word of mouth, that's all I was doing and I was hitting the pavement hard. I was, you know, telling everybody everywhere I went about it, at the range, at the golf course, everywhere you could be and that wasn't good the job done. So I scraped together a few shekels and we started running some ads and that really, I mean that really bumped our membership. You know, I almost doubled it, I guess, over a couple of years. I think that's the way to go. I mean, I know the. You know, money is the issue for almost everybody, right, we don't have huge budgets, but whatever you can pump that in and that helps a lot.

Speaker 2: 13:21

When does golf season really start for you? I know maybe you can play, you know here and there, but when does it really start?

Speaker 6: 13:29

Yeah. So you know, this winter we fingers cross that it stays the way it is, because we'll get out early, and early would be, you know, beginning of April Well, so that kind of tells you if that's early. You know, we don't really get into green grass until kind of May. Mid-may is when it starts to get green around here.

Speaker 2: 13:53

Okay.

Speaker 6: 13:54

So it's a short season, right.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Yeah, but even, I mean even playing in May, you know, probably my guess is probably June it's probably a really nice time to play. I mean it started to get warm, but not too hot. The course are really starting to become in really good condition.

Speaker 6: 14:17

Yeah, absolutely Probably. June is really kind of prime time, right? So June and July is prime time, and then August it'll get hot. So, chris, if you want to come up to Minnesota, august is your window.

Speaker 2: 14:30

There we go, and hot is what? 85?.

Speaker 6: 14:33

Well, yeah and then. But depending on how you do with the humidity, we get really muggy. So that's what makes it kind of tough. We get up to about I don't know. We get high 80s and it's. You know, it's brutal with the humidity.

Speaker 2: 14:48

But again, it's the humidity that really gets you. You know, chris, being down El Paso, it's hot. Or you know, gabe, in Arizona it's hot but the humidity levels really are low. So at least for me, it's nothing compared to being here in Hilton Head or Atlanta, or even in the mid-Atlantic area, where you know it could be 95 degrees but it's 75-80% humidity and it's. That's brutal.

Speaker 6: 15:19

Yeah, that's a. You need a couple of towels, not for your clubs, right? You need to be dry enough out there.

Speaker 2: 15:26

Exactly. You know a couple of shirts. You know you change every six holes.

Speaker 6: 15:32

Yeah, you got to take the good with the bad. We're fortunate that it doesn't get. It's not too much of that for us. Well, and we're pretty blessed up here. You know, in Minnesota we got a big golf community and we have a ton of great golf courses. So you know, I'm sure that's pretty true in most places, but we're I think it's we're pretty rich up here with golf courses.

Speaker 2: 15:53

Yeah, so what's your schedule looking like this year?

Speaker 6: 15:56

So I got we're going to have probably about 12, maybe 13 events, but then again, if we can get out early, we maybe sneak a couple of more in there. I still haven't got my schedule up because I'm waiting on the last exciting one to give me the confirmation and put it up there. And I don't want to say it, but the guys, the guys around here, will be be happy when we finalize that.

Speaker 2: 16:22

Okay. So, and I know this is probably reaching and I'm, and I feel like I'm like my own players, you know, can my players say need to get on East Lake, Okay.

Speaker 9: 16:33

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: 16:34

That's real easy. I'll just hook up there and you know, give him a call. Sure, yeah, just, it's no problem with going to East Lake. What about Hazel teams? Is that ever? Is that ever an option?

Speaker 6: 16:47

It. You know it's. It's first on everyone's list, it's first off everyone's tongue. You know, uh-huh, I, of course I would love to, and I. There was a couple of years ago where I thought I had an in over there and it just fizzled out. We couldn't get them on, and a big part of that's going to be numbers, right. So I do think that it will happen. It's only a matter of time. But once we've, we really need to have the numbers to to back up something like that. Now, what I will say is we are going to work at, at getting them maybe to do a regional over there, Right, because then we could guarantee selling that out. And now then they're listening, right, right, right.

Speaker 2: 17:26

Yeah, cause I, you know, when Ryder Cup was there a few years ago, I went up there and that place is beautiful. I mean it's it's a, you know, beautiful layout. The property is huge. I loved it up there. So.

Speaker 6: 17:40

Yeah, that's a beautiful golf course. That's right. You and I talked about that. We probably walked past each other out there. I had no idea we were Exactly, Exactly.

Speaker 2: 17:48

But yeah, I mean it's kind of funny and I laughed, you know, when I asked that, because everybody says, how come you're not on Eastlake? Or you know, you know, and I'm sure that you know some some say, how come Augusta doesn't play Gus national? Okay, yeah, Sure, it's just it's, it's really that easy. Both, yeah, but you know, you know. On the other hand, you know, so I actually humor one of my players and I said, okay, I'll call Eastlake, Cause I mean I knew, I already know it's not going to happen, but I called just to kind of see what it is. You know, number one, they only host, I think it's like two or three outside events all year.

Speaker 6: 18:26

Okay.

Speaker 2: 18:27

And you're number one. I think you've got to guarantee them 30,000. Right, right, right. And I was like, yeah, just kind of laugh, you know. And so you know the ones that they're bringing in you're talking about, you know, major sponsors like like Coke call or Delta where these major companies that are. They're sponsoring these, these outside events. Anyways, it's not as easy getting the courses as as as something you think it is.

Speaker 6: 18:53

Right. And you know, the thing about that also is it's not just getting on the course, it's the price point too, right. So I love to get out there on Hazel team, but I always tell the guys hey, look, look, that comes with a steep price tag. You know we're doing a one day event out there. You know how bad do you, how bad do you want, right, it gets expensive pretty quick.

Speaker 2: 19:13

Absolutely, absolutely. You know, look at, you know, like, with the stretch, which which is not on the the regional schedule this year, but it was, you know, $750 for a two day event, yeah, it's worth it, I mean, I, I think it's worth it, but you know, not everybody can, can afford, you know, to do those. You know, do those real expensive events especially. You know, you know this, if, if, if, you guarantee a number and you don't hit that number, that's coming out of Matt's pocket.

Speaker 2: 19:50

Somebody's day or Tim's pocket, right, I mean? So we do have to think about that.

Speaker 6: 19:56

Yeah, that definitely plays into. You know some of these situations. You're you're on the hook, so so there's some places that I don't approach just because I already know what. You know what the deal is. But I am getting better at that. I'm feeling a little more comfortable getting out and talking to some of the private courses and you know, and really working, working at them to have them let us come out and use their course. Some are more receptive than others. You know. I know you've been in the game a while, so you know that struggle Right, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 20:29

And again, as you, as you've grown the numbers of the tour, you know they see that as well and say, okay, maybe this is something that we can do, even if it's not going to hit the number that we would normally have. Let's just say if, if, if that market is that they're, that they're trying to hit to bring in our you know your, your player's market right, and maybe it's a marketing thing for them, maybe they'll join their club at which which happens a lot too so um, absolutely, but you again you've got to be able to to guarantee them.

Speaker 2: 21:04

maybe it's not uh players, but understands that they're going to come in, they're going to spend money in the pro shop, they're going to spend money your own food and beverage and all those other things and and sell that as well.

Speaker 6: 21:15

Right, that is a big part of it. Uh, we got. We're bringing in a big group of guys and they get thirsty and they get hungry and leave some money behind.

Speaker 2: 21:22

Yes, they do so. So what's going with your game, I mean? I mean, I don't know if everybody knows this, but but uh, matt Matt can play Matt Matt's a. That's a good stick. What are you working on this year?

Speaker 6: 21:34

Well, I tell you, my new mantra is a hundred wedges a day, keeps the three, putts away.

Speaker 2: 21:41

Okay, that's what I like to do, that.

Speaker 6: 21:44

It's, uh, I mean this game. I've been playing this game about 10 years now and I've just, from day one, just addicted, and you know, getting better is is hard. You really just got to keep pounding the payment and and you can do that out.

Speaker 1: 22:03

Well, no, I was about to say. If it's no one up there, how are you doing a hundred wedges a day?

Speaker 6: 22:07

It's not funny. You should ask that. Uh, I actually I know I said you guys that photo, but I just finished up about a month or two ago, probably, right before Vegas uh, building out my simulator. We built a shed out in the backyard. That's not really a shed, it's a golf simulator and that's that's how we're getting it done these days.

Speaker 1: 22:30

Yeah, it's. It's not a shed, it is. It looks like a nice palace for a simulator. I mean when you say shed, people are picturing these wooden sheds. You know four walls and a peak and this thing looks like I, if I had the money, I'd pay you to come down and make me one.

Speaker 2: 22:46

I had no idea that that was a shed. I really thought that was like a maybe a garage or another room in the house that you had. But you actually have to go outside of there and I'm sure it's, I'm sure you got heat in, running water and bed, all those, all those things in there, Right? Your wife probably says I've met, I haven't seen you like three days. Where you've been, I've been hitting golf balls.

Speaker 6: 23:08

I think she that was a legitimate concern of hers. That, uh, I might just live out here. I can know we've got everything but the running water.

Speaker 2: 23:16

I would have loved to put a batsman in, but not quite, so that's how she insured that you'd actually, you know, come home every day.

Speaker 6: 23:25

Yeah, my bed's still in the house. We've got to go inside for that yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:31

So, so tell us about similar, because I'm telling you that picture, I mean it. It looks like it could be you know in a, you know in a store, right, I mean you got the thing on the wall with the clubs hanging, you got the, the, the extra TV, the whole computer setup. Did it tell us what you got, got into it?

Speaker 6: 23:50

Okay, so we, uh, I used to have well, I still have, I have the SkyTrack simulator, the, uh, that launch monitor, I guess they call that and that's able to play, to simulate, and I've got the E6 software with that. So that's the, the simulator setup. I was using that in the garage for uh past, I don't know three, four years, and it was, you know, taking up the whole garage. Mama can't get her car in there and you know, it's, uh, it wasn't really a garage anymore. So that wasn't working for us and I thought, well, I need a place. Uh, I live in Minnesota, we, we need to practice in the winter and if I'm, if I'm ever going to actually compete against guys at a decent level, I need to play it, because I'm coming down to regionals and I'm playing against guys from Vegas and Texas and they're going year round, right. So we needed a place for that.

Speaker 6: 24:47

I did the homework and then I found out, well, I could build a shed, stand, a little building. I'm, you know, I'm a carpenter, so that's no big deal to me. So building the shed was probably the easiest part of the whole process. Um, the structure, uh, but I'll tell you the building itself. I got about five grand in in supplies, right, and that's from the foundation up all the way to the roof and that gets you the building.

Speaker 6: 25:14

Then you got to buy the simulator and all the the goodies, right, right, so we're probably at about seven, eight grand total to make something like this and that gets us uh, you know, we've got the putting area in here. So I got a what is it? 11 by 13 putting green and I got five holes in there and I raised it up off the floor and so we've, uh, we put in some actuators on the left and the right side so I can raise it up a little bit and get some break on my pots going uphill and then coming back downhill. Wow, it's, it's a studio, I mean, I'm I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It's, I'm excited.

Speaker 2: 25:57

But it, it, it looks phenomenal. You've got a tray for your golf balls and I can't really tell all of them, but what's what we have in the golf ball tray?

Speaker 6: 26:07

Oh, man, a lot of places that have been. So, of course, arbor town, which was the that was the first course I ever played that the, the PJ tour, plays. So I got one of those golf balls in there and pretty much anytime I go somewhere fancy, I try to pick up a logo ball and off sitting on the other side. We've got. I got all my scorecards. So I've been collecting scorecards for a while, so I framed up a bunch of those and I'm just going to keep filling those up until I don't have any room left on the wall.

Speaker 2: 26:36

So you have to start putting one ceiling too. If all goes, well, yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:40

There you go. So, matt, you're the first person that's here in this. You know we one of the big exciting things that's been going on in the off season is we've been working on a brand new website for the podcast. The current websites that we have doesn't allow us to do any any, anything extra. So it has a show, has a show notes, but you know we can't put any multimedia stuff up there. So, starting with this episode, this will be the first episode that we're this website is going to go live, so we're going to post these pictures there's and and everybody can, everybody can see, you know you're, you're set up here and it's, it's uh, they're going to love it.

Speaker 6: 27:20

Awesome. I appreciate that. I'm like I said, I'm stoked, I'm really excited about it. It's my game. Uh, you know, I just want to let everybody know look out, look out.

Speaker 2: 27:32

All right, Luke. I'm sure you heard that, Luke right.

Speaker 1: 27:35

Oh, I'm going to let HB know as well. All right.

Speaker 6: 27:38

Yeah, please do get the word out, guys. We're coming, we'll see you, we'll see you at nationals, and even then I think we're going to scoot down to Innisbrook. I'm, I'm really excited about that.

Speaker 1: 27:47

Oh, are you a Chris? That we'll make it out there. We'll make it out there.

Speaker 2: 27:51

Yeah, we're. We're going to have to make it out there soon, that's for sure. So when, when I was living in Pennsylvania this is you know. Oh, man, I'll be, I'll be back 10, 11, 12 years ago, the house that we were living in before we downsize had had a garage. I turned into a simulator not nearly as nice as that but in our backyard I put in a putting greens, like one of those. Um had a company come in and put in a fake putting green. So all fantastic, yeah it was, I loved it. And when, when we did it, it pretty much took up almost the whole backyard. So I didn't have to cut, I really didn't have to cut grass in the back anymore. Uh, which, which was a which was another bonus.

Speaker 2: 28:31

It's a double in yeah, exactly so, um, but I love your setup here, matt, it's great.

Speaker 6: 28:37

Well, thank you. Yeah, I'm very proud of it. I actually thought about man, I should start a business here. We should be selling these things Right here you go.

Speaker 1: 28:45

If you want to donate one um for a video purposes, let me know. Yeah.

Speaker 6: 28:52

Just to get the word out right.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Right, right. I got a hundred dollar net and a mat that my dad had in the backyard for shoot 20 years maybe that I had to wash it down and you should have seen how much dirt came off that thing it was. It was a hundred pounds at the beginning and after like 30 minutes of washing down it was 10 pounds.

Speaker 9: 29:13

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1: 29:14

Yeah, that, but uh, it was, that's what I got, and I mean, I'm using it as much as I can, but, man, when you see something like what you got, it's it's night and day.

Speaker 2: 29:24

It's beautiful.

Speaker 6: 29:25

Well, thank you, you know. Uh, that's where I started to mine. I was right there with you. I had a net that had holes in it and, you know, put an old mattress behind it and it's a. This is a long time coming, I guess. There you go.

Speaker 2: 29:41

Well, you did a nice job with it and Matt um, thanks so much for taking some time with us tonight. I really do appreciate it, and good luck this season. Yeah, I'm not going to be down at Innersbrook, but but wish you best luck down there and we'll see you in October.

Speaker 6: 29:57

Sounds good. Thanks guys, Appreciate you having me on and anytime. I hope to come back soon. Maybe when I get the schedule up here in the next week or so we'll. We'll get back and discuss some details, yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:07

So thank you for joining us. Thank you everybody. All right, bud Take care.

Speaker 6: 30:10

All right, thanks, fellas.

Speaker 2: 30:12

Chris, really glad we got Madd1. You know he's a good guy, fun guy to hang out with. But you know we got to do something with you and your climate requirements about. You know when you can go outside, when you can play golf.

Speaker 1: 30:26

Yeah, I think maybe I over-baby it a little bit, but no, matt's a great guy to be with and, honestly, you know, with the amount of golf that I'm gonna be playing, you know, in the near future, either I got to start adapting or I'm gonna have some trouble with the places we go to.

Speaker 2: 30:45

Well, I would suggest you start adapting. That's probably best.

Speaker 1: 30:49

I think that's the smart route to go to.

Speaker 2: 30:52

Yeah, you know, when talking to Matt, you know something really struck me that I had no idea about. He's only been playing for 10 years I don't know if you caught that's what he said and he's a champ-flight guy. I think he's like a two or three handicap and you know to me to progress that much, that quickly. You know, at that age I haven't played as a kid. That's pretty good.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Yeah, I did catch that. I know a couple of my guys, you know champ-flight guys or, like we talked with HB, you know he's only been playing golf, for I think this is his third year, after a 10, 15 year absence from it Right, being able to pick it up. So some guys are just a real natural at it. Unfortunately, you and me, we weren't natural at it. We have to learn how to play this game.

Speaker 2: 31:41

Or not.

Speaker 1: 31:43

I think with or not, but I think with this new simulator he has, you know you may be seeing him at some other bigger events in the near future.

Speaker 2: 31:52

Yeah, he's got a really good setup and I think he was a soccer athlete. I think he played soccer growing up.

Speaker 7: 32:00

Right.

Speaker 2: 32:01

He does come from an athletic background. It's not like he just, you know, walked up the street and picked up club and turned into being a good golfer or so, but he's doing great things up there, looking forward to seeing what they can do this year and hopefully we'll get him back on here in a few weeks once it warms up there.

Speaker 1: 32:23

Yes, I would love to make it out there. You know, I think. Well, one of my bucket lists is to play golf in every state, an all 50 states. So eventually I'll have to make it up there to the cold weather areas. But we'll do that in the June July.

Speaker 5: 32:40

August I'm friend.

Speaker 1: 32:41

Yeah, june till June. And you want that, to start with a J or an A, we'll go and.

Speaker 2: 32:48

All right. Well, let's go ahead and transition into, you know, our rule segment with Roger. We haven't talked to him in a while and, like we said, you know, march is in a couple of days and this one, you know, the majority of tours really start playing, so let's welcome Roger back in. Roger, welcome bud.

Speaker 11: 33:06

Thank you, I'm glad to be back. Quick question Chris Gonna be 51 here tomorrow for our first tournament. What do you think Are you in? Will you play in that kind of weather?

Speaker 1: 33:18

You know what for tournament I'll play, just cause I enjoy the tournament atmosphere. Maybe my blood's a little warmer with tournaments, you know. Okay, if my buddies called me and said let's go play around, I'd probably say I'm not feeling well or something. Figure something out, but tournament, I'll be out there and play.

Speaker 11: 33:38

I'll lend you my card cover with the heater and everything you can have the heated card.

Speaker 1: 33:44

You know what? I have a card cover and a heater too, and we use it maybe twice a year here in El Paso, but the time is that I do need it. I got it prepared, Okay.

Speaker 11: 33:54

All right, then forget about that June, july stuff. You don't wanna come here in June, july. It's so hot and humid. I mean, I don't know, you don't get the humidity like we get here, so anyway, no we just get dry heat, yep.

Speaker 2: 34:06

So what have you been doing with yourself, roger?

Speaker 11: 34:07

So I did get a lot of golfing in the accent. Once in January I came to Hilton Head. There, I think I played eight rounds in five days. My time share is at Shipyard, but I played 36 holes twice and I played, I think, five different courses, though Nice Shipyard is now a member of the Heritage Club, I think it's called, so I kind of played their courses, but it was nice. I played Oyster Reef and of course I played Shipyard and a couple others, and the weather hasn't been too bad here I play in the cold weather, so I've gotten the rounds in at my home course as well. So I've played a decent amount this January and February.

Speaker 2: 34:48

That's awesome, so you're ready. You got your first tour in tomorrow, so you're ready. You've been playing enough. You're ready to go, yes.

Speaker 11: 34:55

I hope so. I think if Chris has putter problems, mine's been the driver and we'll see what happens. Tomorrow we're playing at Kingsmill in Williamsburg, which is one of our favorite courses on our tour. The funny thing not funny, I don't know how often this but the champ A and B are all playing the same tease tomorrow. So that's a little challenging for me, even though that course isn't too long, at least the tease that he has set up. But we'll see how it goes. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed. So what distance is that?

Speaker 2: 35:28

Does he have your plane?

Speaker 11: 35:30

I think it's about 6,400 tomorrow. Okay. So, not too bad.

Speaker 2: 35:33

Yeah, especially early in the season, you know, and it was raining up there today. It's gonna be a little bit wet, so that's not too bad. It's a good break in for you.

Speaker 11: 35:45

Yeah, I'm not a big long ball hitter off the tee which, if there's no roll tomorrow, it could hurt me a little bit but we'll see. It was funny. I went to my course and I intentionally played the longer tease so that I knew like if I didn't reach the green I'd be hitting. You know, practicing my wedges and stuff. So I did prepare pretty well for this tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 36:08

So see how it goes and we have 120 players coming out Good, so that's a full feel for you guys, right.

Speaker 11: 36:18

Yep, yeah, right now we do, 120 is full. Sometimes they'll raise it up to 144 if he can do it, but to start off the season we've got 120. And C and B flights usually have a good amount like 30 to 40 players in both of those flights.

Speaker 2: 36:35

That's awesome. So what do you guys do for cash games? Because you know, once you get those big, big fields like that, the cash game numbers can really get big.

Speaker 11: 36:43

What do y'all do? They sure do. So. We do $20 flight skins, then we do $10 super skins, so you're competing against the entire field. And then we also do a $5 closest to the pin. And when you got 40 guys in the B flight at $20 and most guys get in, you know that's $7 to $800. We're splitting between just a few of us usually.

Speaker 2: 37:09

Yeah, that's a.

Speaker 11: 37:10

So it's a nice payout.

Speaker 2: 37:11

That's a real nice payout. That's a real nice payout. And even the $10 for the supers. You know that's a 12, let's just say 110 people. That's a $1,100 pot. You're probably only generally only splitting that, maybe four, three, four ways.

Speaker 1: 37:26

Anyway, with that larger field.

Speaker 11: 37:29

Yeah, and there's some guys from whether they're D flight to champ flight. They're in it every week. I know they're like the super skins. A lot of the guys think, well, the champ flight's gonna be the only ones to win those. But yeah, there were C flighters and D flighters. I know there were C flighters last year on our tour that won superskins. So you just never know when it's gonna be your day.

Speaker 2: 37:50

That's why I say you always make a donation and you never know what's gonna pay off.

Speaker 11: 37:55

Oh yeah, nice.

Speaker 2: 37:57

Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad to have you back and we'll be back more in a regular schedule now that we're back having tournaments. But let's get into some rules things. Let's start with the PGA stuff that's been going on, because some of the things that happened in the PGA really happened to us really all the time, like Jordan Spieth being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

Speaker 11: 38:20

Yeah, so, like on our tour and I don't know how I'm assuming all the tours do it the same we have one scorecard that one cart will keep and then the other cart will do the live score. At least that's how we do it on our tour In the PGA and I'm assuming that it's all done the players, they switch cards. So I think in Jordan Spieth's case I think Cantley had his card, but there's a tear off sheet and, yeah, they have this tear off sheet. So you record your own score but the opponent is recording your score as well. And what happened with Jordan? He had a four on the par three hole. I think it was his fourth hole and that was early in the round and you'd think, even though the TV had it right and people are around, he recorded the three even though he had a bogey on that third, the par three, and once he left the scoring tent he signed for 72, but it was really a 73.

Speaker 11: 39:27

And once you leave that scoring tent. It's over. He got de-queued and so there's actually been a lot of talk about that, with TV analysts and the TV showing the right score and all of that. Should this still be, but still be like part of the rules, I guess you'd call it? And the thing is it's still the responsibility is on the player and he's gotta record that right and sign it right and have the right score. And in today's electronic technology and all that, you'd think maybe somebody in the scoring tent what is? I don't know how they I've never been in that part of it to see like what happens right after they signed the car. But he turned it in. He had a double on the last hole. So I know he was probably a little bit out of sorts to begin with because he had a great first round I think he shot a 66. And then he had that double on the last hole. So it kind of messed him up and he probably went through too fast and that's what happened. So it was too bad.

Speaker 2: 40:29

What do you guys think about that? I've actually been a walking scorer at a couple of the senior tour, and when you actually go into the room whatever it is, depending on where the tournament is the walking score. Actually, we were told to stand behind the player, don't say a word unless they ask you to read the scores right, and so we weren't allowed to say anything unless we were asked Interesting interesting.

Speaker 2: 41:03

So now, each tournament may have that process a little bit different, just like we may be a little bit different, but to me it's probably the same process. And for our tournaments it boggles my mind that when we tell the players this all the time, please double check your individual scores. I don't wanna know about totals, I wanna know what you got on individual holes. And it seems like the guys a lot of times they don't go through the holes, they just add up what they got on the front, what they got on the back, and then total it up. And that's where we generally at least from my perspective, where we generally run into problems.

Speaker 11: 41:40

Yeah, I was gonna bring up that. I would say, and I'm not exaggerating here all the tournaments I've played, I'd say at least a third of the time to half the time when we go over the scores, even in our little foursome, there's some discrepancy. Somebody says no, I had a three on that hole, but either the live score guy has it as a four or the person that wrote it down. And it happens way more than I think it should and I just had.

Speaker 11: 42:08

When I start off my group, I always say to the guys listen, when we're done with the hole, tell me your score as in a number, not like I got a bogey or I got a double bogey, but tell me I got a three or I got a four, because some guys they're not familiar with the course, maybe it's a long par four that somebody thinks is a par five, so they think they got a par, but it was really a bogey, that kind of thing. And to not wait to do those scores either when you're writing or putting them in. Don't wait two holes like oh, I you know, and people forget and I can understand that, but to do it like as soon as that hole is complete and for everybody to hear what you got, so that everybody knows what that number is.

Speaker 1: 42:53

Yeah, I mean as a player. This has actually happened to me. My first season with the tour, before live scoring even existed, I got DQ'd from my first major when I was gonna win by like five strokes. And oh geez.

Speaker 1: 43:10

The excitement you know it's your first tournament you're gonna win. You didn't think, no, how you're gonna do. Just the excitement of signing the scorecard and turning it in and not even looking at it. It cost me a major in a tournament. So there is, you know, that mindset or not mindset, but like it can affect you a little bit. But I mean, these guys are professionals. They have a guy walking with them called this caddie, that can also keep score for him. So there's, I understand how people are complaining this. You know this rule should be taken out this and that. But at the end of the day, if we're turning in wrong scorecards, how do we know who's is right? And, like you said, with all the technology and the media out there and all the cameras, somebody has to have the right score and you would hope it'd be the players, for sure yep, one interesting tidbit on this.

Speaker 11: 44:05

So if you sign a scorecard maybe you know this if it's higher, you know you shot a 72, but you signed for a 74, that's okay, you're not disqualified for that and you have to accept the 74, which I just thought that was interesting. You're also signing an incorrect scorecard, but if you're higher you're not disqualified, right.

Speaker 2: 44:29

And I think at some point you know the player has to take some responsibility for this. We're the only sport that we call penalties on ourselves. You know it's supposed to be a game of honor and integrity. We have to take responsibility for our score. That's to me. That's part of the game of golf. I almost kind of liken it to. Are you gonna take your mom with you to a job interview? Make sure you answer the questions, right, yeah.

Speaker 1: 44:55

You're not wrong, mayor, it is a gentleman's sport, but at the same time, like you said, we are calling penalties on ourselves. Some tend to not call penalties on themselves and hope nobody catches it, but at the end of the day it's you against, sometimes yourself and other golfers. But it's the only sport where it's just you know, it's you by yourself and you have to keep yourself honest throughout 18 hours, right?

Speaker 2: 45:21

Yep, how about missing a tee time? How often does that happen?

Speaker 11: 45:25

So it happens on tour. I read you know it did happen a few times last year. So the gentleman who had happened to it was Tom Kim, which I didn't realize he'd already won three times on tour. So that's.

Speaker 11: 45:36

PGA tour. I mean this past event you have to be there with. If you're within five minutes after your tee time, you get a two-stroke penalty. And I saw him running across the green to get to his tee time in that video and man, the looks that he was getting from other players it was pretty funny actually. But he was, he was spritin' there, so he actually made it on time and he made a par and his first hole. But if you're half over the five minutes you are dequeued, and last year myself I was an hourly so I didn't even make the time. So I called Lyle and I said you know what? I thought it was 9.30 and it was 8.30, so I didn't get that one. But yeah, it happens on tour and probably, you know, not too often. Hopefully, like you said, these guys are professionals, they should know. I don't know what happened with this guy, but it does happen.

Speaker 2: 46:30

Well, and it happens with us a lot too you know I had a pretty big to-do with this issue at a tournament last year, you know, and in Atlanta with traffic, you know, if something happens and there's an accident or traffic you can forget it, you're gonna be late. We actually had two issues. So one we had a tornado come through and knocked trees down so people couldn't actually get to the course.

Speaker 1: 46:56

Oh enough.

Speaker 2: 46:57

And so, yeah, oh no, and so people were coming in, and you know, obviously, when I could. We're not penalizing anybody or anything like that, we're just I'm just trying to make sure I get at least three guys to be able to send off. But we had another one where there was an accident and a guy was late. I'm a little bit more lenient with this, unless it happens repeatedly, right, you know. And so I said, you know, if there's a spot that I can move you, I'll move you. If there's not a spot, there's nothing I can do.

Speaker 2: 47:43

And what ended up happening is there just happened to be a spot in the last tee group of the day, so I put him in there and he was in the A flight and all the rest of the A players were really upset and bent out of shape. And I said, you know, it's really kind of my call, it wasn't like he just showed up and didn't call, he was communicating the whole way. He was penalized for missing the tee time, two strokes on the first hole. And you know, at least from my perspective, if we can get him out, you know, in this scenario, right, if we can get him out, we should get him out and move on.

Speaker 11: 48:21

Yeah. So on our tour which I must thinking that you're you use t times for a lot of your events. Maybe, yeah, and with the amount of players we have we're usually out of shotgun. So on ours it's a little tougher to do stuff like that because you know we might have an a and a beat we off. You know we often have a and b groups on holes, so maybe Lyle can move somebody to the b group, but he's probably still gonna penalize them to strokes, right?

Speaker 2: 48:46

or even they show up and they take triple Yo. If they miss three holes, they're triple. And they can still play, but they, you know they get triple and wear rolls yeah.

Speaker 1: 48:56

Yeah, we, we had that our event Last year and one of my champ flight guys was running late he, it was an accident on the major highway and I did the same thing to him. I, you know, I moved him down. I think it was four or five t times play with a bunch of sea flighters and I Mean a day a day, we have the final call, and I just told the other champ guys, like if it was you and you were trying to make it To a tournament, you would hope I'd help you out some way. So as much as you're gonna be better shape that now he's playing and you're done and if there's a playoff you have to warm up again you would hope to have the same respect and me trying to help you out as well, right?

Speaker 2: 49:38

Yeah, because again we're, this is, it's competitive golf, but it's also, it's also supposed to be fun and and Collegial and and you know we're not, we're not pros, you know we're not, we're not right, we're not three-platin, but I mean yes and other tour direction may hand look differently, and that's and that's fine.

Speaker 2: 50:04

You know, I just Just like Chrissy, I just you know how I handle it. And if the downside is if it happens to somebody else and I can't do that, then I've got to deal with that with the other side. Why didn't you help me? But then they've got to understand that. You know, it's a it's a case-by-case base. If I can help, I'm definitely gonna help you.

Speaker 11: 50:24

Yeah, I think Lyla does a great job on you know, working with us, even even in our shotguns, he does what he can right and we and he just you know he does say you know communicate with him so he knows what's going on.

Speaker 2: 50:36

But, but, roger, that's in life, right, and it pretty much everything we do if we've got responsibilities, if we, you know, most time, if we let people know what's going on, things will work out.

Speaker 11: 50:46

For sure. Yes, sir, yeah, I wanted to go over the Rory McElroy Incident. Oh, yeah, yeah, and this is like something to learn on the rules here with the back on the line relief where he got it to stroke Palatee, his ball was under a tree or bush, and he decided it was unplayable and he used back of the line relief, which is keeping the ball the place where the ball is and the flagstick. Go back as far as you want dropping and the new rule is you drop the ball on that line and then it can roll one club length and that Determine that's the relief area. Once you determine the the line itself, and then you have to drop on that line and and the ball could roll one one club length. It can roll a club length forward to the side or or back.

Speaker 11: 51:35

The old rule before it changed, you found your line and then you could drop the ball from the line a club length not on the line, and that's what Rory did and that's where he got, why he got penalized. The funny thing about that and I saw this and I I really made me think about this because it's really, I think, a pretty harsh penalty to get two strokes for that, but the rule is the rule, right, and the reason I'm saying that is let's say, you drop, you do it incorrectly, but your ball rolls onto the line itself, so it ends up there and that's exactly where you were supposed to be in the first place. But because you proceeded wrong, you're getting a two-stroke penalty. Does that make sense with you guys, what I just explained?

Speaker 2: 52:25

Yeah, it makes sense.

Speaker 11: 52:28

Yeah, and I think that's pretty harsh because the ball ends up right where it's supposed to be, right where you're supposed to drop in the first place, but because you didn't establish that penalty relief area to begin with, you get a two-stroke penalty. And it all has to do with well. First, it has to do with the fact that you didn't follow the seizure right. Right, but could it give you a? You know it's a breach, a serious breach, that you played from a wrong place Versus just a breach of the rules where you're not gonna get a dq for a serious breach, because that would. That's what would happen if you play from a wrong place and let's say it's 50 yards off, likely you're gonna get a serious breach right and you're gonna get disqualified. But you know dropping, you know a club length, it's not gonna make a big difference. But I just want to follow that up with one other thing.

Speaker 11: 53:23

So a lot of people take, like, back of the line relief for a drive that went 250 yards down the fairway into some water and you take back on the line relief and you think you know where that ball went in, so you make your best estimate. No, you could be five yards off because you don't have TV cameras out there. So you're taking relief along that line that you determine and Did you really know that it went in at this specific spot, that it went in, and you're taking the line back. Or did it go, was it really five yards to the left or five or three yards to the right? And you determine that line. So Taking that line back To me is like there's a little like gray area there. But you do the best you can with the rule and you try to drop on whatever line you decide. And you know, just one of those things that you have to do up the way the rules say isn't so I've got a couple questions on this, because it just gets me thinking.

Speaker 2: 54:29

So in the case of Rory, you know. Number one, was he with the rules official when he made the drop? If so, why would the rules official let him drop that way, or do they? They just not communicate?

Speaker 11: 54:43

that.

Speaker 11: 54:44

So they I don't think there was, because what I heard on that was that it was a video Evidence later on that somebody saw that and that's how it got determined.

Speaker 11: 54:55

Now I Know I don't really know the answer there's usually with a player with like Rory Mm-hmm, they, they usually do have somebody close by at least. Yeah, but maybe this happened and cuz Rory, I know they said he'd like mark the spot and that's how they knew that he was doing it wrong After the fact. So maybe he proceeded and didn't wait for the rules official because he he'd been doing it for so many years he thought he knew it so he didn't even ask for rules official to come over right. But you know, there's not a rules official with every group all the time, you know, maybe or the official was doing something else at the time, but I, I would think a major player like Rory Would have somebody close by and, yes, the rules officials can tell you if you're proceeding incorrectly. They're not gonna, they're gonna, they're not gonna witness something and just let you get away with and say, oh right, hey, by the way, you just got panelized.

Speaker 2: 55:47

Yeah, that's that. Could. That makes more sense than yeah, why shouldn't do it? So the other question I have would be let's say he, he, yet, well, he obviously did an incorrect drop, right, right. What? What if his playing partner said Rory, you did it wrong, is he allowed? As long as he doesn't hit the ball, he's allowed to pick it, pick the ball up and redrop it.

Speaker 11: 56:11

That is correct. Yeah, if you dropping correctly and you're before you play that ball, then, yes, you can proceed correctly, absolutely right. Who know, maybe I don't know that it's it's, I guess you know it is kind of it's, it's not that new. But even for me, dropping on the line itself, that is new for me too, so I know it. But I I'm sure a lot of people don't realize that now, or they think, like I do. You know, you take a drop and it goes right where it's supposed to. Yeah, that that looks good to me. But that's not how it works. Now, right, and and the way it was described to me was that you have to create that relief area and Him just dropping. He never created the relief area and now, remember, it used to be no closer to the hole, all that stuff. Now it can roll in any direction and none of that happened because he didn't Termin where he didn't drop on the line itself.

Speaker 2: 57:09

Well, he won't do that again.

Speaker 11: 57:10

Yeah, they won. And Jordan, what? Jordan will check his scorecard?

Speaker 1: 57:14

Yeah, oh yeah yeah yeah, oh, trust me, I checked my scorecard four or five times now before I turn it in.

Speaker 11: 57:20

Yes, chris Rocher will definitely check it from there. I don't want you to miss an out on another major, that's for sure. Have you won one since then? That's what I want to know I've won plenty since then no, a major. That's it. I know you won.

Speaker 1: 57:32

Yeah, no, no I want at least at least one major a year. I'll win here, oh Awesome, that's great, yeah. And then we I go to Arizona to one of their majors and I'm usually the favorite there. I don't know what it is about that course it's. It's a home away from home course. But when I was in C flat I won three years in a row and then got bumped up and all the C fighters were happy that I got bumped up and the B fighters weren't. I got bumped up. So I don't know what is about that course, but I enjoy it. And maybe it's because there's no cell service. So it's just. I don't the focus on anything else but golf. I don't know what it's, it's a good time.

Speaker 11: 58:07

Oh, that's great.

Speaker 1: 58:08

Yeah, that's, that's good.

Speaker 11: 58:09

All right. When I grow up, I want to be like you that's yeah. Hopefully I'll get to compete against you in the beef light someday, yeah, so that'll be fun.

Speaker 11: 58:19

Yes, I had two other quick things, if, if we got time Things things that were asked of me Just recently. A players ball was not on the putting green. He was chipping, but there were a lot of ball marks on the green and it came up. Are you allowed to repair ball marks on the green when your ball is not on the green? And the answer that is yes. Putting green is a special place and you are allowed to fix. You know ball marks, you know repair the green to the extent that it's supposed to be right. So I thought that was a good question, because that that happens pretty often, I suppose the winter time people aren't fixing their ball marks, and so it was. I thought that was a good question.

Speaker 1: 59:02

No, let me ask you this, because I am a Texas wedge player. If my ball hit in front of the green, let's say, but stayed off right, so like the fringe area and left the little ball mark, is that fixable or that is not fixable?

Speaker 11: 59:17

not fixable. If that's in your line and I have seen guys in my casual rounds do that and I've seen guys on tour do it as well, and you know you're not allowed to do that Okay, that, was that a one-show penalty, or that'd be a one? Oh shoot, I'd have to look that one up, sorry.

Speaker 1: 59:34

I assume, I assume most everything's a one-show penalty, unless it's like severe right, and it kind of brings me to something else.

Speaker 11: 59:44

You hear this turn play the course as it lies or play it. You know that everybody says that like. But this came up recently too, and you can only take that so far, like if you played the course as it lies or as it is, you like that would mean you never get to pick up loose impediments or you never get to, you know, make your stance. And some guys go over the top with that and Just could be careful, because the rules are there to help you too, and just something like loose impediments, even in a bunker that you're allowed to. You know, remove stones from the bunker and stuff.

Speaker 11: 1:00:21

Don't let somebody that you're playing with go overboard with the and as a rules officials probably feels sounds funny for me to say that, but it occurs and people say, hey, you're not allowed to do that and say, well, yes, you are, so it. That's just one of those things and the rules knowledgeable things that you need to know that some of these things are allowed and Not everything out there on the course has to be played the way it is right, you know that right, but at the end of the day it's supposed to be enjoyable.

Speaker 1: 1:00:51

And if we're over here being a rules police, it's not gonna be enjoyable for you or your playing partners.

Speaker 11: 1:00:58

Yeah, and one other thing I had. So it's you know We've had a decent winter here but there were weeks that where the ground was kind of called cold and it came up. You guys are familiar probably with, like the rubber Based tees that they use at a golf range that you can stick through the bottom of the golf mat, right, and somebody had one of those and he had it in his bag actually I have one too for the same reason and the question was is this allowed on the golf course? Can you use this tea? And answer again it's yes. It's designed to hold to tee up a golf ball, as long as it's under four inches, because some of those ones at the driving ranges are pretty big, but it has to be four inches or less. So it is the design to use for a golf ball. So yes, those are allowed.

Speaker 11: 1:01:47

I kind of got into a question with somebody like and this came up in one of my golf rules groups Could you use like a bottle cap or a bottle? It's not too high and and the equipment rules say it's something to be designed for To hold the golf ball. And I was just thinking about all the different types of teas they're out there. I don't know if you've seen how many different types and yeah of teas and shapes and sizes, but I'm thinking well, a golf cap isn't as a golf cap, a bottle cap isn't designed to hold up a tee, but it a ball. But it could do it.

Speaker 11: 1:02:27

And Then it was brought to my attention. Well, think about the equipment rules for clubs and balls. And when I thought of that that way it's like you can't use a baseball bat to hit your golf ball with, but it probably would work. I mean, it would work, but the tees rule is like equivalent to that and that it's designed to hold a golf ball. So if you ever see anybody out there putting it on their beer can or something, well, that's, that's not Not allowed to.

Speaker 1: 1:02:56

I only do that for fun rounds. Yes exactly yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:03:02

Roger, thank you so much. As informative as always, and I wish you all the best Tomorrow and hopefully come home some cash.

Speaker 11: 1:03:11

Thank you very much. I will. I guess we'll find out next next round. I did want to just mention next weekend. The weekend after this is when I'm going to USGA rules of golf, the three-day USGA workshop up in Richmond, and so if anything big comes up, shoot it to me and I can ask at the seminar. Oh and I'll be there, be over there with a whole bunch of other good rules. Geeks like me.

Speaker 2: 1:03:36

I'll be interested to hear hear how it went next time too.

Speaker 11: 1:03:40

Okay, thank you very much, guys.

Speaker 1: 1:03:42

Take care, we'll go on, roger, take care, all right. So we just had some great interviews. I hope you enjoyed them. Um, but we are pleased to announce the January Shirt contest winner. I know we had two entries, both from the Opasso tour, so you know I'm working hard to get our entries in. But just remember, when you do enter, if you are picked for the monthly winner, not only do you get a one in eight chance on winning a free national championship entry, but also some exposure for your tours. So we want to announce the January winner from the Opasso tour Jordan Moro. Jordan, welcome to the show. Good to meet you. So you wore a very unique shirt, which I was actually excited that you that it was the winner for the first one. You want to go explain to the audience what you decided to pick out.

Speaker 8: 1:04:34

It's a blue bat birdie shirt and it's got a lot of boats on it. It's actually one of my work shirts. Hey, they, they give us bad birdie shirts, so that's pretty cool. That's not a little bad birdie shirt with a lot of boats on it.

Speaker 1: 1:04:51

That's not a bad thing to have, yeah, so the boats. Then you went off to say, to title it, what was it? Something for the marina, for the, for Hilton head?

Speaker 8: 1:05:03

Yeah, something for just Hilton head island. They got a lot of votes.

Speaker 1: 1:05:09

Which is I mean that's cool. That's cool that you know you kind of tied it in the hill and head where the national championship is every year. You know it was a close race. I believe it was 110 votes to 106 votes. Let me double check that, but I believe it was that close 110 to 103. So I remember seeing you post something about a final push on the last day of voting. I think that might have helped you. Yeah, I think it did.

Speaker 8: 1:05:38

Because he was beating me by one or two votes, the whole muck. Basically and finally, I just reposted it the day before the last day, I think. Maybe he forgot.

Speaker 1: 1:05:51

So you're the first one entered into our eight lucky shares. That will then be voted by everybody in kind of like a March Madness bracket style voting in September. How do you feel your chances are so far?

Speaker 8: 1:06:09

Well, I don't know, probably gonna be tough because there's probably gonna be a lot of good shirts, so I'm gonna probably try to keep mentoring them so I have better chances.

Speaker 1: 1:06:18

Yeah, I mean you can enter all eight months and if you win seven of the eight, I think your odds are pretty good at winning. Yeah, so I did see at our last event you did have a very unique shirt. I can't wait to see you enter that one.

Speaker 8: 1:06:34

I haven't gotten around to posting it yet because we had a late night after the tournament, but I should be doing that later on today.

Speaker 1: 1:06:43

A lot of tours are starting up in March. So now there's gonna be you know, january and February was the month to get shirts and, if you could, if you had an event or went to go visit it at another tour's event, because it's come March we're gonna get a lot of entries in and the voting's gonna be a little bit tighter. But, jordan, real quick, congratulations, I'll be voting for you. Come, come the bigger, the bigger bracket style tournament, if I'm able to vote. Yeah, I couldn't vote this time, which was tough because they were both in my tour and I wanted to be upset. So, yeah, I decided to keep my vote to myself. But we're gonna. We're gonna move on from Jordan, who was our actually our first ever shirt contest winner, because this is something new to our icebreaker senior regional champions that Tim was able to interview over there in the East Coast. So we'll go on and go to him again. Jordan, thank you very much and you have a good one. Thank you, all right.

Speaker 2: 1:07:43

So we're here at C Pines for the senior ice icebreaker. First round yesterday was at Atlantic tunes, with a second round follow up at here and point. So we've got the champ flight winner from central Carolina, dean Parziali.

Speaker 10: 1:07:56

Dean congratulations and welcome Thanks. Always. Nice to win and we got lucky, had great weather. The courses are phenomenal. Shape, the greens are fast. I think that that favors myself. I'm a good putter, I'm always have been, and you see a lot of people struggle out there with the speed of the greens and just pitching to the greens is very, very difficult. Yeah, I think a short game is this key out here.

Speaker 2: 1:08:22

Yeah, just talking to people as they came off off the course yesterday. The green were really fast, especially if I used to it. You know I saw some people put actually put the ball in the water on nine for where that pin was. You know, if you were above the hole and you're not used to it, you could actually put the ball in the water.

Speaker 10: 1:08:37

Yeah, Nine is very scary. Last year we played it was all the way back and they seem the same thing People putting it up the back of the grid. Luckily I was standing out the fairway. We watched the guys in front of us who were all behind the pin and have and struggle with it. I did the same thing. They had to pass the pin and I did close for a no stress par. So all great.

Speaker 2: 1:08:57

Yeah, so yesterday you finished two back of leader shot Haiti. Tell me about your round yesterday.

Speaker 10: 1:09:04

Yesterday. Yesterday was a little struggle. I had three penalty shots, two balls in the water, then taken on playable line in the first hole. There were, there, were, there wasn't, there wasn't a smooth stress free round by a stretch and actually you have started playing well, but then brought a whole lot of people back into the into the tournament by double booking 16 and 17. And but but that's the way it goes out here. It's a tough golf course. The it's narrow, it's firm and fast. You have to hit it straight. I mean as well as having the good short game. I mean it's, it's a good test.

Speaker 2: 1:09:37

Yeah, yeah. But even with those double bogeys, I mean, you're still writing the mix with your only two strokes back. And you know, today, at the hair and point course, you had a solid round of 77. What happened today?

Speaker 10: 1:09:52

And today was just I played well. I hit it where I wanted to hit. A lot of greens. Mint made a couple of birdies, the first par five and I think 16 on the backside of hitting it to a foot. But but I just just kind of I was hitting it, hitting it well, which is which is a key out here. So I mean it's got to keep hitting it straight. And when you don't hit it straight, I mean you take that all the shots. Everyone, everyone does, and I. I mean it seemed like I took a bunch of penalty shots, but I guess I took less than than most anyone else. So all good.

Speaker 2: 1:10:26

Yeah, so you finished around it today. Total of 157. But you were tied with Trey Coker, the tour director from Louisiana, and you all went to a playoff. You wanted one in one whole playoff. You know, walk me through the whole train.

Speaker 10: 1:10:43

We both hit in the fairway. I had a driver Trey chose, I think about it off tree hybrid. He had a longer shot into the the pin but we both had to about 10 feet. He happened to be on the wrong side of the hole. I had a semi uphill side hill putt and unfortunately he just hit his four or five feet behind the hole and didn't make the one coming back. So not not the way you want to win, but but but it wins a win.

Speaker 2: 1:11:09

And just as you were walking in, people were talking about the, the player on the corn fairy tour, the shot of 57, you know, last week, yeah, and I read an article about it and he said he really should have shot a 56, but 57 is a 57. Right, so you take what you can get in it and if that's what happens, you know that's too bad, that again you feel bad for Trey from missing a pie tour or whatever. But you know, over 157, 161 shots, there's always one or two that we want to be able to take back.

Speaker 10: 1:11:39

There's a whole bunch I'd like to take over. And it's funny, I've played here I think four years now and never cashed a check and I mean it can go bad out there very, very easily. So obviously the first term of the year you haven't played any competitive golf in three or four months. And you come out here and the greens are, they're running a, probably 12 and and it's tight. I mean it's, it's hard.

Speaker 2: 1:12:05

It is. But you know this is a good win. Not only is it a win first or in the year, you're 900 points and now you're. You know you're leading points in in central Carolina, so you're already leading points, but you've already punched your tickets to national championship, so it's a really good win.

Speaker 10: 1:12:20

Yeah, it's great, I I'll. I've never played in the national championship, but maybe I'll come this year. It's, it's. I mean, I think he'll probably have it here back here in Hilton that somewhere. It's always a fun place to come and bring, bring the girlfriend and have a good time while we're here too.

Speaker 2: 1:12:34

Well, she she actually came by and asked where you were on scoreboard. She couldn't find the scores. I mean, at the time I told you were tied for first and you still had a couple holes left to play. She said, well, I'll just sit over here and try not to jinx anything.

Speaker 10: 1:12:47

Okay, yeah, no, she's. I mean, we've been together a good long time and she's seen plenty of good wins and, and yes, she, she just has the game.

Speaker 2: 1:12:59

That's awesome. Well, dean, congratulations and best luck the rest of the year, all right.

Speaker 10: 1:13:04

I appreciate it and and thanks to everyone who ran the tour. You know both Dennis and Marty, who you know. I think this is his territory here. Yeah, they do a great job and it's first rate, so, thanks, it really is All right, take care.

Speaker 2: 1:13:22

We got the Hay Flight Champion, wayne McKinney from the Augusta Tour. Wayne, congratulations on your win today. Thank you very much Enjoyed it A lot of fun. So yesterday you played it. You played the Langdunes course. You finished tied for first with 79 with with with John Lyles. Tell me about the course yesterday and in your round.

Speaker 5: 1:13:38

Of course it was really good. I just tried to keep everything in front of me all day yesterday, and I did that until I looked at the leaderboard and saw that I was in first place, tied for first place, and I and then I kind of lost focus.

Speaker 2: 1:13:52

You bogey 17, double bogey 18. But you know, this is still 79 is a good score, especially when compared to not only scores in a flight yesterday but scores in every flight. They were relatively high. You know, I talked to the champs like winner a little bit ago and he was talking about the speed of the greens and you know, I don't know how you do it on nine, but there were some people putting putting the ball off the green into the water on on hole number nine. Yeah, yeah. So tell me about the greens yesterday.

Speaker 5: 1:14:19

Oh, the greens were really fast. It was. They were a lot faster. I played a practice round on Thursday. They were a lot faster on a Friday than they were on Thursday. Took some getting used to. The greens were, of course, magnificent shape. The whole golf course is perfect condition. Greens were really really fast. Took a little getting used to, but once I got used to it it went fine.

Speaker 2: 1:14:41

And so say, you played the here and point course and he shot 77. You actually won by six strokes. Or Bob Hanneken from the Jacksonville tour, tell me about today. How did the run go today?

Speaker 5: 1:14:52

It went really really well. I found something on the driving range on on Friday morning that really really really helped me out a lot. I found a great little tip on the driving range. I used that yesterday and then today. I used it again today. It worked great. I just tried to keep everything in front of me. I tried not to overpower anything. I tried to keep it in play, not trying to hit crazy shots. If I got into a little bit of trouble I tried to just get myself out and not have a big number, and I was able to do that all day today.

Speaker 2: 1:15:26

That's really smart. All the courses that we play here in C-Pines, whether it's Harbor Town, langtunes or Handpoint, you really have to think as you work your way around each of those courses and, like I say, don't overpower anything, because these aren't holes or courses that you can overpower. You have to be smart, you have to play position golf and you have to make sure that you don't put yourself out of position because you've got to make that next shot. When you look at the scores over on A-Flight, you had two really, really good days. Obviously, you had a tie for a low round yesterday and you were one shot off a low round today, like we talked about, the 77 on this course is really good, so congratulations.

Speaker 5: 1:16:09

Thank you very much. A lot of fun, had a great time. The weather was perfect. We had a great time, commeratery with all the guys, lots of fun in a well run tournament. Y'all did a great job. We really appreciate it Well thanks.

Speaker 2: 1:16:22

It's about time we had some good weather for this tournament, isn't it? Tournament Better than old games here, exactly. Again, congratulations. You punched your ticket for the national championship and I know you're going to be here for that anyway, and good luck the rest of the year.

Speaker 5: 1:16:36

Thank you very much. I enjoyed. I had a lot of fun. Take care Bye, Keith.

Speaker 2: 1:16:40

All right Back in the clubhouse at Atlantic Dunes with the B-Flight Champion, Kevin Martin from the Coastal Georgia Tour. Kevin, congratulations.

Speaker 9: 1:16:46

Thank you very much. I appreciate it, tim, so you had two really good days.

Speaker 2: 1:16:50

Two days score of 162. Before we talk about today, let's talk about your phenomenon. Around yesterday you shot 75.

Speaker 9: 1:16:57

75. Yeah, it was the best round I've had in 25 years. I just had my irons on and I don't hit the ball real long, but I hit it straight and I chipped real close and made a 9-1 plus. That's a couple of free birdies yesterday, none today, but it was a heck of a round yesterday.

Speaker 2: 1:17:18

Well, yesterday one of those birdies had a little per skin so you got to pay a little bit yesterday and to be able to chip it up close and have 9-1 puts. That's really good for those greens. Yesterday here and all the guys come off complaining how fast they were For you to be able to get the ball stopped on a chip.

Speaker 9: 1:17:35

That's pretty good. Yeah, it was amazing how fast they were yesterday, but today was just a little slower, but again it was a little way faster. And I live up in New Jersey so all the greens up there are overgrown now so it's very slow. I figured it out yesterday and held on enough today. I played against some really good guys today Robbie and Butch. It was an exciting match and it came down to the last hole.

Speaker 9: 1:18:03

Yeah, so you really battled all day long with those two right Battled all day long, Started out with a bogey and then had a few parrs in a row, three full parrs in a row, and then after that again it was starting to get cool in the back nine, and that's when some bad scores came in.

Speaker 2: 1:18:23

Well, I mean, you went into today with an 8-string cleat, which is good, but you still won by 2, right, yes, correct.

Speaker 9: 1:18:31

I won by 2 and very happy that I held on First one.

Speaker 2: 1:18:35

I've won and a long, long guy I'm so Well, the good thing about winning here is you get Nationals paid for, so you know you go.

Speaker 9: 1:18:42

Goal number one is taking care of the year you got it.

Speaker 9: 1:18:44

Exactly. I have a place here in Hilton Head, right on the ninth hole of Atlantic Dunes, and so I come down every year, been on a tour for 14 years and just enjoy the heck out of playing with guys from all over the country, and we all play legit golf and we're all cheering each other on. So this is a great, great organization. So what would you say is the one thing that keeps you coming back? It's the quality of the competition and how nice these other players are. No one's root against anybody. Everybody's rooting for you. Yesterday was amazing, because the guys that were playing would just stop talking to me and say we don't want to screw anything up for him. But yeah, I shot 37-38 yesterday, I'm sorry. Yeah, 37-38, and it was just a phenomenal round, and thank goodness I did, because I wouldn't be talking to you now if I didn't shoot that Eight strokes ahead.

Speaker 2: 1:19:38

Exactly. And when you talk about the competition level, especially when you come to these regionals, you've got to have your A game, because it's tough, so good.

Speaker 9: 1:19:48

The players on this tour are all the B-Flight players, as we all say. We're all Bs for a reason, but it is an amazing competition and it was at some point today I was tied and then I got a head-by-two and held onto it.

Speaker 2: 1:20:03

We're back at Atlanta Dunes with the C-Flight champion, John Glyne.

Speaker 7: 1:20:06

John, congratulations on the win today. Well, thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 1:20:09

Before we really get into anything, yesterday you had a momentous occasion and I just missed it. You had a hole in one. It was hole number six, number seven, hole number seven on the Atlanta Dunes course. Walk me through, how far was it? What club did you use?

Speaker 7: 1:20:25

and how you felt. It was like 138 and it took an eight iron and I bounced it two feet in front of the pin and went in on fly, so you actually saw it going all I saw it go in and what happened? What were the emotions taught? I probably got too emotional. I was really excited, threw my hands up, jumped up, everyone gave us high fives. It was really nice and guys I played with was fantastic. It was good.

Speaker 2: 1:20:55

It was great. Getting a hole in one is always good, but getting a hole in one in a tournament, that's even more special. So you walked away with a little bit of money, you got a super skin on that Super skin and regular skin, yep. That's awesome, and then that really kind of, I guess, is the cap or the day, because when you finished yesterday you were leaving by one stroke over Greg Martin. So what was your mentality going into?

Speaker 7: 1:21:19

today, Keep the ball in play. I took my driver away and used the three wood every shot, every hole. I did not use my driver today and on par fries I went with four wood laid up, went to the green.

Speaker 2: 1:21:34

That's smart, and you had a really good score today as well. You shot an 82 on the Heron Point course and that's a tough course. It's every bit as tough as.

Speaker 7: 1:21:45

Atlanta dude. I think so, and 82, I timed my best score in a tournament, so I was real happy with the 82 today.

Speaker 2: 1:21:53

The low round for the Seaflight was an 80. It was Scott Holland, but you had a six-stroke lead or six-stroke win over Scott, who's from the Augusta tour. My guess is you guys were not necessarily battling, but right there with each other all day.

Speaker 7: 1:22:12

Yeah, he wasn't in my group. He was a group ahead of me, so he played well today. So you've been on tour for a while, right 15 years.

Speaker 2: 1:22:20

And you said you used to be on the Columbus tour. Yes, and now you're with the Coastal Georgia tour. Yes, I am and you're going to be. People are going to wonder who you are because you haven't actually played in a tournament for the tour yet, have you?

Speaker 7: 1:22:33

No, I did not play yet. I'm going to play next Sunday, so it'll be my first one.

Speaker 2: 1:22:37

But I'm sure the guys are going to be checking the points and who has escaped? He's already got 900 points and he's like who?

Speaker 7: 1:22:44

do you know? Is he real? Yeah Well, that's a new tour this year. It's new, so there's probably a lot of new people down there.

Speaker 2: 1:22:51

So yeah, there is going to be a lot of new people. Like I said, it's new. We're probably going to be drawing some from Jacksonville and probably maybe even up through here, through Killinghead and Charleston, but it's going to feel avoided. I'm sure that's going to be a pretty big tour.

Speaker 7: 1:23:07

Yeah, it's going to be great to have us close by. We've got a couple of tournaments scheduled. I'm on Killinghead Island, so it's close. I live in Marty Riederville Okay, you know, I live in. You know Harriville and he got a couple you know around my place, so it's going to be so nice.

Speaker 2: 1:23:22

Well, again and again, it's awesome that you know you'll be able to be close. I had to do a whole lot of traveling. It's also great that you won here, which is kind of really going to be local for you. You get to go to a regional, a local regional and again come away with a win, because not only do you get 900 points and you're already going to be leading you know your, your, your flight into points, but you got national's paid for which checked that gold, gold number one checked off the box at the first four.

Speaker 7: 1:23:48

Yeah, that's fantastic Getting that paid for. You know, my whole goal is was try to win, to get that done. This way I don't have to worry about. You know, getting the money paid for is already paid for. I could relax. I'm already in the tournament. Probably be playing B, I hope.

Speaker 2: 1:24:04

Well, you keep shooting scores like 82, 85, you know. But that's really what we want, Right? We want to get better. We want to continue to improve. Yeah, it's great to win, but again, the whole whole purpose and whole goal is to get better and actually.

Speaker 7: 1:24:19

I hope to see you in B flight. Me too. I'll be in B flight three times and I went back to C twice. Now just my second time going back to C and hope by the midseason be a B player, but again you know, keep up the good work, keep practicing.

Speaker 2: 1:24:35

Congratulations on the win and congratulations on punch punch ticket national.

Speaker 7: 1:24:39

Well, thank you very much. All right, but take care hey.

Speaker 2: 1:24:42

All right, we're back at the plantation club with it with the D flight champion, and I thought the story of the day was John Klein with a hole in one yesterday, but that's actually been topped. So we're here with our D flight champion. Had a heart transplant, did not even play last year, so please, let's, let's welcome. Congratulate John Phillips from the Eastern North Carolina tour for his victory Number one. I didn't know you had the heart transplant till I saw you yesterday, and so that makes it even more special. I mean, you have been knowing each other for a while, so so congratulations, it's good to talk to you.

Speaker 4: 1:25:15

Yep, thanks Tim. Yeah, 2022. I had a heart transplant, didn't ever know if I come back and play again, but I had a game plan. I felt good, health wise and doing great. I had a game plan to just I couldn't reach on the par for, so I just get as close, chip and putt, and I kept it both days. Really didn't look at the leaderboard until somebody told me that what I was, how far I was ahead, and I just enjoyed it and just tried to grind it out. Well, you did a hell of a job.

Speaker 2: 1:25:49

I mean you shot 89 yesterday on one of the Duke Dunes, first support most with your C-flate player, d-flate player and 89 is a is a really good score. I mean you know how fast was green for running yesterday and you went 89.

Speaker 4: 1:26:03

Tell us about these two, these two courses are phenomenal. They're the greens are spectacular speed. I caught on about after the second or third hole yesterday of the speed of the putts and I just, I just kept grinding and but yeah, this, this, this, these two courses here, great, well, you shot 92 today.

Speaker 2: 1:26:24

I mean again, if you don't have I don't know sure yet, but if you don't have a little round of day, you're going to be one of those rounds of the day. So you came back. When you come back and come back strong.

Speaker 4: 1:26:36

I did a brand spanking, a brand spanking new set of Callaway irons. I took out a took the plastic out of them two days ago. So I mean, it's Nolan, you said a club's new heart, a new meaning of life, a good second chance. So I just want to make the best out of it.

Speaker 2: 1:26:56

Well, you did a good job, so your health is good, so we're going to see more and more this year.

Speaker 4: 1:27:03

right, yeah, you will see many nationals, that's absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:27:07

I mean you're.

Speaker 4: 1:27:08

you're already punched your ticket, so yeah, so you better show up, I see it, I'll be there and I, dennis, and you, y'all, do a great job. First aid, all you, all you help and all you do for on golf week.

Speaker 2: 1:27:22

Well, thank you so much I appreciate it. But you know, you know me it's if it wasn't for you, all those players and his members, we wouldn't have a tour, and I can tell you don't want how much I appreciate you all as a whole. But number two, that you're here with us, yeah, that with all your struggles, and I can't look, can't wait to see you later in the year. Thanks, buddy. All right, buddy, take care. Oh, chris man, it was good to be able to to go to the first senior icebreaker and talk to the winners. It's the first time in, I think, three years we've had decent weather there and the players really, really enjoyed it. You know they got to play two really good courses at the Atlantic dunes and here in point. Saturday was a little cold, but Sunday the weather was beautiful. It's all back up, back up. It was a Friday Saturday. Friday was cold, saturday was nice because Sunday was super.

Speaker 1: 1:28:14

Well, we didn't play on Super yeah, I was about to say if you're playing Super Bowl, I'm not registering. Yes, but no, it's great to hear from our winners. You know, I'm glad we're able to do this and be able to capture all our winners because I mean that's, they're going out there and winning a big event, you know, one of the bigger ones that we have all season long, you know, minus the national championship. So it's cool to have them on here. I'm glad you had good weather, because I know that weather can turn on you guys in the heartbeat.

Speaker 1: 1:28:46

I've seen it.

Speaker 2: 1:28:48

I've played in it. Well, you know, I meant to tell you this. You know, a couple of weeks ago, you know, when I went to the PGA show, I ran into one of your players, billy knows yeah, and got talking to him and number one, it was good to see him. I mean, he looked great, he was happy and you know, talk about winning a big event and you know, I know this was. You know, you and I kind of talk about VGA a little bit because you know, a lot of your members are veterans and to me the VGA is different than our other competitors right, Because it's.

Speaker 2: 1:29:28

I think it serves a completely different purpose. And you know, when we had Billy on last year, you know what golf has done for him and how it's kind of really changed his life. It's really special and he won his flight. So he won his national championship flight for the VGA, which I didn't know about. So it's good for him, but I did want to make sure we recognized that and it's great to have him on tour. To me it's just another example of what golf can do for people.

Speaker 1: 1:30:03

Yeah, I mean you hit the nail on the head there when you said you know VGA is not like any of our other competitors. I personally, you know, knowing Billy for a while now really good friends I'm just super happy for what the VGA has done for him. You know, with his mental health, his physical health, not just golf, like they've tapped into him complete 180 and just great to see him smiling more. And call me, you know, once a week just to see how we're doing and coming down to our events and having a good time. It's great to see him.

Speaker 1: 1:30:39

So he did text me right when he saw you. I think he sent me a picture of your name badge or something and I was like I'm glad you guys got to meet up. But yeah, he's, you know, he he was just so excited to win his his flight for for VGA national champion. I think they gave him a red jacket for being a champion and he gets to wear that every year moving forward and has done so many things just to be a spokesperson for them. It's just crazy to see and I think I believe they're sending him to the masters for a practice round because you won the national championship. Good for him.

Speaker 1: 1:31:16

So I'm a little jealous about that. I asked if you can take a plus one. He said no, they don't allow plus ones.

Speaker 2: 1:31:22

Well, you got to make sure you bring you something back to it.

Speaker 1: 1:31:25

Oh he's, we've got that taken care of. Okay, we're building a list, so. So that's, that's not a worry, that's a matter of being there and being able to walk. That would be better.

Speaker 2: 1:31:36

Well well, when you see him, tell him again. I said congratulations and and I wish him the best and hopefully we'll see him, it's you know. Hopefully I'll see him sometime this year if he goes to regionals or when he comes out here.

Speaker 1: 1:31:52

He's going with me up there to Michigan, to the Michigan regionals, so he'll be up there. Super excited to play that course Cause I know that course is also geared around military and and you know what they do out there, so he's super excited to do there. And then we're planning a big national strip, my play, tobacco road and some courses down all the way down to Hilton head, so it's going to be a good time.

Speaker 2: 1:32:15

Good, good, good. Well, it's going to be great, great to see him. You know, it's it's the only couple of days left in the month, it's it's a leap year. So we have 29 days in February this year, so you've got a few more days to get your, your, your shirt submissions in. Um, I'm glad you got to talk to the, to the, to January winner, and I'm, I'm, I'm hopeful you can have some, some submissions for for February. But I know, come March, you know, with more and more tours, tours playing, we're going to be getting a bunch of submissions. Um, I've already had a couple of people uh, not only from Atlanta but from DC and a couple of tours, reach out and say they've already got their shirts ready. So we're looking forward to that.

Speaker 1: 1:32:56

Yeah, I can't wait to see these shirts that come out. Uh, you know me, I pushed it at my last event, this this past Saturday, um, the best I can, you know, and it's up for them to to post it. I can't baby them and be their little mother, hand in and make sure that they post everything they need to. Um, I did, I did my part. I got them to bring a shirt, I got them to take a picture with the shirt and, uh, the rest is on them. But I mean, this is January. February is the easiest time to get your entries in, exactly Cause once, once, every tour is out and playing. It's going to be a lot tighter and I can't wait to see what our final eight look like.

Speaker 2: 1:33:34

Now it's going to be fun. It'll be fun, you know, and that that kind of leads into. You know. We kind of talked a little bit about this at the opening of the show.

Speaker 2: 1:33:43

Yeah, there's a lot of things that go on behind the scenes um, after national championship and getting ready for for the next year, what, when we started the podcast, I don't think either one of us thought that this was going to grow as quickly, uh, as it has. Um, you know, we we've got sponsors now that uh are helping us do some travel. We've been working on a website and this, this episode, will be the first one that uh is posted to new, to new website and, like you know, like we told Matt, we can do a lot more with it. Uh, you know, posting pictures and sound bites and and other things that are, uh, interactive and engaging for, you know, for the players. Now, as we're recording this site, I don't know the exact web address of it, but it will be in the show notes, um, and you will be able to access it from the tour homepage. So we talked about the regionals.

Speaker 1: 1:34:44

Same spot.

Speaker 2: 1:34:47

Oh, all you have to do is is, you know, click the, find a tour near me and and there'll be a spot there for the podcast, um, and it's. The site is still a work in progress and we're going to be updating it and until we get it the way that we, uh, the way that we wanted, the way it looked good. So but it, I mean you're going to have access to, to pretty much everything you know from the podcast. You know the, the, the short contest, the rules, um, every episode that we've done it will, will be coming, that's that could be up, um, for right right away, but it takes some time to to upload those those things. But, uh, the good things are happening and and Chris, you know this we've got other things that we're not allowed to announce yet coming as well.

Speaker 1: 1:35:33

Yeah, I'm glad that we're going to have our own page. Um, like, like you said, we didn't think it was going to. You know, secretly we hoped it would explode the way it did. Um, but being able to just see it, you know firsthand uh, everybody excited when we get to regional Vegas, like they wanted to be on the mic for a little bit, or national championship. It's evolved a lot and I can't wait to see where we go in the future. But, uh, it's been a lot of fun ride so far and it's now, with with being able to have our own webpage, uh, to put stuff up there that that we can uh, for the podcast is just going to make it go 10 times better.

Speaker 2: 1:36:20

Yeah, and you know, if you're listening to the by-guest, you know, again, we appreciate it. We thank you. You know this growth is really because of you, but you know, please, please, make sure the the rest of your, your friends, are listening to it as well. I'm going to make sure you're you subscribe and download and and actually give us some reviews as well, because obviously we want to, we want to make it better. If you have questions, you know you can email me or Chris Um be happy to answer them. Uh, answer them on on on an episode, if, if, that's what it warrants, um, but again, the podcast is really for you also, that you understand what's going on across the across the country, get an idea of what, what uh, um, other tours are doing, hear stories about other members, so that it uh, uh, really does, does kind of, you know, grow the tour and and that excitement.

Speaker 1: 1:37:09

Yes, yes, it definitely does. And, uh, it's good to see the reviews that we get throughout the season. Um, I mean, last year we got a couple of questions that came in that Roger answered for us. Uh, so it just gives us more content that we're able to elaborate on and, uh, we'd love to hear from you guys.

Speaker 2: 1:37:28

Yeah, so, you know, as we really get started, um, this is the last episode for February. March is right around the corner, you know, in in a few days. So, uh, get out there, you know, play some golf, get registered If if you're not already registered for the tour, register now because, like I said, torrance are starting um, and get out and start playing some golf.

Speaker 1: 1:37:51

Yeah, enjoy it. Enjoy the time, because before you know it, it's going to get cold again, and I don't want that.

Speaker 2: 1:37:57

No, it's not going to get cold. We're going to heat it up.

Speaker 1: 1:38:00

There we go. I like that.

Speaker 2: 1:38:03

All right, my friend, but I know you got, you got, uh, you got towards this coming up right.

Speaker 1: 1:38:10

Yeah, we had a tournament this past weekend um third of the season and then, uh, taking the family for a vacation, uh, for a spring break, my wife's birthday, putting it all together and then back at it again. Before you know, we're going to be seeing each other again at a, the regional coming up, yeah we're going to have to but enjoy vacation.

Speaker 2: 1:38:34

Uh, wish your wife a happy birthday.

Speaker 1: 1:38:36

We'll, for me we'll leave you alone. Speak birthdays. I believe your birthday just passed and we needed to wish you a happy birthday on the podcast.

Speaker 2: 1:38:44

Oh, thanks, thanks, yeah, I think I'm 12. Um, you know, yeah, I was. Uh, it's funny. I was talking to my granddaughter and she said she, you know, she's four. She doesn't really understand. She said you have birthday. I said. I said, yeah, it's, it's pop's birthday. And I said I'm four years old. And she said, well, I'm four. I said, yeah, we're the same age. And she didn't, didn't, didn't quite understand, but but yeah but really I am four.

Speaker 1: 1:39:17

It's all good. You enjoy every, every, every minute of it and, uh, just wanted to wish you. You wish you a happy birthday as well on the podcast.

Speaker 2: 1:39:26

Thanks, buddy, I appreciate it. Will you you enjoy yourself and we'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 1: 1:39:31

Yes, sir, have a good one, bye-bye, bye-bye.