No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 916 - JT Poston delivers at the Shriners, Ryder Cup ticket prices controversy, and listener questions

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

JT Poston wins the Shriners - making a four foot putt on the 72nd hold to hold off Doug Ghim by one shot. We talk TPC Summerlin and run down the leaderboard and Neil gives us a history on the Shriners event and one of the longest running sponsorships on tour. Then it's on to the controversy surrounding the 2025 Ryder Cup ticket prices (36:30) and the potential for reheating the controversy over players getting paid to participate in the event. We also hit on some news and notes and close with listener questions. If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining The Nest: No Laying Up’s community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It’s a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at nolayingup.com/join Support Our Partners: Titleist Rhoback Pinehurst Resort Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

the right club today. Better than most. Better than most. Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. Solly here. Got my guy, Neil, back on the pod. It's been a little while, Neil. What have you been up to? Bangalore. Oh my God. I'm fired up to be here. I've been, I've been running Daddy Daycare. I've been traveling. I've been, I've been grinding. You know, people want to know what I'm on.

So I'm on my bike six hours a day. Busted my ass. That's what I'm on. Uh, no, it's good to be back. I, I kind of, you know, we got a lot going on and been a lot of, uh, both work and personal travel, but, uh, yeah, man, break down the Shriners hospital open. Sign me up on a Sunday night. Let's do it.

We're going to talk about a lot of stuff. Obviously, we've got some Ryder Cup ticket stuff we got to chat about. We got a couple good questions, good topics for a little off season podcast. There's a lot of golf still being played in a lot of parts of the world. Julian Guerriere wins his first DP World Tour event in a nine-hole playoff over Jorge Campi at the Andalusia Masters. Hannah Green wins the BMW Ladies Championship. Tim O'Neill wins for the first time on the senior circuit at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. And of course, JT Poston wins the Shriners. The postman plays a Pro V1X golf ball, which he used to gain over nine shots T degree. And he'll tell you it's easier for him to take spin

off the ball, especially with the longer clubs. And he loves the added spin control. He gets with the X into and around the green had a great chip there on the, on the 15th with that Pro V1 X from behind that green off the T's gaming a new GT three, nine degree driver. JT was the one of the first guys to put the GT in play this summer

at the Memorial. He's averaging over three more yards since making the move. He's got a set of T100 irons, five through nine. Then he moves into four SM10 wedges. He's got a 46 degree in an F grind, a 50 degree in an F grind, a 56 degree in an S, and a Wedgeworks 60 degree L grind, which is one of the Tour's popular low bounce options. Hey, I started using a 54 out of the bunker this past week. I don't know why. Anyways, I don't need to go off on that. If you got green to work with. Yeah, it's great.

For the longer ones. I don't know. You don't have to over swing. I picked up that lesson earlier this year as well from somebody. They're like, yeah, just change the club, man. It's so lame, some of the lessons. You should learn when you're like 15 that we're

this far into golf. We're just not learning on the greens. It's his trusty go low five, which he used to gain over five shots on the field this week in Vegas. The best players in the world have dialed into every piece of their equipment. You can't play your best golf. Otherwise head to titles.com to learn more and start the fitting process yourself. You made us sweat it a little bit there down the stretch, Neil, a little bit, but my takeaway watching, I'm in a few notes. I find JT Poston very easy to root for,

which is kind of not what I would expect to say because he doesn't play fast. He's pretty deliberate, but I find it very relatable. He's kind of a good role model for mere mortals like us. If you look at his data golf graphic, that driving distance is way below the Mendoza line. And then he's slightly above average with the irons and then around the greens and putting, he just gets the ball in the hole. But what I really like about it, he seems so patient. He's got great tempo in his swing, but he also paces his round really well. You mentioned the chip at 15. You know, he's not, it doesn't seem like he gets riled up

like some other guys do. And I appreciate a guy that's, you know, his games aren't really built to be like a PGA tour star and he's excelling out there. I think this is his third win. It's right. A fantastic season, top 50. So I just give that guy a lot of credit

and it makes it look like the way he puts it makes me feel like, why can't I putt like that? That looks so easy. And it's not easy. But it feels easy when you watch him around the greens and on the greens. I love the way he sets up to the ball. T to green. Like just the way he addresses driver. I'm like, there's no way that's going offline. And the way he sets up to put he had that put I was rooting for him pretty hard today. He had that put on

15. The way he stroked that in from, I know that was probably around 12 feet or something like that. It was just like, dude, that is, it was just so pure. I'm surprised, a little surprised. I don't know, three wins is a lot more wins than maybe it sounds like, you know, that's a heck of a career he's carved out.

He's won the John Deere, he won the Wyndham and three, gets you on the champion's tour, man. I know he's 31, I think it is. Got a long ways to go on that one. Just had a daughter. I think it's four wins now on the champion's tour, man. I know he's 31. I think it is got a long ways to go on that one. Just had a daughter or wins now on the champions tour. Yeah. I almost have like a deja vu of a conversation we had like a year or two ago. We, and we spent time like looking it up. So maybe we'll set that aside,

but I think they changed it because they had too many guys. That could be true. That could be very true. So yeah, if you didn't get a chance to watch it got tight around the ninth, old Doug Gim made an eagle on the ninth. JT had a scramble for a par, but then Poston made a 21 footer for Birdie on 12. He got the par five 13th as well and made a great up and down as we mentioned from long of the drive,

both 15th hole to open up a four shot lead, 16 very easy par five, played it safe with his approach shot well over the water, but missed a pretty easy up and down on that one. Then missed a four foot par putt on 17. Doug Gim steps up and absolutely stuffs it in there on 18 when it was a two shot lead and made JT make a four footer to seal the deal by one. When he hit the putt, I thought it missed right. I, I, I was a little nervy, uh,

with that thing left the putter face, but it went in and, uh, I'm very, very stoked for him. He's yeah, he's in the top 50. He does not need to be playing this to improve status or to get into the signature events for next year, but wrapping up another, uh, another PGA tour when getting the masters, I don't think he was in the masters prior to this, that's a just great, great weekend for him and his caddy, Aaron Fleener. Great dudes are two very, very easy guys to root for. Well, yeah, you, you mentioned his setup and I'm just to add onto that.

He has a very stress-free golf swing to me. It's not perfect by any stretch. It's not like he's generating crazy power. But as I get older and I feel like I'm entering dad mode, it's like, hey, man, you know, we kind of gave up the title belt on the long drive. I know you're stacking and you're chasing speed, but like, hey, Ben's going to hit it farther than you in our world. Right. I kind of like watching the guy like JT posts and I'm like, God, that guy's going to hit the fairway every time. It's just, it's like that old man pickup basketball game of like, yeah, he's just kind of getting buckets, you know, it's nothing flashy about it, but he just knows how to get the ball in the hoop. And, and, uh, I don't know. I

like, and we say this a lot, like, is he going to move the needle with like TV ratings? Probably not, but it's nice to see guys with different types. Let me put a definitive on that. No, he's not. Nobody's moving them this fall. But I like seeing them on the leaderboard, right? And as a, as an avid fan, great. But I, I do like seeing guys with different like skill profiles win on the PGA tour. And I kind of think this is what that's kind of what the fall's for is like, oh yeah, let's get, PGA tour. And I kind of think this is what that's kind of what the falls for is like, oh yeah, let's get, you know, let's get somebody that's not bombing it, you know, to like see,

see how they go about winning a golf tournament. So anyway, good, good stuff from JT Poston and shout out to mega corp, you know, always, always a thrill for me to see the, the, the boys from the trucking logistics company gets them burn. Are you TPC Sutherland guy? I feel like I'm, I'm ready to kind of ride for this golf course. At least that back nine good golf holes. I mean, it's easy guys shoot low scores out there, but the ball does not stop easily that, you know, it is more of a test of getting your ball to stop than it is hit it far, which I think is great.

The fairways were really running out. There were some massive drives and just the way the green surrounds play and kind of where a lot of those pins were on the back nine. I just, I think it's an interesting little test. I think this is a, uh, as a fine, fine golf course for this, uh, PJ tour fall. I was actually wondering how, what you were going to say, because I was like, I kinda, I, I, you know, worst case I find it inoffensive, right? And at best case I was like, I'm enjoying this. The views are nice. It's a bit of a change up. Not so much from-

No vibe. The vibe stinks. Well, so I had a crazy idea. Like while I was watching the back nine today, I was like, you could talk me into a PGA championship at a course like that. You know, a total, like what, that's a change up. Like the, and the reason being, I like the short grass. I feel like, you know, you could probably,

they can make it a little harder. You know, that's not my job to figure that out. But what was missing, like what you said, is the vibe. And I almost picture a place like that could have like a TPC, like a waste management vibe for the PGA championship. And I'm cool with the PGA championship being kind of a crazy birdie fest. If there's some intrigue, you know, we railed against Valhalla because it was kind of like just bombing as far as you can. Rough doesn't matter. I feel like with the water and you can get some of those flags pretty close to the hole. Similar to how I feel about TPC Scottsdale. Like the more I see the course, the more I, you know, watch this tournament, the more I'm like, oh, I remember this hole. This is a good one. You know, you start to build a little bit of context. Am I, I'm like, oh, I remember this whole, this is a good one. You know, and you start to get, build a little bit of context. Am I, you know, off base with the PGA championship?

Maybe not, but I think it'd be better going someplace like out, you know, in a different region, a different environment. I'd like to see it. I, I'd like to see some, some stars play and then the vibe goes up and you got a million people out there late May for the desert might be a little, I know. Well, I should have caveat. If there's a reason it's this time of year. But I guess I'm just trying to think about what would make me enjoy the course more probably be

like, oh, if I saw like the top players in the world playing it, right? Because you're talking about you're absolutely right. It was pretty quiet out there. But if it down the stretch, like that could be a very, very exciting finish for a bigger tournament than this one. Yeah. I, I, I don't want to get too carried away with it. I think it fits nicely in the fall, right? It's not, uh, you know, if this was smack dab, if this was following Riv, I don't know if I'd be as excited about, I'm not necessarily excited about it.

I give it a passing grade was kind of more of my overall point with the, the contouring and the fast play, how it played, I mean, it got super windy. They had a delay play on Friday because of 40 plus mile an hour wins. People were up in arms about that one. I listen, there's nothing more than a lot of those guys on that PJ tour championship, the setup team, they want to test these guys.

They would love to get them out there playing in the wind as much as possible. I'm guessing it was quite, even when they did continue playing, Joseph Bramlin had a five putt guys, you know, Tom Kim was missing three footers. Like it was, it was spicy out there. I don't know if you saw any of those clips when they finally did get out there on that windy day Friday, but, um, it dried the course out and it, that was as fast as I can recall playing on this, uh, in this event.

I guess my point with, you know, PJ championship, maybe taking it too far. My point is I don't see the difference between this and TPC Scottsdale. Like there's some better holes at TPC Scottsdale, but some of that is just because we see it every year. So you're used to it, but I could see it. Like the vibe of that tournament is due to the crowd, right? It's not so much the course. So if you could get a bigger event at a place like this, I'd be, I'd be down for it. So, so to your point, yes, passing grade, I'd like to see them jump into the 201 class, you know, like, Hey, can we get some dudes out here?

Now, again, a lot of reasons you can't weather time of year, all that stuff. Um, but yes, I have no issues with, with TPC Summerlin. Down the leaderboard would be a bit brief tonight without our guy TC on the show. I got a few notes. Uh, we had Doug Gim runner up. He shot 6470, 6465. Man, he's got such a weird playing profile. He doesn't hit it far and he's not a good putter.

This is his fifth year out on tour, which was surprising to me. I don't know why I kind of thought he had bounced around more than he has. But he made it very interesting down the stretch. He especially made it interesting when he eagled the ninth hole, then he kind of went into neutral and couldn't really get a whole lot going on the pack nine, but finished with birdies, easy birdie on 16 and then got the birdie on 18 to make it very interesting. On our season preview pod in January, I believe I picked Bo Hossler.

Two of my predictions were that Bo Hossler and Doug Gim were going to win a PGA Tour event this year, and they both have broken my heart. Hossler's come close. I think he was in playoff. What was it? Sanderson? Yes. Second and then here today Doug Gim. But I feel like to Doug Gim's credit over the last three, four years, I feel like every year he's gotten better. I said it to you in Slack earlier. I feel like he's on the Lauren Coughlin trajectory of like each year, oh, it's a little better. Like, oh,

he popped up at the players on Friday a couple of years ago. Like, oh, Doug Gim's here, and then kind of faded. And then today he seems to get a little farther in the video game. And I think he's going to break through next year. So I'm going to carry that prediction over. I don't know if Doug Gibbons is going to win this year, but I think he wins within the next 12 months. How about that? You said that earlier and I was just calling, huh? I mean, this is his second career top five and like over a hundred starts. Like I was, you were like, he's been close to winning. I was like, huh? Yeah. I mean, maybe. Well, I mean, as far as just if I bet, if you look, listen, I haven't looked at the, the evidence of this, but it feels like he's risen in his PGA tour ranking every year. And it hasn't been like ping ponging up and down the, the kind of, you know, FedEx

cup rankings or whatever, you know, world, world golf rankings, whatever you want to use. And I think there, I give players like that credit. Like, I feel like I brought up Lauren. I feel like that's how her career went. It was like, okay, she finally got her status. Okay, she got a top 10. Okay, now she's playing in all the majors. Oh my God, now she broke through in one twice.

You know, it kind of just, it was almost slow and methodical improvement and then she breaks through. So now Lauren hits the ball better than Doug does. So that's, listen, I get it. But I'm just saying as far as the results go, I'm seeing something similar here. So shout out to Doug Gim. Also shout out to Michael Kim, Sunday 62, vaulted him way up the fall leaderboard from I believe 129th all the way to 111th. That was the last I had looked before things went fine. Okay. So he bumped down to 112. So 17 spots, I think. Which gets him

comfortably inside the top 125 with not a whole heck of a lot of tournaments left to go. It's harder to fall down that many spots. He might even be mathematically in the top 125 at this point with just a few tournaments left. So yeah, right on that, but that top 20 top, top 125 bubble, Kevin Tway, Alejandro toasty, Daniel burger, 128 and then Joel Damon at 129, he dropped five spots. Joel Damon tough week. He had a withdrawal. He accidentally had a extra four iron in his bag and had to take

a four shot penalty in the opening round when he discovered that just a few holes into it. And then withdrew. I assume he's, I don't even look at the field. Was that a stroke for each hole until he hit the fourth hole? I think it's two strokes per hole. So he figured out on three T. I believe so from what I could get off.

Yeah. We had Rico Hoey had another nice finish as well. So shout out to Ian Gilgen, the amateur made the cut on the number jumped all the way up the board of a 66 and a 65 on the weekend to finish at T16. Not much action going in the 51 to 60 group going into those are the guys that get into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis to start the year. There was no, no, nobody moved in or out. Kevin used to hold in the last spot there. Lucas Glover is one spot out. Min Woo Lee, three spots out. As of now,

there was some shuffling within spots up there and Harrison Glish moved up a couple more spots in there. But yeah, not a couple, a couple of shout leaderboard shout outs. Tom Kim, you know, couldn't execute the Amanski cut at minus one, but good to see him show up and try to defend the title. I'll give him credit for playing this week. And then, you know what? I, I know he's not everybody's favorite right now for some TIO stuff, some, some stingy stuff, but Kucher T 14. I mean, he keeps, he's kind of doing things at 46. He just, I'm like, God, there's coach again, you know, on the second page of the leaderboard, you know, I did the same thing at Wyndham. So just found it interesting to see Cooch still, still doing stuff.

Let me see here. TC would be very upset if we didn't mention Taylor Pendreth open with 61. Taylor Pendriot shot 71, 67, 68 to finish in a tie for eight or solo eight, I should say. Uh, there was some clear, I was watching some of it when, uh, forget what night it was, they were finishing up and he had a 402 yard drive, uh, on a par four had like 30 yards in and then missed the green from there. I was like, Oh my God, TC's got to have a field day with this one. Another, another guy I want to shout out. This is a blast from the past and that T 29 Norman John.

How about that? He was up is a blast from the past. T 29 Norman John. How about that? He was up there earlier on in the week. He was 65, 65, uh, and then finished with 70, 72, but I have not seen that name in a while and a good to see him. Top 30 finish. Oh yeah. Harry Hall still playing some really good golf as well. How to, how to T nine finish in there with Harry English, Alejandro

Toasty, Kirk Kitiyama, Gary Woodland, all that. Well, now you got me looking at the FedEx Cup standings. Where's my guy? Chaz 159. Hate that. We're not, we are completely outside the bubble. We're not even threatening it, Chaz. Come on, man. I'm going to turn it over to you shortly for one, an ad read and two, some history on the Shriners. I think that was part of your task that you tasked yourself with this week. But I got a DM this week that made me laugh very hard. Somebody said this and he said, you'll like this. Drove two hours from Arizona to watch some golf the Shriners day today. Closed off to all spectators as they didn't announce until 11 a.m. already bought my ticket

and no refunds will be issued. That's what I get for paying money to a tournament that Taylor Pendrith is leading. That was on Friday when they had the wind delays that made me laugh very, very hard. That's like two hours. Not communicating. Yeah. It's just, I don't know. It's kind of hard to root for the product sometimes. It doesn't feel like tournaments are being run, uh, with a lot of attention to detail these days. It feels like there's a lot going on in the golf world and maybe just like day to day tournament officer or not top of mind. Will you send that guy a pro shop discount? Uh, let's do that. We'll go ahead and do that. I appreciate the DM. All right.

Take us to the next segment. I'd be happy to before you get to the history lesson though, we I want to give a shout out to Roebuck talking about the Pro Shop. They've got some fantastic stuff at Roebuck.com. We got a ton of Roebuck stuff in the NLU Pro Shop too. But I want to call out a few items that I've been rocking. They have the new colors in the hybrid jacket. It's a really nice piece right now in the shoulder season weather up here in the big city. War warmed up again this week, but it's been kind of that great for like that high fifties low sixties. So the hybrid jacket, the performance joggers, which I think I turned you onto these solid. They're

kind of the official work from home gear. He's wearing them right now, folks. How about that? And then I've always got to check when I'm on the road with TC that he's not wearing the grit shorts, the gym shorts, because more than once we've both come out of the hotel rooms wearing the same shorts, because like the camo, the white camo ones are kind of a go to for the Schuster brothers. And then of course the hoodies, the quarter zips,

the fleece jackets, they got a ton of them, but they got this new Alpine collection. It's got some fantastic fall colors, the Aspen blue, Sally, I know you like that, the moss green and burgundy. They got a nice red across, you know, kind of you like that. The Moss Green and Burgundy, they got a nice red across their core products. And then the long sleeve performance t-shirts are, of course, a staple for me day to day. And the crew neck, it just doesn't really follow the rotation. It plays well at dinner. We got some of those in the NLU Pro Shop. So the Robac crew necks, I think, are a favor to the

squad too. So use code NLU on robac.com. A generous 20% off your first order through the end of this week. That's spelled R-H-O-B-A-C-K.com. That's 20% off all bottoms, Q-zips, hoodies and more with code NLU. Fall isn't the same without Robac and store.nolangup.com. Check out the Robac collection there. If you're looking for a little NLU logo, if you're into that kind of thing. Performance pants also, wore them to play golf for the first time on Friday. Fantastic.

Awesome, awesome golf pants. Awesome golf pants. Tell us about Shriners. Yeah, so a little context here. I remember last year, I think I may have dropped a note in our Slack of just like, it kind of sticks out to me that the Shriners Children's Hospital is the title sponsor of a PGA Tour golf event, especially when we talk about how much money the PGA Tour is

asking for these events. And it's like, okay, yeah, St. Jude Hospital, you know, is associated with a FedEx Cup playoff event, but that's sponsored by FedEx. That's that's kind of like a title sponsor has their charity. There's not I can't think of another sponsor of a Torvent that's an actual 501 C3, like the actual charity is sponsoring it. So so I got a think I got a couple Texas Children's, I believe was one that a source hinted at me. Okay, I'm not even positive which event that is. But and then technically like Myrtle beach

tourism, which would be like a nonprofit. That would be more of a trade. That'd be like a 501 C6 though. Like what the PJ tour is like a trade organization. But all right. So that just kind of, I don't know. I don't want to say like gave my, made my Spidey sense go off, but you see these guys are wearing these fezzes.

They're wearing these weird hats, you know, like who are the Shriners? Like I don't know much about them other than like, yeah, they help kids, but like, you know, in our today's world, I'm not saying I was trying to like go dig up dirt, but I'm like, all right, I'm going to do a little research on this. So I started with the Las Vegas Invitational, which is what this tournament started as. Do you know when it was founded, Solly? I heard them say something about the 40th plus iteration of the tournament just now. So I would guess 1982, 1983. Close. 83.

Yes. And do you know why it was unique when it started? Stableford. No. Close though. Two, a couple of reasons. One, it offered the highest person golf in 1983, 750K. And do you know who won the first event? Arnold Palmer. Buzzy Zeller took home 135 K mountain of cash that year.

And then in 1984, it was the first tournament to offer a million dollar purse. So this is kind of like a big, big money players only. And then of course it was the side of tigers first win in 96 and a playoff over who? Uh, well, I should, is it Davis love? Yes. Okay. DL three, DL three and a playoff. But I didn't know.

I kind of didn't realize it'd been around so long. Um, it was originally the, the reason it was unique, it was originally a 90 hole tournament. It was a five day event and they changed it. They changed it in 2004. So from 83 to 2004, they played 90 holes, which kind of rocked my world a little bit. Anyway, it's it's it bounced around a little bit on the schedule in the early days, but it kind of settled into this October timeframe. They had, you know, in the early mid 2000s, they had Fry's, which is like an electronics big electronics company. I don't

know if they're still in business. Out in California was the sponsor. And then actually, the founders of fries built this crazy course in like, the South Bay of San Francisco called the Institute, which is kind of an interesting place. Anyway, fries owners were really into golf, they get out of it. And Shriners picks up the sponsorship in 2007. Shriners Children's Hospitals, which is different than Shriners International who runs the Shriners Children's Hospitals, which is different than Shriners International who runs the Shriners Children's Hospital, we're going to get there. And then the tour

basically told him like, you need to have like a celebrity. So they got Justin Timberlake involved as like the host of the tournament, he played in the pro and he played a celebrity concert. And then there was a kind of a falling out with JT in 2012, with the tournament chairman Raul Freville saying, quote, Justin is a wonderful person, but when the TV cameras aren't on, he disappears. At the time we got involved with golf,

we were told by the tour we needed a big name and that's how our relationship with Justin came about. End quote. I thought that was kind of a tough drive-by. So, Shriner's just stuck around. They've been one of the most consistent sponsors on tour for a long time. And I don't know if I realized this,

I kind of thought they were like newer to it, but maybe I, you know, back in the 2010, 2014 days, I wasn't paying close enough attention this time of year. And I think they've just renewed for another five years. So they're, you know, clearly this is something they enjoy doing. But again, I was kind of like, why is it charity? You know, if you're running hospitals, you'd think like that $10 million you spend on this tournament, like, I don't know. It just feels like, shouldn't that just go to the kids?

So anyway, started digging in. So the history of the Shriners, they were originally known, well, first off, it's network of hospitals, the history of Shriners hospitals. It's network of hospitals run by the Shriners internationally. Shriners international, formerly known as the ancient Arabic order of the nobles of the mystic shrine, an American Masonic society founded in New York City in 1872.

It's now headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and there are over 200,000 Shriners around the world. The Shriners International describes itself as a global fraternity based on fun fellowship and the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief and truth. Membership is open to men who have been initiated as master Masons or in the Masonic rite. So I didn't know that it was part of the Freemasons

and I don't even know much about the Freemasons. So that's the next wormhole I got to dig into. But I don't know, I didn't realize it was connected in that way. They have some partner organizations for women and youths, but it's mainly just for men. So the Shriners are obliged to uphold the fraternity's mission and values, which include self-improvement, service, and leadership to the community, and active involvement in social and philanthropic causes, which has turned into since the 1920s, these hospitals. So there's 22 Breiner's hospitals around the country. The first hospital opened in 1922 in Shreveport, Louisiana. By 1930, there were 14 total hospitals and there's one in Mexico

and I think there's a couple in Canada. So basically, and I was trying to, I wouldn't say I was trying to dig up dirt, but I was like, all right, what's like, what are these guys really all about? Honestly, these hospitals are sweet. And so I do want to, I wouldn't say I was trying to dig up dirt, but I was like, all right, what's like, what are these guys really all about? Honestly, these hospitals are sweet. And so I do want to give them a shout out today. Any child under the age of 18 can be admitted to the hospital. The doctor determines the child can be treated. There's no requirement for religion, race, relationship with the Shriners.

So it's, you know, open, open invite. And the Shriners, like the members are kind of one of their like tenants or something responsible for is like almost finding kids that need this, you know, so you used to see these guys out like, kind of, you know, raising, doing fundraisers like stoplights when I was a kid. But a lot of it is kind of like, Hey, you know, if anybody in your community is a sick kid, like try to connect them with one of these hospitals. Until June 2012, all care at Shriner hospitals was provided without charge to patients and their families.

At that time, because the size of their endowment had decreased due to losses in the stock market, Shriner's hospitals started billing patients insurance companies, but continues to offer free care to children without insurance. And Shriner's hospital waives all costs insurance does not cover. And it's a 501C3. So the beauty of the 501C3 is that taxes are public. So I dug into the tax return. Send it to you. Your hitters, your former associates KPMG did the tax return. It was a combined 2022 and 2023 return.

Is it financial statements you're looking at or tax returns? Because you said it was fine. So sorry, financial statements. That is an important detail. But it's similar, a look under the detail. But it's a similar look under the hood. And it's 50 pages long. I'm not an expert at reading this stuff. So I ran a couple of it by you. I was blown away. They have 11.4 billion in total assets at the end of 2023. That's so much money. I mean, I guess it's kind of like that's as much as, I think,

Columbia's endowment is like 14 billion. But like, you think of these universities, and you think of, I guess you think of like the Catholic church with these endowments, but I've never really thought that like a men's organization could be stacking that kind of cash. Most of it is kind of this endowment investments and, you know, kind of the endowment. So marketable securities, $8.6 billion, investments and the endowment. So marketable securities, $8.6 billion. Charitable gift annuities, $57 million. Beneficial interest in trust, so people basically leaving them money. That bucket is now $582 million. Real estate and mineral interest, $331 million. And then just miscellaneous stuff, $21 million. They have $31 million in free cashflow, Solly. Just sitting on a mountain of it. So looking at this, I'm like, all right,

well, that's kind of like the pile of money and then like 2023 revenue. So I was like, what do they bring in? Like, how do they get this money? And it was basically 156 million in insurance revenue was collected. So basically billing the insurance companies, 218 million in requests, which I looked at up money left to like Shriners International from wills and entrusts like after somebody dies. And then miscellany, sorry, and then 223 million and just donations, which is just like, that's a that's a lot of cash, man. And then like, expenses, we looked at, I sent it to you, but $389 million

in total salary expenses for things that are Shriners because they broke out Shriners Hospital. $320 million of that was for hospital staff, $7.9 million for research staff, $55.1 million for management, and then $5.3 million for fundraising staff. The PGA Tour event is a line item in the financial statement. And I want to read the blurb in there because it sounded like it was written by an accountant that doesn't follow golf. I loved it. During the year ended December 31st, 2008, SHC became the host organization title sponsor of a PGA Tour golf tournament. Beginning in 2013, this tournament became part of the FedEx tour. The term of this agreement commenced with 2008 event and will conclude after the 2023 tournament. And then they've since

re-upped, I think, for another five years. The 2023 and 2022 events yielded $3.9 million and $4.6 million respectively in revenues. Expenses incurred on these events in 2023 and 2022 were $10.2 million in 2023 and $9.4 million in 2022 respectively, creating a cost of the project of $6.2 million and $4.8 million respectively. So in 2023, they spent $10.2 million and that yielded $3.9 million, I guess, in direct revenue. In 2022, 9.4 million spent, 4.8 million in revenue. Now, clearly, this is all for branding and probably hosting big dollar people that they want to donate. And that all makes sense to me. I think the thing that sticks out to me though is seeing that revenue number dip year over year, seeing

that cost go up and that revenue go down from 4.8 to 3.9. You know, I don't want to read too much into that, but that can't be like a good thing for the tour, right? It's like, what, you know, is that I'm wondering where like, cause it doesn't really break out where those revenues come from, but that's an interesting, like, it could be weather related. It could be, it could be any kind of thing. I mean, again, you just talked about all the billions in there and that's kind of what it's all such a rounding error. All this, like this entire expense is so tiny. I just couldn't, I still can't believe that they're sitting on 11.4 billion in assets. I guess maybe I assumed that was kind of what, you know, higher education does, but I've

just, I've never really dug into like these societies. Well, anyway, a couple more things. Two more if if you'll indulge me. What's with the hat and the Arabic theme? This is from an FAQ on their website. One of the founders William J. Florence back in 1870, he went to a party thrown by an Arab diplomat when he was touring France. He thought it was sick basically. That's not from the FAQs, but he thought it was really cool. He was in a party in Marseille,

France. And then he ended up traveling to Egypt and went to Cairo. And he just really liked like Arab motifs and like the, he just liked the Arab like vibe. And so he came back and he founded it with this other guy. It didn't, I don't think I wrote his name down, but these two guys were, they were basically Freemasons and they hung out in the, the free Mason temple in New York. And so they were like, cool, we're going to make like a sub club with like only Masons can join. And it became like, it blew up like from 187 to 1910, it like became like the cool kids club and like all these big cities. I just found it funny that like the whole Arabic thing, the Fez, you know, wearing the hats is like, it's like a big inside joke that

they just thought was like, oh, like that's cool. And it kind of, I don't want to say it reminds me of like stuff that we do, but like all of this stuff starts with, like I learned two things from this. Like it all starts with this like, oh yeah, it's like kind of this dumb idea we had me and my buddy. I went to this party at an Arab diplomats in Marseille and then combine that with compounding interest. And, you know, fast forward to 2024 and you're sitting on $11.4 billion in total assets. You know, it's like, it's bizarre. It's crazy. But, you know, as far as like, I couldn't find much, like I was kind of expecting there to be some, like some scandals, you

know, like searching the Wikipedia page. And then I read like a synopsis of a book about it. And it's like, like one guy in like 20, I think, or 1991 said that like he had a, it's part of like a hazing ritual. They like electrocuted him because they made him like walk on like electric carpet to simulate like walking on the hot sands of the Sahara. So maybe they took some of the, you know, symbolism a little too far, but for the most part, it seems like these hospitals do like awesome work. And so I know this just like a random tangent, but I didn't know anything about them. And you know, their logo kind of creeps me out. Like the guy holding the kid and it's red and he's wearing the hat. It's just like this, you know, it's like, okay, the Shriners, everyone's

like, oh, they help burn victims. You know, you just know like a little bit about it. But just to like look under the hood a little bit, I'm just kind of fascinated with how, how much bigger it is than I thought it was. And I came to the conclusion, my assumption was like, why is a charity sponsor spending $10 million on a tour event? That can't be good business. And now I'm like, ah, that's actually fantastic. Like that makes a ton of sense now. It honestly kind of makes more sense than some of these other sponsors that are just like regular businesses. So anyway, that's my that's my history lesson. Thank you for indulging me. That's fantastic history lesson. I think it though, you can take

what you learned there and apply it to actual regular businesses to say like, you know, why is so and so spending $20 million on a tour of it or a more expensive one than this one and just be like, again, come back to like, it's just a freaking rounding error. Like it's not even, it's always going to sound like a lot of money to us individuals, but for these massive, massive, massive companies, I used to, in my days at KPMG, I used to have clients where, you know, you would have this, I've references before you would have this, in an audit you call materiality threshold, which is basically before you start the audit, you know, you can't, I do not look for $1

errors, right? You have to determine what is a real error in the financial statements. I had clients were like, we would have $111 million materiality, where it's like, hey, if you found $100 million error, it was not big enough to call attention to the the end users of the financial statement. $100 million. I literally had $111 million material in one of my jobs. So it's like-

111, not 11. 111, yes. Yeah, so like if we found a $100 million error, it was kind of like, eh. And then look, there's like certain reporting up to different teams and things like that, that is the reason why that might've been a big one, but still, like that's the size of some of these companies

where you, like, yeah, 25 million bucks to just like, you know, sponsor, you know, a bunch of clients that spend a ton of money with you for, you know, it's like taking them out to dinner, honestly, with some of the scale at which a lot of it all happens. You look at it here, it's such a lifetime play for them of like, you know, you're basically looking to get written into somebody's will.

And I was like, all right. So then I searched like, who's the biggest like, you know, you're basically looking to get written into somebody's will. And I was like, all right, so then I searched like, who's the biggest donor? You know, and it's some guy from Nebraska, some oil guy left him like 60 million bucks in his will, like a couple years ago, you know, so it's like probably working towards stuff like that. But honestly, the financial statement sweet, like they're breaking out like postage, these guys spent $2.2 million on postage last year, or in 2023. You got travel,

they spent $6.5 million on travel. I mean, you know, then you got, of course, like medical supplies, like $109 million. All right. I think that's about our, that's about it. I don't know. Somebody who's like, you know, we're running the business, like we're doing budget stuff. I'm just, I find it fascinating to see it on this kind of scale, but it also makes you feel better. It's like, oh yeah, we're tracking this stuff the same way. It's just a lot smaller. Numbers are a little different. But it's nice to see him keeping track of the postage like that. It's broken out in its own line item. It's fantastic.

We're going to get to some Ryder Cup ticket stuff. That's probably the top ticket item for tonight's show. But who can forget the duel between Bryson and Rory down the stretch of the 2024 US Open? You can try Bryson's bunker shot. You can try to see if you can get up and down in front of a veranda full of people above the 18th green, finish their day watching you finish yours at Pioneer's number two. And don't forget just a couple months before the US Open reminded everyone

what kind of a gym Pioneer's number two is. They opened a new course, Piners number 10. It opened in the spring of 2024. It's designed by Tom Doak. Features dramatic elevation changes, natural sandy areas and remnants of an early 20th century sand mining operation. You gotta wait until you see the eighth hole,

which you can actually see on our YouTube channel right now. Neil and Ben played an alt shot round out there. Golf Digest set of number 10. There are holes that are unlike anything else, not just here but anywhere. Piners continues to invest its present and future making it better and better every year of renovations at the Carolina Hotel are now complete offering fresh inspired takes on guest rooms and lobby. Piners even debuted

another new restaurant, the Carolina Vista Lounge and expanded cocktail bar, the contemporary menu unlike any other Piners offering guests a stylish and satisfying respite befitting its setting in the historic Carolina Hotel. Looking back just between its two most recent US Opens 2014-2024, it's been an era of evolution at Piners from that time. The Cradle short course has been wildly popular since it opened in 2017. Gilhans redesigned Piners No number four. We got the Pinehurst

Brewing Company. They just got all kinds of amazing stuff happening there almost year round. The 2025 rates are out. Anyone can book a trip to Pinehurst through 2025. Now, you can also head to events.nolayingup.com slash 2025 Donnybrook to sign up for our event this spring at Pinehurst as well. That's right. In March, we just announced the event, you know, to sign up for our event this spring at Pinehurst as well. That's right.

In March, we just announced the event, Ness members will get priority, but fired up. Pinehurst, man, there might not be anything better than sitting on the rocking chairs at the Carolina after a big day of golf. And number 10 is worth seeing. It's interesting, it's a do-kito, man. Like it'll punch you in the mouth, but fun track.

All right. So this has been out for a couple of weeks, I believe, but our own Kevin van Valkenburg screenshotted and I believe it got made some waves on the social media platforms this past week of ticket prices at the upcoming Ryder Cup. Neil, it costs $750 in your state that you live in to attend a tournament day, Friday through Sunday, it's individual days, $750 for a Ryder Cup ticket. What's your reaction to this?

It sucks. Like I hate it. And I can get into, you know, the nuance of why, but this information has been out there, but it's kind of a testament to how like it's hard to work that website. I think that website has crashed several times. It's like buried in the FAQs on the price and it's like Ryder Cup plus tickets. So it gives the like indication that like, oh, these aren't the, you know, a lot of people's responses to KBV's, you know, tweet was like, oh, these aren't like there's going to be like general admission tickets coming after this. It's like, no, probably not, because these are probably going to sell out. So on the one hand, it's like, yeah, it's a market economy. So if people are willing to pay for it, that's great. But I just think that it's indicative of a vibe in golf, and not just with, you

know, I'm not trying to just pick on the PGA of America, but just like the, you know, the powers that be of like short term thinking. And there's an easy thing to compare it to. I think Augusta National, who kind of artificially keeps things like way, way, way underpriced. I'm not saying you have to do that, but it's like kind of having a sense of like, Hey, you can, you can, you, the demand is there. You can turn that faucet on, but why don't you turn it on a little slower? Like why, you know, why are we going to gouge immediately? It's just like, everyone's trying to get theirs right now.

And then it does, honestly, it does like give the players a little bit, you know, Patty Ice and the boys a little bit more of an argument to say like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like you guys are kind of, I think you're, I think they're over capitalizing on this event at the expense of fans. And maybe like the vibe of it. And then, yeah, they're not really paying the players, which it just starts to feel like,

what the hell's going on? So that's my initial take. Well, let's play it with Brian Karnes was on a PGA tour XM radio. I didn't get to listen to full interview, but I have a clip that they posted on social media here. He had a just kind of an explanation for it. I'm going to play that here again. This is from PGA tour XM radio. And then we view ourselves as a tier one event that's on par with the world series

or with an NBA game, NBA finals, game seven. I mean, that was a part of it. And so again, when we look at pricing, we're able to tap into data from all these different venues. Again, our partner in Delaware North, they operate Boston, the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, they operate Lambeau Field.

We're able to see, hey, what do people pay? What do people, and so that really drove this too. Again, our position in this landscape, where do we feel ourselves? And I think that that's the reality. There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening

game World Series on their bucket list. And so we, I think, ultimately felt like that's where we are. We've got a lot of people that demand, is that an all-time high for this event? And so we wanted to make sure we priced it appropriately. Honestly, I don't disagree. But it's hard to hear that bucket list thing. People have this on their bucket list

and know that so many people won't be able to comfortably experience this, right? My initial thought when this happened was kinda like, yeah, that's New York, that's the market, that's the PGA of America probably getting out ahead of, if big money's gonna be paid for these tickets, it might as well you know, the PJ of America probably getting out ahead of, you know, if big money is going to be paid for these tickets, it might as well be to the PJ of America and not the secondary market. Like if that is the actual market value, if you can buy a ticket for $100 and sell it for $750 on, you know, a ticketing website,

you're going to do that, right? So might as well have the money go to the PJ of America, all that. I was trying to convince myself of all this. And like, it of course sucks. And like, I can't avoid like pulling the string back on this to the Cantlay stuff. And the PGA of America pays the PGA Tour 25% of revenues that come in the door from the Ryder Cup, right? So it doesn't go specifically to the 12 players, but it goes to the PGA Tour coffers, which are very full,

full of a lot of money that get paid to the players. So in my mind, the players get paid to play the Ryder Cup. So that's, but the irrational actor that has been thrown into golf has had just a, an effect in so many different corners of it, right? It's put all the stress in the PGA Tour system, made all of the conversation on the PGA Tour side about money. Now, like the money that naturally

when the 2023 Ryder Cup rolls around, like the can't lay stink comes around if they wanna get paid for this one as well because guys are just like, guys have turned so greedy about all of this and the professional golf world's been flipped up on its head to the point where like the PGA, like the number one thing that everyone has said

about PGA, like the number one thing that everyone has said about PGA tour enterprises, the new for-profit entity of the PGA tour above that and the, you know, the joining up with SSG and potentially the PIF is that they, the likely target for them is going to be to buy the Ryder Cup. And so naturally for me, my mind goes towards like, all right, well, if I'm the PGA of America, if I can get my nut now and all of a sudden my revenues look like this, all right, well, if I'm the PGA of America, if I can get my nut now, and all of a sudden, my revenues look like this, as I go to potentially sell this thing to PGA Tour enterprises, my valuation might potentially skyrocket and we might be able to, you know, the cash outlay

from selling the Ryder Cup might might be more worthwhile at all. Like, is that a stretch to like, I don't think that's really, really, really, really well said, I honestly think that's exactly and it goes back to what I was saying about short term thinking. Everyone's trying to get theirs right now. And yeah, it kind of you know, good leads back to because it's just like everything's in everything so fluid right now. But a couple things that that Brian said,

like I your tier one event, I don't disagree with that. Sure people have it on their bucket list. Like I agree with kind of everything he said, like there's logic to it. The problem is there's value in the... The optics are bad. And that's something that I don't think the consultants that they're using are considering. They're looking at the spreadsheet. They're looking at the potential valuation if that PJ Tor and the strategic sports group comes knocking. But one thing they're also not considering is why is it a tier one event? No one's asking why.

It's a tier one event because the atmosphere is so good and because it's always felt like it wasn't about money and it was about something bigger than money and it has tradition and it has history. And that's been the whole justification for like, oh, that's why the players don't get paid. They do, yeah, through the tour, but at the same time, oh, it goes to charity. So it's like an event that every two years, everybody can kind of feel good about, like, this is, you know, this is bigger than the dollars and cents.

And so by now saying you're going to price it like that, like, okay, then you suck the oxygen out of the crowd. You know, you're going to price people out because who's going to buy these tickets, probably a lot of like, I mean, okay, so some people that have on their bucket list, but a lot of corporate tickets and like $750. Dude, like that's another aspect of this dude of like they're- Which is just disappointing that, that sucks. But they got to be, they're freaking out already about how Bethpage fans are going to act at, you know, I know it's the People's Country Club.

I know it's flies in the face of everything about it, but that is a serious concern, I would guess from their end. And pricing the tickets higher helps them control the Hooligans in theory a little bit more. Yeah, I guess it does. Is another angle. That's just like a, I don't know. I'm not defending it, I'm saying,

I'm giving an explanation. It's kind of a preemptive, I feel like that's, if that is a reason, it's a preemptive overreaction. But to like, I don't know, to sterilize the vibe is like, that's going to lead to it not being a tier one event because it's also, we're saying that the Ryder cup is electric, but it's also not a great viewing experience unless you're in one of these corporate boxes and by the way, 750 for a ticket, add three more zeros to that number if you want to buy

like a get, you know, corporate hospitality, right. And that gets back to like, oh, well that's, you know, financial company trying to entertain. They're trying to do big deals. Like that all makes sense. And that, and to me, it's like, cool, ramp that revenue up. But like, I wish there was, I wish that, I guess, I just wish people- I promise you they're getting their core revenue too. No, they are. I know they are. I wish they were more, I just wish people. I promise you they're getting their core. They are. I know they are. I wish they were more. I just wish there were more people that were thoughtful about this stuff. And I don't want to like fluff Augusta national too much, but it's worth acknowledging that

like they've always taken a longterm perspective on pricing and how much goodwill do they get every year? Every year you're going to see the Twitter threads on like all the pimento cheese sandwiches are a dollar 50. the Twitter threads on like, oh, the pimento cheese sandwiches are $1.50. You know, they get so much good buzz and it creates even more brand value. But that's an ethos though. That's an ethos that runs through the masters dating back to like the 50s when it became on television. Like look at how the tell the 2023 Ryder Cup was televised. Like they don't give a shit about, about like-

My point is if, when I, what I'm saying is this is a wish for me, I know they're not doing this. But like, okay, if we're gonna raise the ticket, the standard ticket price is 750. I wish somebody was in a room thinking like, hey, maybe we can set aside X amount of tickets for, for, you know, junior golfers for you know, like, how can you, how can you sacrifice a little bit of revenue, you know, or like, so that you can, yeah, you can charge a bunch of money here, but you can have a like, how can you, how can you sacrifice a little bit of revenue, you know, or like, so that you can, yeah, you can charge a bunch of money here, but you can have a like, honestly,

like good PR say like, hey, but no, we're, we're setting aside X amount of tickets for, you know, this charity or lottery or, or youth golf or whatever it is, it's just the, the, some of the issue here, I have, it's just the optics of it. It's just that, like, they haven't, they don't get out in front of anything, they just like, let it happen. And then it I have, it's just the optics of it. It's just that like they don't get out in front of anything. They just like let it happen. And then it's like, it's just not the same thing to say that it's like the World Series, you know, where you're paying like, I don't see, because to me it's more of an exhibition. You know what I mean? It's

not really, I would agree it's a tier one event, but I just don't agree with like justifying the, we're going to price agree with like justifying the, we're gonna price it like you would price the NBA finals. I'm, I've struggled with, that's where I'm not gonna follow Brian. But a lot of what he said, I'm like, hey, from a business standpoint, I can't argue with you. That doesn't mean I like it though.

And I think it's short-term and I think it's like, it's just like a bummer is kind of where I net out. And I think that the PJ of America can do a lot better job. And I'm gonna see if I can find the actual mission statement. But like, I think it's okay, it's to promote golf's growth and enjoyment. So like, they could do a better job, the USGA could do a better job as well

of telling the story of like where their money goes, right? Like I have no doubt, like, look, yeah, do they probably have some overpaid executives at the PGA of America? I'm sure they do. They have three of them listed on their financial statements, three of them make over a million dollars, I believe it is. It's not, you know, five million dollars in top level of executive expenses, not that insane for an organization of that size. So, like the money is going probably to good places. It's going to local PGA.

I don't know exactly how their whole entire system works, but junior league programs, I'm sure are funded in part through all this. Like there's probably a pretty good story to be told here of where revenue goes into, right? And that's part of like, I talked to Seth Wall about this at the Ryder Cup last year, about the Cantlay stuff. And he like was telling me about some of this stuff and how they've tried their best to communicate that to the players. And they just didn't want to listen to any of that to say like again your best angle here is to is also to tell the story of like this money doesn't go straight to somebody's profit right it goes towards funding this funding this funding this funding this then all of a sudden

that messaging becomes a lot different it's still like gouging i believe it was the like the definition of the word but at the same, like if if you're viewing that partially as a donation towards something like that, people might might react a little bit differently. I don't know if that Yeah. And I think that, okay, so what were the price like 200 euro for for Italy for a ticket? I think it was less than that. I think it was like 90 for a practice round and less than 200 I think for a ticket. I think it was less than that. I think it was like 90 for a practice round and less than 200, I think, for a tournament day.

Because some of it was, it's like, okay, yeah, you can, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Right, I agree. Can we go to three or 400? Sorry, it was $264 US dollars for Friday and Saturday tickets, 275 for Sunday. Like even if technically the market, if it's the market, well, that's what the market will sell out of tickets. So supply and demand, like, didn't you do economics like that? You'll

get that response from people. It's like, no, I get that. I understand how that works. But in leaving some money on the table, like that can help. That's just, that can be beneficial too. There can be value, like abstract value in that. And your point about the secondary markets, I think that's a fair one, but there's several brands like that have said, they're like, you know what, we're going to price things fairly and we want to have a sustainable, like we want the price to be able to go up, you know, year or every two years, want the price to be able to go up, you know, year or every two years, you know, and if you go straight to seven 50, you know, then it's just like, it just kind of gets out of control.

It's out of whack golf pro golf is out of whack, man. It's and that's all it's absolutely going to get reheated. All the players should be paid part of the conversation. Yeah. So a lot of this, honestly, a lot of the issue is just like optics. You're just like, Oh God, you know, cause you're right. Like I, and I agree with you. Like I think the PGA of America overall, like the money does go to some good stuff. We just don't know what it is. And they, they just don't know how to tell that story. Um, so anyway, that's, you know, that's a bummer. And also got that page is like,

not easy to get to. I live in Brooklyn. I mean, it's like, for me, it's like 90 minutes, you know, and it's, there's nowhere to stay out there. Like, so that this doesn't include parking, which I'm, oh my God, you know, you know, our friends out on Long Island are gonna be, you know, Long Island, Airbnb, well, I'm gonna gouge from my house and parking lot and all that stuff. So it's, I'm going to gouge from my house and parking lot and all that stuff. So it's, I think 750 is just the start of it. All right. Cleaning up some news and notes.

LiveGolf looking for a new CEO. This report from Sports Business Journal, Saudi Arabia's public investment fund, which backs Live Financially, has contracted out London-based Odgers-Burnadston for the search which would take over for Greg Norman and the CEO role. Though handled quietly, the search firm has looked to well-regarded executives in sports business for the position with names including Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormack. Among those targeted early on, according to sources, talks with Yormack did not progress but it shows the level of executive PIF has been targeting. That line made me laugh. So also according to sports business

journal, Norman has remained in decent favor with the ownership group, so he could still be used in a multitude of roles in the future. It is news, but this makes sense. This is kind of a natural, you know, it's like a, maybe like a wartime CEO and we're going to transition into a peacetime one if they could. And honestly, getting, getting Greg out of there, probably help get a deal done. I think that would, I don't know, maybe take the temperature down a little bit. Uh, as we, I don't know, as we maybe think about fixing to have a meeting, uh, you got any updates, I like? I haven't heard much.

Nope. Just hanging out, man. Sounds like everyone had fun at the Dunhill though. We're all in this together. We're just all hanging out. Everybody went to the Dunvee and they had a few pints. They hoisted some pints. We're good. No, no, we're still, we're, we're, we're, we're still thinking about it.

Don't worry. So much time, dude. You got so much time. I mean, what's a, what's a four or five year wake? Uh, there's kind of no lasting impact on the game of golf. It's totally fine. Uh, a couple of listener questions here. Um, big one from, uh, B block 1924 was Arnold Palmer's penis really that big? People are great question. Oh man. The breeder, man. Uh, yeah, I think, I think it's his reputation.

It's always, it's always kind of been that. I don't know if it's ever been like spelled out in that way, but God, what a simulation we're in these days, man. Also to Mark Cuban, thestacksystem.com, code no laying up. We'll get you 10% off your order if you want to increase your swing speed as well. No swing speed.

Another question, c Abrams 911, how do you focus on maintaining technique while speed training? I've lost swing fields while trying to add speed. Wish I had a great answer on this other than talking to Dr. Sasha McKenzie, who was on the pod a couple of weeks ago. I hope people got a chance to listen to that.

It changed my, I guess it didn't really change my view, but it helped hammer home something I was believing in the process of speed training, which is like you do all your training to be able to swing the club fast. And the point is to be in control more comfortably at a very nice speed when you do go to play golf. Right? So I've had a lot of people text me, a lot of people DM have you screwed up your iron swing? Have you screwed up your swing doing this? And like the goal here is again, just to be able to increase your maximum velocity so that I can cruise that was what once was

my 90th percentile velocity, that then becomes my 50th percentile. I'm not swinging out of my shoes to get a ball to carry 285 anymore. And that would be the goal. If I'd been playing golf, I could report a little stronger on that. I just haven't.

Did blow a four up lead in my club championship match on Friday, and the guy went on to win the club championship. God, what happened? I gagged. The fucking Blue Angels started flying all over Tim McQuarran when I had the four up lead, and I couldn't get my heart rate back down. And then, so you lost four in a row?

I had lost, I tied 16. We lost. I lost in a playoff. Yeah. I'm like, he made a hundred foot putt from off the green in the playoff to eliminate. Yeah. So was it more, he was just like on fire or did you, it was three putt and

I three plotted 14. And then I mean, it was, then we turned back into the wind. It was like blowing 25, 30 with greens running about 12 and he played fantastic coming and he made one birdie and all the rest pars from then on. And it was really, really difficult. And I just made- It was quicksand, man. That's the worst feeling in the world.

It was like, oh, this is slipping away. No, please. But I hadn't played golf in a month. And like that was another thing with the speed training too is the layoffs aren't as bad. Like you just kind of roll out and you, it's just, I wasn't sharp by any means with a lot of stuff like around the greens and whatnot, but my golf muscles were still somewhat warm. So, um,

appreciate that question. Well, here, let me pick one. I'll ask you one. Well, we'll go straight to the bottom. Uh, at, at T hall golf, favorite new courses slash holes you guys played this year. The Amons hall was a place I, I've not gotten to play a lot of new golf courses this year. I mean, I was thinking back to it's a basic Australia. Listen, Augusta would be on the list of new golf courses I got to play old course in reverse would of course be on

the list. But Yeamans was a was a place I've been really dying to get up to for for quite some time got to play that this summer and just really really enjoy it's very welcoming off the tee. It's just straight up my alley of, you know, obviously it's Seth Rayner golf course and it was a little soft, a little summery when we were there, but it was just a complete joy away from the world out there on a bluff. It was just freaking awesome. That was a highlight for me. I have to think about the holes one. The other one I thought of was Lonsdale Lynx from Australia of just like just a public golf course that is out on the Bellarine Peninsula that is just kind of blew my mind as well on the drivable road hole that they had there. The 16th hole was like one of the my favorite holes that I played in this past year. But how about you?

You've got to play a little golf. You got any favorite new courses? Yeah, well, I think it's a little bit almost like a bit of a unfinished business. And I expected, I don't know, San Francisco golf club, I biked around it a million times. I thought it was, you know, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. And I thought that place was really cool. And Cal Club was, was awesome. So those two stand out, just felt like I accomplished. I was like, I've always wanted to play these courses. I was dying to play them when I lived out

there, but you know, they're, you know, at that stage of my life, I didn't, didn't have the right connections. Now on the other end of the spectrum, Diker beach is the local Muni in Brooklyn. And I have some buddies that have gotten really into golf. They're not good. But my buddies from college are like, it turned into sickos. And so they're not good. Uh, but my, my buddies from college are like, it turned into sickos. And so they're booking like 6 AM T times at Diker beach all summer. So I played out there like four times and you know, you basically like queue up on the first tee as the sun's coming up and get around like three and a half hours. It's, it's not a good course, but it's, it's golf. You know what I mean? And it's like, you know, this is fit with

no traffic. It's 14 minutes from my place. So it kind of put to rest the vibe of like, oh, it's too hard to play golf in New York. It's like, no, if you put a little effort in, you get your ass out of bed, you can. And every time I played, I was glad I played, you know? So I just want to give a shout out because I feel like I lived here a couple of years

and in years past, I've never never checked that place out. And I was like, you know what, this is great. I'm gonna I'm gonna keep doing this. It's a great way to hang out with my buddies. It's just like kind of what golf is, is supposed to be. If you're willing to make the effort, it's it's cool. So shout out to Diker Beach. Any hints you want to drop us from your recent tournament excursion or any any spoilers?

Well, that's another new course the bridge out on Long Island. And I guess it's bridge Hampton. What a place. It's like an art museum slash golf course. Not a blade of grass. You know, they kind of got the guy like he off on the par three and there's a guy that comes out of the woods and fills in divots, you know, like not, not, not, not an expense spared, but they were really, I think it's the shout out to the MGA, the Met Golf Association, the two day event there is the long Island mid am and shout out to the bridge for like hosting that, you know, that's like one of the most exclusive clubs on long Island. And they were, they couldn't have been more welcoming. They had like a nice lunch. I didn't feel like I was on eggshells in the clubhouse,

you know, and they let us film, they let us film 18 holes of day one. Cody was on the bag. And listen, this one got away from me. I'm sure we'll do a breakdown of our year in golf. This was not my best day, but I battled. I had an oil spill. And that's the first time I've had what I don't want to ruin the video, which will come out in December. But it's first time in a competitive event this year, an MGA event, I played in four that I had worse than double bogey and you know, we may not have stopped it at six or seven. You know what I'm saying? But I kept going, play it again.

You know, what was it like playing a tournament on camera though? It was, I mean, we're, we're pretty used to it. I, it's tough in that environment for me because I'm not that good. And there, these are, there's some, some dudes out there, you know, so I'm like, I hate it when we're out on the range and I'm getting filmed on the range. I don't like, that's the part I don't like is the pre-round, like the cameras following me around on the party. Yeah. So that's a little bit like, God damn it. You know? Uh, but once I get playing, it's,, 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,. But again, like I, you know, I, when I showed up to the, to the, um, the met am qualifier, you know, get on the range and like, I didn't have a camera with me, but somebody recognized me and they came over and said, hi, which is really nice. But it was like, Oh, what? I can't believe you're here.

And like all these guys, like a Rutgers bag and a Princeton and like, Oh dude, don't come, you know, I'm nobody. Like I don't want to talk to anybody right like all these guys, like a Rutgers bag and a Princeton and like, Oh dude, don't come, you know, I'm nobody. Like I don't want to talk to anybody right now. I don't want anyone to know I'm here. Okay. Just let me, let me go to the end of the range. And, and so yeah, like it's, is it tough to, uh, it, you know, I'll get made fun of for this video, right? Like it's not my best stuff, but I think we're used to that now,

Sally of like, Hey, no, I called for you to do this on this video, right? Like it's not my best stuff, but I think we're used to that now, Solly of like, Hey, No, I called for you to do this on camera for, and I appreciate it. I can't wait to do it. The MJ already said like, Oh, let us know if you want to do it again. So yeah, it was, it was, it was good. It's just that the camera did start to, I started to feel the camera when things started going sideways, like man. So you feel the dumbest when you're eight over par and somebody's gonna say I did not quit on this round though. And I was actually pretty

proud of where we finished. So some more to come there. Good. No, one other thing I want to say sorry, that course that was the bridge was the hardest course I played this year. I mean, unlike crazy green speeds and just, it was the most defensive golf I've played in a long time and they had a ton, a ton of waste areas out there, but everything is considered a bunker. So the cart pass are just like, you know, can't ground your club. Oh, really? Yeah. So, and like some of these bunkers are like the sides of hills. So it's just like an added variable of like, oh shit, I can't, like, I gotta be careful. I don't like, I'm, you know, bending and I'm in a weird position careful. I don't like I'm, you know, bending, I'm in a weird

position here, like, don't touch the sand, you know, in a competitive event, I'm like, you're like on edge about all that. So it just adds a little extra degree of difficulty. So there, you know, it was a so the winning score, I think the guy that was in the lead after day one, I think he was like one over maybe even shut 88 on day two, because the wind kicked up, uh, the second day. Cause Cody and I stayed out there and filmed something else. So yeah, it was, it was carnage.

I think it was like really, really hard, like much harder the second day, but everybody was saying after the round, like, yeah, and that place was like. Turned up, which is cool. I, and I, I think I thought it was fantastic. It's like, yeah, beat me up, man. I like that I've played in some of those where like the court, like the greens just get so fast. Like you can, I don't know how I would have practiced. How would I have prepared for this? I don't, I, I'm not about this.

Yeah, man, you're holding on for dear life on, on these approach shots. And it's hard to capitalize. Like if you're not, I wasn't hitting it great off the tee. So then I was in the fairway. It's like this added pressure of like, I don't really think I can get this close though, because of how fast these greens are. Like I really got to hit the right spot or else it's just gonna, you know, bounce over the green. So, but I really still enjoy it. I don't care. Yeah, we're all playing the same course, like

no complaints from me. I'm like, this is way too hard. Did it feel like a big time? Yeah, like that's the Well, compared to like my Publinks qualifier, where it was like, you know, I shot feel like a, yeah. Like that's the- Well compared to like my Publinks qualifier where it was like, you know, I shot 73 and like on a sloppy rainy day and like a, you know, go track in New Jersey. It's just like the, yeah, like you get lulled into a false sense of security when you shoot, you know,

when I go shoot 72, 73 at Diker Beach, you know, you're like, oh man, I'm cruising. And then it's like, yeah, well go, yeah, why don't you go play a big boy track and see how you do. And yeah, you don't do as well. Yeah. That's what like Tim McQuana got. I mean, it went from like summer to fall in the six week gap between rounds that I played out there shot 71 my last round before I kind of shut down for a while in the soft, like mock was got to plus

1.8 just absolutely feel just sitting around feeling myself for a month. Try to 85 when I played out there last Friday, like just, Oh yeah. We're a little off. Can't stop the ball in the greens. And it's just a completely different sport. Keep you humbled. Yeah. Do you do a constant reminder every three months or

so you got to like either you have to your score has to remind you like both of us, we're not that we're not good. Not happening. I'm a solid golfer. I'm not good though. You like, don't start thinking that you're, you know, Oh, I'm never going back to the eighties. Yeah, you are. Don't worry. But everything's been a, like I got solid. Now I'm going to, I'm going to, what's my own horn a little bit here. I played so fucking good at the roost club championship.

Uh, I shot 36 holes, one under total, didn't make a double bogey at sweetens and like that's a happy place. You know, sweetens and the greens, you know, they just kind of regrow all the grass. So it wasn't, it wasn't firing down there like normal, but just the way I hit the ball, I was like, this is, this is fun. This is, I'm just, I am in control of the golf ball and I loved every freaking second of it. And so I'm building towards the NIT next week, our big year end championship. Dobson Ranch in Arizona, baby, here we come. I'm in flight two.

I'm not in the championship flight, I'm in flight two. Do we count that as your second under par? Did you have an under par 18 holes then? Is that your second under par 18 holes? Well, Ben asked me that too. And I was like, I don't know because because it's, they're so they're such distinct and it's a shotgun, the way we play the roost club championship. So I started, I think I shot one under the first day to I

definitely shot under par for those 18 holes. But it's I, he started on five, I started on like seven, you know what I mean? So it's like hard to say like, it's not a, I would say no, it's not. But for me to shoot over 36 holes more under par is like, that's new territory. So it's, it's kind of like the, uh, the, uh, the ACE on a par three course. It's like, it counts for something, but just on a separate list. I'm going to, I'm going to set it over here, but that in the personal collection is good. I think I have one of those at sweetens as well. Or if you added up my numbers, it would be my lowest score ever. Uh, in the personal collection is good. I think I have one of those at Sweeten's as well. Or if you added up my numbers,

it would be my lowest score ever in the sequence in one of those marathon days. But I don't think I would count it just because I think we moved tees and stuff. Yeah, exactly. We moved tees and pins and. It's a not rated course. It's a skate park.

Like it's not. I can't post the score either. It's like, okay, I'm not like, I'm not gonna sit here and, you know, because there's something about for me, it's a lot of mental stuff of like, can you over 18 holes, like, continuously stay under par? Yeah, I don't have an issue doing it for nine holes. Like that's, that's, I could do that.

I've proven that. That's fine. It's doing it for another nine is the issue. Oh, I wasn't expecting to do this much personal golf here. This was a delightful way to bring us towards racking here. This is kind of our personal golf season, you know, where like, you know, yeah, listen, life's getting in the way a little bit for both of us. But no, I'm really happy with the competitive golf. So it's made me like, I can't wait to, and we have another video

coming out in a couple of weeks, went out to TPI in August. And that was eye opening, working with Dr. Greg Rose. And I just saw the final cut of the video and like, you know, sometimes I don't love like watching the video, like with me in it, you know, like giving edits. I was like, this is, I was like, this is sick. It's, you know, it was like reminding me of like, Oh God, yeah, I got to get downstairs and do my mobility workout, you know, because it makes you like, I feel like I have the answers to the test. Now I just got to, you know, I gotta take the test and keep keep working at it. So

I've just I just sat like at my desk with my head on both hands watching the Cody DJ Casey one of just just Greg is this magnetic man. It was really, really, really impressive. What I think is great about this one, did you watch the cut of mine? I have not watched the cut of yours yet. Well, it's like very, man, he's really gets into like him analyzing the data and he's just, Dr. Greg Rose is so good at taking data and like, you know, not dumbing it down, but like speaking in like layman's terms. And so it's like, Oh my God, he's just telling the story with these like 30 charts on the screen.

And I was worried it wasn't going to come through in a video and it had it did. I was like, so, you know, shout out to our editor, Zach, you did a fantastic job. So that'll come out not this week, but next week. So the last week of October, so people can look out for that. It's this Neil SEM, because he had a great video came out this past week, John Sherman about playing tournament golf and that turned out fantastic as well. Shout out to serve pro. And shout out to the practical golfer, man. Yeah. He was actually at the MGA Long Island Mid-Am. He, he, he made the cut.

So shout out to John Sherman. Cause I, what I like about John is he's trying to literally take what he's telling me. He's like, dude, I'm playing a lot of competitive events. Like I'm trying to do the same things. So like, I'm telling you what I'm trying to tell myself, which is always nice to, you know, work with someone that's trying to like implement their own skills or their own, their own teachings, I should say. I also had a Wyndham Clark interview from this past week, suggest people go listen to that. A lot of great Ryder Cup, President's Cup stuff in that one. Very, very polite, if I may say detonation of ZJ and the way things were done in Rome. Well, not in those words, but very much compared in contrast. I've been like in on Wyndham. Yeah, I'm totally

found with them at the open last year. And then saw him at a photo shoot over the summer, like in person. He's great, man. Like very, like you ask him a good question, he's gonna give you a good answer. And I thought in your interview, the same thing. Like he's got like good energy. Like, listen, are there other guys I like watching hit the golf ball more?

You know, yeah. But I do find myself like that. I feel like he's one of the good ones out there. So good stuff. We're gonna have a new KVV narrative pod coming out this week as well. Very excited about that one. Um, new booth episode is out on the trap draw with Cody and Neil. We'll have a new season.

A lot of parenting talk. We, we, you and I have done a good job not taking this to the, you know, dad mode right now, but Cody and I, we kind of went off on the, uh, we'll bring you into the booth. They that might, the booth might quickly become a parenting podcast, but I've had some people reach out and be like, Hey, more of it, more of it. Cause I'm like, I don't want to be like the debt. Like, you know, I hate the vibe of like, you, you have a kid and now it's like,

you're the first person to ever become a dad, but it's kind of like talking about taking the kid to Portugal and just some of the little stuff you run into when you got a kid, like a six month old on a cross country flight is it's a lot of new experiences the last six months, man. It's good stuff. There'll be a new seamsters union coming out this week. I was very, for all the, the, uh, guardians, friends that sent me so many messages. I am sorry that, uh, you know, the Yankees ended up closing them out in five easy games, but just, I expect some apologies coming inward, of course,

in that one, but we'll be covering that. We'll have a guest in that one this week. It's going to be great. One other thing, and I want your take on this, Pudy and I talked about a little bit. I, and I feel like the, the meme of the guy standing up at like the town hall meeting of like, you know, a take that you think is a part. I think John Smoltz is a fantastic baseball announcer as a casual fan. I I'm like on the edge of my seat when he's talking pitching strategies and like breaking down like, and so Twitter and it's maybe it's just cause it's the Mets right now. And of course Mets fans hate Smoltz as a lifelong brave, but I'm like, everyone's like, I'll shut up Smoltz. I can't believe he still has a job. And I'm like, you know, I'm like, I think this guy's fantastic. So I guess I'm, so that's my question. What, what do you feel the same way? Yes or no? I absolutely love when he gets really specific about the pitch sequencing

and, you know, the guessing as to why this pitch is working, why that didn't work, why that was uncompetitive and threw off probably the sequence of what he wanted to do here. You got to show him this fastball so you can show him the change up here. But the fastballs guy, that's the stuff that I freak out about. I love it. But he also like goes out of his way to just like completely the big fancy word analytics that just like ignore information. Like he just will say things that are just flat out wrong.

But like back in my day, you know, we went three times to the order. It's like, well, now third time through the order, even in the 90s, guys absolutely crushed starting pitchers. And that's why managers don't do that anymore. Like it's not guys raked. It didn't work. And that does not difficult. I'm just I feel like I'm fighting it all.

I'm fighting the anti analyticsanalytics people from every angle at every sport of just like, yeah, baseball's evolved, man. It's gonna always evolve. People are gonna get smarter, do it a little bit better. And the amount of information out there is just incredible, but. So I guess the complaint with Smoltz is he's a crusty old man.

Can be, he can be. Yeah. Like some of the stuff is- I don't watch enough baseball, but every time I turn on the playoff baseball and he's on, I'm like, hell yeah. Versus like the TBS squad. Like I like BA, but, you know, Frank core. Yeah. And they're not giving you kind of a glow up for him. And I was a massive Frank core guy, but you know,

guy could hit a curve ball and now he's in the booth. Like what, you know, I feel like it feels like we get a bigger name than Frank core. No. And again, no offense to him. And then I don't love the three man booth for, I mean, maybe anything. Yeah. But for baseball, I feel like that's just a recipe for like guys trying to force it. BA has been incredible. The guardians Yankee, I was joking a little earlier. That series was awesome. BA's call on Noel's home.

Oh, oh my goodness. A big Christmas. Merry Christmas. The ultimate present under the tree. I watched it like 12 times. That, that, that was so cool. I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times.

I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times. I watched it like 12 times. Oh my goodness. A big Christmas. The ultimate present under the tree. I watched it like 12 times. That entire, that's Soto at bat last night, man. That was just peak baseball. I mean, he's fought off every single breaking pitch. He's shaking his head at Gattas just to be like,

no, you don't got me. Like you don't got me. Finally goes to the fastball and he hit a fucking homer to send him to the world series. Like that was, but he's about to become a free agent at age 25. Like he might legitimately get $500 million or he's going to get 500 million.

What did Jazz Chisholm say in the post? I'll pay him. Give him 750 million. Jazz said, I'm mid. I'm not, that's exactly what he said. Well, you know what I do? I'm't, I'm not a Yankees fan. I am root for a subway series, selfishly. I'm not a Yankees fan,

but I find this group to be somewhat likeable. I was about to say the same thing. I think they have like good chemistry and these guys seem to care. And you can't always say that about a Yankees, like a, you know, Yankees have a lot of mercenaries usually. It's hard to hate judge and Soto is likeable.

Like Stanton and judge seem to get a long grade and then they got some good role players. So the Yankees this year are a little easier to root for than they have been in years past, or at least they're exciting. It's like kind of must see TV. As we, I mean, it might be Dodgers over, they're up six to three as we're recording this.

So it might be just two left, but the three teams that are left as we're recording this are all above $300 million payrolls. That's the very unsexy part about these playoffs, but also Yankees Dodgers would be the ratings that MLB needs, but it's been an awesome playoffs. I've really, really enjoyed watching it. So anyways, that's a wrap on tonight.

We'll be back next week. Enjoy the NIT. I'm sorry to miss this year along with many other things from this fall that'll be missing. But Neil, pleasure chatting with you tonight. Thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll see you back here next week. Good stuff. Smell ya. Bangalang! Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. That is better than most. Better than most!