No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 1034: 2025 Mid-Year GHIN Rewind

Starting point is 00:00:00 Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different? Better than most. Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. Solly here, halfway point almost in the year as we're recording this past halfway as of the time that you are hearing this.

Starting point is 00:00:38 It is time. We promised we would do this. We did a little gin rewind at the end of last year. USGA has a great new tool through their app. You can look at your stats. And we had a great time discussing some fun things we identified in last year. And we're doing a mid-year check-in. So I got the crew with me today, Mr. TC.

Starting point is 00:00:57 We took them off the golf course today. Guy's been playing some golf. We got him indoors on a mic ready to chat. Hello, TC. Hello, hello. I've been playing a lot of golf in the Southern hemisphere this year. I think that's, that's the key. Not a lot of golf at home. I think I've only played like seven rounds at home.

Starting point is 00:01:11 So I thought you were, you're getting beat up by the olds. Well, I know I was beating up the olds and then I got beat up by a six, a quote unquote, a handicapper got 86 in the, in the, in the semifinals of our match play championship to, uh, to beat me, uh, four and three. I promise we're going to plenty of time to go through, through whip his ass in the parking lot. If you'll let me get through, we're going to go through all the other rounds as well.

Starting point is 00:01:41 That's the voice of DJ pie. You heard the voice of deal Schuster. That's big Randy as well. Jen emp the voice of DJ pie. You heard the voice of deal Schuster. That's big Randy as well. Jen empowers golfers before, during and after every round, helping you play smarter, compete fairly, track your progress and celebrate your journey. Go beyond the scorecard with three round tools to calculate strokes and set up games fairly. I do this. It's great tool. You enter everybody's name, enter the T's and it tells you exactly how many strokes everybody should get.

Starting point is 00:02:05 Don't try to do the math yourself. You probably don't know how to do it with the handicaps and the ratings and all that stuff. Just use the tool in there. It's very easy to use. You can find anybody in the Gen database. You can also manage the course with GPS, approach shot distances, putt break maps and real time game tracking. You can post scores, analyze your stats and watch your game evolve. Gen is not just about keeping score, it's about owning your game. You can try Gen for free for 30 days. Download the app today to start the free trial. It's of course G-H-I-N-GEN. All right, we're going to get into some insights that we've gotten from there.

Starting point is 00:02:39 But before we start that, I'm going to start with Dej in the top left corner here. There's a YouTube version of this. If you're listening in your car, there's going to be some data and some information showing up on the screen from the YouTube version on the No Lang a podcast YouTube channel, which we encourage you to subscribe to. But Dej, what kind of grade are you giving yourself so far in 2025? Great question, solid.

Starting point is 00:02:59 Good to be with you. I would say I would give myself a C, and I think I can explain that in a couple different ways. We've got a lot of ends of different spectrums here on one end. I did put in a lot of good work in the off season, quote unquote, horrible spring up here have not gotten to play a lot of golf, but did a good job of kind of investing in my golf game over the winter here in Milwaukee.

Starting point is 00:03:23 Put a nice net in the garage. Got a good piece of turf to hit on. Worked on a lot of wedge stuff. Obviously did a lot of stack stuff. I feel like I set the deck pretty well and couldn't quite translate it to the golf course, and that's where I think the other end of that spectrum comes. Handicap has gone up significantly. We can talk about that, and so I think that kind of levels out to maybe a C. I think the teacher's seeing that I'm putting in

Starting point is 00:03:47 a lot of effort, I'm really trying to get the concepts. It's just not maybe clicking right away, but you know, it would be unfair to give me a failing grade. I think it's a kid that you like having in class, but we just need to see a little bit more proof of concept. C's get degrees. Yeah. Can I challenge something here though. Class.

Starting point is 00:04:05 Sure. Dej, you, you've mentioned the stack here. We had a great winner in the stack. I can, I can check in on this on my app. It's been 89 days. Wow. Since I believe you've stacked. Rich score.

Starting point is 00:04:16 So when you talk about that, not translating, I feel like that's a pretty. My guy's underwater on his investment. Why does he want to keep chasing, you know. He's not even showing up to class. That kind of goes hand in hand, if you ask me. Sure, sure. Listen, yeah, no excuses. No excuses.

Starting point is 00:04:33 Gotta get back on it. I think you've gone through similar periods, Solly, like this. Interesting, thank you for throwing that out with specificity at me though. He's also got a par three course across the street from his house that he doesn't seem to be frequenting. That's true.

Starting point is 00:04:48 You caught my attention by saying, you know, you did all this stuff and then it didn't translate to the course. And that's where I'm like, well, hey, I don't know if that's a fair correlation. You're right. It's a it's a fair pushback. And it's I think, you know, one thing with the stack that I'll say is there's a lot of benchmarks that you get to and you finish a program and it's easy to feel like, okay, who got it. I finished, I got to that. Yeah. I got to that plateau, that level, that whatever. And it is hard to be like, all right, man, let's get all the gear back on and

Starting point is 00:05:17 go climb another peak. So yeah, it's just, there's been some inertia in getting going again, but it's all, it's a very it's a, it's a very fair position and I do need to, uh, need to get back on it. Neil, what kind of grade would you be? Give yourself? I would give myself a B minus, but I'm going to, it's a tough course. We're going to say it's a B on a, on a, uh, there's a curve, there's a slight curve. And I, and I wouldidre, I have also felt like I put the work in, I've signed up for the competitive events, I've put myself out there.

Starting point is 00:05:49 I've played a good amount of golf, more than I did at this, I think at this juncture last year. I've hit the ball really well. And the reason I'm grading on a curve is I feel like I'm doing the hard stuff well. Like my ball striking has improved. I feel like I've done a really good job of putting my back into a better position. So I've tried to make some necessary swing changes, not for aesthetic

Starting point is 00:06:10 reasons or to have a different ball flight. Like I know they had, like Greg Rose identified that reverse spine angle. How did you actually go about making those changes? It's crazy how important address posture is TC. It really is like, I've been too much on my heels. I need to get like my knees bent. I need to feel like my quads are firing. I need to feel a weight. Like you don't want to be on your toes, but to me right now, it feels like I'm on my toes because I've been way too far

Starting point is 00:06:36 back in my, my heels, which then, you know, puts my back and kind of not a, you know, I don't want to have a totally rounded back. But like, the example that I've been given is like, when you watch Fleetwood hit the ball, it looks like he's like hunched over. And like, that's good posture, you know, especially like if you want to hit a draw, that's, that's exactly cover the golf ball. Yeah. And so I don't know if I want to, you know, I need to almost exaggerate it to make it feel like the neutral spine at a dress is normal. So I've been doing a lot of that and that's not easy to do, especially like it's easy

Starting point is 00:07:10 to do in the simulator, but then you go out and play the freaking I qualifier. It's a little harder to like trust the new posture. You know, I feel like I really hit it really well. Now we've backslid a little bit on our putting. I'm just kind of in my short game is, and I haven't worked on it. You know, what do you expect? I was like talking to DJ about it.

Starting point is 00:07:30 I was like, I don't practice chipping. Like how do you expect to chip well if you like literally just don't do it, you know, except for like 15 minutes before the round. So, so I can't express. So I'd say a solid B. Handicaps gone up a little bit, but I think that the,

Starting point is 00:07:48 you know, we'll get to my three words to describe things. I'll explain that next, but, but B on a, on a slight curve. TC. I would say I'm auditing the course this year and it's kind of a pass fail thing and I'm passing. I think I've, I've gotten less wrapped up in what I'm shooting or what my handicap is and just get more wrapped up in like, just hit the shots and take it one shot at a time and build around and try to make birdies and stuff. And I think I've accomplished that. So I'm passing that.

Starting point is 00:08:18 The thing that I'm still not really practicing, I'm doing the maintenance stuff to like take care of my body and bring my floor up, I think. But it hasn't been a great year for kind of like my mid to shorter irons. My wedges have been fine. My driving's been great. My putting's been great. But you know, like I need to do some things to go to the next level. Then I need, I need to test myself as well. Like I need to, you know, I'm in the 100 level or 200 level class. Now I need to go, I need to go compete for a grade at the 300 level class, I think.

Starting point is 00:08:53 So yeah, I would say I'm passing, I'm showing up to class, I'm learning, and you know, I'm really, I'm preparing for my career ahead. Man, I would have thought you'd got to just gone straight for something in the B plus A minus range from what we've seen, what I've seen in person a couple of times. I'd say minus really, really nice. So modest, modest grade for yourself.

Starting point is 00:09:16 And just, I'm very curious. Pretty good up in New York too, which really pissed me off. Oh, that'll, that'll humble you. He, he had a great midterm, but now he's been coasting. Stop showing up for class. Randy. Listen, I'll play long here. I've played nine times this year. I think it's gone actually pretty well. I feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty good. I've been fairly consistent. So I'm going to give myself a B plus. I think we've been, uh, been keeping it between the mayo and the, and the mustard. And I'm, I'm pleased with, I'm pleased when I do go out on the course, how things are going.

Starting point is 00:09:52 Randy, I feel like I've played of those nine, maybe six of them with you between Northern Ireland and Milwaukee. And I, I know exaggeration. I've never seen you drive the golf ball better. It is borderline automatic, man. It's, no exaggeration. I've never seen you drive the golf ball better. It is borderline automatic, man. It's fun, fun to watch. Randy, I know you, you and I kind of share that. Like we like to whip a swing field

Starting point is 00:10:15 till it dies on the track. What are we, what are we riding right now? Well, yeah, the driver has been great. I mean, golf is such a, it's a much more enjoyable pastime when you're getting off the tee well, I can attest to that. You know, Neil, I think the big swing thought that I've been trying to keep in my head is twofold. One, not opening, not rolling open the wrists on takeaway,

Starting point is 00:10:40 right, trying to kind of keep that clubhead more square as I take it back and get it on top. And then two, just trying as best I can to really shift my weight from my right side to my left side. I have a real tendency to hang back and be on my right side. So I feel like, you know, if I can get that feeling where the club face is, I mean, to me, it feels shut. I know it's not. It's probably still open a little bit and then transfer my weight through the golf shot. I feel like good things tend to happen usually.

Starting point is 00:11:16 So we're going to keep it going. It's worked up to this point. Randy, question for you. Is your tennis improving your golf? I don't know if it's improving my golf. It's certainly not hurting my golf at this point, which is a win. So, but I don't know of anything on the tennis court

Starting point is 00:11:33 that I'm specifically trying to, I mean, I guess as far as like body rotation and just getting through a shot, absolutely. Maybe that helps some, but yeah, I can't point to anything specific. The fear would be really strong right hand and really rolling over through impact and those sharp hooks. It could get smart. Yeah, I think would be the nightmare. And we've avoided those. So, so far so good there. That's a good question though, TC.

Starting point is 00:12:08 Yeah, Sali, I'll turn it back to you. How about yourself? Professor has given me an incomplete. I got to retake the course. I've not been attending class. I've had way too many trips back home for family stuff going on. Sali got mono midway through the semester.

Starting point is 00:12:24 Yeah. It's just. He's got a doctor's note, it's an incomplete and we're going to retake the class. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:12:33 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:12:41 I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm not really even like working on anything. I'm not really working towards anything. So it's, it's an incomplete and we're going to retake the class, hopefully learn a little bit, but it'll be good to kind of reset from there. But I think that's a bit of a recency bias. I mean, you, you, you showed up and played well at the creator classic. That's got to be a feather in your cap. Legitimately the only feather in the cap for the entire year. I think, I think I played one good 18-hole

Starting point is 00:13:05 round and one good seven-hole stretch on national television holes. And that's the limit. I had a good 15-hole stretch at the Gasparilla and I finished fourth to last. So it's just not there. What can I say? It's not that time in my life. This time period, especially What can I say? It's not that time of my life. This time period, especially during major season, it's a temporary, hopefully decline, but man, it's a big decline and we'll get into some of those numbers. But Deidre, if we're describing your golf year in three words, how would you describe it? A couple of different directions I was thinking about taking this one, which sums up how I'm feeling, which I'm going to go with uncertain and existential. You know, we just talked about this on our, uh, on our golf spotlight.

Starting point is 00:13:46 I think I'm really at a bit of a crossroads right now with my golf game and trying to figure out what am I trying to get out of this? You know, are we there to, to try to squeeze every ounce and improve the handicap and watch a number on an app go down? Possibly. I do really enjoy that. Are we out there to just like, you know, you know, you're not going to be able to get out of this? You know, you're not going to be able to get out of this. to try to squeeze every ounce and improve the handicap and watch a number on an app go down? Possibly. I do really enjoy that. Are we out there to just escape the troubles of everyday life and take in some sunshine and smell the grass? I really like that too.

Starting point is 00:14:16 And I feel a little stuck in between those two things, if I'm being honest. And so go listen to the personal golf spotlight we did. I don't need to retread any of that stuff here, but that's kind of, I think, sums up where I'm at. Just a little stuck in the middle right now and interested on how the rest of the year is going to go. Neil, my three words are going to be waiting for tides. And I would like to call out my favorite movie, The Rock and Sean Connery's line in there

Starting point is 00:14:45 of I waited for three days underground in the dark waiting for the tides to be right. I think we're not quite ready, but we're going to break out of Alcatraz. Moving out of the city later this year, I think there's golf in my future, you know, like more consistent, easier access to practice golf in the next 12 months. And so my goal is to keep myself like I think my best golf is ahead of me. And that makes me very hopeful. And I want to keep myself physically able to play high level golf. And I want to get better. I have no doubt about it. Randy, I think I'm getting a lot out of golf or see myself getting what you're getting out of tennis. It is a competitive outlet for me and playing, you know, I'll talk about the, the eye qualifier as a, as a low light later, but like seeing how like

Starting point is 00:15:33 I just, man, I want to compete with these guys. I want to, I want to play good golf. I want to get better. And so I'm, I'm, but I'm not, it would be unfair to myself to be like, yeah, man, like why aren't you putting better? to be like, yeah, man, like, why aren't you putting better? It's like, yeah, man. Like you haven't literally haven't gone to a putting green in like nine months other than before around, you know what I mean? So it's like, I gotta be fair about that. So we're waiting for tides. Neil, I would say on the, on the rock front too, the blue, the blueprints are in your head. Yes, they are. They are. And they're there.

Starting point is 00:16:08 They're your thoughts, too. That's what we were going to say. They're going to say you were you were in the city for three years in the dark, just waiting for the tides to be right. I went through the through the cistern room, through the incinerator shaft, which was really cool, by the way. That's that's what people say. That was really cool. How in the name of Zeus's butthole did you get out of your cell? That's going to be the real question.

Starting point is 00:16:29 Did you learn how to putt? Yeah, exactly. TC, your three words. I would say promising early returns. It's interesting because it's weird here in Florida, right? It's not really golf season. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, everybody either, you play golf elsewhere. I don't really play that much at home this time of the year. I play a lot in January, February, March, and then I'll play a bunch in the fall. But have some trips planned, put a bunch of good golf there. But

Starting point is 00:17:01 I think promising early returns, I think one of the biggest things I've noticed is I'm turning into a turf guy, just like you. When I'm playing on really tight surfaces, I'm playing my best golf. And whether that's it, like, Fescue, Bermuda, even tight, tight Benerai, it's just versus Neil, like when we went up and we played country cup of Troy and Glenn's falls, there's just a little bit more grass underneath there pretty early in the season too. And it's just the turf interaction I'm struggling with. Cause I'm, you know, I like to hit down on the ball a little bit. So iron, I think some iron inconsistencies that we're working through and you know, we will make those promising early returns into, you know, uh, really, really good long-term yields.

Starting point is 00:17:52 What's awesome about those three words is that if you say them differently, it could come off as like a con man. Like I'm like promising early returns is like a scam. Uh, like solid. Like TC's over promising early returns. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I. But what I really like, what I'm, I guess proud of what I, what I like seeing is eight of those nine rounds are between 81 and 85. So we've, we've really established a, a new normal. I feel like we've raised the floor of the game. I have no expectation and I have no, what's the phrase I'm looking for. It would not be right of me to expect much more than that given what I put in, but it has been satisfying. It's fun.

Starting point is 00:18:51 You know, I kind of make a game. If I can shoot 84 or better when I go out, that's a fun day. And still looking to break 80 for the first time this year, but by and large, it's been enjoyable. And yeah, we're just slow it's been enjoyable and yeah, we're just slow and steady. Keep it on, keep it on.

Starting point is 00:19:10 So the line is going to be, uh, get it together. I mean, it's like do something. I've just been, and it's been especially challenging, but because my life has just been like triage, what comes most important at the very top, whenever you do get free time, which like the challenging parts have greatly eaten into like my work time as it stands. So I feel like I'm constantly trying to triage something on the work front. So the point where I've not been able to justify putting golf on the calendar, putting nine holes in the calendar, putting range sessions on the

Starting point is 00:19:41 calendar, because I'm like trying to keep my head above water with my workload as it is with extremely limited time to do that. But I would like that to change. Uh, I would like to re familiarize myself with, I feel quite disconnected from the game right now, which makes it harder to do my job, even though it's not our job every time we flip on the mics to be good at golf or to be able to talk about our own golf games. But I still, I'm here like hearing TC's review of his, uh, fitting session this past week. I'm like, dude, I am trying to keep the ball off the hosel right now. And he's talking about, I mean, we're getting

Starting point is 00:20:13 paragraphs on paragraphs on turf interaction. I'm like, dude, I just don't, I don't feel that at all right now. And I miss, I hate that. I really missed that part and I want to get it together. I want to, I was going to try to squeeze a ring session in today. I don't think it's going to work, but I got to get out there and swing the golf club. We're playing tomorrow at TC and I'm excited. We are. We're going to beat the shit out of Poosh tomorrow. That's a round I've had to reschedule four times now because it just, it just, I, I think there's a lot of people wondering if your pursuit of the

Starting point is 00:20:41 Schvanzes in the fantasy baseball league is cutting into your golf game as well. Who are these people that are wondering that? I just, I've heard voices, you know, I've seen some threads, some things. Yeah, yeah, that's just, you know, kind of scouts, you know, you see them out at the, at the little league games, you know, that's what they're saying. That was in Neil's briefing from his front office. Neil thinks fantasy baseball takes so much time. He literally outsourced the job and he thinks I'm spending 40 hours a week on it. I'm fully, fully confident in, in, uh, it just, you know, you hire well and,

Starting point is 00:21:15 and just genius boy, it's, it's great stuff. So like, one of the things I think that's helped me out is like, even when I'm going through a stretch where I'm not playing well, I kind of tell myself, Hey, why am I out here? I'm out here to have fun, you know, hang out with good people, see new golf courses or find joy in the golf courses that I'm playing. And then I've just like almost tricked myself. Like Neil and I've talked about this a lot of like, I've tricked myself and maybe it's not even tricky. Maybe it's just like, I like, I am a decent player, but it's like, I've just raised my expectations in a good way, I think, of like, the bad times aren't going to

Starting point is 00:21:49 last forever or like, you know, each shot is independent of the last and just stacking those up. And I think, like, even if you're just going out and playing nine holes, I think it's, I think like the best thing for you would just be like, embrace the volatility of like knowing that, hey, your floor is going to be lower than you're accustomed to. But I think the the best thing for you would just be like, embrace the volatility of like knowing that, hey, your floor is gonna be lower than you're accustomed to, but I think the ceiling is still there. Just go pin your issues back and try to shoot like 29. Weirdly enough, I've actually, like the rounds I have played, I've enjoyed more than maybe I haven't passed years because there is the true like,

Starting point is 00:22:21 dude, you could be doing a lot of other stuff other than being on this golf course. And if you let yourself be bitchy and whiny for one second about your poor play, you have misunderstood this game. And so I've, I've, I've enjoyed golf at a different level of like, all right, I shot it before today. Who the fuck cares? I got to play golf and that has not always been the case. So that part, um, uh, is the one thing I can look back with a little bit of pride on my game so far this year. I would echo, echo that exactly. And I think that sums up kind of what I was saying earlier which is like I I have felt that same way on the golf course this year solid and obviously it's been more inconsistent and

Starting point is 00:22:55 the rounds have been a little fewer and far between both with having a kid and and just having a horrible spring up here, but that's where I think it gets. It gets a little weird to just to see what you're talking about. Almost like hold both of those things in your mind where it's like, man, I feel like I am working hard to try to improve and that's not really happening, but I'm still

Starting point is 00:23:14 enjoying it in a totally different way. And I just it's just a very. It's a different kind of cocktail of feelings out there that I think I'm still trying to sort out. TC we gotta get a Thursday game that would be, that would be giving me something to look forward to. Easy, easy little game in the way. We used to play that and that so much.

Starting point is 00:23:31 And I know it just, it has gone by the wayside, but come over and play with us in our blue man group Friday game. Yeah. Before we get into, we're going to do a little quiz and then kind of do a little breakdown of some of the numbers. You might see a lot of Holderness and Born up on the screen. TC, what can you tell us about what they got going on there?

Starting point is 00:23:52 Yeah, I actually, a couple of us, Dej and Randy are wearing one of my favorite shirts we've ever done. We both showed up. Both showed up in this one today and we're like, should we change? No, we're not changing. It's too, it's simply too good. It's too good. We both have to wear it.

Starting point is 00:24:08 I'm wearing one of our new ones. It's got the, you know, that's the only visor I can wear. Cause you know, I can't wear a visor up there, but summer stuff is out. It's, Neil and I went up and previewed the fall stuff that's starting to come out. Some of the early summer stuff, but the new summer collection hit their website with more new styles launching, I think like this Friday in like two days. So this will be out. And Ryder Cup collection is online, simple clean trophy plus a date only logo, not the big shield logo, which I think is when you go to some of these other tournaments and it's

Starting point is 00:24:45 just all this stuff going on. Like you want just clean classy on a Holderness of Born piece. So they're doing that. Aeration, Randy, I don't have to tell you about Aeration. Microperforations, macro comfort TC. I think Aeration is, I've been wearing that during this heat wave. It's awesome. Seek those shirts out. They're starting to come out with it in some outerwear, some pullovers as well. We've got new colors in the best selling Harwood short. They translate well on and off the golf course. Performance fabric is perfect for the summer.

Starting point is 00:25:18 I've been wearing the heck out of those. That's... T.C. Can I toss one in there? The older I get, the more I appreciate a high quality t-shirt, which is what I'm wearing from if I'm going to be able to do that. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it.

Starting point is 00:25:32 But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure I'm going to be able to do it. But I'm sure-shirt. But then I started wearing it. Like it's like the first thing that I, what do you reach for out of the drawer? You know, it's like, you know, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it is expensive, but then it's like a long day of travel. Are

Starting point is 00:25:55 there a few flights or I know like, you know, like, I don't know a couple, like 14 hour flights this year, like that's the t-shirt that I reached for that I put on, you know, you don't want to wear like a scruffy t-shirt and you don't want to put a polo on. You kind of just want to be in between. That's where those, those sit great. So you can use code NLU10 at hbgolf.com. Get you 10% off your first order. That's the only that in our Trap Draw discount code are the only ones on the market for H&B. That's NLU10 at hbgolf.com. Fantastic product no matter what you're choosing off that site. Great seasonal colors coming out too.

Starting point is 00:26:30 All right, let's go around. I want you guys to look at your own gin rewind here. And I want you to give me one interesting insight you have from your own data, your own information here. We're gonna start with you, Dej. What sticks out to you from your info? I don't have a good one. Like I'm not going to, I'm not going to take up too much time because I would just say, I just haven't been able to play a lot of golf because the spring like really sucked and I didn't do a good job of getting out in the conditions. You know,

Starting point is 00:26:56 I was itching to play, just wasn't really possible. So I guess my one insight is just like, man, it's been really hard to get out on the golf course. You know, only played my home course twice by the time this data was pulled. That's just not good enough. So that was kind of all about all I got. Dej, I got to ask, tell me about that 94. Yeah, we're going to get there. We're going to get there. That's a, cause you were front row big dog.

Starting point is 00:27:19 That was, that was with you. Uh, first round of the year. So that was it. Tim O'Quanna. Okay. When we get to some low lights, yeah, that didn't seem like a 94. Huh? It did to me. Neil stick out for you. Well,

Starting point is 00:27:36 so I was looking at my stats earlier. Um, I love seeing my average score go to 78.5. Um, same as last year, but I love seeing that below 79. I feel like it's been more volatile though. I've put since this game out in June, I put an 85 on there. So, but obviously the 69 is exciting to see, but specifically for my stats, my par five scoring, I called that out as a focus in January. We, you know, just, Hey, we want to score better on par fives. Like, Hey, cool man. Uh, it's at, it's 4.77. So it's below par, which I feel good about. Um, so that's, that's, that's

Starting point is 00:28:12 something I would call out that I am happy about now. 34.6 putts per round. I'm not very happy about, um, but that's, that's just the way it's going to go. The par five thing's awesome. Yeah, I've been really actively thinking about it when I'm playing, not, not trying to put pressure on it, but like, okay, like, like every round I'm trying to figure out if I was, you know, kind of what my par five scoring is for the year. Yeah. I think you're yours is interesting too. Like it seems like you're playing a lot of courses that are just not rated very hard of like they're either old schools joints up and, you know, up in the Northeast that, that, you know, you're playing a lot of different courses that are just not rated very hard. And then you're playing a lot of courses that are just not rated very hard of like they're either old school joints up in, you know, up in the Northeast that,

Starting point is 00:28:49 that, you know, there's not a lot of water or there's not a lot that is going to bump the rating or the slope up too much. And I think that's something else like from a good perspective of like you're scoring well on like not easier golf courses, but like you're just getting the ball in the hole, which is interesting. Cause I think like sometimes that when I feel like if I go play a bunch of really hard courses and I just go make a bunch of pars, I may not be playing my best golf, but those scores in relation to the rating are, you know, let's say you go play a 75 or a 76 rating. Like it's, it's much easier to get your handicap down playing those golf courses.

Starting point is 00:29:25 Whereas it's really hard to get your handicap down playing courses that are rated right around par or slightly easier. I've gotten, I just have too many rounds generally in the eighties, more, more so this year than I do last year. But like I've said before, I don't often play courses more than once. Um, and so like, I think if I had a home track or a place I played a lot, I think my handicap would just go down because there's probably two or three strokes around those news courses.

Starting point is 00:29:52 Like I wouldn't have done that, especially like Glenn's Falls TC and Country Club of Troy, where it's like kind of a hilly course, a lot of blind shots. You're like, man, that was a stupid club selection, stuff like that. Yeah. TC, what sticks out?

Starting point is 00:30:06 I would say like my highest round is now that Cody was there for it. 85 really bad. I think that 82 was at, was it Glenn's Falls, Neil, I think. But overall, it's like pretty tight dispersion between like both as far as my shots go, like I've just, everything feels like it's much more down the line and I'm not missing wildly. I'm not making a lot of doubles, but also that's, that's resulting in like less kind of score dispersion too. Like everything. Can I just say seeing 72, 82 on your like scoring dispersion and you're down 1.5 versus last

Starting point is 00:30:47 year is exciting stuff. You don't have any outliers that are bringing that average down. That's just like you're playing consistently good golf. He's down 2.1.5. He's down 0.9 shots. Oh, okay. No, I'm looking at the scoring average, 76.6. Yeah, in the average. Average 18, 76.6. Yeah. In average.

Starting point is 00:31:05 Down average 18 hole scores down 1.5 strokes. Yeah. Which like, but you would expect there was like a 68 that was helping with that, right? For an average. There's nothing like that. There's no, there's no big outlier, which I think is a great trend for you. Some of that too is like, I think kind of curious of like, let's say you just play a bunch more par 70 courses.

Starting point is 00:31:25 How does that affect it? That's fair. Right. But no, scoring average is definitely coming down. I like, I need to do a better job of tracking, you know, hole by holes and scoring average on par threes versus par fives, all that stuff. That's kind of a second half of the year goal. But I would say like the, the one that's like the most frustrating is like, like I can go out, we have two courses here in Jack's where I play ocean courses. Like, I can go out there and shoot 70 it's really wide. It's, you know, it's fun. Like it's kind of a second shot golf course, but you can't really get yourself into too, too much trouble, especially after the first five holes. And it's rated pretty hard because it's typically windy or it's typically pretty firm and tight and fast. There's some water. And then,

Starting point is 00:32:10 but like I can typically go out there and shoot, you know, 74, 75 and guide it around or go shoot 73. It's a par 71. And then our other course is the lagoon course. And it's like 5,900 yards. So it's rated like, it's like 68.3 or 69. And like, honestly, like if we go play the tips there, like I struggled to break 80 on that course. It's so much harder. And it's like, it's short, but it's not hard. And it's just miss rated, I think too,

Starting point is 00:32:38 of like, it's, there's so much more water. There's so much more, like there's so many awkward shots. And then they get the greens going crazy fast. And it fast and like you can just hang yourself on that golf course. So I think there's some, there might be some noise in the data for me too. Sure. Fair enough. I'm next. Just the fact that literally like starting the year at plus 1.9 was down. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic.

Starting point is 00:33:07 So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic.

Starting point is 00:33:15 So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic.

Starting point is 00:33:23 So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. So it's a little dramatic. summary. But also it's just, it's a little dramatic. Like the, again, like starting the year at plus 1.9 was not accurate because I just didn't play any golf in the, like between November and December anyways, which is usually the difficult time period in Florida and the handicap ends up trending upwards. Anyways, I just didn't get any of those rounds in. So I just lingered from that summer play into the winter at, at plus almost two. And that just was not an accurate reflection of the game. So, uh, I'm trying to, trying to grade myself on a little bit of curve that this soft cap, uh, doesn't hit as hard emotionally,

Starting point is 00:33:58 but it's not, not great. Also, when you open the gin app, does it say your soft cap? Like every time it gives you like an alert, it gives you like a little so sick just to remind you of like, yeah, how much, how much you think gives you like a little exclamation point. You got to click into it to see what it, I don't know how well you can see it, but shout out to the USGA. Please, please keep doing that. That's good stuff.

Starting point is 00:34:20 A soft cap has been applied. They should just turn the turn the entire app like a different color for any of those. I have like alarm bells going off when you open it. Wee-oo, wee-oo. Randy, what sticks out in your data? I don't have a ton here. I guess my 18-hole scoring average across eight rounds is pretty close to my low round. So I think hopefully the same thing going on a little bit with TC about, you know, I've just, I've been hovering in,

Starting point is 00:34:52 in the better part of the spectrum this year, which is great. But the other thing I want to call out, I I'm, we're getting through half the year here and the dream is alive. Eight rounds posted, eight different courses played. I have a dream to not play a course twice in a calendar year. The NIT makes that a little difficult. So I'm not sure if I will do that, but.

Starting point is 00:35:15 Just draw, just draw. I'm on quite a string here with not having replayed a course in like the last, if you go back into 2024, several months. So we're almost to a calendar year here. The NIT also could be your walk-off round for the year. So maybe that's just a pure celebration of accomplishing the goal. Yeah, that's true.

Starting point is 00:35:35 That's true. Rainey, was that your first time at Colorado Golf Club? You know, it's my second time. I had played here, I had played there, like right after I moved out here and had not gotten out there for several years. But that place is sweet. That place is awesome. Love seeing you dip into the paintbrush. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:35:55 God, looking at your gin rewind, Randy, the three words for me are just peaceful, easy feelings. Not a lot of golf, not a lot of high rounds, not a lot of low ones, just easy listening. Well, that's, yeah, that's better than... Not here for a long time. Yeah. We're here for a good time. So yeah, that's, well, I don't know. I do, part of me does want to get to the NIT having not replayed a course, but it's going to be a little difficult if I want to play around Denver. It'd be good vibes for you at Dobson after last year.

Starting point is 00:36:32 I know. Yeah. If you can't tell from listening to this podcast, we get out and travel a little bit. We take our golf clubs with us and we play some golf courses around the world. And if you're a fan of the show, you know that we travel well protected on golf trips with Club Glove, the number one golf travel bag on tour, trusted by LPGA golfers like Alexa Pano, Emily Peterson, Jessica Korda, PGA Tour golfers like Tom Hoagy, Cam Young, Brian Harmon, and more. This year Club Glove, which has always been the best, just got even better. They've re-engineered the iconic traveler bag with 25% more padding, a velour lined clubhead area, added a built in TSA lock and introduced a new military grade ballistic nylon exterior, the strongest they've ever used.

Starting point is 00:37:11 Check out the all new club glove at clubglove.com and for a limited time, use code NLU at checkout and you receive a complimentary gift with purchase. That's code NLU at clubglove.com today. If you got a birthday, anything coming up, this is a great thing to put on your list, have a significant other get for you. Cause you were going to use this thing for many, many, many years code nl you at club glove.com today, back to the pod.

Starting point is 00:37:34 Yeah. Wrapping up the gin rewind portion of this. Uh, we'll go with same order here. Just kind of give me the description, brief description of your best round and your worst round, uh, so far of the year, kind of what was, what was working for you in that round? What was really not working in the high round stage? We'll start with you. Yeah, I think that low round, I think was 81 or something

Starting point is 00:37:55 at my home course, nothing really of note, just kind of, Neil, you were describing this hopeful feeling that if you start playing the same place over and over, you start to, you know, get some, some comfortability with that and just kind of knowing how to get the ball around. I think that's what that round was. I don't know that it was necessarily like some great golf. It's just more like, Oh man, I know how to play the fourth hole. I know where to miss on the fifth

Starting point is 00:38:18 hole. I know how to avoid a double here. And so that's kind of what that was. And, uh, yeah, the high round, the 94, this was in January coming out of, out of a deep winter freeze down at Tim Aquana with you guys and just completely lost invasion of the body snatchers. No idea where the club faces just knowing that, you know, you get through like the second or third hole and you're just like, just, no, it's not here. Don't have it. Don't know how this is going to go. And yeah, what I walked away from that round with was almost this kind of fun feeling of like, you know what? It's January. I don't know what that was January 7th or 8th or something. It's like, you know what? I think that's going to be the worst round of the year. It's like January 7th or 8th. Like that's kind of, that's kind of sick. You know, maybe not. Maybe you build off this. Yeah. Maybe we'll have some, uh, some other clunker, uh, later on, but that was a kind of, I remember that vividly walking off that one and still like to our earlier points,

Starting point is 00:39:17 I had a great, great time with, with Sally and Neil and Matt out there. Lovely day, fun walk. But I was just walked off. I was like, yeah, you know what? That's kind of funny. I bet that's the worst round of the year. And it's, we're only seven days into the year. That's pretty neat. When do you want to make double though? On the first hole.

Starting point is 00:39:32 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Now we're just, we're getting it all back the rest of this year. Neil, your best round of the year, a 69. 69, which was really fun. I was actually playing, it was an MGA. Second round ever breaking par, correct?

Starting point is 00:39:50 Yes, yes, on a, you know, from not the forward tees, you know, without any like asterisk, but like no, we didn't hit every cup, but there was nothing questionable about it. And I played with, by chance, John Sherman, practical golfer that we did a video with on like course management stuff. It was an MGA like partner summit.

Starting point is 00:40:11 And I was there, I was speaking on a panel with a guy, Rich Lerner. It was fantastic. And then I went out and just played like really good golf. I made an awful snipey swing on the first hole, saved a bogey. And then I just, I made five birdies and what was it? Five birdies and two bogeys. And I'll take this from a question later, like highlight or something I did for the first time. DJ, I pitched the perfect game in this round.

Starting point is 00:40:40 No three putts, no doubles, no lost balls. I've done two of those three things several times, but to do all three of those in the same round, that was the first time I've ever done that. At least in the last five years since we like I tracked that every round just mentally. And that was the biggest thrill. So that was awesome. It's not listed, but I shot 85 two weeks ago at the at Wachong Valley. Awesome golf course in New Jersey. It was an Ike qualifier, which is a big like, I guess one of the Met Golf Association, like majors, if you want to call it that. And I just played like really duty. It was three hour rain delay, five and a half, five hours and 45 minute round, just really slow, hot,

Starting point is 00:41:26 steamy, buggy. And I just played really bad. And it was just like a kind of a bit of a low point. So I'll save that one, but just, just didn't, didn't play good golf. Hey, it happens. TC, you are best round of the year 72. Highest is 82. 72. I think this was at, I think it was at Jockey Club, but I don't know. I don't know what the par there is. I don't know if that's even or if that's, they've got some holes that are like probably more like par fours. So I've got a bunch of like one and two over rounds, both like Tree Farm, Ponte Vigil and Club, Terry Eady. And like, I think the best rounds of the year have been like in wind, I think. That's been like one of the surprising things.

Starting point is 00:42:11 And so, you know, whether it's a, you know, then you add in like a PCC on top of it, like a playing conditions, you know, adjustment. And it's like, those are by far the best rounds of the year, but I don't know if they are score wise, but that seems to be the common thread of like when we played at pine forest number 10 and it was just crazy Northwest wind or even a jockey club, like it was just so hot and like stuff that just gets you out of like thinking about score

Starting point is 00:42:37 and you're just like, all right, I'm, you know, I'm just hitting shot by shot. Like that seems to be the common thread when I'm playing well. It's like, it's not, it's not a matter of like going out and trying to hang a number. It's just, you know, it's kind of playing the conditions and playing, playing the wind. Highest round now is 85 and that's just, I just, I just straight up like couldn't hit a green. And then like when you're not hitting greens there, like you're just chipping or putting uphill from like bad positions like the entire day. And I was just exhausted too. So Cody can, you know, confirm.

Starting point is 00:43:19 It was just like, man, I am out of gas. Like legitimately, like this course is just like, it's just too hard for me right now. Like I'm, like I'm not playing well. Like I thought it was, I thought it was a lot harder than, than Oakmont. At least like. Shinnecock is the Joe Pesci, like walking into the tarped room, like, oh shit, I didn't know I was dead. All like, you know, you hit, well, oh, it's short grass over there. I should be okay. And then you get up there and you're like, I am so fucked over here. And I didn't even know it. I've played, I've played 54 holes at Shin Chinnit Car. Now I've made one birdie.

Starting point is 00:43:49 Jeez. I guess I, and I broke 80 one of those rounds too. Like I, but I just made a ton of pars and like, I just couldn't, you know, that was, that was 85 on a par 70 as well. Like bad round of golf. We had everything, not a bunch of doubles, everything that day we had high winds. What I don't think they call it the Marine layer or something like that floating around all over the place. Perfect. I hope that's how it is next year.

Starting point is 00:44:15 I will still, I played both of these rounds with TC. The jockey was one of the most well executed rounds of golf I've ever seen in my whole life and TC, I think it does matter. You're not playing score. We had like, that was the culmination of a week's long match going on and you were so dialed in. It was, it was crazy impressive to see. Shinnecock, Solly, just to back up TC and his 85 here. It is the highest round that I have this year, my 80, but it's also the best round of golf that I've had this year, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Starting point is 00:44:48 I shot 45 on the front nine, shot 35 on the back to bring it home, hell yeah, home an 80. And I had to grind my tail off to get that back nine in, but I was super proud of it. It's so tough. We had some tough, finishing the drill, That gets me hyped.

Starting point is 00:45:05 What's your low round of the year? 70. That's also a jockey. I will say this a jockey. It is very scoreable. And I think we see that every year from the corn fairy tour when they get down there. But TC brought up his- We had a couple front teams too.

Starting point is 00:45:21 Yeah, they were doing some work, but he brought up his eagle on 10. I barely missed my Eagle there back to back part fives and then lipped out two Eagle putts in a row. But birdie birdie played awesome in the back nine shot of the year was on that 13th hole back into the wind. Just this low bullet little knockdown nine iron. And I thought TC was like going to jump in my arms. He's like, I couldn't believe you just hit that. But I think on my standpoint too, it's like the rounds that I can go back after the round and it's not so much like, man, I hit a bunch of great shots. It's like, I can only find one or two things I wish I had back or like I didn't make mistakes that cost me. They may have cost me a stroke or, or put me, you know, make,

Starting point is 00:46:09 you know, give me a 15 footer instead of a, instead of a 10 footer, but like making it to where like you can count on one hand, how many shots you wish, wish you had back or like, Hey, I didn't execute that shot. My low round was a really random 69 that I shot after the gas gorilla, where I shot 86 in that final round. I think I played one round between that and the creator classic. And I don't know why.

Starting point is 00:46:32 I don't even remember how or why I was able to do this. It just was one of those days where everything felt easy and you just felt like the highest I could have shot and left actually a few shots out there. And didn't feel like I played that miraculously good. It just, one of those days that golf felt easy. It has not felt like that for one single day since then, but, uh, it is still in there somewhere. The high round also covers off on several answers to a lot of questions later on.

Starting point is 00:46:57 So we'll revisit in this one, but I shot 88 at Oakmont that, uh, honestly felt worse than that. Even it was, uh, I've truly never been punched that hard. Uh, and I, I still, I, I still think my soul is trying to recover a little bit from that one. It was just became this like, am I a total fraud? Like am I only good at all the fake golf? Like when the golf got very real, I shriveled up and just hid in that rough. And that was, that was a low point. And I don't know if I, yeah, we'll again, revisit that one. But is this when Solomon shot 88?

Starting point is 00:47:35 Correct. Yeah. Yes, it is. It is that time. So Randy highs and lows. My, my low, let's start, I guess, with the low, my, my low round is an 81. I've done it twice. My first round of the year down in Hilton head. And then again at blue Mount. So Dijon solid, you saw that round. I guess the blue round round is notable only because I felt like it should have, could have been a few shots better.

Starting point is 00:48:07 Like I still remember floor putting the eighth hole for double bogey that was a kick in the nuts and just a few other little mistakes there. But yeah, I was just, man, that was a great kind of afternoon evening walk. It had rained in Milwaukee a lot earlier that day, but Blue Mountain took the rain very well. The greens were still decently slick, some fun pins. So that was a good day. My high round, actually DJ Sawley, you guys were there as well, was at Port Rush.

Starting point is 00:48:38 I don't know if I played poorly. I certainly hit some bad shots. It just is, you know, there's a reason it's an open championship course. Yeah, I just thought it was kind of difficult. You mix in, you know, the wind was fresh at times and yeah, I shot 91. I'm not ashamed of that one necessarily. Wish I could have played better on a course like that. But just truly chalk it up to, it was one of those days. So, um, a lot of games,

Starting point is 00:49:07 but shit from Patty that they do. I think, I think that's right. We were trying to track down Patty, Patty was playing out of his mind. Um, yeah, that's such a bummer that you played your worst round when you guys were doing your dumb ass bogey golf bit. Uh, that just breaks my heart. Your day out there got ruined. That was our only chance to claw back in that match. God, I got mad about that.

Starting point is 00:49:29 Also big. I remember, you know, you don't always remember every shot from somebody else's round, but I do remember that first putt you hit on number eight at Blue Mount. It was bad. Yeah, that was really bad. Yeah. Really bad. It was like a 30 footer. How do you four putt? Well, you don't hit a good first putt. 30 seconds. Or they went like 11 feet And the third putt doesn't go in. Right. And the second putt wasn't like that much better. And then the third putt didn't go in.

Starting point is 00:49:53 And yeah, that's how you get to a four putt. I'm hoping you guys didn't do too much peeking because we're going to do a little trivia questions or guessing here on some stats and numbers from the entire NLU team here. So if you were to guess, or maybe if you know the answer, if you looked too closely, let's leave a little suspense up there for the guessers,

Starting point is 00:50:14 but who's handicap has gone down the most in 2025? I would say, well, I mean, Casey, I know hers has dipped, but I gotta think on this here call, I think it's TC. Yes. I would agree with both of those things. Yeah. On this here call, it is, I didn't, I only have the answer that includes everybody.

Starting point is 00:50:38 Sorry, hold on. The answer is you are exactly right. Yeah, among the five of us, has everybody else's handicap gone up? It sounds like. And this is kind of coming out of the off season. These numbers are through May 31st. Correct. These numbers are through May 31st. TC is down 0.9.

Starting point is 00:50:58 If we're extending beyond the people on this call, but somebody looming in the background here, Cody is low key down 1.8 so far this year. He is down to a 1.0 index, which like if I play my cards right on a certain day, I might get a pop off Cody on the golf course right now. I love the sound of that, but a guy low key playing a little bit of golf, hasn't logged a lot of rounds, must've had some nice ones in Argentina, floating that one down, but from a 2.8 to start the year down to a 1.0, that 70 that he fired his low round of the year, his average score is down 4.4 shots on the year. Shhh, I love the average score stat. I track that one closely.

Starting point is 00:51:40 And if you're not going to use that as a cue to come in here and gloat a little bit, I don't know what kind of cue to possibly give you in here. But, uh, no, these are, these are faulty. There's a, you know, compared to last year, that's easy. We got, uh, NIT rounds that were in there that were quite good. A couple of Argentina rounds were great, but, uh, really just beating it up kind of around here. I did play well on TC and I's weekend away a couple weeks ago,

Starting point is 00:52:06 but yeah, I'm playing good, practicing. Way more time practicing gentlemen than that. Sorry, I was pulled May 31st. I think I'm a 1.3 at the moment. My low is April 23rd. I got down to a 0.9. So I just got it. I'm not shooting under par or even- You gotta make five birdies in a row more often. Exactly. That. Yeah. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:52:29 What's the lot of like three cases down the most? Cody is down the most. He's down the most. Just coverage. No, I was just what you said. Both of those things are right earlier. And I said Casey of the ones on the call, Casey's actually up a little bit so far this year, which is surprising as well. But whose handicap has gone up the most of anyone on the team? You, I mean, it's tough. It might be, it's gotta be percentage wise.

Starting point is 00:52:59 I would say it's, it's a solid, you know, however you look at it, it's me. It is really, I got a cap. Sure. No, I went from a plus one point nine to start the year, which was a little misleading because it was quite that low. Yeah. And I. Well, 21 rounds posted. You said you're not playing any golf. That seems like some G. So there's like there was maybe like seven,

Starting point is 00:53:25 including Gasparilla and like the three rounds I played right before that. T.C. and I got five rounds in on a North Carolina trip, three in Milwaukee, three in Northern Ireland. And then I think I have either two or three, like just like recreational. It's, it's all been in like huge stints. And then like, I just don't touch a club for like another four, four months. And I think I've played three, four, four or five non-camera rounds of golf so far this year. So, or I guess not all of them on the Carolina strip were, were camera rounds, but it's, it's not been, not been something that happened frequently at home.

Starting point is 00:54:03 I actually, actually that's 21. but it's, it's not been, not been something that happened frequently at home. I actually, actually that's 20. Now a lot of Saturday morning games in that 21, 0.0 Saturday morning games. And that's actually 20 rounds. Cause I had a double posting that I got, I've played negative one rounds of golf in June. So, but yeah, we're up three and 3.1 soft cap is there or else it would be up even more. Soft cap.

Starting point is 00:54:23 Soft cap and hard cap? I don't know what the hard cap is, but soft cap is once you get over three shots away from your best handicap within the last 12 months, it like, if you are, let's say, so I'm 3.1, I'm probably actually 0.2 above that, and it cuts it in half. So like I only get the 0.1 dock on there

Starting point is 00:54:49 instead of getting the full 0.2. So it's a small soft cap, but it could be bigger depending on how things go. But it's like some of these, there's this cap patrol thing that certain courses are using now too, like Pat Steelman, Neil got caught up in somebody. Crazy. What's cap control? Just to provide a little context here, Sally's absolutely right with the soft cap.

Starting point is 00:55:10 So once you hit your soft cap at three strokes within the year, it slows the rate of additional movement beyond those three by 50 percent. Now, if you continue that trend and get to over five strokes within a year, that's when a hard cap is set. It just frees your assets. How long would the hard cap last before it's like, no, this is the new reality. It's a good question.

Starting point is 00:55:38 I should have put a kid to that. Yeah. I should put the hard cap as one of my goals for the year. And honestly, the thing for me has just been like no nine holes, no three holes, no practice in between all that stuff is where like it, the game has felt even more, more distance. I used to be pretty good at getting that stuff in, but, uh, who was leading the NLU scoring average title in 2025?

Starting point is 00:56:03 Got to be Ben, right? Or right. Yeah. Yeah. It's very easily. Benny's only recorded three rounds as of this again, as of May 31st, but he is average 71.7 in those rounds. Recent club champion as well. Yeah. Recent club champ and then, but second on that list would actually be Cody at 74.6 for those 12 rounds down 4.4 shots from last year. Who is on the team has played the most rounds of golf.

Starting point is 00:56:32 Casey Casey or TC Ron. God, are we going by the mage? The May 31st year we go. As of May 31st, it recorded rounds. It was actually Casey. She had recorded 33 rounds. Good for her. TC was on 31, but I believe TC has also noted he's got some,

Starting point is 00:56:52 some rounds that have not been recorded in there for match play or all shot purposes. And then June has been a heavy month for him as well. So I'm up to 46 and a half. TC is playing courses that are so off the grid, they don't even allow you to post. Yeah. Or so because they won't even let you, you know, they don't have a course rating. It's just too, it's too-

Starting point is 00:57:14 That's not till July, my friends. Seriously. Who has played the fewest rounds of golf? Again, this might be skewed a little bit by the May 31 cutoff, but. I wouldn't have guessed it, but it's gotta be Ben. It is Ben. The data we have.

Starting point is 00:57:31 Three rounds, but my guy gets out there and practices a lot. Yeah. I think he practices only a 10 to one ratio per rounds of golf, if not harder than that. I just rehearsed his man. He's so dialed. He's low key getting it in.

Starting point is 00:57:45 I think we've talked about this prior, but like what happens if at some point, if somebody's just playing a ton of simulator golf, like Neil, let's say you went and like played Oakmont on the simulator. Like, and you're like, man, I played really well. I'm going to post that score. So I played Oakmont today. Like, do we ever reach a point where? No, cause you just always auto to putt or you know, it's like putting in bunker play on the Sim is so stupid.

Starting point is 00:58:14 Oh, I totally agree. Yeah. Just what would be playing conditions? No, a playing conditions calculator for, uh, if you played in windy conditions on the Sim. Yeah. Yeah. I personally would never do that. TCA that's sick. Like I can't believe it. I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, no, we have a year long one, two, three year plan of what we're gonna get to and we're almost there.

Starting point is 00:58:47 And I'm like, wow, that's sick. Like I can't imagine just having that together. It's like Cody, he has a team. Yeah, it's great stuff. Who has had the biggest outlier round of the year? The gap between their average score and their low score? Hmm. Average score in there. of the year, the gap between their average score and their low score. I guess this could be high or low, right? Could be.

Starting point is 00:59:11 Oh, that is gotta be, it's gotta be solid. Solomon shot 88, but that just above my average score though. You got to remember that average score is pretty high up there as well. I had a pretty low one. I've been real volatile. So I think my average has gone up. And I would guess that it's 11 shots lower than my average score.

Starting point is 00:59:31 So that was pretty confident. Are you calling yourself? I'll take it. I'll call myself. The answer is actually Casey. She had an 11.8 outlier. She shot an 82 and her average score has been 93.8. Gosh, good for her.

Starting point is 00:59:44 So that is the biggest outlier. Neil's outlier, he shot a 69 with an average score of 78.5. So he almost a 10 shot differential with that. And then my average is 77.7. And I shot that 88, of course, which is a little over is that 10 shots? Yeah. 10.3 differential with that one. So you don't need to flash that up on the Yeah. 10.3 differential.

Starting point is 01:00:08 So you don't need to flash that up on the screen every time we reference this for you. That's fine. Please, please take that. We've seen quite enough of that. All right. Getting back to some, some questions about the golf played so far. I have a feeling, we're going to have some similar answers on this first question with a few people on this call, but I'll start with you Deeds, your favorite golf course you played for the first time so far in 2025. Hot take.

Starting point is 01:00:33 You know, my expectations were super low. Hadn't heard anything about this place, but I'm going to say Royal County down. My favorite new course that I've played. Yeah. I mean, the video is going to come out probably pretty soon by the time this podcast is out. And it's, I mean, just a shockingly nice day that we had out there. Could not have had better conditions to go play it. Perfectly sunny, gorgeous day. Great walk. That's about as good as it gets. So sorry for, Randy, I'm

Starting point is 01:01:00 sorry for maybe taking that one. I don't know if you wanted to go a different direction. Maybe Brown Deer Park you wanted to throw in there. Brown Deer Park was sick. I mean, listen, the answer is Royal County down, but I'll shout out on our Milwaukee trip I was really taken by Blue Mound. I just thought that was an exceptional walk, really cool Seth Rayner design, some of the most crazy templated, uh, awesome greens I've seen this year.

Starting point is 01:01:27 So a strong runner up to blue mound, but I will join you with Royal County down the age. Do you see favorite course you play for the first time in 2025? A lot of different directions. They've, um, honestly, all right, this is totally off the wall, but I just loved everything about this place and what it stood for. The greens were firm and there was just so much more than met the eye.

Starting point is 01:01:52 The Sunnyside par three course in Glens Falls, New York was awesome. It was lit. It was, there was like this hidden T box. That was awesome. And that to me is everything that a part three course should be and everything that like, you know, played a bunch of great golf courses on that trip. And that one to me is like, man, like that time and place and just going back there, like I would love, love, love to go play that golf course again. Especially there's great stuff around it with Glenn's falls and country club of Troy and much of Rutland country club,

Starting point is 01:02:29 bunch of other places. But like that to me is like that vibe there and just the whole thing was like one of the coolest part of three courses in the world. Love that. I love it. Passion to answer. Neil.

Starting point is 01:02:43 I mean, I tried every which way not to say Terry Eady, but it's Terry Eady. Being able to lap that place a few times in different types of weather. Really, really, really grateful for that experience in the Southern hemisphere. Deeds runner up would be the Shelter Harbor round we played last week. Great turf, fantastic turf. great turf, fantastic turf, really, really cool course in in Rhode Island. My favorite call, of course, I played for the first time so far in 2025. I gotta say broom setch. New year.

Starting point is 01:03:14 Carolina. Yeah, I mean, it was talking about going in with low expectations. You may have seen you know, TC and I talked about this on the on our Carolinas pod we did back in March, but seeing the pictures of the flag sticks with the little broom sedge, um, you know, toppings on each of the flag and kind of thought that might be a bit of a novelty, but honestly, pretty Florida, the golf course, and it's not even fully grown in yet. I think it has a lot of room to, to improve and it wowed me in a way that I was, I was really not expecting. So I'm, Ied up about that place and had an amazing time there. I think a couple other places, similarly what you said, that's kind of been the theme of

Starting point is 01:03:55 my year. I've played 25 different golf courses, but I think I've played 15 new ones for the first time. And Neil, the nine holes that we played at Tamarack in Connecticut, in Greenwich, that I think it was like, I think it was like, I think it was like, I think it was like, I think it was like, I think it was like, I think it was like, it was like, I think it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like,

Starting point is 01:04:09 it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like,

Starting point is 01:04:17 it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, it was like, but even like Medina number three, I talked about it on the Sunday pod a little bit of just like how,

Starting point is 01:04:26 you know, I've, I've watched a bunch of golf on that golf course. And then to see what OCM have come in and done there, it's like, it's insane. Like it's, it's, it's going to be really interesting to watch it. President's cup and, and all that. Which is a sentence not many people say. It's like, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

Starting point is 01:04:43 I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. there. It's like, it's insane. Like it's, it's, it's going to be really interesting to watch it. President's cup and, and all that. So, which is a sentence not many people say about really anything on relation to the president's cup. So for when it goes to real Melbourne, Neil, we did it. I haven't played a lot of new courses this year, but we did a little exploration up, up in new England and I would shout out Marion golf club to George Thomas, his first design up near new Bedford, Massachusetts, which I think like, you know, that's kind of the US open Marion. I think a lot of, I don't know, I just, if they put some plans in place to spruce it

Starting point is 01:05:20 up just a little bit, like it already feels very, if you know, you know, and I think that's going to be like a, a social media darling and kind of a, just a, you know, a darling of the golf world here over the next couple of years. It really, really, really cool to see. And, and we could poke the nine hole private club that we played up there too. Neil was just a, a cool model that I think is worth shouting out a really, really good nine hole golf course that is, you know,

Starting point is 01:05:49 I think a great fit for people who don't necessarily want to be at the golf course for eight and a half, nine hours, you know, go hang out and pound balls and play a long round and sit and have beers and lunch. If you just want to get in, play nine holes, have a quick lunch and get out of there. Like it was great for couples, great for families. Um, just a cool model that I out of there. Like it was great for couples, great for families. Just a cool model that I think we'll probably see see some more of.

Starting point is 01:06:10 What was the best shot you hit in 2025? Neil, I'm gonna start with you for this one. Recency bias, I would say I hit a five iron in the ninth hole, a blind approach at Shelter Harbor that will ring in my loins for a while. it didn't, it ended up like 40 feet from the hole, but I did everything I wanted to do. And I hit it over this specific rock with the exact ball flight I wanted. That was awesome. But I think the real one is the driver off the deck. I hit it Tim McQuana on, I believe the 12th, uh, with right in front of daddy, I think I spooked his personal security team because it was just an absolute seed.

Starting point is 01:06:45 So thank you for your attention in this important matter. TC. One. Yeah. One. And then I'll have Cody come in and talk about it. Yeah. So, yeah.

Starting point is 01:07:00 So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. your attention in this important matter. TC one. Yeah. One and then I'll have Cody come in and fluff man another one. It's gotta be the shot into seven at Terry Eady. Yeah TC.

Starting point is 01:07:17 We're out playing that scramble. Honestly like probably seven of the nine shots he hit into that green. He just kept hitting this unbelievable driver into the short par four. Or par three. It was kind of right in between. So it depended on what the wind was doing. But the good one I hit, like the one that almost went in, that went to like four inches was the three wood.

Starting point is 01:07:38 Yeah. Really good. Easy answer. Sorry. The, the, the honorable mention was the, the one, uh, at, uh, jockey club on number 10 to like one of the most outrageous hole locations on this, just the craziest green you've ever seen. And like, I don't think I could hit the shot again knowing what that green is like when you get up there, it was kind of like, you know, first time, like fresh eyes kind of thing. And now you would be like, Oh, we shit that like, I have scar tissue on this hole or I know what what's behind this green. So big guy. Listen, I hit a great seven iron down in, in sea pines at the Atlantic dunes

Starting point is 01:08:20 course with good bar on, uh, I think it was what the, the fifth hole, a par four, little kick in birdie. I mean, not nothing like that, you know, is going to wow anybody. Just, just some really nice iron shots. I think in totality though, that the driver plays, honestly, if, if just, just getting off the tee, getting that out there, you know, 240, 250, whatever it may be has certainly been the most useful shot for me this year. Randy, what size is, is, is good bars game still in complete freefall? I don't think it's in freefall.

Starting point is 01:08:54 Yeah. He says he's not playing that well at the moment though. Shocker. I'm about to play some golf up in Michigan with them, giving them three pops, never, never given them that many. So yeah, I'll have more to report back later, TC. DJ. Neil, a couple directions we could go from that round at Shelter Harbor that you've mentioned a couple times, but I'll throw out the par 512th.

Starting point is 01:09:20 Greens were rolling very, very fast. They were about to have their member member, so they're rolling like 14 and a half or something like that. And there was a par five where I was kind of just in front of the green, and it was all kind of going uphill, but the pin was up on top of this very small shelf. And so it's kind of one of those where you couldn't fly it to the top of the shelf because the greens were so fast and it was just going to run past. You didn't really want to try to chip it.

Starting point is 01:09:45 You didn't want to risk chipping it into the hill because it was going to hit and stick. So I just bumped a three wood very similar to a lot of the shots I hit at the NLU club championship at Aaron Hills. And Neil and I were joking that it's like this is the only time I've hit this shot in the States outside of that. And it's just kind of funny that it's two hers didn't fry courses.

Starting point is 01:10:04 And you just step up. You're like, that's 100% the shot is just a bump of three wood. Keep it on just kind of funny that it's two hers didn't fry courses. And you just step up, you're like, that's a hundred percent. The shot is just a bump of three wood, keep it on the ground and knocked it up there to like, I don't know, six, eight inches for birdie. Uh, just feather in the cap, keeping that one. It was like in no indecision. It was like before I had a chance to even turn around, I was like, Oh my God, he's, he's getting cheeky. You know, it wasn't like, man, maybe what if I get artistic? It was like, no, this is the right shot. And he just executed it flawlessly. It was fantastic. Oh yeah.

Starting point is 01:10:29 It homage to Randy. Keep it on the ground. You know, you don't teach now that we're talking, I wonder if some of our, uh, if our shots from, is it the bond course? The main course at Castle Rock probably are deserving. I feel like we just beat some honorable mentions. Patty's so bad. It's just not even sporting to bring that day up. You know, I think we're going to be able to get a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit

Starting point is 01:10:52 of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit Oh, I thought you were in on one. I thought you, now one, one I was close, but you guys were really knocking down the sticks. That was all about you guys that day. Thanks man. Big E.

Starting point is 01:11:10 I struggled to think of a great one from this year, but I think I got to go back when we played still water TC. I forget what hole it was. The third, whatever that short par four was. Yeah. I like topped a two iron off the tee, like top hosel pulled a two iron dead left that hit a bridge and I thought was OB and I had to hit a provisional but got up, found the ball in the woods and like punch it out in the middle of the fairway. And then I hold the wedge from the fairway for birdie. To a nasty pin.

Starting point is 01:11:40 To a back left pin. Nobody else was watching. I was like, I think I just hold this. We got up there and sure enough, it went in and I haven't hold out from that far away in quite some time, but that was I saw, I would say honorable mention would be your, your t shot into 18 at tree farm. Oh, yeah, forgot about that. went into a did hit a little bunt driver that rode the slope

Starting point is 01:12:01 came down and went probably within a foot of the front of the hole. It stopped about three feet away and I can eagle followed it up with a double the next day on that hole but showing off the genius of that hole. So I would nominate not not a very sexy option but some of those par saves that the creator classic outside the hole got to make them. Those were those were big big putts. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:12:22 I thought you were gonna say when he when he went back to the back to you at Royal County down back, he banned it. I don't think we even do that. Show us how you do it from that. Yeah. It wasn't even a great shot. It was just a great moment.

Starting point is 01:12:32 You know, it was all inspiring. Yeah. Yeah. So I declare, I just simply cannot play this from the designated tees. I must go back for the good of the game. Sounds like Neil at Terry. Yeah, for sure. I'll check it out. Test yourself. What was something you did for the first time on a golf course this year? Neil, I think you're going to get a kick out of this one. I mentioned the

Starting point is 01:12:59 weak a pog nine hole golf course that we played. I degreen myself twice in nine holes. We both had the lag putting yips. Potted off the green twice in nine holes. I've never done that before. Crazy. Crazy. Never done it. That's not just first time this year. That's I think first time in my life. I didn't know that the lag putting yips were a thing, but I'm convinced Neil and I both got them that day. A lot of just like 20 footers that were just hitting 20, 30 feet past the hole. It was crazy, crazy, crazy. I had Freak Storm. I played again a couple of days after that and like lag putted really well. It was surreal.

Starting point is 01:13:36 Neil, I don't really know how to explain it, but yeah, that really stuck with me. Just like hitting a lot of greens and just having fucking no chance of making par. Yeah. It was nuts. Bird box stuff. You know, just no, no feel for where anything is. Yeah. Insane round deal. Something to do for the first time in the golf course this year. I mentioned the perfect game earlier. So I'll shout that out, but, uh, we were at a titleist photo shoot and Ben on, uh,

Starting point is 01:14:02 taught me how to hit a stinger and it kind of stuck this time, Sully versus the, the all, all these Schneider Jans, uh, stinger, stinger lesson from like 2017. Um, but, but we kind of hit the shot, but so that was exciting. Yeah. Do you see, you know, we talked about the two Eagles in one day. I've done that a couple of times this year. You talked about that a lot on the about the two Eagles in one day. I've done that a couple of times this year. Talked about that a lot on the, on the four soups in one round. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:14:30 Four soups in one day. So, you know, not being afraid to chip like Sally laying his hands on me. Like that was a big thing, but thing I did for the first time, I was four down in a match play match. This was back in January. I was four down with five to play and I won on the 18th hole. That's that good stuff. How's it burning three out of the last five? You know, it was windy.

Starting point is 01:14:50 It was a nice morning and yeah, it was, it was like, yeah, like the guy was shook at the, like he three potted from like 12 feet on 18th. Win five holes in a row, more often. Something I did for the first time on a golf course this year, this will tickle you, Adich. I got mad at DJ on the golf course. Like it was the first time this has ever happened. Do you know what instance I'm talking about?

Starting point is 01:15:20 Yeah, Lonk LeBell. God, that was so sick. I stand by this. Did you early call him? Was that the early call? I did early call. Way funnier after that. I apologize for the early call.

Starting point is 01:15:33 I don't apologize for laughing about you. No, but the full context here is I slept on the floor of the Charlotte airport that night. Uh, it took like a five 30 AM flight. I was on like two hours of sleep. So I was on edge and I was having a great time. And it, but like, you know, when you're on the floor of the Charlotte airport, something happened, something happened. Flight cancellations. It was not good,

Starting point is 01:15:55 but we rushed her lock. Look, I wake up, you know, slept like maybe an hour and a half on the floor. And you know, like when you're on no sleep, like you're just, you're on edge. And I was having a great day. We were having, having fun, but like, you don't know what is going to set you off. And I've been struggling with driver and I hit this drive that I thought was really good and the wind didn't take it. It stayed up the right and just like stopped on top of this hill in the rough, under a tree and Deidre early called me on it.

Starting point is 01:16:20 He was like, great ball. And, uh, I got up there and it was under the tree and I had no sweat. It was like one tree, the only place in this big open field that I could have hit it, that would have been screwed. And I just had an outsized reaction because I kept taking the club back and I would cat, you know, I was like, all right, we'll fight nine iron. Can I punch that? No, kept hitting the tree. I hear other people laughing in other parts. It was your partner Dylan Dylan, that was making us laugh because he's like, got an eight iron, like trying to try and do it. And he's like,

Starting point is 01:16:49 he's so mad and he goes back to the bag and changes gloves and it goes back and hits it again. And it was, I dunno, it was just like this, you know, I dunno if he thought that the, you know, eighth of an inch difference between clubs was going to be a, well, no, it was like, I was going to put the lower I went was like less of a backswing I would need, but I still hit it on my backswing and I chunked it out like 30 yards into the fairway. And I was just so mad about the early call, but it was, you know, it was just, you're going to have an outsized reaction to something when you're on no sleep. And it was that one. And about I was aware of it in the moment too. That was the worst part of all of it. It's like,

Starting point is 01:17:23 why am I so upset right now? But I am. And that is something I did for the first time on a golf course. That's good. That's a good answer. Like, well, hey, I apologize, man. It's quite okay. It is a me problem. But that was the first time that had ever happened. What did you then said? Like what, what are you fucking Neil? Is that where, where I came all? Yeah. We reference the early callings Is that where, where I came? Oh yeah. Listen, I will say I've gotten better at the early calling. It's still, it comes up sometimes, but I've, I've, I've gotten, I've actively improved it. Now I do have another one. We're in Cape like a new, I did, I knew you were going to bring that up,

Starting point is 01:18:00 but that was, you're going to love that one. It was like, I'm saying it's getting, it's getting better. I got to watch myself though on the I'm going to rush to tee up my ball. And sometimes I'll crowd people, you know, and I just, I'm aware of it. I can't help. You know, it's like, I don't leave back, you know, the guy's watching his shot and you're just kind of like up in his space a little bit, trying to tee your ball up.

Starting point is 01:18:24 So I just need to like hit, hit the, hit the pause button a little bit before, if I don't have the honor. I would say another thing I did this year, I was going to go over the UK and do it and the weather forecast and I was just tired. So I just took a solo golf trip and I'd never done that before. Just like a solo trip. It was awesome. Like went out first off a couple of mornings and just met up with random people who I didn't know for a few rounds had, you know, had a couple of friends come in, but it was just like, it

Starting point is 01:18:55 was just really fun to like not have a schedule, not be on anybody else's schedule and just truly like, I really want to do that like overseas too. At some point of just, Hey, I'm going to, you know, I'm in this area. Anybody here? Anybody want to play? Like I really want to do that like overseas too, at some point of just, hey, I'm going to, you know, I'm in this area, anybody, anybody here, anybody want to play like I got to. Yeah. That's, that's aspirational idea. Yeah. I don't have a great one.

Starting point is 01:19:16 So I'll, I'll default a Deidre and tell you, you guys were there with me to Brown Deer. I have never gotten just dumped on as we're trying to hide in some trees. Well, I have gotten dumped on before, but I guess what makes this unique first time was being with AJ Ellis, former big league ball player and having him just tell us stories. The one that sticks out is the benches clearing brawl against the Cardinals back when he was playing. So just a fun time listening to old baseball stories while getting very, very wet for about 25 minutes

Starting point is 01:19:51 at Brown Deer State Park. Well, I'll kick off the next one, which is our most unique or unexpected playing partners of the year, unique or just absolutely tickled to get to play with AJ and to hear the war stories and just like bounce so many baseball questions off of him. And like just heat checking, like, am I crazy with this one or what would I be missing with this one? Or is this thought process, uh, you know, somewhat, uh, you know, is it, am

Starting point is 01:20:17 I on the right track with something like this? Just like a dude that is deeply entwined into the game and like was willing to tell stories and entertain all of our dumbass questions and probably wanted to do it more was just a highlight. I'm envious of D. H. who gets to play a lot of golf with him. I know it's so nice. Even if he didn't, you know, just somebody that will take all of our questions, answer everything, you know, just just play along with us, humor us for four and a half, five hours is so appreciated. Yeah. Whether he was annoyed on the inside or not, it was, it was truly a highlight. So that's a great one, Sully. Randy, you got to play catch in the parking

Starting point is 01:20:55 lot. I don't think a lot of people are doing that. I know got to get to warm up, play a little catch. God, he thought he said he thought he saw something in the right arm. I know that was exciting. He thought he said he thought he saw something in the right arm. I know that was exciting. That is a good answer. But just for the sake of giving a different answer, we played with Ryan Duffy. What a character this guy was and just a super nice guy. Loved his golf swing. Good golfer.

Starting point is 01:21:18 I think what made it the most unique to me is he is a fellow timeshare owner down in Hilton Head and C Pine. So we had a lot to talk about there. And TC, you know, Greg Russell, he was telling me a story about- Not personally, but I've, I've, I've enjoyed his, his artistry. Yeah. Exactly. For those that are not timeshare owners, can you, can you maybe fill in the listenership on who- Yeah, sorry. Okay, so Greg Russell, former trap draw guest is just an institution at Harbor Town down in Hilton Head. He plays guitar. He has a very family friendly show

Starting point is 01:21:53 where he plays guitars, invites kids up to sing, kind of a variety show that he runs in the spring. And then he'll take a break in the summer. I believe he picks it back up in the fall. Anyway, he's been doing it for, God, 40 years or so. So Dej, how about you? I would say I was very fortunate at the US Women's Open Media Day at Aaron Hills to play with Mike Wan, the head of the USGA, guy that I love talking to, respect a ton and just absolutely awesome time. And I would say by one of my takeaways, like for a guy that seems like he probably works a ton, uh, absolute stick, really

Starting point is 01:22:33 good player, really, really tidy, really, really, really good player. And I think that's the biggest thing about golf is that you can't just go to the gym and do nothing. You can't just go to the gym and do nothing. You can't just go to the Takeaways. Like for a guy that seems like he probably works a ton. Absolute stick. Really good player. Really, really tidy. Like just handsome game. Just never was going to be in too much trouble. Always in every hole. Drove it really good.

Starting point is 01:22:57 Drove it pretty deep. Nice short game. Just a really good player. I think he said he was right around a four handicap. I think it would be very possible for him to get lower. And I call on the USGA if that happens, I think a video of Mike plan, us open locals would be excellent content that I would love to watch. Or, or him playing like us open course from the tips.

Starting point is 01:23:17 Uh, like, yeah, can selfie style can Mike one break 90 would be, uh, that'd be fun. Yeah. I sounds like he has some loud skills. He does. He does. Yeah. High level traits, high level traits. Great. Great time with him. Neil, what about you? Kind of knock one off the list. Tommy Armour the third, and of course, TA four. I have played a bunch with TA four, but TA three spent a lot of time with them. It was the first time I played golf with them was earlier this year. And I just had a, I've watched him play a lot of golf, but it was just fun to kind of check that one off the list.

Starting point is 01:23:48 And we had a great time with TCU was with me. We were at the summit club in Las Vegas. You can see that on our YouTube channel, but, uh, TA3 is in a good mood. Not always the case. Um, so that was, uh, that was a fantastic day in Las Vegas. TCU what was yours? I Southpaw 24 at the24 at the Donnybrook. He's going to come to the NIT. I was just blown away. He's got limited use of one of his legs.

Starting point is 01:24:21 And just being able to, I don't know, just seeing his attitude and like the way he gets himself around the golf course was like, I didn't even realize, you know, we started talking about it, maybe 10 or 11 holes in and like, I was like, holy shit, like that's crazy that you, you know, you have that much damage to your leg and to kind of the left side of your body here. And just to see you manage your way around the golf course and, and you know, everything that has to go into even just walking, even of course, like pine forest number two was incredible. So, and I think some of my, it's weird. Like I play with some older guys here in Jack's, I got paired up with an older guy

Starting point is 01:24:59 up at tree farm, Russell, and you know, this guy was just like a brick shit house of like, man, like I was playing with them and I'm like, this guy could beat the hell out of me. Like we, if we just dropped gloves right now. I remember asking him, I'm like, Hey, D, you know, like what's your workout routines? I work out every morning at 6 AM, six days a week, take Sundays off. But like, you know, I don't go crazy hard. I go 30 to 45 minutes, but he's 60 years old. And like, he's in better shape than I've ever been in my entire life, even including high school, college.

Starting point is 01:25:35 And I'm like, man, that's something to strive for. That's something to like, you know, really, like that was just a good example of like, they kind of scared straight a little bit, you know, let's keep pictures. I'm going to do that in my fifties and sixties. And I don't do that in my thirties. I don't think that's going to actually happen. I've heard it gets easier. All right. Final question.

Starting point is 01:25:57 I'm afraid of some overlap that we've had, uh, may have in this one, but, uh, what's been your favorite day on the golf course in 2025 beach? Oh man. Yeah. I'm, you called them me first. So I'm going to take it. It's the Royal County down day right off the plane. You never know what you're going to get. Um, you know, kind of transatlantic flight, no real sleep driving straight to the golf course was a little bit of like a, let's see how this goes, but it was, it was bright, sunny sunshine and very little wind

Starting point is 01:26:25 and just a perfect walk. And I think it would be very hard to find one that's too much better than that. So I'm sorry for taking that one from you guys. It's fair. Neil? You know, I think it was, TC and I flew from Atlanta,

Starting point is 01:26:40 from our parents' house to San Francisco. The sky club. Got off the plane, went to Cal Club, played golf, and got, went back to, straight back to the airport to get on a red-eye to New Zealand. And because it's on the eve of a big trip, there's so much, like, good juju. Cal Club rules, got to see Bochy,

Starting point is 01:26:58 my good friend who hosted us, you know, playing with Jason TC. Just, it's just like the weather in San Francisco, like everything was just like awesome. I played horrible, but I just had so much fun. And, uh, that was probably my, my favorite day just because it was kind of unique as well. Like we're going to play golf on a layover. There's not a lot of other times I think you're going to do that. Uh, as you're going on a big, you know, the biggest golf trip you've taken in, in a while.

Starting point is 01:27:24 Yeah. Which is I knew like on the flip side too, is like going, you know, the biggest golf trip you've taken in a while. Yeah. Which is I knew like on the flip side too, is like going, you know, playing golf in the morning down in New Zealand and then driving to the airport and then hopping on a 14 hour flight back to the States and getting home at 7 p.m. that same day. Huh?

Starting point is 01:27:39 It's like a cool thing too. How is that possible? TC, what is your one favorite day on the golf course in 2025? Yeah, obviously a lot of different directions we can go here. Neil, we had a great one up in, I had a couple of great ones up in New York

Starting point is 01:27:54 with you and with Cody, but I think it's probably, it's gotta be like the finale of the Argentina trip. We're at Jockey Club. It's like a million degrees. Wolfie's almost ace two of the four par threes. One of them didn't even come off the ground. A little apex, like 45 feet. Yeah. The hot dog stand was closed. That was one of the most devastating. It was just highs

Starting point is 01:28:20 and lows down the stretch. Wolfie's just puking his guts out from like heat exhaustion. We're playing this kind of old McKenzie course that hasn't, you know, that like it's both scruffy, but also like they haven't really messed it up either. It's just like playing it as it was in, you know, 1930. And yeah, and just, you know, just a great finish. We're all playing really good golf and you're on the other side of the world with your buddies doing that. Like that's always a thrill. So, yeah. And just like, you know, like the hug on 18 of like, man, what a great trip. Like this was, we didn't know what we were getting into and we just went with it. And like, you know, you just,

Starting point is 01:29:02 you have that sense of satisfaction of like, hey, we, you know, we flew down to the other side of the world and it was a rave. It was a raging success and we loved it. It makes me want to get on the road tomorrow. Nothing more creative than what Deidre said. Stoke level was just wildly high at rural County down. Weather was unbelievable. Getting to play off a red eye and like weirdly having energy to do it and didn't't play terrible. Uh, one of the few rounds of show that I've not played terrible. I got to experience the golf shots and it was just like we've said, well, we're there. I don't know if there's anywhere in the world I'd rather be transported to, uh, in this moment right now. And, uh,

Starting point is 01:29:36 I hope that comes through in the video coming out very soon. Good luck, Randy. What do you got? Can add to that. You guys said it better than I ever could. We talked about playing with AJ Ellis at Brown Deer, that would be up there. I guess just for the sake of a different answer, when I did play Colorado Golf Club, Ben Rector, our friend Ben Rector,

Starting point is 01:29:58 the musician was coming through town. Not only the golf, but then went to his concert that night. It's, it's always just a thrill to see those guys in their settings, right? The same can be said with Mr. Poosh, love to play golf with them, but then it's, it's really a kick to go to the show and to see them operating in their environment. And it's brandy. It's probably a thrill for them to play with you in your environment. For sure. I hope so. To see you out in your office on the golf course. But they're like, they're legit, like rock stars. They're musicians. You know, they're playing in sold out places. They're working in the crowd. It's, it's really cool. So I know that's not like

Starting point is 01:30:39 just on the golf course, but in totality, I always love when our musician friends come through. I always have the same feeling, Randy. And I think it's because probably at least, at least for me, it's like, I got to know both of those people before I knew much about their music. You know, like you just kind of were sitting at a dinner table with them and you're like, Oh, Hey, like you like golf, you know? And so the friendship kind of starts from there. And then you show up to the venue and you're like, all these people are here to see you. That's crazy, man. Whoa. They know like every word to all the songs.

Starting point is 01:31:08 That was bullshitting on the course with you. Yeah. How about that? Very cool. He sees doing that tomorrow with the play with Poush and go to the concert tomorrow. Oh, love it. Go beat his ass guys. Take them down. Yeah. Please. Some pops. All right. That's going to be a wrap for. I got one other thing that like didn't even involve me playing. Sorry. But like, it's one more thing. I'm no, I'm really excited for you for like all of you guys to experience this. Hopefully one day is like Freddie's first golf match. Like it was a way match. It was over Jack's golf and country club. Like him, his like healthy

Starting point is 01:31:47 anxiety of like, Hey dad, can we go? I was like, no, we have like four more hours till your tee time. No, I want to go hit falls. Or he's like, he's doing the same stuff that I did when I was like nine or 10 of like cleaning out his golf bag and like going through his teas and you know, and just like cleaning his clubs and all that stuff. And even just seeing his nervous energy on the first tee or, you know, never having played really a match before of like seeing the light bulb kind of go on at various points during the round or, you know, him, like, you know, him and his buddies kind of figuring out, all right, like, do we give that putt to the other team? Because it's inside of a foot, like just stuff like that. It was, it was one of the coolest experiences in my life. And I think,

Starting point is 01:32:29 you know, I just, it's like, I can tell he's hooked on golf and I could tell also like, he likes the competition element of it, but he, but he still understands like, hey, am I here to have fun? Which is, it's like the perfect balance. He's won. Yeah. I mean, they're like little nine hole matches, but like they play these little pennant or they play these little flags. So they do like like three hole sprints. And then so like he's won, I think three of the four matches and they got boat raced. One of the other ones lessons to be learned from getting boat race. God, that's for sure. That's good stuff. TC. That's, that's well said. That's going

Starting point is 01:33:03 to do it for our mid yearyear USGA Rewind Wrap. Thank you everyone for participating, listening, watching wherever you're taking this in. Thank you to our friends at the USGA for this as well. This is a lot of fun to do. We'll be back with a year-end wrap on this topic as well. And I'm gonna promise you my handicap's coming down before the end of this year, guys.

Starting point is 01:33:21 I promise you that right now. So some things to monitor as the year goes on. Uh, the, we, we had a check in at the end of last year. Will this person go lower, uh, than their lowest round? Uh, we did a little, you know, survey. Will they shoot a lower score in 2025 than they did in 2024? Ben's lowest round last year was a 70. So far his lowest is 71. Casey's lowest last year was 84 and she has broken that already with an 82. My lowest last year was a 65. Not one single person thought I was gonna beat that.

Starting point is 01:33:52 They have been astonishingly correct. I do have that 169, but we've not gotten anywhere close to that. Cody's low last year was 73 and he has shot a 70 this year. He has beaten that number. DJ shot a 73 last year. Haven't played enough golf to answer this. Well, 81 is the low. Look, we're working towards that 73. And I think we could threaten it.

Starting point is 01:34:13 We're trying to keep investing. KVV's low last year was 78. It was 79 as of May 31, but I believe he shot a 76 sometime in June. So I think he has beaten that low so far this year. Neil, 72 last year, 69 of course this year. He has beaten that. Randy, 72 last year. We got some work to go on this one, 81 being the low this year, but we got time. Don't stress yourself out, Randy. And we're going back to Dobson where you can do that again.

Starting point is 01:34:43 That's right. DC had a 69 last year. Despite all the good golf this year, 72 I believe is the low. I still think he can go lower than that share with how he's hitting it. So yeah. Thank you everyone for tuning in. We'll see you back here soon. Cheers.

Your Ad Here

No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 1034: 2025 Mid-Year GHIN Rewind

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.