July 1, 2025 • 22 mins
The unexpected merger between PGA, DP, and LIV Tours exposes the hypocrisy behind the golf world's civil war and raises questions about loyalty versus opportunity. We explore the shifting perceptions of age and how "old" is defined by perspective, while also diving into why wedges are the second most important clubs in your bag.
• PGA Tour leadership created a divisive narrative against LIV Tour only to later form a partnership
• Players who declined LIV's lucrative offers out of loyalty must now watch as former rivals return
• The merger announcement on June 6th sent shockwaves through the golfing community
• Ageism reflects more about the observer's perspective than actual limitations
• True "oldness" comes from loss of curiosity and playfulness, not chronological age
• Most golfers hit fewer greens in regulation than they think, making wedge selection crucial
• Ping Glide 4.0 wedges offer consistent performance across various course conditions
• Engineers often struggle to explain technical benefits in terms that matter to players
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
Welcome to episode 116, wherecommon sense and overthought
storytelling collide.
(00:52):
In this episode I'll share somewisdom from Wedgiville, also a
well-researched, if I don't sayso myself, segment on the
perception of what old means.
Before I get too far down thoserabbit holes, I have to weigh
in on the shocking news aboutthe co-joining of the Live Tour,
(01:16):
the DP Tour and the PGA Tourall under one ashram.
I mean umbrella.
For those of you entrenched inprofessional golf, you know
about the great divide betweenthe traditional PGA tours and
the Saudi-backed LIV tour ownedby the PIF.
And if I add one more acronym,I'm going to have to start a
(01:36):
whole new board game.
I play with golf buddies thathave taken completely opposite
polar sides on whether a golfershould have stayed with the PGA
Tour or have taken the money togo play for the Lift Tour.
It's divisive.
It's as divisive as Republicanand Democrats are today.
(01:58):
It seems like most every newschannel or podcast were asked to
buy into one position or thepolar opposite, and most of them
are false narratives Like yesor no.
Are you still beating your wifeor has she filed for a
restraining order?
First of all, no and no,because I never did and she
(02:20):
never did.
Pro golfers that decided toeither go to the live tour or
not go were asked these hard,open-end questions like what
went into your thinking onleaving the PGA tour to go to
live or to PGA players?
Why have you decided to stickwith the PGA and not go to the
(02:41):
live tour?
The media put these players ina horrible position and pitted
them against each other.
But when asked a question likethat, with a yes or no answer,
there's no right answer.
When the live tour tried tonegotiate with the PGA up front,
there was no wiggle room.
Jay Monahan and the governingbody of the PGA took a hard
(03:04):
stance If you choose to play onthe live tour, you're barred
from the PGA tour events forever.
Do not pass, go, do not collect$200.
You lose your world rankingpoints and are sent to the
island of misfit toys.
That's the position they took.
Misfit toys, that's theposition they took.
(03:27):
And they took that positionbecause the Live Tour was
throwing money at players likethe PGA Tour never did.
And the PGA players had beenasking the tour for a lot more
rights and a lot more money anda lot more flexibility, and they
said no because they had amonopoly on them, they
controlled them, even thoughthey were independent agents.
Now here comes the live tourand they say we're going to pay
(03:49):
you millions of dollars,hundreds of millions of dollars,
just to show up and if you win,you get more money than you've
ever made winning any PGA Tour.
So the business savvy golferstook the money and a lot of the
golfers were in the middle ortowards the end of their career
(04:12):
and there was no way that theywere going to make anything like
this amount of money staying onthe PGA Tour, or it would have
just taken so much winning to dothat you didn't need to win a
lot to go to the live tour.
So instead of joining tours upfront, instead, what Jay Monahan
and his executive team did isthey solicited leaders Tiger,
(04:35):
jack Nicklaus, rory McIlroy tobasically sing their praise
about how tradition is what thePGA is all about.
And, by the way, those otherguys, the PIF, funded by Saudi
Arabia.
If you chose to go play forthat tour, you're playing for a
(04:55):
country known for civil rightsviolations, the murder of
Khashoggi, an apostatejournalist, and the training
ground for the suicide pilotsresponsible for the horrors of
9-11.
And quite a few PGA players andsupporters of the PGA parroted
that narrative.
It was the evil empire strikesagain.
(05:18):
Oh hey, newsflash.
Did you know that Uncle Samsells more arms and weaponry to
Saudi Arabia than it does forthe second, third and
fourth-ranked countries combined?
(05:40):
We sell them a lot of shit.
The United States supportsSaudi Arabia.
I mean knowing that fact.
Is Jay suggesting that his owngovernment is acting as an
apostate?
No, because he didn't draw thecrime wall lines the way I did.
He just drew one line.
Liv equals evil empire, pgaequals rebel alliance.
(06:05):
Pick a side.
But despite what Jay said, itwasn't that easy when we saw
likable PGA pros making bigmoney decisions that affected
wealth, wealth that would bepassed down for generations.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Now, if you're somebody who doesn't care about
your offspring, like a famousquote from one of our great
leaders, I got rid of the deathtax on farms so that when you do
pass away on the assumptionthat you love your children, you
can leave it to them and theywon't have to pay tax.
But if you don't love yourchildren so much and there are
(06:46):
some people that don't, andmaybe deservedly so, it won't
matter because, frankly, youdon't have to leave them
anything.
Thank you very much.
Have fun.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So, after Jay Monahan gets all these PGA players to
pledge their support of the PGATour, their support of the PGA
Tour, the media makes a circusof this divide, particularly at
majors, where all qualifiedgolfers were invited regardless
of their tour choice.
Golfers that qualify for majorshave either accomplished
(07:19):
something spectacular at thosespecific majors in past years or
they're having a really goodyear this year and they qualify
for the major.
They're honored to be invitedand most of them prepare for
majors with greater intensity,more support from their teams,
and are chomping at the bit tohit their first tee shot on the
(07:41):
first hole.
The media has been less kind,asking them about their prep
work.
They don't ask them about theirprep work.
They don't ask them about thechanges they made or how they
plan to win the tournament.
Nope, they want to pepper themwith questions about why the
lift tour, why the PGA and whatabout those other guys who took
(08:03):
the money Meanwhile?
As a pro golf fan, I want toknow what new clubs they're
putting in their bags.
How are they going to attackthe golf course this year, now
that most golf courses havelengthened the course by upwards
of 400 yards?
Is there possibly a par fourwhere most golfers go for it in
(08:24):
two shots, where this particulargolfer, who has impeccable
length, is going to go for it inone.
I mean, the golfers are notgoing to disclose their strategy
, but those are the kind ofquestions I want to hear.
Did they put a new putter intheir golf bag from their stable
of 20 different putters?
I really don't care whatplayers think of other players
(08:48):
and their decisions.
I don't care what they think ofHarold Varner III for jumping
ship, and now that Brooksy andBryson have resolved issues that
I think were never reallyissues, I don't care what they
think of each other.
I didn't care back then becauseI knew this was a media hoax.
(09:09):
So now, fast forward to I thinkit was Tuesday, june 6th.
I'm working at the golf shopand the news broke.
Everyone went to their phonesand everybody's phones were
blowing up, and then we watchedthe golf channel to hear Jay and
his new best buddy, yasserAl-Rahman, talk about how
(09:29):
they're growing the game.
I mean, I started laughing outloud, the same way I laughed
when I was listening to themedia talk about the debt
ceiling and what if thegovernment shuts down?
This seems to happen everyseveral years and a deal is made
and each side gets a piece ofwhat they want and the
(09:52):
government continues to operate.
We can't stop the governmentfrom operating, but it's a joke.
Hey, look, I can tell a tale.
I could spin a scenario,articulate an anecdote, notify a
narrative.
What I can't do is build abullshit story and then recruit
minions to parrot it and then,when I'm legally painted into a
(10:14):
corner or when the money is justtoo good to pass up, change
that narrative to fit the newstory.
Well, on second thought, maybeI could.
Some of the golfers I've talkedto feel for the players that
stuck to Jay's story and gave upthe once-in-a-life payday, all
(10:35):
for the tradition and the chanceto have their names engraved on
a PGA Tour trophy.
Now to learn that the guys whotook the money can compete for
those same trophies, look, I'msympathetic but not empathetic.
They took a position, gave upthe payday and can still compete
(10:57):
for those trophies and a placein golf history.
Look, the PGA players thatstuck to the PGA.
They just might have to movetheir 40-foot yachts out of the
way and allow for some of the100-foot yachts owned by the
lift players to pass by.
(11:26):
Did somebody just say old?
They're too old.
What you talking about?
What you talking about?
What you talking about?
Why would a salty-haired,fun-loving life enthusiast delve
into the topic of ageism?
I've never been discriminatedon on the basis of age.
As far as I know, I've neverbeen aged out of a job.
(11:47):
I don't think I've never beenturned down for a date request
despite the 20 year agedifference.
Okay, that's total bullshit.
If you're not pulling up torestaurants in your Maserati or
stepping off your 40 foot scoutjust to show off your posse at
Shem Creek, or hosting a partyat your 7,000 square foot villa,
(12:09):
your allure for a partner halfyour age plus seven might be met
with a look away or a walk away.
I only think about my age whenit advantages me for a discount
or when I get AARP mailers.
People always say stay in yourlane.
I don't know mine until I'mmade aware of it by the actions
(12:32):
of others.
All right, so here's a funnystory, and it's only funny
because I could laugh at myself.
A while back.
I kept running into this40-something-year-old woman
walking her dog.
One day, while I'm out walkingSammy, we run into each other
and she changes her course towalk with me to the dog park so
(12:53):
our dogs can play.
I definitely misread that as anact of discovery her wanting to
talk to me.
I couldn't have been any morewrong.
So I let my ego convince methat this could be another
vampire adventure.
Now some people mostly men, butnot always like to hang with
younger people because itenergizes them.
It's like sucking the blood ofmortals to maintain immortality.
(13:18):
I happen to enjoy the companyof others.
They're not always fixated ontheir ailments, and a lot of
younger people are not.
Look, we all have ailments soremuscles, back, knees, shoulders
, hip discomfort all the time,particularly if we're active and
aging.
I just can't see the benefit ofbroadcasting them all the time.
(13:39):
Stretch, take a pill and shutthe fuck up about your constant
discomfort, because it's likebear spray.
So I see this 40-year-oldsomething woman in the dog park
and ask her if she wasinterested in going to this
music event with me.
The expression on her facepreceded any words of rejection.
(14:00):
It was that stinky cheese face.
You know what it looks likewhen somebody can't come up with
the words, but they are clearlyrejecting whatever your
approach is.
Look, whatever she was about tomake up, whatever her excuse
was, never really made its wayinto my cerebral cortex.
She could have just stopped atthe look and I would have been
(14:22):
informed that I stepped into thewrong lane.
It was clearly a look of intothe wrong lane.
It was clearly a look of you'reold enough to be my father,
which I most likely am.
But since I don't spend a lotof time fixated in front of a
mirror, I don't think about theawkwardness of being seen in the
company of someone generationsapart.
(14:42):
But they certainly do.
I think expensive lifestylesand toys mask generational
differences because, face it,some people are more interested
in the scene than the intimacyof connection.
But, like I always say, bothcan be true.
So it brings me to the topic ofwhat is old there's nothing
(15:06):
kids need.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
No good still for me.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I think it's all perspective.
When you're in preschool, a21-year-old teacher might seem
old to you.
When you're a teenager, yourparents definitely seem old,
your grandparents ancient whenyou're in your 20s.
40 and up is old.
Families with kids really oldwhen you're growing up, and
(15:35):
anyone who gets in your way,anybody who gets in the way of
your fun, they're old.
I think you get my point.
Your vantage point informs youof the impression of old.
To me, the thought of old canbe a lot of things A loss of
vitality Over time, a physicalimpairment that limits mobility,
(15:57):
which affects the thought ofaction, decay that transforms
your youthfulness into a gradualdeath march, into a gradual
death march.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
A loss of curiosity replaced with a hard certainty
of this is the way it's alwaysbeen done.
This is the way.
This is the way this is the way.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And, lastly, the loss of playfulness replaced by the
despair of hopelessness.
One thing that I've observedwith most not all senior golfers
, tennis players, bikers,pickleballers and fitness
fanatics they don't focus onwhat they can't do, they focus
on the present and they focus onthe possibilities.
(16:41):
While old is the absence ofdiscovery, it's also the
celebration of the fact thatyou've endured life and are
still here to experience more,and the way that gives you
comfort in doing things, the wayyou want to do things.
This segment's getting old.
Hey, golfers, it's Wedgieville,it's Wedgieville.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Roll out, Roll out.
Let's wrap you up that platinumchain with them diamonds in it.
Make a big one for that Benzwith them windows tinted.
What in the world is in thatbag?
What you got in that bag?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo,
yo, yo, yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yoyo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo
yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yoyo yo yo.
What club do you think you usethe most?
If you answered putter, you arecorrect.
Two episodes ago I talked aboutthree different types of
(17:53):
putters that are engineered fordifferent types of putting arcs.
It's the way you swing theputter.
Since then I've helped golfersfind the putter best built for
their particular stroke builtfor their particular stroke.
Last week the Ping rep brought akey engineer into the shop to
(18:13):
help us understand the featuresand benefits of the new Ping
Glide wedges.
I think the biggest aha momentof the night is when the Ping
folks threw up a slide thatshowed how many golfers are
actually hitting greens inregulation.
Most seven to 10 handicapsaverage 10 greens in regulation.
(18:34):
If you're a 10 to 18, you'reonly hitting five, and if you're
an 18 and above, you're hittingless than five greens in
regulation.
And, by the way, 18 and aboveare most golfers.
This means that most golfersmiss greens and regulation most
of the time, which makes wedgesthe second most used club in the
(18:58):
bag.
So it's good to know whatwedges help you do the most in
different situations.
One thing I know about havingengineers speak at meetings is
that they always show their work.
Remember, in grade school andmath class, when the teacher
wanted you to show how you wrotethe equation to get to the
(19:19):
answer, they would say you mustshow your work.
Now I wasn't a fan of thatexercise because sometimes I got
the right answer going a wholedifferent direction.
I'm not saying I copied off ofRiva Gold, who always sat next
to me.
I'm just saying sometimes I gotthe right answer by accident,
but most of the time thatalternate path led me to an
(19:42):
alternate truth.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You're saying it's a falsehood and they're giving.
Sean Spicer, our presssecretary gave alternative facts
to that.
But the point Wait what?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
When engineers talk the specifics of what goes into
making a more forgiving golfclub, my eyes start to glaze
over.
That's why Bryson DeChambeauand I could never be friends.
He always shows his work.
So at the end of this meeting Iraised my hand and let's call
this guy Heisenberg.
(20:14):
So I asked Heisenberg hey, thisinformation is cutting edge and
fascinating, but can youexplain to me how this
translates to benefits, the kindof benefits we could talk to
golf enthusiasts about, tobenefits, the kind of benefits
we could talk to golfenthusiasts about?
That was a stumper, becauseHeisenberg was a genius at using
(20:35):
a CAD machine and a genius atcreating golf clubs that could
do a lot of things other golfclubs can't do.
But one thing that a scientisthas a tough time doing is
explaining the benefits of alltheir scientific research.
So for me it would be somethinglike hey, because of the grind
(20:57):
pattern, softened edges and soleweighting, these glide wedges
will spin the ball moreconsistently and give you
similar results whether yourball is on hard pan, soft
fairways, light, rough or wetconditions.
Boom, drop the mic.
It's more versatile.
May you want one please?
(21:18):
I mean Titleist Foky SM9 wedgesand Cleveland RTX wedges are
popular, played by most PGA prosand their ads are well-funded.
But if you have a chance totest drive a Ping Glide 4.0
wedge, you might have a toughtime picking the bugs out of
your teeth from all that smilingyou're doing on the golf course
(21:41):
.
Just saying You've beenlistening to another episode of
Just Tales.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
Charleston, south Carolina.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Talk to you soon, thank you.
Welcome to another episode from Just Tales, a
monthly hybrid of fictional andnon-fictional stories that
compel me to rant.
There'll always be a golf storyor two laced into my blog
because, well, it's where Ispend a good amount of my
recreational time.
So, whether you're a golfer ornot, if you're a skeptic,
(00:32):
doubter or open-minded, it isthe place for you.
So kick back and listen.
Welcome to episode 116, wherecommon sense and overthought
storytelling collide.
(00:52):
In this episode I'll share somewisdom from Wedgiville, also a
well-researched, if I don't sayso myself, segment on the
perception of what old means.
Before I get too far down thoserabbit holes, I have to weigh
in on the shocking news aboutthe co-joining of the Live Tour,
(01:16):
the DP Tour and the PGA Tourall under one ashram.
I mean umbrella.
For those of you entrenched inprofessional golf, you know
about the great divide betweenthe traditional PGA tours and
the Saudi-backed LIV tour ownedby the PIF.
And if I add one more acronym,I'm going to have to start a
(01:36):
whole new board game.
I play with golf buddies thathave taken completely opposite
polar sides on whether a golfershould have stayed with the PGA
Tour or have taken the money togo play for the Lift Tour.
It's divisive.
It's as divisive as Republicanand Democrats are today.
(01:58):
It seems like most every newschannel or podcast were asked to
buy into one position or thepolar opposite, and most of them
are false narratives Like yesor no.
Are you still beating your wifeor has she filed for a
restraining order?
First of all, no and no,because I never did and she
(02:20):
never did.
Pro golfers that decided toeither go to the live tour or
not go were asked these hard,open-end questions like what
went into your thinking onleaving the PGA tour to go to
live or to PGA players?
Why have you decided to stickwith the PGA and not go to the
(02:41):
live tour?
The media put these players ina horrible position and pitted
them against each other.
But when asked a question likethat, with a yes or no answer,
there's no right answer.
When the live tour tried tonegotiate with the PGA up front,
there was no wiggle room.
Jay Monahan and the governingbody of the PGA took a hard
(03:04):
stance If you choose to play onthe live tour, you're barred
from the PGA tour events forever.
Do not pass, go, do not collect$200.
You lose your world rankingpoints and are sent to the
island of misfit toys.
That's the position they took.
Misfit toys, that's theposition they took.
(03:27):
And they took that positionbecause the Live Tour was
throwing money at players likethe PGA Tour never did.
And the PGA players had beenasking the tour for a lot more
rights and a lot more money anda lot more flexibility, and they
said no because they had amonopoly on them, they
controlled them, even thoughthey were independent agents.
Now here comes the live tourand they say we're going to pay
(03:49):
you millions of dollars,hundreds of millions of dollars,
just to show up and if you win,you get more money than you've
ever made winning any PGA Tour.
So the business savvy golferstook the money and a lot of the
golfers were in the middle ortowards the end of their career
(04:12):
and there was no way that theywere going to make anything like
this amount of money staying onthe PGA Tour, or it would have
just taken so much winning to dothat you didn't need to win a
lot to go to the live tour.
So instead of joining tours upfront, instead, what Jay Monahan
and his executive team did isthey solicited leaders Tiger,
(04:35):
jack Nicklaus, rory McIlroy tobasically sing their praise
about how tradition is what thePGA is all about.
And, by the way, those otherguys, the PIF, funded by Saudi
Arabia.
If you chose to go play forthat tour, you're playing for a
(04:55):
country known for civil rightsviolations, the murder of
Khashoggi, an apostatejournalist, and the training
ground for the suicide pilotsresponsible for the horrors of
9-11.
And quite a few PGA players andsupporters of the PGA parroted
that narrative.
It was the evil empire strikesagain.
(05:18):
Oh hey, newsflash.
Did you know that Uncle Samsells more arms and weaponry to
Saudi Arabia than it does forthe second, third and
fourth-ranked countries combined?
(05:40):
We sell them a lot of shit.
The United States supportsSaudi Arabia.
I mean knowing that fact.
Is Jay suggesting that his owngovernment is acting as an
apostate?
No, because he didn't draw thecrime wall lines the way I did.
He just drew one line.
Liv equals evil empire, pgaequals rebel alliance.
(06:05):
Pick a side.
But despite what Jay said, itwasn't that easy when we saw
likable PGA pros making bigmoney decisions that affected
wealth, wealth that would bepassed down for generations.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Now, if you're somebody who doesn't care about
your offspring, like a famousquote from one of our great
leaders, I got rid of the deathtax on farms so that when you do
pass away on the assumptionthat you love your children, you
can leave it to them and theywon't have to pay tax.
But if you don't love yourchildren so much and there are
(06:46):
some people that don't, andmaybe deservedly so, it won't
matter because, frankly, youdon't have to leave them
anything.
Thank you very much.
Have fun.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
So, after Jay Monahan gets all these PGA players to
pledge their support of the PGATour, their support of the PGA
Tour, the media makes a circusof this divide, particularly at
majors, where all qualifiedgolfers were invited regardless
of their tour choice.
Golfers that qualify for majorshave either accomplished
(07:19):
something spectacular at thosespecific majors in past years or
they're having a really goodyear this year and they qualify
for the major.
They're honored to be invitedand most of them prepare for
majors with greater intensity,more support from their teams,
and are chomping at the bit tohit their first tee shot on the
(07:41):
first hole.
The media has been less kind,asking them about their prep
work.
They don't ask them about theirprep work.
They don't ask them about thechanges they made or how they
plan to win the tournament.
Nope, they want to pepper themwith questions about why the
lift tour, why the PGA and whatabout those other guys who took
(08:03):
the money Meanwhile?
As a pro golf fan, I want toknow what new clubs they're
putting in their bags.
How are they going to attackthe golf course this year, now
that most golf courses havelengthened the course by upwards
of 400 yards?
Is there possibly a par fourwhere most golfers go for it in
(08:24):
two shots, where this particulargolfer, who has impeccable
length, is going to go for it inone.
I mean, the golfers are notgoing to disclose their strategy
, but those are the kind ofquestions I want to hear.
Did they put a new putter intheir golf bag from their stable
of 20 different putters?
I really don't care whatplayers think of other players
(08:48):
and their decisions.
I don't care what they think ofHarold Varner III for jumping
ship, and now that Brooksy andBryson have resolved issues that
I think were never reallyissues, I don't care what they
think of each other.
I didn't care back then becauseI knew this was a media hoax.
(09:09):
So now, fast forward to I thinkit was Tuesday, june 6th.
I'm working at the golf shopand the news broke.
Everyone went to their phonesand everybody's phones were
blowing up, and then we watchedthe golf channel to hear Jay and
his new best buddy, yasserAl-Rahman, talk about how
(09:29):
they're growing the game.
I mean, I started laughing outloud, the same way I laughed
when I was listening to themedia talk about the debt
ceiling and what if thegovernment shuts down?
This seems to happen everyseveral years and a deal is made
and each side gets a piece ofwhat they want and the
(09:52):
government continues to operate.
We can't stop the governmentfrom operating, but it's a joke.
Hey, look, I can tell a tale.
I could spin a scenario,articulate an anecdote, notify a
narrative.
What I can't do is build abullshit story and then recruit
minions to parrot it and then,when I'm legally painted into a
(10:14):
corner or when the money is justtoo good to pass up, change
that narrative to fit the newstory.
Well, on second thought, maybeI could.
Some of the golfers I've talkedto feel for the players that
stuck to Jay's story and gave upthe once-in-a-life payday, all
(10:35):
for the tradition and the chanceto have their names engraved on
a PGA Tour trophy.
Now to learn that the guys whotook the money can compete for
those same trophies, look, I'msympathetic but not empathetic.
They took a position, gave upthe payday and can still compete
(10:57):
for those trophies and a placein golf history.
Look, the PGA players thatstuck to the PGA.
They just might have to movetheir 40-foot yachts out of the
way and allow for some of the100-foot yachts owned by the
lift players to pass by.
(11:26):
Did somebody just say old?
They're too old.
What you talking about?
What you talking about?
What you talking about?
Why would a salty-haired,fun-loving life enthusiast delve
into the topic of ageism?
I've never been discriminatedon on the basis of age.
As far as I know, I've neverbeen aged out of a job.
(11:47):
I don't think I've never beenturned down for a date request
despite the 20 year agedifference.
Okay, that's total bullshit.
If you're not pulling up torestaurants in your Maserati or
stepping off your 40 foot scoutjust to show off your posse at
Shem Creek, or hosting a partyat your 7,000 square foot villa,
(12:09):
your allure for a partner halfyour age plus seven might be met
with a look away or a walk away.
I only think about my age whenit advantages me for a discount
or when I get AARP mailers.
People always say stay in yourlane.
I don't know mine until I'mmade aware of it by the actions
(12:32):
of others.
All right, so here's a funnystory, and it's only funny
because I could laugh at myself.
A while back.
I kept running into this40-something-year-old woman
walking her dog.
One day, while I'm out walkingSammy, we run into each other
and she changes her course towalk with me to the dog park so
(12:53):
our dogs can play.
I definitely misread that as anact of discovery her wanting to
talk to me.
I couldn't have been any morewrong.
So I let my ego convince methat this could be another
vampire adventure.
Now some people mostly men, butnot always like to hang with
younger people because itenergizes them.
It's like sucking the blood ofmortals to maintain immortality.
(13:18):
I happen to enjoy the companyof others.
They're not always fixated ontheir ailments, and a lot of
younger people are not.
Look, we all have ailments soremuscles, back, knees, shoulders
, hip discomfort all the time,particularly if we're active and
aging.
I just can't see the benefit ofbroadcasting them all the time.
(13:39):
Stretch, take a pill and shutthe fuck up about your constant
discomfort, because it's likebear spray.
So I see this 40-year-oldsomething woman in the dog park
and ask her if she wasinterested in going to this
music event with me.
The expression on her facepreceded any words of rejection.
(14:00):
It was that stinky cheese face.
You know what it looks likewhen somebody can't come up with
the words, but they are clearlyrejecting whatever your
approach is.
Look, whatever she was about tomake up, whatever her excuse
was, never really made its wayinto my cerebral cortex.
She could have just stopped atthe look and I would have been
(14:22):
informed that I stepped into thewrong lane.
It was clearly a look of intothe wrong lane.
It was clearly a look of you'reold enough to be my father,
which I most likely am.
But since I don't spend a lotof time fixated in front of a
mirror, I don't think about theawkwardness of being seen in the
company of someone generationsapart.
(14:42):
But they certainly do.
I think expensive lifestylesand toys mask generational
differences because, face it,some people are more interested
in the scene than the intimacyof connection.
But, like I always say, bothcan be true.
So it brings me to the topic ofwhat is old there's nothing
(15:06):
kids need.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
No good still for me.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
I think it's all perspective.
When you're in preschool, a21-year-old teacher might seem
old to you.
When you're a teenager, yourparents definitely seem old,
your grandparents ancient whenyou're in your 20s.
40 and up is old.
Families with kids really oldwhen you're growing up, and
(15:35):
anyone who gets in your way,anybody who gets in the way of
your fun, they're old.
I think you get my point.
Your vantage point informs youof the impression of old.
To me, the thought of old canbe a lot of things A loss of
vitality Over time, a physicalimpairment that limits mobility,
(15:57):
which affects the thought ofaction, decay that transforms
your youthfulness into a gradualdeath march, into a gradual
death march.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
A loss of curiosity replaced with a hard certainty
of this is the way it's alwaysbeen done.
This is the way.
This is the way this is the way.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And, lastly, the loss of playfulness replaced by the
despair of hopelessness.
One thing that I've observedwith most not all senior golfers
, tennis players, bikers,pickleballers and fitness
fanatics they don't focus onwhat they can't do, they focus
on the present and they focus onthe possibilities.
(16:41):
While old is the absence ofdiscovery, it's also the
celebration of the fact thatyou've endured life and are
still here to experience more,and the way that gives you
comfort in doing things, the wayyou want to do things.
This segment's getting old.
Hey, golfers, it's Wedgieville,it's Wedgieville.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Roll out, Roll out.
Let's wrap you up that platinumchain with them diamonds in it.
Make a big one for that Benzwith them windows tinted.
What in the world is in thatbag?
What you got in that bag?
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo,
yo, yo, yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yoyo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo
yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yoyo yo yo.
What club do you think you usethe most?
If you answered putter, you arecorrect.
Two episodes ago I talked aboutthree different types of
(17:53):
putters that are engineered fordifferent types of putting arcs.
It's the way you swing theputter.
Since then I've helped golfersfind the putter best built for
their particular stroke builtfor their particular stroke.
Last week the Ping rep brought akey engineer into the shop to
(18:13):
help us understand the featuresand benefits of the new Ping
Glide wedges.
I think the biggest aha momentof the night is when the Ping
folks threw up a slide thatshowed how many golfers are
actually hitting greens inregulation.
Most seven to 10 handicapsaverage 10 greens in regulation.
(18:34):
If you're a 10 to 18, you'reonly hitting five, and if you're
an 18 and above, you're hittingless than five greens in
regulation.
And, by the way, 18 and aboveare most golfers.
This means that most golfersmiss greens and regulation most
of the time, which makes wedgesthe second most used club in the
(18:58):
bag.
So it's good to know whatwedges help you do the most in
different situations.
One thing I know about havingengineers speak at meetings is
that they always show their work.
Remember, in grade school andmath class, when the teacher
wanted you to show how you wrotethe equation to get to the
(19:19):
answer, they would say you mustshow your work.
Now I wasn't a fan of thatexercise because sometimes I got
the right answer going a wholedifferent direction.
I'm not saying I copied off ofRiva Gold, who always sat next
to me.
I'm just saying sometimes I gotthe right answer by accident,
but most of the time thatalternate path led me to an
(19:42):
alternate truth.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
You're saying it's a falsehood and they're giving.
Sean Spicer, our presssecretary gave alternative facts
to that.
But the point Wait what?
Speaker 2 (19:53):
When engineers talk the specifics of what goes into
making a more forgiving golfclub, my eyes start to glaze
over.
That's why Bryson DeChambeauand I could never be friends.
He always shows his work.
So at the end of this meeting Iraised my hand and let's call
this guy Heisenberg.
(20:14):
So I asked Heisenberg hey, thisinformation is cutting edge and
fascinating, but can youexplain to me how this
translates to benefits, the kindof benefits we could talk to
golf enthusiasts about, tobenefits, the kind of benefits
we could talk to golfenthusiasts about?
That was a stumper, becauseHeisenberg was a genius at using
(20:35):
a CAD machine and a genius atcreating golf clubs that could
do a lot of things other golfclubs can't do.
But one thing that a scientisthas a tough time doing is
explaining the benefits of alltheir scientific research.
So for me it would be somethinglike hey, because of the grind
(20:57):
pattern, softened edges and soleweighting, these glide wedges
will spin the ball moreconsistently and give you
similar results whether yourball is on hard pan, soft
fairways, light, rough or wetconditions.
Boom, drop the mic.
It's more versatile.
May you want one please?
(21:18):
I mean Titleist Foky SM9 wedgesand Cleveland RTX wedges are
popular, played by most PGA prosand their ads are well-funded.
But if you have a chance totest drive a Ping Glide 4.0
wedge, you might have a toughtime picking the bugs out of
your teeth from all that smilingyou're doing on the golf course
(21:41):
.
Just saying You've beenlistening to another episode of
Just Tales.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
Charleston, south Carolina.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Talk to you soon, thank you.
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