October 30, 2024 • 50 mins
Former President of the PGA of America Jim Remy joins Rich to discuss his path to the position, including a moment of trust that got him in the golf business. They also talk about Jim's time with the Ryder Cup, the challenges of the game post-COVID, and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Rich Conwell Golf Show.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This week we are I'm very fortunate to have a
PGA professional on but named Jim Remy. Jim has a
has a really good golf story and has a lot
of knowledge about the FIJA of America and I'm really
really looking forward to getting into a lot of that
with him. But first I just want to say, Jim,
thanks for coming on the show with me.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey, thanks for having me Rich. It's uh, it's fun
to actually get the phone call to be on a
show like that. You know. I got to do it
a lot when I was president of the PGA, but
in recent years I don't have as many calls. So
thanks for asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Oh you bet you?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You bet you so, Jim, I start everybody off and
I want you to talk to me about how you
got your starting golf and and your junior golf and
and fun stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Well that said, actually, you know, there's a lot of
great stories about how young juniors get started in the game.
Mine was a little different. You know. My dad in
a factory, my mom was a secretary. My dad played
in a factory league pulled his bag boy pull kart
and when I was old and finally got old enough
(01:10):
to be able to pull his cart for him. I
used to pull his cart and go out and beg
him to hit a shot. You know, come on, dad,
let me hit one. Let me hit one. And so
I got my start really with my dad, because my
dad was playing and really what was the shop league
type thing? Public golf course, nine holes, and I would
(01:30):
I would go out with him. I was you know,
I was into baseball, and I was into football when
I was really young, and golf just seemed kind of
crazy at the time. But you know, that's what really
got me started. That's where I first started and ended up,
you know, getting a junior membership at a little club
(01:50):
in Lemonston, Massachusetts when I was, you know, sixteen years
old for twenty five dollars in the summer, and my
mother used to drop me off and I'd stay there
all day and play golf. Yeah, pick me up at
which you get out of work.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
That's interesting because you know, I I I asked, I
ask everybody that that same question.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And it's amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
No matter like Bob Ford was his mother, but Chris
cheddar Uh, Missy Birdie, Audie, Bob Friend everybody.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Everybody.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It seems like nine out of ten guys I asked
that question to gets.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Back to their father.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And that's really cool because because you kind of lived
up now, you just added to my percentages. Because you added,
you added your dad to that too. So all right,
so twenty five dollars, you're you're you're knocking around sixteen
years old. When did you kind of and I'm gonna
say something to you now and actually a compliment, when
did you realize you were getting pretty good?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well? It's a good story because my story is quite
different than almost all you know PGA members. I mean,
a lot of PGA members come up through junior golf
and they play in high school and then they go
on maybe they played college, or they played mini tours
or you know, and then they get into the business.
Mine was, my whole thing was totally different. Really it was.
(03:07):
I was an athlete in high school, played again baseball
and football, but I skied in the winter time. I was.
I was a skier and I was really really good
at skiing, and I was I was a good athlete,
but I played you know, baseball and football, but I
wasn't good enough, you know. I wasn't good enough, and ironically,
(03:28):
I stopped playing golf from the time I was about
seventeen until I was about twenty four years old, and
I went to Vermont and moved to Vermont, and I
got in the ski business and I worked full time
in the ski business for a number of years. I
raced on the on the pro tour. You know, I
(03:48):
was trying to make my name and fame as a
professional ski racer. And what happened was is that I
met a golf professional who he took liking to me,
and we started playing in little events, maybe pro ams
and this, that and the other thing, and he helped
me with my game, and you know, I started to
get a little better. And so one day I just
(04:12):
simply asked him, you know, hey, hey, how do you
get in the golf business? How do you become a
golf pro? I mean, if I could be a golf
pro in a summer and a professional skier in the winter,
you know, that'd be pretty cool. I'd be able to
make a living year round, because I every summer I
had to find a job. So that's not really how
(04:33):
I got in the business. And then I just worked really,
really hard to you know, be able to learn the game.
And I got involved, got my first job in the
business as an assistant professional, third assistant professional at Wis
the country club down in Wister, mass which is is
(04:54):
an incredible place side of the first Ryder Cup, the
US Open way back in the twenties. And I learned
a business and fell in love with it. Two weeks
into the business, I knew I was going to do
it for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So that's interesting because I talked to Don Ray about
the same thing, and he was he was umpiring baseball
and delivering FedEx in the off season, and he walked
into a facility and he was like the golf professional
it was always happy and was always happy to see me.
And I'm like, you know what, if I could be
that happy, I should probably do that for a living.
And he goes and then you know the trip away thing.
(05:29):
You know, that's as high as I got. And then
I was like, they do only get in the golf business.
So it's kind of like yours. I mean, just I
think I'm.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Just going to go do this. So let me ask
you a question. What part of Vermont were you in?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I was it in a little town called love Lou, Vermont,
which is a Kemo ski resort. Started there in the
business and work my way up to become the director
of alpine racing. Left there and went to Killington, Vermont,
where I was the director of golf and the winter
alpine racing director. So I worked a year round at
Killington Learnt for thirteen years and then and then came
(06:04):
back to Okemo in nineteen ninety seven and built a
course for Okimo and ran out for twenty years. So
you know, I always laugh about it. I get up
every day and I go to either a ski area
or a golf course and get paid for it. So
does it get any better than that? Really? Could could
(06:24):
it get any better than?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Right? You love every single day and getting paid.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
For that's right?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Really was never like going.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
To work, right, right, because because the reason I asked
about vermontas because I actually worked at the facility that
was owned by Dartmouth College for one summer.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Handover Country Club.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Well I was waked there many times I work.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I worked for Bill Johnson, and Bill is a legend, Yes,
yes he was, and and I learned a lot of
things from him, but he was the only that was
New England was the only place hiring when I graduated
from college because it was May, you know, because everybody
else was up and running. And so I interviewed with
(07:05):
him in he was driving to Florida interviewed with me.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He interviewed me at a.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Diner in Delaware, and and then he called me from
Florida and said, if you want the job, you can
have the job. So I went up there for six
months and then I then I got a full time
job in North Carolina. But yeah, so so it was
interesting because the coolest thing for me was I lived
in Vermont and worked in New Hampshire.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So I got to drive across the Connecticut River.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Everyd across the Connecticut River everything.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Every day and and then and the cool thing is
is in April, I'm sorry, in September, uh, the crew
the crew teams would be on the river and you
could see him practicing at like eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Seven o'clock in the morning. Was pretty cool. That was
pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Actually, Handover Dartvin College is a great little town, and
we always used to go up there and see hockey games.
And I'd skied at the Darkness ski way and played
golf with the Hanover Country Club. And it's a great area.
It's only about forty five minutes where we live.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So the interesting thing is is I was we had
a well you would know this, they had a ski
jump on the golf course and and it was it
was really interesting because I was forced off to meet
Jeff Hastings, the guy who was the silver medalist in
nineteen eighty ski jump, uh you know for the United States.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And it was it was really crazy because.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, you talk about like you hear things from
people and like he was. He said to me, I said,
how did you, like, how do you do that? He's like, well,
he goes, you start when you're about nine or ten
years old, and if you can do it off the
highest one, he goes the highest level, you know, the
highest height. He goes, you're not you're not afraid, because
you're not afraid when you're ten. He goes, when you
(08:43):
get twelve or thirteen years old, you get afraid. And
he's like, so then they got that we had to
quit a kid. I teach kids and they can't do
it because they get afraid. Yeah, because when you're young, well,
you you you, you skied, you raced. I mean at
some point you didn't have the well I don't know that,
but I would think you probably didn't have the level
of fear that others did, you know, because it's like
(09:05):
you weren't afright, you were just gonna win or just
go No.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
It's sort of like it's just like riding a bike.
After a while, it's so what you do. I'm actually
I feel better on skis and I do my seed.
I laugh about it. Now I'm seventy years old and
I still ski. I still ski raise in a senior
league and I do it. And it's the one thing
I say is I get out of bed in the morning,
I feel like I'm seventy years old. I get off
the chairlift. I feel like I'm sixteen.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Oh that's cool. That's cool. That's really cool. That's really cool.
So so yeah, that's really cool. So all right, So
back to your golf career. Okay, So, so tell tell
me some of the golf professionals that that helped you.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Well, it was right after bat. It was a gentleman
named Ed Bellow, who is in his nineties. He lives
out in Western New York. Now he's the one that
I first said to, Hey, Ed, how do you get
into the golf business. So he sent me to the
president of our little Vermont chapter and I drove two
hours north to have a meeting with him and in
my junkie car, and then I talked to him and
(10:06):
he said, called George Weiams at the New England.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Oh my god, that's there's a legend. There's a legend.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, he said, called George Weis and tell me you
want to get into business. He said, you know, he'll
help you. And I was at that time, I was
about twenty five years old, and you know, I was
looking for an entry level assistance position. And George, you know,
so we'll send me a letter and tell me. Tell
me about yourself. And I told him all about my
skiing and organizational skills because I really didn't have any
(10:32):
back background and golf except for playing with this golf professional.
And and sure enough I got a letter from ray
La Joy at Wister Country Club. He was looking for
a third assistant, and I borrowed a sport coach drove
down to Wister Math. I always tell the story I've
never been in a private country club when I. When
(10:52):
I went there for my interview, I was a boot
call a kid man. We just didn't go to the
nice clubs, you know, so I'd never been in a
private country club. I was totally amazed by it. I
remember he brought me upstairs to the boardroom from my interview,
and I thought, this is the biggest table I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
And yeah, and he interviewed me and he was I
guess he just thought, you know, maybe this kid's going
to be all right.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
And he hired me at the end of the interview
and I started. Two weeks later. All I had was
blue Je's, so I had to buy pants, I mean,
and I went to work first day they they took me.
He wanted me to go to a section spring meeting
with him, so I got my sport coat and I
went to the spring meeting and I went in there
(11:41):
and there was all these golf professionals all dressed up
in nice clothes and good you know, and I looked
and that a round and I said, man, this is
the coolest thing I've ever seen. And I said, I
can't wait to do this. And two weeks later he
asked me if I thought Ray asked me if he
thought I was going to make it, I said, he said,
you think you going to make it in this business?
So I said, yes, I am. I'm going to have
(12:03):
my PGA card in four years and my own job
in five And I love this. This is like the
ski business to me. I get to go to a
golf course every day, and and sure enough, four years later,
I got my PGA card, and then I got my
own head professional job at Killington Resort in Vermont, and
then off to a chemo thirteen years later, and yeah,
I got involved with my chapter. And that's it's hard
(12:26):
to figure. But how does somebody from a town of
twenty five hundred people in Vermont, not exactly the hotbed
of golf in America end up as the president of
the PGA.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So it's pretty cool that that is.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That is really really really neat.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
So okay, so I'm going to ask you the question
because I have one too, So, what what was your
what was your like big learning moment in your first
your first professional job, because I remember Bill Bill, Bill
gave me mine, you know, so like what was did
you have like an like whoa, this is like real
now because I had.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
One, But you know, I was into people business anyway.
I was coaching, and I was dealing with parents, and
I was giving out awards. So being in the golf
is kind of like the ski business. To me. It
was you know, your coaching, teaching, organizing, presenting, right, that's
what we do. And so I felt really natural at
(13:20):
that and I went to work. I was worked for
Rey for four years and then I worked for a
gentleman named Artha Harris over at Mount Pleasandent Boilson. And
I remember a moment where I walked into the shop
at the beginning of the year and I asked the
head professional. I was the assistant professional. I asked the
head professional. I said, Arthur, you know, how would you
(13:41):
like me to see, you know, set up the shop
because he wanted me to come in early and set
the shop up for the year. And he he looked
at me and he said, you've been in this business
for four years, do however you want. I trust you
and walked out and I set up the shop and
I had a tremendous year learning totally different club than
(14:03):
Winster Country Club. I had a tremendous year there, and
all of a sudden, I kind of realized I can
do this. You know, I can do this. And it
was ironic because at the end of that year, I
got an offer to be in the marketing department at
a big ski resort, which was a year round job,
and I had just gotten my TGA card, and I
had spent almost five years, you know, to get it,
(14:23):
and I remember having to make a decision. Do I
take this year round job in the ski business and
abandon golf or do I stick with golf. And I
looked around and I thought, this is what I want
to do. I want to do both, so I'm going
to figure out how to do both. And I ended
up I was the you know, head golf professional director
(14:45):
of golf for Killington Resort, both in skiing and the
golf for thirteen years, and then twenty one years at Auchemo.
So I was able to take the two things I
love and not give up on either one room both
and you know, just have an incredible life. Like I said,
I get to get up every day and go to
a skier golf course. It's not so bad, is it.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, I mean like life's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Life's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
When those are your two options, those your two options.
All right, So well that's really really really cool. So
I know you mentioned it a little bit a little
while ago, and you know, you're kind of so you're
you're now you've you've got into this business and and
you know somebody and and by the way that the
fact that he trusted you to do that is like
(15:31):
that was my AHA moment too, because like he still
looked at me and said, okay, you know what you.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Do the junior program.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You do it right, He's like, here's night, here's he's ninety.
I think I have nineteen kids or twenty one kids
or whatever. He's like, you do it.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
And when you learn, when when you learn and ride
a bike, at some point you get to take the
training wheels off, right.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
And he just and he he came back to me
and he he told me a couple of things, not
very much, but he came back to me and then
he was like and then like he's like, okay, I
got to go again, and he left again.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool. So I got that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That was my that was my first grab onto a
guy actually trusted me with something that he was responsible for.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It was really kind of neat.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
All right, So when we come back from this break,
we're gonna talk about you know, obviously you mentioned it before,
but you you start to get into some some chapter
involvement and some section involvement, and some national involvement. So
we're gonna get into that, and we're gonna we're gonna
do all that with Jim Remy. And this is the
rich Comboll Golf Show. Welcome back to rich Comboll Goof Show.
(16:33):
We were joined this week by with Jim Remy, or
by Jim Remy. Jim is the former PGA of America
president or president of the PJ of America. And when
we ended the last segment we had kind of walked
into we walked Jim and walked us through how he's
got started in golf and and you know, got his
(16:54):
jobs and he was up at Killington and and and
and this kind of splits time even now between you know,
skiing and the golf business. But he mentioned something early
on in all this, and that's what I want to
talk to him about a little bit now. So, Jim,
how did you get involved in like the section or
the or your chapter, you know, governance for the PGA.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
You know, it's a good story because I've done. I've
done career counseling for many many young golf professionals through
career services and through just my involvement at PGA, and
I always sort of relate this story about how I
got started in government to the association. I was a
chapter member in Vermont. I was new in Vermont. I
(17:41):
had only been into Vermont for one years as the
in the golf business, and I was invited to playing
a pro member down at Mount Anthony Country Club in Bennington, Vermont,
and my the I was a new guy in town
and the golf professional asked me to play in a
pro member. I went down. I had a wonderful time
(18:03):
playing in the pro member and at the end, I thought,
I'm going to go in and see him in the
shop and just say thank you. So I walked into
the shop and I said, mister Reynold's you know, I
just wanted to thank you for allowing me to play
in your pro member tournament today. I had a great time,
it was a great day, and I just wanted to
(18:23):
say thank you. And he said, wow, that's great, Jim,
thanks for coming. I really appreciate it. And I, for
some reason I turned around before I walked out and
I said, mister Renld, I just want you to jove,
there's ever anything I can do to help the chapter
because we have the Vermont Chapter the PJA. I said,
let me know, I'd love to help. So two weeks later,
(18:44):
my tone rings Leo Reynolds. Mister Reynolds calls me up
again and he says, Jim, we had one of our
board members leave the chapter. He took a job in
Ohio and we were wondering if you would be willing
to fill his seat on the board the remainder of
his term. And I didn't really know what it was,
but I said, sure, I'm glad to I'd love to
(19:05):
do it. And I got involved in my chapter, and
you know, I stayed involved with my little chapter, and
I was a board member and then a vice president
and the president of my little chapter. And then I
got involved in the New England PGA Section. I ran
for you know, district directed from the chapter through the
(19:26):
section board and I got involved with that. And then
somebody said, and you ought to run for you know,
vice president. Then I ran for vice president and then
I ran for president and then and then I got
involved with national because I started going to national meetings
and people recognized me. As matter of fact, I was
kind of a rebel at the time. I was kind
of like the Northeastern guys were different and and we
(19:49):
were kind of rebels. And you know, I introduced I introduced,
you know, ideas for the PGA America that was just
you know, voted down instantly. But I always seemed to
do it the right way. And and I would get
people that came to be past presidents of the dissozation
at the time it comes to they say, you know,
you were wrong about that, but we appreciate the way
(20:12):
you did it right and the way you accepted it
and so on. And the next thing I know, I
was I got a phone call. I was asked to
serve on the Border Control which is like the Supreme
Court of the CGA of America's there to help members
through problems a lot of times. And then a phone
call came one day and said, you know, you should
(20:32):
run for national office. And I said, I'm from you know, Ludlow, Vermont.
How will I ever get elected from Ludlow, Vermont. You know,
the past president's always been from Florida, California or New
York or Texas, and I said, you know, I live
in level of them. It's honestly exactly the hotbed of
golf in America. You know. There was some turmoil at
(20:56):
the time, and they thought I would represent them, and
I ran and I won the longest election in the
history of the PGA America. Took seven ballots, took three
hours to get elected because we had six candidates and
you have to get fifty one percent. And I won,
and off I went. And the next thing I know,
I was on an incredible journey for eight years, serving
(21:18):
to a secretary, to his vice president, to his president,
and then two is the honorary President. Got to travel
all over the world, got to play golf with incredible people.
I met, you know, presidents and princes, and you know,
it's just incredible stories, really, and and every when I
got home, I flew back to Hartford and drove up
(21:40):
back up to Vermont, went to work at Okeimo Mountain
Resort and Okimo Valley Golf Club and it was pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
That's cool, okay, So all right, so.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
All right, so since since you mentioned it, okay, so
tell me tell me your what presidents did you meet?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I met both presidents. Well, I met Clinton, I met
Bush forty one. Bush forty three went to the White
House a couple of times with the Ryder Cup teams,
played golf with forty three. Uh and Waco had a
just an incredible day with him. He was such a
great guy who was like playing with your buddy from college.
(22:17):
We had so much fun. We had eight Secret Service
people around us. They were two you know, they were
two ahead and two behind, two on the right, two
on the left, and we're out there playing. They had
the course clothes. We were playing with Dan Rooney, who
started the poles of a lot of founders, and we're
playing with a wounded warrior and uh and I got
to play a President Bush. He couldn't have had much
(22:37):
more fun. And when we got in we sat in
the grill room and I can't remember her name now,
but there's something like Irene. Irene came out and said
this President, what would you like today? And President Bush said,
I'll have a hot dog gonna be And I thought,
this is the coolest thing in the world. A hot
dog and the beer with the President of.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
The United States.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
And I'm just I'm just this little kid. I'm just
this guy from blood Low. I'm just I'm just does
this guy this guy.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It's been it's been fun and I'm still involved. I
still love it. I'm still doing work for the PGA, UH,
helping with some career services activities, helping younger professionals and UH.
I've got a few independent contracted contracts with a couple
of golf companies that I'm doing some work for. I
retired officially a couple of years ago, but I've been
(23:25):
working ever since, so I don't know how that works.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, I understand that the older you get, the busier
you get. Whether you like it or not.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
You know, when you do what when you when your
job is what you've loved, it's easy to go to work.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Yeah, It's It's funny, you know because because my my
wife and I talk about that all the time because
like I you know, I'm the general manager and the
head golf professional and private facility. But then the local
college came to me and said, hey, can you help
us out with these kids? And I'm like, yeah, sure whatever,
and and she's like well why she goes He's like,
why why do you take on all this stuff? I'm like, oh, well,
(23:59):
it's easy because it's kind of really easy to do
it because you like it because they're just kids. They're
just kids, they have kids, they're kids. They need help,
Like we can do this, like this, we can fix this.
I mean, this is no big deal. I mean, so
it's it is. It is kind of that. It's what
you said. You know, if you really like it, you're
not working. You know, you're don't working, You're just doing
(24:20):
you know, it's not really work, it's doing so so all.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Right, so let me ask you.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
But we're going to talk a bunch about the golf
business in the third segment, but right now I want
to kind of get a little personal tell me. Obviously,
the presidents are really cool and I get all that,
but like, who's probably tell me somebody, who's who you met,
who's really really really cool and really good?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That that that people probably don't realize just how good
of a duty really is.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You got any of that?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You got like a favorite one of them?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Well, I've got to play with so many great golfers, right,
many tour players. I mean we used to playing the
Grand Slam with the four major winners. You know, I'd
be I'd be in Hawaii with the four major winners,
and we'd be out playing uh, you know, pro am
type event before the Grand Slam, and I got to
play with Tiger and Phil and you know VJ. And
(25:15):
I mean, I could go down the list list forever,
but I have a couple of favorites that people that
I really really like, and you know, one of them
is certainly Zak Johnson. I think Zach Johnson was a
great young man. He came up through you know, the
Many tour set system, and he's just a really, really
good person to be around. And then we became my
(25:38):
wife and I became very close with Patrick Harrington and
his wife Caroline, and we think the world of them.
I think he's one of the coolest guys out there.
He's now on Champions Tour and he's still hitting a
three hundred and fifty yard Just the nicest irish lad
you could find. And so there's been so many though,
(25:59):
I mean, you know, I could I could go on forever.
I mean, I've had this incredible experiences.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
That's that's neat, that's right, that I could talk about.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I was, I was, really I was fortunate enough to
I had Chris Smith on and he you know, he
won at Westchester and he played at Ohio State. And
he told me he said he got a recruiting call
when he was in high school in Indiana and the
guy on the phone was like, told his mom this
is Jack Nicholas and she's like, yeah, whatever, and he's like, no, man,
it really is. I just need to talk to your
son about going to Ohio State. And he's I got
(26:34):
on the phone with him and he was like it
was just like, hey, look, you know I had a
really good time there and you know, got a good
lot of good team stuff, and I think he'll probably
be the same for you. And you know, my son's
going to be there. I think you guys have a
really good, good team and things like that. He was like,
that guy was like the most humble guy. Like it
was like, my god, he's just called me to see
if I go to play college golf at his alma mater.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
You know, you wouldn't think he would. You think that
guy like that would not do that, but that's how
he is. So it's really cool to.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Hear when people say, like you said, Zach Johnson, really
good dude, you know, like.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
That's yeah, he's the best. I mean, they're you know,
professional athletes come in all sizes, you know, in shape
and personalities, and you know, and I've gotten to be
around a lot of great athletes, great golfers, great athletes,
great skiers, great you know, and and you know they're
(27:26):
just they're just humans and they're just people. And you know,
there are some who are just so down to earth
and appreciate what they have. I mean, I think that's
why I like Zach, That's why I like pad That's
why I like Pater's wife Caroline, because they just they're
just a couple of Irish kids from from Ireland who
met at sixteen years old and they're you know, they've
(27:47):
been buried, they raise their family. He's become a Hall
of Fame member and the Hall of Fame member, and
he's still the same guy. You know when you see him,
he's got a big smile on his face and always,
always he'll come up, you know, he'll come up across
the room to say hello to me. And that's that's
don't do that, you know when uh Strict Steve is
(28:09):
an incredible I mean he's like that. Strict will come
across the room to say hello to you know, if
he knows you he's not, then there's so many great
athletes out there that I don't think we all did
get enough credit.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Sometimes, Yeah, you know, because the other thing about that
is is and I've been you know, I've i haven't
met it obviously the level you have, but I have
been able to meet some of them, and it's it's
really interesting because they're in a no win situation because
if they're not somebody's idea perfect at that moment, then
they're they're not a good guy. And it's like the dude,
you know, you know, it's it's like I was talking
(28:45):
to Jonathan Byrd one time a practice a practice facild
he's practicing.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I was like, what are you working on?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Because I'm working on hitting that sign right there. And
I'm like, okay, I'm sitting on watching me. Looked at me,
and he goes, hey, I'm not trying.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
To be a jerk.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
He's like, I'm trying not to overcomplish this, and he goes,
I want you to know that I'm not being mean.
I'm like, I didn't think you were being mean, and
he goes, yeah, he goes people take things differently, he goes,
we just you say something and they take it just differently.
So he was like he was like kind of kind
of softening the landing because he was like, I'm just
trying to not over complicate this game. And he's I
(29:18):
don't want you to take it like I'm blowing you off.
I'm like, I didn't, and so like they're in a
no win. Sometimes they're a no win because like everybody
thinks they should be a certain way to suit them
and like the guy's just trying to play golf for
a living, you know, or or you know, it's.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Just what he is.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
You know. I don't think people realize how hard they
work and the commitment they put in from the time
they're you know, young young men and women to make
it in any sport, to make it to the top
of the pyramid. You there's so much work involved in
and then you know, as they say, the pyramid gets
very small at the top.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
It's interesting you say that because I was talking to
Chris Cheddar about that same thing. She said to me,
she goes, you know, I you know, and she was
I was fortunate enough to hang you know, hang around
mister Hogan, and when I was at TCU, and like
one day he just said to me, he goes, hey,
you know, don't ever forget that you can always work
a little harder. You know, there's no secret, just work harder.
(30:17):
And she was like, he wasn't insulting me, he was
just telling me the truth.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Like you just said.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
People don't realize how hard that is to do that.
They just think that they got sprinkled with some sort
of magic dust and they can just keep doing that.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, well that's done.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Great, you know, that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Okay, and then so so okay that we got there,
but so the longest, so the longest election in history,
like really.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yea, yeah it was. It took him a while and
it was an exciting day. We have a video of it.
It was that we think out once in a while and
look at it. And because it really I was such
an underdog at the time, you know that. I don't
think anybody us a chance. But there was a lot
going on at the PGA at the time, and I
(31:04):
think the members could see me as one of them.
You know, I was a regular guy from Vermont who
just wanted to make it better. You know, I just
wanted to make golf better, make the PGA of America better.
I always used to say, I would you know, I
flew one point eight million miles when I was in
office or something like that, and I used to fly
(31:25):
over the country in the middle of the night. I'd
always look out of the window of the plane and
we'd be going over the middle of the country and
to be won the light out in the middle of nowhere.
And I always thought to myself, you know, there's a
PGA member in that town, and I got to make
sure I represent him, right. That's kind of the way
I looked at it, and I think that I think
that's why I was successful. I think that that was
a lot of the reason I was successful because it
(31:47):
wasn't about the top, it wasn't about the bottom. It
was about the eighty percent in the middle, who just
work hard every day and raise a family and go
to work and do the job. I think I was
seen as an average guy as opposed to, you know,
from a really high end club and you know whatever,
(32:09):
It's been fun and it's it means the world to me.
It still does. I still serve as past president of
the association. I'm going to the annual meeting in a
few weeks in Flint, Michigan, when when quite honestly, this
is going to be quite a year for me because
I'm going to be honored at this year's annual meeting.
There's the legend of the PGA of America. So it's
(32:32):
I'm going to be Every few years they honor a
legend with a special presentation at the annual meeting. And
and somehow, some way, the kid from Ludlow, Comont is going.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
To get so but but you know, you do know
I you know, when I meet you in person, I'm
not going to call you legend. You know that, right,
I'm just not doing that, Just so you know, I'm
not calling you.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I'm not a legend. I'm a legend in my own
mind about it. My wife doesn't think I'm a legend.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Hey, well, well she knows you're not a legend.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Okay, let's just say no. She has that knowledge. So
all right, so we come back. I understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
So when we come back, we're going to talk about
the PGA of America and the golf business and you know,
some of the challenges and obviously coming out of COVID
and all that fun stuff, and this is the rich
comboll Go Show. Welcome back to the Rich comboll Go Show.
We are joined this week with the former president of
(33:29):
the PJ of America, Jim Remy. And I have to ask,
because Jim was talking about, you know, hanging out with
presidents and Ryder Cups and things like that. Tell me,
tell me a really cool story from the Ryder Cup,
because that's a massively that's a massively good, big event. Jim.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
You know, I was involved with the twenty ten Ryder Cup.
So I got the name Corey Pagon Captain and we
played at Celtic Manor in Wales. You know, just an
incredible experience because you're doing something that no one really
ever gets to do, but to represent the United States
of America. This was the United States of America Ryder
(34:08):
Cup team. I was the president of PGA and I
got to give the speech at the opening ceremonies of
the Ryder Cup. And you know, again just the low
golf pro from levelo ver on. I look out in
front of me, I look out from the curtain from
behind the stage and the United States team is on
the left, the European team is on the right. They're
(34:30):
all sitting there, and then they announced, you know, the
President of the PGA of America, Jim Remy. And I
walk out and there was a sea of people in
front of me, and there's forty thousand people in front
of me. And just before I walked, just before I
walked out, one of the the PJA staff members who
(34:52):
helped me with my speech that Jim, you're going to
do great, he said. But he made them to think.
He said, don't worry, Jim, there's only three hundred and
fifty million people are going to see this at home.
There was televised throughout the world. Right, this is when
the president really gave the opening speeching right. So I
(35:14):
walk out and I had I'd rarely worked on a speech,
and for some reason, it just I looked out to
see a people and I looked down in the front
row and there's you know, all the families of the
United States team and all the families of European team,
and all these people from Wales and Scotland and England
(35:34):
and US and flags line. And I'm thinking to myself,
I'm going to give a speech for the United States
of America. And I got chills, and I and I
just it was one of the coolest things I ever
got to do. I gave that speech, you know, and
I looked to the left and there's a US team,
and looked to the right and there's a European team.
And it was just the coolest thing that you could
(35:57):
ever imagine doing representing the United States of America. You know,
when they when they played the Star Spangled banner and
they raised the flag, it was just incredible. Unfortunately, unfortunately
we lost that writers up on Mondays on the last
putt on the last hole, so I didn't have a
(36:18):
And you know, I present DJ Championship trophies to Martin
Kimer and to Why Yang. Why you took down Tiger
on the last hole and Martin won in that kind
of playoffs, it was just incredible. So you know, when
you get to stand up there and think I'm representing
(36:41):
the United States of America, it was just it was
just so awesome. And I'll never forget that moment.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I'll never forget that is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And I'll tell you what that's that they're they're few
and far between, because that's not how they process it anymore.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
That's not that's not.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
They they've kind of commercialized it now they do video
and things like that, and it's, uh, it was. It
was great. It was. It was a great in the
in the Mud and the rain at Celtic Manor. We
lost on the last part, on the lastle.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
But but see, the cool thing is that nobody blames
you for that. They just you know, they're not gonna
blame you for that.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Well, I mean, I remember one of the players telling
me he came to me and apologized to me. He said,
you know, he appears in his eyes almost and they
think it doesn't matter to these players, right, they think
it's not these players don't matter. Well it did, because
this player came to me. He literally his eyes were
watering up and he said to the gym, I'm so
sorry I didn't play better this week. You know, if
(37:38):
I had have played better, we would have won. And
I put my hand on his shoulder and I said,
I'm not gonna tell you who it was. I'm gonna
put I put my hand on his shoulder and I said,
I said, let me tell you something. That's golf, man,
that's golf. That's the way it goes. You know, you
gave it your best we didn't win. That's that's what
the sport is all about.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Yeah, you know, that's that's that's truly, that's that's really
cool because guess what, you know, there are there are
a considering amount of people that think they don't care.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
And the hell they don't.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
I every time they say that, every time they talk
about the Ryder Cup players not caring, they care, trust me. Uh.
You know, A great example is Kegan Bradley today. I mean,
look at Kegan right when in the the the event
this year and the President's Cup. You don't think it managed.
You don't think it managed to Kegan, by the way,
(38:28):
who's from Vermont.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You're right, you're right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
That's I watched him t race when he was nine
years old.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
How about that.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Wow, that's that's a that's a that's a comparison right there, right.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
I mean, yes, and then and then I got to
be on the green when he won the PGA Championship
in twenty eleven at Atlanta, Atlanta Country.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
That's awesome, great stuff, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
That's neat.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
So all right, So now I want to ask you
because obviously you know the I wouldn't say, the best thing,
but one of the best things for the game of
golf were actually, you know, kind of gravitated that people
gravitate towards golf was COVID And and obviously that put undo,
I shouldn't say undo. It put more of a emphasis
(39:18):
on the PGA professional because now we had to really, really,
really kind of we had a battle through that, and
we did. And and so what do you think currently
coming out of of that that boom of of golf,
what do you think the biggest challenges are to the
(39:39):
PJA professional today?
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Yeah, I think I think a lot of things have
improved for PGA professionals in a lot of ways. Today.
Our work life balance of our PGA professional was more
understood than it ever was. I mean, when when I
was young, you just you got up every day, you
went to work, You went there when it got light out,
and you went home and it cut dark up. Now
today we're seeing a little bit better work life balance.
(40:04):
We're seeing a little bit better interaction with parents through
junior golf, through you know, all the junior programs that
the PJA is involved in now, which is drive, chip
and putt, and you know, all the things that we're
doing now, so we're connected more with the families. We're
seeing more families playing golf than when I was younger.
(40:27):
It was you know, it was middle aged and older people,
and the younger people really didn't play that much golf.
Today they are today our junior we're reaching record highs
at junior golf. What's the challenge, Well, the challenge is
going to be to keep it going because obviously, just
like everything, you know, it's it's expensive. Although seventy five
(40:48):
percent of the golf in America's played at public golf courses,
people don't realize that. I didn't think golf is country clubs.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I don't. They still think that you're exactly right. They
still think that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
You just you just don't hear about the seventy five
percent to play at public golf courses. Nine holes, you know,
part three, chipping putts. So you know, we're seeing an
uptick and I think it's going to continue for a
while because it's listing. It teaches all the right things,
it's safe, it's fun, you can do it your whole lifetime.
(41:22):
You can't. You're not going to play soccer your whole life.
You're not going to play football your whole lifetime. But
you got you can play golf your entire life. I
mean I play, I just turned seventy. I still play,
you know, three or four times a week. I love
to play. I can still play at a fairly good
game for guy who's just turn seven zero. And I
(41:43):
play with the guys who are eighty who play and
play well. Right, So, I mean I play with one
guy's seventy eight years old. He shoots, he's disappointed when
he doesn't shoot his age age.
Speaker 4 (41:54):
Yeah, yeah, he shoots his age ten times. That's that's
awesome golf.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
And and and now we have that course setups where
we have four or five sixties sometimes so that you
can pick the right lengths. Women's programs are in and
reaching at all times high. I do work for clubs
helping them find new golf professionals. And there's always women
(42:22):
now represented on these boards. Women are involved. They you know,
they're they're involved at a higher level. It's just it's
so an inclusion. It's just it's a great. I just
think everything's positive going forward. We we you know, did
it settle a little bit after COVID, Yeah, some people
(42:42):
had to go back to work, they can't play as
much golf. But really we're seeing it just you know,
continue to grow, continue to be more inclusive, continue to
be you know, more wide ranging. From the standpoint of
you know, you can you can find a place to
play golf.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But nothing, Yeah you can, you can't.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Well you can join the most exclusive club in your state,
right and everybody can have fun playing the same, right.
I like to I like to call it a sport.
They used to do that when I was in office.
I didn't call it golf game. I called it sport
because I think if you play good golf, you're an athlete.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Right.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Oh, no, there's no doubt, there's no doubt. I mean,
you stand, yeah, you're exactly right, You're exactly right. I
think I think the neatest thing that you said there
was the fact that it's it's safe, you know, and
it's interactive.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
You know, it's interactive.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
My son was a pretty good lacrosse player, and and
and like you know, there was no interaction. They're playing lacrosse.
But like but like you know, he goes out and
places his buddies. Now like he's like they he goes
We talk more than we play, you know, I mean
because like like that's society. It's like that's cool. That's
like really neat, you know, like it's it's interaction. Yeah,
(43:55):
it's like interactive. It's like it's like you know, and
and you know, the the running joke is, you know,
the kids stuck in his basement or whatever, and you
know what, the kids who play golf aren't.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
They're not, they're not.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
And that's I think that's I think that that personally,
the way that the PGA of America can do the
best thing for the game of golf is actually grow
junior golf.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
And they're doing it. Yeah, they're doing it.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Yeah we are, we are, and it's it's but it's
a that's a that's a that's actually you don't like
what do they say that's seed money or whatever for
for whatever. But that's that's really really, really a big thing.
I mean, if we could grow the game through that,
and and you know, you talk about the women's programs,
I do one here. I had two sessions a twenty
(44:46):
eight ladies total.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
They never play golf.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
We just we just you know, I tell them right
right out front, Look, nobody here is ever going to
play golf on TV.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
So just just drop that right now.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Just this is about fun, you know, is you only
have so much time in your life to have fun.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So let's go have fun.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
And I think the more we impact kids that way
instead of you know, I think I think we're gonna
be that the game will be that much better off
if we can grow it that way. So and I
and I think the other thing and I and this
is a personal thing with me, and I'm quite sure
you're jump in here, is is we have to continue
(45:25):
to grow the PGA.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Hope we have to.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Absolutely, it's such a great uh program to help our veterans.
And and it's it's booming. I mean from where it
was three or four years ago to where it is today.
It's I don't know the exact number, but I know
it's ten times beside it.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
You know, the fun.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Waiting to get in. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
And the other thing the other thing is this is
is and you know I did.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
I did two sessions this year.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
And it's it's like the amount of gratefulness that that
that a golf professional would take time to help somebody
with their golf game or allow them to just go
play nine.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Holes whatever it might be.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Like the gratefulness they have, you know, and I'm like,
I'm like, how how it's like back to me, it's inverted,
should be the other way around, Like we should be
super grateful for them, and therefore we should actually go
get in our car and go pick them up and
let them play golf, you know, and they're just they're
happy to do it.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
We got behind it, PGA got behind it, Golf got
behind it, owners and operators and member clubs and private
clubs and public courts that everybody got behind it. And
uh and you know, between DJ Hope, PGA reached PJ
Junior Golf. It's just it's a it's a great time.
(46:52):
It's a great time in golf. It really is so all.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Right, So, I know you also mentioned you're mentoring some
young professionals and things like that. So how what do
you see the biggest challenges to the younger guys is
like coming out now, let's say twenty five, thirty years old,
thirty five years old, your first job, maybe second job, whatever.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Yeah, that's a good question because it is difficult. Now.
I mean we have, you know, a number of PGM
universities that are turning out great professional golf management students.
They come out with business degrees, they're prepared for the
golf industry and they you know, they're ready to go
in and be head professional somewhere. Well, guess what, it
(47:37):
doesn't happen that quickly. And you know, for sometimes for
a good head professional position that I'm working on trying
to help the club find a new golf professional, they'll
have thirty forty fifty outstanding applicants. I mean literally, it
used to be it seems like you're the olders. There'd
(47:58):
be like, well we can narrow this down that three
and both take one of these. They're all bigger. These
young PGM graduates are so ready for these positions. They
go to great training and education, they come out through
their internships and they're ready. And so one of the
big challenges is, you know, where are they going to
be now? The PGA has addressed that by opening up
(48:19):
so many different avenues for employment. Now, because it used
to be you were either headpro and assistant. But was it.
Now we have literally I don't know eighteen different classifications
and people can work for a manufacturer, they can work
as a teacher, they can work as an assistant, they
can work as a coach they can, and you know,
so we've opened up so many more avenues that now
(48:42):
the PGA is really embedded in the industry, and you know,
it's it's you know, when clubs are looking for staff,
they come to the PGA and we help them free charge,
in a lot of cases free charge. We do have
some paid search stuff, but most of it is free charge,
and we're trying to help our members. And so I
(49:05):
think it's all good. It's all positive, which I was
twenty five again because I think it's just going to
golf is going to continue to improve.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Well, I told you in an email that this wouldn't
take very long and it would feel like it went
by very quickly. So you are officially done with the
Rich Combo Golf Show, Jim Remy. But I wanted to
take a moment and say thanks to Tons. I appreciate
your time. I know you're really busy, but beyond that,
you know you're the sincerity and and just you can
(49:38):
just sense your passion for the golf business and your
passion for the PGA of America and for the game
of golf, or when you put it, the sport of golf.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
But I just really wanted to say thanks. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Well, you know what, I want to thank you because
you're doing the same thing. You're doing it in your
own way. You're doing what's good for the game and
the sport and for our future players to have this
show and to put the effort that you put into it.
I want to thank you, so thank you very much
for what you do.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
I appreciate Jim.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
This has been Jim Remy and this is the Rich
Conwill Golf Show.
Welcome to the Rich Conwell Golf Show.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
This week we are I'm very fortunate to have a
PGA professional on but named Jim Remy. Jim has a
has a really good golf story and has a lot
of knowledge about the FIJA of America and I'm really
really looking forward to getting into a lot of that
with him. But first I just want to say, Jim,
thanks for coming on the show with me.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Hey, thanks for having me Rich. It's uh, it's fun
to actually get the phone call to be on a
show like that. You know. I got to do it
a lot when I was president of the PGA, but
in recent years I don't have as many calls. So
thanks for asking me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Oh you bet you?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You bet you so, Jim, I start everybody off and
I want you to talk to me about how you
got your starting golf and and your junior golf and
and fun stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Well that said, actually, you know, there's a lot of
great stories about how young juniors get started in the game.
Mine was a little different. You know. My dad in
a factory, my mom was a secretary. My dad played
in a factory league pulled his bag boy pull kart
and when I was old and finally got old enough
(01:10):
to be able to pull his cart for him. I
used to pull his cart and go out and beg
him to hit a shot. You know, come on, dad,
let me hit one. Let me hit one. And so
I got my start really with my dad, because my
dad was playing and really what was the shop league
type thing? Public golf course, nine holes, and I would
(01:30):
I would go out with him. I was you know,
I was into baseball, and I was into football when
I was really young, and golf just seemed kind of
crazy at the time. But you know, that's what really
got me started. That's where I first started and ended up,
you know, getting a junior membership at a little club
(01:50):
in Lemonston, Massachusetts when I was, you know, sixteen years
old for twenty five dollars in the summer, and my
mother used to drop me off and I'd stay there
all day and play golf. Yeah, pick me up at
which you get out of work.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
That's interesting because you know, I I I asked, I
ask everybody that that same question.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
And it's amazing to me.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
No matter like Bob Ford was his mother, but Chris
cheddar Uh, Missy Birdie, Audie, Bob Friend everybody.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Everybody.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It seems like nine out of ten guys I asked
that question to gets.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Back to their father.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And that's really cool because because you kind of lived
up now, you just added to my percentages. Because you added,
you added your dad to that too. So all right,
so twenty five dollars, you're you're you're knocking around sixteen
years old. When did you kind of and I'm gonna
say something to you now and actually a compliment, when
did you realize you were getting pretty good?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Well? It's a good story because my story is quite
different than almost all you know PGA members. I mean,
a lot of PGA members come up through junior golf
and they play in high school and then they go
on maybe they played college, or they played mini tours
or you know, and then they get into the business.
Mine was, my whole thing was totally different. Really it was.
(03:07):
I was an athlete in high school, played again baseball
and football, but I skied in the winter time. I was.
I was a skier and I was really really good
at skiing, and I was I was a good athlete,
but I played you know, baseball and football, but I
wasn't good enough, you know. I wasn't good enough, and ironically,
(03:28):
I stopped playing golf from the time I was about
seventeen until I was about twenty four years old, and
I went to Vermont and moved to Vermont, and I
got in the ski business and I worked full time
in the ski business for a number of years. I
raced on the on the pro tour. You know, I
(03:48):
was trying to make my name and fame as a
professional ski racer. And what happened was is that I
met a golf professional who he took liking to me,
and we started playing in little events, maybe pro ams
and this, that and the other thing, and he helped
me with my game, and you know, I started to
get a little better. And so one day I just
(04:12):
simply asked him, you know, hey, hey, how do you
get in the golf business? How do you become a
golf pro? I mean, if I could be a golf
pro in a summer and a professional skier in the winter,
you know, that'd be pretty cool. I'd be able to
make a living year round, because I every summer I
had to find a job. So that's not really how
(04:33):
I got in the business. And then I just worked really,
really hard to you know, be able to learn the game.
And I got involved, got my first job in the
business as an assistant professional, third assistant professional at Wis
the country club down in Wister, mass which is is
(04:54):
an incredible place side of the first Ryder Cup, the
US Open way back in the twenties. And I learned
a business and fell in love with it. Two weeks
into the business, I knew I was going to do
it for the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So that's interesting because I talked to Don Ray about
the same thing, and he was he was umpiring baseball
and delivering FedEx in the off season, and he walked
into a facility and he was like the golf professional
it was always happy and was always happy to see me.
And I'm like, you know what, if I could be
that happy, I should probably do that for a living.
And he goes and then you know the trip away thing.
(05:29):
You know, that's as high as I got. And then
I was like, they do only get in the golf business.
So it's kind of like yours. I mean, just I
think I'm.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Just going to go do this. So let me ask
you a question. What part of Vermont were you in?
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I was it in a little town called love Lou, Vermont,
which is a Kemo ski resort. Started there in the
business and work my way up to become the director
of alpine racing. Left there and went to Killington, Vermont,
where I was the director of golf and the winter
alpine racing director. So I worked a year round at
Killington Learnt for thirteen years and then and then came
(06:04):
back to Okemo in nineteen ninety seven and built a
course for Okimo and ran out for twenty years. So
you know, I always laugh about it. I get up
every day and I go to either a ski area
or a golf course and get paid for it. So
does it get any better than that? Really? Could could
(06:24):
it get any better than?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Right? You love every single day and getting paid.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
For that's right?
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Really was never like going.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
To work, right, right, because because the reason I asked
about vermontas because I actually worked at the facility that
was owned by Dartmouth College for one summer.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Handover Country Club.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
Well I was waked there many times I work.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I worked for Bill Johnson, and Bill is a legend, Yes,
yes he was, and and I learned a lot of
things from him, but he was the only that was
New England was the only place hiring when I graduated
from college because it was May, you know, because everybody
else was up and running. And so I interviewed with
(07:05):
him in he was driving to Florida interviewed with me.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He interviewed me at a.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Diner in Delaware, and and then he called me from
Florida and said, if you want the job, you can
have the job. So I went up there for six
months and then I then I got a full time
job in North Carolina. But yeah, so so it was
interesting because the coolest thing for me was I lived
in Vermont and worked in New Hampshire.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
So I got to drive across the Connecticut River.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Everyd across the Connecticut River everything.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Every day and and then and the cool thing is
is in April, I'm sorry, in September, uh, the crew
the crew teams would be on the river and you
could see him practicing at like eight o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Seven o'clock in the morning. Was pretty cool. That was
pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Actually, Handover Dartvin College is a great little town, and
we always used to go up there and see hockey games.
And I'd skied at the Darkness ski way and played
golf with the Hanover Country Club. And it's a great area.
It's only about forty five minutes where we live.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
So the interesting thing is is I was we had
a well you would know this, they had a ski
jump on the golf course and and it was it
was really interesting because I was forced off to meet
Jeff Hastings, the guy who was the silver medalist in
nineteen eighty ski jump, uh you know for the United States.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
And it was it was really crazy because.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
You know, you talk about like you hear things from
people and like he was. He said to me, I said,
how did you, like, how do you do that? He's like, well,
he goes, you start when you're about nine or ten
years old, and if you can do it off the
highest one, he goes the highest level, you know, the
highest height. He goes, you're not you're not afraid, because
you're not afraid when you're ten. He goes, when you
(08:43):
get twelve or thirteen years old, you get afraid. And
he's like, so then they got that we had to
quit a kid. I teach kids and they can't do
it because they get afraid. Yeah, because when you're young, well,
you you you, you skied, you raced. I mean at
some point you didn't have the well I don't know that,
but I would think you probably didn't have the level
of fear that others did, you know, because it's like
(09:05):
you weren't afright, you were just gonna win or just
go No.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
It's sort of like it's just like riding a bike.
After a while, it's so what you do. I'm actually
I feel better on skis and I do my seed.
I laugh about it. Now I'm seventy years old and
I still ski. I still ski raise in a senior
league and I do it. And it's the one thing
I say is I get out of bed in the morning,
I feel like I'm seventy years old. I get off
the chairlift. I feel like I'm sixteen.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Oh that's cool. That's cool. That's really cool. That's really cool.
So so yeah, that's really cool. So all right, So
back to your golf career. Okay, So, so tell tell
me some of the golf professionals that that helped you.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Well, it was right after bat. It was a gentleman
named Ed Bellow, who is in his nineties. He lives
out in Western New York. Now he's the one that
I first said to, Hey, Ed, how do you get
into the golf business. So he sent me to the
president of our little Vermont chapter and I drove two
hours north to have a meeting with him and in
my junkie car, and then I talked to him and
(10:06):
he said, called George Weiams at the New England.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Oh my god, that's there's a legend. There's a legend.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, he said, called George Weis and tell me you
want to get into business. He said, you know, he'll
help you. And I was at that time, I was
about twenty five years old, and you know, I was
looking for an entry level assistance position. And George, you know,
so we'll send me a letter and tell me. Tell
me about yourself. And I told him all about my
skiing and organizational skills because I really didn't have any
(10:32):
back background and golf except for playing with this golf professional.
And and sure enough I got a letter from ray
La Joy at Wister Country Club. He was looking for
a third assistant, and I borrowed a sport coach drove
down to Wister Math. I always tell the story I've
never been in a private country club when I. When
(10:52):
I went there for my interview, I was a boot
call a kid man. We just didn't go to the
nice clubs, you know, so I'd never been in a
private country club. I was totally amazed by it. I
remember he brought me upstairs to the boardroom from my interview,
and I thought, this is the biggest table I've ever seen.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
And yeah, and he interviewed me and he was I
guess he just thought, you know, maybe this kid's going
to be all right.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
And he hired me at the end of the interview
and I started. Two weeks later. All I had was
blue Je's, so I had to buy pants, I mean,
and I went to work first day they they took me.
He wanted me to go to a section spring meeting
with him, so I got my sport coat and I
went to the spring meeting and I went in there
(11:41):
and there was all these golf professionals all dressed up
in nice clothes and good you know, and I looked
and that a round and I said, man, this is
the coolest thing I've ever seen. And I said, I
can't wait to do this. And two weeks later he
asked me if I thought Ray asked me if he
thought I was going to make it, I said, he said,
you think you going to make it in this business?
So I said, yes, I am. I'm going to have
(12:03):
my PGA card in four years and my own job
in five And I love this. This is like the
ski business to me. I get to go to a
golf course every day, and and sure enough, four years later,
I got my PGA card, and then I got my
own head professional job at Killington Resort in Vermont, and
then off to a chemo thirteen years later, and yeah,
I got involved with my chapter. And that's it's hard
(12:26):
to figure. But how does somebody from a town of
twenty five hundred people in Vermont, not exactly the hotbed
of golf in America end up as the president of
the PGA.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
So it's pretty cool that that is.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
That is really really really neat.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
So okay, so I'm going to ask you the question
because I have one too, So, what what was your
what was your like big learning moment in your first
your first professional job, because I remember Bill Bill, Bill
gave me mine, you know, so like what was did
you have like an like whoa, this is like real
now because I had.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
One, But you know, I was into people business anyway.
I was coaching, and I was dealing with parents, and
I was giving out awards. So being in the golf
is kind of like the ski business. To me. It
was you know, your coaching, teaching, organizing, presenting, right, that's
what we do. And so I felt really natural at
(13:20):
that and I went to work. I was worked for
Rey for four years and then I worked for a
gentleman named Artha Harris over at Mount Pleasandent Boilson. And
I remember a moment where I walked into the shop
at the beginning of the year and I asked the
head professional. I was the assistant professional. I asked the
head professional. I said, Arthur, you know, how would you
(13:41):
like me to see, you know, set up the shop
because he wanted me to come in early and set
the shop up for the year. And he he looked
at me and he said, you've been in this business
for four years, do however you want. I trust you
and walked out and I set up the shop and
I had a tremendous year learning totally different club than
(14:03):
Winster Country Club. I had a tremendous year there, and
all of a sudden, I kind of realized I can
do this. You know, I can do this. And it
was ironic because at the end of that year, I
got an offer to be in the marketing department at
a big ski resort, which was a year round job,
and I had just gotten my TGA card, and I
had spent almost five years, you know, to get it,
(14:23):
and I remember having to make a decision. Do I
take this year round job in the ski business and
abandon golf or do I stick with golf. And I
looked around and I thought, this is what I want
to do. I want to do both, so I'm going
to figure out how to do both. And I ended
up I was the you know, head golf professional director
(14:45):
of golf for Killington Resort, both in skiing and the
golf for thirteen years, and then twenty one years at Auchemo.
So I was able to take the two things I
love and not give up on either one room both
and you know, just have an incredible life. Like I said,
I get to get up every day and go to
a skier golf course. It's not so bad, is it.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, I mean like life's pretty good.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Life's pretty good.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
When those are your two options, those your two options.
All right, So well that's really really really cool. So
I know you mentioned it a little bit a little
while ago, and you know, you're kind of so you're
you're now you've you've got into this business and and
you know somebody and and by the way that the
fact that he trusted you to do that is like
(15:31):
that was my AHA moment too, because like he still
looked at me and said, okay, you know what you.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Do the junior program.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You do it right, He's like, here's night, here's he's ninety.
I think I have nineteen kids or twenty one kids
or whatever. He's like, you do it.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
And when you learn, when when you learn and ride
a bike, at some point you get to take the
training wheels off, right.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
And he just and he he came back to me
and he he told me a couple of things, not
very much, but he came back to me and then
he was like and then like he's like, okay, I
got to go again, and he left again.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
I'm like, wow, this is pretty cool. So I got that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That was my that was my first grab onto a
guy actually trusted me with something that he was responsible for.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It was really kind of neat.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
All right, So when we come back from this break,
we're gonna talk about you know, obviously you mentioned it before,
but you you start to get into some some chapter
involvement and some section involvement, and some national involvement. So
we're gonna get into that, and we're gonna we're gonna
do all that with Jim Remy. And this is the
rich Comboll Golf Show. Welcome back to rich Comboll Goof Show.
(16:33):
We were joined this week by with Jim Remy, or
by Jim Remy. Jim is the former PGA of America
president or president of the PJ of America. And when
we ended the last segment we had kind of walked
into we walked Jim and walked us through how he's
got started in golf and and you know, got his
(16:54):
jobs and he was up at Killington and and and
and this kind of splits time even now between you know,
skiing and the golf business. But he mentioned something early
on in all this, and that's what I want to
talk to him about a little bit now. So, Jim,
how did you get involved in like the section or
the or your chapter, you know, governance for the PGA.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
You know, it's a good story because I've done. I've
done career counseling for many many young golf professionals through
career services and through just my involvement at PGA, and
I always sort of relate this story about how I
got started in government to the association. I was a
chapter member in Vermont. I was new in Vermont. I
(17:41):
had only been into Vermont for one years as the
in the golf business, and I was invited to playing
a pro member down at Mount Anthony Country Club in Bennington, Vermont,
and my the I was a new guy in town
and the golf professional asked me to play in a
pro member. I went down. I had a wonderful time
(18:03):
playing in the pro member and at the end, I thought,
I'm going to go in and see him in the
shop and just say thank you. So I walked into
the shop and I said, mister Reynold's you know, I
just wanted to thank you for allowing me to play
in your pro member tournament today. I had a great time,
it was a great day, and I just wanted to
(18:23):
say thank you. And he said, wow, that's great, Jim,
thanks for coming. I really appreciate it. And I, for
some reason I turned around before I walked out and
I said, mister Renld, I just want you to jove,
there's ever anything I can do to help the chapter
because we have the Vermont Chapter the PJA. I said,
let me know, I'd love to help. So two weeks later,
(18:44):
my tone rings Leo Reynolds. Mister Reynolds calls me up
again and he says, Jim, we had one of our
board members leave the chapter. He took a job in
Ohio and we were wondering if you would be willing
to fill his seat on the board the remainder of
his term. And I didn't really know what it was,
but I said, sure, I'm glad to I'd love to
(19:05):
do it. And I got involved in my chapter, and
you know, I stayed involved with my little chapter, and
I was a board member and then a vice president
and the president of my little chapter. And then I
got involved in the New England PGA Section. I ran
for you know, district directed from the chapter through the
(19:26):
section board and I got involved with that. And then
somebody said, and you ought to run for you know,
vice president. Then I ran for vice president and then
I ran for president and then and then I got
involved with national because I started going to national meetings
and people recognized me. As matter of fact, I was
kind of a rebel at the time. I was kind
of like the Northeastern guys were different and and we
(19:49):
were kind of rebels. And you know, I introduced I introduced,
you know, ideas for the PGA America that was just
you know, voted down instantly. But I always seemed to
do it the right way. And and I would get
people that came to be past presidents of the dissozation
at the time it comes to they say, you know,
you were wrong about that, but we appreciate the way
(20:12):
you did it right and the way you accepted it
and so on. And the next thing I know, I
was I got a phone call. I was asked to
serve on the Border Control which is like the Supreme
Court of the CGA of America's there to help members
through problems a lot of times. And then a phone
call came one day and said, you know, you should
(20:32):
run for national office. And I said, I'm from you know, Ludlow, Vermont.
How will I ever get elected from Ludlow, Vermont. You know,
the past president's always been from Florida, California or New
York or Texas, and I said, you know, I live
in level of them. It's honestly exactly the hotbed of
golf in America. You know. There was some turmoil at
(20:56):
the time, and they thought I would represent them, and
I ran and I won the longest election in the
history of the PGA America. Took seven ballots, took three
hours to get elected because we had six candidates and
you have to get fifty one percent. And I won,
and off I went. And the next thing I know,
I was on an incredible journey for eight years, serving
(21:18):
to a secretary, to his vice president, to his president,
and then two is the honorary President. Got to travel
all over the world, got to play golf with incredible people.
I met, you know, presidents and princes, and you know,
it's just incredible stories, really, and and every when I
got home, I flew back to Hartford and drove up
(21:40):
back up to Vermont, went to work at Okeimo Mountain
Resort and Okimo Valley Golf Club and it was pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
That's cool, okay, So all right, so.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
All right, so since since you mentioned it, okay, so
tell me tell me your what presidents did you meet?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I met both presidents. Well, I met Clinton, I met
Bush forty one. Bush forty three went to the White
House a couple of times with the Ryder Cup teams,
played golf with forty three. Uh and Waco had a
just an incredible day with him. He was such a
great guy who was like playing with your buddy from college.
(22:17):
We had so much fun. We had eight Secret Service
people around us. They were two you know, they were
two ahead and two behind, two on the right, two
on the left, and we're out there playing. They had
the course clothes. We were playing with Dan Rooney, who
started the poles of a lot of founders, and we're
playing with a wounded warrior and uh and I got
to play a President Bush. He couldn't have had much
(22:37):
more fun. And when we got in we sat in
the grill room and I can't remember her name now,
but there's something like Irene. Irene came out and said
this President, what would you like today? And President Bush said,
I'll have a hot dog gonna be And I thought,
this is the coolest thing in the world. A hot
dog and the beer with the President of.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
The United States.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
And I'm just I'm just this little kid. I'm just
this guy from blood Low. I'm just I'm just does
this guy this guy.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It's been it's been fun and I'm still involved. I
still love it. I'm still doing work for the PGA, UH,
helping with some career services activities, helping younger professionals and UH.
I've got a few independent contracted contracts with a couple
of golf companies that I'm doing some work for. I
retired officially a couple of years ago, but I've been
(23:25):
working ever since, so I don't know how that works.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Yeah, I understand that the older you get, the busier
you get. Whether you like it or not.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
You know, when you do what when you when your
job is what you've loved, it's easy to go to work.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
Yeah, It's It's funny, you know because because my my
wife and I talk about that all the time because
like I you know, I'm the general manager and the
head golf professional and private facility. But then the local
college came to me and said, hey, can you help
us out with these kids? And I'm like, yeah, sure whatever,
and and she's like well why she goes He's like,
why why do you take on all this stuff? I'm like, oh, well,
(23:59):
it's easy because it's kind of really easy to do
it because you like it because they're just kids. They're
just kids, they have kids, they're kids. They need help,
Like we can do this, like this, we can fix this.
I mean, this is no big deal. I mean, so
it's it is. It is kind of that. It's what
you said. You know, if you really like it, you're
not working. You know, you're don't working, You're just doing
(24:20):
you know, it's not really work, it's doing so so all.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Right, so let me ask you.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
But we're going to talk a bunch about the golf
business in the third segment, but right now I want
to kind of get a little personal tell me. Obviously,
the presidents are really cool and I get all that,
but like, who's probably tell me somebody, who's who you met,
who's really really really cool and really good?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That that that people probably don't realize just how good
of a duty really is.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You got any of that?
Speaker 2 (24:50):
You got like a favorite one of them?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Well, I've got to play with so many great golfers, right,
many tour players. I mean we used to playing the
Grand Slam with the four major winners. You know, I'd
be I'd be in Hawaii with the four major winners,
and we'd be out playing uh, you know, pro am
type event before the Grand Slam, and I got to
play with Tiger and Phil and you know VJ. And
(25:15):
I mean, I could go down the list list forever,
but I have a couple of favorites that people that
I really really like, and you know, one of them
is certainly Zak Johnson. I think Zach Johnson was a
great young man. He came up through you know, the
Many tour set system, and he's just a really, really
good person to be around. And then we became my
(25:38):
wife and I became very close with Patrick Harrington and
his wife Caroline, and we think the world of them.
I think he's one of the coolest guys out there.
He's now on Champions Tour and he's still hitting a
three hundred and fifty yard Just the nicest irish lad
you could find. And so there's been so many though,
(25:59):
I mean, you know, I could I could go on forever.
I mean, I've had this incredible experiences.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
That's that's neat, that's right, that I could talk about.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I was, I was, really I was fortunate enough to
I had Chris Smith on and he you know, he
won at Westchester and he played at Ohio State. And
he told me he said he got a recruiting call
when he was in high school in Indiana and the
guy on the phone was like, told his mom this
is Jack Nicholas and she's like, yeah, whatever, and he's like, no, man,
it really is. I just need to talk to your
son about going to Ohio State. And he's I got
(26:34):
on the phone with him and he was like it
was just like, hey, look, you know I had a
really good time there and you know, got a good
lot of good team stuff, and I think he'll probably
be the same for you. And you know, my son's
going to be there. I think you guys have a
really good, good team and things like that. He was like,
that guy was like the most humble guy. Like it
was like, my god, he's just called me to see
if I go to play college golf at his alma mater.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
You know, you wouldn't think he would. You think that
guy like that would not do that, but that's how
he is. So it's really cool to.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Hear when people say, like you said, Zach Johnson, really
good dude, you know, like.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
That's yeah, he's the best. I mean, they're you know,
professional athletes come in all sizes, you know, in shape
and personalities, and you know, and I've gotten to be
around a lot of great athletes, great golfers, great athletes,
great skiers, great you know, and and you know they're
(27:26):
just they're just humans and they're just people. And you know,
there are some who are just so down to earth
and appreciate what they have. I mean, I think that's
why I like Zach, That's why I like pad That's
why I like Pater's wife Caroline, because they just they're
just a couple of Irish kids from from Ireland who
met at sixteen years old and they're you know, they've
(27:47):
been buried, they raise their family. He's become a Hall
of Fame member and the Hall of Fame member, and
he's still the same guy. You know when you see him,
he's got a big smile on his face and always,
always he'll come up, you know, he'll come up across
the room to say hello to me. And that's that's
don't do that, you know when uh Strict Steve is
(28:09):
an incredible I mean he's like that. Strict will come
across the room to say hello to you know, if
he knows you he's not, then there's so many great
athletes out there that I don't think we all did
get enough credit.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Sometimes, Yeah, you know, because the other thing about that
is is and I've been you know, I've i haven't
met it obviously the level you have, but I have
been able to meet some of them, and it's it's
really interesting because they're in a no win situation because
if they're not somebody's idea perfect at that moment, then
they're they're not a good guy. And it's like the dude,
you know, you know, it's it's like I was talking
(28:45):
to Jonathan Byrd one time a practice a practice facild
he's practicing.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I was like, what are you working on?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Because I'm working on hitting that sign right there. And
I'm like, okay, I'm sitting on watching me. Looked at me,
and he goes, hey, I'm not trying.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
To be a jerk.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
He's like, I'm trying not to overcomplish this, and he goes,
I want you to know that I'm not being mean.
I'm like, I didn't think you were being mean, and
he goes, yeah, he goes people take things differently, he goes,
we just you say something and they take it just differently.
So he was like he was like kind of kind
of softening the landing because he was like, I'm just
trying to not over complicate this game. And he's I
(29:18):
don't want you to take it like I'm blowing you off.
I'm like, I didn't, and so like they're in a
no win. Sometimes they're a no win because like everybody
thinks they should be a certain way to suit them
and like the guy's just trying to play golf for
a living, you know, or or you know, it's.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Just what he is.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
You know. I don't think people realize how hard they
work and the commitment they put in from the time
they're you know, young young men and women to make
it in any sport, to make it to the top
of the pyramid. You there's so much work involved in
and then you know, as they say, the pyramid gets
very small at the top.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
It's interesting you say that because I was talking to
Chris Cheddar about that same thing. She said to me,
she goes, you know, I you know, and she was
I was fortunate enough to hang you know, hang around
mister Hogan, and when I was at TCU, and like
one day he just said to me, he goes, hey,
you know, don't ever forget that you can always work
a little harder. You know, there's no secret, just work harder.
(30:17):
And she was like, he wasn't insulting me, he was
just telling me the truth.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Like you just said.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
People don't realize how hard that is to do that.
They just think that they got sprinkled with some sort
of magic dust and they can just keep doing that.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Yeah, well that's done.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Great, you know, that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Okay, and then so so okay that we got there,
but so the longest, so the longest election in history,
like really.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yea, yeah it was. It took him a while and
it was an exciting day. We have a video of it.
It was that we think out once in a while and
look at it. And because it really I was such
an underdog at the time, you know that. I don't
think anybody us a chance. But there was a lot
going on at the PGA at the time, and I
(31:04):
think the members could see me as one of them.
You know, I was a regular guy from Vermont who
just wanted to make it better. You know, I just
wanted to make golf better, make the PGA of America better.
I always used to say, I would you know, I
flew one point eight million miles when I was in
office or something like that, and I used to fly
(31:25):
over the country in the middle of the night. I'd
always look out of the window of the plane and
we'd be going over the middle of the country and
to be won the light out in the middle of nowhere.
And I always thought to myself, you know, there's a
PGA member in that town, and I got to make
sure I represent him, right. That's kind of the way
I looked at it, and I think that I think
that's why I was successful. I think that that was
a lot of the reason I was successful because it
(31:47):
wasn't about the top, it wasn't about the bottom. It
was about the eighty percent in the middle, who just
work hard every day and raise a family and go
to work and do the job. I think I was
seen as an average guy as opposed to, you know,
from a really high end club and you know whatever,
(32:09):
It's been fun and it's it means the world to me.
It still does. I still serve as past president of
the association. I'm going to the annual meeting in a
few weeks in Flint, Michigan, when when quite honestly, this
is going to be quite a year for me because
I'm going to be honored at this year's annual meeting.
There's the legend of the PGA of America. So it's
(32:32):
I'm going to be Every few years they honor a
legend with a special presentation at the annual meeting. And
and somehow, some way, the kid from Ludlow, Comont is going.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
To get so but but you know, you do know
I you know, when I meet you in person, I'm
not going to call you legend. You know that, right,
I'm just not doing that, Just so you know, I'm
not calling you.
Speaker 3 (32:52):
I'm not a legend. I'm a legend in my own
mind about it. My wife doesn't think I'm a legend.
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Hey, well, well she knows you're not a legend.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Okay, let's just say no. She has that knowledge. So
all right, so we come back. I understand that.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
So when we come back, we're going to talk about
the PGA of America and the golf business and you know,
some of the challenges and obviously coming out of COVID
and all that fun stuff, and this is the rich
comboll Go Show. Welcome back to the Rich comboll Go Show.
We are joined this week with the former president of
(33:29):
the PJ of America, Jim Remy. And I have to ask,
because Jim was talking about, you know, hanging out with
presidents and Ryder Cups and things like that. Tell me,
tell me a really cool story from the Ryder Cup,
because that's a massively that's a massively good, big event. Jim.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
You know, I was involved with the twenty ten Ryder Cup.
So I got the name Corey Pagon Captain and we
played at Celtic Manor in Wales. You know, just an
incredible experience because you're doing something that no one really
ever gets to do, but to represent the United States
of America. This was the United States of America Ryder
(34:08):
Cup team. I was the president of PGA and I
got to give the speech at the opening ceremonies of
the Ryder Cup. And you know, again just the low
golf pro from levelo ver on. I look out in
front of me, I look out from the curtain from
behind the stage and the United States team is on
the left, the European team is on the right. They're
(34:30):
all sitting there, and then they announced, you know, the
President of the PGA of America, Jim Remy. And I
walk out and there was a sea of people in
front of me, and there's forty thousand people in front
of me. And just before I walked, just before I
walked out, one of the the PJA staff members who
(34:52):
helped me with my speech that Jim, you're going to
do great, he said. But he made them to think.
He said, don't worry, Jim, there's only three hundred and
fifty million people are going to see this at home.
There was televised throughout the world. Right, this is when
the president really gave the opening speeching right. So I
(35:14):
walk out and I had I'd rarely worked on a speech,
and for some reason, it just I looked out to
see a people and I looked down in the front
row and there's you know, all the families of the
United States team and all the families of European team,
and all these people from Wales and Scotland and England
(35:34):
and US and flags line. And I'm thinking to myself,
I'm going to give a speech for the United States
of America. And I got chills, and I and I
just it was one of the coolest things I ever
got to do. I gave that speech, you know, and
I looked to the left and there's a US team,
and looked to the right and there's a European team.
And it was just the coolest thing that you could
(35:57):
ever imagine doing representing the United States of America. You know,
when they when they played the Star Spangled banner and
they raised the flag, it was just incredible. Unfortunately, unfortunately
we lost that writers up on Mondays on the last
putt on the last hole, so I didn't have a
(36:18):
And you know, I present DJ Championship trophies to Martin
Kimer and to Why Yang. Why you took down Tiger
on the last hole and Martin won in that kind
of playoffs, it was just incredible. So you know, when
you get to stand up there and think I'm representing
(36:41):
the United States of America, it was just it was
just so awesome. And I'll never forget that moment.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I'll never forget that is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
And I'll tell you what that's that they're they're few
and far between, because that's not how they process it anymore.
Speaker 4 (36:55):
That's not that's not.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
They they've kind of commercialized it now they do video
and things like that, and it's, uh, it was. It
was great. It was. It was a great in the
in the Mud and the rain at Celtic Manor. We
lost on the last part, on the lastle.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
But but see, the cool thing is that nobody blames
you for that. They just you know, they're not gonna
blame you for that.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Well, I mean, I remember one of the players telling
me he came to me and apologized to me. He said,
you know, he appears in his eyes almost and they
think it doesn't matter to these players, right, they think
it's not these players don't matter. Well it did, because
this player came to me. He literally his eyes were
watering up and he said to the gym, I'm so
sorry I didn't play better this week. You know, if
(37:38):
I had have played better, we would have won. And
I put my hand on his shoulder and I said,
I'm not gonna tell you who it was. I'm gonna
put I put my hand on his shoulder and I said,
I said, let me tell you something. That's golf, man,
that's golf. That's the way it goes. You know, you
gave it your best we didn't win. That's that's what
the sport is all about.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Yeah, you know, that's that's that's truly, that's that's really
cool because guess what, you know, there are there are
a considering amount of people that think they don't care.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
And the hell they don't.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
I every time they say that, every time they talk
about the Ryder Cup players not caring, they care, trust me. Uh.
You know, A great example is Kegan Bradley today. I mean,
look at Kegan right when in the the the event
this year and the President's Cup. You don't think it managed.
You don't think it managed to Kegan, by the way,
(38:28):
who's from Vermont.
Speaker 1 (38:30):
You're right, you're right, that's right.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
That's I watched him t race when he was nine
years old.
Speaker 2 (38:37):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
How about that.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Wow, that's that's a that's a that's a comparison right there, right.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
I mean, yes, and then and then I got to
be on the green when he won the PGA Championship
in twenty eleven at Atlanta, Atlanta Country.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
That's awesome, great stuff, you know.
Speaker 1 (38:53):
That's neat.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
So all right, So now I want to ask you
because obviously you know the I wouldn't say, the best thing,
but one of the best things for the game of
golf were actually, you know, kind of gravitated that people
gravitate towards golf was COVID And and obviously that put undo,
I shouldn't say undo. It put more of a emphasis
(39:18):
on the PGA professional because now we had to really, really,
really kind of we had a battle through that, and
we did. And and so what do you think currently
coming out of of that that boom of of golf,
what do you think the biggest challenges are to the
(39:39):
PJA professional today?
Speaker 3 (39:42):
Yeah, I think I think a lot of things have
improved for PGA professionals in a lot of ways. Today.
Our work life balance of our PGA professional was more
understood than it ever was. I mean, when when I
was young, you just you got up every day, you
went to work, You went there when it got light out,
and you went home and it cut dark up. Now
today we're seeing a little bit better work life balance.
(40:04):
We're seeing a little bit better interaction with parents through
junior golf, through you know, all the junior programs that
the PJA is involved in now, which is drive, chip
and putt, and you know, all the things that we're
doing now, so we're connected more with the families. We're
seeing more families playing golf than when I was younger.
(40:27):
It was you know, it was middle aged and older people,
and the younger people really didn't play that much golf.
Today they are today our junior we're reaching record highs
at junior golf. What's the challenge, Well, the challenge is
going to be to keep it going because obviously, just
like everything, you know, it's it's expensive. Although seventy five
(40:48):
percent of the golf in America's played at public golf courses,
people don't realize that. I didn't think golf is country clubs.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
I don't. They still think that you're exactly right. They
still think that, yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:58):
You just you just don't hear about the seventy five
percent to play at public golf courses. Nine holes, you know,
part three, chipping putts. So you know, we're seeing an
uptick and I think it's going to continue for a
while because it's listing. It teaches all the right things,
it's safe, it's fun, you can do it your whole lifetime.
(41:22):
You can't. You're not going to play soccer your whole life.
You're not going to play football your whole lifetime. But
you got you can play golf your entire life. I
mean I play, I just turned seventy. I still play,
you know, three or four times a week. I love
to play. I can still play at a fairly good
game for guy who's just turn seven zero. And I
(41:43):
play with the guys who are eighty who play and
play well. Right, So, I mean I play with one
guy's seventy eight years old. He shoots, he's disappointed when
he doesn't shoot his age age.
Speaker 4 (41:54):
Yeah, yeah, he shoots his age ten times. That's that's
awesome golf.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
And and and now we have that course setups where
we have four or five sixties sometimes so that you
can pick the right lengths. Women's programs are in and
reaching at all times high. I do work for clubs
helping them find new golf professionals. And there's always women
(42:22):
now represented on these boards. Women are involved. They you know,
they're they're involved at a higher level. It's just it's
so an inclusion. It's just it's a great. I just
think everything's positive going forward. We we you know, did
it settle a little bit after COVID, Yeah, some people
(42:42):
had to go back to work, they can't play as
much golf. But really we're seeing it just you know,
continue to grow, continue to be more inclusive, continue to
be you know, more wide ranging. From the standpoint of
you know, you can you can find a place to
play golf.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But nothing, Yeah you can, you can't.
Speaker 3 (43:05):
Well you can join the most exclusive club in your state,
right and everybody can have fun playing the same, right.
I like to I like to call it a sport.
They used to do that when I was in office.
I didn't call it golf game. I called it sport
because I think if you play good golf, you're an athlete.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Right.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
Oh, no, there's no doubt, there's no doubt. I mean,
you stand, yeah, you're exactly right, You're exactly right. I
think I think the neatest thing that you said there
was the fact that it's it's safe, you know, and
it's interactive.
Speaker 1 (43:33):
You know, it's interactive.
Speaker 2 (43:35):
My son was a pretty good lacrosse player, and and
and like you know, there was no interaction. They're playing lacrosse.
But like but like you know, he goes out and
places his buddies. Now like he's like they he goes
We talk more than we play, you know, I mean
because like like that's society. It's like that's cool. That's
like really neat, you know, like it's it's interaction. Yeah,
(43:55):
it's like interactive. It's like it's like you know, and
and you know, the the running joke is, you know,
the kids stuck in his basement or whatever, and you
know what, the kids who play golf aren't.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
They're not, they're not.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
And that's I think that's I think that that personally,
the way that the PGA of America can do the
best thing for the game of golf is actually grow
junior golf.
Speaker 3 (44:23):
And they're doing it. Yeah, they're doing it.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Yeah we are, we are, and it's it's but it's
a that's a that's a that's actually you don't like
what do they say that's seed money or whatever for
for whatever. But that's that's really really, really a big thing.
I mean, if we could grow the game through that,
and and you know, you talk about the women's programs,
I do one here. I had two sessions a twenty
(44:46):
eight ladies total.
Speaker 1 (44:48):
They never play golf.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
We just we just you know, I tell them right
right out front, Look, nobody here is ever going to
play golf on TV.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
So just just drop that right now.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Just this is about fun, you know, is you only
have so much time in your life to have fun.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
So let's go have fun.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
And I think the more we impact kids that way
instead of you know, I think I think we're gonna
be that the game will be that much better off
if we can grow it that way. So and I
and I think the other thing and I and this
is a personal thing with me, and I'm quite sure
you're jump in here, is is we have to continue
(45:25):
to grow the PGA.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
Hope we have to.
Speaker 3 (45:28):
Absolutely, it's such a great uh program to help our veterans.
And and it's it's booming. I mean from where it
was three or four years ago to where it is today.
It's I don't know the exact number, but I know
it's ten times beside it.
Speaker 1 (45:46):
You know, the fun.
Speaker 3 (45:49):
Waiting to get in. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
And the other thing the other thing is this is
is and you know I did.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
I did two sessions this year.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
And it's it's like the amount of gratefulness that that
that a golf professional would take time to help somebody
with their golf game or allow them to just go
play nine.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Holes whatever it might be.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Like the gratefulness they have, you know, and I'm like,
I'm like, how how it's like back to me, it's inverted,
should be the other way around, Like we should be
super grateful for them, and therefore we should actually go
get in our car and go pick them up and
let them play golf, you know, and they're just they're
happy to do it.
Speaker 3 (46:31):
We got behind it, PGA got behind it, Golf got
behind it, owners and operators and member clubs and private
clubs and public courts that everybody got behind it. And
uh and you know, between DJ Hope, PGA reached PJ
Junior Golf. It's just it's a it's a great time.
(46:52):
It's a great time in golf. It really is so all.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Right, So, I know you also mentioned you're mentoring some
young professionals and things like that. So how what do
you see the biggest challenges to the younger guys is
like coming out now, let's say twenty five, thirty years old,
thirty five years old, your first job, maybe second job, whatever.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Yeah, that's a good question because it is difficult. Now.
I mean we have, you know, a number of PGM
universities that are turning out great professional golf management students.
They come out with business degrees, they're prepared for the
golf industry and they you know, they're ready to go
in and be head professional somewhere. Well, guess what, it
(47:37):
doesn't happen that quickly. And you know, for sometimes for
a good head professional position that I'm working on trying
to help the club find a new golf professional, they'll
have thirty forty fifty outstanding applicants. I mean literally, it
used to be it seems like you're the olders. There'd
(47:58):
be like, well we can narrow this down that three
and both take one of these. They're all bigger. These
young PGM graduates are so ready for these positions. They
go to great training and education, they come out through
their internships and they're ready. And so one of the
big challenges is, you know, where are they going to
be now? The PGA has addressed that by opening up
(48:19):
so many different avenues for employment. Now, because it used
to be you were either headpro and assistant. But was it.
Now we have literally I don't know eighteen different classifications
and people can work for a manufacturer, they can work
as a teacher, they can work as an assistant, they
can work as a coach they can, and you know,
so we've opened up so many more avenues that now
(48:42):
the PGA is really embedded in the industry, and you know,
it's it's you know, when clubs are looking for staff,
they come to the PGA and we help them free charge,
in a lot of cases free charge. We do have
some paid search stuff, but most of it is free charge,
and we're trying to help our members. And so I
(49:05):
think it's all good. It's all positive, which I was
twenty five again because I think it's just going to
golf is going to continue to improve.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Well, I told you in an email that this wouldn't
take very long and it would feel like it went
by very quickly. So you are officially done with the
Rich Combo Golf Show, Jim Remy. But I wanted to
take a moment and say thanks to Tons. I appreciate
your time. I know you're really busy, but beyond that,
you know you're the sincerity and and just you can
(49:38):
just sense your passion for the golf business and your
passion for the PGA of America and for the game
of golf, or when you put it, the sport of golf.
Speaker 1 (49:45):
But I just really wanted to say thanks. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (49:48):
Well, you know what, I want to thank you because
you're doing the same thing. You're doing it in your
own way. You're doing what's good for the game and
the sport and for our future players to have this
show and to put the effort that you put into it.
I want to thank you, so thank you very much
for what you do.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
I appreciate Jim.
Speaker 2 (50:08):
This has been Jim Remy and this is the Rich
Conwill Golf Show.
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Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.