Hurricanes, Hilton Head, and Heartfelt Tee Shots, Featuring Steve Kubik & JR "The Mayor"

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
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.
Interviews with tour directors,players and course
professionals.
Now here are your hosts.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Tim Newman and El Paso Las Cruces tour director,
chris Rocha.
Welcome back, chris.
Hope you're feeling a lotbetter.
You know, last time we talkedyou were in dire, dire straits.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, man, it's been a battle, but I'm feeling a
whole lot better.
I just need these littlewindstorms to go away from my
area and stop looking like aStar Wars movie set and we'll be
okay.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Well, good luck with that.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Yeah, it's not as easy as it looks, but I'm
anxious to get back on thecourse to start playing again.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, so I know you got a tournament coming up this
weekend, but were you at Pikachuyour last tournament?
Was that your last tournamentat Pikachu?

Speaker 3 (01:21):
Yeah, Pikachu Is that coming up.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
No, it's pikachu man just you got kids yeah I, I, I
just I like saying it.
And here's why why I like sayingit because you know there's
there's a senior regional comingup.
There's actually two seniorregionals that are this coming
weekend and I obviously the thepodcast is going to come out
after that but one is the heartof dixie regional and that's at

(01:44):
Purcell Farms.
But the other one is at MissionInn Resort and that's in a town
called Howie in the Hills.
All right, howie in the Hills,florida.
So when there's funny names ofthings like that, to me it makes
me laugh.
So you played a Pikachuachu andI'm going to howie in the hills

(02:06):
, howie in the hills, howie inthe hill.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
They were very clever when they named that little
town.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, but that's uh, uh, tell us about uh pikachu,
and I know you, you were, youdidn't play, but um, how'd that
go for you guys?
It?

Speaker 3 (02:21):
was was great.
You know, honestly, this seasonhas been really successful for
us.
We had over 60 guys come outand play.
We had a playoff in ChampFlight where the guy one of the
guys made three straight birdieson the last three holes to push
the playoff and then birdiedthe playoff hole to win.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 3 (02:41):
So that was pretty cool to see.
I mean for him, the guy wholost probably not so much um
because he went pars all the waythrough, so it's not like he
blew up, it's just the guyplayed lights out, uh, and then
d fly we.
We came down to a three-personplayoff um, which I've been

(03:03):
wanting to have amultiple-player playoff in a
while.
At one point this year wealmost had a five-player playoff
, which was pretty cool to have.
But I think what was evenbetter is the winner of D-Flight
is a 15-year-old high schoolkid that won that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
He came out and won.
We've got to get him one.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Yeah, well, I'll talk with him about that, um, but uh
, you know, he was excited andthen the, the restaurant that we
were in kind of blew up withwith cheers for him when he
walked in, and you know, andthat's what it's all about is is
giving credit where it's dueand, uh, giving him the chance
of moving them up and and allthat fun stuff.

(03:44):
So so it was a good time.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
I was glad I was able to make it out to day two
because it was a major.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
So day one I was at home and my assistants rocked it
like they always do.
And then day two, I was able tomake it out there and do awards
, take some pictures, you know.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
all that fun stuff to make it out there and do awards
, take some pictures, you knowall that fun stuff.
Well, I'm glad you got outthere and you're feeling better,
but you got to take care ofyourself, right, and that's what
everyone kept reminding me.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
So I would have tried to play if I could, if I could
get out of bed, but that wasn'thappening.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
It's a long season, so take it easy.
Like I said, I'm heading out toHowie in the Hills, the mission
resort for the senior regional,this coming weekend and we'll
report back on that.
We talked to Jeff Helbig lastepisode about the Shoals
Regional.
That's coming up in April, soif you haven't registered for
that, I would get on it and geton it quick.

(04:42):
But we got a good episode thisweek.
Why do I say it all the time,don't?

Speaker 3 (04:48):
we always have good episodes.
I mean, that's what everyonealways says when there's a
sequel, it's the best sequelever.
This is your fifth one.
Fast and the Furious Fast andthe Furious 12 is the best one
ever.
Well, it should be.
I would hope so, because ifit's not, what are you going to

(05:08):
do?
Or like the iPhones and theiPads, this is the best one ever
.
I would hope so.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
Well, I would hope so , because technology isn't
getting worse.
It's making us worse, but it'snot getting worse.
But that kind of is what it is,and I'm glad you brought that
up, because I've been needing anew iPad for a little over a
year.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Well, they just released the best one ever.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
I know that's why I'm here, but I'm hoping that the
one I've got will last one moreyear until they release the real
best one ever Right, right,right, but we'll see.
But I do need a new one.
The screen is cracked.
The battery lasts probablyabout 20 minutes, so I've got to

(05:56):
have it plugged in.

Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, it's time.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's time to go, but we'll see If I can hold it out
for just a little bit longer.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
But everybody says, but everybody says, and it
crashes out for you when you'reneeding it the most, and then
you're scrambling and then I getmad.

Speaker 2 (06:19):
Yep.
Anyway, we've got a really goodepisode.
Um, we're going to talk to atour director.
Um, we've got our februaryplayer of the month and we're
going to talk about theopportunity for for somebody to
win a set of strict sign irons.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Yeah, that's exciting .
It's the first.
You know, this year we've had alot of firsts for us and and
this is going to be a first, butI'm excited.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Yeah, so hang in there with us and let's go on
this ride.
But let's talk about our firstguest a little bit.
You know he's been around for along, long time and he's been
running the senior tour inAugusta for three or four years
now, taking over the Golf Weekside of things and you know

(07:07):
getting that back on track towhere it needs to be.
But I'm really interested intalking to him and hearing some
of his stories especially.
You know he's a Marine veteranand I know he's got some good
stories about his time in theMarines and playing golf.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah, I mean, you basically gave a great summary
about it, but you know we've hadgreat guests this year, so you
know, let's just keep thetradition and the best one we've
had so far, to go witheverything else.
We talked about this one, butyeah, let's jump right into it.
I'm excited, all right, butyeah, let's just jump right into

(07:45):
it.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm excited, all right, so let's go ahead and
bring in our Our first guest ofthe show, the Augusta senior and
golf week director, steve Kubik.
Thank you, I appreciate that,steve.
What you've been around for along time, um 15 or 16 years, um

(08:07):
, and so, uh, you know you'renot new to this.
You've been the senior tourdirector for Augusta for how
long?
Four years.

Speaker 4 (08:16):
Uh yeah, senior, on the four years Yep.

Speaker 2 (08:18):
And now this year you're taking over for uh the,
uh the golf week side.
Um, so so you've got a long,long history with the tour.
Let's start with golf week,because you just had your first
tournament a few weeks ago.
Tell us about that, because youwere on a really good course.

Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, so we played Westlake.
I have a good rapport with alot of the golf courses because
obviously I do all the clubrepair in town for all the
courses as well, as, you know,the mini tour players and some
pros, so I got a lot offlexibility when it comes to
scheduling and most of thecourses are very adapted to my
needs for the tours.
So it makes it easier.
And since Westlake's asemi-private golf course, we

(08:56):
were able to do a zero nineshotgun last Monday, or actually
this.
Yeah, last Monday, a few daysago, we had 48 on the golf week,
which it was.
Yeah, last Monday a few daysago, we had 48 on the golf week,
which it was good.
It's going to grow as time goeson and the word gets out
publications and things of thatnature.
It's just getting back thoseveteran players that used to
play and then getting theirbuddies.
But I can see it starting totake hold now, which is good.

(09:20):
And then on this Monday comingup, we have the same event,
except the senior side on thesame golf course, with a shotgun
start.
So that makes it a littleeasier for people getting out.
So but it's, it's getting greattraction.
I mean, I think I just gained,I think, three or four more
members for the senior side thatwere only playing golf week,

(09:41):
but they're over 50.
And they're like we're going todo this again next week.
I'm like, well, I need you tosign up and register.
I think I'm almost 30-somethingdual-membered right now.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, that's phenomenal because you know
you're guaranteed almost those30 for each tournament.
Let's just say 20 for eachright?
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (10:07):
About 65%, I would say, because you got kids'
birthdays, holidays,great-grandsons, things of that
nature Right.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
So at least 20 per event.
And again it's getting thosegolf week guys back who may have
dropped off or you know, forwhatever reason.
But Augusta has always been a aa hotbed for for the tour,
whether whether it's golf weekor or or senior when you, when
you started that a few years ago.

Speaker 4 (10:39):
Yeah, it's a, it was good and and you know, mr Phil,
you know I love him to death.
I played on his tour for somany years and it was.
It was simply phenomenal.
I mean, we were a tight bitgroup of guys and girls here and
golfers for the augusta tourand, uh, so sad what had
happened and I'm just hoping Ican bring it back up and and

(10:59):
honor phil and keep this thinggoing, because he was a legend
and I'm just like john lavoldi.
Those two are just legends inmy eyes.

Speaker 2 (11:06):
I played for John too when he was at Myrtle yeah, you
know, I've told people this allthe time Phil was one of my
favorite people of all time.
I mean of all time he just awonderful human being, nice man,
even keel.
But you always knew where youstood with him, whether he was

(11:28):
upset with you or not.
He's the same thing but youalways knew where you stood and
he told you what he thought.
And just an all-time you know,genuine person.
Yeah, so tell us a little bitabout let's start with a senior
tour, for example.
I mean, you got 162 members, soyou're, you're getting you know

(11:53):
large fields out there.
What's the favorite course thatyou guys are playing out there
and that really people should becoming out and playing if they
can only go to one tournament?

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah, I get a lot of.
I was shocked when I did mytournament results for Westlake
on Monday on the golf week sideand I'm filling out the form and
it talks about you know whattours did you have players come
from and I've never put downfive tours and I had five
different tours all the way fromVegas, you know, charlotte,
columbia and charleston.

(12:26):
So I was like, wow, I never hadto insert an extra line in this
form here to put it on tour.
I said this I seem like I'mgetting a lot more work as
bigger as I get yeah, which is agood thing, you know, because I
try to tell everybody.
I was like, hey, this isn't mytour, this is our tour.
We are what makes it.
I'm just, you know, trying torun things in the right
directions and help everybodyout, but it's our tour, you know

(12:48):
, I said so and it was uh.
But I get a lot of guys that arecalling me from tennessee and
and out of state, that will haveplayed in other events, and
they're like, hey, steve, wewant to come down to play, what
do you think?
And they'll talk to me at theregionals too.
And I I'm like, well, you just,you know, give me a call, shoot
me a text, whatever, and ifyou're going to be available and
I'll take.

(13:08):
I mean, every tour has somegood tracks and you're going to
have some mediocre tracks andI'll be like, I'll make sure.
You know you want to play aWestlake, you want to play a
river club, you want to playOrangeburg country club, paris
Island island, you knowmonticello, where ronico
sorensen played.
You know you want to play allthese really nice tracks, uh,

(13:29):
that are very affordable and um,and then there are some that
I'm not going to mention thatare not as nice and that's why
the price is a little less, butat the same time they're still
really nice.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
Golf courses and they do, you know, bend over
backwards for us well, you knowyou mentioned orangeburg and I
was a guest on another podcastlast week and you know now I've
never played Orangeburg, but Iknow we've, we played there for
years.
When I say we, the tours playedthere for years and all I ever

(13:59):
hear is great things aboutOrangeburg, great things about
Orangeburg.
And the host who I was talkingto said, you know, he's from
Columbia, and he said he's heardthe same thing and has never
played out there too.
So I mean, that just tells yousomething that everybody's going
to complain about some courseright.

Speaker 4 (14:18):
Right.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
Nobody's going to like every course, but when you
hear everybody saying goodthings about one course, that
tells you something that youreally should make some some
time to go out and and give thata shot yeah, orangeburg is
really good.

Speaker 4 (14:31):
I mean it's, it's just the way it is and the way
it handles itself.
I mean, obviously tim knows alot more because he deals with
the head guy there, which is jp.
But it's just when it comes upand we're going to do a combo
event there and then I'm goingto run the combo event on the
Paris Island side with Tim.
But when it comes up forOrangeburg, I mean I'll tell you

(14:53):
from the Augusta tour we'regoing to have 25 to 30 sign up
for it.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, it's to me that's a must go play.
You really need to be there.
And you know again's a must-goplay.
You really need to be there.
And you know, again, you bringup Tim and Parris Island and I'd
be remiss if I didn't bringthis up because you know how I
feel about it.
Anyway, marine veteran, thankyou so much for what you do and

(15:21):
what you've done.
Thank you so much for what youdo and what you've done, and
you're a true testament of whatwe look for from a tour director
.
I mean, you bring the skillsand those mentalities from being
a Marine over to the tour andit really does show.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
Thank you, I appreciate it and, like I said,
a shout out to one course.
If you have to go play one, goplay parasailing when we have
our tournament down there, getsigned up or just make a.
If you're down in the Hiltonarea, you've got to play
parasailing.
It is phenomenal.
And they just completed theAll-Arm Forces Championship
there just literally four daysago.
Wow, they're going to head overto South America or South

(16:03):
Africa for the Citizen WorldMilitary.
Wow, that course isunbelievable.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
That's impressive, and I haven't heard anybody
again.
I haven't heard anybody saythat about Parasite, but I
haven't heard anything badeither.
But so, Chris, that's somethingthat we need to make sure that
we keep an eye on.

Speaker 4 (16:26):
Yeah, that Paris Island tournament, I mean
usually like me and you knoweverybody knows Chris Martinez
and that's why I'm trying togrow this.
I'm trying to get my numbers tohis numbers.
You know we're both Marines, weboth played on the armed forces
together, we both played on theMarine golf team together and
it's I'm just.
You know he's been doing a lotlonger than me.
We both have a club repairbusiness, both in two different
cities.

(16:46):
You know we both know same guy.
So, um, if I can get hisnumbers, that would be crazy.
But um, but that's also a lotof work.
Thank god he has, you know, hiswife, patina's there to help me
and all his friends.
But, yeah, parris Island, uh,when we come down for nationals
we usually have our own littleget together at Parris Island.
The prior we usually have 20 to35 guys playing, you know, a

(17:07):
side little money game at ParisIsland, cause it's that nice of
a golf course.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
What, what, what, what are theanother, another course that you
have on the schedule, which,which I love a lot, are the are
the ones in Savannah lakes.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yep, yep.
You know those are to me, thoseare hidden gems, they are they
are.

Speaker 4 (17:30):
A Monticello, I would say, is the nicer of the two.
Yeah, both of them areextremely.
They'll give you all thetestaments you want.
You know you may see a nicelittle short par four and then
the next thing you know you justmade double bogey.
So it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's nice, very deceiving,

(17:54):
hilly, beautiful tracks.
And the director got out thereand the head pro, he's
phenomenal.
I mean, when he took over, Ithink he started two or three
years ago the new one that basedthem.
But I called up to put atournament on and he's like,
yeah, he says well, why don'tyou come out and play?
I'm like, dude, you know I'vealready played these courses
already numerous times.
But okay, I'll come up and playwith you, sure, but yeah, those
two are a really nice track.

(18:16):
It's almost like Oconee, exceptOconee's a different breed.
Oconee's very different.
There are so many beautifulgolf courses at Oconee.
If we had to say if we hadanything kind of like that, it
would be the Monticello Fair,the Savannah Lakes.
Those two golf courses kept upreally nice shape.
Not, you know, oconee'sbeautiful though, don't get me

(18:37):
wrong, only Pinehurst cancompare to Oconee.
It Coney is that littlesubdivision area and they're on
their own, but Coney isbeautiful.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, I, I a hundred percent agree with you and I
think, I think, if, I think, if,if the Monticello, the Sven
Lakes courses had a little bitmore around, that would be a
good regional.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
That would be a good offer.
Yep, so I mean there's.
We did a two-day there lastyear.
Obviously, we did Airbnb andyou can find some deals there,
but there's really no place togo out and eat.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
You're 30 minutes away from everywhere, minimum
three minutes.

Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, but again, if it was a little bit more built
up, that that'll be.
I think that'd be a great placeto to have a regional.
Um, those two courses do rival.
You know some of the ones thatare that are in oconee, which,
which, like you said, again,beautiful, phenomenal.
Hopefully we can get back therereal soon yeah, uh, we did.

Speaker 4 (19:41):
I did harvard club last year and it was the first
one I did as a as a tourdirector out there in the Oconee
area and those guys were greatand, of course, harbor Club was
always a treat as well.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
Harbor Club's phenomenal.
Again, that's a private courseout there To be able to get on
that.
You know, steve, I don't knowif you know this, but a couple
years ago, you know, we wereAtlanta and Augusta was doing a
joint event.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
Oh I remember I played in that.
I think you told me to get tothe tee box and I teed off
earlier.
You moved me up like threedifferent tee boxes.
Remember that?

Speaker 2 (20:15):
I mean I would just pull up.
I mean nobody could get to thecourse, chris, there was a storm
trees were down everywhere, ohman and everybody made it, but
two people, which I thought wasphenomenal.
But you know, we had champ Aand D players playing together.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
There were some threesomes.

Speaker 2 (20:35):
There were some foursomes.
It was a mess, but again,Harbor Club worked with us.
Obviously they understood thatpeople couldn't get there, but
again, great course.
Now let's talk about theplaying side, Chris.

(21:02):
What do you think Steve's indexis, Chris, what do you think
Steve's index is?
I'm going to pull up a seniorindex.

Speaker 4 (21:11):
I'm looking at his golf week.
You don't want to look up myindex?

Speaker 3 (21:14):
I'm looking, it's too late.
I'm going to say a 5 to 7.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (21:25):
His golf week index is a 2.8.
Wow, a triple bogey will killyou, man.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
See, so Steve can play.
Yeah, steve, when did you getgood, I mean did you always have
the talent.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
No, no, actually you will be shocked, but I actually
didn't pick up golf until 1998.
I was in the marine corps.
I just got selected for warrantofficer and I met a really good
friend of mine, my best friend,who's coming in town tomorrow
to play my tournament.
Um, he's coming from, his nameis tony aberson and obviously
chris martinez.
We're all at camp lejeune.
Together had a bunch of otherguys and I didn't start golf

(22:04):
until 1998 and I just kept onwearing it out.
And then, you know, we went to,went overseas to Okinawa.
We played in some money gamesand we had a rule over there you
don't get strokes, so you playwhat it is.
If you're a 10 and you play assomeone, that's a 3 handicap,
well, play harder.
So either you learn to play oryou learn to pay.

(22:24):
And I learned to play.
For a while I was able to getthat handicap down and then
start competing with guys likemarty and tony.
And then, you know, they madethe uh, you know, they made the
all marine golf team before Idid, and so I was like, well,
man, you know, that's kind ofcool.
So I just kept on going, neverhad a lesson and just kept

(22:47):
plugging away at it Playing withbetter players makes you play
better, so you've never had alesson.
Well, technically, I think I had.
My first lesson was about threeyears ago with the head coach
of Paris.
I'm really great.
I'm with my best friend, andyHenson.
I got down there before atournament one day and about a
couple hours ago I'm like youknow, I've never had a lesson,

(23:09):
but you owe me a lot of favors,so you need to give me a bunker
lesson right now.
I can get out of the bunker,but got no chance of getting it
within even a halfway decent, sowe spent about 30 minutes and
that was about it.
Man, I just deal with it.
Whatever works works.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
Right.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, Chris, his senior index is 3.3.

Speaker 4 (23:32):
Yeah, I like longer distances.
I mean the senior tour is fun,but I hit driver, I think at
nationals and the icebreaker.
I'm sorry, I think I hit driverthree times in two days.
Yeah, people say, if you hit itstraight, but when it goes
farther, straighter is notalways better.
You know there's still water, Iunderstand so, but yeah, so I

(23:56):
was shocked, though.
I mean it was the first time Iplayed a GWAT event and I don't
know it's been two years.
Yeah.
So I was kind of scared after,I think, around the ninth hole I
looked.
I just happened to look becausemy buddy next to me who was
playing he said, yeah, we'reboth in first and he was in
A-flight and I was in champ andI was like huh didn't expect

(24:18):
that, looking at the collegekids and these other young guns,
you know.
And so when I left the tableafter I hit live and got
everybody on live score and Ileft the table, I was putting my
shoes on, walking to the teebox and so I lay, hit and I kind
of did the old stretch and hita three wood down there and then
we started from there.
There was no range when I play,so I sit up.

(24:38):
I know that feeling.
Yeah, so, but it was good.
No-transcript, and how thingsare viewed if someone goes too

(25:08):
low, Even though I do vet every,I call every new player.
If they don't have an index, Icall them and we discuss their
scores and where they play andwhat tee boxes.
But we have a lot of mulchpiles, we have debris to be
removed.
Then you have stuff that's notdebris to be removed tracks all
over the place from skid steersand everything else, and this is
even at west lake yeah, justthe other day.

(25:29):
So it does.
That's going to be probably mybiggest challenge, probably this
year.
Well, maybe not so much.
At monticello and terra theydidn't get probably hit as bad,
if I remember correctly, as theones right here in the evans
area.
Uh, parasol, no, it's fine.
I don't know about Orangeburg,tim would know that, but that's

(25:49):
going to be my biggest track isevery golf course lost 1,000
trees plus, but no greens willhurt.
It's just so much damage thatthe rules are you have to be
careful.

Speaker 2 (26:03):
That's something I didn't even think about, because
you know it's hurricanes camethrough when In September,
October, Yep, and you know whenyou're not directly affected by
it.
Now, obviously, we still hearabout things are going up in
western North Carolina and allthose problems that they're

(26:24):
dealing with, but people don'trealize how bad the Augusta area
got it.

Speaker 4 (26:31):
Yeah, we got hit pretty good.
I'm not going to lie.
They just did our final debrispickup.
There's still so much stuff outthere that hasn't been picked
up, so I don't know what they'redoing, but it's the courses.
The courses are playable,that's the good thing.
Like I said, no greens forhitting.
I mean we lost some bathroomson some courses, don't get me
wrong.
There's nothing there, but awall pipe sticking up on a
private golf course or asemi-pipe, but they're all

(26:55):
playable, they're looking good.
You know the putting greens andthe ranges, everything's fine.
It's just a matter of theplaying conditions.
And I actually reached out toevery one of them and I got
replies from them all.
I did it about, I guess, threeto four weeks ago.
I wanted to make sure I wasgoing to give some accurate data
to Dennis for the database andI said, hey, is this going to

(27:17):
change your index and slopebased on accreditation?
And they said no, everything isthe same.
And I'm like okay, so they'renot, they're not going to do any
reaccreditation early.
They're going to wait for theoriginal schedule that they're
on, which is every so many yearsthat, of course, gets
reaccredited.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
So we're just going to go with it.
Well, good luck with that.
Again, it's.
You know people don't think, uh, you know we, we just go on
back, back.
But you know our regular lives.
You know, when I was drivingback and forth to Atlanta, and
this was even in December, um, Iwould stop at the same gas
station in matter, uh, to getgas.

(27:57):
And you know, talking to thelady who runs a shop there and
this was in December, um, shesaid that she still hadn't
gotten power back yet from wow,yeah.
So, uh, it was again a lotworse than than people realize.

Speaker 4 (28:17):
Oh, yeah, we were.
I was 11 days.
I mean, I have a generator, Iwired it into my house, so we
were good.
But and then when they startedpicking up all the debris, of
course they would knock out morepower because they'd be
swinging those debris trucksaround with the hooks.
Numerous times power gotknocked out or cable on top of
it, because they're doing damage.
But they're trying to get thestuff cleaned up as well and at

(28:40):
least they're being safe aboutit.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
Again.
God bless you.
Hopefully things from.
My guess is everybody is atleast back online.
Yeah, Get the courses back tothe playable First world
problems.

Speaker 4 (29:01):
The debris is right of the cart path on the right
side or left of the cart path onthe left side.
So if you hit it over there,you you're on your own anyway.
Right, exactly, you got to findyour golf ball and, uh, you
know, if you don't find it youjust can't say, oh yeah, it went
inside this little pile ofmulch or just things like.
All right, now, you know.
So I didn't take that rule.
I'm like you have to find yourball and or, you know, you go

(29:23):
back and retake it.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
I'm just going back because I'm not digging through
that, because you don't knowwhat's going to be in there.

Speaker 4 (29:29):
Yeah, Now is not a bad time, but give it about two
months and you don't want to bedigging in no piles.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
I'm not digging in it .
Nope, not happening, nothappening.
So, chris, do you have anyquestions for Steve about your
favorite course?

Speaker 3 (29:45):
Besides Augusta National.

Speaker 4 (29:47):
Yeah, I haven't been out there yet.
I'll go out about five daysbefore the Masters.
I'll go out, obviously, youknow, because I work out there
as gallery and I'll go out anddo some setups and stuff.
But yeah, I haven't seen thecourse.
I've heard some informationfrom friends of mine that work
out there but I'm interested tosee you always hear some stuff

(30:10):
and then when you get out you'relike that's not what I was told
.
I don't really relay anythingon anybody else because until I
see it with my own eyes or hearit from a friend or person, I'm
not going to relay some of thethings I've heard.
You know there's so many treesthat were down or they're not
putting the trees back up incertain areas.
You know Augusta National doeswhatever Augusta National needs
to do.

Speaker 2 (30:31):
Exactly, that's true.
That's true.
So do you know about theargument that Chris and I have
about the majors?
Mm-mm.
Okay, so I say that the Mastersis not the best major of the
four.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
To watch or to be at Either.
I mean to watch.
I'll tell you right now I lovethe British Open and I love the
US Open.
I think every guy whose wife isnot a golfer she'll watch those
two because those guys get putthrough hell and that's what I
love about them.
Women like it when theystruggle and they can't break.
So those are always nice, usopen and the british open.

(31:09):
You know, when the wind and therain?
Uh no the masses is phenomenal.
I'm not gonna lie, it is.
Yeah, it's a, it's a.
It's a different event.
It's not like any other major,though I've played the old
course, you know, trust me, I'veplayed over there.
So it is not like any othermajor, though it is.
Think of it.
I mean, I don't want to sayanything that's going to get me

(31:30):
in trouble with the work outthere.
So it's just the Masters is theMasters.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
The Masters is the Masters.
We'll leave it at that Period.
But for me, the Masters isawesome, right.
But to me, the best major is USOpen, right.
It's our national championship.
It's our national championship,it's an Open and the winner is
crowned on Father's Day.
That, to me, is why it's myfavorite, because, you know,

(31:59):
most of us got involved withgolf primarily because of our
fathers and it's our nationalchampionship and know, and it
for me, it's that pride, it's,it's those things and also the
US Open.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
There's actually a qualifier so an amateur can go
play in it.
That's right, just like thesenior US Open, which one of my
members, as a matter of fact,played in Alaska, wisconsin yep,
I thought he was gonna do good,because he kicks the crap out
of me every time.
I haven't beat him yet.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
I think I've been playing with him for five.
He's my nemesis.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
I've been playing with him for like.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
Well, I was going to ask you how you play when you
play against Brian, yeah, yeah,I already have the same name and
you already know who it is, andgood dude too.

Speaker 4 (32:41):
Yes, very good, big, tireless guy like myself.
But yeah, he told me he saysthat was the nastiest ruck we
ever saw out there.
He said it was bad.
He was hoping it got pairedwith.
You know some really cool, youknow like legends of golf up
there in the senior open.
But yeah, I remember as a matterof fact it was that major that

(33:01):
we were doing down there atHarvard Club, the other one down
there in Oconee, and I wassitting there getting ready to
hit balls.
Because you go down that hilldown there to the right to the
range and you take the shuttleand anyways, brian's sitting
over there and he's got thislike nine-torque TS driver and
my buddy Tony's there with meand I'm looking over at his

(33:22):
driver and it's just sittingthere he's hitting his irons
right.
So I go and he knows what I do.
I help him on his gloves, Igrab his driver and I'm not
kidding you.
You know, you see the putter ona pro, how they got like little
dime sweet spot and all that.
That's what he had on thedriver.
I mean I'm just like guysaround Augusta that have won.
But I mean he's won the, theAugusta City Amateur twice

(33:49):
against the collegiate playersand everything you know, and I
tried to make my reign as far asI could until he hit 50.
But no, I love him to death.
He's a great player.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
It, but no, I love him to death.
He's a great player.
It pushes me too.
Yeah, well, steve, thank you somuch for joining us tonight.
I appreciate it.
I know you're going to keepdoing good things in Augusta.
Thanks, guys, and I know thatour paths will cross this year.
Oh yeah, keep it up.
All right, so you take care andwe'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
All right, so you take care, we'll talk to you
soon.
All right, I'll see you boys.
You guys Appreciate you guysand everything you guys do for
the tour.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
Let's take a break from the show to hear about
Strixon's ZX Mark II drivers.

Speaker 6 (34:31):
ZX Mark II drivers are for major players, major
winners, major power.
All new ZX Mark II drivers Onlyfrom Strixon.

Speaker 3 (34:46):
Tim.
Great conversation with Steve.
You know, it's just, it's coolto meet people that are and I
know I squeak, so apologize forthat Anybody that's doing it
loud in the car but it's cool tomeet all these people from
around the tour and just get toknow everybody you know,
regardless of whether you're atour tour director, member, um,

(35:06):
you name it, I.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
we just have so many cool people on tour that that
it's just it's fun to have theseconversations with yeah, it
really is, and you know he hetalked a little bit about his
time in the marines and andplaying golf on the marine golf
team uh, but what he and Martydid Marty, the Eastern North

(35:28):
Carolina tour director, did forthe Marine golf team when they
were stationed at Camp Lejeunewas incredible Introducing
people to the game of golf,taking them around to different
tournaments and those types ofthings, and how they touch other

(35:48):
people's lives just throughgolf.
You know, even though some ofthose people aren't on the tour,
just introducing them to thegame and giving them those
experiences really says a lotabout who they are as
individuals.

Speaker 3 (36:03):
Yeah, definitely.
I mean, that's just you know,we touched about it, excuse me,
we touched about it, you know,during our memorial special and
all that.
But just to hear these storiesagain is just it's a fun listen.
And everybody, I'm pretty sure,has stories whether it is

(36:24):
military or just golf related orjust life related that you
wouldn't realize but could alsoaffect your life in ways that
you don't think about it untilyou actually have to.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Anyway, looking forward to seeing Steve
throughout the year.
He does a great job with thesenior side and I know he's
going to get the golf week sideback to where it needs to be.
They're on some really goodcourses.
He talked about them.
You know Orangeburg You've gotto go to Parris Island, play

(37:04):
there and some of those otherplaces that he mentioned.
But I know he's going to dogreat things and I'm looking
forward to seeing him throughoutthe year.

Speaker 3 (37:12):
Yeah, definitely, and hopefully I'll see him on the
grounds of Augusta one day.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Well, you know it's possible.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
I'm going to keep pulling that thread until it
unravels because Trying to winthat lottery, you probably have
a better chance winning theactual lottery than that one.

Speaker 2 (37:31):
Well, probably.
Actually, speaking of Augusta,I would say I got to go one time
, master Chief.
You know, ken, he got ticketsand was unable to go and he gave

(37:56):
to me one year and so we got togo.
So I've been twice.
But he got the tickets becausehe was former military Nice, and
so they get, they give.
I don't know how that works,but I think it's a lottery
system as well, um, that youenter as as as a veteran, you

(38:20):
know, or I don't, I don't, don'tquote me.
I don't know how it works, butbut he got him specifically
because he was a veteran, uh, orretired veteran, and, um, he
couldn't go.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
he got four tickets and right it's got to be
something like that, because Iknow when billy went.
Billy went last year because hewon the national, the vga
national championship, and theyinvited him to go out and uh for
a couple days and then do uh anevent for the vga at another
course.
Um, I think that's Saturday, sohe was able to go out there.

(38:53):
But I mean for this guy to beable to get to play every year
it seems like, that's just cool,that's pretty awesome.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
So, anyway, let's move on, because we've got our
February Player of the month andthis guy he means so much to to
the tour he's been on.

Speaker 3 (39:16):
Let's put it this way .
You know we had this.
We switched up our contestbecause we wanted to highlight
what is it?
Eight members that I guess youcould say are like that show
golf week and what we look for,and you know the best members,
so it's pretty cool that whattruly exudes what we are as a

(39:41):
tour.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
I mean because we've got 6,000 members and they're
all great and you know we needto make sure that they know how
much we appreciate them and whatthey mean to us in the tour.
Right, I wish we could honorall 6,000 plus, but this is a

(40:03):
way that we can actuallyhighlight some members from
across the country that arebeing nominated by their tour
director as people that theytruly view as standouts and
assets to the local tour and thetour as a whole.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
Yeah, completely, and it's exciting that we get to
get started now.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
So let's go ahead and welcome in our next guest, the
February Player of the Month.
I don't think he can hear thisbecause it's supposed to be a
surprise for him, but we welcomehim.

Speaker 3 (40:41):
That's a good point.
Hopefully he can Chris.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
I'm going to figure this out I know, I know it's
like we've never done thisbefore, right, but oh my gosh, I
just get so excited.
I'm like you know, jojo theCircus Clown.
But oh good gosh, let's goahead and welcome in our next
guest.

(41:06):
Let's just leave it at that,our next guest, and hope God he
can't hear us.
Let's go ahead and welcome inour next guest.
Let's just leave it at that,our next guest, and hope God he
can't hear us.
Let's go ahead and welcome inour next guest, the mayor of
Hilton Head, john Robinson.
Jr.
Welcome to the show, bud.
And I've been doing this forhow long?
And we still can't get it right.
Jr, welcome back bud.

Speaker 5 (41:22):
It's so good to see you.
Good to see you guys too.

Speaker 2 (41:25):
You know, chris, I didn't mention this to you but
you know, when we look back sothis is like our 67th or 68th
episode and we look back at thepeople that we've had on, um, I
think there's only one personthat's been on more than you and
that's Roger, with Roger'srules.
Um, I, I, I love, I love havingyou on, for any number of

(41:46):
different reasons.
I mean, you're, you're, youlove the tour.
You're so insightful abouteverything, especially the
Island, and you give everybodygreat information.
But I got to tell you something.
You know, a couple of weeks agoI was, I was just kind of doing
some research on Hilton head.
You know, for some other stuffthat I'm doing, and I came
across your podcast that you didfor the realty group and I

(42:09):
watched that and I, they did anokay job.
I mean, I mean you know, butyou know, one of the things you
know you you talked about was,was where to go eat, and when
you started talking about lunch,I said, before he said it, he
says he's going to go to Stu'sand get that sub.

(42:32):
For those that don't know, whenyou're down here, chris, you've
got to go to Stu's because thatbread, you know, you can say
you're going to get a small sub,but you're going to go for the
big sub and you're going to eatit because that bread is so good
.
Am I right or not?

Speaker 5 (42:51):
Well, you know, know, a sub is a sub, but it's really
not.
You know, what's inside of asub is all the same.
It's either lettuce, tomato,onion, uh meat, ham, turkey
cheese, mayo, mustard.
That's it, that's it.
You know some other things, butwhat really makes it is either
the sub roll or the bread or thewrap.
That's really what makes it.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
And if you want the islands hilton heads best sub,
um, you go to stew sub shop downin caligny plaza near the beach
I think I went there this pastyear, I think you you told me to
go there tim you have to, youhave to you have to yeah's.

Speaker 5 (43:29):
you know, when I go I usually get the wrap version.
But I tell you what if you getthe sub, with the sub roll, it's
state there's no other.

Speaker 2 (43:42):
That bread is that thick and it's soft and it
tastes so good.
Can't beat it.
Can't beat it, john, why areyou going and getting a wrap
when you can have that bread?

Speaker 5 (43:54):
Well, I'll tell you why.
Because typically when I go toget something a sub or a wrap
it's usually a wrap because I'mtaking it on the golf course and
they roll it tight so you canput in your golf bag.
And sometimes I bring a fewextras to give to the guys I'm
playing with.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
But okay, I'll give you some slack on that one then,
because if you get the sub, ifyou get the sub number one, you
can't take that to to play golf.

Speaker 5 (44:22):
And number two if you eat it, it's not, it's nap time
after that, exactly, yeah, butthe wrap, maybe have half of it
when you're playing golf and theother half, you know, when
you're done.
It's uh, at least.
Now somehow we're turning talkof sub stew, sub shop and we're
turning it into golf.

Speaker 2 (44:39):
So we are off chat so so anyway, john, you know what
I text you.
I said we had something for youand you know I'm not sure how
much you know but our contestthis year it's not a shirt
contest.
We're looking for members whotruly exemplify what we're
looking for in our tour members.

(45:01):
And I got to read you somethingabout somebody that sent
something in about you and thisis why I wanted to have you on.
I'm going to read it prettymuch verbatim, although I may
leave out a couple of words, butthis is pretty much what he
says.
He says JR truly epitomizes themember that every tour wants.
He loves the tour, promotes thetour, plays somewhere every

(45:24):
week.
Players request all the time toplay in his group.
This is my favorite.
He's not afraid to gamble whileplaying, especially with Andres
Lopez as his partner.
Is that true?
Is that true?
You better believe it.
He plays both on the Hilton HeadGolf Week Tour and the Coastal

(45:45):
Georgia Senior Tour.
He posts everything about thetour that he possibly can on all
the social media platforms.
He plays in a ton of regionalsevery year, always plays in
nationals, donates a ton ofmoney to the V Foundation
charity raffles, which we thankyou so much for.
Really do appreciate it andmaybe we can talk about why here
in just a second.
He's been a sponsor of the tour.

(46:07):
He's been a sponsor of thelocal Hilton Head tour.
He knows everything andeverybody on Hilton Head Island
and you came here to Hilton Headas a golf pro excuse me, as a
tennis pro and golf came second,and you know.
So what we wanted to tell youis you are the February tour

(46:29):
member.
National tour member of themonth.

Speaker 5 (46:33):
Well, I'm honored.
I'm honored.
I sort of wondered what ourtopic was today, and that's a
beautiful surprise.
You going to tell me who sentthat in?
I think you can guess.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
I think you can guess .
So how it works is all the tourdirectors are taking charge of
this and they're nominatingpeople throughout the season
from their tour.
So Dennis submitted this and Iactually had a nice long
conversation with him today andwe talked about you and how

(47:11):
appreciative both he and me andChris are that you're a member
of the tour and that you're sowilling and giving of your time
to the tour.
It's really special.

Speaker 5 (47:24):
Well, I appreciate this very much.
It's almost for what we do.
It's almost like getting anAcademy Award and it is.
I tell you, it is a nicesurprise to hear this and I just
almost speechless.
You know, the things that hewrote are true.

(47:47):
The truest comment was yeah,I'll bet you any amount of money
as long as Andres Lopez is mypartner and he'll usually roll
it in for a birdie and we'reboth collecting money.
That's how it works.
Occasionally I'll put one infor a par to free him up, but
that's my contribution.

(48:08):
But I tell you in some of ourother conversations that we've
had together about the tour andabout golf, it's all you know.
It's all um.
You know the the same.
As far as I'm concerned, thisis the the um.
I don't want to say the coolest, but it's.

(48:30):
The coolest thing I do is playthis tour, and when I have to
miss a tournament that's on ourschedule, I don't like it.
When I can't play one of thetournaments, partially because I
want to support Dennis andsupport the tour and support the

(48:51):
winner of my flight, because weall need extra money, you know,
for whoever's going to win.
So but it's, I look forward toit, you know, to playing.
We have a tournament coming upon Monday at Savannah Quarters
Country Club which,unfortunately, I can't play.
You know, it's one of the fewthat I can't play, partially

(49:14):
because we're taking a few of usare taking a trip down to
florida for a little golf tripnice and uh, it just happened
that these friday to friday tomonday were the best days that
we could do it.
So we're gonna have to to missSavannah Quarters, but I'll be
at the next one.
I think it's Old Field CountryClub.
You don't want to miss that one.

(49:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (49:40):
So you know I did mention that you donate a lot of
money to the Jimmy V Foundation.
Do you want to share why that'sso important to you?

Speaker 5 (49:48):
Two reasons important to you.
Two reasons.
One it's, you know, it's thecharitable function that Dennis
McCormick, who is our, you know,he's the national tour director
, but he's also the Hilton HeadSavannah tour director.
That's the one he chose forvarious reasons, you's reasons

(50:09):
why he chose that charity for usto promote.
And my father succumbed tocancer eight, nine years ago,
and everything I do I think ofmy father.

(50:31):
You know he was a great golferand, um, every time I put on my
tailor-made hat to go to go teeit up, I think of my dad.
And because he loved to play somuch, in fact, he, he played in
an amateur tour also.
I think it was calledtournament tournament players

(50:51):
association or something likethat.
Um, this was years ago, but he,he played in a very similar
amateur tour that that I'mplaying in, the golf week
amateur tour, and so I think ofhim every time I tee it up.
In fact, every time I actuallytee it up, I do, and only maybe

(51:12):
two people in the world knowthat I do this, but now
everyone's going to know I dothis because I'm going to tell
you what I do Every time I teeup the ball.
You know, 18 times I'll tee itup, and when I put the tee in
the ground and then I put theball on top of the tee, then
I'll touch the grass with myhands, just with my fingers,

(51:37):
just touching the grass.
And the whole purpose for thatjust touching the grass is to
remind myself how great of asport it is and that my father
loved it too.
And it's really just my way ofreminding myself that my dad is

(52:00):
still with me playing golf.

Speaker 2 (52:04):
So that that that's awesome.
And you know, Chris, go ahead.
I got to collect my thoughts onthat, right.

Speaker 5 (52:14):
No, it's deep, I mean I think, tim, I didn't overtake
you, tim, I have that way aboutit.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
You did and I'm glad that you did.
Sorry, chris, I'm sorry tointerrupt you, but I had a, a
couple things that have happened, you know, to me over the last
let's just say 48 hours um, onethat really reminded me of my
father, um, which is again whymost of us get into playing golf
.
And the other one, um, you know, I'm interviewing a for the

(52:47):
other podcast I do JR.
We talk about I help peoplebecome better communicators and
I'm actually interviewing one ofthe play-by-play announcers for
Kansas City Royals tomorrow andI was reading in one of his
books and basically he talkedabout his grandfather and who

(53:08):
his grandfather was to him.
And literally this is about anhour ago I read that part in the
book and I broke out inalligator tears Because what he
was saying about his grandfatherwas exactly my wife's
grandfather.
That was his same philosophy,his same who he was, and he was

(53:34):
the first person to welcome meinto Jen's side of the family.
So those people that know meknow me that you know I'm an
emotional person.
It happens and I'm okay with it.
So, john, it is what it is.
Go ahead, chris, you're up now.

Speaker 3 (53:49):
Top that, top that Right?
I don't think I can.
But I mean, like you say, yousay it all the time.
You know, 95% of us, ourfathers, got us into golf.
So when we bring it up or wehave those memories, I think it
touches a little bit ofeverybody's heart, heartstrings.
I mean, you know, I lost myfather and I remember golfing

(54:10):
with him to his final days, thathe could um and got into golf
because of him.
Granted, it was a little laterin my life, but I think I got
into it because I knew thosewould be the times that I'd be
able to spend with just him, youknow, out in nature and and not
having to worry about whateverit may be going to the movies or

(54:33):
whatever, like you, just justyou and him and you're just
hanging out.
So so it.
It touches everyone's heart andnow that I have little ones
that want to start playing golf,it's like okay, now I get to
give them what I was able toexperience for five, six, seven
years of his life.
So, um, you know that is prettycool.
Next time I'm golfing with you,though, I'm going to watch for

(54:55):
it, you've got 18 chances.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
But I tell you, you know, I think you know, when
we're little kids, you knowfathers typically, you know
they'll coach your teamsbaseball, basketball, football,
um, and then you know, so dadswere sort of built-in coaches.
You know all your teenage yearsand then you know, maybe into

(55:20):
your 20s, but you know he, a dad, is always, always your coach,
no matter how old you are, andum, so, anyway, when so our
tournaments, uh, whenever dennis, you know, has a raffle, um,
then you know, there's noquestion, there's no question

(55:41):
and and I've been lucky enoughto to win a few of them, um, but
uh, even if I don't win, I'mjust glad that money's raised
and it's gone for a great causeand I'm glad for whoever wins.
So it's just great that we'reall out there playing golf and

(56:01):
supporting and just being theretogether and doing our best and
just you know being theretogether and doing our best.

Speaker 3 (56:11):
No, I mean to go back to your coaching.
You know, my very first golfweek event as a member I think I
was on the range hitting hoselrockets every shot and it's like
, okay, let me call my dad andsee what's going on.
You know, I'm so nervous here.
Maybe he has advice and I mean,that's the first person you
think about calling.
So you're right, they're notjust a life coach, they're an

(56:34):
everything coach.
At that point, right?

Speaker 5 (56:36):
Everything, no matter how old you are, you know you
never grow up to that, exactly,exactly.
But I very much appreciate thisspecial ceremony I guess you
could call it, but it's prettycool and it really means a lot

(56:57):
to me.

Speaker 2 (56:58):
Well, you mean so much to the tour and you know
we're exactly a month out fromone of the best weekends of the
year.
One of the best weeks of theyear.
One of the best weeks of theyear, you know, rbc is coming up
here.

Speaker 3 (57:14):
Oh, I thought you were going to say the.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
Masters, don't start.
Why start to cause problems?
We're having a good moment hereAnyone who calls problems.

Speaker 5 (57:31):
So what advice do you have for people coming in to
one of the best weeks of theyear on the island Are you
talking about, for people comingto Hilton Head during that week
, during that week?
Yep, well, I'll tell you whatit's turned into.

(57:55):
I've been on Hilton Head for 35years and the first 10, 12
years I was a a tennis pro, andso everything was tennis.
But one of the greatest weeksof the year in tennis was the
family circle magazine cup,which is no longer you know here
in hilton head.
It went to charleston andthere's a different name, I
think it's called the city openor something.
But we had a professional, awomen's professional tennis
tournament on Hilton Head for 30some or 40 or 50 some years,

(58:16):
and it was the week before, Ithink the week before the
Heritage.
So it was two weeks of amazingprofessional sports, but then
that the tennis tournament wentto Charleston.
So it's all been focused on theheritage now, and the very
first heritage tournament was1969.

(58:37):
Arnold Palmer won that firstevent.
Jack Nicklaus was co-coursedesigner with Pete Dye at the
Harbortown Golf Links, of course.
So Jack was in that firsttournament and I'm sure many
more after that, and we've hadsome of the greatest players in

(58:57):
the history of golf win ourtournament since 1969.
The one the negative, I guess,for our tournament not a
negative, but it made it toughwas our tournament, the RBC
Heritage.
It used to be called the MCIHeritage but now it's the RBC
Heritage, but it's for manyyears.

(59:18):
It was tough to get thegreatest players to come because
our tournament was literallythe week after the Masters and
oftentimes some of the greatestplayers would skip the next week
after such a mentally drainingweek at one of the majors.
So the following week was ushere in Hilton Head and we had

(59:42):
great players come and win ourtournament, like Davis Love III
won it many times, boo Weakleywon it, I think twice.
But we had some great championsback in the day.
But in the last few years thePGA I guess has created has made

(01:00:04):
this tournament one of the toptournaments on the schedule.
So we have players like jordanspeed and we have players like
scotty shuffler and we haveplayers like rory mcelroy and
all the greatest players you canimagine.
So it's it's, um, probably thebest week of the year for for an

(01:00:26):
event.
You know, we we just had ourHilton Head St Patrick's Day
Parade, although it was canceleddue to rain, but that's usually
one of the top days of the yearfor locals, for islanders and
for visitors here during thisweek actually.
But the Heritage which is thisyear it's April 14th to the 21st

(01:00:51):
, I believe, or the 20th, andit's the beginning of spring.
It's still spring break timefor high school kids, I believe
it's close to Easter and theweather is turning nice and it's
sort of the beginning of abeautiful season here in Hilton
Head every year and we have somelegends coming.

(01:01:15):
This year, just like the lastfew years.
And I'll tell you if you do geta chance to get a ticket to go
one of the days Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday.
It's a tremendous opportunity tolook at one of the prettiest
golf courses in the world andwatch some of the best golfers

(01:01:36):
compete on a narrow course withsome of the smallest greens on
the PGA Tour.
And if you've had a chance toplay Harbortown, you know it's
difficult but it's an absolutepleasure to play, although it's
a little bit tougher.
I think one of the toughestshots for me is the second shot

(01:01:56):
on number 18.
You know I don't hit it reallong, but especially if it's
breezy coming off the CalabogieSound, you know, along the
fairway of the 18th, hittingthat second shot is, I think,
one of the most daunting shotsthere is, with the marsh on the
left and short, and most playersbail out right and then chip up

(01:02:19):
hoping to par it.
But it's one of the prettiestgolf courses on the planet.

Speaker 2 (01:02:27):
This year it's going gonna be a little bit difficult.
Um, you know, I always gottickets from um, uh, from jay,
and uh, we'd be right there onthe 18th and watching with jay,
not with us anymore.
Uh, it's, it's gonna be alittle bit there, but a couple

(01:02:48):
years ago when the playoff withRyan Fitzpatrick and Jordan
Spieth, they played that holethree or four times and the shot
that Ryan Fitzpatrick hit inthere so close for Birdie to win
, it was amazing and, like yousaid, john, if you've not
actually ever been there andseen how difficult that shot is,

(01:03:09):
that's a tough, tough shot.
He put it within six feet,didn't he?

Speaker 5 (01:03:13):
Yeah, it's amazing.
You know these guys can hittheir drivers.
You know 300-plus yards, so Idon't know what they have coming
into that.
But still that's a tough,because when you're in the
fairway looking at that green,you know from the TV tower, you
know what you see on TV.
It may not really show you howdifficult it looks.

(01:03:36):
But the second shot and Chris,do you agree with that?
You know, when you're playingHarbortown, the second shot,
it's almost like there's nothingbehind the green.
There's water and boats.
You know, behind the green andto the left of the green it's
almost like a peninsula green.
If you hit it left of the greenthen you're in, you know, an

(01:04:01):
area where water comes up anddown.
It's sort of like the edge ofthe Kalaboke Sound right there.
But then you see, on the rightside side you see all the green
fairway.
So it's it's it's so uh easy toto bail it out right and it's
not a not a bad chip, it's not areal difficult chip.

(01:04:22):
The green is fairly flat,although there's some little
moguls to the right of the greenif you have to chip from the
right side.
But if you're left or if you'reshort, then you're in trouble.
If you're short, you're in realtrouble, big trouble.
Big trouble.
If you're left, you're introuble.
If you're short, you're in bigtrouble, because then you've got

(01:04:42):
a long drop.
So anyway, I just think it'sfor those who are coming to
Hilton Head.
So, anyway, I just think it's,you know, for those who are
coming to Hilton Head, and ifyou get a ticket or two to the
Heritage anytime this year, nextyear, then, you know, put on
some springtime clothes.
There's a lot of pink andyellow and light blue out there
that week.
There's a lot of neat southernhats, a lot of the ladies are

(01:05:05):
wearing hats, everybody'scarrying a drink, either a
bottle of water or somethingelse, and there's many spots,
just like PGA tournaments allover the country.
There's many spots to have funother than watching golf.
You know there's some things.
You know tents and littlebooths to purchase golf apparel
and you know neat things fromthe sponsors all kinds of food

(01:05:28):
and you know neat things fromthe sponsors all kinds of food
and it's just a great place tobe for the week that week in
April every year.

Speaker 2 (01:05:37):
And don't come to try and get any work done.

Speaker 5 (01:05:40):
No, yeah, I tell you.
And then afterwards, what doyou do after the tournament's
over and when you leave?
You know, historically, thereis a legendary restaurant right
there at the bottom of thelighthouse.
You know, the red and whitelighthouse, the very bottom of
it.
Uh, years and years ago therewere two of them.
One was called the quarter deck, which is still there, and then

(01:06:01):
the other one was called, uh,cafe europa.
Do you guys remember cafeeuropa?
no, long time ago that was atthe bottom of the lighthouse but
that's gone and the quarterdeckhas since rebuilt their bar
restaurant to one of the mostbeautiful restaurants on Hilton
Head with viewing the water andthe marina and the golf course,

(01:06:23):
and it's two levels.
But historically, years andyears ago after the golf you
would just head over to quarterdeck and stay there all night.
You probably wouldn't be eating, you'd be drinking and you
might see some of the golferscome in there too.
So there's lots of places inHarbortown to go to after the

(01:06:43):
tournament.
You know if you're thereThursday or Friday or Saturday.
Afterwards you head over toCQ's for some nice dinner or you
head over to the quarter deckit's much bigger now, so there's
a lot of room or there's other.
There's a crazy crab which is inin Harbortown Marina Great
seafood and real fun.

(01:07:05):
It's a great family place.
And then there's other placesin Sea Pines and then right out
the front gate there's moreplaces.
One of my favorite is the CharBar.
I love going to the Char Bar,which is right out of the front
gate of Sea Pines.
So there's after the tennis,sorry, after the golf.
There's all kinds of fun thingsto do.

Speaker 2 (01:07:26):
Yeah, there really is .
You know, we stay in theMotorcoach Resort and there's a
few golfers that stay in theretoo.
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:07:39):
I did hear that.
Doesn't Spieth have an RV?
He does, that's what I heard.
Yeah, does he stay there?

Speaker 2 (01:07:48):
I don't think he did last year, but he definitely did
the year before.
Jason Day as well, doesn't he?
Actually there was a rumorgoing around that Jason Day
bought a lot.
I don't know if that's true.
Oh yeah, I know somebody whowas stalking Jordan Spieth had
to kind of rein her in a littlebit.

(01:08:12):
I know who you're talking about,it wasn't me Well, JR, thank
you so much for who you are andwhat you bring for the tour.
I can't thank you enough forall of that.
You're such a good, rich person, personality, and we are so

(01:08:32):
lucky to have you as part of thefamily.

Speaker 5 (01:08:34):
Well, I very much appreciate it, guys, and I love
coming on your show and talkingto you about golf.
There's nothing better thanthat.
And you know, last night I wastalking I met somebody and I was
telling him all about the GolfWeek Amateur Tour and he didn't
know anything about it.
But he sure does now, of coursehe did.
So I think it's great and whatyou guys do is just sort of

(01:09:00):
really supports the tour andgets the word out.
And I'm just tickled that Iknow you guys and that I've been
a guest on your show, sohopefully there's more times
coming this year.

Speaker 2 (01:09:14):
Well, I'm hoping that we could.
We could find some way to do to, to have a JRS, you know, named
segment.
That's kind of what I'm whatI'm searching for.
We've got Rogers rules.
We need something for you.
Let's put our heads together.

Speaker 3 (01:09:27):
We'll get closer to nationals, because I think you
have so much information thatyou could give everybody that's
visiting, especially for theirfirst time, I mean that's true.

Speaker 5 (01:09:36):
Let's, let's put something together.
Let's do it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:39):
Love to do that all right, buddy, well again.
Thanks so much, and and I I doneed to see you more than just
on here and and passingeditorial I saw you at the uh
the icebreaker in january yeah,yeah, yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:09:48):
We need to see you more than just on here and and
passing editorial.
I saw you at the uh the icebreaker in january yeah yeah
yeah, we need to probably meetat stews, or or oh, I see, yeah,
we'll go get a rat and talkabout a char bar for a drink all
right, all right we can do that, definitely all right, but you
take care of yourself, john.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
Good seeing you guys, all right let's take a break
from All right, we can do that.
Definitely All right, bud youtake care of yourself, John.

Speaker 5 (01:10:10):
Good seeing you guys, all right.

Speaker 2 (01:10:12):
Let's take a break from the show to hear about
Strixon's ZX Mark II irons.

Speaker 6 (01:10:17):
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 so it's just a cool
time talking with jr.

Speaker 3 (01:10:33):
We do need to get him on more um, because he just has
so much knowledge of the island.
You know um, the sub sandwichplace.
I text you about to go get takemy wife somewhere special to
eat, because there's only somany places that I've been to um
that I go every year and andman, what a, what a home run
that that place was.

(01:10:54):
It was.
I almost ordered another suband had to hold back because I
could.
I could have gone for two.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
It was good it's I, I love it, man it is.
It is so good, oh my andthere's soup.

Speaker 3 (01:11:07):
I got a soup too.
A cup of soup.
Yeah, man, that was, it wasstellar.

Speaker 2 (01:11:11):
So, uh, if you do go to nationals, or anytime you go
to the island, go to that, go tothat place because it's it's
top notch well, you know, after,after we did the call um, we're
kind of giving away how we dothis, but after we did the call,
I told Jen we've got a friendin town.

(01:11:37):
I said take him over to Stu'sfor lunch.
And then Jen and I have ameeting at 6 o'clock tonight and
I said what are we going to doabout dinner, because the
meeting is going to go from like6 to 9.
I said you know, it's notreally going to work.
They didn't check with me whenthey scheduled the meeting.
I said what are we going to dofor dinner?

(01:11:58):
And she said I don't know.
I said well, this is what Iwant you to do.
I want you to go to Stu's and Iwant you to.
I'll eat a sub.
And she said you want to eat asub.
And she said you eat a subright in the middle of the
meeting.
I said hell yeah, I'm going toeat a sub right in the middle of
the meeting.
I'm going to make noises.
I'm going to make the oh, it'sso good noises.
And she said well, you sit upfront.
I said yeah, I do, and you'regoing to do that.

(01:12:19):
She said well, that's rude.
I said why is that rude.
What am I supposed to do?
Not make it's good noises.
I said you got to, let me be me.
And she said I'm not doing that.
So yeah, but I tell you whatStu's is phenomenal.

(01:12:41):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3 (01:12:43):
And the little area is pretty cool too, Like just
walking around the littleshopping center is pretty nice.
You know, we went to the beach.
Unfortunately that day it wascold.
Out of all seven days we werethere, that was the only coldest
day, so the water was freezing.
Me and my wife, being tourists,are the only ones putting our
feet in the water and everybodyelse is like 30 feet away.

(01:13:04):
But it was a good time andcan't wait to do it again.
But, like I said, JR, you callhim the mayor of Hilton Head and
you can ask him.
He should be doing tours paidtours, the week leading up to
Nationals.
Get him a big van and just hopon there and he'll drive you

(01:13:25):
around the island, tell youeverything.
He would do it too, and he'd doit with a smile, oh yeah, he
loves the island and you knowjust a great addition to the
roster of members of the monthand I enjoyed talking to him.

(01:13:49):
He just has so many coolstories about that island and
you know the tournament thatgoes on there and I would have
never known of a tennistournament that happened the
week before unless we had thisconversation.
So it's just pretty cool.
It's trivia knowledge that hehas about the island.

Speaker 2 (01:14:09):
That's pretty cool he's a lot of fun to be around.
It's trivia knowledge that hehas about the island.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah, I mean he's a lot of funto be around.
And Dennis is right, I meanpeople do gravitate towards him
for a number of differentreasons.
I mean he's just an all-aroundgood guy Again, loves the tour,
loves the island.

(01:14:31):
And you know, I don't see himlet's just say I don't see him
every day or maybe even everyweek, but I don't know that I've
ever really seen him without asmile on his face.
Yeah, and you know, when you,when you go around the island
and you start talking to peopleyou know especially locals and

(01:14:54):
you bring up JR's name, you knowthey just go on and on about
who he is and what a great guyhe is.

Speaker 3 (01:15:02):
You know all he's done for the island and those
types of things and for him tobe one of our biggest
cheerleaders is really does meana lot it does, and I'm going to
have to take his advice on thatrap and try it this year and
see if it works, just keepingthat rap in that golf bag for
the tournament, and then, if itdoes, at Nationals, I'll have to

(01:15:25):
go every day and get a rap forthe next day to eat during the
round.

Speaker 2 (01:15:31):
I think he just has a lot of self-control because you
are right, the bread was good.
Number one, I don't know.
I had that self-control Evenwith wrap because, okay, the
meats are the meats, he's right,but it just tastes so good.
I mean, and then you and youknow so seriously, when we go,

(01:15:58):
jen and I go to Stu's, obviouslythere's two sizes.
And when I go in there she saysJen says which size are you
eating?
I'm getting a small one.
And I start looking at the menu.
I said, now just give me theregular size one.
I won't eat it all.
I eat it all.

(01:16:18):
I eat it all.
And as I'm eating you knowthree quarters of the way
through it, I said, oh, I shouldnot have eaten all this.
And she says, well, stop.
I said, well, I might as welljust go ahead and finish it.
And she says, well, stop.
I said, well, I might as welljust go ahead and finish it,
because what am I going to dowith a quarter of a sub If I
just eat a quarter of it?
Later I'm going to say, man, Iwish I had more.

(01:16:38):
Yeah, makes sense, so I just eatit.
It's great.
And again, this is.
I want to make sure thateverybody understands it's not
about stew subs.
Stew subs is good, but it'sreally more about JR and who he

(01:16:59):
is as an individual and who heis for us in the tour.
Thanks, jr, for all that you dofor us.
We really, really really doappreciate it.
Looking forward to many morememories with you down the road.

Speaker 3 (01:17:11):
For sure.
Now the big announcement no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (01:17:19):
We still have time in the month of March for you tour
directors to submit nominations.
We've got four so far, reallygood nominations.
Dennis is going to have a toughtime choosing.
I can tell you that now becauseI've seen him and he's got a

(01:17:41):
tough time yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:17:44):
The competition is heating up, and now's your time.
Now's your time for the tourdirectors Now's their time to,
or for the tour directors now'stheir time to get their
nominations in.
But I'm really enjoying thisone.
I like the way we pivoted.

Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
Yeah, you know, because you know we talk to
people all over the country withthis and you know we're talking
to different people fordifferent reasons.
You know, a lot of times youknow we may pick a winner of a
tournament or tour director maysay you know, this is an
interesting guy or lady, we needto have more and they've got a

(01:18:23):
great story, but whatever, it isright, right, but this contest
is is is a little bit different.
And being able to talk to thesepeople, these members who truly
live and breathe the tour, andgetting their stories and
honoring them, it's just alittle bit different, yeah it's
it.

Speaker 3 (01:18:46):
I think it makes it a little more meaningful as well.

Speaker 2 (01:18:48):
Yep, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
So get your nominations in.
It's going to be great.
And you know, chris, one of thethings I think we should do is,
even if the people who haven'tbeen nominated, I still think we
should be reading what the tourdirectors say about them, so

(01:19:10):
that they do get their due insome way.
So let's think about that as wemove forward too.
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 3 (01:19:18):
It's something to consider.

Speaker 2 (01:19:20):
Yeah, Now next big announcement.
Who wants to win a set?

Speaker 3 (01:19:27):
of Strixon irons.
I mean I think anybody'swilling to win a set of any
irons, but yes, strixon for sure.
I mean I play Strixon and Ienjoy them.
Can I win?

Speaker 2 (01:19:42):
Well, we're going to tell you how you can win.
Let me ask you a question.
Yeah, so you've gotten your newirons right?
Correct, you like them, I do.

Speaker 3 (01:19:53):
No, I like them.
It just feels like the balljust comes off real smooth off
the club face A little bitlonger in the distance than what
I previously had, realforgiving, which is something
that that's nice, because youknow, even if you go off the toe
or off the heel, you're not inreal big trouble.

(01:20:15):
Um, so yeah, I really like themand and to be able to to give
away a set is is kind of cool,because now you get to see what
Strixon has to offer as well.

Speaker 2 (01:20:31):
So how are we going to do it?
Strixon has been graciousenough to give us a set of irons
for us to raffle off, and themoney that's raised is going to
help defer some of our costs totravel around here buddy.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:20:49):
I mean, we want to keep the travel series going and
, uh, you know as much as me andTim would love to have it for
free.
Uh, it does cost.
But uh, this, this, this willdefinitely help out with that.
And, uh, you know, one luckywinner gets, gets a new set that
they probably weren't evencounting on for this year, right
, um?
So what better way to to beable to do that as well?

Speaker 2 (01:21:13):
So what we're going to do is we're going to raffle
off.
Like I said, raffle off a setof irons $10 a chance.
We're only going to sell 100chances, okay.
So what you do is, if you Venmome, it's at TimNATC and I'll
put the QR code on the webpageor in the show notes for you all

(01:21:39):
to go over where to send themoney.
And as soon as we get 100entries, we'll wrap them off and
from there, maybe we'll do adriver, maybe we'll do some
wedges and go from that point.
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:21:58):
I mean, I would hope, you know, we're able to see
success in this and have moreopportunities to give away a lot
of other things.
I know we have, you know, a tonof listeners.
I believe we're not having alimit on how many you can buy.
Is that correct?
No limit?
Okay, so I'd be think of it asa an easy way to come out with

(01:22:24):
with a new set, and I believefrom because, from what I got,
it's four through Pitching Witch.
Yes, I believe so.
So there's ZX7s, mk2s, fourthrough Pitching Witch yeah, a
great set, and for $10, youcould be a lucky winner and walk

(01:22:45):
home with a brand new set for2025.

Speaker 2 (01:22:48):
Yeah, and what we'll do is we'll do the Wheel of
Names once we get 100.
We'll do it live right here onthe podcast.
Everybody knows there's nofunny business going on, right,
and everybody will get it Pay$10, everybody will get a shot
at it.
So, like I said, I'll put a QRcode and my username for Venmo

(01:23:09):
in the show notes for everybody.
Just go ahead and all go aheadand take care of that and kind
of to go along with that.
Chris, you know, just foranybody that's out there that's
a business owner wants tosponsor the podcast, please
reach out to us and let us knowwe can put something together

(01:23:29):
for you.
Please reach out to us and letus know we can put something
together for you, and all thatmoney would go to help us
produce a podcast and get usmoney to be able to travel
around and see everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:23:42):
Yeah, definitely Any help helps is what I tell my
guys because, just like yourlocal tour, you know how they
look for sponsors.
We're doing this for you all.
I know me and Tim.
We really enjoy talking to eachother, but we do it for you
guys and for information for youall and we'd love to see you

(01:24:06):
guys in person than justnationals.

Speaker 2 (01:24:10):
Yeah, so anyway, like I said, we'll put that in the
show notes and we'll see howthat goes, and that's all I've
got this week, bud.
I mean, I get to go to Howie inthe Hills, howie in the Hills,

(01:24:30):
that's.

Speaker 3 (01:24:30):
I think that's the front runner for funniest unique
town names this year Howie inthe Hills, howie in the Hills.

Speaker 2 (01:24:41):
And that's a sold out senior regional, so it's going
to be fun.
I'm looking forward to seeingeverybody down there.
Obviously, this is going tocome out after I've already been
there.
We'll highlight the winners inthe next episode.

Speaker 3 (01:24:56):
Yeah, and a lot of tours are starting to play,
starting their seasons.
This madness of March.
You got the end of, or start of, basketball tournament Tours
starting all over and we're onfull swing, exactly Full swing.

Speaker 2 (01:25:17):
That's what we haven't talked about full swing
yet.
We did a little bit at thefirst episode, but we should
probably talk about thatsometime soon too, because very,
very, very interesting thingsgoing on in there, oh yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:25:30):
You know whoever thought of that idea.
I know it's a spinoff of the F1series, but to be able to get
these guys and it's not likeit's you know the second-tier,
third-tier guys on there They'vegot the top-notch players on
there talking about it and youknow what's going to happen.

(01:25:53):
Like we know Scott, they'regoing to talk about Scotty
getting arrested.
You know they're going to talkabout this and that, but to be
able to see what's going on inthe back end is pretty cool.
I binge watched it.
Yeah, I've got one episode leftto go, but the one with Gary
Woodland.

Speaker 2 (01:26:09):
That was cool.
I binge watched it.
Yeah, I got one episode left togo, but the one with Gary
Woodland that was.
We kind of knew what was goingon because they talked about it
a little bit before that, but wedidn't really know what was
going on and some of thosethings it's like I can't imagine
.
Right, it takes a lot for him toagree to put that on there but

(01:26:35):
if that helps somebody elsethat's going through that too,
and I think that's what heunderstands, that that there are
some, there is some treatmentout there for that and you're
not alone.
And um, that's just.
I didn't bring it, sir, right,right, anyway, let's.

(01:26:57):
Let's end on a positive note.

Speaker 3 (01:27:00):
Yeah, for sure.
No, I mean it's we'll talkabout maybe next one, because,
because it's pretty cool, but Ithink again having jr, I think
again having JR in the runninggiving away a set of irons, I
think we're going to be busierthis year.

(01:27:21):
Much busier right, but it'sgoing to be fun and, before you
know it, we'll be doing thislive in nationals Exactly,
exactly, exactly and where thiswas our best episode ever.

Speaker 2 (01:27:35):
Just wait till next episode.
All right, bud, you take careof yourself, we'll talk to you
soon.

Speaker 4 (01:27:43):
Likewise, Thank you.

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