Camaraderie, Competition & Combat: Honoring Our Veterans Through Golf

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This week on Golfweek Amateur Tour – The Podcast, we’re honoring Military Appreciation Month with an episode that hits deep and swings strong. Hosts Tim Newman and Chris Rocha sit down with two incredible veterans whose stories remind us how competitive golf events can become lifelines of community, connection, and healing.

First up: Navy veteran Warren Hodges

Warren spent 14 years in the Navy maintaining military aircraft like the EA-6B Prowler and the Super Hornet. But his most meaningful moment? Re-enlisting in an armory named after his grandfather. Now five years into the Golfweek Amateur Tour, Warren has played a staggering 77 rounds, proving that the drive for excellence and camaraderie doesn’t retire when the uniform comes off.

Then: Army veteran Chris Legare

Chris takes us into the heart of Iraq, where he served as a combat engineer clearing routes under mortar fire. His stories are raw, powerful, and unforgettable. Golf and fishing have become his “happy place”, helping him navigate the difficult terrain of PTSD, reintegration, and life beyond the battlefield. For Chris, the amateur golf community isn't just a weekend activity; it’s a mission of healing.

What you'll hear in this episode:

 - Stories of sacrifice, service, and transition to civilian life

 - How amateur golf competition provides structure and support

 - The trust, mentorship, and golf community that veterans find on tour

 - Reflections on Military Appreciation Month and the power of shared experience

 - Tour updates, upcoming local golf tournaments, and a reminder to submit your Player of the Month nominations by May 5th!

If you're looking for more than just a golf podcast for everyday golfers, this episode will move you, challenge you, and remind you why this Tour is so much more than a scorecard.

Whether you're a long-time Golfweek member or just love great amateur golf podcasts, join us as we honor those who served and still show up strong on the fairways.

Listen now and tee up some perspective.

Visit amateurgolftour.net and senioramateurgolftour.net to learn more about upcoming amateur golf tournaments near you.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back, chris.
Hopefully you thought out sawsome pictures of you at
Firestone.
You looked a little cold.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, definitely it was cold out there, but no, it
was a good time.
Good time.
Wish you were out there with us.
A lot of guys were asking aboutyou, so we know that we're
getting listened to.
But no, it was a great time,wonderful experience and
hopefully we'll go back again.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Yeah, I'm sorry I missed it, but hopefully we'll
go back and um I did.
I did enjoy seeing somepictures and um, you know, got
two.
Two tour directors got wins, soso, so good times had by all
right, I understand right rightwithout getting into too much,

(00:53):
but I do want to make sure thatwe get this thing out of the way
before we go any further,because we can't have any more
of the debacle.
This is the last podcast beforeMother's Day, so we don't want
to forget that.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
So, happy, happy Mother's Day.
Right, we're catching on.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Took us a while, but we're catching on.
Took us a while catching on,yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, um, thank you, moms, forall that you do for for us and
in the tour and and everythingelse.
If you're, if you're a mom ontour, thank you, uh, for for
your uh, membership andfriendship and and what you do
for the tour for yourself yeah,it's, it's very much appreciated
.
And uh, yes, what you do forthe tour for yourself, it's it's
very much appreciated.

(01:25):
And uh, we're still going to.
We're still going to hell, butat least we, we did not forget
this year.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
No, we did not forget , and we're.
We're in good standing for 2025.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Well, we're in good standing for that piece.
Um, we, we've got a whole bunchof other things that you know
are just.
You can just forget.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, just buckle up and get ready.
Yeah, so you know this.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
We're in Military Appreciation Month, which is,
you know from a podcastperspective, one of my favorite
months because you know we getto talk to veterans and active
duty members of the tour andit's just good times and hearing
good stories.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah, I get excited every time we do this, so you
know we're going to have a goodtime this month All right bud
Ready to get started?
Let's do it.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Ladies and gentlemen, golf Week Amateur Tour proudly
presents Golf Week Amateur Tour,the podcast Talking about all
things Golf Week Amateur Tour,including interviews with tour
directors, players and courseprofessionals.
Now here are your hosts, timNewman and El Paso Las Cruces.
Tour Director, chris Rocha.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Chris, welcome back to normal temperatures for you.
I heard it was pretty cold outthere at Firestone.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
It was.
It was a little chilly just forone day, just the first day.
I think it was temperaturesthat they weren't expecting from
what the locals were telling me, but apparently anything in the
Midwest can happen betweenMarch through May.
So, that might make decidingfactors moving forward for us.
But you know I had a great time.

(03:27):
It was I'd go back because theNorth Course in particular I
want a chance at that again ingood weather.
But it was fun, it was a greattime, great, you know, great
atmosphere and yeah, I mean youknow how I am with cold but I do

(03:50):
, honestly, I heard a bunch ofpeople that either whether you
text them or not or they listento the podcast, we're like, hey,
is it too cold for you?
how you doing it's a little coldso uh I hope they're listeners
and you didn't text them on theside, but uh, it was a good
handful.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
I didn't text anybody , but I did know that it was
cold.
When Dennis sent some picturesand people were all bundled up,
I was like, oh my goodness,chris.
I think Chris is probably goingto withdraw.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
No, that wasn't an option, but it was a good time.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
That's good to hear.
We got a lot going on in thisepisode.
Everybody knows it's now Mayand this is one of my favorite
months of the year, so we've gotMilitary Appreciation Month.
We're going to be highlightingour members who are either
active duty or veterans of armedservices.

(04:42):
Either active duty or veteransof armed services Can't thank
them enough for what they'vedone, what they continue to do
and for being part of the GulfLeague family.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, you know, I announcedat a tournament that I was
looking for some people to comeon the podcast and right away
had a group of people that comeand wanted to give me their
information and this and thatthey wanted to be part of what
we do for these special episodes.
So it was great to get thatinformation from them and you

(05:13):
know it's going to be a fun time.
I can't wait.
Like I told them, you knowthey're basically going to have
the floor and we get to learnabout their stories that they
had and I think that's cool.
That actually came from me.
That wasn't part of themilitary.
It's good to hear these stories.

Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, so we've got military members, we've got our.
You know this episode comes outon May 5th and that's the
deadline for the April membersof the month, yep Nominations,
and I don't know if you werecopied on all of them, but we
got a bunch.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
I'm pretty sure I was .
I had to stop that real quickand say don't reply all, but we
did get a lot, so keep themcoming throughout the year,
especially them, tour directors,because anything can happen Now
that all the tours are on highalert.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Well, I wasn't going to bring up that.
You were complaining about the.
The reply all I I I literallyalmost spit my drink out when I
when I saw you complaining aboutyou know, stop reply.
I think it's funny.
Jeff, jeff, the, the uh,indiana, west kentucky tour.
Jeff man, what's what's?
What's a few more emails?
I know you get a lot, butwhat's it?

(06:24):
What's a few more emails?
I know you get a lot, butwhat's a few more?
And here's why I say thatthough, because I don't know.
I've seen and looked throughthem.
If you can see what other tourdirectors are doing, you can
really kind of adjust yournomination but that's not the

(06:46):
point though tour directors aredoing.
you can really kind of adjustyour nomination, but that's not
the point though.
Hey, hey, hey, I mean this isall about competition here.
I mean, you jabbed.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Dennis, after the first round.
What can I say If it was?

Speaker 1 (07:00):
me.
First of all, I'm thinkingthat's a bad move.
I would not have done that.
That's a bad move, but you doyou.

Speaker 2 (07:05):
He didn't bring it up .

Speaker 1 (07:07):
He probably forgot I'm not even going to touch it.
Let's move on.
We've got members of the month,but nominations coming in.
Don't forget the Strixon IronRaffle.
Make sure you get in on that.

(07:29):
But, chris, why don't you goahead and introduce our first
guest for this episode?

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Yeah, I mean.
So, like I said, you know I putout the challenge at the
regional in Ohio and got a goodamount of people to come on, but
this one that did come was oneof the first two that was really
excited to be a part of it.
So we want to definitelywelcome from the Cincinnati tour
local guy Mr Warren Hodges.

(07:56):
Warren, how you doing?

Speaker 6 (07:58):
I'm good how you guys doing.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
I'm doing great.
There's nothing like you knowcoming on and you know jabbing
Chris a little bit.
You know about the cold weather.
You know I don't know what hewould have done if he was in the
military, I mean, and you gotto put up with whatever you got
to put up with.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Hey well, maybe it would have made me a different
person.
You never know.
No.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Chris, I like you just the way that you are buddy,
so thanks for joining us.
Um, you're.
You're a Navy veteran of of of14 years.
Thank you so much for yourservice and thanks for joining
us tonight.
Bud, you're very welcome.

Speaker 6 (08:37):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
So let's start off with you.
Know why you joined the service, why the Navy, and tell us a
little bit about your career inthe Navy.

Speaker 6 (08:49):
Yeah, sure.
So why the Navy?
That's a good question.
My entire family was Army.
I had a cousin that went toWest Point.
My grandfather was the adjutantgeneral of the state of
Maryland.
So why the Navy?
I guess just my high schoolfootball was coming to an end.

(09:11):
I didn't have anybody fromcollege looking at me like hey,
no, plus, my SATs were terrible.
I really wanted a dumb lineman.
So I ended up going into therecruiting office with a bunch
of buddies and they went to theAir Force.
And I went to the Air Force andat the time I was like six foot
three, 220 pounds, you knowthree, three sport athlete in

(09:35):
high school and they're like, no, you're too big man.
And I was like, oh OK, fairenough.
So I just walked across thehallway and I went and talked to
the Navy cats and they werelike, hey, we'll go ahead and do
this and do this.
Oh, cool You're.
You know, inside body fatstandards, you're good to go.
Uh.
So next thing, I know Igraduate high school and I'm off

(09:56):
to, uh, to great, great lakesup there, uh, north Chicago, oh
my so, and I guess, uh, you know, that was, that was a good time
in november, december andjanuary I'm sure probably nice
weather.
It was great weather.
It was like playing on saturdayin akron.
That was amazing, like, like,literally we would be soaked in

(10:22):
sweat out on the grinder afterwe just got, you know know,
punished for whatever, and wehad to march to where we're
building.
We're going to and by the timewe got we were going, our shirts
were frozen solid.
Wow, yeah, that's, that'spretty much what it was like,
and I mean, it might've been afive minute jaw or a five minute
march, but by the time we gotwe were going.
Any water that was on your bodyand her body was frozen.
Wow.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, I can't imagine .
I mean so I'm an Army guy, armyinfantry, and I did my base
training at Fort Benning, but itwas I was.
Base training for me wasOctober to February and it does
get cold in Columbus Georgia,but not Chicago cold.
I mean a cold in ColumbusGeorgia but not Chicago cold.

(11:05):
I mean a cold in ColumbusGeorgia is like 35.
You know, it's definitely GreatLakes cold, that's for sure.
Yeah, chicago was a whole othercold, so what?

Speaker 6 (11:16):
was your MOS.
I was actually an airplanemechanic, so I did hydraulics
and structures and I actuallypainted aircraft for a little
while there, um, but went downto Pensacola to learn how to be
an airplane mechanic.
Um, that was pretty cool whilewe were down there.
Um, you know, I I don't thinkthey had the blue angels there
at that time, because that'swhere, that's where they're at

(11:38):
now and that's where they'retraining, but I don't ever
remember seeing them fly overwhile I was there.
Had a good time while I was downat Pensacola, got to play
basketball against Roy Jenner Jr.
What was?

Speaker 1 (11:51):
that that was something else.

Speaker 6 (11:53):
Yeah, from there I then went to Woodby Island,
washington, which is like twohours south of Vancouver, we'll
say the Canadian border, andabout two hours north of Seattle
, so you're out there on thePuget Sound.
So when I was there, I wasworking on this aircraft called

(12:15):
the EA-6B Prowler.
So people are probably likewhat kind of aircraft is?
That so if anybody everremembers the Intruder, the A-6.
Yeah.
So it's basically kind of thesame body style with, you know,
the two wings and the twohorizontal stabilizers and one
vertical stabilizer, um, but ithas four as two cockpits where

(12:36):
you have two people sitting inthe front, two people in the
back, um, and so it kind oflooked like a big drumstick from
the side.
Wow, like a drumstick, uh, outof a bucket of chicken.
Um, yeah, you can make mehungry now, but this aircraft
was uh, it was electriccountermeasures.

(12:56):
Uh so we'd fly in the air and wewould jam you know incoming
radar signals and then we woulddrop, uh what we call a harm or
high-speed anti-radiationmissile, directly on the battery
or whatever.
Uh, we targeted.
Basically, that's what we did,um, while I was there, um, it
would be on washington.
Uh, what the whole lot to do?

(13:17):
If you'd like to dofour-wheeling and, like you know
, trout fishing, that was yourspot.
Golf season wasn't very long.
It was probably when I firststarted playing golf, because I
didn't have anything to do.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Right.

Speaker 6 (13:31):
I mean, a nice day was usually around mid-80s, no
humidity.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh, that's Christmas weather.
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:41):
Some of the best summers I've had were out there
because the weather was awesome.
But yeah, I was there for aboutsix years.
I became a recruiter and then Iwent back to Baltimore that's
where I'm from Recruited out ofBaltimore, actually Dundalk,
which is like the east side ofBaltimore, so I had that side of
Baltimore County to recruit outof.

(14:02):
I was recruiting Moonlight as abouncer at a bar downtown, uh,
so that was kind of fun too.

Speaker 1 (14:11):
Um, didn't get to play a whole lot of golf.

Speaker 6 (14:13):
Unfortunately, while I was in Maryland Um just the.
The demands of being arecruiter were just a lot.
We didn't have a whole lot offree time to do anything but
bounce at night.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
I found time for that .

Speaker 6 (14:25):
Nighttime is always free, right, yeah, nighttime is
usually free, unless I'm, youknow, taking somebody to MEPs at
11 o'clock at night.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah, and that's.
That's probably not a good idea.

Speaker 5 (14:33):
It's probably.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (14:36):
That's never a fun day.
To next day.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
No, so.
So where?
Where in Maryland are you from?
I wonder, why the 443.
I mean, that's where I'm from.
I've been going from there fora while.
Actually, you know, when I wentin the military I'm much older
than you, but when I went in Ipersonally never went back.
That's not true, forget.
I said that.

Speaker 5 (14:58):
Liar.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
I do remember living back there, but that's my
Pennsylvania number.
That's why but?

Speaker 2 (15:06):
where in.

Speaker 6 (15:06):
Maryland are you from .
So there's a little townoutside of Baltimore on the
northeast side.
It's called Joppatown.
It's in Hartford County.
Yeah, yeah, so that's where Iwent to high school, and that's
where I grew up.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
Yeah, and I said I actually lived in Hartford
County in Bel Air when I wentback.
Wow, I'm an idiot.
I'm an idiot man, wow, well,yeah, maryland's not that big.
No, so that's awesome.
So where'd you go after being arecruiter?

Speaker 6 (15:39):
So after I was a recruiter I went down to NAS
Oceana in Virginia Beach.

Speaker 1 (15:44):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 6 (15:44):
And I started working on the uh, the new super hornet
, which was, I mean, the bestthing in the world because it
was so easy to work on.
You know, because I mentionedthe ea6b prowler earlier.
That was a, you know, it wasbuilt like the 60s and 70s,
right, um, and so it had a bunchof linkages and cables and
pulleys and this and that so onand so forth that, you know,

(16:06):
that's part of my job, is therig, all that stuff, so
everything moves properly.
Uh, and and also, like, justtrying to take a panel off to
get to the space you're going tois, you know, an hour long job
just to get the panel off and toget access because there's so
many screws, so many screws.
But somebody, when they, whenthey developed the super hornet,

(16:27):
they actually talked to themaintainers said, hey, what
would make y'all's life easier?
And honestly, you would take,you'd have a panel with 12 bolts
on.
You pull the bolts off andyou're like, oh, look at that,
that's where you need to work on, is right there, I don't have
to take anything else out.
And there's no pulleys, there'sno cables, there's no nothing
to that.
You just get in the computer,you just get in the cockpit now
turn the engines on, do whateveryou got to do and line it up

(16:48):
and rig it through that and saveit and off you go.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
That's awesome.
So how much training was thereto be able to work on these
aircraft?
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (16:56):
So I think when I went to what we call A school,
which is when I was down inPensacola and learned how to do
aircraft mechanics, that'sprobably about probably two
months, wow.
So the first month I rememberwas kind of like you were honing
in on your metalsmith skills,like if you had to repair battle
damage in the skin of theaircraft or something like that.

(17:16):
So a lot of riveting, bending,doing all kinds of measurements,
things like that with aluminum.
And then, once you got throughthat portion, then you went into
your hydraulics portion sidewhere it was more about
troubleshooting.
So if you have an actuator thatgoes bad, how am I going to
troubleshoot to understand thatthat's the part that's broken,

(17:39):
not a different part inside theline of succession for whatever
system?
It is right.
So you kind of just learned howto do that little bit of
troubleshooting and then theywould have you pull a part off
of a jet and then put it back inthe jet and then you'd run
hydraulics through it and stufflike that and make sure it
worked.
So yeah, so that was about twomonths long.
Wow.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Did you ever get?
Obviously not be a pilot, butdid you ever get to fly in one
of those?

Speaker 6 (18:06):
I never got to fly in the Super Hornet.
I did get to fly in a C2, whichis a COD, so they basically
deliver mail and people.
All right, I got to do a catshot and a trap, so I launched
off the aircraft carrier on thatand I've caught the wire on one
.
How much fun was that?
How much fun was that?

(18:28):
I mean, knowing some of thepeople that worked on these jets
, I was like, oh boy, okay, herewe go.
But I guess the cat shot is soyou're facing backwards.
First of all, so you're facingthe tail end of the aircraft and
you're just sitting there andthe cat shot.
You hear the engines revving.

(18:49):
You're just sitting there andyou're vibrating this little
jump seat, and then you have noidea what's going on because
there's no windows, you can'tsee anything.
Next thing you know it's oh,we're moving.
And then it goes from rattlingto just smooth and you're like,
okay, cool, from like rattlingto just smooth and you're like,
okay, cool, we're in the air,we're not in the water, and
we're moving forward.
We're good to go um the uh, thetrap.
When we caught the trap, soairplanes coming in, and what

(19:13):
they do is they, uh, they gointo the pattern, so they, they
catch this loop, um, uh, andwhen he hit that loop and they
bank it sideways, you pulled acouple of Gs and you didn't know
they were there.
And yeah, next thing, you knowyou're like, oh, I just passed
out for a hot second.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Oh, wow, wow.

Speaker 6 (19:32):
Yeah.
So you're then on arrival andthe airplane's bouncing up and
down and everything goes, andyou're just okay, all right,
we're on final, we're doing ourthing, we're level, we're doing
our thing, we're level, we'redoing our thing.
And next thing, you know, it'sjust boom on the deck and
everything slows down.
You're like cool, we're nottaking off again.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
Yeah, that's cool.
So when you were taking off,was there any warning or just
None, you're just Zero warning,we're just sitting there, so you
better be strapped in.

Speaker 6 (20:05):
Oh yeah, you're strapped in.
Everything's rattling yourteeth are rattling, inside your
head and next thing you know andyou're gone.
You're like, oh, it wasn't sobad.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Yes, chris, I'd like to try that once Me too.

Speaker 2 (20:20):
Once I'd like that's what I was going to do when I
was hoping to get into the AirForce was fly jets, and when
they said you have to do as fastas you can, I was like I'll
probably never get a chance todo this.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So I was in the 82nd Airbornewhen I was in the Army, so you
know jumping out of airplanesand that sort of thing and I'm
scared of heights.
But I would do something likethat just for the experience,
right, Just for that adrenalinerush and give it a shot.
But I'd also like to fly in oneof those jets and obviously I

(20:57):
wouldn't want to pass out, Iknow I would but just to get
somewhat of a feeling of whatthat actually feels like.
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 6 (21:04):
Like I guess the closest thing I could say it
feels like if you've ever beenon a roller coaster and there's
one of those roller coasters,you sit down, you get locked in
and all of a sudden, boom you'regone right.
Yeah, it's not like you justroll out slow, you just boom
Right.
That's the closest thing to.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
Right, but at least you can see it.
I love those.

Speaker 6 (21:28):
You kind of have an idea like oh, yeah, we're
getting ready to roll out, sowhat's?

Speaker 1 (21:32):
your best memory of being in the Navy?
Oh, my goodness, this is afamily show.
Right, it is a family show.
You can tell us some otherstuff offline.
Oh my gosh Well like.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
PG-13, not really that much family.

Speaker 6 (21:43):
I know I'm trying to think of something that just
sticks out in my head.
So I mean, it was a lot ofpartying going on, you know.
So I don't recall a whole lotbetween, like, say, 19 years old
to maybe you know, 26 or so,right, I just know we had a

(22:05):
great time and all of us, youknow, got through it pretty
unscathed.
But for like a sentimentalvalue I'd probably say, I
reenlisted for my second timeand I got to reenlist in the
armory that was named after mygrandfather.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
How about that yeah?

Speaker 6 (22:25):
re-enlist in the armory that was named after my
grandfather.
How about that?
Yeah, so, and that was, ifyou're familiar, on Edgewood,
arsenal, right there forAberdeen Proving Ground.
How about that yeah.
So it's now the Major GeneralWarren D Hodgins Armory.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
Dude, that's special.
Yeah, that's awesome, that'spretty awesome.

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Yeah, that was pretty cool.
Even my commanding officer whenshe was reenlisting she said
not often do I get to reenlist asailor that has his name on a
building.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, so don't you forget about it.

Speaker 6 (23:00):
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
You just remember.
You just remember who I am.
Yeah, oh, that's awesome whenyou think about things like that
.
Obviously, they don't just putpeople's names on buildings for
nothing.
That's special and we've beendoing this.

(23:28):
So this is Chris.
This is our third year doingthis.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
And the number of people that we've talked to and
some of the things that we'velearned that our veterans have
done amazing stuff, amazingstuff, warren.
Let me tell you what that's gotto be one of the top things
I've ever heard.
Thanks.

Speaker 6 (23:47):
Glad I could share it with you all.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
I am too.
That's special.
I'm going to throw it down, buttop that, beat that.

Speaker 6 (23:59):
Damn, I don't want to be that guy.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
I told you, man, we give you the floor and we love
to hear these stories.
That's one of the stories thatwe like to hear.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
You've been part of the tour for five years now,
chris.
I pulled up his scoring chart.
Of course you did.
Of course I did.
I got to look.
He's got 77 rounds in fiveyears.
Wow, warren, you don't miss.
I try not to.
I got to qualify.
He's got 77 rounds in fiveyears.

Speaker 6 (24:25):
Wow, chris Warren, you don't miss.
I try not to.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
I mean, I got to qualify for Hilton Head, so Well
that's you know it's not goingto be cold when you come down
here in October.
Oh no, it's not.
It's a great time.
Yeah.
So I mean, what is it about thetour that has you hooked?

Speaker 6 (24:43):
That's a good question.
Tour that that has you hooked.
Uh, that's, that's a goodquestion.
Uh, I mean, I mean that's areally good question.
There's a lot of things like so, um, I actually met I I got
acquainted with the tour when Iwas playing with the veterans
golf association, so I did thatfor one year um and we played
event, a shared event, with them, and all my buddies that you
know were in the vga as well.
You know, we're like who arethese guys like?

(25:04):
What is this?
So on and so forth.
We had a chance to get intolike the super skins and all
that stuff, um, and so we didthat.
And one thing I noticed is thatat the end, the presentation of
the awards and and the money, Iwas like, hmm, this is a little
different than the vga.
I was like all right, and thenI started looking into it and I

(25:25):
saw that you know, um, sorry,sorry, there we go.
Uh, just wanted to pause thetelevision to where I have
better lighting, but uh, I so Isaw I was being run, uh, and I
got to look into it and I said,wow, they have way more events
that are closer together thanthe VGA.

(25:45):
The vga is kind of like amishmash, you know.
Uh, or at least at the time itwas like we didn't know when the
next tournament was.
We didn't know, how manytournaments were going to be.
So we said, all right, so letme check out this golf weekly.
So you know, I talked to all myfriends and you know guys I
play in league with like, dragsome of those guys over, um, you
know, and I mean my buddy kennycobb, you know, my buddy duane

(26:06):
coker were the two guysinitially that came over with me
, okay, um, and then we justkind of, you know, grabbed
everybody else, started fillingup the roster on the golf weekly
side for, uh, cincinnati,dayton, um, but then again, you
know, I noticed that you knoweverybody we played with,
everybody was cool, everybodyhad a good time.
You know, if somebody needed alittle bit of education, say on
golf etiquette or whatever, likekind of you know, hey, you know

(26:26):
, I'd prefer you not do this,you prefer you not do that.
Okay, Not a problem man Gotcha,I understand where you're coming
from, cause everybody has thoselittle niches on the on the
course, right.

Speaker 5 (26:34):
Right.

Speaker 6 (26:40):
But, you know, just out there and compete you know
that's probably one of thebiggest things is just the
competition in general.
You know, uh, just being ableto, you know, fill that need for
competition as an athlete myentire life.
I get to go out there and I getto play with guys that are in
the area that you know theythey're not my friends, the
people that I don't know thatwell, I'll go out drinking with
them at, you know, five o'clockon a Friday afternoon so I get

(27:04):
to go out there, compete withthose guys and have those guys
push me to try to be a bettergolfer, because some of these
guys have sticks yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah Well your director Tyler had a really good
weekend.

Speaker 6 (27:17):
Tyler had a real.
Tyler seems to have a reallygood weekend when it counts.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
See, that's what you need to do.
No-transcript See, that's whatyou need to do.

Speaker 6 (27:24):
He won French Lick last year, I believe.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Yeah, he did, yeah, did he win.
He's his second regional win.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
He's a, whatever it takes man.

Speaker 6 (27:36):
I mean he bashes the ball, so that helps.

Speaker 1 (27:40):
Good for him.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
He's ready for a flight.
Just saying I wasn't going tosay nothing.

Speaker 6 (27:44):
Oh, I told him I's ready for A-flight, just saying
I wasn't going to say nothing.
Oh, I told him.

Speaker 2 (27:46):
I told him numerous times.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
See, well, you know, chris, you need some more
competition up there, man.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
I need to be competition.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
What's your favorite course to play on tour?

Speaker 6 (28:06):
Ooh, that's a good one.
I mean I mean now that you getto play Firestone every year.
So I mean Firestone right now,probably the top of the list,
you know.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (28:15):
Um, but um, NCR South Okay, that, uh, that is a legit
golf course Reminds me a littlebit of NCR South Okay, I think
it's longer actually thanFirestone.
So NCR South is amazing.
I got to play SpringfieldCountry Club for the first time

(28:35):
this year.
That's amazing.
I'd love to play that when theweather was a little better and
the trees had leaves, I'm tryingto think I'd probably say again
ncr springfield, probably thetop two like local courses that
I've played.
Um, I mean also stone lickhills down to cincinnati.
That's a phenomenal course aswell, great, great public course

(28:56):
too.
So there's probably threecourses that I like the best in
the cincinnati digging toward ona regular basis.
So other than that, um, haven'treally played any other excuse
me any other places other thanyou know Hilton Head.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
You guys played at NCR South a few weeks ago.
How'd you do there?

Speaker 6 (29:14):
I had a rough day.
It seemed as, like you know, agreen and regulation was
impossible to find.
Getting off the tee was alittle issue and then just in
general, just short games, justabsolute trash.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
It's still early.
It's still early, it's onlyApril.
Well, it's May now, but it'llcome around.

Speaker 6 (29:39):
But unfortunately up here in Ohio we don't get to
actually chip off through roughgrass like that during the
summertime because it's snow.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
You'd think we'd be great sand sand players yeah,
well yeah well, well, warren,thank you so much for spending
some time with us.
Thank you for your service toour country.
I I really do appreciate itvery welcome I, you know it's,
uh, it's.
This is my favorite month of theyear when we when these

(30:06):
interviews, you know, talking toyou guys, and some of the
things that you've done.
It's really truly amazing, evenfrom.
You know, my service was threeyears but I, like you, come from
a military family, so I kind ofhave an idea, but some of the
things that you all are doingnow are just just blow me away.

(30:28):
I mean, it's a it's incredible,thank you.

Speaker 6 (30:33):
Thank you for your service too.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
I appreciate it.
So well you take care ofyourself and we'll definitely
see you in Hilton head.
That's the plan.
My buddy, I appreciate yourwine.
Take it easy.
Let's take a break from theshow to hear about Strixon's ZX
mark two irons.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
A great iron set needs more than good looks.
It's got to be fast and got tobe pure, but good looks never
hurt either.
The all-new ZX Mark II ironsfrom Strixon.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
Tim, we just continue to have great stories from our
members in the military, whetheractive or veterans, and Wayne
Hodges just put that, that icingon the cake so far.
So, like you said, it's goingto be tough to beat.

Speaker 1 (31:19):
Yeah, that's a that's a heck of a story, you know,
re-enlisting in the buildingnamed after your grandfather on
a military installation.
It's, he's got to be so proud,proud, but it's obviously one of
the coolest things ever.
I, I think, and um I I alsoloved how open he was and just

(31:41):
just talked about the good timeshe had that he didn't really
remember right, right, he.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
I would assume that uh, a lot of military people go
through those times.
So uh, he was.
He wasn't afraid to talk aboutit.
I mean, I'm pretty sure he hasgood off-air stories to tell.

Speaker 1 (32:00):
Yeah, and it's.
I mean, think about it from adifferent perspective there.
I mean, dude's 18 years old andhis job is, you know, airplane
mechanic.
Yeah, you know thesemultimillion dollar machines
that are defending our countryand you know, an 18-year-old kid
is responsible for maintenanceand repairing those things.

(32:23):
That's a lot of responsibility,for sure, that's bottom line On
anybody.
Yeah, so well, let's bring inour next guest, and I've been on
this gentleman for a long timeand let me just tell you
something he doesn't miss Waynedoesn't miss when we bring him

(32:43):
on.
I'm going to give you a statthat is, it's incredible.
But let's go ahead and againI've done this before let's go
ahead and bring Chris Laguerrefrom the Hilton Head Tour on.
Chris, welcome to the show.
Thanks for spending some timewith us, bud, Absolutely my

(33:04):
pleasure.
You know, I've known you for along time and have been hoping
to get you on, and I think thisis a good reason to.
But you're a veteran of thearmy, Correct?
How long did you serve?

Speaker 5 (33:19):
I served for two and a half years actually.
Yep, it wasn't very long, butit was pleasant.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
Well, that's all right.
I did about three years andabout the same.
And what was your?

Speaker 5 (33:34):
MOS.
I was a 12 Bravo.
I was a combat engineer.
I got to serve with the 299thEngineer Battalion 03 to 05.
The last combat unit we thelast actually tour that we did
as a combat unit on the 299thengineer battalion, um, out of

(33:55):
fort red texas.
Wow, long time with um, I mean299th goes back hundreds of
years yeah, yeah and uh whatsorry no, no, go ahead no, no,
you go ahead ask, ask away,buddy, I'm an open book.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (34:22):
So when you served on the combat tour, where were you
?
We deployed with the 101stAirborne Unit, march of 03.
Okay, and we also deployed withthe third ID.
Um, yeah, we uh we started outin Mosul out of Iraq.

(34:45):
We, uh, we spent about three orfour months in Humvees and
five-ton trucks, sleeping in andout tents, honestly, just
clearing pathways for the restof the combat units to come back

(35:08):
through and make sure everybodywas secure.
My job was to basically clearthe way for infantry.
Infantry always claims to bethe first ones in last ones out.
Engineers are obviouslyoverlooked and it's an honor to

(35:34):
actually it's an honor to saythat because infantry gets so
much and I admire what they do,don't get me wrong, but we, as
engineers, we have to be, wehave to think about the way that
the rest of them have to be.
We have to think about the waythat the rest of them have to

(35:57):
come through correct andlandmines, landmines.
Obviously we have to clear theway with Bangalore torpedoes.
It's just, it's hard to explainto people that have never

(36:18):
experienced it and it's an honorto be able to share.
It's hard too because obviouslypeople that I talk to I don't
have very many friends that Ican share it with.
So so the 299th EngineerBattalion.
We go back in history, we enjoywhat we do, we're hoorah, we're

(36:43):
all about it.
So we spent four to five monthsin Mosul, worked our way down
south towards Dukrit.
We took over the seven palacesof Saddam.
We harbored probably 375soldiers in the seven palaces of

(37:11):
Saddam.
We were a mile off of Highway 1.
In the seven palaces of Saddam,we were a mile off of Highway 1
.
And we heard, I mean everynight, every night it was
mortars after mortar, aftermortar, every 15 seconds.

(37:32):
Sorry, we enjoyed what we did,but it was, but it, but it's a
lot of suffering that a lot ofyoung guys have to go through.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (37:46):
So so my tour.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
I appreciate you sharing this, but.

Speaker 5 (37:55):
My um my my tour was 347 days.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
I can't tell you how much I appreciate that and, and
you know, just just hearing thisstory, you know, kind of puts
it in into perspective, um, orhopefully puts it into
perspective for people whohaven't served and don't truly
understand some of the thingsthat people like you have gone

(38:22):
through.
Even me, I didn't serve incombat, my brother did, and I
can't imagine the things thatyou all went through.

Speaker 5 (38:34):
I mean, there's stories honestly there's stories
that he can't share withanybody else that has no
recollection or no idea what hewent through and just like the
redeployment process I meanwhenever you come back and they
put you through that two weekredeployment process it's BS.
It's BS.
There's people that areinterviewing you that have no

(38:57):
idea, that have never seen astep foot in combat and they
have to be able to put youthrough the redeployment process
of coming back into the Statesand kicking old habits what's
what you used to over the last360 days.

(39:18):
It's just right.
It's.
I mean, there's no comparison.
Nobody can understand whatyou're going through or what you
have been through unless theyhave been there themselves.
And with even the veterans thethe VA hospital, there's people
that I've completely dropped mycase because I'm put in front of

(39:42):
people that have never been andthey don't understand what I've
been through.
That's the thing.
That's the change that I wouldlove to see with our VA benefits
.
That is completely BS and I'msorry about it.
Sorry to say that, but there'sWell.

(40:03):
Chris, that's reality, it is, itis and we have to accept it,
regardless of what we've beenthrough.
So we have to swallow whatwe've been through.
So we have to swallow what wehave been through to try and
change or to try and get throughto these people and make them
understand what we've beenthrough, even though they don't

(40:25):
know what we've been through.
It's just.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
Or at least get you in front of somebody who Get you
in front of somebody who doesunderstand it and can help you
deal with some of those thingsAbsolutely.

Speaker 5 (40:38):
I love it.
It's something I would neverwish upon my worst enemy and I
wouldn't change it for the world.
Because you know what?
We still see each other, all ofour combat buddies.
We see each other every yearout of fort hood good, and we
meet up in austin every year andit's, and that's the thing, um,

(41:01):
that's another thing thatbrings me to another point,
where it people, people thathave been in combat, we, we have
to learn to trust people ontheir word, and first
impressions are everything.
We have to learn to trustpeople quickly because obviously

(41:22):
out there we had to trust themto have our say, we have to
Right, and if we can't trustthem that that way, then there's
no other way that we can trusthim.
And it's first first impressionfor me, one first and foremost,

(41:42):
um, and it's it's hard to losesomebody out in combat, honestly
, um, even somebody you grew upwith or went to basic training
with, and you go to the samestation as each other and
obviously we deploy with eachother, and it's the way that

(42:10):
Army was taught.
We got to pick up and move onregardless of the situation.
That army was hot.
We got to pick up and move on,regardless of the situation.

(42:32):
If we're fighting beside ourbattle buddy that we have gone
to basic training with, or ourbest friend, whatever, and he's
shot, he's dead, we can't sitthere and sulk and reminisce on
the old times.
I mean we have to quickly pickup and move on.
We have to take it with a grainof salt and we've got to move
on.
I had to do that a few timesand it was the hardest part of
the job.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Hardest part.
I can't tell you again how muchI appreciate your service and
being able to talk about it.
We had somebody on last yearwho was kind of reluctant to
come on but he did and I saw hima few weeks ago and what he
told me was he was so thankfulthat he did come on and start to

(43:09):
share because it opened up somethings and he's gone to get got
him gotten some help for it andhe's felt like get got and
gotten some help for it and he'sfelt like a weight lifted off
and I'm not you know I'm notsaying that in a sense, yeah,
that's gonna happen witheverybody, but it's not the
entire way, but it's a littlebit of able

Speaker 5 (43:27):
to open up and talk about it and get it out.
I mean, obviously, put it intothe atmosphere and let God first
and foremost.
I just love the fact that youguys are doing this.
It's making people aware of.
It's just all the trauma.

(43:48):
It's just all the trauma thatpeople have to deal with.
20 years later that peopledon't understand.
We still deal with it.
We're going to deal with it forthe rest of our lives and
that's not the weekend to takeback.

Speaker 1 (44:02):
Yeah.
All we do is suck it up, driveon.
I mean Chris, sorry go ahead.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
I mean, I will say this man Meeting you for the
first time, you know, you do sayfirst impressions are a big
thing.
Uh, you left a pretty bigimpression, you know.
Uh, it's not easy for somebodyto come up and say, hey, I want
to share my story and you beingthe first one to come up to me,
never meeting me, um, reallymeans a lot for you to be able
to share that.
So I do appreciate that, um.

(44:32):
But you know, I mean, let usknow as well, like, how did golf
help you either get, getthrough everything that you've
gone through?
You know, did you start playinggolf before you joined, after
you joined, during?
because, because we all knowgolf can also be a outlet golf
is huge.

Speaker 5 (44:52):
Um, um, I actually just, uh, golf, golf.
Golf came into my life at 11years old and, um, it was my way
of kind of disconnecting fromwhat was going on in my life at
the time.
Right, um, it's my time to bewith at one with nature and

(45:13):
forget about everything that'sgoing on and focus on the moment
, because all you can do ischange the future and the
present.
You can make certain decisionsthat will change your future,
but in the present.
If you live in the present,that will change your future,
but in the present.
If you live in the present, itwill make you focus a little bit

(45:40):
more on the future, if youunderstand what.
I'm saying it's kind ofone-on-one, I mean it's
hand-in-hand with.
If you don't worry about thepast, obviously you can't change
the past, can never change thepast.
My future is still up in theair, depending on what I do in

(46:04):
the present.
So what I do now is going tomake my life that much better in
the future.
The past is For sure.
I have to deal.
The past is I have to deal withthe past.
I have to deal with the pastand I have to learn how to deal
with the past.
And vocalizing it and getting itinto the atmosphere once again

(46:26):
is one of my biggest pet peeves.
It's, I mean, the future isunattainable until you reach for
it, and if you make that rightdecision in the present, it's
going to make that much moreattainable.
I'm just so grateful to bewhere I'm at in this day.

(46:51):
I'm actually taking mycaptain's license tomorrow, uh,
for the next weekend, uh, thisweekend and next weekend, so
I'll be able to take up a sixpaying people and, um, my
fishing, me being in my boat ismy release.
It's my happy place, aside fromthe golf course.
Yeah Right, and I'm so.

(47:14):
So who?

Speaker 1 (47:15):
who's gonna be your first six?

Speaker 5 (47:17):
I don't know yet whoever wants to be there.
Man, I mean you guys, if, ifyou ever come down if you want
to come down in october right,you're gonna be there october,
correct?
Obviously you still live inhilton head go ahead.

Speaker 1 (47:34):
I lost you there.
But, chris, you know.
You know I live on the island.
I'm here.
Go ahead, I lost you there.
But.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
Chris, you know I live on the island.
I'm here.
Yeah, you guys are off ArrowRoad, right In the RV park.
Yeah, right off Arrow Road,yeah, yeah, now we're going to
make it happen.
Once I get certified, pass allthe tests, get my CPR and get my
TWIT card, we'll be good to go,no worries.
And anytime you and Jen want toget out in the boat, and go on

(48:00):
a cruise.
I'd love it.
Let's make it happen.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
That'd be great.

Speaker 5 (48:04):
That is my happy place, I feel like I'm not even
working if I'm in the boat, andthat's why I want to do things
that don't stress me out.
I can be in my happy place andjust do my thing.

Speaker 1 (48:18):
Yeah, I love it.
I'm with you on that.
So what's your best golf momenton tour?

Speaker 5 (48:26):
My best golf moment on tour.
Has it got to be on the?
Yeah, okay, my best golf momenton tour?
Uh, first time I met dennis.
Okay, I can see that of allpeople.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
I can see that I know , yeah, so it's.

Speaker 5 (48:52):
Um, it was strange we wouldn't be here without him,
though, right, I know, nope,nobody would be here without him
, right?
31 years man, it's yeah that'ssuch a feat.
That's crazy to think about it.
31 years man, um, I couldn'timagine running, having that
much stress with him and jen,yeah, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh.

(49:13):
So my best moment on tour wasthe moment I met Dennis.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Where was?
My first tournament Hold on, Ican tell you Did you do research
, yeah, of course.
Come on, I did you know, I didyou know, I did so.
Your first tournament wasIcebreaker in 2017 at the Jones
course.

Speaker 5 (49:41):
Ah, okay, okay, okay.
So I brought a 12-pack ofMichelob Ultra and, yeah, mac, I
introduced myself to Dennisbecause you know how Dennis
likes to play with the first,like the new members, just to
feel them out.
Um, and he introduced himself.

(50:04):
I was like look, my name'sChris, I'm from, from Beaufort,
blah, blah, blah.
He was like look, do you liketo drink?
I said yes, sir, obviously.
He said, and he was like do youlike the gamble?
I said yes, sir, absolutely.
I said I like the gamble alittle bit, but I mean I'm I'm
still kind of fresh on the tour,I need to feel people out.

(50:26):
And he's like all right, soobviously you like the drink.
So next time don't bring thiswater bullshit, bring uh.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
Wait a second.
Bring the silver bowl.
Don't bring that water, bringthis water, yeah exactly,
exactly.

Speaker 5 (50:49):
It was one of my favorite moments and ever since
then, me and Dennis have beenSide by side in everything that
we do.
I mean, this tour has broughtso much joy to my life and I've
met a lot of really great people.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (51:10):
And I would never take it back for any moment in
my life.
And I would never take it backfor any moment in my life.
I mean, dennis is like hissecond father, honestly, and he
would say the same thing aboutme well, I don't know if you
know this.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
I know he thinks the world of you because he talks
about you a lot he's one of myfavorite people.

Speaker 5 (51:33):
He's one of my favorite people.
He's one of my favorite people.
I mean a lot of people hate himand there's a love-hate
relationship.
I mean honestly, there's nogray area whenever it comes to
Dennis.
Either you love him or you hatehim.
A lot of people take his sternvoice for maybe being almost
ridiculed, but he means well.

(51:58):
He does.
He means well.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
Yeah, he does.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
He's seen me at my worst and he's seen me at my
best.

Speaker 1 (52:08):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 5 (52:09):
And that's all I'm going to say about that.
He's done a lot for me, as hehas for a lot of other people.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
For a lot of people.
Yeah, A lot of people in thestore.
Here's one of the things thatand I'm not going to give
specifics on this he helpspeople and nobody ever knows
about it, ever, yeah, and hegoes out of his way to do things
for people, not asking foranything back, not for any other
reason, because that's who heis.

(52:40):
He's somebody that helps people.
Yes, and I'll just Chris andI'll leave it there, and that's.

Speaker 5 (52:47):
He's an angel in disguise man and a lot of people
don't see it.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (52:52):
But they'll feel it later on in life and a lot of
people don't see it.
Yeah, but they'll feel it lateron in life.
They will, they'll experienceit Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Right.

Speaker 5 (52:59):
You know you guys are , you guys are awesome and, tim,
I mean you guys have always,always had a smile on your face,
regardless of what you guys aregoing through, and and it I
mean for the ones that are goingthrough shitty times seeing
those smiles go a long way,right I mean it's oh, I I

(53:22):
appreciate that, chris, I reallydo it's, um, it's a whole
nother level with withmentorship and advice and just
being there for one another.
Yeah, and that's what I loveabout the tour.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
You know that's what the tour to me is about it's
about sharing these times.

Speaker 5 (53:42):
Yes, sir.
So the um, so the whole wholearmy experience.
I loved it.
Um, I wouldn't change it forthe world.
Um, it gets you.
What are you chugging on?

Speaker 1 (53:57):
A little Diet Coke.

Speaker 2 (54:01):
Diet Cheerwine.
What so?
Let me tell you a story aboutthat.

Speaker 1 (54:04):
Silver Bullet.
That's another water, see, yes,so when I was in the Army, I
was stationed at Fort Braggright and that's where I got
turned on to Cheerwine and I'vebeen drinking Cheerwine for
Cheerwine Love it I got out in1989.
So I've been drinking Cheerwinefor 35 years.
What is that?

(54:24):
It's a cherry soda.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
It's a Okay.
Yeah, it's like a cherry drink.
Does it come in a baby bottle?

Speaker 1 (54:32):
Get the hell out of here.
Wait, when you cherry drink,does it come in a baby bottle?
Get the hell out of here.
Wait when you're old enough togrow a mustache, come talk to me
.
But it's bottled or brewed orwhatever you want to call it.
Whatever you get.
In Salisbury, north Carolina,right.

Speaker 5 (54:53):
It's a local.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
It's awesome.
Have you ever heard of Dr Enoff?
So, Chris, my yeah.

Speaker 5 (55:02):
I experienced my first Dr Enoff in Banner Rock,
north Carolina actually yeah,that's, I meant the pro that I
worked for up in Diamond Creek.
His father and mother-in-lawwere the ones that actually came
up with it oh, wow pretty neat.

(55:25):
Maybe go out and buy a case ofit.
I was like, alright, screw it,I'm going to support you, but I
support everything.
I mean Golf Week has been huge.
I love Golf Week.
I support everything.
I mean Golf Week has been huge.
I love Golf Week.
I promote it everywhere I go.
I talk it up as much as I canFor people that never heard of
it.
I love it.
And once they Google it andthey experience it for the first

(55:48):
time, they're like wow.
It's like the first, um, I don'tknow, uh, outer body experience
is, is what?
Yeah, I can, I can say it isbecause because you could, you,
I mean, you'll never meetanybody.
You'll never meet people thatare the same as you, or the uh,

(56:14):
how do I want to phrase that?
Uh, you'll never meet anybodythe same.
You never see anybody in the inthe same same vision as you did
before you knew them, uh,before they knew about golf week
.
Um, right, it's, it's.
I mean, there's, there's awhole array of people that have
been through so many experiencesand if you want to share,

(56:38):
people are open to hear it, andthat's what I love about it.
It's, it's, it's a family andthat's that's that's the best
way that I can express it.
I mean, it's golf.
Golf league is a family andDennis is like the godfather.
And I love that, don't don'ttell him that, hey, he has.

(57:01):
He has had me sleep on it, I've, I've been able, he's, he's
welcomed me, him and Jen havewelcomed me into their home for
three or four nights andwhenever I need him and it's
yeah, it's.
That's a whole, notherexplanation.
That's a whole otherexplanation.
That's a whole otherconversation.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
But that's who they are.

Speaker 5 (57:19):
Like I said, dennis is like my father, like my
second father, and I want to saymy dad's a little jealous of it
because I do spend a littlemore time with Dennis than I do
my own dad.
But it's family, it's familyand this is what I appreciate
about you guys.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
Thank you so much for hearing me out and my little
half-drunk story, but it is whatit is well, well, chris, I I
appreciate you, I appreciateeverything that you've done and
you know, hit me up and you andI will go, and we'll go grab a
beer or two or ten, or whateverit takes.

(58:00):
I'd love to hang out.

Speaker 5 (58:02):
Let's get out in the river.
Man, let's do it, let's get outin the river.
Buddy guys, thank you so much.
Spot on.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Appreciate it, guys.

Speaker 5 (58:13):
Definitely, we'll be in touch.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Let's take a break from the show to hear about
strixon's zx mark ii drivers zxmark ii drivers are for major
players, major winners, majorpower.
All new zx mark ii Only fromSrixon.

(58:40):
Chris, you know, when we dothese interviews with veterans,
you know we never truly knowwhat they're going to say,
because we don't ask questionsbeforehand.
We bring them on and we saylet's hear what you want to talk
about.
Questions beforehand, we'd we'dbring them on and we and we say
, let's, let's, let's hear whatyou want to talk about.
And the emotion that that thatChris shared is is touching and,
and what I think, a lot ofpeople who who aren't veterans

(59:06):
or or who don't understand someof the trauma that they've been
through it's, it's, it'straumatic and we've got to do a
better job in society takingcare of these guys, I mean for
sure.
To hear some of the things thathe's struggling with in terms of
the VA.
To me, that's just unacceptable.

Speaker 2 (59:25):
It's unacceptable, completely agree.
I mean, you can tell thepassion he had about it and even
though you know, know, for theaverage person two years might
not seem a lot, but I thinkevery day that they're out there
is a month worth of informationand decision making and stress

(59:48):
and all of that that just pilesup.
Um, you know, super thankfulfor, for all the people we
talked to and all the peoplethat have served for our country
, but also, more importantly youknow, the fact that he was able
to kind of bring down thosewalls and talk to us about it
you know, at some point we'rekind of like I don't want to say

(01:00:08):
we're, we're um shrinks, but atleast we we can build that
rapport and that comfortabilityto be able to just talk to us
about it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
And he really does appreciate, number one, the
opportunity to be able to share,and number two, that we're
interested in hearing it andactually listening to what he
has to say.

Speaker 2 (01:00:30):
That's the other piece Right.
Right, because anything couldhappen, right.

Speaker 1 (01:00:37):
You know, he mentioned the battalion that he
was in, the 299th CombatEngineer Battalion and the kind
of history that they had, but hedidn't mention history and what
again.
What a lot of people don't knowis they do have some serious
history there.
They were the first uh, uh,first engineer battalion on

(01:01:01):
Omaha beach on D-Day.
Okay, and if I would justsuggest that if you don't know
the history of D-Day or, uh,what happened, or the casualties
that that that happened, uh onD-Day go take a look.
Yeah for sure, the D-DayMemorial is in Bedford, virginia

(01:01:30):
, which is just outsideLynchburg, and my father he
volunteered there before he died, and so we had the opportunity
a number of times to go andreally get into some of the
history of D-Day.
And the reason why the memorialis in Bedford is because

(01:01:54):
Bedford lost more people percapita on D-Day than any other
town in the United States.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
Wow, I mean, it's a lot of people.

Speaker 1 (01:02:09):
They took serious casualties and when we went, we
went a number of times but wehad the opportunity to talk to
some veterans who actuallylanded on D-Day, who were from
Bedford and you know hearingsome of those stories.
So when Chris talks about thatbattalion, yeah, they've got

(01:02:36):
history Right.
Too bad, they led the 101st inwhen Chris was in, because
everybody knows the 82nd is wayway better than the 101st.

Speaker 2 (01:02:44):
I'm not going to go into that, I'm going to leave
that with you.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
You should Just leave it right there, yep.
But again, we're all brothersin this and that part is good
fun and good jokes.
But understand that.
You know, when we talk toWarren, you know he's got good
stories and that sort of thing.

(01:03:09):
But we also have to understandthe other side of that and
that's why you know when, whenpeople uh remember we're all
volunteers, so when peoplevolunteer to go into armed
services, that's what they theyknow can happen.

Speaker 2 (01:03:26):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:03:27):
And we're so thankful for them and what they do and
what they have done and whatthey continue to do for us and
for us to be able to do this,chris, because you know there's
there's places in the world thatyou can't do this.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
Right, right.
We're lucky to be able to to doeverything that we do, but also
give that platform for othersto come on here and and talk.

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
Yeah, so that's that's first installment.
I'm looking forward to, to ournext episode, next episode, to
have a couple more veterans onand hear their stories.

Speaker 5 (01:03:59):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
And go from there.
But, Warren, I want to thankyou.
Really do appreciate the timeand the stories and Chris, same
to you and you know we'll justleave it there, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
I mean, hopefully we see him at nationals and we're
able to to connect, and I knowChris will be there.
He, he's gone.
I mean he's on the Island.
He's got nowhere else to bethat weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Well, you know and we didn't get a chance to talk
about this with him, but buthe's got a hundred and 170
rounds.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
And okay, 170 rounds.
Right and okay.
So right now, he only has fiverounds in 2025.
Okay and so, if you take from2017 through 2024, seven full
years.
Okay, he's averaging 23 roundsa year.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
That's almost tour director numbers right there.

Speaker 1 (01:05:02):
Yeah, I mean he doesn't miss, I mean he travels,
he goes regionals, he justdoesn't miss an event.
And those who don't know Chris,when he shows up, he shows up
with a smile on his face and heputs a smile on other people's
faces.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
And that's no matter what beginning or end of the
round Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
So so thanks in both and and looking forward to the
next episode with with, with acouple more stories.

Speaker 6 (01:05:33):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (01:05:33):
Let's hear about Firestone.
Let's hear about Firestone fromyou and your perspective.
I know you didn't have yourideal 80 degree, no humidity, no
rain, no wind weather, butlet's hear it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:44):
Um, honestly, I I enjoyed the north more than the
south.
Um, I might be a few that didthat, um, but there's like seven
or eight holes that aretouching a lake somehow and I
think that can make or break awhole tournament.
And then when you get up therein the hills, you know it's,
there's trees everywhere.
It's not easy and the Southjust seemed real straightforward

(01:06:09):
.
Every part four was straight,every part three straight.
You know, only the part fivesreally had some some different
looks.
I, I really enjoyed the north.
I would love to go back andtake on the north with with
better weather, because I mean,it was from what someone was
telling me 30 degree wind chill,um, so it was cold.

(01:06:31):
I had a underlayer shirt,hoodie, rain jacket and still
hand warmers.
It was that cold.
My riding partner, the guy thatwas driving, had a blanket.

Speaker 1 (01:06:50):
So you can imagine.
So are you just telling me thatI would have been inside?

Speaker 2 (01:06:52):
You would have been inside the whole time, which
isn't bad, because inside wasnice and beautiful too, but you
probably would have been insidethe whole time, which isn't bad
because inside was nice andbeautiful too, but you probably
would have been inside the wholetime.
It was worse than when we wentto Vegas, I'll tell you that
much.
Yeah, I would have been inside.
But great time though, I had agreat time with both groups.

(01:07:16):
Second day I was in like thesecond to last group, but I had
one of my, or the guy that I wasriding with.
He got all the way up to likefifth place.
He went on the six hole birdierun out of nowhere.
It was crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Did he?

Speaker 2 (01:07:36):
win any money.
I think you want a skin, skinand a super skin.
My brother at one point had askin and a super skin for about
two hours.
That was $1,200.

Speaker 1 (01:07:54):
But you didn't walk away with it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:55):
No, and it was a par 5 that he eagled, he.
He pulled out from 108 yardsand he was telling me that he
hit the shot.
It was online.
He started walking back to thecart and never saw it go in.
Everybody cheered oh man.
Good for him, though.
So he's, he's the land is.
I guess somebody else came back.

(01:08:17):
Well, obviously somebody elsecame back and covered him, but
it was close to the end of theround, so that would have been
nice to see.

Speaker 1 (01:08:26):
Yeah, it kind of sucks, though, when you get an
eagle and it gets covered Right,because usually they don't yeah
, but I mean, hell, he got an,so let's be happy with that and
and and take it and move onright.
So what was the inside?
Like I you know, so I don'tknow, I don't know if you

(01:08:47):
actually looked at the picturesthat dennis sent.

Speaker 2 (01:09:02):
Um, dennis, on the third floor, kind of like Butler
Cabin at Augusta that you canrent out and stay there, and
they were hotel-style littlerooms.
It was awesome.
And then you have, you know,your main entertainment area

(01:09:22):
with some TVs, couches, and thenyou all share you know
community showers, things likethat but it's connected to the
men's locker room, which has afull bar up there, a wall of TVs
.
You can put whatever sport oncouches, massage guns, you name
it.
They probably had it.
Wow, we got to spend some timethere Sunday afternoon while we

(01:09:46):
were all unwinding and playingsilly gambling games and you
know how Dennis gets.
So it was a good time.
I had a great time there.
Might stay there next time ifwe go up, because, uh, just to
be able to experience that withother golfers that are there for
that tournament.
I mean you wake up and you're,you're right there.
You can walk down and get yourclubs and go to the range.

Speaker 1 (01:10:10):
But if it's cold you just stay inside, or you could
do that, yeah, and then when yousee people gathering because
they're doing announcements, youcan just run all the way down.
That's awesome, that's all.
I'm pretty upset that I missedit.
You know in one hand, but youknow family stuff.
You got to do family stuff andthat is what it is.

(01:10:31):
We've both been in thatsituation.
Wouldn't trade that either,right, but it is what it is.
So hopefully next year we can,hopefully next year we'll go
back and we can be there and dothis.

Speaker 2 (01:10:49):
I want revenge, so we'll definitely figure it out.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
All right, all right.
So there was something else.
That kind of got settled.
Today We've been talking aboutStu's sub for at least a month,
right?
Maybe more than a month, right?
So yesterday I just want to letyou know yesterday I had a
bunch of stuff going on and itwas lunchtime and I'd eaten a

(01:11:16):
snack.
And it was lunchtime and I'deaten a snack and Jen said, well
, I can either go get you a halfa stew sub or I can go get you,
you know, a salad from thisside and the other place.
I said, look, I'll make a dealwith you Go get me a salad and
get me a full stew sub tomorrow.

(01:11:36):
And she said, well, how doesthat work?
So, so today she goes and shedoes, she gets me a full stew
sub and, oh my gosh, it's sogood, it is so good.
I just, I just gotta tell you,but I do need to let everybody

(01:11:57):
know that when Jen was there,she told the, the, the owner or
one of the owners and the guythat was at the counter taking
the order, that we've beentalking about Stu's for about a
month and they had no idea, sojust want to let them know.
Johan and Jeff, thank you forthe subs.
And they gave us a shirt Niceand they didn't have one that

(01:12:21):
would fit.
And so I said, well, take theshirt they have and I'll show it
on air and, you know, maybewe'll do a giveaway or something
.
And so Jen was here with me alittle bit ago and she was going
to go home, and I was going togo home and I was going to show
you the shirt right now you cansee it.
She took it?
Probably not.

(01:12:41):
She took it.
Yeah, so it happens.
It happens.
But but let's, I'll show you ashirt next time and let's see if
we can come up with a, with acontest to, to to give that away
, cause way, because I mean, Ican go to GoStoos and get a
shirt at any time.
But let's spread the love here.

Speaker 2 (01:13:01):
Yeah, I agree.
I mean you're getting meexcited and we're still what
five?
And a half months away and Iwant a two-sub now.
Can you just send me one,because I remember how good they
were.
It might not be as good when itgets here, but I remember how
good they were.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
It might not be as good when it gets here, but Well
, you know.
So I told you I got a full oneright and there's no need to
have a full one.
There's not, but you have ahalf.
If you just eat a half one,you're going to say, man, I want
more.
I think I had a half with theirsoup, which is really good.
But I ate the whole thing, Idon't blame you.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
I'm like oh my.

Speaker 1 (01:13:38):
God, but it's, it's so good.
Stu's is the best.
Thank you, johan and Jeff, forwhat you guys do and we'll get,
we'll get the shirt up next timeand and we'll come up with a
good contest to make sure we getthat out.

Speaker 2 (01:13:53):
Yeah, maybe the winner can come have a a lunch
with us, that's great.
While we're at nationals.

Speaker 1 (01:14:00):
That'd be awesome.
So we got that.
That's settled.
We're not going to hell becauseof mother's day.
Nope Again.
Happy mother's day, everybody.
Don't don't forget the raffle,yeah, the iron raffle, yeah.
So if you want in on the IronRaffle, $10, venmo.
All that's in the.

(01:14:20):
I'll put that in the show notesand we'll go from there.
There was something else thatwe're missing that we want to
talk about.
Oh, how could we forget this?
Player of the Month?
Today is the last day to getyour, your, your, uh your
entries, nominations and tourdirectors Yep.

(01:14:41):
Um, today May 5th, so if you'relistening to it on Tuesday,
you're already too late.
Save it.
Monday, may 5th.
Save it for me, put it, save it, save it for me.
But you know what, chris?
I don't know if you've beencopying on all of them, but we
got some really good nominationsso far I've been copying on
most of them.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
I think I think after the 50th reply, all people
started realizing not to replyall and just reply to us.
Oh my gosh.
I've read a couple of them andit's going to be tough.
It's going to be tough, it'sgoing to be tough.

Speaker 1 (01:15:17):
It's going to be tough and I appreciate all of
the tour directors doing thisand taking their time to do it.
And again, it's really it's notfor us, it's for honoring your
members.

Speaker 2 (01:15:30):
Yes, definitely.

Speaker 1 (01:15:32):
Because that's what this podcast is about anyway.
It's not about us, it's notabout tour directors, it's about
our members, right, and sharingthings with them.
So looking forward to that, andwe may have a new graphic for
it.
Yeah, we're still working onthat and once that's approved

(01:15:52):
we'll make sure that we sharethat and give the person credit
who came up with it and designedit.
It looks pretty good, but again, we've got to get the approval
before we just send that out.

Speaker 2 (01:16:04):
Approvals are always needed, but it'll help us.
It'll help you and me stay outof trouble.

Speaker 1 (01:16:11):
Yeah, I don't need trouble, man, I really don't.
And you know with what Dennisand Jennifer have going on with
with with her, her parents.
I don't want to be the cause ofany more uh.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
I need to stress more than that and he was stressed.

Speaker 1 (01:16:27):
I'm normally causing them.
I'm trying to cut back on that,but right, right, there's some
time Right, anyway, anyway, uh,what else you got I?

Speaker 2 (01:16:38):
mean you got beat the heat.
Uh, we just finished beat theheat, um, in the mountains.
Um, you know, as we'rerecording this, I know it's
gonna be a great time.
Um, when you hear this,there'll be new winners and
hopefully I'm one of them.
But uh, it's just, it's alwaysa great time to take out the
family.
I'm taking the family up there,you know.
Just get a, get a nice littlecabin and hang out, watch the

(01:17:02):
deer roam in the back, as asyou're trying to just chill and
have a have a weekend away fromthe craziness of the city.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:17:12):
What's it like in El Paso weather-wise, Is it getting
hot Same?

Speaker 2 (01:17:16):
Hotter with dust.
I could taste the dust when Ilanded from Ohio.
It was bad, Loved it huh, goodto be home.

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
Taste the dust, it is what it is, man Right.
Well, dude, it's good seeingyou.
I really wish I could have seenyou know, uh, your brother and
and chris and and all you guys,but uh, well, next time I'll

(01:17:47):
take you to this nice pizzajoint we found out there luigi's
pizza, luigi, so good you know,I like pizza so good, if you
look at me, I like pretty mucheverything.
I don't like onions orasparagus, but or sweet potatoes
, but I mean the three goodthings for you make sense oh,

(01:18:14):
it's good times, my friend, goodtimes you.
You travel safe this weekend andbest to the family Likewise,
and we'll talk to you soon.
Yes, sir, thank you.