Golf, Grit, and Brotherhood: Highlights from the Golfweek Amateur Tour

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Welcome back to Golfweek Amateur Tour - The Podcast, your favorite amateur golf podcast where the stories are real, the community is tight, and the competitive golf events bring everyday golfers together from across the country.

This week, Tim Newman and Chris Rocha take you on a journey through one of the most heartfelt and fun chapters yet in the Golfweek Amateur Tour. From first-time victories to powerful stories of resilience, this episode captures what makes the amateur golf community unlike any other.

Greg Gunnels’ First Win
After five years of dedication, Greg finally secures his first win on tour, and it’s not even the best part. He shares how one Bloody Mary at a Louisiana South event led to deep friendships and a true sense of brotherhood. Despite having a local Houston tour, Greg keeps coming back to Louisiana for one simple reason: “Those are my brothers over there.” This is amateur golf at its most meaningful.

Roger Claytor’s Story of Strength
Recognized as the March National Player of the Month, Roger opens up about supporting his wife through her cancer battle and how the Golfweek Amateur Tour community showed up for them in a big way. From his home in Richmond, Roger’s decade-long commitment to the tour and his family is nothing short of inspiring. And when his wife rang that victory bell, the tour gave her a championship belt of her own. If you ever doubted that golf tournaments could change lives, this story will prove otherwise.

Tour Wrap-Up
From Richmond to Louisiana South, this episode highlights everything that makes local golf tours special: competitive spirit, camaraderie, and a community that rallies around each other on and off the course. Whether you're playing through pouring rain, chasing personal bests, or just soaking in a weekend with your golf buddies, there’s nothing quite like being part of the Golfweek Amateur Tour.

Want to be part of the story?
Join a tour near you amateurgolftour.net
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Whether you’re grinding for a National Championship or just here for the golf tips, laughs, and community, this episode is packed with everything everyday golfers love. Thanks for being part of the Golfweek Amateur Tour family!

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, chris, welcome back Postmasters.
Post-heritage edition of theGolfing Campers Tour.
The podcast Best episode in thehistory of podcasts is going to
happen right here tonight.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes, sir, it is.
It's going to be exciting.
You better listen in.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Better Do you enjoy the Masters?
Happy Rory won.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
I did enjoy the Masters.
I was really rooting for Rose.
I'd rather see Rose win thanRory, but you know, eventually
he was going to win his GrandSlam.
Honestly, I'm not a big Roryfan, but I think a lot of Tiger
fans are not a big Rory fan.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
You know that's a good point.
I used to despise him but youknow I've kind of come around as
he's gotten older.
I think he has really kind ofgrown into his, into his role as
I wouldn't say an elderstatesman but a but an
ambassador of the tour.
I think he's really kind ofgrown into that and and not not

(01:03):
been the obnoxious kid that hewas.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
I mean, when he started he was um, I would
completely agree with you untilthe last Ryder cup where he
wanted to fight everybody in theparking lot.
Um, I thought that was a littlechildish and kind of took it
back A good notch or two or 10.
Um, but I mean, like tiger, astiger got older, we started

(01:26):
seeing him smiling and you know,you see that kevin na
interaction he had at theplayers with him and it's good
to see and you're starting tosee with rory and, and you know,
some of the older, oldergolfers out there.
Um, like I said, I'm happy thathe got the grand slam.
He he's been working at it for11 years trying to get that
thing solidified.

(01:46):
Um, you can tell in his reactionhow much it meant for him to
get it.
Uh, glad his, his family wasthere, his daughter was there.
She may not understand it butlater on in life she will
understand how much, how muchthat meant.
Um, so, like I said, you know,good for him.
I was really really rooting forRose, especially when he made

(02:11):
that birdie on 18.
Really thought there was achance and I can't believe Rory
gave him that extra hole,because anything can happen in
that playoff hole, anything.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah, Rory tried to give it away.
I mean, he tried his hardest togive it away.
Oh my God, yeah, he reallytried to give it away.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
I mean he tried his hardest to give it away.
Oh my God.
I think that second shot onthat last par five around the
trees, like Bubba Watson did acouple years or what a decade,
probably more than a decade agothat I mean that ball could
easily hook into the water orhit the slope and keep rolling
down to the water and that thinglanded what?

(02:47):
Seven feet, maybe eight feet.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Well, here's the thing about that If you ever get
a chance to go and you look atthat shot, it's more impressive
than you think.
It's more impressive than youthink from where he hit that
ball to where it was.
Right.
I mean no, you have.

(03:12):
I mean you really don't haveany idea Unless you've seen,
unless you've been there andseen that I mean it looks
impressive to begin with.
Right, right, right.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
But it's, I can imagine, with the green being as
tiny as it is.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
It's oh God, it's narrow, I mean, and with the
tree there, it's impressive.
I mean, it was a heck of a shot, I mean, any way you look at it
, right, right, but dumping theball in the water, I can't

(03:47):
believe he did that.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
And Bryson, I mean Bryson, he didn't seem like he
showed up for a fourth day.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
I don't know what that was all about.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
Like he was tired after three rounds.
Like it was a live golf event,I mean.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Oh man see, Come on now.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
He was a disappointment.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
Well, I'm going to tell you another disappointing
thing.
Okay, so we're now a month intothis thing, this whole Stu sub
thing, guess what Huh.
Still haven't had a Stu's sub.
I said to Jen on Sunday.
I said let's go over to Stu'sto grab a sub for Sunday

(04:37):
afternoon before the Mastersactually comes on.
I said wait a second, I'm notsure if they're open.
Check that they're not open onSunday.
So I don't know, I got to get usto a sub here soon.
Anyway, let's get back to thebusiness at hand.
We've got a really good episode.

(04:58):
We've got a Louisiana SouthTour member won his first event.
We'll be talking to him.
We've got the March Player ofis first event.
We'll be talking to him.
We've got the March player ofthe month winner we talking to
them.
And actually you know we'regoing to, we're going to name
all the nominees later on theshow, congratulate them and then

(05:19):
we'll go from there Ready toget started.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Sounds good, let's go .

Speaker 1 (05:22):
Let's do it.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
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 and courseprofessionals.
Now here are your hosts, TimNewman and El Paso Las Cruces.
Tour director Chris Rocha.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Oh, my God.
Chris.
Yes, so welcome back.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
Just so everybody knows, Chris made me laugh as we
were coming in.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
He can't stop.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Oh gosh, that's funny , Don't even worry about what he
said, but it's funny, Chris,how you doing bud Good, I'm
doing good.
Yeah, Getting better, so that'sa good sign.
But I feel like I'm 90 yearsold with the amount of
medication I'm taking.
But as long as it gets mebetter, that's all that matters.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
That's all that matters.
That's all that matters.
That's all that matters.
Yeah, I like your new setup.
Maybe we'll talk about that,let's just get right into it.
Our first guest of the week oneof his buddies sent a message
through Facebook, so we got totalk to this guy.

(07:09):
Even though we've got a Houstontour, he drives from Houston to
the Louisiana South Tour everytournament.
Got his first win a coupleweeks ago and let's just go
ahead and bring him in.
His name is is.

(07:31):
He's not there, come on now Ido.
I got.
I got Jan Meyer trying to tellme his name.
I know his name but I'm hittingshow and he's not showing up.
There he is.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
There he is, hey welcome.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
Greg.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
You would think this is our first time doing this and
I got Jen in the background onthe other side of the curtain,
back there telling me your name.
I said I know what your name is.
I can't figure out how to getyou back into the room.
So welcome to the show, greg.
Thank you for having me.
No worries, you know you livein Houston, but you traveled to

(08:21):
Louisiana South Tour for allyour tournaments and one of your
buddies sent us a message andsaid you won your first
tournament, so we've got to talkto you.
So tell us about it.

Speaker 5 (08:36):
Well, our Louisiana South tournament for Carter
Plantation got canceled so Idecided to play the Houston
tournament which was inMargaritaville.
And I mean I was just hittingthe ball.
Good that day, the ball good onthe fairway.

(08:57):
I don't hit the ball long.
If I hit the ball 200 yards I'msurprised actually.
But I played pretty good, Iguess, and come out with a
victory.
I was very happy Well you bleweverybody away.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
You won by four strokes.

Speaker 5 (09:21):
Yes, sir, but it's the Houston tour.
It's not as much competition asthe Louisiana South.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Oh, I mean calling them out come on, come on,
houston, you guys gotta step itup.
Uh-oh, here we go.
It's this, chris.
I think this is the first timewe've had this.
I mean just just throwingthrowing the gauntlet down.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that.
I enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
I'm I'm all right with that.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
I'm all right with that maybe I said that greg, you
said the right way, don't worryabout that greg, you said what
you said, don't it?

Speaker 1 (09:57):
I mean it, you know it, it is what it is now.
If you had said it was it wasthe el paso tour, then then I'd
probably have to separate youtwo.
Uh-oh, uh-oh.

Speaker 5 (10:06):
On the Louisiana South tour we have 15, 16, even
18 to 20 players in the D flight.
That's what flight I'm in Onthe United.
I mean a win's a win.
I understand that.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
There's a lot of.
I understand that, yeah, butlike you said, a win's a win.
Take what you can get Fiveyears.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Well, I mean, I'm looking at it right now and I
didn't even know this In seaflight.
One of my guys went out thereand won, so congratulations to
him too.
That's his first time winningas well, so maybe Houston's the
spot to go if you want to getyour first win.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Chris, maybe that's where you should go for your
next A-flip Settle down.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Stop right there, stop right there, stop right
there.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
So, greg, you've been on tour for five years.
What keeps you coming back?
If this is your first win, whatkeeps you coming back?

Speaker 5 (11:17):
Man, the guys over in Louisiana South are just
absolutely amazing.
Yeah, I'll go over there andwin, but it's a memorabilia than
anything.
Those are my brothers overthere.
It's really funny how it allstarted.

(11:37):
Michael Wilcox came over toHouston my first year we were
playing Tour 18, came over toHouston my first year we were
playing Tour 18.
And I met him and you know hetold me he was from Louisiana
South.
He bought me a Bloody Mary andthat's really how it all started

(12:00):
.
You know, I started playingthere the next year and I mean
from the very get-go.
The very first tournament wasthe Bluffs and I mean they just
took me in like they knew meforever and that's the way it's
been for the past four yearsthat I've been on.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
That's awesome.
It was Shane Stevens that sentthe message on Facebook.
Basically, what he said was youdrive over there because one of
the reasons is you like toparty with the LA South guys.
I mean excuse me LouisianaSouth guys.

Speaker 5 (12:37):
Oh yeah, we do that too.
He's like yeah, yeah, it'sthere.

Speaker 1 (12:44):
Yeah, it's just normal stuff.
It's just normal.
It's just normal saturday.
It's just what we do.
So what you know when you driveover there.
What's your favorite course toplay over there in in uh in
louisiana?

Speaker 5 (12:56):
probably cassati pines.
That's a beautiful course um.
This year we're playing the EPCof Louisiana, so that's going
to be interesting.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
So you're at Kasadi Pines at the end of June.
That's good.
Yes, at the end of June.

Speaker 5 (13:19):
We're playing a new one this weekend that I've never
played Golden Nugget.
I've never played that course.
Never played Golden Nugget, Inever played that course, so
it'll be interesting.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Yeah, when we had JP on last year, he talked about
that course and he said reallygood things about it.
So you know, I think you'regoing to enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (13:49):
That TPC one.
That's where the Zurich Classicis correct.
Yes, I might have to look at myschedule and see if I'm
available.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
You're doing a lot of traveling, though.

Speaker 2 (14:05):
Eh, I'll drive, Just kidding, I'll be in Albuquerque.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
So, Greg, you know you, that would be a long time.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
Yes, what would that be for you, chris?

Speaker 2 (14:19):
10 hours 24 hours maybe.

Speaker 1 (14:20):
No.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
It's 16 to get to Houston.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
Not doing that.
But, Greg, I'm just looking atyour scoring history.
You don't miss.
You don't miss tournament atall.
You've got 60 rounds sinceMarch of 2001.
I'm assuming March of 2021.

Speaker 5 (14:41):
Wow, how many rounds 60.
He doesn't even know.
That's it.
No, I did, I really I didn't.
I had no clue.
No, I uh, I really I don't tryto miss.
I'm going to miss a lot morethis year because there's a lot

(15:02):
of Houston tournaments that Iwant to play lot more this year
because there's a lot of Houstontournaments that I want to play
.
But, um, you know, I, I like Isaid before, you know, I just
like around them guys, they're,they're my brothers to me, and
you know it's, it's just whenyou're around them you can see

(15:23):
you, could I mean no, it's hardto explain.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yeah, yeah, greg, I know, I know exactly what you
mean.
You know, we've talked to himhere before.
You know, at least for me,tournament days is best day of
the week.
Um, yeah, Love hanging out withthe guys and and and and having
all that fun.
So, um, you know you.
You know, chris, from ourperspective, we kind of hope
that every tour and having allthat fun.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Chris, from our perspective, we kind of hope
that every tour is like that.
Right, and I think every tourstrives to be like that, where
it doesn't matter where you'reat, but your local tour or a
tour that you call your localtour, you have those special
bonds with those players.
So I completely agree.
I was like with me and some ofthe arizona guys.
Even though I keep gettingpictures of the rider cub belt

(16:11):
every two weeks, um, they'restill like brothers to me you're
not gonna give that up, are you?

Speaker 1 (16:19):
you're not gonna let it go?

Speaker 2 (16:21):
not until I get it back.
No come on now.

Speaker 5 (16:25):
Then it'll be on every episode of the podcast,
Don't you wait?
Just wait and see.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
I get it Now that we're video.
They have no idea.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
Oh, greg, you know you.
You were at the Regional atTamaka Trails last June.
There's been a lot of talkabout the food that was there.
You know, gina did a reallygood job with the authentic

(16:56):
Cajun food, but Chris was likingthe Mexican food better, did
you?

Speaker 5 (17:11):
I.
We were playing a little game.
She had, she did, she reallydid an awesome job.
Yeah, but she had a thing towhere you had to chip over a 12
foot wall and then you had toputt and then you had to go out
there, chip underneath sometrees and I didn't even I didn't

(17:32):
get to eat, basically what Iwas trying to say, um, but
everybody's saying that the foodwas was great.
I'm gonna be back over therethis year.
I mean, she really did anawesome job on that regional.
It was a lot.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
It was, it really was .
No, I mean.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
I was able to participate in it and it was a
blast.
That wall makes you think youknow, oh, I'm a good flop player
, but no, you're not.
Not when you got to go over awall like that, but luckily.

Speaker 3 (18:09):
I hit the top of one and it bounced over, so I got
the point.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
But I ended up winning my flight, so that was
nice for at least that challenge, Greg how'd you do in that
Friday?

Speaker 5 (18:23):
That Friday we were over at the casino and we got to
go to the top golf simulator.
Yes, the simulator, that's whatthat's the word I was looking
for.
Thank you, Chris.

Speaker 1 (18:38):
Yeah, I enjoyed it out there too, although I didn't
like the casino very much.
I didn't walk away a winnerthere, but the food was good.
Love seeing the guys again.
Gina did a great job with itand hopefully we can get back
there again real soon.
Chris yeah, I can't wait, it'llbe a blast now, greg, the big

(19:01):
question is are we going to seeyou at national championship
this year?
So you will, all right.
So make sure you come and seeus at check-in, and we're still
working on which regionals Chrisand I are going to get to, and
hopefully we'll see you at oneof those as well.
All right, but thanks so muchfor taking some time with us

(19:24):
tonight.
I really do appreciate it.
Congratulations on the win.
And you know, chris, I think weshould start just making this a
standard invitation.
If you come on and then you winthree in a row, we'll make a
segment for you for the rest ofthe year.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Fine with me Hopefully.

Speaker 5 (19:47):
I'll win, hopefully I'll win this second one.
Yeah, I hope so.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
It's kind of a big deal.
There's only one thing betterthan one win, and that's two
wins, so you got to get after itExactly.
All right, buddy, will you takecare of yourself, and we'll
talk to you soon.
Let's take a break from theshow to hear about Strixon's ZX
Mark II drivers.

Speaker 6 (20:12):
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Speaker 1 (20:26):
You know, chris, I'm really glad that we got to talk
to Greg tonight.
And you know, when we startedthis thing a couple years ago we
never knew what it was going toturn into.
We surely didn't think it wasgoing to be this Right.
But Greg was sent to us from aFacebook message, you know, from

(20:50):
one of his friends on tour.
He said, oh, you got to talk tothis guy, he got his first win
ever.
Really excited.
And you know I really enjoyedtalking to him, talking to Greg
and what he goes through to.
You know to travel and playevery week.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah, I mean it's cool that you have a bunch of
tours around that you can justgo and travel.
I mean, I'm pretty sure theycan be long weekends, depending
on how your round goes, if youhave to drive back right away,
but to get your first win isjust one of those that you
always remember.
You know, you get that monkeyoff your back and then it just

(21:30):
seems like there's a time periodwhere you keep winning and
that's where the competitivepart comes, you know, and then
some players are lucky enough toget moved up because they're
playing so well, and then youhave that dry spell.
But when you get that next winin the next flight, it builds

(21:53):
that competitive fire again andyou just keep going.
So congratulations to him.
You know it's good to see thatother people are bringing up the
fact that, hey, you need tointerview this guy that got his
first win ever.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
First win ever.
Yeah, that's pretty awesome,and he had some technological
difficulties.
I think that's going to be thetheme of this episode Still the
best episode ever but I know hehad some technological uh issues
and he sent you an email towrap things up.
You you want to go ahead andread that, for yeah, I mean he.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
He sent me this email almost right right after we we
talked to him um, but uh, heforgot to mention a couple
people that that he reallywanted to talk about um.
Like he said, we have someissues, but uh, I'll go ahead
and read it out.
You know, this is from greg.
He wanted to thank sh.
Like you said, we have someissues, but I'll go ahead and
read it out.
This is from Greg.
He wanted to thank Shane Stevensand please forgive me if I

(22:53):
mispronounce some of these names.
In El Paso we kind of have someregular names.
Everybody has the same lastname.
So he wanted to thank ShaneStevens for sending us an email
to set up the interview.
Stevens for sending sending usan email to set up the interview
.
Uh.
Also like to thank jp and hiscrew, michael wilcox, uh, geoff
bernard and miss jenny for doingsuch a wonderful job on the

(23:14):
tour and, last but not least,kane savoy for giving me a few
pointers and helping me with mygame.
All of the guys on tour are thebest, and my brothers Thank God
that I'm able to play golfwherever possible.
And again, thanks for having meon the show.
So that's kind of cool, youknow.

(23:35):
I mean he has like a little fanclub that he wants to thank.
But I think everybody on tourhas that five or six group of
people that they really enjoyseeing weekend and week out at
events.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
Exactly, and it's good to know that you know again
like that people are cheeringeach other on as well, that's
again.
That's what it really comesback to.
But, greg, congratulations onyour first win.
Hopefully we'll see you inHilton Head at National
Championship or, if you go to aregional, hopefully we'll see

(24:10):
you there as well.
Now we've got our MarchNational Player of the Year,
which is yes sir, you know it'sa really inspiring story.
Yeah, we talk all the time aboutcancer and how devastating it

(24:33):
is of a disease and how itaffects everybody, and I'm
really glad that this person wasnominated because it's a
feel-good story all the wayaround.
I mean, he's been a longtimetour member, very loyal to the
tour, has been helping out anddoing those things that we talk

(24:53):
about all the time, plus helpinghis wife beat cancer, and so
I'm really looking forward totalking to this gentleman.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
Yeah, I mean, you know, I will say this the
competition is getting fierceevery month as we keep getting
more and more, uh, nominations,um, but when, when you and me
read it, it kind of stood out tous.
Um, because of that, and I meanthat's one of the driving
forces of this tour is is tohelp the foundation.

(25:23):
Um, and, like you say, all thetime, you know everybody's
touched with it one way oranother.
And, like you say, all the time, everybody's touched with it
one way or another, touched byit, unfortunately.
But it was a cool story andbeing able to talk to him it's
going to be a great time and,yeah, I can't wait to hear how

(25:45):
excited he is to be nominatedfor this.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
Yeah, let's go to Bremen.
All right, chris, oh my gosh.
All right, chris.
Let's go ahead and welcome inour March National Player of the
Month from Richmond, rogerClaytor, and his tour director,
sean Redman.
Guys, welcome to the show.

Speaker 7 (26:10):
Hey how y'all doing this evening.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
Doing awesome.
What everybody doesn't knowbehind the scenes is it took
almost two hours to geteverybody connected tonight.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Settle down, settle down.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Roger.
That's what you get for beingPlayer of the Month.
You get to mess with technologywhen you should be hanging out
Absolutely, I learned some stuffI didn't know.
There you go, Roger.
First off, congratulations.
What I want to do is I want toread you the nomination that was
sent in, and then we'll reallyget into talking about what's

(26:44):
been going on with you andwhat's going on in the Richmond
tour.
Here it is I would like tonominate with you and what's
going on in the Richmond tour.
Okay, so here it is.
I would like to nominate RogerClaytor of Richmond Virginia for
this month.
Roger Claytor has been a tourmember on both Tidewater and
Richmond Virginia tour for over10 years.
He has been a multiple winnerand season points champion as
well.
His dedication to this tour andthe friendships he has built

(27:08):
along the way goes to show whyhe's such a great tour member.
Roger's wife just finished hercancer treatments and fellow
tour director Sean Redmondpresented her with a
championship belt.
She loved every minute of it,and now Roger and her have
champion belts.
As tour members and directors,we always look after our tour
members and ask about thefamilies, and this has been a
tough battle, but Roger wasright there all the way with her

(27:30):
.
So you know, congratulations onbeing the player of the month,
but, but more importantly,congratulations to your wife,
who is better and still with us.
Thank you very much.
She's much better.

Speaker 4 (27:46):
Is she cancer free or out of the woods, or or just
she's cancer free's back workingfull-time now, well, enjoying
life I think that's mostimportant thing working
full-time in it.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Absolutely bring that money in, baby, my sugar mama.
There you go.
Yeah, I need to get one ofthose.
Sean, I know you and Roger havebeen friends for forever.
First off, you know thank youfor bringing this to our

(28:19):
attention, because you knoweverybody knows what the tour,
what our tour charity, is.
We're all around cancer.
You know, nobody on tourdoesn't know somebody who hasn't
been affected by this, whetherit's a family member, whether
it's a friend.
We've all been touched by thisdeadly disease and hearing
something positive about this isreally good to hear.

(28:43):
So thank you for nominatingRoger, amen.

Speaker 7 (28:46):
Yeah, you know it's.
You know, like I said, me andRoger have been neighbors and
golf friends.
We've known each other for along time and when somebody
finally we hear so many badcancer stories that when
somebody finally can comethrough the other side, it's
worth celebrating, it's worththe belt.

(29:09):
And I was just like man, we gotto do something.
I mean she still worked goingthrough chemo Just good people.
And you know, like I said, youknow Roger is one of my players
on my tour but also one of myfriends and part of the family.
It's just something that youcan't be quiet about.

(29:31):
You've got to do something.
And Roger had got a belt wherehe won a belt in previous golf.
So I was like man, let's gether a championship belt for for
beating cancer.
Me and me and Roger, we all werolled up in our work one day
and we just stopped everybodyand said, look, we want to

(29:52):
present her with this trophy forher kicking cancer's ass.
And I mean the place went wild.
It just gives me chills thinkingabout it now, because we all
talk about it and we want tohelp, but sometimes that little
bit of stuff there, and then thepeople that talked to us
afterwards that had beenbattling and it just gave them a
little bit more ofencouragement to keep going.

(30:14):
Um, it's just, it's justawesome.
Um, and you know, we've alllost people.
I mean, there's a lot of peopleI play golf with not a lot, but
I probably, in the last fiveyears, at least five or six
people that have been on thetours that I've known that have
died from cancer.
Um, and that sucks, man.
And we're all trying.
Last year we had a good pushand raise some money for for the

(30:37):
V foundation now and puttingall our stuff together.
So, um, we keep lifting ourplayers up and and start, keep
raising money and you know we'regoing to have more of these
victory stories soon.
Yes, we will.

Speaker 1 (30:53):
So, roger, how long have you been on the tour?
And you know what would you say, is your, your favorite memory
of of being on tour and and youcan't say you know winning the
belt, or giving you, giving yourwife, the belt, it's got to be
something that, that youactually did.

Speaker 4 (31:07):
I've been on the tour about 10 years and my biggest
accomplishment was at King'sMill.
It was about two weeks afterthe ladies played there,
probably six years ago, I wasstill in D-Flight and I hit one
heck of a drive.
The ground was just hard as abrick when the girls were
playing.
You could see them hit ironshots and dust would fly.

(31:28):
So I hit a pretty good driveright down the middle and then I
hit a five wood, stuck it onthe green and I made a eagle.
That paid me about twelvehundred dollars.
Whoa, wow and uh, that's.
That's one of my biggestaccomplishments other than
winning a championship in gflight, so that was a day to

(31:51):
remember $1,200.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
I'll take that over a win any day, though, yeah.

Speaker 4 (31:59):
Oh yeah, I got the skin and the scooper skin and
I'm sure those champ and Aflighters were just having a fit
that a D flighter won that kindof money.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
I mean, but it shows you that any flight can win a
super skin Any flight, that's it.
These guys that are in deflatessaying, oh, I have no chance.
Yeah, you technically do,you're playing closer, you just
have to have that one perfecthole, that's it and you can walk
away with some money.

Speaker 4 (32:30):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (32:33):
Well, you know, chris I don't know if you looked at
the winners from the pool thatwe're in.
So, guys, masters was just overthis weekend and Chris and I
are in a pool where the winnerwon $31,000.
Woo.
That wasn't me, it wasn't Woothat wasn't me.

(32:54):
It wasn't me.

Speaker 7 (32:55):
It wasn't me either.
That's a lot of money on theline.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
It is.
It is so, Sean, you told me astory about Roger before we got
on.
You want to tell that storyBecause I think I like your
story better than the one hetold.

Speaker 7 (33:11):
Yeah, you know it's how golf goes sometimes.
So it was the Carolina club andRoger Claytor was playing
Kennedy Bland in a playoff andyou know there's this good
following.
So there's probably 30 people,35, 40 people standing back
watching them coming to thegreen.
So Kennedy Bland hits it on parfive and two Roger's just a

(33:35):
little bit short.
So everybody's watching gettingquiet and we're watching him.
Roger gets up there and bladesthe ball across the green and
you just hear everybody go, oh,and it's like people are moving.
It's like, oh, man, it's bad,it's bad.
I mean, roger's face is bloodred.
I can see he's pissed.

(33:56):
So as he's walking across thegreen he just looks at me a
little bit.
I was like, come on, man.
And he's probably say 10 or 15yards and it's not an easy shot,
by no means.
He's 10, 15 yards off the green.
It's got to chip it up on agreen, let it trickle down.
And he holds out for birdie.

(34:16):
So it's like you go fromblading it across the green to
chipping it in for birdie andI'm videoing it.
So I'm like, yeah, man, now hegoes show everybody and then you
know KB's putting for Eagle,but after you chip in for Birdie
, man, he didn't even get itclose, but they wound up Birdie

(34:37):
and then going to another hole.
But yeah, roger, I mean bladedit terrible and then the chip in
.
That's our golf careers.
Right there, you know.
Bad shot, good shot.

Speaker 1 (34:49):
But that's what keeps you coming back, though, too.
Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (34:56):
No doubt Roger's definitely lucky on the golf
course.
I play a lot of golf with himin the afternoons and stuff
we're battling over those dollarbirdies and dollar CPs.
That's it.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
They add up after a while.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
I keep telling him he needs to give me.
He needs to give me strokes.

Speaker 7 (35:14):
He says I'll give you mulligans because you'll learn
to be get better that way yeah,if anybody, look, if anybody
wants to get better, becauseit's very hard for a low
handicap to play with a higherhandicap golfer and give them 15
, 20 strokes.
So I always told roger when hestarted playing back look, I'll
give you mulligans, because ifyou're going to take my money,

(35:34):
you're going to hit the shots.
And if everybody did that,that's how you bring those D and
C players up to A and B flightbecause they've got to hit those
shots.
I like that, yeah, and gettired of losing.
You know you got to shoot fiveunder to beat a 19 handicap.
I mean that's just like oh man,that's tough.

Speaker 2 (35:58):
I like that idea actually.

Speaker 7 (36:03):
I mean what it does is it keeps people playing
together, because I know my C&Dflight guys love to play with
the A&B flight guys butsometimes they don't want to bet
or do anything because it'slike different t-boxes or
whatever.
But when you give themmulligans, so I'd give roger
four or five mulligans aside, soand he would take my money
because you know you missed thatfirst shot.
Then you hit that second shot.

(36:23):
Now he's confident.
Now I'm struggling to try tokeep up with it, right, um.
But that's how you you improvethe game.
You don't.
Don't give nobody nothing.
Let them earn it um.
And and if you do that, theneverybody be calling me roger's
good at golf.
Right now I mean he's in seaflight um, but I've seen him.
I've seen him shoot, you know,one or two over in our afternoon

(36:44):
nines and it's like man dude,you need to calm down um.
But but you give them, you givethem that opportunity to get
better.
That's, that's the whole thing.
Is you want people to getbetter.
I'm not in for it, for the, youknow, career d flighters.
I mean they're out there, butyou know, get the d and c flight
, you know, and then c to b umand then you change people.

(37:04):
So I started in d flight.
I know people from d to champflight on like all the tours.
Almost it seems like you knowum from the mix of people.
But yeah, if you give themmulligans, let them get better.
If you're gonna take my money,earn it.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
You know I like that yeah, that's a really, really
good idea.
I've never thought of it thatway, but but you know you,
you're absolutely right becauseyou got it like you said you got
.
You got to actually hit theshot and and then go and and hit
it again, as opposed to youknow, I'll go ahead and I'll
double bogey in, because I knowI got two strokes in this hole

(37:39):
right and and I'll I'll be fine,as opposed to actually
concentrating and focusing on onhitting the shot, like you're
supposed to.

Speaker 7 (37:46):
Yep, and then also we'll let the that champ and a
flight guys play with the B andC's.
You know, cause if they feellike they got to shoot three or
400 to win a little bit of moneyor on a side game, right,
they're not going to play.
But you get a champ flight guythat that's going to give you 10
Mulligans aside.
You know he'll be like allright, man, let's go see what

(38:07):
you got you.
You know he'll be like allright, man, let's go see what
you got you know.
And it just, it just makes itmakes that whole thing like like
my champ, my champ flight guys,will play with my b flight guys
.
It's got to be a good mix and Ithink that's how you build a
good tour.
You got to have everybody youknow vibing together exactly so.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
so, roger, you and sean been friends for a long
time.
Give us a good story about Sean.
Give us a good one, man, youcaught me by surprise.

Speaker 4 (38:38):
He has too many.
He does really have too many.
But I have to say, Sean, hisworth ethic is one top notch of
anybody.
I know he's working hard tobuild the Richmond tour up to
what he wants it to be, and he'sa hard worker whether it's work
or play.
I mean, you play hard, you workhard, but all around good guy.

(39:02):
I can't ask for a better friend.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
Well, we know that, but I want a golf story with you
playing golf with him.
That's going to make us alllaugh.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
I know you got it.
You probably got two dozen ofthem.

Speaker 4 (39:15):
Sean is so good, I mean oh get out of here.
He's an A, I'm an C.
It's hard for me to competewith him.
So a lot of times we'll get outthere and we'll have a few
dollars on the line and we'll doreverse mulligans.
Where, say, he sinks a birdieputt, we'll call a mulligan on

(39:36):
him.
He's got to make that puttagain.
Ooh, ooh.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
Ooh, now we're playing.

Speaker 7 (39:43):
Uno golf.
Hey, they will take my moneyone way or another.
They like my money.

Speaker 4 (39:50):
Man, that's harsh.

Speaker 7 (39:50):
They'll take a 20 one way or another.
They like my money man that'sharsh.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
Well, I know I got to put that son of a bitch over
again.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Man, I'm speechless on that.
That's harsh.

Speaker 4 (40:02):
That is pretty tough.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
But you're going to do it anyway, though, right,
absolutely, but you're going todo it anyway, though right.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (40:12):
And then you know, when he really starts to hit it.
Good, me and my buddy Bobby wecall him Bobby Dollas because
he's always winning dollars fromus We'll play best ball against
Sean and has one ball, and thatkeeps us pretty close as well.

Speaker 7 (40:28):
So another quick little quick story and that
keeps us pretty close as well.
So another quick little quickstory.
So when Roger first startedplaying golf again, I think it
was like January or February,but it was like 70 degrees in
Virginia but raining, and I waslike come on, roger, let's go
play.
So we put on the rain suits andwent out and played dogwood in

(40:49):
the pouring down rain 70 degrees, the only two knuckleheads out
there.
So Roger's pretty right or downwhen it comes to hitting a golf
ball.
Man.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
See, I don't play very much golf anymore, but when
I was playing a lot I was like,if it's raining, I'm not
playing, it's just, I loveplaying in the weather, it's
just I love playing in theweather.

Speaker 4 (41:11):
Yeah, it's no fun, unless you hit it on a green and
it bounces about six feetBecause it's frozen.
It's frozen right.

Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yeah, we played on Thanksgiving Day one time and it
was this was in Pennsylvaniaand it was frozen.
It was like when you hit thegreen it was like hitting a cart
path, yep.
And when I finally hit thegreen and the ball literally
bounced like 20 feet in the air,I said we're done, we're not
doing that.
That's just crazy.

(41:41):
Go ahead.

Speaker 7 (41:45):
Go ahead, sean.
Oh, years back we played awinter tour event at Bayville
out on Virginia Beach and itsnowed like two inches by the
time we got back to the pro shop.
The sun come out, melted it andwe went back out and finished
the tournament.
Good old Virginia.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
Just give it a second right.

Speaker 7 (42:09):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
So, Roger, it looks like your lowest score on tour
is a 79.
You did that last year.

Speaker 4 (42:16):
Yeah, Providence Country Club, yep Tell us about
that.
I didn't win that day.
Oh, Bob Potter got him.
This old guy Out of all of that.
How old is Bob Potter?
78?
.

Speaker 7 (42:30):
Oh, he might be 80 now he shot 73 that day.

Speaker 4 (42:35):
I said, lord, have mercy but uh in d flight.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
Oh, you know what, I remember that c flight.
You know what?
Okay, I remember that because Iwas, I'm, I'm on the handicap
committee and those scores camein.
I'm like what the hell's goingon?

Speaker 4 (42:50):
I had a really good day that day.
Most of my shots were rightwhere I wanted them that day,
and the putts were falling aswell.

Speaker 1 (43:02):
Couldn't do any wrong .
Well, you could have done sixor six more, right?

Speaker 7 (43:05):
Yeah, yeah, for as old as Bob was man, he was on
fire that day.
He just won't go.
Give Roger no room to win.
Man.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
Sean, what's your best round on?

Speaker 7 (43:20):
tour 71.
I've shot one under, I thinkthree times on tour.
Okay.
But you know golf is so funnyto me.
You know, some days I'm reallygood, like right now I'll
struggle in A flight, I'll getback to B flight and shoot a 73

(43:41):
or 74.
Boom, back to A flight Right onback.
Just not long enough sometimesto hang with the big boys.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Chris just moved to the A-Flight this year.
Congratulations.

Speaker 2 (43:56):
Voluntarily, not by skill.

Speaker 7 (44:02):
I'm still trying to figure out.
I shot a 91 and stayed inA-Flight the other, I think last
tournament.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
Well, see, sean, here's the thing as tour
director, you've got to bereally bad to move back and
stayed in A-Flight the other, Ithink, last tournament, so whoo
Well, see, sean, here's thething.
As tour director, you've got tobe really bad to move back
because you're going to take allkinds of crap from your tour
members, right?
I mean for you to move back toB-Flight, you've got to have
like an 18 before you canactually justify moving back to
the B-Flight.

Speaker 7 (44:28):
Sometimes they want me to move back.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
I've considered it.
You know that.

Speaker 7 (44:35):
Man, we played hunting hog from the tips and we
had a 235-yard par three andI'm not going to say I didn't
hit the driver, but I'm notgoing to say I did hit the
driver but it was a verybig-headed 3-wood.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
Oh my God, yeah, I've got nothing for 235.

Speaker 7 (45:00):
Just give me a triple I was like how in D-flight did
I play so good and hit the ballso good?
Now I'm in A-flight and it'slike my short game's.
Like how in D flight did I playso good and hit the ball so
good?
Now I'm in A flight and it'slike my short game's solid.
But that driver is justridiculous.
A man, a man, and you know,moving to A flight, you get a

(45:21):
double or, god forbid, a triplein the first three or four holes
.
Man, you're 15th, 20th place,easy, you know.
You got that fine line wherethe guys are dropping down from
champ to a.
I mean, it's a flight isprobably the toughest flight out
of all the flights.
I think a flight is the mostcompetitive across the board.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
I I don't know if I disagree with that.
You know, because, like you,you said again, you've got your
borderline champ guys, and thenyou've got, I mean, if you're an
A-flag player, I mean you'resingle digit and you could go
low at any point, right, it'snot like a B-flag player is
going to shoot really on anygiven day, you know 73 or 74,

(46:07):
right, but an A-flag player will, will shoot us, could shoot a
71 or 72 at any time at any timeand then, and like I said again
, you're competing with, withthe borderline champ champ
players, and if you got, I meanif you got 15 or 20 guys in the
a-flight, you it's like playingin the regional every week.

(46:28):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you've got tobe on every week to win or be
in the money, absolutely.

Speaker 7 (46:36):
So and then you know, for a lot of my events I get
some Tidewater A-Flight guysthat will come play our events,
some DC.
So not only am I playingagainst my A-Flight guys but now
I'm playing against, you know,the Andrew Haynes and some of
the top echelon guys that comefrom Tidewater, which I'm glad
because you know that's my,they're my brothers man.

(46:56):
I've played with Tidewater forlike 17 years.
You know I don't even think Imissed the event the first 16,
17 years I played on tour.
But you know those guys theysupport and that's one good
thing about Tidewater andRichmond sort of being close.
You get a lot of support bothways.
So you know Lyle's real good tome with trying to make things

(47:20):
happen.
And then I get a couple golfcourses that won't even talk to
me and then I'm like Lyle pull astring or two, you know, give
him a call, whatever, and youknow he helps out on that end.
But we've got to support eachother's tours.
I'll just take a few minutesfor that.
We've got to support the DCtour, we've got to support the
Down East tour because as awhole, as we do that and we go

(47:42):
to different events, when you godown to nationals.
You already know people.
So much fun.
You're already confident you're, you're comfortable.
There's nothing worse thanbeing on a t-box with three
dudes.
You don't know and it's yourfirst time playing a three-day
event.
You know, exactly, exactlyexactly so we're building a good
brand.
Dennis has built a, a model, andthe people that he's put around

(48:03):
him is is is awesome.
You know, when I went to thedirector's meeting, I was
overwhelmed with how down toearth and cool everybody was.
It was more of a family cookout, you know.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
It's, you know, that's, you know, really the
only time that we as tourdirectors get together all year
long.
You know, and yeah, we may talkon the phone, may see each
other at events and those typesof things, but you know, being
able to have everybody in thatroom together, you know, even
for a couple hours it's so muchfun.
You build, you know, muchbetter connections and you can

(48:38):
also learn a lot while you'rethere too.

Speaker 7 (48:41):
Yeah, you see what's working and what's not working.
You know it's good stuff.
I mean I'm very grateful.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
So I mean, Sean, you're doing a really good job
in Richmond.
So tell us what's going on inRichmond and what do you got
going on this year.
And if there's one event thatif somebody's traveling
shouldn't miss, which one is it?

Speaker 7 (49:03):
I would have to say the back-to-back-to-back events
with both me, cephas andTidewater.
All three courses are greatcourses.
All the pros want us there andthat's the difference.
Sometimes they tolerate us, butyou know everybody that all of

(49:23):
them, providence, they want usthere, the Mattapanau, they want
us there At the Highlands.
Troy the pro, I mean he went tobat for us because the owners
didn't want us there.
The matapanada, they want usthere at the highlands.
Troy the pro, I mean he went tobat force because the owners
didn't want us there.
Um, not that they don't want toplay, but they always have a
full t-sheet six, seven days aweek and and the pro there, troy
, went to bat force, got us outthere and last year we had 124,

(49:46):
128 players and I mean pace ofplay was good.
We left the course better thanwe found it and everybody, you
know there was pizzas coming out, everybody's hung out.
We did a great prize ceremony.
It's just like, um, uh,everybody supported it and
because of that we got to comeback again this year.

(50:06):
Uh, just building, and it takesa little bit of time to get
your face out there.
But I also I would say we got19 new players this year that we
didn't have last year, and ofthe 19, 17 were from player
referral.
So I had 17 new players that myplayers brought that said, hey,

(50:29):
man, this is the product that'sout here.
Come on, let's go play somegolf, and I would rather build
that way.
You know, I don't mind peoplecoming off the street or
whatever, but you sort of know.
And then when some one of yourplayers are pumped up and they
get their friend to come, or oneof the guys at their golf
course to come out and play'realready ready because they've

(50:50):
already been coached up, theysay, hey, man, this is what you
got to be here, be ready, haveyour skin money ready, let's
check in, let's get to theranges, hit balls, let's get
ready.
You know, um, so when your tourdevelops from within, oh man,
that's, that's awesome.
Um, you know, you got the, thetattooed biker looking guy and
the young preppy kid in his Pumaskin-tight shirt on, and then

(51:14):
at the end of the round, theirbest friend's talking about let
me buy you a beer, man.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
That to me is just awesome man, it really is, but
that's what it's about, sean.
You know we talk about this allthe time.
That's really what it's about.
You know, the golf course ontournament day that's the day
that leave all the otherbullshit at home right, yes,
you're coming and we're gonnahave a good time and and and

(51:39):
play golf, have fun, relax,compete and and hang out and be,
be with, be with your buddies,be with your guys, be with, be
with your family.

Speaker 7 (51:47):
That's what it's about, and all it takes is one
person in your group to hit agreat shot, and then it's like
let's go, man.
It's so easy to cheer forsomebody when you've got the
right people Exactly.
It's awesome.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Well, Roger.
Again, thank you so much forall that you do for the tour.
Congratulations on on being themarch uh national tour member
of the month and um and all ourbest to to your wife.
I'm so happy that she's cancerfree and back healthy and and
supporting you so you can go outand play golf some more.

Speaker 7 (52:25):
Absolutely, thank you very much hey, uh, hey, and Tim
, real quick, I want to let youknow that I really appreciate
you and Chris.
What you're doing with this isputting us out there on a wide
scale.
Somebody can listen to thepodcast.
There's going to be people onother tours that's going to hear
this and be like man, I'm goingto nominate my guy, this guy,

(52:46):
and then we find more about eachother and then, when we all go
down to nationals, we'll be ableto like, hey, man, that's that
guy, that's that guy Exactly.
Y'all keep doing what y'all aredoing, because it's a great
thing and I listen to thepodcast all the time.
And some people I know, somepeople I don't, some people I
want to look to see, but Iappreciate you guys.
Tim, I remember when you was inDC, man, you've, uh, you've

(53:07):
taken it to another level,brother, and I really appreciate
it.
And Chris, hang out in a flightfor a little while.
I'll see you in nationals, bro.

Speaker 2 (53:15):
I'll be there.
I'll be there for a minute, butI appreciate it, John.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
I really do appreciate the kind word, but
you know me it's, you know it's.
It's not about me, it's aboutit's about the tour, it's about
the tour members, and and, andwe do this because we love the
tour.
That's.
That's the other piece of it.
You know when, when we startedthis it was, you know, I don't
know if I've ever told thisstory on on on the podcast, but
when I went to dentist with thisidea, I was at a place where I

(53:43):
I needed something that was funagain.
That's how this got started.
And, uh, he, he said, yeah, goahead and and and it kind of.
This thing kind of really blewup in about 35, 40 days.
I mean, it just exploded thatquickly.
But it's always been been aboutthe tour, it's always been
about the members, um, and andproviding value back to them,

(54:06):
and so I appreciate the kindwords, but I'm gonna going to
throw it back off on on you guys, as, as as tour members, it's
it's for you.
Anybody that's listening outthere, if you've got somebody
that should be on here, sendthem our way, cause that's what
this is about.

Speaker 7 (54:21):
That's it.
We're a big family, we're a bigfamily, and in golf is golf is
all knitting us all together,you know.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Exactly Made a lot of friends.
All right, guys.
Again, thanks so much forhopping on tonight.
I mean, it's only taken us twoand a half hours to get this
done, but we got it.
It's good seeing you guys, andwe'll talk to you soon.
Let's take a break from theshow to hear about Strixon's ZX
Mark II irons.

Speaker 6 (54:48):
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 Tim.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
That was a fun conversation and you know it
sounds like Richmond tour is alot of fun.
You know they have a good time,but they also why are you
nodding your?
head.
No, go ahead.
Oh, but they also have a, butit seems like like you know, a

(55:28):
great time out there and justTour directors down to earth.
You know, he's got the Guy, theGuy, fury goatee going on.
I'd be interested in going andchecking them out.
I wish I had a million dollarsso I can just go and do an East
Coast tour.
You should.
How about everyone there?

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Just tell your wife you're going to take the second
half of the summer and just moveout of here.
There you go, rv it you should.
How about everyone there?
Just tell your wife you'regonna take, you know, second
half of the summer and just justmove out of here there you go
rv it.
Yeah, I, I've been known seanfor a number of number of years
and he's number one.
He's a, he's a fun guy fun guyto hang out with um, loves the
tour, loves to have fun, lovesto to.
You know to joke around um, andyou know I'm I'm sure that he's

(56:16):
building those relationshipswith his players that lyle had
with his players.
You know who's been um, who'ssean's, you know mentor, but but
you know, like again, sean'sbeen around for a long time and
he, he knows he knows the for along time and he knows he knows
the culture of the tour and heknows what he's trying to build
and and I mean he really doesexude that, that, that family,

(56:36):
the idea of family and culturethat you know that we talk about
all the time, and it and justwith his relationship with Roger
, just just kind of shows that.
You know they've been neighborsfor forever and started playing
golf together about 10 yearsago and that just kind of, you
know, grew that friendship ininto what it is.

Speaker 2 (56:59):
Yeah, you could tell by their conversation.
They just like like they'veknown each other for forever.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
It seems like I mean, I really did enjoy it.
And and again, what, what mostpeople don't know is you only
see or hear, uh, what we put ininto the podcast.
You, you, you have no idea someof the other things that are
said and we see, uh, that don'tactually make it in.
Um, you know, for, for example,the stories that were told as

(57:30):
we were trying to, as we weregetting through our technical
difficulties, trying to geteverybody logged in tonight, and
then other things that we werelaughing at and cutting up about
as we were making sureeverything got uploaded, so you
always see a piece of it.
You know when the cameras areon and the mics are hot, you
miss some of the other thingsthat happen.

(57:51):
And again, to me it just kindof goes back to the authenticity
of who Sean is and who Roger isand what the tour is for our
members.

Speaker 2 (58:03):
For sure.
It's a whole different ballgameand we said it last year with
the James brothers.
I think these two are leadingthe pack for 2025 so far, unless
the James brothers come back on, because that's a tough act to
follow.
It is, but no, I mean it's agreat time and it was good.

(58:24):
Laughs and those I mean thoseoff camera or not off camera,
but like off recording storiesthey can be pretty funny.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
They are, they're hilarious, they really are.
So again, congratulations, ohGod.
Congratulations to RogerClaytor, the March National Tour
Member of the Month.
But you know, I do want to makesure that we recognize the

(58:58):
other nominees that we got,because, you know, again, just
because you didn't win thenational, I mean, you're still
doing really good things andthat's part of this.
We want people to know aboutwhat's going on around the
country.
Right, and so you know.
The first person that I want toread off was nominated by the

(59:21):
Alabama tour director, ScottParker, and he writes I nominate
Corbin Holt.
He was the first champ playplayer that I met once I took
over as tour director and he hasbeen the biggest reason, other
than myself, for the growth ofthe Alabama tour.
He has recruited players fromall over the state to play.
He has always been willing totravel to play on other local
tours Mississippi, Nashville,Atlanta, to name a few.

(59:42):
We've also taken several tripsto regionals and national
championships over the past fewyears and Corbin is always a
force in those events.
He's also a great husband,father to his two girls.
I'm proud to call Corbin afriend and extremely proud to
have him on the Alabama tour andum, you and I have talked about
Corbin.
I think he's the most talkedabout.
I think he's probably the mosttalked about person that has not

(01:00:04):
been on the podcast yet and wewe got to make sure that we get
him on here real soon becausehe's a stick man.
He can play me, yeah, I mean hecomes to atlanta on a regular
basis to play.
I mean he can, he can play um,but again, he's also that down.

(01:00:26):
He he's a down-to-earth guy andI don't know what it is about
those champ flight players, butthat's what they, they all seem
to be.
You know the, the, the down toearth, personable.
You know type types of players.
You know.
You know, compared to you, aflight players always be in
somebody's face how you're goingto be better than them.

Speaker 2 (01:00:48):
I'm the bottom of the barrel.
We'll see what happens when, Iget up there on top.

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
But you know what I'm saying.
I mean, he's just a good guy.
And again, Scott, thank you somuch for nominating Corbin, and
I can't wait to see you guyshere soon.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
Yeah, I mean he was right there up top of the ones
that could have gotten picked.
You know, I think any othermonth he might have been the one
that was chosen.
So we'll see what the nextcouple months have.
But I mean we also had fromSteve Riley the Cleveland Akron
Tour, which I'll be there thisweek, but he would like to

(01:01:29):
nominate Chris Luzio.
Chris is always willing to helpme set up and tear down and
sticks around until my car ispacked.
He's a super positive person tobe around and loves the tour.
He speaks well of the tour andtries to recruit as many as
possible.
Everyone wants to play theround with Chris, our defending
player of the year, and I meanjust having guys like that

(01:01:52):
excuse me, having guys like that, you know, that are willing to
help and not asking for anythingin return and just making sure
that you get everything done, um, and you're ready to go as a
tour director, leave the coursebefore he does.
You know, those guys are veryspecial and and they're the the
unsung heroes sometimes for forus directors exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
they really are the unsung heroes.
You know what you know lastyear and years prior, I couldn't
have done it without al,couldn't done it without jen,
couldn't have done it without Al, couldn't have done it without
Jen, couldn't have done itwithout.
You know some of the otherplayers, whether it's Donald
Price, whether it's Jamil, Imean you know Jamil's been on
Donald Price in Atlanta, was,you know, always willing to step

(01:02:39):
up and help out, and you knowthere's players like that all
over the tour.

Speaker 3 (01:02:47):
Like you said, the unsung heroes and we should
recognize them.

Speaker 1 (01:02:52):
And then we've got Scott Eide, the Charlotte Tour
Director.
He nominated Roger Stevensonfrom the A-Flight.
He says he plays in numerousregionals and other tours.
Plus he won the A-FlightChampionship last year in
Charlotte.
I'm sure that we're going tosee Roger Stevenson around.
I mean, he is one that goes allover the place and plays.

(01:03:13):
So again, scott, thanks so muchfor making that nomination and
Roger, thank you for being whoyou are for the tour.
We really do appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:24):
For sure.
Again, we had a lot of goodcandidates this month and I
think what we're doing with thiscontest is nice to see, and
these guys get recognition, orthey deserve the recognition
that they're getting from theirtour directors, because anybody

(01:03:46):
can tell them thank you, butbeing able to be recognized for
the little things that you do isjust what's awesome, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
You know.
So now we've got about two moreweeks to get nominations in for
April Tour directors.
If you haven't sent somebody in, start sending in some names
and we'll highlight them.
And just remember that thewinner of each month will have

(01:04:19):
an opportunity to win theirnationals paid for this coming
year.
So, think about who you got,think about who really
exemplifies what we're lookingfor in tour members and let's
get them nominated so that theycan be recognized, and we need
to make sure we get somebodyfrom each tour across the

(01:04:40):
country so that we can recognizethem.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (01:04:45):
So what's been going on with you?
You sound better, you don'tsound sick.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
I'm feeling better not a hundred percent to be a
long road ahead, but uh, beenswinging the sticks around,
which is nice, you know, notlosing my breath after a couple
swings.
I have a turn, a coupletournaments coming up, a
regional to go to, and we'll seewhat happens.
I know you're going to getupset.

(01:05:13):
I was debating on going downthe B flight for the regional
but I'm going to stick it out inA and see what happens.
Stick it out.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
Stick it out.
Yeah, Unfortunately, you knowwe had talked about the plan was
for both of us to be there, butunfortunately I've got some
family stuff that I have to tendto.
Not to be able to make it.
Chris, it's one of those thingswhere you got to take care of

(01:05:42):
the family stuff and it is whatit is.
So unfortunately, it is what itis and so, unfortunately, I just
got to miss it.
You know it is what it is.
I mean, I was so lookingforward to it for any number of
different reasons.
I mean, obviously, to go to thecourse and see the course and

(01:06:06):
be someplace that's, you know,has a long history in golf, but
also to see all the people thatthat we were going to, that I
was going to see.
I mean, you're going to be upthere, you're going to be able
to see them, you can be able tohave fun with them, but please
send them all my best and andand send my regrets.

Speaker 2 (01:06:25):
We'll do.
Yeah, I mean, it's going to bea good time.
Can't wait to get out there.
Might play a course where theyhave motorcycles instead of golf
carts, so that'll be kind offun, that'll be fun.
That'll be fun, um, but yeah, Imean, well, you know it is what
it is, um, but I'll gorepresent us both the best I can

(01:06:46):
yeah, mick sent me a a taxi.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
The other day they picked up a new member for their
club, uh-oh.
Yeah.
So now they got new members.
I'm looking forward to see howthat club grows throughout the
year.
Right, but I'm going to missseeing them.
But keep us in the loop because, again, we want to make sure

(01:07:11):
that we highlight what you guysare doing up there and I want to
see how many flags you get.

Speaker 2 (01:07:19):
We're going to have to have a an update on how many
you're collecting this year fora 25.
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
I'm again.
I'm disappointed, can't go, butI said my best.
I know you guys are going tohave fun and it'll be great.

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
Yes, sir, it'll be a good time, and you've got to get
together.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
I will, I will.
But again remember we talkedabout it.
It's still early, I mean you'regoing to be fine.
What you need to do is rememberthe talk we had right before
nationals when we startedbetting.
You just stop having all thatnegative talk.
Right.
You know it is what it is, yourgame is what it is.

(01:08:06):
Go out there for whatevertournament it is, and play with
the game that you have that day,and if you don't have it, you
don't have it.
It's that building process.
It's that growth that you'regoing to see.
But the only way you're goingto be able to do that is if you
get rid of that negative thought.

(01:08:27):
You've got to get rid of thatnegative self-talk.

Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
You'll be all right.
I mean, I've been practicingputting lately uh 10 minutes a
day at least, trying to get thatgood because you suck good
because you suck at putting.

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
I mean, let me, let me have all that, let me have.
See you just did you.
You fell right into the trap.
So let me talk negative aboutyou I, no, no, no, it's not
negative.

Speaker 2 (01:08:47):
What it is is I.
I'm understanding where I needwork on okay, uh because.
Okay, I've already put thedistance out of my mind.
I know I'm not going to be thelongest hitter out there for now
, right, but I know what I canwork on to get better.

(01:09:08):
Okay, and I don't think it'sbeing the negative part.
I think it's realizing what Ican do to improve the game.

Speaker 1 (01:09:18):
There you go.
That's what I like to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:09:22):
We'll be all right, Just wait.
It's a long.
It's a long year.
We're barely in April.

Speaker 1 (01:09:27):
Exactly, exactly.
So, um, I, I again, I reallyenjoy talking, talking to, to to
Sean and Roger.
So again, I really enjoytalking to Sean and Roger.
And you know, offline we talkedabout the Virginia Tech
Regional and it's too bad thatyou're going to be in Hawaii for

(01:09:48):
that.
I know, I know, because that'sa really good course too, I mean
, and I know that's not untilthe end of July, but I mean
we've got some other really goodregionals coming up.
I mean literally, chris, timeis flying by.
I mean things are literallyright around the corner.
You realize that, right, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
No, I'm already halfway through my list of
tournaments for just my local.
Remember how I talked aboutlast year?
You start scrolling down andbefore you know it, you're at
the bottom, Exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
I mean.
So you got Firestone coming upon the 26th, 27th, then we're in
May, we got Sequoia, and thenend of May we got PJ West and
Treasure Coast, and then we'reinto June we got Cajun Classic

(01:10:43):
and Cabot Citrus Farms.
So we've got lots of goodregionals coming up.
If you haven't registered forthem, get on it quick.

Speaker 2 (01:10:56):
Yeah, they're fun.
They're like mini nationals itbecause you're playing from
players from all over thecountry.
You're not just, you know,around your local, your local
area.
You got some, some big guys outthere so it gets you prepared.
Honestly, I think last year thethe two second places I got
helped me get prepared fornationals and I mean we saw what
happened then.

Speaker 1 (01:11:17):
Exactly.
So what do you got coming uplocally?

Speaker 2 (01:11:25):
Just a local tournament that got rescheduled
because of rain out, and then,first weekend of May, we're
going to do what's called ourBeat the Heat, and we're going
to go out to the up in themountains and play two courses.
We always play out there, butRainmakers is probably the
highlight of that one.
It's been nicknamed thePainmaker, with just how crazy

(01:11:49):
the course is, the layout.
I mean, you got canyonsonscutting right through fairways.
Uh, it's, it's pretty enduring.
You got deer just chilling inthe fairway.
They don't want to move.
Um, it's.
It's a good time, though, butbut it it'll test you nice, nice
.

Speaker 1 (01:12:07):
so so let me ask you and I'm not, this is a serious
question, so I'm opposed to you,like that.
Okay, how much rain did you get?
Or does it take in El Paso toclose the course down?

Speaker 2 (01:12:21):
I think it was close to two inches.

Speaker 1 (01:12:23):
Okay, so it was coming down pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:12:25):
It was coming down pretty good.
So the way El Paso weather is,it's one of two ways.
90% of the time it'sfive-minute downpour and that's
it, okay.
I mean, you don't even get achance to enjoy.
You go out and you and you oh,I hear rain, let's go check it
out and then it's done.
Or you have a light drizzlethat lasts six hours, but that

(01:12:50):
light drizzle that that waslasting six hours was just
collecting, because our coursesaren't aren't made to drain
water that way.
Right, because you don't everget it I mean right and you got.

Speaker 1 (01:13:00):
And when you get it, you got to soak it up as as much
as correct.
That's why I was, that's why Iwas worried about how much it
was.
You know what I mean?
Because because if it's comingdown really hard, it's going to
wash things out and again, likea lot of times, out where you
are.
You said it'll come down hardand it'll go away, but then

(01:13:23):
you've got puddles I wouldn'tsay flooding, but puddles in the
course that you can't doanything with because it's not
meant to drain, correct.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
I mean, hole number one had a literal river coming
through the middle of thefairway, right, I mean, it's not
supposed to be there.
So I mean I get it.
It comes in both hands, becausewe could have waited an hour,
it would have stopped, we couldhave tried to play.
But does the course really want60 golf carts driving all

(01:13:54):
through?
Like this particular course,you have a cart path that leads
into the hole and then there'sno cart path at all until you
get by the green.
So do you really want 60 cartsdriving all through your course
and damage it for a tournament?
Or can we try and rescheduleand honestly, with the
reschedule I gained almost 10players.

(01:14:16):
That's awesome.
So maybe it works out.
But I mean I'm excited to playit.
It is out of all the courses wehave in town, you know El Paso,
las Cruces.
It is the bottom of the coursesthat I like.
I'm not a big fan of it.
I don't like the layout, but itis the bottom of the courses
that I like.
I'm not a big fan of it.
Um, I don't like the layout,but it is the course has the

(01:14:37):
best conditions that we're gonnaget.
Um, so it's give or take.
Uh, right, but I'm ready to gotackle it because, uh, I've just
been so cooped up with thisbeing sick that I haven't been
able to play.
Uh, I'm, I'm ready to get outthere and start playing, start
grinding and hopefully get somewins here or there.

Speaker 1 (01:15:01):
Just get out there and play and again at this age
it's, go out and see whathappens.
Obviously, compete and play towin, but stay within yourself,
play with the game that you havethat day and work on it in
between tournaments.
I mean you got to be ready herein a couple weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
Yep, I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (01:15:21):
All right, my friend, you have a good tournament,
enjoy I hope you enjoy theheritage as much as you can.
Actually I can't go to thateither, and you know, and let's

(01:15:44):
be, I got to be a little bithonest here on that Part of it
is it goes back to where we gettickets from.
And you know we need to.
I need to just kind of stepaway from that.

(01:16:12):
I mean, it's you know, when youlose a friend like that, you
know suddenly, you know for megoing there.
I don't know that right now Icould have a good time.
I got you I understand that andthat's let's just leave it at

(01:16:34):
that.
But you know, the the the otherpiece is, and I I know I talked
about this, but you know howimportant my family is, my, my,
my granddaughter's, uh.
Uh, it's turn five doingbirthday, and Sunday is also
actually Easter.
So my daughter said, uh, saidyou need to come home.
And so it kind of is the bestof both worlds, because if we

(01:17:03):
weren't going up there we wouldstill be here and not going.
So at least you know I'll be,we'll be away, and it'll give
Jen and I a chance to step awayfor a couple days.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:17:16):
Take the time off, it'll be fun.

Speaker 1 (01:17:18):
But that also means no stew subs.

Speaker 2 (01:17:23):
Get one for the road.

Speaker 1 (01:17:26):
No, because here's what happens you eat a full stew
sub.
Guess what?
It's nap time.
I guess, All right, my friend,it's always good seeing you.
Send my best to the family andwe'll talk when we get back.

Speaker 2 (01:17:38):
Yes sir, We'll talk soon.
Bye, we'll see you next time.