Stay Tranquilo - How Golf is Life's Best Teacher, Origin of Salty Golfer, and Golf in South Carolina - Stay Tranquilo

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

In the newest episode of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast, powered by Stay Tranquilo Network, we are joined by the legend Salty Golfer out of South Carolina. In this episode we get into:- how the Salty Golfer began- leaving a full time job to pursue a dream- golf in South Carolina- symbolism of the game of golf in lifeAND MORE Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I did not get into the softy golfer to become a brand per se, like to have hats and t-shirts like you're wearing and hoodies and polos and all this stuff. But now that we are in that space, the way I look at it, and for me it's a little bit different than say like a Grayson or a Callaway or a Footjoy or something like that, I want you to buy the stuff because you dig it and you like it. But I want you to buy it and be, not just buy it, but we want you a part of the story. Like, that's where I think is so cool. To get a DM or an email from a customer and they're wearing something that we created

at dinner, at a golf course, at a par three, at a party, whatever, and they're rocking what we've created. Like, bro, it brings tears to my eyes. I just... 100%. To another state that on Gilo episode. So we got the man, the myth, the legend, the salty golfer out of South Carolina. Appreciate you for coming on.

I know we've been trying to do this for a little while, but I think no better time than the start of the golf season to get this done. Yeah, man, I saw you put something out on the ground the other day about, you know, if you want to be on the show, hit you up. And I hit you up. And, yeah, the only thing better would be like if you were sitting down here somewhere on a golf course in South Carolina doing this a lot. of that. Yeah, thanks for having me on, excited to be here. And yeah, let's dive in. Hell yeah. It definitely won't be the last one of these. I got to make a trip up to South Carolina. I still haven't played any golf over there. And we'll get into a little bit about that South Carolina golf up there. But we'll definitely do something in person, something maybe

on the course or, you know, sit down and on the course kind of combo. But we'll definitely get into it today. I definitely want to be able to tell your story more than anything today and just how salty golfer began. A little bit about. yourself too. You know, maybe you give us a little bit of background in, you know, what your past life was before you started salty and then we can get into a little bit of golf talk as well. Yeah, for sure. So like we started the salty golfer back in 2019 right before, you know, COVID hit. And I moved down to Myrtle Beach full time. And it was just kind of a little side project I was working on. And for your, for your listeners, if they've ever come to Myrtle Beach

for a golf trip or played here, they know that if you're not a foursome, if you're a two-sum, if you're a single or threesome, in peak golf season down here, you're going to be put with someone. Like, there's no like, hey, we know you're only three people, you know, tough. You're going to be playing with someone you don't know. That's just kind of the way it is down here because that's how busy it is. So I had this theory or this idea, you know, there's so many people coming down and I started the salty golfer

Instagram page. And it's like, what if I make myself available to these singles or are twosoms or threesomes that need someone to fill their spot, right? Then it's not weird.

You don't really know me, but you know me through social media. And, you know, I can kind of be your on course host and show you around. And then that got my mind, you know, churning like, well, what if we go out

and meet all these GMs and head pros and, you know, go do, like, real-time on-course, how your course is set up, how it's playing. You know, just give people real information that they can see in real time, right? Like, especially if you're planning a golf trip. You know this. Like, you want the courses to be in as good shape as they can be when you go on your golf trip, right? 100%. You don't want to get there and find out that the course has just been punched or, you know, they lost some. the weather or something like that, right?

So I was just kind of like trying to be a middleman of like, hey, this is what you're going to get if you're coming down this week. Or if you're coming down this week and you're single, the rest of the family's on vacation, you want to sneak away and play golf one day, I'll be there with you. I'll play with you. That way, you're not stuck with three other people you don't know because then it's weird for them. It's weird for you.

And most of the time it works out and you get to know each other, you know, fifth, six, seventh hole, but I just started making myself available. And, you know, that just kind of turned into, I kind of was like, maybe we'll do a t-shirt. You know, the salty golfer, that's kind of like a kind of a cool name. And let me go back just a little bit. Katie and I, my wife and I, we had this business called, we were living in North Carolina at the time in the Greensboro, Sedgefield area where they played the Wyndham. We were living in. We were living in. We were living in. We were living in. We were living around that golf course. And we had our own business called the Old North State Clothing Company.

And we were doing that. We were making our own hats, our own T-shirts. We had embroidery machines, screen printing machines, all of that stuff. And this was a side hustle. We had day jobs. And then we got going in that. And the passion really just wasn't there. We were like, man, this is kind of like turning into a second whole gig, right?

And we were like, don't know. if we were down for this. So I put that side business up for sell. Somebody bought it and bought all of our materials, our machines and everything like that. So I was a little break even that way. Then I had this Instagram page, and it was called Old North State Clothing Co. And I offered to sell this to the guy, too. He was an older gentleman. He could care less about social media and all that. So I only had 1,500 followers at the time, so it wasn't like it was a massive page or anything. And I said, I don't know what to do with it. I don't want to just, like, shut it down.

And Katie said, you know, when you love the ocean, you love going to the golf course and taking pictures and doing stuff like that, why do you just call yourself a salty golfer? And I was like, whoa, that's, yeah, let's get that. And I really have my wife to think of coming up with the hook for the salty golfer. A lot of people think when they first hear about the brand, they're thinking, oh, this guy must have a bad attitude or it's about being salty on the golf. And all of that. And it's really the complete opposite. It is just our love for the ocean and golf. And we love to be able to match that whole combo together.

And we are, I have two business partners. And, you know, I'm kind of the face of the company. But I don't think you'll find a more chill person than me. Like golf is the most incredible game ever invented. It is the hardest game ever invented. I played college basketball, played three sports all through high school. But this is the hardest thing that I have ever tried to conquer in my life, the game of golf. It's a humbling and most rewarding game I've ever played in my life.

And I don't know, man, just being able to be here in Myrtle Beach with, you know, 80 golf courses in my backyard and a 60-mile stretch. And I'm not talking about crap golf courses. We've got some really good, good golf courses down here. And now the Myrtle Beach Classic with the PGA Tours here. At our first event last year. And it's just really cool to see how Myrtle Beach golf is popping. It is popping. It is popping.

The amateur game of golf, I think, is thriving. I'm not so sure how the pro and all the live and all that stuff is doing. But I know the space that I'm in, the space that I'm in, the space that I love. It seems like that you love too. And, you know, Emery's on the golf course with your boys and are your girls or whatever. It's just, it's a really cool space to be in and to have a little piece of that with the salty golfer brand.

And now as we flow into this whole merchandise game, it's really cool. And the thing that's cool about, I did not get into the salty golfer to become a brand per se. like to have hats and t-shirts like you're wearing and hoodies and polos and all this stuff. But now that we are in that space, the way I look at it, and it's, for me, it's a little bit different than say like a Grayson or a Callaway or a Footjoy or something like that. I want you to buy the stuff because you dig it and you like it, but I want you to buy it and be, not just buy it, but we want you a part of the story. Like, that's where I think it's so cool.

To get a DM or an email from a customer and they're wearing something that we created at dinner, at a golf course, at a par three, at a party, whatever, and they're rocking what we've created. Like, bro, it brings tears to my eyes. I just, you know, Bubba Watson, when he won the first Masters, he said he didn't get that far in his dreams, right? That's kind of where I'm at with the salty golfers thing. I never got that far in the whole dream of the salty golfer. But I quit my day job last June, just full-time salty golfer now. And I'm super blessed to be able to do that and be in this space and meet cool people like you. It's just, it's so cool how this whole social media, Instagram, golf, I call it a family.

Like, we all meet, and I've never had a bad experience with anyone, whether it's through a podcast or a meet and greet or, you know, whatever. Like, it's just all been super positive. The vibes are great. And, yeah, so that's kind of the story within a nutshell. And it's really like we're starting to wholesale into surf shops and pro shops and all kinds of stuff. Now, I just, it's funny, I'll tell you this, and we can move on from this part of the story, but like when I started the salty golfer brand and then we decided to move in the merchandise, I was a little leery because there's this like really gray area of me doing what I do with

the drone footage and going out and playing golf and having people down here and showing people all the different golf forces in Myrtle Beach. And then you've got the business side of the business side of the ball. branding and the polos and all of that stuff, I really struggle with, I don't want to shove the business side of the salty golfer down people's throats. Right. Right. I love that people are buying it.

It makes my wallet happy. I love wallet. But I don't want people to lose the side of why we started the salty golfer. It is a lifestyle. We just want to go out there, play the best. golf we can, play it, you know, the fastest we can. We're not looking to stay there all day because, you know, there's some waves out there to catch and, you know, there's some deep, there's some drinks to drink and we want to do all of that to the best of our ability, too.

So that, I don't want people to lose sight of that just because now there is a clothing brand behind it, right? And we just, I tell everybody that if you bought something for me, that's great. but it's just as important to me if you've liked just a picture on Instagram. And that's where I hope as we grow and as the brand gets bigger and we can still hold true to those grassroots values of why we started the softy golfer. We just want people to be able to experience when they come to Myrtle Beach and there's people coming. We're the number one fastest growing county in America right now. so people are coming here by the droves. And to be able to have this golf mecca in our backyard, that's affordable.

I mean, we're not, like I saw something the other day. No disrespect to Band and Dunes. That place looks, I want to go one day. It's a bucket golf trip. But there was a guy on Instagram the other day that said it cost $8,000 to go there. I was like, bro, to go to Bandan Dune for three or four days. and there's nothing else to do there, but just not banning golf. And if that's you, good on you.

Go do it. Banning needs to be played. It's a beautiful property. I will go there one day and be a part of that. I want to. It's on the bucket list. But the cool thing about Myrtle Beach is we do have such good golf courses, but not just golf courses.

We've got nightlife. We've got other things to do. We've got great restaurants. And it's so spread out and so, easy to be emerged in Myrtle Beach. Like, if you've got a family and you're the only dude that plays golf in the family, come on, because it's perfect for you, right? It's just so cool.

I am super blessed and lucky to be, to live where I live, to be able to be this, like, unofficial, official ambassador for Myrle Beach Golf. because it's just super lucky to be a part of something. So, so massive, but yet so affordable and easy for anyone to touch and be a part of. Yeah, no, no doubt. I mean, you look at Myrtle Beach and just kind of, it's like in the, it's in the sweet spot, right? You got the coast right, right, right? You got, you know, you got mountains and cold weather and the change of seasons.

And then, you know, you're kind of like in the middle where you can get up to, you know, upstate. you can get down to Florida relatively quickly. So it's like it's right there in that middle spot that you kind of get best of both worlds, right? We're down here in Miami. And obviously Miami is coastal town, beach town, you know, beach vibes, very different in terms of like the type of beaches and just the type of environment that it is down here.

But one thing for sure that we do not have is we don't not have the level of golf courses that are Myrtle Beach has, right? Like golf is actually tough to come around down here. Obviously, I'm speaking about Miami, right? Obviously, Florida is a completely different monster in itself, right? I mean, you have Orlando, you have Jupiter, you have that whole stretch between that whole little area. That's a ton of golf courses and arguably another golf capital of the United States, you know, outside of a Myrtle Beach, maybe a Scottsdale and that pocket of Florida, right? But Miami is very weak in terms of the golf scene, right?

I mean, people in COVID started playing. Yeah, you got a ton of private courses. Like even up when you start, even when you go up to Boca. and all that is all private. And then, you know, there's very few public courses and actually one of the few public courses that we just had, which was arguably probably one of, if not the best public course we had in Miami,

completely demolished because they're going to be building a soccer stadium there now. Right. So it's not like we're going the opposite way, right? It's like you think, okay, we're going to golf is growing and more people want to play golf, but you come here to play a tea time. It's a freaking nightmare. Yeah, it's five-hour rounds, you know, super-packed.

course conditions are almost impossible to upkeep because it's just so many people playing on the same courses, right? So it's tough. It's tough down here. And you hear 60 golf courses, I think you said, within a 30 mile radius or something like that, I wish. I think it's 84 to 60 mile stretch. We call it the Grinch.

Yeah, no. We don't have that. So to hear that is obviously. It used to be 105, 107, something like that. Damn. Holy shit. Well, yeah, I mean, even that, I mean, even 80 something. I mean, that's something that I would love to have. And, you know, when I think about destination now places to go, I think about that. It's like, where can I find good golf, available golf and, you know, relatively affordable golf, right? Because you want to travel, you want to play maybe two or three courses instead of, like you said, abandoned dunes. You're playing one course. Don't not taking anything away from abandoned dunes at all. Like that's an unreal experience for sure. But at the end of the day, there's other places that you can go that you can go play a course maybe for 50, 60, $100. It's a great

condition and then you can play a four-day stretch of four different courses, right? That to me is like the ideal golf trip and kind of like how I would position my trips if I'm going to go over there. And Myrtle obviously is a great place for something like that. Yeah, I tell everyone, like if you've never

planned a golf trip, if you've never gone on a golf trip with your boys, start in Myrtle. It'll be the most of the four. And, you know, I think we're probably one of the few places in America, if not the world, that you can go have a really good golf trip for less than $1,000. Like, I don't know many other places you can do that. No, yeah, 100%. If you want to come down here and, you know, take a chance on weather in December, January, and February, we're talking, you can play four-star golf courses and stay somewhere.

$6, $700. Yeah. I mean, if you want to take, or the opposite of that, if you want to come here in August, into July, 1st of September and sweat your nuts off, like, it's like 104 or 5 degrees with 60% humidity, you know, you can get a really good deal too. So it's, I always felt because planning a golf trip,

there may be nothing more overwhelming than, than planning a golf trip for you and three or six or 10 other dudes, right? I guess, you know, everyone's going on the same page and budget and all of this. I always tell people start. Start with Myrtle Beach because there's so many different levels of courses here. There's budget-friendly ones. There's, you know, and then you've got, if you want to play a top 100 golf course, we have two down in Polys Island with Caledonia and True Blue.

I mean, those are top 100s every year. And they're special places. And so we do have a little bit of. everything. We've got, you know, some link style. We've got, you know, you're traditional. We've got some Mike Strantz courses like that, you know, true blue golf course, Mike Stransfield. So I know a lot of people that are going to listen to this and see this, they know a lot about Tobacco Road. And same guy. And it's got Tobacco Road vibes. Nice.

It's after year, you know, in that top 100 courses you can play by, you know, the major magazines and stuff like that. So, and what is really? so cool about Myrtle Beach is literally when you're done playing golf, the amount of the amount of food and restaurant, and I mean good restaurant that you can go and eat at or even just stay at the golf course and, you know, eat there when you're done playing. Like it's just, it's absolutely incredible how affordable the whole Myrtle Beach area is from north, from right across the border into Calabash, North Carolina. That's kind of where the Grand Strand starts. Then you've got North Myrtle, Central, South Myrtle, then you go down into Surfside, Murrell's Inlet, and Pauley's Island. And, you know, several golf courses are on the beach, and you get that vibe too, which is really cool.

We have a golf course up in North Myrtle. It's called Tidewater, and its nickname is the Pebble Beach of the East. And it has those vibes. I mean, it can get out, I think, 71. 100 yards. I mean, you can play big time golf on that golf course if you want to. That golf course is maybe, you know, you know a golf course is good if every hole has its own nickname. So it's all the game. So golf course. But yeah, there's just so much variety. If you're a, if you're a 20 handicap and you want to go play golf here, there's courses for that. If you're a scratch golfer and you want to challenge yourself, we got that too.

Yeah. That's what's cool about Myrtle Beach is just neat. I kind of like a broken record. It's just anyone at any stage of their golf life can come here and have a good time. It's really that simple. Yeah, no, 100%. I'm convinced I got to make a trip up there. And it's a no-brainer.

But I want to go back on you and, buddy. We would be good job. Appreciate it. But I wanted to go back to one thing that you brought up. And it's, I think, something that's valuable to the listeners, right? You spoke about the part of the fact that you left your, you know, full-time job to be able to do salty golf for full-time. Can you tell me a little bit about, you know, how you were able to get to that point, right? And what that decision process was like for you.

Because obviously, like, that's like, that's everyone's ultimate goal when trying to start a business. Right. but it's not the easiest decision to make either. Correct. It's not. So here's what I dealt with. I've been married to my wife for a long time now. I don't even know that I don't know the year.

A long time. We met in high school. We've been together ever since. We have five beautiful daughters together. She has a great job. My previous job, I was in health care. I had a really good job and been there for 20 years. and this whole softy golfer thing starting, you know,

gaining tread and building. It's kind of like a, I talk about it's kind of like a very, a very small, very slow snowball effect. Like it just started, it wasn't fast, but there was growth every little bit. It just got bigger and bigger. And it got to the point where I was my day job, you know, I was working 40, 50 hours doing that.

And then at night, working another, eight, nine, ten hours trying, you know, continue with the softy golfer thing. And the quality of life was just kind of getting, I was just, I was all the time. Like, there was no stop. And I will say this, if you don't have a family or if your support system, your partner, whatever, if they don't back you 100% in taking this leap of faith, because it's what it is when you think about it, you can be financially right. You can be, you've got plenty of money in the bank to do it or whatever.

But if your support system doesn't believe in it as much as you believe in it, it will be tough. Yeah, I agree. I will say that. And my kids, they're very hands-on when we go and do pop-up shops and things. They're right there. They're selling right there with me. They'll run the cash register. Oh, yeah.

And it's really cool to be able to do this. as a family. But I'm not even going to say that I was fully financially, probably ready to make the leak. We were close. But we were laying in bed one night, and my wife just kind of looked over at me. I was watching the PGA tour, South Carolina TV. And I just was struggling with this for a while. Like, you know, I'm thankful for this day job that I've had for 20 years, but there's no more. I don't, like, I just get up. I go through the motions. But there is security behind a paycheck every week and insurance every week. You know, if something happens to the kids and stuff like that.

True. But Katie said, do you want to be 75 years old laying in this bed, looking up at the ceiling and wondering what if? And when she said that, I was like, all right, we're doing it. We're doing it? You know, because I don't want to wonder what if. and this thing could fall on its ass two years from now. But you know what? It wouldn't been for the lack of trying or giving it my all and putting my whole heart into it.

So I guess my advice for people that are starting, and I still consider us in the startup phase. I mean, I haven't even been doing this for a full year full time yet, right? So if you're going to take this leap, number one, make sure everybody, your family's on board. Don't surprise them and just do it one day, right? Like, give them all the information. Let them know what you're thinking and what you want to do. Number two, it has to consume you.

You have to want to do it. It's the last thing you think about when you go to sleep, and it's the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning. If it doesn't consume you, you won't do it. You won't put in the work. You won't work. So true. and once once you quit your job, it's not a hobby anymore.

It's not a hobby. You know who goes out and sells the stuff? I do. I'm out there beating the streets. I'm out there in the pro shops. I'm out there in the surf shops, meeting all these people, trying to get stuff on the shelves and stuff like that. If you're not willing to put in the time, the effort, and the work, because when you become your, own boss, there's no Monday through Friday. There's no weekend. It will be the hardest thing

you ever do. And I want to tell people that when you go out on your own and you're trying to make a living, doing something that you love and you're passionate about, Sunday is just as valuable as Monday. Tuesday is just as valuable as Thursday. You know what? There's sometimes I sit out and we call the garage the ice box because it's always cold out here, even if the front heater, so we call the ice box. So sometimes I'm out here in the ice box, two, three, four o'clock in the morning, grinding, coming up with new ideas, concepts. How can we reach more people? How can we get this brand in front of more people? Because I think it's, you know, it's my brand, so I think it's really cool.

So how can I get this in front of more people to be a part of, to grow the masses, to, you know, do whatever we have to do for people to be a part of the softy golf or brand? Because that's what we want. We want you to feel a part of something. It's not like, hey, thanks for buying a t-shirt. No, it's thanks for being a part of the brand. Like, you're in now. Like, thank you for the game, like the hell's angels. Like, you've got to work really hard to get that patch to get that test.

Like, once you purchase something from us or follow us, we consider you a part of the Salty Squad. Like, you're in, man. We want you off of it. We want you wearing our stuff out there. We want you DMing us and everything. We want you tagging us. We want you to be a part of it. You're just as important as the founder, CEO, whatever you want to call me.

Like that's how I look at it. Like, you wearing a hat and t-shirt, like, makes me, I mean, thank you. Like, it is so cool to see stuff that we came up with on someone else's body on their podcast. Like, fuck yeah. Why would you be wearing your own stuff? I don't know. You wore my stuff today. So I'm super grateful for that.

That will never get old to me. It will never go. Sorry, I get a little emotional when it comes to this kind of stuff. You're good. I just, it's not always, and you know this, when you own your own business and you're counting on yourself to supply for your family and do everything you've got to do, it will be the hardest thing you ever do. And you've got to be ready to take that challenge on. Because Salty Golfer,

we're still in our infancy. We're not out of the woods yet. I'm not a millionaire. I'm not like raking in the cash. It is, we go to work every day. And it's fulfilling work. I love what I get to do. Salty Golfer is a passion of mine.

I want to share it with everyone I can. And we get to do some really cool stuff. A lot of stuff is involved around golf with that, which that is amazing. But I don't want people to get it twisted. Like, we're not out there just, you know, going to the playground every day. Like, we're putting in. Yeah.

And it's what you really got to, you really got to take a step back and look in the mirror. If you're looking to go out on your own, whether it be a, listen, the salty golf for polo is, there's millions of other polo people could wear. There's nothing What is special about my What is special about our polos and the ones we created? Nothing like the material. It's made like everybody else's is made, right? What I want is people to fall in love with the brand and being a part of it.

Exactly. And if being a part of it for you is buying a polo, that's what I want. If being a part of you is buying a $4 sticker, be a part of it. To me, all of that is the same. It's going to be a part of us and welcoming you into the salty family. It doesn't matter if you buy $200 where the polos are sticker packs for 10 to me. What matters to me is you found something you liked. You want to be a part of it.

And I'm going to slap a sticker on my Jeep or my car or whatever I got. Hell yeah. Yeah. So I hope I answered your question. No, no. You answered it amazing. It was so, what's the word? It was so true, right?

Like I could feel it because I'm in a very similar state as you, right? You know, quit my day job a couple months ago, you know, a little bit less than a year ago, you know, kind of took that leap of faith, not really knowing like, is this the right decision? But kind of going through those same motions where I knew I wasn't doing what I enjoyed to do and I needed to give 100% to this and to, you know, everyone involved in this. And it was a tough decision to make, but I don't look back at that decision and being like, that was the wrong decision. Every day something happens and it kind of validifies like that I made the right choice, right? And, you know, kind of going back to your merch thing, I'll never forget a couple weeks ago, I'm flying to Austin, Texas, right?

And I'm sitting in the plane. And as I'm sitting in the plane, I see this guy walk over my left shoulder. I'm sitting here like in an ILC. And this guy walks over my left shoulder and I see the shirt in the corner of my eye. And I'm like, kind of like do like a double take. And I'm like, what the fuck? That's my fucking shirt. And I'm like, holy shit.

So I wait to see. I'm like, you know what? This is a Miami flight. It could be a guy I know and I don't recognize him. You know, one of my buddies or something. So I wait. He went to the bathroom and he turned around. And I'm like, I have no idea who this guy is.

Yeah. So I stop him. And I, we're in the air. You know, he's walking back to the seat. And I stop him. And I go, hey, what? like what like where did you get that shirt right and he's like oh no my sister-in-law got it for me uh i forget for my birthday or something like that and i'm like who's your sister-in-law so i'm trying to like

i'm like i'm not like accepting the fact that it's just a random person saying i'm like i'm like i got to know who got this shirt for you long story short the sister-in-law was on the flight i met the sister-in-law i didn't know her she just happened they happened to be a fan of what we were doing and bought the shirt and he was reppping it. And in that moment, I'm like, I'm flying to Austin, Texas. I'm like not doing anything like that that's like, I don't know. With people that I know, there's this guy that could be wearing any other shirt on the goddamn planet Earth. And he is wearing a state that on Gila shirt.

And I'm like, oh, my God. Like, I got to take a picture with this because this is like surreal. And I got emotional when I saw it. Like, I got goosebumps sitting in the plane and seeing that. And it's like those little things along the way, right? It's just one person, one shirt, right? But it's like those little things because of how much time and how much effort and how much energy that we put into our craft that when you see those things happen,

you're like, holy shit, man. Like, all right, like that's a sign from whatever you want to believe in God, the divine, whatever the hell you want to call it, like that you are doing something that is meaningful, it's an impactful. And that's your validation that keep doing what you're doing because it's working. So I get where you're coming from 100%. Validation is a great way. word there because it I don't I'm not sure it'll ever get old but like a couple weeks ago

okay now we're out we go out every Friday we try to take a date night every Friday and we're out to dinner and there was this this other younger couple and they came over and they're like excuse me I hate to bother you but are you the salty golfer and I'm like yeah can we get a picture like yeah it's still weird like it is weird it is weird like when people ask for a picture or whatever. I hope it stays weird forever. I don't want to advantage of that. But you're right. Validation is huge when you go out on your own. And I pray for that. I almost pray for that daily. Like, you know, Lord, like, if this is where I'm supposed to be, show me something. Like, make me,

and he does. Like, there's always. I'm like, all right, it's right. I'm where I'm supposed to be. Is it easy? No. But, you know, nothing. thing that you love to do or want to do or want to put your whole passion and body and heart is, it's not going to be easy. I mean, I think it will get easier over time, but I think that people that are successful, I think that the people, I'm paraphrasing, but I heard this in a podcast of the day, people that are successful and not successful, the only thing that separates them is the people that are successful, they're willing to put the work in. Yep.

If you're willing to put the work in, is it always going to be a successful day? Maybe not. Right. But get something from that unsuccessful day, that when something goes around the next day or the day after that, you know how to accomplish it or attack it or whatever. And another thing that's cool in the space that I'm in, if you can, your skin needs to be somewhat hard and you've got to create the shell around you that. Yeah. You can't take no personally. Yep.

Just can't. Because you know what? Not every pro shop, not every surf shop, not every boutique or whatever we're trying to get the salty golf rent to. They're not all going to think it's as cool as you do. Even though you're local, even though it's a local brand, even though. I mean, how many brands have their own beer, too? Like, we have our own beer. You know, that's pretty good.

So you've got to learn to develop some crocodile or some snake skin. You've got to be able to be able to handle nose. And I tell that to people all the time. Like, it's a numbers game, man. You're going to hear a lot more nose than you're going to hear yes. Oh, hell, yeah. Yeah. And you know what?

when those when when the numbers start to turn you get a lot more yeses in in what I have seen in selling you know the brand and and believing in the brand a lot of the people that say no once it's out there and other people have it they come crawling back and and you just you got to get them on the second go round and but yeah validation is huge when you own your own business I agree 100%. And, yeah, that's a great story. Like, I just soak all that in, man. I do every time.

Like, it is weird for me when people, I'm probably, you know, I'm 6'8, 300 pounds. Like, hard to, I got this gray and black beard and, you know, pirate vibes and all that. Like, people tend to, they're not going to confuse me with someone else a lot of times. And it's just weird is probably the wrong word, but it's like, God, no, right? It is, it is a little weird. Like, I go out and people are like, hey, you have the podcast, right? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's weird. And like, it's obviously like, it's a good feeling, but it is a weird feeling, right?

Because I'm also like one of those people that as much as like I enjoy that because I, more because of like it's being, you know, you're being, you're being noticed for your craft, right? but it's weird because I don't want like I don't know I don't know how else to put it like it's just strange that people are like coming up to you and like notice you that way and you're like all right well people notice it so that's good people see me that I don't you know that are not my friends and family basically right but you know they notice what you're doing and and and it's part of the reason like you're known as the salty golfer I'm known as like the tranquil guy because no one knows me by my actual name people just know me by you know my brand and everything that I represent yeah yeah I mean that's It's just like I was never like, I've just kind of accepted the fact that people are going to call me salty. Exactly. Exactly. Right. People call me tranquil. It's funny.

Probably 75% of the people that call me salty, I don't even know what they know. My name is where. Exactly. That's the salty offers. They just call it salty. And that's cool. I mean, they say people that are successful just go by one name. So, you know, you're just salty.

I mean, we're doing something right now. 100%. As far as the brand goes, like for anyone, not only is it important to have the family back you, but like for me, I have two business partners, and they are, you will rarely see them on the other side of the camera. One of them, his name is Clayton. He actually owns the brewery that brews the beer for us. And the other guy is Jacob Smith. and his family owns some resorts down here in Murrow Beach. Nice.

To have people in your life that aren't blood, but you trust them like a brother or a sister, and you can bounce ideas off. We meet every Wednesday. We close the door, we lock it, and we talk for two hours. And sometimes it's about the brand. Sometimes it's about what are we doing next. sometimes it's about, I mean, we stick to a pretty base model. Right.

First, it's financials, then what's the next thing. But to have that, there was a thing going around Instagram a long, not a long time over like last year. It was one of the guys from like the Sopranos, and he was saying you really only need two motherfuckers in your life, right, that you can count on. And I highly, sorry, I don't know if this is an explicit one. No, you're good. Yeah, yeah, you're too. I'll go ahead. Those are my two dudes.

I could call them at 2 o'clock in the morning, and they're just going to say where I need to be. They're not going to ask any questions. And I think you do need that kind of outside of family support, whether it is a business partner or somebody that you can just go have lunch with and say, here's what is going on. What do you think? It's always nice to have someone you trust opinion. You might not, and it's also good to have someone in your life that is a dear friend that isn't going to bullshit you either. Like, they're going to tell you like, I'm not sure if I believe that or not or believe in that. As great as the relationship is with Katie and I, sometimes I need someone outside the family to speak to.

Of course. And I would, I would, you know, suggest that, you know, you've got a strong, not just a family, backing, but make sure your whole, like, your buddies are in your corner, too, because it's, it's weird. You really, when you start a business, you really find out who your friends are. Dude. That's so damn true. Your real friends are not discounts and free shit. They're going to support the brand, right?

And they're going to, they're going to, like, I believe in this. And here's how I can. So damn true. Yeah, and then your fair weather friends are going to like, hey, can I get a 50% discount? I don't know, that's a whole other podcast for somebody else. But like that's your friends, you're going to know who they are when you start your own business. There's going to be those that are jealous. There's going to be those that are going to back you 100% and they'll show it and how they support it.

and there's others that, you know, that just you don't even know why you call them friend in the first place. Seriously. Yeah. That's so true. Just from talking to other people that have owned their own businesses and any kind of business, not just the merchandise business. Like, I've talked to many people that are very successful in hotels or podcasts or are different

things. They own, whatever they own. And it's a restaurant. And it's a lot of the same thing. Like, hey, can I come in and get a free meal if I take a picture and post it on Instagram? No, you can't. If you can come in and buy a meal and post it and tell me how good or how bad the food was, and then whatever, like it's, it's, it can get tricky.

It really can because you really figure out who your boys and your girls are when you start your own business. And not to be negative because I'm not a negative person, but that is something that I didn't even think about when I started. Yeah. And I just tell people to be careful because you end up giving everything away. Exactly. And you have nothing left to sell 100%. Yeah.

You've got to be careful too. Like small businesses, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that small businesses as a whole, when it comes to the holidays and it comes to like giveaways or people, you know, wanting things for different holiday charity. things. I know we're doing it more than anyone else does. You know, like, we do it. Like, and I'm not saying to the golf, I'm saying small businesses as a whole. They're the ones that are out there sponsoring things and, you know, maybe spending money out there. Yeah, that they don't have a lot of money to spend money on. But I just, when I find something now being in the

Instagram game and the whole social media thing, like not that I am massive by no means I'm not good, good, I'm not Grant Horner. I'm not in that space. I'm still, I guess you'd call a micro or whatever. People send me stuff to try to test or whatever. But if it's something that I believe in and want to work with or want to be a part of, I will always purchase something. Always.

It just shows like, hey, I respect what you're doing. I want to show my brand. and because I'm in that same space too. Like, you know, that 50 or $100 order might be the difference in paying the lights in the small warehouse that week. You know, you just never know this is going through. And because I know the salty golf, but we're not out of the woods by no means. Like, we need business. And that's just that's what it is.

But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the grind of it. It's a lot like golf, man. like owning your own business is like playing golf every day. There's some really, really good days, and it feels like nothing can go wrong. And there's days where you feel like you're in the bunker or the lake, every shot. I mean. So true.

And that's so cool about the thing that I love the most about playing golf, all my podcasts, a lot of times I ask a question, would you rather have 18 pars or non-bogies and non-burn? And it's various on how people answer that question. But for me, what is so cool about golf is when you don't have it, when things are not easy on the golf course, but you figure out how to save a bogey, or you figure out how to save a par, are you turning an 85 into a 79, or you turn a 90 into an 82, and you know you didn't have shit. shit that day, but you found a way to do it. There's nothing better to me than that feeling on a golf course. There's going to be some things that in the beginning looks like absolute shit, but you figure a way out of it, you get to the next level, and you literally turn

lemons into lemonade, you know? Might not be the best lemonade you ever had, but it's lemonade, right? You're not just sitting there eating lemons. So that's, for me, that is, that is the joy of being a business owner is figuring things out, making things better than what I was, the hand I was dealt that day. Because we could all be, oh, woe is me. I'm trying to do this by myself, man. Yeah, well, you know what, guess what?

No one's, slight golf, man. There's no one in every other sport, I'm pretty sure there's substitutions, there's timeouts. there's if you don't have it you don't play that day like in baseball if you don't have it on the mound you can come out you get pulled right like golf there ain't that don't that doesn't exist no that exists and in business it doesn't exist either you can't just quit throw in the towel like in boxing and like I'm done so that's not golf golf it really is a is a true life teacher you know

And when you really kind of make it philosophical, or you turn the game to its philosophical components, it's one of those things that, yeah, it could be the most frustrating game in the world, but for whatever reason we continue to come back, right? And it's that one shot, it's that one round, whatever that might be, it just always brings us back. And the more you get more of those moments, the more and more you want to keep playing, right? And I think that's the perfect analogy for life, for business, right? Yeah, it's going to be rough in the beginning the first time you learn how to start your business and you open an LLC and you know nothing about the business, right? It's the same thing when you pick up a golf club for the first time.

You're not even getting the ball up in the air. But six months later, all of a sudden, the ball's going up in the air. You're making a couple of puts. You hit a chip and you're like, okay, I'm figuring it out, right? And those 90s, those 100 scores turn into mid 80s and high 80s. And then those mid 80s turn into, holy shit, I just broke 80 for the first time. And you're like, holy cow, I'm figuring it out. But it's also one of those things that as you continue to get better,

there's no end game, right? And it's the same thing with business. Your business will continue to improve. It'll continue to thrive and based off the work and the lessons that you learned and everything that you put into that business. But once you hit that first goal, there's the next goal in that business. And then it's like, how do you scale it up from there? And golf is exactly that, right?

I mean, you have these guys even on the pro level that they're never satisfied with their game. And they hit the highest capacity of what they're, game could be, yet they're always constant evolving. They're always trying to learn. They're always trying to tweak this. They're tweaking that. And it's just because you need that for that competitive advantage. It doesn't matter how big you are, how talented you are. If you don't continuously perfect your craft and work on that craft, then somebody else is going to take over from you, right? So golf is the best life teacher, I think, and it's one of those things,

He's like, if you play it, you understand that. Sure. Yeah, Tom Brady said an interview. What do you win? Five Super Bowls, I think. I can't remember. It might be more. But a guy asking, and I take this into business.

I take this into God. I remember this, I have this quote written down. Yeah. The guy, the reporter asking him, of your Super Bowl rings, which is your favorite? And he said the next one. And I was like, bro. Yeah. That's what we're talking about.

Like, you're exactly right. Like, when you hit that goal, you should have already been thinking about the next one. Yep. Because there is no end game. Like, it's not a point in business or golf where you reach a level and you're just done, right? Exactly. You have to continue to work on your craft. Now, luckily in business, if you do it right and you grow it and you inspire.

and you put the right people in place around you, maybe one day you turn that over to them and then they make money for you. That is a song game that we would all love to have. Right. I am so far away from that. It's not even funny, right? So like, there's, we have, I have small goals

and I have big goals. And I just try to knock a little bit out every day. And I try not to let shit, days win the day because they can quickly. And I am not immune to feeling sorry for myself sometimes and like, you know, all of this. But that's why the support system has to be in place. Family has to be in place. You've got you've got to have this resiliency as a business owner to understand that not everything is

want to be perfect and you've got to be able to bounce back, fight through. And if you believe in it, you will, I think. It starts with the belief. If you don't have the belief, you don't have a chance. I'm not going to be the reason. Well, maybe I shouldn't say this. My efforts to what I put into this is not going to be the reason it fails. It's not because I was lazy, didn't want to do it, got up one day and had a little cough and said, I'm not working today. You know, I'm going to put in the work. And that's what I'm excited about. And I think that that's what, this whole revival of the salty golfer that people are buying into and digging into, it's they all, what we're trying to do is we're just trying to paint a picture. We want everyone to.

be a salty golfer. We want everyone to get out there with their friends. And you don't even have to have an ocean. But you know, you can probably get to a golf course pretty easily. But we want you to go out there. We want that golf course to be a sanctuary. So when you're out there playing golf, you're not worried about

bills. You're not worried about emails. You're not worried about what's for dinner. You know, all we're doing is we're out there on the golf course with our friends. We're creating memories. We're having some drinks. and we're playing some righteous tunes. We're going to try, and don't get twisted.

Like, I think a lot of people with me, they see me and what the stuff we're talking about. Like, when I play golf, when we play golf together, I want to beat you. Like, don't have a lot. I'm out there for just skittles and fun. I want to have fun, but I want to play the best golf. And guess what? At the end of the day, I would like for my score to be the lowest of whoever I'm playing with. It is important to me to win.

I love to win. I'm super highly competitive. I guess I just kind of do it in a grateful dead chill kind of way. But I want to win. And that's the thing about the salty golfer. We want to play as good a golf as we can, but guess what? If we have a shit day, it's not going to define us for the rest of the day. 100%.

We're going to go find a beach. We're going to find a couple of cold bruskeys. We're going to drink it. And you know what? Guess what? We can go play again tomorrow or the next day or whatever. But we're not going to let a shit day on the golf course define us as an individual. Because guess what?

We were on the golf course. Fuck, yeah. Amen to that. Even if it was shitty golf. We got to play golf. Exactly. 100%. It puts shit into perspective.

Yeah. That's what we want to bring to people. And the old cliche thing, a bad day on the golf course, a better day of work. I agree with that. Like, 100%. Yeah. Same. But, like, I used to be a club thrower, and I've snapped a few over my knees and stuff like that.

And, you know, I've played with some people that are, you know, rage monsters. And I just try to be an example of, like, hey, double bogeys do suck, but it's how you bounce back. It's not how you remember that, you know. Exactly. And that's how I've tried to change my way on the golf course and be more of an example that way of, like, hey, we're going to have bad shot. Like, we're not pros, man. We're not pros.

Like, I tell people this all the time. From 100 to 120 yards in, pros leave it. The closest they get on tour average is 20 feet. They're pros, bro. Yeah, exactly. That every time you play. So there's a lot of perspective in golf is. There is.

You know, but we're competitive. And we want to play the best we can. So there is that fine line of, you know, how upset am I allowed to get? Exactly. It's easy to get frustrated, but you can't let your, like anything, you can't let your emotions get the best of you because at the end of the day, it's not going to serve you any good. And if you let your emotions get the best of you while you're playing, you're done.

Yeah. No, no, you're fried 100%. But before we wrap it up, I like to do like a rapid fire question. at the end. So quick fun questions and just get your, get your thoughts on it. So if you had one bag or one club in the bag that you can use for your whole round, what club would it be? Seven iron. Same. A hundred percent. Not even a question. Like, what's the movie with Kevin Costner? Like, I never missed with the seven iron. I love it. Exactly. Me too. It's my favorite club. When and down, I can't hit anything, the seven iron is coming out and I'll get up and down all day

with that thing. Yeah. Love that club. Love it. Nice. Favorite restaurant in your area? Oh, man. So I love down in Polly's Island, there's a place called Franks Outback. Back in the late 40s, early 50s, it was a restaurant. I mean, it was a grocery store called Franks.

And it was literally the only thing on that road before it started to get modernized and building all kinds of other stuff. The building didn't get demolished. or anything. Now it's surrounded by all kinds of other businesses and that person that bought it. They turn it into a restaurant. And so there's Franks front of house and then there's Franks Outback. Outback is, it's all tinted. In the winter, there's a bunch of, they have a bunch of open fireplaces that are burning all the time. And then in the summer, it's actually air conditioned. There's, there's like outdoor lights everywhere, live music. They have an incredible brick oven

pizza pit that they make. Tons of really cool pizzas. It's fine dining with a chilled layback atmosphere. Front of house, you got to wear a jacket if you go eat in the front of house. Got it. Okay.

Everyone kind of goes out back. There's a big outdoor bar that kind of separates front of house from the back of house. I'm a back of house. it's actually two different menus. The front of house is, like I said, fine dining. But they have this one thing. I'm this guy that I always say I'm going to try something new, but I rarely go and try something new.

And I get the same thing every time. Once you find that one dish that you like, it's pretty much impossible to not go back and change it up. It's a bowl, and there's like, a half of chicken on it. It's been roasted, or I'm not sure. The softest, sweetest, most tender chicken ever, but they stuff it with four different types of cheese.

And then there's anju that melts down into this massive pile of mashed potatoes that's sitting on. And the desserts are incredible. Their cocktails are great. They carry the salty golfer, so I'm proud of that too. and it's just a really, it's a little bit pricier spot, but it's not like we eat here every week. But it's worth it. But Franks is just, if you're coming to Myrtle Beach, you want to go to Franks. They're usually a couple of months out on reservations.

Like you got to get in there. And sometimes you can just go there and sit at the bar and order food. And then sometimes a table will come available. if somebody cancels or something like that. Okay. But that is my all-time favorite restaurant in the middle. All right, cool. Definitely got to check it out whenever I get out there.

And obviously, reservations ahead of time. Yeah. But last question I got for you. What's your favorite memory on the course or favorite course you've ever played, you know, either one? So my favorite memories is from the time I started playing off at a very early age. Like, I was very early on in golf. I played baseball, basketball, and football, like all through high school.

From the time I was six years old until I graduated, then I went on to play college basketball. So I was very recreational when it came to golf. Like, it was just something I did. My dad is a minister, so every Monday was his day off, and he spent Mondays at the golf course. And in the summer, I'd go with him. But the cool thing about my family is we are a golf family. And my dad has three brothers and a sister. One Uncle Larry passed not too long ago.

But my granddad, Pop-Ball, was a phenomenal amateur golfer, just an incredible golfer. He was also a preacher, but he traveled around. And he took two things with him. He took his Bible and his golf clubs everywhere he went. And he played golf everywhere he went. And so later on in his years, we started having a family vacation every other year. And it was all based around a golf resort somewhere. And we started our own tournament, and we had our own trophy.

The only way you had to be 12 years old to start playing in it, and you had to be a blood relative or married into the family. And that's how you were able to get in a tournament. We had our own trophy. If you won the trophy, Pawpaw would engrave it. get to keep the trophy until the next trip. You had to bring the trophy back. And then it was all handicapped, all that stuff. Right.

Usually a three or four day tournament. And so those memories being 12 years, in fact, when I was 10, I wasn't able to play in it. But that week, I was able to be a part of it, and I was able to caddy for my dad. And the only year he won it was the year I was able to go with it. him and, you know, be a part of that. Very competitive. Like, my dad's three brothers are, you know, highly competitive, really good golfers, and then Paul Paul later on his years, he was the same way.

But that kind of molded my love for golf to see my family get closer because of the game of golf and literally taking vacations because of golf. and I'm not sure. I had my two remaining uncles and my dad on our podcast back earlier in the spring. And my uncle Richard said, I'm not sure our family

would be as close as it is if it wasn't for golf. And I second that. So golf's been good to me and to be a young boy all the way up until I was through high school to be a part of those family golf trips. That's awesome.

And I'll stop here in Myrtle Beach. because it was just so easy to get, you know, when everyone came, there was 35, 40 of us in the family that was crazy. And part of it. That's just, that's another, that's another thing that's so great about Merlin. It's so accommodating for a large group. Yeah. And it was just really cool to see that. And, you know, once a, once a night on that golf trip, Paul Paul used to love to take everyone to the Japanese steakhouse where they cook.

in front of you, like with that every year or every other year. And it was just, yeah, and Paul Paul was a lot like me, super competitive, and he geeked out about the game. And I was able to, when I was eight or nine, I witnessed one of his three or four hole in ones. Wow. So, yeah, it was just, it was fun growing up, especially in Myrtle Beach, because not only did we go play a lot of golf as a family, but like, my granddad. He wanted to go, like, to the golf shops, and he wanted to go look at golf shoes and, like, I like to do that.

Yeah, obsessed. I picked that for my dad. I got that from my granddad. Like, he, he put the next big thing coming out was. And I remember the first time he bought a metalwood instead of a, you know, real, you know, hickory sticks and all that's like. So, yeah, there's not a certain memory, but. Yeah. That's pretty awesome.

family and being able to do that as a family, basically as long as I can remember, it sucks that we don't have that trip anymore. You know, people have died and, you know, families branched off into other families and stuff like that. Of course. But, yeah, my dad and his two brothers, they still come to Myrtle Beach every year, and just the three of them play, and I'll book those trips for them and get to play with them. And so even, even, you know, as I've turned 40, to be a part of that, just to see them get to be able to spend, like, the golf isn't as good as it once was, you know, because they're my dad.

Of course, yeah. My other uncle's 82. Like, it's, it's brutal. Like, it's bad because I remember how good they were. Yeah. When they were my age and I was a kid. Of course. Up to those guys and how far they hit the ball.

And they were hitting the ball with. You know, small driver heads, yeah. Yeah, and, like my uncle Leslie, I know,

I know we got to wrap up, but like, he would, he had driver off the deck. Wow. Like, he never teed it up. And I used to think,

God, dog, he would literally just throw that ball down. His pain, his, Tim and Wood out there in the middle

of the fairway. So, yeah, it was like, this past year when they were down here, I was like, man,

you guys were gods when I was the little boy, watching you guys, guys play golf and I told my dad joking I was like now it's hard to watch you guys play you know that's the circle of life but you know they had their rhyme and now and now it's your turn to take the rain that's right that's right but all right man I appreciate it that was a hell of a conversation I mean we I feel like we could talk for another hour for real but I appreciate you doing this and we're excited to get this out but we'll definitely

playing a trip out there to your area and play some golf. But I thought it was a great combo and we're excited to do some more stuff in the future for sure. Thank you so much. We'll get you dialed in up here, Merrill Beach, bring a gang with you and we'll make it happen. Yes, sir. Appreciate it, brother. We'll talk to it.