July 1, 2025 • 36 mins
Rich shares his epiphany about finding and losing a golf swing in the same round, explores how many subscriptions he's paying for, and recounts his mother's 95th birthday celebration.
• Spending more than half of practice time on the putting green leads to lower scores
• Wyndham Clark's record-breaking 60 at Pebble Beach included 190 feet of holed putts
• The Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter became highly valuable after pro golfers' success with it
• Cutting unnecessary subscription services like multiple streaming platforms saves money
• Mom's 95th birthday celebration brought family traveling over 62,000 miles collectively
• St. Pete Beach has maintained its charm by limiting high-rise development
• South Korea has voted to ban dog meat with a three-year grace period
• Federal Highway Commission is eliminating humor from road safety signs
• Finding your golf swing mid-round can happen after completely losing it
For better golf scores, spend more time practicing your putting than hitting at the driving range. It's less sexy, but you'll score better!
Spotify
Apple podcasts
Amazon Music
all other streaming services
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're tuned in to another episode of Tales from
the First Tee.
I'm Rich Easton, telling talesfrom beautiful Charleston, south
Carolina.
In this episode I'll share arecent experience maybe an
(00:31):
epiphany of finding and losing agolf swing in the same round.
I'll talk about how many thingsam I subscribed to, and once I
figured it out, what did I doabout it?
Did you know, in three yearsfrom now, you can no longer eat
dogs in South Korea?
A recent trip to st Petersburgto celebrate my mom's 95th
(00:56):
birthday.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
but first it's all about putting man, I hit him fat
and I hit him fan roll a man,the bunkers man.
I hit him about putting.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
When I decide to re-engage myself into my
favorite sport, I tend to spenda disproportionate amount of
time at the golf course practicearea.
Now, if I carve out two hours,that might seem like a lot to
you, but I'll spend more thanhalf of it on and around the
putting green.
I mean, it's far less sexy thanteeing it up at the driving
(01:52):
range and hitting drivers andfairway medals until my hands
bleed, although in recent yearsmy lower back will signal me to
stop well before my fingers arenumb.
to stop well before my fingersare numb as I think back.
My best scores were never theresult of hitting the longest
drives or throwing darts at thepin despite the likelihood of a
(02:13):
better score on those holes.
But all in all, my lowestscoring and money-making rounds
can be attributed to one thingLess putts.
There's a recent stat that mostPGA announcers boast about when
a player is going low and it'stotal feet of putts, the most
(02:41):
likely the PGA Pro is sinkingmore longer putts for Eagles,
birdies and par saves that areaffecting their awesome
performance.
Case in point this weekend atthe AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach
on Saturday, wyndham Clark, atwo-time winner on the PGA,
(03:14):
including a win at the 2023 USOpen, fired a record 60 at
Pebble Beach with 190 feet ofholed putts.
190 feet Let me put that inperspective Over 18 holes.
That would be like sinking 1810.5 foot putts in a row
Virtually impossible.
I mean from the casualviewpoint of a viewer.
You would say what is this guyputting with?
(03:36):
Well, he and Ricky Fowlerrevived the popularity of the
Odyssey Versa Jailbird putteroriginally released in 2014.
After Ricky Fowler used it andstarted winning and playing
really well.
He and Wyndham Clark playaround together and then Wyndham
(03:57):
is like I've got to get thisputter.
Ricky is not missing anything.
So after Wyndham Clark puts itin his bag, he wins a tournament
.
And then all of a sudden, thejailbird.
On eBay.
The valuation goes up like 10 X.
It used to be selling for Idon't know, 70 or 80 bucks,
(04:22):
maybe a hundred.
When I went to look for itafter they both started winning,
it was well over a thousanddollars and there were none left
.
Now I've tried the jailbirdputter with the extended shaft
and the 17 inch grip and I wouldtell you that it has a nice
feel.
But there's more to it, and themore to it is you're going to
(04:46):
hate this.
Hours of practice.
Hey look, the secret is outagain.
New equipment and golf lessonshave something in common.
If you don't waste yourvaluable personal time
practicing with your newinsights about the secrets to a
(05:07):
better swing consistency, oryour new and improved equipment,
you're likely to fall back intothe rut that brought you to the
pro or the golf shop in thefirst place.
And even with practice, there'sa chance that you'll have some
bad swings, days and sometimesweeks of going backwards.
(05:28):
But more time spent practicingreduces the likelihood of all of
these long slumps and disasters.
When you start to ponder abouthow you really want to spend
your free time do I go back tomy boat?
Do I buy a boat?
Do I start crossword puzzles?
And if you decide practice isyour thing, you want to
(05:51):
re-engage yourself, you want torededicate yourself to the sport
, you want to get better.
You're tired of losing money toyour best buddies on the golf
course, which I have been doingfor the last two months Then I
suggest this Go to the practicearea.
Force yourself to spend moretime putting than hitting shots
(06:12):
on the range.
It's less sexy, but I thinkyou'll score better.
We'll see.
Oh and just a side note, ifyou're one of my buddies that
listens to this podcast and isout playing with me and I miss a
few putts, know this.
I still need more practice.
I still need more practice, butI'm dedicated to getting better
(06:33):
and I will make that putt thatmakes a difference.
It's just a matter of when.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You can't put me down for it fine.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Another trip to St Pete Florida.
Let me ask you a question.
You see somebody in a hat thatsays St Petersburg Florida.
Do you want to go there asartists?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
As what we have an obligation.
Let me tell you somethingNon-pros there's nothing they
love more than when actors tellthem what they think.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Wow, what a mouthful.
So I've been traveling to StPete Beach for over 40 years.
Still to this day.
I'm fascinated with the beforeand after effects of urban
development and renewalfacelifting, overhauling and
re-imagining the area into abetter destination.
And when I say that I'm reallytalking about downtown St Pete.
(07:32):
Now, while the downtown looksnothing like it did when I first
visited St Pete Beach profilehasn't really changed.
No, high rises mostly olderhotels changed.
No, high-rises mostly olderhotels.
A place where time seems tohave stood still.
(07:52):
I still like populardestinations that have kept
their charm over the years, andI think that's what attracts
people to Charleston.
In St Pete, someone or a groupin the city councils must have
had a thing for keeping what'sworking and rejecting
developers' renderings forimprovements that'll make it
better more jobs, morebusinesses, more local wealth.
And because they've kept itthat way, I still like walking
(08:15):
the beaches there.
I mean, there's a thing that Ido every time I come to town,
where I drive down to Paso GrilBeach, which is south of St Pete
Beach, and then I walk up tothe Don Cesar Hotel and back,
and the Don Cesar is one of thecoolest hotels on the beach.
They call it the Pink Palaceand it is outstanding.
But every other hotel, for themost part on the beach, hasn't
(08:40):
done much of anything but thefact that the city has prevented
a lot of them from going higherin the air.
You know, 10, 20, 30 storiestall.
It just makes the beach morequaint.
The face of the beach just hasa much better impression than if
you were going to go to, like aMiami, or even north of St Pete
(09:02):
, madeira Beach, where they'veallowed high rises to
proliferate.
But the downtown St Pete areatotally different than the beach
Newer hotels, high risesoverlooking the bay, incredible
restaurants, museums, performingarts centers, great shops.
(09:23):
They've done a great job toattract people to come down
there.
And the nightlife rivals thatof any city in Florida second to
Miami.
But what do I know?
Between nine and 10 o'clock atnight is typically my bedtime.
Anyway, back to my mom's 95th.
The organizing and executionfell squarely on my shoulders,
(09:46):
with great counsel from mybrother and cousin, karen, and
financial underwriting.
First we thought about anintimate gathering, but the more
we spoke, we all agreed thatcelebration gatherings were far
better and more fun thanfunerals and more fun than
(10:08):
funerals.
I think our list grew fromaround 10 to 25, and that might
seem small to some of you, butconsidering that virtually none
of our family lives in the stateof Florida, I thought it was
like a pie-in-the-sky estimate.
That's a big number.
I was blown away when 22invitees said yes.
We had to change the venue twotimes and after we learned I
should say relearned that ourfirst choice couldn't
(10:32):
accommodate the growth we had,the second place we engaged with
demonstrated how they were justnot set up for big parties,
just by their lack of follow-upas well as kind of like deer in
the headlight responses towhat-if questions, simple
what-if questions, you know,like what if the count goes up
(10:55):
or down?
What if we bring our own wine?
What if we decorate our owncake and bring our own cake?
And the person that was incharge of this venue couldn't
answer any of those questions,had to get back to me and never
did so.
I found a third venue only with30 days notice.
(11:16):
Birch and Vine, connected tothe Birchwood Hotel, was by far
the best solution for what ourneeds were, maybe because of the
era I was brought up in as aboomer, but I've never given up
on the hope for good service.
You know, what I'm talking about.
You go into a coffee shop.
(11:37):
You just want somebody to greetyou, take your order and then
be able to deliver what you wantin a short amount of time.
You go to a restaurant.
You'd like the waitstaff toacknowledge you and then deliver
what you ordered.
And quite often I go torestaurants where I order one
thing and another thing shows upand I've gotten to the point
where I've almost think thatordering is just a suggestion.
(12:00):
But you can't give up the hopeon good service.
So anyway, we connected withthis restaurant attached to a
hotel and the gal who ran it wasJohnny on the spot, or I should
say Josephine.
She got back to me reallyquickly.
She made changes when we wantedto make changes.
She delivered us a staff thenight of the party.
(12:23):
That was like what can we do?
What can we do?
Our numbers kept going up anddown and they're like we'll
accommodate you, we'llaccommodate you, we'll throw in
a seat, we'll pull out a seat.
We told them that we wanted tobring our own desserts, because
person who does not want to benamed makes the best small
comfort cheesecakes ever, andthey were a hit.
(12:43):
As a matter of fact, at the endof the dinner, one of my
cousins said it was great to seeyou.
I haven't seen you in over 10years, but those cheesecakes
were even better.
That's a testament.
You know, I always try andwonder why there's a certain
trend and what is it about?
The lack of service?
Or, you know, somebody farmsthese unintended consequences
(13:08):
where our love of technology islike this decoupling we go
(13:30):
through when we work remotely,homeschool, have an inseparable
bond with our phones or tablets.
That's why I'm blown away bycompanies that value and
recognize good service in theiremployees.
It wasn't an accident thatZiggy, salvador and Mika, the
(13:51):
three associates that were incharge of our party, didn't miss
a beat.
The food was out of this worldand their team's agility in
responding to exceptions andanything that we needed done was
done.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
Anyway, I digress.
(14:12):
Here's an interesting factoid.
All of the attendees inaggregate traveled over 62,000
miles round trip to celebratemom's 95th birthday.
Think about that.
That's more than two tripsaround the circumference of the
(14:33):
earth.
That is more than Magellan andall of his circumnavigators
traveled in their lifetimes.
It was a big deal, and it was abig deal because my mom was a
big deal.
At 95 years of age she stillremembers everybody's special
occasion and while she can'ttravel anymore, she sends money,
(14:56):
she makes her own cards.
She's a big deal.
I think that everybody thatattended left with a feel good
that's hard to compare to.
The party went so well that mommade a proclamation at the end
of the night that we do thisannually.
I don't know, mom, but it was apretty good party.
(15:16):
Other than the formalcelebration at the restaurant, I
had time to spend with myfamily.
It was really two parts.
The first part was how's yourlife going now?
And then the drink startedflowing and more libations.
And then it became rememberwhen you used to do that thing,
whatever that thing was, do itagain, do it again.
(15:37):
They're going back like 40years, 50 years.
So I could go back and be mygoofy self, but I didn't take
the bait.
But my well-published and highlyregarded in the field of
medicine brother did his famouspig face.
He's been doing that in familyphotos for over 50 years and all
(15:59):
of our grown-up cousins stilllaughed at it again when they
asked him to do it.
I mean, go back in time.
Imagine when you would take allthese family photos and when
you're taking a family photo,all you can see is the person
behind the camera.
You can't see the people to theleft or the right, and you
(16:20):
didn't have digital photographsback then, so you couldn't look
at it right away.
And you didn't have digitalphotographs back then, so you
couldn't look at it right away.
So a day or so after thespecial events we would send the
film out to be developed andprinted.
And then when you get them back, while flipping through the
pics and finally you come tothat one family photo, that one
(16:41):
thing that you're going to putin the album to remember it, and
you look at the family photoand there's everybody smiling,
looking their best, they're alldressed up, and there's Michael
Now Dr Michael making a pig faceevery single time.
And then my mom would be likeoh.
Michael, you did it again and hewould just laugh.
(17:01):
That's been his thing and thecousins loved it and remembered
it.
And they don't care that he'sdr michael easton, they just
want to see michael with a pigface.
And, by the way, I would not domy jerry lewis imitation again,
even though I was pretty goodat it back then.
Would you like me to put thesein a locker for you?
(17:21):
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I certainly would appreciate that You're very kind
.
I would have put them there hadI known that there was some
form of restriction.
Some people use them for afacade.
I wear them for eyes, you see,for eyes.
It's a play on eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
So, anyway, it was great catching up with everybody
and remembering the good times,which is also now holy moly.
(18:02):
How many subscriptions am Ipaying for Whenever I'm about to
do something?
I think would an idiot do that,and if they would, I do not do
that thing.
So I'm reading this article byBen Cohen, a journalist from the
Wall Street Journal, and Ithink it was about the real
reason that we're paying for somany subscription services, and
(18:26):
it got me to stop and thinkabout everything that I'm
subscribed to and how manyservices I don't get my money's
worth out of.
So how many can I cut?
First of all, I started withmedia Netflix, hbo, which I
(18:46):
guess is max, amazon Prime Video, hulu, paramount Plus, peacock
to watch the NFL playoffs.
Apple TV Plus, because TedLasso was so good Showtime,
which I believe is attached toHulu Red Zone, so I could watch
(19:07):
my NFL games without having tolisten to the announcers or go
to commercials.
Spotify, zips, car Wash, whichI basically got in the spring
because of all the pollen thatwe get down here, pollen that we
(19:31):
get down here, at&t cellular,at&t wifi, chewy for my dog.
Everything starts adding up.
I have at least 11 subscriptionservices, of which, like some
of them, I debate on whether Ireally need to cut them and
whether they're attached tosomething else.
So first I looked at HBO Max.
It's attached to my AT&Tcellular service so I guess I
(19:53):
get that for free.
It seems like every cellularservice attaches themselves to
some streaming service so theybundle it.
So you believe you're gettingsomething for nothing.
So I'm going to keep HBO,netflix Netflix has been my
go-to when I'm bored.
There's always something good onNetflix but, quite frankly,
(20:16):
after the good there's just alot of bad, particularly
recently when, after last year'ssix months of writer's strike
and actor's strike, they had todust off things or pull things
out of the archive, or at leastpull things out.
They were not thinking oflaunching, but what else do they
(20:36):
have?
So they started launching it.
So now I'm watching Netflix andI'm like you know what?
I'm cutting it.
I'm taking my chances.
Hulu, paramount Plus, peacockI'm getting rid of all of them.
Apple TV Plus there's always agood series.
I like Apple TV and Showtime,which is bundled with Hulu Again
(21:07):
.
What happens here is in each oneof these.
Or you're talking to one ofyour friends and like you've got
to see X, y and Z Greatestseries or greatest movie they've
seen.
So now it's like how do I findthis?
So I've got Roku TV.
All I've got to do is query inRoku the name of the title and
it's going to tell me whatstreaming service it's on.
Otherwise you're going intoeach streaming service trying to
(21:28):
find that title and that is aheadache.
So anyway, I decide okay,netflix is gone and I'm going to
deal with it until some greatseries comes on that everybody
says you can't live without.
And then maybe I subscribeagain and hopefully I don't
remember to unsubscribe.
(21:49):
So Hulu, paramount Plus,peacock, they're gone until I
have to watch some sportingevent that is only proprietary
on this, this service, and thenI get to red zone.
Nfl is done, so I don't have toworry about that until August,
maybe even September or Octoberof next year.
(22:11):
I tend, when the football seasonstarts in August, I'm just not
interested.
Yet I don't like the preseasongames and the first few games
are snoozers.
And then we get to Zips carwash.
Do I really need to spend $20 amonth in hopes that I'm going
to wash my car at least fourtimes a month?
(22:31):
And the answer to that is itdepends on how many times Sammy
is in the car and how many timesI take her to the beach,
because when I take her to thebeach she goes apeshit.
She runs in the water, she runsout, she rolls in the sand.
She goes apeshit.
She runs in the water, she runsout, she rolls in the sand.
Whenever she smells some kindof dead fish or crab, she's got
a rubber body in it.
(22:52):
I can't stop her because Iunleash her, and so when I get
her back, I've got to drive backwith her before I wash her
which, by the way, she hates.
And then, even though I've gotthis backseat cover, which is
like the greatest invention everfor anybody who has dogs in
their backseat, hair still getsall over the place.
So I might quit sips, butprobably until the pollen comes
(23:15):
again.
At&t, cellular and wifi I got tokeep it.
I'm just.
I just don't want to go on some$2 cellular service and go, you
know, to a, you know to a justa shitty phone.
And then Chewy, I don't know.
I mean, it's cheaper, but youknow, it's just like
(23:37):
automatically it keeps coming.
Oh, I forgot one.
I ended up doing BarkBox.
Now, barkbox is a service whereevery month you get this one or
two toys and some treats foryour dog, which I thought was
kind of cute.
I was up at somebody else'shouse.
They had it for their dogs andI thought, why not?
And during any kind of themedevent like Christmas,
(23:59):
thanksgiving, you're going toget a toy that is themed for
that holiday, which I think isreally cute.
But here's the rub when yousign up for BarkBox you don't
sign up for month by month withcancellation.
You sign up for the entire yearand it's taken once a month.
I try to actually cancel itbecause my dog doesn't need
(24:20):
those treats that go with it andI could buy some of those chewy
toys that she's going to ripapart anyway cheaper on Amazon
or Walmart.
But here's the rub they won't.
Let me cancel, they won't.
It's like the mob.
It's like once you get in youdon't get out.
And then I'm remembering Iactually cut SiriusXM a year ago
(24:45):
.
They have this unique pricingstructure where they're going to
charge you like $20 a monthunless you call them.
You can't write them, you haveto call them and then you get
somebody across the world,someplace on some island, that's
talking to you through acomputer, someplace on some
(25:06):
island that's talking to youthrough a computer and as soon
as you tell them you're going tocancel, they want to give you a
cheaper rate.
And if you do cancel, they'regoing to keep calling you once a
month to give you some ratelike $4 a month for so many
months.
Now that's not a bad deal, buthere's the thing.
I listen to music and I listento like five or six different
podcasts, all through Spotify.
(25:28):
Now that I can Bluetooth mySpotify in my car, I don't need
XM, sirius Radio.
I can curate my own playlists,I can prioritize my top podcasts
and I could listen to thatanywhere I drive.
So, siriusxm, if you're notbought by or if you don't buy
(25:51):
another streaming service, Ijust don't see the need for you
in the future.
So since I've written thisbefore I recorded this, I
actually cut a bunch ofstreaming services.
I kept Max because it's free.
It's attached to AT&T Cellular.
I've kept Amazon Prime Videobecause it's attached to my
(26:13):
Amazon Prime.
Most everything that I shop forI get on Amazon Prime and
that's it.
The rest are gone.
It's going to force me to startpicking up some books and
reading, and when anybody startstelling me about some great new
show, I'm going to have tothink twice about whether I want
(26:33):
to get into streaming anotherservice.
And after I say that, I justlearned that Oppenheimer is
going to be streaming for freeon Peacock.
Darn it All right now.
(26:57):
You got three years to stopeating dogs.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
We eat here pigs, cows, chickens.
Is it right that we should besaying to other countries that
they can't eat dogs?
I don't think we shouldinterfere with any other
countries, cultures and the waythey eat.
It's not something I want to do.
I don't.
I'm just like Sam Carl.
I've got a lovely dog of my ownand I wouldn't dream of eating
her and I wouldn't dream ofeating her and I wouldn't dream
of eating dog knowingly.
But the point is, 10 milliondogs in China and Southeast Asia
(27:28):
are eaten every year.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
All right, before anybody gets bent out of shape.
Understand that there might notbe one globally accepted diet
for all of us on this planet,but there should be a filter for
animal cruelty.
Now, just because you and Imight like a steak, shrimp,
(28:01):
scampi, chicken or pork in thesmoker pepperoni pizza doesn't
mean that South Koreans aren'tenjoying the same thing out of
eating dog.
Well, that pleasure has beenvoted out of the entire country,
with a three-year grace periodto remove it from all menus and
food stores.
The common dish in South Koreaand I'm going to butcher this
word is Bozingtang, boiled dogmeat with onions.
And, to be fair, only around 8%of the South Koreans were said
(28:26):
to have eaten dog in the pastyear.
And it might just be like aboomer thing, like bologna
sandwiches and yoo-hoo here inthe United States.
By the way, what part of thepig or cow is bologna?
Cow is bologna.
(28:52):
So in South Korea, thegovernment has basically said to
food companies in the dog totable industry they have three
years to shut it down.
Meanwhile, here in the UnitedStates, the feds have sent a
direction to highway signs.
You've got two years to stopbeing funny.
Now I must be living under arock for the last several years,
(29:12):
or just haven't traveledAmerica's highway since the
pandemic, but I haven't seen anyof these funny signs.
But after reading Alison Pohl'sarticle in the journal about
the shutdown I just had to laugh.
So like some of these signs inthe Northeast would be use your
(29:33):
blinker.
Or, during the holidays,driving basted is for turkeys.
Use headlights like Rudolphuses his red nose.
You know I've forgotten howmany cars you actually have to
turn on your headlights afteryou start your car during
(29:56):
Halloween.
A sign that said make mummyhappy, buckle up.
The Federal Highway Commission,with the DOT, issued new
guidelines on traffic safetymessages.
Signs should use language thatdoes not use pop culture
references or humor.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
What the?
Speaker 1 (30:18):
fuck.
But they go on to say you know,it's okay to have a sign that
says unbuckled seatbelts equalsfines and points.
That's just not funny, and Iguess maybe that's the point.
The government is not here forour entertainment or enjoyment.
(30:39):
It's here to provide us libertyand justice for all.
I'm a big fan of both of those,but I also think there are
different ways to message people, to get the point across.
So I direct your attention toevery insurance company's
message through their marketingcampaigns.
(31:01):
Through their marketingcampaigns.
Quirky geckos, evolved cavemen,flo Patrick, mahomes, ludacris,
the don't be your parent guy alljoking about insurance, and
insurance happens typically whenthe worst thing in your life
could possibly happen to you.
(31:22):
Why wouldn't the signs do thesame thing?
They all attempt to improvebrand recall.
Why can't witty e-signs do thesame thing?
But in this situation, thebrand is yourself and smart
driving preserves it.
So the feds are giving us twoyears to dumb down the funny and
(31:47):
the South Korean government arepermitting their people to eat
farm-raised dogs for three moreyears.
I mean, what's the world comingto when it takes a year longer
to stop killing man's bestfriend than it does to stop
being funny?
(32:08):
You know, I thought I'd end thisepisode with another golf
epiphany about the loss andrediscovery of your swing
mid-round Golf.
She is a fickle lady.
She can tickle yourundercarriage and choke you out
during the same round.
And no, I'm not referring to mydating life, because we've
(32:29):
agreed there will be noasphyxiation-assisted orgasms
without written approval.
I'm talking about the elationand broken hearts that can occur
between the first tee and the18th green.
There are so many things that agolfer has to do right to hit a
(32:49):
great shot, many things that agolfer has to do right to hit a
great shot.
There are a few good thingsthat a golfer has to do to hit a
good shot, but there is justone bad thing to hit a horrible
shot.
And that one thing can differevery swing Bad grip, bad setup,
(33:11):
bad weight shift, bad posture,bad angle of approach, bad
connection with the ball, badbounce, bad lie, bad green
surface.
So imagine what it's like to doa lot of good things in a row
for several holes, maybe eventhe front nine, and then, as you
(33:32):
get to the back nine, one ofthose horrible things rears its
ugly head and it's double bogeyafter double bogey and you're
about to throw yourself into thealligator infested lake and all
of a sudden you're back ontrack again.
You're doing a lot of greatthings again.
(33:53):
I played with this guy theother day and let's just call
him the mad hatter.
It should be the mad hitter.
He was off his game.
Calling his name out.
A lot Gets to this par three onthe back nine, with a hundred
yards of marsh between him andthe green.
(34:14):
He takes his club back, he hitshis ball and dunks the ball
into the marsh, which is thenfollowed up with his club
slammed down on the ground andthe head of his iron flies off
the shaft.
I figured the guy who happenedto be my partner for the next
(34:34):
few holes would just stay brokeninside the remaining four holes
.
But the next hole he starts toshow some life, and then he pars
out for the remaining threeholes and wins himself $10, and
couldn't be happier when he getsoff the 18th green.
(34:54):
Well, he might have had tospend 60 bucks the next day for
a new shaft, but he somehowfound his way to fix his
mistakes on the course.
On the course Now, until I getto warmer weather, I find myself
(35:17):
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hiding italmost every round.
It's something about the coldweather, the hard ground.
I could make up a thousandexcuses.
The sun is in my eyes who knowswhat it is but I seem to find
the answer when I get intobetter weather, and then when I
find the answer, a few holeslater, even though I found the
(35:37):
answer I forgot to question.
As long as we age, ourmind-body connection gets
interrupted by distractions,injuries and sometimes a
juvenile disobeillance betweenthe swing plan and execution.
And that brings me back to myearlier profundity.
There's one thing that helpsgolf execution more than
(36:01):
anything else, and it's practice, practice, practice.
So, that being said, I'm off tothe practice area to tame the
beast.
You've been listening toanother episode from tales from
the first tee.
I'm your host, rich easton,telling tales from beautiful
(36:21):
charleston, south carolina.
Talk to you soon, thank you.
You're tuned in to another episode of Tales from
the First Tee.
I'm Rich Easton, telling talesfrom beautiful Charleston, south
Carolina.
In this episode I'll share arecent experience maybe an
(00:31):
epiphany of finding and losing agolf swing in the same round.
I'll talk about how many thingsam I subscribed to, and once I
figured it out, what did I doabout it?
Did you know, in three yearsfrom now, you can no longer eat
dogs in South Korea?
A recent trip to st Petersburgto celebrate my mom's 95th
(00:56):
birthday.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
but first it's all about putting man, I hit him fat
and I hit him fan roll a man,the bunkers man.
I hit him about putting.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
When I decide to re-engage myself into my
favorite sport, I tend to spenda disproportionate amount of
time at the golf course practicearea.
Now, if I carve out two hours,that might seem like a lot to
you, but I'll spend more thanhalf of it on and around the
putting green.
I mean, it's far less sexy thanteeing it up at the driving
(01:52):
range and hitting drivers andfairway medals until my hands
bleed, although in recent yearsmy lower back will signal me to
stop well before my fingers arenumb.
to stop well before my fingersare numb as I think back.
My best scores were never theresult of hitting the longest
drives or throwing darts at thepin despite the likelihood of a
(02:13):
better score on those holes.
But all in all, my lowestscoring and money-making rounds
can be attributed to one thingLess putts.
There's a recent stat that mostPGA announcers boast about when
a player is going low and it'stotal feet of putts, the most
(02:41):
likely the PGA Pro is sinkingmore longer putts for Eagles,
birdies and par saves that areaffecting their awesome
performance.
Case in point this weekend atthe AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach
on Saturday, wyndham Clark, atwo-time winner on the PGA,
(03:14):
including a win at the 2023 USOpen, fired a record 60 at
Pebble Beach with 190 feet ofholed putts.
190 feet Let me put that inperspective Over 18 holes.
That would be like sinking 1810.5 foot putts in a row
Virtually impossible.
I mean from the casualviewpoint of a viewer.
You would say what is this guyputting with?
(03:36):
Well, he and Ricky Fowlerrevived the popularity of the
Odyssey Versa Jailbird putteroriginally released in 2014.
After Ricky Fowler used it andstarted winning and playing
really well.
He and Wyndham Clark playaround together and then Wyndham
(03:57):
is like I've got to get thisputter.
Ricky is not missing anything.
So after Wyndham Clark puts itin his bag, he wins a tournament
.
And then all of a sudden, thejailbird.
On eBay.
The valuation goes up like 10 X.
It used to be selling for Idon't know, 70 or 80 bucks,
(04:22):
maybe a hundred.
When I went to look for itafter they both started winning,
it was well over a thousanddollars and there were none left
.
Now I've tried the jailbirdputter with the extended shaft
and the 17 inch grip and I wouldtell you that it has a nice
feel.
But there's more to it, and themore to it is you're going to
(04:46):
hate this.
Hours of practice.
Hey look, the secret is outagain.
New equipment and golf lessonshave something in common.
If you don't waste yourvaluable personal time
practicing with your newinsights about the secrets to a
(05:07):
better swing consistency, oryour new and improved equipment,
you're likely to fall back intothe rut that brought you to the
pro or the golf shop in thefirst place.
And even with practice, there'sa chance that you'll have some
bad swings, days and sometimesweeks of going backwards.
(05:28):
But more time spent practicingreduces the likelihood of all of
these long slumps and disasters.
When you start to ponder abouthow you really want to spend
your free time do I go back tomy boat?
Do I buy a boat?
Do I start crossword puzzles?
And if you decide practice isyour thing, you want to
(05:51):
re-engage yourself, you want torededicate yourself to the sport
, you want to get better.
You're tired of losing money toyour best buddies on the golf
course, which I have been doingfor the last two months Then I
suggest this Go to the practicearea.
Force yourself to spend moretime putting than hitting shots
(06:12):
on the range.
It's less sexy, but I thinkyou'll score better.
We'll see.
Oh and just a side note, ifyou're one of my buddies that
listens to this podcast and isout playing with me and I miss a
few putts, know this.
I still need more practice.
I still need more practice, butI'm dedicated to getting better
(06:33):
and I will make that putt thatmakes a difference.
It's just a matter of when.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You can't put me down for it fine.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
Another trip to St Pete Florida.
Let me ask you a question.
You see somebody in a hat thatsays St Petersburg Florida.
Do you want to go there asartists?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
As what we have an obligation.
Let me tell you somethingNon-pros there's nothing they
love more than when actors tellthem what they think.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Wow, what a mouthful.
So I've been traveling to StPete Beach for over 40 years.
Still to this day.
I'm fascinated with the beforeand after effects of urban
development and renewalfacelifting, overhauling and
re-imagining the area into abetter destination.
And when I say that I'm reallytalking about downtown St Pete.
(07:32):
Now, while the downtown looksnothing like it did when I first
visited St Pete Beach profilehasn't really changed.
No, high rises mostly olderhotels changed.
No, high-rises mostly olderhotels.
A place where time seems tohave stood still.
(07:52):
I still like populardestinations that have kept
their charm over the years, andI think that's what attracts
people to Charleston.
In St Pete, someone or a groupin the city councils must have
had a thing for keeping what'sworking and rejecting
developers' renderings forimprovements that'll make it
better more jobs, morebusinesses, more local wealth.
And because they've kept itthat way, I still like walking
(08:15):
the beaches there.
I mean, there's a thing that Ido every time I come to town,
where I drive down to Paso GrilBeach, which is south of St Pete
Beach, and then I walk up tothe Don Cesar Hotel and back,
and the Don Cesar is one of thecoolest hotels on the beach.
They call it the Pink Palaceand it is outstanding.
But every other hotel, for themost part on the beach, hasn't
(08:40):
done much of anything but thefact that the city has prevented
a lot of them from going higherin the air.
You know, 10, 20, 30 storiestall.
It just makes the beach morequaint.
The face of the beach just hasa much better impression than if
you were going to go to, like aMiami, or even north of St Pete
(09:02):
, madeira Beach, where they'veallowed high rises to
proliferate.
But the downtown St Pete areatotally different than the beach
Newer hotels, high risesoverlooking the bay, incredible
restaurants, museums, performingarts centers, great shops.
(09:23):
They've done a great job toattract people to come down
there.
And the nightlife rivals thatof any city in Florida second to
Miami.
But what do I know?
Between nine and 10 o'clock atnight is typically my bedtime.
Anyway, back to my mom's 95th.
The organizing and executionfell squarely on my shoulders,
(09:46):
with great counsel from mybrother and cousin, karen, and
financial underwriting.
First we thought about anintimate gathering, but the more
we spoke, we all agreed thatcelebration gatherings were far
better and more fun thanfunerals and more fun than
(10:08):
funerals.
I think our list grew fromaround 10 to 25, and that might
seem small to some of you, butconsidering that virtually none
of our family lives in the stateof Florida, I thought it was
like a pie-in-the-sky estimate.
That's a big number.
I was blown away when 22invitees said yes.
We had to change the venue twotimes and after we learned I
should say relearned that ourfirst choice couldn't
(10:32):
accommodate the growth we had,the second place we engaged with
demonstrated how they were justnot set up for big parties,
just by their lack of follow-upas well as kind of like deer in
the headlight responses towhat-if questions, simple
what-if questions, you know,like what if the count goes up
(10:55):
or down?
What if we bring our own wine?
What if we decorate our owncake and bring our own cake?
And the person that was incharge of this venue couldn't
answer any of those questions,had to get back to me and never
did so.
I found a third venue only with30 days notice.
(11:16):
Birch and Vine, connected tothe Birchwood Hotel, was by far
the best solution for what ourneeds were, maybe because of the
era I was brought up in as aboomer, but I've never given up
on the hope for good service.
You know, what I'm talking about.
You go into a coffee shop.
(11:37):
You just want somebody to greetyou, take your order and then
be able to deliver what you wantin a short amount of time.
You go to a restaurant.
You'd like the waitstaff toacknowledge you and then deliver
what you ordered.
And quite often I go torestaurants where I order one
thing and another thing shows upand I've gotten to the point
where I've almost think thatordering is just a suggestion.
(12:00):
But you can't give up the hopeon good service.
So anyway, we connected withthis restaurant attached to a
hotel and the gal who ran it wasJohnny on the spot, or I should
say Josephine.
She got back to me reallyquickly.
She made changes when we wantedto make changes.
She delivered us a staff thenight of the party.
(12:23):
That was like what can we do?
What can we do?
Our numbers kept going up anddown and they're like we'll
accommodate you, we'llaccommodate you, we'll throw in
a seat, we'll pull out a seat.
We told them that we wanted tobring our own desserts, because
person who does not want to benamed makes the best small
comfort cheesecakes ever, andthey were a hit.
(12:43):
As a matter of fact, at the endof the dinner, one of my
cousins said it was great to seeyou.
I haven't seen you in over 10years, but those cheesecakes
were even better.
That's a testament.
You know, I always try andwonder why there's a certain
trend and what is it about?
The lack of service?
Or, you know, somebody farmsthese unintended consequences
(13:08):
where our love of technology islike this decoupling we go
(13:30):
through when we work remotely,homeschool, have an inseparable
bond with our phones or tablets.
That's why I'm blown away bycompanies that value and
recognize good service in theiremployees.
It wasn't an accident thatZiggy, salvador and Mika, the
(13:51):
three associates that were incharge of our party, didn't miss
a beat.
The food was out of this worldand their team's agility in
responding to exceptions andanything that we needed done was
done.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
Anyway, I digress.
(14:12):
Here's an interesting factoid.
All of the attendees inaggregate traveled over 62,000
miles round trip to celebratemom's 95th birthday.
Think about that.
That's more than two tripsaround the circumference of the
(14:33):
earth.
That is more than Magellan andall of his circumnavigators
traveled in their lifetimes.
It was a big deal, and it was abig deal because my mom was a
big deal.
At 95 years of age she stillremembers everybody's special
occasion and while she can'ttravel anymore, she sends money,
(14:56):
she makes her own cards.
She's a big deal.
I think that everybody thatattended left with a feel good
that's hard to compare to.
The party went so well that mommade a proclamation at the end
of the night that we do thisannually.
I don't know, mom, but it was apretty good party.
(15:16):
Other than the formalcelebration at the restaurant, I
had time to spend with myfamily.
It was really two parts.
The first part was how's yourlife going now?
And then the drink startedflowing and more libations.
And then it became rememberwhen you used to do that thing,
whatever that thing was, do itagain, do it again.
(15:37):
They're going back like 40years, 50 years.
So I could go back and be mygoofy self, but I didn't take
the bait.
But my well-published and highlyregarded in the field of
medicine brother did his famouspig face.
He's been doing that in familyphotos for over 50 years and all
(15:59):
of our grown-up cousins stilllaughed at it again when they
asked him to do it.
I mean, go back in time.
Imagine when you would take allthese family photos and when
you're taking a family photo,all you can see is the person
behind the camera.
You can't see the people to theleft or the right, and you
(16:20):
didn't have digital photographsback then, so you couldn't look
at it right away.
And you didn't have digitalphotographs back then, so you
couldn't look at it right away.
So a day or so after thespecial events we would send the
film out to be developed andprinted.
And then when you get them back, while flipping through the
pics and finally you come tothat one family photo, that one
(16:41):
thing that you're going to putin the album to remember it, and
you look at the family photoand there's everybody smiling,
looking their best, they're alldressed up, and there's Michael
Now Dr Michael making a pig faceevery single time.
And then my mom would be likeoh.
Michael, you did it again and hewould just laugh.
(17:01):
That's been his thing and thecousins loved it and remembered
it.
And they don't care that he'sdr michael easton, they just
want to see michael with a pigface.
And, by the way, I would not domy jerry lewis imitation again,
even though I was pretty goodat it back then.
Would you like me to put thesein a locker for you?
(17:21):
Well?
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I certainly would appreciate that You're very kind
.
I would have put them there hadI known that there was some
form of restriction.
Some people use them for afacade.
I wear them for eyes, you see,for eyes.
It's a play on eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
So, anyway, it was great catching up with everybody
and remembering the good times,which is also now holy moly.
(18:02):
How many subscriptions am Ipaying for Whenever I'm about to
do something?
I think would an idiot do that,and if they would, I do not do
that thing.
So I'm reading this article byBen Cohen, a journalist from the
Wall Street Journal, and Ithink it was about the real
reason that we're paying for somany subscription services, and
(18:26):
it got me to stop and thinkabout everything that I'm
subscribed to and how manyservices I don't get my money's
worth out of.
So how many can I cut?
First of all, I started withmedia Netflix, hbo, which I
(18:46):
guess is max, amazon Prime Video, hulu, paramount Plus, peacock
to watch the NFL playoffs.
Apple TV Plus, because TedLasso was so good Showtime,
which I believe is attached toHulu Red Zone, so I could watch
(19:07):
my NFL games without having tolisten to the announcers or go
to commercials.
Spotify, zips, car Wash, whichI basically got in the spring
because of all the pollen thatwe get down here, pollen that we
(19:31):
get down here, at&t cellular,at&t wifi, chewy for my dog.
Everything starts adding up.
I have at least 11 subscriptionservices, of which, like some
of them, I debate on whether Ireally need to cut them and
whether they're attached tosomething else.
So first I looked at HBO Max.
It's attached to my AT&Tcellular service so I guess I
(19:53):
get that for free.
It seems like every cellularservice attaches themselves to
some streaming service so theybundle it.
So you believe you're gettingsomething for nothing.
So I'm going to keep HBO,netflix Netflix has been my
go-to when I'm bored.
There's always something good onNetflix but, quite frankly,
(20:16):
after the good there's just alot of bad, particularly
recently when, after last year'ssix months of writer's strike
and actor's strike, they had todust off things or pull things
out of the archive, or at leastpull things out.
They were not thinking oflaunching, but what else do they
(20:36):
have?
So they started launching it.
So now I'm watching Netflix andI'm like you know what?
I'm cutting it.
I'm taking my chances.
Hulu, paramount Plus, peacockI'm getting rid of all of them.
Apple TV Plus there's always agood series.
I like Apple TV and Showtime,which is bundled with Hulu Again
(21:07):
.
What happens here is in each oneof these.
Or you're talking to one ofyour friends and like you've got
to see X, y and Z Greatestseries or greatest movie they've
seen.
So now it's like how do I findthis?
So I've got Roku TV.
All I've got to do is query inRoku the name of the title and
it's going to tell me whatstreaming service it's on.
Otherwise you're going intoeach streaming service trying to
(21:28):
find that title and that is aheadache.
So anyway, I decide okay,netflix is gone and I'm going to
deal with it until some greatseries comes on that everybody
says you can't live without.
And then maybe I subscribeagain and hopefully I don't
remember to unsubscribe.
(21:49):
So Hulu, paramount Plus,peacock, they're gone until I
have to watch some sportingevent that is only proprietary
on this, this service, and thenI get to red zone.
Nfl is done, so I don't have toworry about that until August,
maybe even September or Octoberof next year.
(22:11):
I tend, when the football seasonstarts in August, I'm just not
interested.
Yet I don't like the preseasongames and the first few games
are snoozers.
And then we get to Zips carwash.
Do I really need to spend $20 amonth in hopes that I'm going
to wash my car at least fourtimes a month?
(22:31):
And the answer to that is itdepends on how many times Sammy
is in the car and how many timesI take her to the beach,
because when I take her to thebeach she goes apeshit.
She runs in the water, she runsout, she rolls in the sand.
She goes apeshit.
She runs in the water, she runsout, she rolls in the sand.
Whenever she smells some kindof dead fish or crab, she's got
a rubber body in it.
(22:52):
I can't stop her because Iunleash her, and so when I get
her back, I've got to drive backwith her before I wash her
which, by the way, she hates.
And then, even though I've gotthis backseat cover, which is
like the greatest invention everfor anybody who has dogs in
their backseat, hair still getsall over the place.
So I might quit sips, butprobably until the pollen comes
(23:15):
again.
At&t, cellular and wifi I got tokeep it.
I'm just.
I just don't want to go on some$2 cellular service and go, you
know, to a, you know to a justa shitty phone.
And then Chewy, I don't know.
I mean, it's cheaper, but youknow, it's just like
(23:37):
automatically it keeps coming.
Oh, I forgot one.
I ended up doing BarkBox.
Now, barkbox is a service whereevery month you get this one or
two toys and some treats foryour dog, which I thought was
kind of cute.
I was up at somebody else'shouse.
They had it for their dogs andI thought, why not?
And during any kind of themedevent like Christmas,
(23:59):
thanksgiving, you're going toget a toy that is themed for
that holiday, which I think isreally cute.
But here's the rub when yousign up for BarkBox you don't
sign up for month by month withcancellation.
You sign up for the entire yearand it's taken once a month.
I try to actually cancel itbecause my dog doesn't need
(24:20):
those treats that go with it andI could buy some of those chewy
toys that she's going to ripapart anyway cheaper on Amazon
or Walmart.
But here's the rub they won't.
Let me cancel, they won't.
It's like the mob.
It's like once you get in youdon't get out.
And then I'm remembering Iactually cut SiriusXM a year ago
(24:45):
.
They have this unique pricingstructure where they're going to
charge you like $20 a monthunless you call them.
You can't write them, you haveto call them and then you get
somebody across the world,someplace on some island, that's
talking to you through acomputer, someplace on some
(25:06):
island that's talking to youthrough a computer and as soon
as you tell them you're going tocancel, they want to give you a
cheaper rate.
And if you do cancel, they'regoing to keep calling you once a
month to give you some ratelike $4 a month for so many
months.
Now that's not a bad deal, buthere's the thing.
I listen to music and I listento like five or six different
podcasts, all through Spotify.
(25:28):
Now that I can Bluetooth mySpotify in my car, I don't need
XM, sirius Radio.
I can curate my own playlists,I can prioritize my top podcasts
and I could listen to thatanywhere I drive.
So, siriusxm, if you're notbought by or if you don't buy
(25:51):
another streaming service, Ijust don't see the need for you
in the future.
So since I've written thisbefore I recorded this, I
actually cut a bunch ofstreaming services.
I kept Max because it's free.
It's attached to AT&T Cellular.
I've kept Amazon Prime Videobecause it's attached to my
(26:13):
Amazon Prime.
Most everything that I shop forI get on Amazon Prime and
that's it.
The rest are gone.
It's going to force me to startpicking up some books and
reading, and when anybody startstelling me about some great new
show, I'm going to have tothink twice about whether I want
(26:33):
to get into streaming anotherservice.
And after I say that, I justlearned that Oppenheimer is
going to be streaming for freeon Peacock.
Darn it All right now.
(26:57):
You got three years to stopeating dogs.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
We eat here pigs, cows, chickens.
Is it right that we should besaying to other countries that
they can't eat dogs?
I don't think we shouldinterfere with any other
countries, cultures and the waythey eat.
It's not something I want to do.
I don't.
I'm just like Sam Carl.
I've got a lovely dog of my ownand I wouldn't dream of eating
her and I wouldn't dream ofeating her and I wouldn't dream
of eating dog knowingly.
But the point is, 10 milliondogs in China and Southeast Asia
(27:28):
are eaten every year.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
All right, before anybody gets bent out of shape.
Understand that there might notbe one globally accepted diet
for all of us on this planet,but there should be a filter for
animal cruelty.
Now, just because you and Imight like a steak, shrimp,
(28:01):
scampi, chicken or pork in thesmoker pepperoni pizza doesn't
mean that South Koreans aren'tenjoying the same thing out of
eating dog.
Well, that pleasure has beenvoted out of the entire country,
with a three-year grace periodto remove it from all menus and
food stores.
The common dish in South Koreaand I'm going to butcher this
word is Bozingtang, boiled dogmeat with onions.
And, to be fair, only around 8%of the South Koreans were said
(28:26):
to have eaten dog in the pastyear.
And it might just be like aboomer thing, like bologna
sandwiches and yoo-hoo here inthe United States.
By the way, what part of thepig or cow is bologna?
Cow is bologna.
(28:52):
So in South Korea, thegovernment has basically said to
food companies in the dog totable industry they have three
years to shut it down.
Meanwhile, here in the UnitedStates, the feds have sent a
direction to highway signs.
You've got two years to stopbeing funny.
Now I must be living under arock for the last several years,
(29:12):
or just haven't traveledAmerica's highway since the
pandemic, but I haven't seen anyof these funny signs.
But after reading Alison Pohl'sarticle in the journal about
the shutdown I just had to laugh.
So like some of these signs inthe Northeast would be use your
(29:33):
blinker.
Or, during the holidays,driving basted is for turkeys.
Use headlights like Rudolphuses his red nose.
You know I've forgotten howmany cars you actually have to
turn on your headlights afteryou start your car during
(29:56):
Halloween.
A sign that said make mummyhappy, buckle up.
The Federal Highway Commission,with the DOT, issued new
guidelines on traffic safetymessages.
Signs should use language thatdoes not use pop culture
references or humor.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
What the?
Speaker 1 (30:18):
fuck.
But they go on to say you know,it's okay to have a sign that
says unbuckled seatbelts equalsfines and points.
That's just not funny, and Iguess maybe that's the point.
The government is not here forour entertainment or enjoyment.
(30:39):
It's here to provide us libertyand justice for all.
I'm a big fan of both of those,but I also think there are
different ways to message people, to get the point across.
So I direct your attention toevery insurance company's
message through their marketingcampaigns.
(31:01):
Through their marketingcampaigns.
Quirky geckos, evolved cavemen,flo Patrick, mahomes, ludacris,
the don't be your parent guy alljoking about insurance, and
insurance happens typically whenthe worst thing in your life
could possibly happen to you.
(31:22):
Why wouldn't the signs do thesame thing?
They all attempt to improvebrand recall.
Why can't witty e-signs do thesame thing?
But in this situation, thebrand is yourself and smart
driving preserves it.
So the feds are giving us twoyears to dumb down the funny and
(31:47):
the South Korean government arepermitting their people to eat
farm-raised dogs for three moreyears.
I mean, what's the world comingto when it takes a year longer
to stop killing man's bestfriend than it does to stop
being funny?
(32:08):
You know, I thought I'd end thisepisode with another golf
epiphany about the loss andrediscovery of your swing
mid-round Golf.
She is a fickle lady.
She can tickle yourundercarriage and choke you out
during the same round.
And no, I'm not referring to mydating life, because we've
(32:29):
agreed there will be noasphyxiation-assisted orgasms
without written approval.
I'm talking about the elationand broken hearts that can occur
between the first tee and the18th green.
There are so many things that agolfer has to do right to hit a
(32:49):
great shot, many things that agolfer has to do right to hit a
great shot.
There are a few good thingsthat a golfer has to do to hit a
good shot, but there is justone bad thing to hit a horrible
shot.
And that one thing can differevery swing Bad grip, bad setup,
(33:11):
bad weight shift, bad posture,bad angle of approach, bad
connection with the ball, badbounce, bad lie, bad green
surface.
So imagine what it's like to doa lot of good things in a row
for several holes, maybe eventhe front nine, and then, as you
(33:32):
get to the back nine, one ofthose horrible things rears its
ugly head and it's double bogeyafter double bogey and you're
about to throw yourself into thealligator infested lake and all
of a sudden you're back ontrack again.
You're doing a lot of greatthings again.
(33:53):
I played with this guy theother day and let's just call
him the mad hatter.
It should be the mad hitter.
He was off his game.
Calling his name out.
A lot Gets to this par three onthe back nine, with a hundred
yards of marsh between him andthe green.
(34:14):
He takes his club back, he hitshis ball and dunks the ball
into the marsh, which is thenfollowed up with his club
slammed down on the ground andthe head of his iron flies off
the shaft.
I figured the guy who happenedto be my partner for the next
(34:34):
few holes would just stay brokeninside the remaining four holes
.
But the next hole he starts toshow some life, and then he pars
out for the remaining threeholes and wins himself $10, and
couldn't be happier when he getsoff the 18th green.
(34:54):
Well, he might have had tospend 60 bucks the next day for
a new shaft, but he somehowfound his way to fix his
mistakes on the course.
On the course Now, until I getto warmer weather, I find myself
(35:17):
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hiding italmost every round.
It's something about the coldweather, the hard ground.
I could make up a thousandexcuses.
The sun is in my eyes who knowswhat it is but I seem to find
the answer when I get intobetter weather, and then when I
find the answer, a few holeslater, even though I found the
(35:37):
answer I forgot to question.
As long as we age, ourmind-body connection gets
interrupted by distractions,injuries and sometimes a
juvenile disobeillance betweenthe swing plan and execution.
And that brings me back to myearlier profundity.
There's one thing that helpsgolf execution more than
(36:01):
anything else, and it's practice, practice, practice.
So, that being said, I'm off tothe practice area to tame the
beast.
You've been listening toanother episode from tales from
the first tee.
I'm your host, rich easton,telling tales from beautiful
(36:21):
charleston, south carolina.
Talk to you soon, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.