July 1, 2025 • 33 mins
A candid exploration of golf, aging, and the search for that elusive perfect swing feeling. Rich Easton returns after a three-month hiatus to share personal stories and observations from both on and off the course.
• Reflections on Rich's birthday celebration weekend in Charlottesville, including dining at The Melting Pot and attending a Three Dog Night concert
• Thoughts on how society often marginalizes age and experience unless accompanied by extreme wealth
• The "Too Much Detail" story about a fellow golfer who couldn't stop talking about his round
• The eternal search for "finding it" in golf – that perfect swing feeling that sends the ball exactly where you intend
• How right-brain versus left-brain thinking affects how golfers approach the game
• Analysis of what separates great golfers from good ones – mental toughness on Sunday's back nine
• Why Rich stopped betting on sports and his personal philosophy on gambling
• Predictions for the PGA Championship at Valhalla
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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.
Hey, welcome back to my podcast.
(00:29):
It's been a wonder-filledspring.
I've been away from the mic forupwards of three months, mostly
because I felt like I've saideverything that I have to say
about golf, living, sports,gambling, politics.
Well, with politics I seem topolarize.
(00:49):
People Left, far left and farright Don't want to have
anything that I have to sayabout sitting clearly in the
middle.
So this episode I'm mostlygoing to talk about some golf
stories, with some of my lifesprinkled in.
Like most of my listeners, I'vebeen around a while.
As a matter of fact, I justcelebrated a non-milestone
(01:12):
birthday, and I saynon-milestone because it doesn't
end in a zero or a five.
Even though it was anon-milestone birthday, it was
anything but uneventful.
If you follow me on Facebook,you've seen my continuous
storyline recently and, as KevinDurant, the actor who portrays
(01:33):
Proxima Caesar in the new Planetof the Apes movie, would
probably proclaim, I found amate.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
What a wonderful day.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I spent my birthday weekend with my crush in
Charlottesville, Virginia.
We decided to go back in timeby dining at the Melting Pot and
attending a concert featuringThree Dog Night.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.
Two can be as bad as one.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
It's the loneliest number since the number one.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The dining reminded us of life 40 years ago, where
skewering food and dipping it incheese, oil and chocolate was
the new craze.
I think we both left, boththinking the same thing Some
things are best left in the past.
After that we walked to theParamount Theater another walk
(02:43):
into the past to see Three DogNight, and we wanted to see do
they still have their A-game?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Wash away my trouble, wash away my pain with the rain
and Shambhala.
Wash away my sorrow.
Wash away my shame with therain that shone my life.
I'm a ruler.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm a ruler.
The opening act was ChrisTrapper.
I only remember his namebecause he told us to think of
Christ Rapper every time weforgot his name.
Brilliant, it worked.
He was surprisingly a talentedentertainer and I say
surprisingly because I'd neverheard of him before.
Great storyteller, singer andguitarist and here's a context
(03:38):
clue for the remainder of theevening he was the star of the
show.
After he leaves the stage, theroadies set the stage for the
big act.
The anticipation continued tocultivate as the crowd around us
murmured their past experiencesgoing to see the band.
As I gazed at the audience, onething became perfectly clear we
(04:03):
were the youngest in attendance.
Now, I used to love beingrecognized as the youngest to
accomplish just about anythingbe in places where I probably
shouldn't have been, and trythings that reserved for more
experienced people.
Let me tell you, when you getto a certain age, you no longer
(04:24):
want to be the youngest in thecrowd.
So now the lights dim,signaling that the band's about
to hit the stage.
The audience applauds and yellsand the moment of truth the
stage lights illuminate the bandwalking on the stage.
Now, first the drummer, thebass player and the guitar and
the keyboard player enter thestage briskly certainly too
(04:48):
young to be the original ThreeDog Night.
They were in their 30s and 40s.
Then, like a horror movie Day ofthe Living Dead, the
septuagenarian and octogenariansingers enter the stage with a
gate resembling the zombiedancers from Michael Jackson's
thriller.
They weren't doing a bit.
That's how they moved.
(05:10):
They sung a few notable songs,gave self-deprecating stories
about their lives in a rock band, particularly at their age, and
struggled with the high notesthat built their fame.
It was hard to watch so Iclosed my eyes at times to
imagine how they used to perform.
And just when I'm ready to giveup on them, they do an acapella
(05:34):
song from a new album and blewme away with their vocals.
Now, this song was written withtheir current vocal cords in
mind, so it was perfect.
The song led to their last song,jeremiah Was a Bullfrog, which
brought the house down and endedthe concert.
No encores because, quitefrankly, they had very little
(05:58):
left in the tank and that longwalk, often on stage, would have
given the audience members achance to leave.
So we both left the concertthinking the same thing Some
things are best left in the past.
But it also underscored how weboth saw the world together,
(06:19):
which made the birthday weekendblissful.
Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was agood friend of mine.
I never understood a singleword he said, but I helped him
(06:40):
a-drinking the wine and healways had somebody to find wine
.
Singing joy to the world.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Like I said, I've been around a while.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You know, in some cultures I'd be part of the
elder tribesmen where the tribeseeks our knowledge and thoughts
on how to navigate the future.
Now, I'm not certain if it'sthe sign of the times everywhere
or if it's just a NorthAmerican enigma, but age and
experience are seeminglymarginalized unless your bank
account ends in nine zeros oryou're running for president.
(07:21):
Actually, age is a sore pointthere as well.
Anything less than that.
Gray hairs are a punchline orare invisible in our society
unless you're driving behindthem.
Now I get it the get off mylong moniker earned by the
Karens of our generation.
(07:42):
I didn't respect those stodgy,hard-headed, prejudicial,
change-resistant elders when Iwas a kid as much as I don't see
eye-to-eye with them now.
That being said, I also can'trelate to the protesting youth
on college campuses that seek atribal community based on what
(08:03):
they might think as fighting theoppressors.
It's led to the mostanti-Semitic voices in action
since the 1940s in Germany.
Now imagine this scenario 1,200citizens are brutally raped,
beheaded and killed, 240 moreare taken prisoner.
(08:26):
The scene is in a smallcommunity in Texas, or Moscow,
or Beijing.
What do you imagine thegovernment's responses would be
in each of these countries andwhat would their citizens think
about the response?
What would the global communitythink about the response?
(08:47):
If the United States went towar with the regime responsible
for the attack in Texas, howmany college campuses would be
protesting?
The response Certainly none inthe Longhorn State.
The Middle East conflicts arelong, complicated and filled
with ancestral retaliation.
(09:08):
Hamas and Hezbollah have oneclear objective annihilate
Zionists.
Palestinian oppression isdocumentable, just as well as
Hamas' infiltration in Palestine.
Separating the innocent fromthe perpetrators is wishful but
unattainable.
There's no clear, workablesolution in a hostage situation
(09:32):
without unintended consequences.
Protesting and preventingcolleges to peacefully educate
and graduate a population ofstudents that have already been
cheated out of years of pandemiclife is a sophomoric and
self-harming solution.
Anti-semitism on the risereveals the hidden underbody of
(09:57):
those looking for a villain intheir life.
I've always been told when youpoint a finger at someone or
some people that you believe arecausing you problems, make sure
you're standing directly infront of a mirror, because
that's where the problem and thesolution resides.
(10:19):
Anyway where was I?
Oh yeah, happy birthday to me.
Enough of the politics.
(10:45):
I've got a few golf stories.
One's a local story, the othertwo are personal observations.
First, the personal story.
I'll call it too much detail.
(11:05):
When most people connect, thecommon inquiry is how are you
doing?
How have you been?
How's it hanging?
I never got used to that onewhat's up?
Or millennials sup.
A greeting is meant toacknowledge and solicit a
response, hopefully small talk,like all good living, the dream,
(11:26):
great, how are you?
For golfers it's more likehow'd you play today?
How's your game?
Also meant to acknowledge,connect and solicit.
Just enough small talk to letthe other golfer know you see
them, or for some to wait fortheir question to you about your
game so you could share animmortal conquest.
(11:48):
I think generally, unless it'syour best friend or somebody you
haven't seen in a while, thedialogue should be kept to a
tolerable time period.
One man's tolerable could beanother man's insufferable.
Which leads me to my story.
So I go to this golf course.
(12:08):
I'm going to play golf at thislocal course in the low country.
I don't play there often so Idon't anticipate running into
any familiar faces other thanthe three other guys I'm there
to play with.
So I'm at the putting greenwaiting for the starter to call
us to the tee box and I hear afamiliar voice calling my name
(12:30):
hey Rich.
I turn around, it's awell-known golfer from my home
course.
I say how's it going?
I find that greeting a lot moreacceptable, living in the South
, than hey, how you doing, hey,how you doing.
After saying how's it going, Iexpect a quick retort, but
(12:53):
instead I get this my game isgoing to shit.
Now.
I could have responded withthat's golf, but instead now I
later kick myself in the ass forthis.
I say how so it was.
At this moment he knew he fuckedup.
He goes on to tell me how hewas one under par going into the
(13:16):
14th tee box and then doublebogeyed 14, 15, bogeyed 16, made
a lip out putt for par on 17,and missed a birdie putt on 18
for a 76.
Before I could respond, he gaveme the minute detail of every
shot, starting on the back nine,each shot, each unfortunate
(13:39):
bounce, rubber, the greenpartner, distraction, all of it.
Meanwhile I'm looking at mywatch Now that is a context clue
of all context clues andanxiously waiting for the
starter to call our group's name, which he did.
Okay, finally, this is going toend, but my friend Motormouth
(14:02):
didn't pick up on my clues,despite the call to the tee box.
I finally laughed and said hey,sorry about your 76.
You need to play better, andwalked off the putting green.
Why do some golfers find itnecessary to drown us in their
unfortunate misgivings andunfairness that the golf gods
(14:25):
bestow upon us In this case?
I think this particular golferwas humble bragging.
That's his MO.
It's like saying oh, myMercedes is in the shop again.
Oh wait, I think I used that asan excuse why I traded it to
Carvana.
Okay, let's forget that one.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Is it cold in here?
I'm so cold.
We went out on my dad's yachtlast night for like eight hours
and I'm just like still cold.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, no, I don't even do anything to my hair, it
just looks this good.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Naturally, I actually have to leave early today.
I have to go to the consulateor wherever to get more pages
for my passport, apparently.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Ugh, it's so hard to go jean shopping because all the
jeans just fit me too tight inthe frontal area.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I mean my boyfriend's super hot, but like I gotta
sleep, you know I can't have sexall the time- yeah, so I take
my sailboat out with my familyon Sunday and we didn't even see
one whale.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
We saw a shark, but that was scary.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, I got invited to all these Oscar parties again
.
It's just annoying because,like I don't have that many
dresses.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Ugh, I had to turn down tickets to see Louis CK
because I have backstage passesto meet Taylor Swift.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
What did I tell you?
My email got hacked.
Yeah, so, like Ryan, felipejust got spammed for me.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Man, I'm so mad right now.
The boss just took me out tolunch because I've been doing
such a great job and he boughtme drinks.
Now I'm drunk, I can't even doany work.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I'm so hungry, I have to eat so much.
My metabolism is so fast andit's just like I have to keep
feeding it.
I wish that I could gain weight, but I just can't.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I guess we could all be guilty of it sometimes.
But five nonstop minutes andyou start imagining that the
person's going to back up offthe green, get attacked by an
alligator, pulled into the lakefor a death roll.
But knowing this guy, thealligator would spit him out
after he started sharing his bigfish story that took place in a
similar lake, at which pointall of the alligators would exit
(16:25):
the lake and scurry across thegreen to a local high-traffic
road, just in hopes of gettingrun over to stop the ringing in
their ears from this guy's story.
At what point are you awarethat you're boring people to
death, watching themcontinuously look at their
(16:45):
phones or watch they yawnrepeatedly, their eyes glaze
over or they try to inject asentence that suggests they've
had just about enough.
You know, in situations likethis, what do you say?
I mean, the Sopranos would useone line all the time hey, what
(17:07):
are you going to do?
What are you going to do?
What are you?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
going to do.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
What the fuck else am I going to do?
What are?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
you going to do?
I guess most people just end itwith that's life, that's golf
or oh, I forget, I have thisthing.
I have to go to Look.
We all know someone in ourcircles that overstretched their
cordial welcome, and if youcan't think of somebody, maybe
it's you.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
What are you going to do?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I found it.
I think I really found it.
That's right.
I found it.
I solved my personal golfpuzzle.
How many times have we heardgolfers in their post-game
interview where they state Ifound something on the range or
on the practice putting areathat carried into my round today
(18:00):
?
Finding something in a practicearea is common to most golfers
that continue to search for thatfeel which translates to a
better ball flight or a morepure stroke of the putter which
sends the ball on the intendedline.
The term I found something istantamount for the search for
(18:24):
the holy grail or the ark of thecovenant.
But in golf, as in life, justwhen you think you're on the
(18:50):
right path, misfortune anddismay find their way into your
journey.
Finding that feel that sendsyour golf ball to its intended
target is like no other feelingin golf.
I mean recently, when beinginterviewed, scotty Scheffler
was asked don't you get tired ofhitting approach shots that
(19:13):
land right by the pin?
And he said are you a golfer?
No, that is the greatestfeeling ever.
That's what I practice for.
Well, get ready for the rabbithole.
I learned today after taking aninternet brain test to see which
of my hemispheres are moredominant I'm 73% right brained,
(19:42):
93% right-brained.
No wonder my search for feel onthe golf course is never-ending
.
Left-brained people would bemore concerned with score
repeatability.
Right-brained people focus onimagination and the feel it
takes to flight a ball to itstarget.
It's like art in motion.
Left-brained people just askwhat did you score on that hole?
I want a left brain golfer tokeep score from my group, but
(20:04):
not tell me every single hazardto avoid.
Right brain people mightsuggest a tree line out in the
distance to aim towards.
And left brain people will tellyou how they might come to hate
a golf hole because all of thetimes they dunked it in the
water, into the woods or OB.
Right-brained people will alertyou to the upcoming signature
(20:28):
hole or tell you how great theweather is.
I like a mix of both.
When I play the scored carddoesn't care about what, where
or how, just how many.
If you're playing with me andhear me say, man, that felt
great, you can be assured.
(20:48):
What I'm really saying is Ifound it at least for this whack
of the ball, at least for thiswhack of the ball, and trust
this.
What you find today might workfor today might only work for
one hole, but let's say it worksfor today, let's say it works
for the weekend or maybe even aweek or so.
(21:10):
But eventually something elsecreeps into your setup posture,
ball position, grip, take back,follow through.
That neutralized that brilliantdiscover you had when you were
flushing irons, pounding drivesdown the middle or stroking the
perfect putt down the intendedline into the center of the cup.
And that's why, with verylittle exception Scotty
(21:33):
Scheffler, rory McIlroy, tiger,John Rahm Most players will find
it do really well.
And then something else happensand they just disappear.
So what do they do?
What do we all do?
My advice is get back to thepractice area where you found it
(21:54):
in the first place and try andfind it again.
And if you can't, just find apro that you trust, and have
them observe what you're doing.
It might be something so smallas just a minor adjustment and
setup.
And bam, there it is again.
Oh shit, here we go again.
Who's the man Looking good?
(22:27):
You the man, you the man.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Hey, it's the man.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Like some of you, I really like watching PGA Tour
golf, particularly the signatureevents and majors.
They attract the best of thebest and the production value,
barring all the commercials, hasimproved a gajillion percent
since I was a kid.
That's back when Jack Arnie,tom, gary Lee, seve and Raymond
(22:56):
competed.
The production value to me wasboring.
I picture my dad fast asleep onthe couch watching the PGA
after playing 18 holes,listening to whispered
commentators and very, verylight golf claps.
I mean, back then even MajorLeague Baseball seemed more
(23:19):
exciting than golf on TV.
Well, that's all changed withthe enormity of the production
value, streaming worldwide withpurses topping $20 million and
above for signature events withstar quality athletes that
average over 315 yards per drive.
(23:42):
What a change from 270 yardsper drive.
Tiger cleared the way withpersonal discipline for fitness
and golf toughness rarely everseen before.
Every PGA Tour player, and eventhe live tour players today,
grew up idolizing Tiger, whichinformed their fitness, diet and
(24:03):
practice regiments.
Because of that, theleaderboard now gets bunched up
at the top until the back nineon Sunday.
That's where mental toughnessand confidence separates the
great from the really good.
This is certainly an arguablepoint, but over the last five
(24:25):
decades there have been 10, youcould probably name more players
that continued to win multipletournaments because their
confidence level was so high andthey rallied on the back nine
Arnold Palmer, jack Nicklaus,nick Faldo, tiger Woods, tiger
Woods, Phil Mickelson, tigerWoods, jordan Spieth, brooks
(24:46):
Koepka, john Rump, rory McIlroy,Scotty Scheffler all have that
one thing in common they go tothe golf course with the utmost
confidence and as they get today four, sunday, they get to
the back nine.
There's something that they'redoing or something they're not
doing, that other players do,that keep them in the running
(25:10):
and make it to the finish line.
They all have that same thingFor these 10 players during
their era of greatness, wheneverthey teed it up on Thursday,
the announcers and the cameracrew followed them until they
failed to produce their bestthat week.
All with the exception of Tiger, who continues to be followed,
(25:32):
even though he might come inlast place at the Masters.
I was having this conversationwhile playing golf the other day
and one of my playing partnerssaid I don't care what place
Tiger's in, I will watch himanytime they're going to have
him on TV, because you justnever know what he's going to do
(25:52):
next.
That's because Tiger has beenthe man for so long we still
have hope that he can be the manone more time.
Now it's Scotty Scheffler.
I mean, he just seems to keepit together on Sunday,
particularly the back nine wheneverybody else starts to falter.
Rory did it last week at theWells Fargo Championship at
(26:16):
Quail Hollow.
I mean trailing by one shot.
Coming into Sunday he found away to win by five strokes,
claiming the Wells Fargo titlefor his fourth time and his 26th
win on the PGA Tour.
When Rory tees it up, hereminds us of Tiger.
He does his confidence as highas anyone I've seen.
(26:39):
So it'll be fun to watch thisweekend to see whether Rory or
Scottie take the title.
If you like to bet on sports andyou like to bet on golf, you
can't leave Rory at yourdecision set for the PGA
Championship at Valhalla thisweekend.
His odds are second favorite toScotty Shuffler.
(27:00):
But for me, I'm done betting onsports.
I'm done betting on anythingthat I'm not competing in.
Now, that might seem selfish,but I, and I alone, know my
chances to beat whoever I'mcompeting against and for
whatever reason, if I don'tthink I have my best stuff to
(27:23):
win, I either don't play orcertainly don't bet big on
myself.
Look, I know my physical andmental status before I tee it up
.
How's my back doing?
How's my swing been?
How's my confidence level?
My hope when wagering on myselfor on my team is that my body's
(27:45):
ready for the torque.
My swing has been honed throughpractice or play and, as a
result of my confidence, is it aplace to be worthy of a battle?
Or, as bad as I might feel, theguy or guys I'm playing against
are worse.
When betting on professionalsports, you have to rely on
(28:06):
stats, experts' opinion and yourgut, all of which get hard
gamblers in the worst of trouble.
Case in point in the worst oftrouble, case in point,
fierceness was the overallfavorite to win the Kentucky
Derby at 5-2 odds.
All the experts weighed in andsaid, yeah, fierceness, it's the
(28:29):
horse, and they told you 100reasons why.
Meanwhile, mystic Dan, at 16-1odds, won by a nostril, but not
to the favorite, who finished24.5 lengths behind.
I can't predict how any athletefeels going into their event.
They might appear confident,but under the surface, something
(28:52):
within their sport, withintheir life, or how they react to
their own bad play, or how theyreact to their competitor's
great play, or how they react totheir own bad play, or how they
react to their competitorsgreat play or they.
How they react to fans oftheirs or fans of their
competitors, how they react tothat smoking hot femme fatale
trying to veer for theirattention, or in the
replacements, trying to avoidthe mob in the stands reminding
(29:15):
them to miss the kick or get abullet in the head.
My point is this Vegas odds tryto comprehend most all of those
things, with an algorithm thatcomputes almost every possible
scenario.
I've told this story before inprevious podcasts, but I spent
close to an entire summer'swages painting houses in
(29:39):
Saratoga, new York, on a surebet at the races in Saratoga,
and lost, and that's why theyplay the game.
That's why they run the races.
Nothing is certain.
Here's how I decide whether I'mgoing to bet or not.
If the feeling that you getfrom losing weighs heavier than
(30:01):
the elation you get from winning, stop betting Without any
wagering on my part.
I tend to feel better watchingthe awesome athleticism when an
individual or team wins.
I wanted San Francisco to winthe Super Bowl this year, but
after watching Patrick Mahomes,kelsey and Taylor Swift manifest
(30:26):
a win, I found myself amusedwith the battle and the outcome.
I was happy that they won.
No money lost or won, but a lotof stories to bolster the win.
You know, sometimes I feel likeI'm alone on an island when it
comes to gambling or, in my case, not gambling.
Here's the thing I've gotbuddies that compulsively bet
(30:50):
multiple sports, multiple teamsand individuals each week.
They get excited about thepossibility of winning big,
which they do occasionally, andthey don't seem to be down when
they lose, maybe because there'salways another bet to bring
them back.
One of my favorite comedians,sebastian Maniscalco, stars in
(31:12):
this sitcom called the Bookie.
I think it's on Primer Max.
He, his partner and his sisterrun this sports book in Los
Angeles during the era whereonline, legalized sports
gambling is coming in andchallenging his survival.
To make a buck, each episodeintroduces degenerate, unstable
(31:36):
clients that most likelycouldn't get credit anywhere
else to gamble, so they go tohim.
It underscores the highs andlows, mostly the lows, of an
unbreakable gambling habit.
I'm pretty sure if I won bigback in Saratoga in 1976, I
(31:56):
would have gone on to bet moreraces, bet more sports, because
that thrill, that rush ofwinning would have gotten into
my bloodstream.
I would have probably ended upas like a caricature on this new
show the Bookie.
A caricature on this new show,the Bookie.
But as the story goes, Ilearned the hard way early
(32:20):
enough to leave big wagering topeople who can predict all of
the future winners, whoever theyare.
So who's the man?
Who's the man this weekend atthe PGA Championship?
Who's the man going to be atthe US Open, the British Open or
in the Olympics in Paris?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'm just going to enjoy thegames and try and win some milk
(32:41):
money on the golf course.
That's it.
Thanks for listening to anotherepisode of Tales from the First
(33:03):
Tee.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
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.
Hey, welcome back to my podcast.
(00:29):
It's been a wonder-filledspring.
I've been away from the mic forupwards of three months, mostly
because I felt like I've saideverything that I have to say
about golf, living, sports,gambling, politics.
Well, with politics I seem topolarize.
(00:49):
People Left, far left and farright Don't want to have
anything that I have to sayabout sitting clearly in the
middle.
So this episode I'm mostlygoing to talk about some golf
stories, with some of my lifesprinkled in.
Like most of my listeners, I'vebeen around a while.
As a matter of fact, I justcelebrated a non-milestone
(01:12):
birthday, and I saynon-milestone because it doesn't
end in a zero or a five.
Even though it was anon-milestone birthday, it was
anything but uneventful.
If you follow me on Facebook,you've seen my continuous
storyline recently and, as KevinDurant, the actor who portrays
(01:33):
Proxima Caesar in the new Planetof the Apes movie, would
probably proclaim, I found amate.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
What a wonderful day.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I spent my birthday weekend with my crush in
Charlottesville, Virginia.
We decided to go back in timeby dining at the Melting Pot and
attending a concert featuringThree Dog Night.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.
Two can be as bad as one.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
It's the loneliest number since the number one.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The dining reminded us of life 40 years ago, where
skewering food and dipping it incheese, oil and chocolate was
the new craze.
I think we both left, boththinking the same thing Some
things are best left in the past.
After that we walked to theParamount Theater another walk
(02:43):
into the past to see Three DogNight, and we wanted to see do
they still have their A-game?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Wash away my trouble, wash away my pain with the rain
and Shambhala.
Wash away my sorrow.
Wash away my shame with therain that shone my life.
I'm a ruler.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm a ruler.
The opening act was ChrisTrapper.
I only remember his namebecause he told us to think of
Christ Rapper every time weforgot his name.
Brilliant, it worked.
He was surprisingly a talentedentertainer and I say
surprisingly because I'd neverheard of him before.
Great storyteller, singer andguitarist and here's a context
(03:38):
clue for the remainder of theevening he was the star of the
show.
After he leaves the stage, theroadies set the stage for the
big act.
The anticipation continued tocultivate as the crowd around us
murmured their past experiencesgoing to see the band.
As I gazed at the audience, onething became perfectly clear we
(04:03):
were the youngest in attendance.
Now, I used to love beingrecognized as the youngest to
accomplish just about anythingbe in places where I probably
shouldn't have been, and trythings that reserved for more
experienced people.
Let me tell you, when you getto a certain age, you no longer
(04:24):
want to be the youngest in thecrowd.
So now the lights dim,signaling that the band's about
to hit the stage.
The audience applauds and yellsand the moment of truth the
stage lights illuminate the bandwalking on the stage.
Now, first the drummer, thebass player and the guitar and
the keyboard player enter thestage briskly certainly too
(04:48):
young to be the original ThreeDog Night.
They were in their 30s and 40s.
Then, like a horror movie Day ofthe Living Dead, the
septuagenarian and octogenariansingers enter the stage with a
gate resembling the zombiedancers from Michael Jackson's
thriller.
They weren't doing a bit.
That's how they moved.
(05:10):
They sung a few notable songs,gave self-deprecating stories
about their lives in a rock band, particularly at their age, and
struggled with the high notesthat built their fame.
It was hard to watch so Iclosed my eyes at times to
imagine how they used to perform.
And just when I'm ready to giveup on them, they do an acapella
(05:34):
song from a new album and blewme away with their vocals.
Now, this song was written withtheir current vocal cords in
mind, so it was perfect.
The song led to their last song,jeremiah Was a Bullfrog, which
brought the house down and endedthe concert.
No encores because, quitefrankly, they had very little
(05:58):
left in the tank and that longwalk, often on stage, would have
given the audience members achance to leave.
So we both left the concertthinking the same thing Some
things are best left in the past.
But it also underscored how weboth saw the world together,
(06:19):
which made the birthday weekendblissful.
Jeremiah was a bullfrog, was agood friend of mine.
I never understood a singleword he said, but I helped him
(06:40):
a-drinking the wine and healways had somebody to find wine
.
Singing joy to the world.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Like I said, I've been around a while.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
You know, in some cultures I'd be part of the
elder tribesmen where the tribeseeks our knowledge and thoughts
on how to navigate the future.
Now, I'm not certain if it'sthe sign of the times everywhere
or if it's just a NorthAmerican enigma, but age and
experience are seeminglymarginalized unless your bank
account ends in nine zeros oryou're running for president.
(07:21):
Actually, age is a sore pointthere as well.
Anything less than that.
Gray hairs are a punchline orare invisible in our society
unless you're driving behindthem.
Now I get it the get off mylong moniker earned by the
Karens of our generation.
(07:42):
I didn't respect those stodgy,hard-headed, prejudicial,
change-resistant elders when Iwas a kid as much as I don't see
eye-to-eye with them now.
That being said, I also can'trelate to the protesting youth
on college campuses that seek atribal community based on what
(08:03):
they might think as fighting theoppressors.
It's led to the mostanti-Semitic voices in action
since the 1940s in Germany.
Now imagine this scenario 1,200citizens are brutally raped,
beheaded and killed, 240 moreare taken prisoner.
(08:26):
The scene is in a smallcommunity in Texas, or Moscow,
or Beijing.
What do you imagine thegovernment's responses would be
in each of these countries andwhat would their citizens think
about the response?
What would the global communitythink about the response?
(08:47):
If the United States went towar with the regime responsible
for the attack in Texas, howmany college campuses would be
protesting?
The response Certainly none inthe Longhorn State.
The Middle East conflicts arelong, complicated and filled
with ancestral retaliation.
(09:08):
Hamas and Hezbollah have oneclear objective annihilate
Zionists.
Palestinian oppression isdocumentable, just as well as
Hamas' infiltration in Palestine.
Separating the innocent fromthe perpetrators is wishful but
unattainable.
There's no clear, workablesolution in a hostage situation
(09:32):
without unintended consequences.
Protesting and preventingcolleges to peacefully educate
and graduate a population ofstudents that have already been
cheated out of years of pandemiclife is a sophomoric and
self-harming solution.
Anti-semitism on the risereveals the hidden underbody of
(09:57):
those looking for a villain intheir life.
I've always been told when youpoint a finger at someone or
some people that you believe arecausing you problems, make sure
you're standing directly infront of a mirror, because
that's where the problem and thesolution resides.
(10:19):
Anyway where was I?
Oh yeah, happy birthday to me.
Enough of the politics.
(10:45):
I've got a few golf stories.
One's a local story, the othertwo are personal observations.
First, the personal story.
I'll call it too much detail.
(11:05):
When most people connect, thecommon inquiry is how are you
doing?
How have you been?
How's it hanging?
I never got used to that onewhat's up?
Or millennials sup.
A greeting is meant toacknowledge and solicit a
response, hopefully small talk,like all good living, the dream,
(11:26):
great, how are you?
For golfers it's more likehow'd you play today?
How's your game?
Also meant to acknowledge,connect and solicit.
Just enough small talk to letthe other golfer know you see
them, or for some to wait fortheir question to you about your
game so you could share animmortal conquest.
(11:48):
I think generally, unless it'syour best friend or somebody you
haven't seen in a while, thedialogue should be kept to a
tolerable time period.
One man's tolerable could beanother man's insufferable.
Which leads me to my story.
So I go to this golf course.
(12:08):
I'm going to play golf at thislocal course in the low country.
I don't play there often so Idon't anticipate running into
any familiar faces other thanthe three other guys I'm there
to play with.
So I'm at the putting greenwaiting for the starter to call
us to the tee box and I hear afamiliar voice calling my name
(12:30):
hey Rich.
I turn around, it's awell-known golfer from my home
course.
I say how's it going?
I find that greeting a lot moreacceptable, living in the South
, than hey, how you doing, hey,how you doing.
After saying how's it going, Iexpect a quick retort, but
(12:53):
instead I get this my game isgoing to shit.
Now.
I could have responded withthat's golf, but instead now I
later kick myself in the ass forthis.
I say how so it was.
At this moment he knew he fuckedup.
He goes on to tell me how hewas one under par going into the
(13:16):
14th tee box and then doublebogeyed 14, 15, bogeyed 16, made
a lip out putt for par on 17,and missed a birdie putt on 18
for a 76.
Before I could respond, he gaveme the minute detail of every
shot, starting on the back nine,each shot, each unfortunate
(13:39):
bounce, rubber, the greenpartner, distraction, all of it.
Meanwhile I'm looking at mywatch Now that is a context clue
of all context clues andanxiously waiting for the
starter to call our group's name, which he did.
Okay, finally, this is going toend, but my friend Motormouth
(14:02):
didn't pick up on my clues,despite the call to the tee box.
I finally laughed and said hey,sorry about your 76.
You need to play better, andwalked off the putting green.
Why do some golfers find itnecessary to drown us in their
unfortunate misgivings andunfairness that the golf gods
(14:25):
bestow upon us In this case?
I think this particular golferwas humble bragging.
That's his MO.
It's like saying oh, myMercedes is in the shop again.
Oh wait, I think I used that asan excuse why I traded it to
Carvana.
Okay, let's forget that one.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Is it cold in here?
I'm so cold.
We went out on my dad's yachtlast night for like eight hours
and I'm just like still cold.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Yeah, no, I don't even do anything to my hair, it
just looks this good.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Naturally, I actually have to leave early today.
I have to go to the consulateor wherever to get more pages
for my passport, apparently.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Ugh, it's so hard to go jean shopping because all the
jeans just fit me too tight inthe frontal area.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
I mean my boyfriend's super hot, but like I gotta
sleep, you know I can't have sexall the time- yeah, so I take
my sailboat out with my familyon Sunday and we didn't even see
one whale.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
We saw a shark, but that was scary.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, I got invited to all these Oscar parties again
.
It's just annoying because,like I don't have that many
dresses.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Ugh, I had to turn down tickets to see Louis CK
because I have backstage passesto meet Taylor Swift.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
What did I tell you?
My email got hacked.
Yeah, so, like Ryan, felipejust got spammed for me.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Man, I'm so mad right now.
The boss just took me out tolunch because I've been doing
such a great job and he boughtme drinks.
Now I'm drunk, I can't even doany work.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
I'm so hungry, I have to eat so much.
My metabolism is so fast andit's just like I have to keep
feeding it.
I wish that I could gain weight, but I just can't.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
I guess we could all be guilty of it sometimes.
But five nonstop minutes andyou start imagining that the
person's going to back up offthe green, get attacked by an
alligator, pulled into the lakefor a death roll.
But knowing this guy, thealligator would spit him out
after he started sharing his bigfish story that took place in a
similar lake, at which pointall of the alligators would exit
(16:25):
the lake and scurry across thegreen to a local high-traffic
road, just in hopes of gettingrun over to stop the ringing in
their ears from this guy's story.
At what point are you awarethat you're boring people to
death, watching themcontinuously look at their
(16:45):
phones or watch they yawnrepeatedly, their eyes glaze
over or they try to inject asentence that suggests they've
had just about enough.
You know, in situations likethis, what do you say?
I mean, the Sopranos would useone line all the time hey, what
(17:07):
are you going to do?
What are you going to do?
What are you?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
going to do.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
What do I do?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
What the fuck else am I going to do?
What are?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
you going to do?
I guess most people just end itwith that's life, that's golf
or oh, I forget, I have thisthing.
I have to go to Look.
We all know someone in ourcircles that overstretched their
cordial welcome, and if youcan't think of somebody, maybe
it's you.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
What are you going to do?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I found it.
I think I really found it.
That's right.
I found it.
I solved my personal golfpuzzle.
How many times have we heardgolfers in their post-game
interview where they state Ifound something on the range or
on the practice putting areathat carried into my round today
(18:00):
?
Finding something in a practicearea is common to most golfers
that continue to search for thatfeel which translates to a
better ball flight or a morepure stroke of the putter which
sends the ball on the intendedline.
The term I found something istantamount for the search for
(18:24):
the holy grail or the ark of thecovenant.
But in golf, as in life, justwhen you think you're on the
(18:50):
right path, misfortune anddismay find their way into your
journey.
Finding that feel that sendsyour golf ball to its intended
target is like no other feelingin golf.
I mean recently, when beinginterviewed, scotty Scheffler
was asked don't you get tired ofhitting approach shots that
(19:13):
land right by the pin?
And he said are you a golfer?
No, that is the greatestfeeling ever.
That's what I practice for.
Well, get ready for the rabbithole.
I learned today after taking aninternet brain test to see which
of my hemispheres are moredominant I'm 73% right brained,
(19:42):
93% right-brained.
No wonder my search for feel onthe golf course is never-ending
.
Left-brained people would bemore concerned with score
repeatability.
Right-brained people focus onimagination and the feel it
takes to flight a ball to itstarget.
It's like art in motion.
Left-brained people just askwhat did you score on that hole?
I want a left brain golfer tokeep score from my group, but
(20:04):
not tell me every single hazardto avoid.
Right brain people mightsuggest a tree line out in the
distance to aim towards.
And left brain people will tellyou how they might come to hate
a golf hole because all of thetimes they dunked it in the
water, into the woods or OB.
Right-brained people will alertyou to the upcoming signature
(20:28):
hole or tell you how great theweather is.
I like a mix of both.
When I play the scored carddoesn't care about what, where
or how, just how many.
If you're playing with me andhear me say, man, that felt
great, you can be assured.
(20:48):
What I'm really saying is Ifound it at least for this whack
of the ball, at least for thiswhack of the ball, and trust
this.
What you find today might workfor today might only work for
one hole, but let's say it worksfor today, let's say it works
for the weekend or maybe even aweek or so.
(21:10):
But eventually something elsecreeps into your setup posture,
ball position, grip, take back,follow through.
That neutralized that brilliantdiscover you had when you were
flushing irons, pounding drivesdown the middle or stroking the
perfect putt down the intendedline into the center of the cup.
And that's why, with verylittle exception Scotty
(21:33):
Scheffler, rory McIlroy, tiger,John Rahm Most players will find
it do really well.
And then something else happensand they just disappear.
So what do they do?
What do we all do?
My advice is get back to thepractice area where you found it
(21:54):
in the first place and try andfind it again.
And if you can't, just find apro that you trust, and have
them observe what you're doing.
It might be something so smallas just a minor adjustment and
setup.
And bam, there it is again.
Oh shit, here we go again.
Who's the man Looking good?
(22:27):
You the man, you the man.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Hey, it's the man.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Like some of you, I really like watching PGA Tour
golf, particularly the signatureevents and majors.
They attract the best of thebest and the production value,
barring all the commercials, hasimproved a gajillion percent
since I was a kid.
That's back when Jack Arnie,tom, gary Lee, seve and Raymond
(22:56):
competed.
The production value to me wasboring.
I picture my dad fast asleep onthe couch watching the PGA
after playing 18 holes,listening to whispered
commentators and very, verylight golf claps.
I mean, back then even MajorLeague Baseball seemed more
(23:19):
exciting than golf on TV.
Well, that's all changed withthe enormity of the production
value, streaming worldwide withpurses topping $20 million and
above for signature events withstar quality athletes that
average over 315 yards per drive.
(23:42):
What a change from 270 yardsper drive.
Tiger cleared the way withpersonal discipline for fitness
and golf toughness rarely everseen before.
Every PGA Tour player, and eventhe live tour players today,
grew up idolizing Tiger, whichinformed their fitness, diet and
(24:03):
practice regiments.
Because of that, theleaderboard now gets bunched up
at the top until the back nineon Sunday.
That's where mental toughnessand confidence separates the
great from the really good.
This is certainly an arguablepoint, but over the last five
(24:25):
decades there have been 10, youcould probably name more players
that continued to win multipletournaments because their
confidence level was so high andthey rallied on the back nine
Arnold Palmer, jack Nicklaus,nick Faldo, tiger Woods, tiger
Woods, Phil Mickelson, tigerWoods, jordan Spieth, brooks
(24:46):
Koepka, john Rump, rory McIlroy,Scotty Scheffler all have that
one thing in common they go tothe golf course with the utmost
confidence and as they get today four, sunday, they get to
the back nine.
There's something that they'redoing or something they're not
doing, that other players do,that keep them in the running
(25:10):
and make it to the finish line.
They all have that same thingFor these 10 players during
their era of greatness, wheneverthey teed it up on Thursday,
the announcers and the cameracrew followed them until they
failed to produce their bestthat week.
All with the exception of Tiger, who continues to be followed,
(25:32):
even though he might come inlast place at the Masters.
I was having this conversationwhile playing golf the other day
and one of my playing partnerssaid I don't care what place
Tiger's in, I will watch himanytime they're going to have
him on TV, because you justnever know what he's going to do
(25:52):
next.
That's because Tiger has beenthe man for so long we still
have hope that he can be the manone more time.
Now it's Scotty Scheffler.
I mean, he just seems to keepit together on Sunday,
particularly the back nine wheneverybody else starts to falter.
Rory did it last week at theWells Fargo Championship at
(26:16):
Quail Hollow.
I mean trailing by one shot.
Coming into Sunday he found away to win by five strokes,
claiming the Wells Fargo titlefor his fourth time and his 26th
win on the PGA Tour.
When Rory tees it up, hereminds us of Tiger.
He does his confidence as highas anyone I've seen.
(26:39):
So it'll be fun to watch thisweekend to see whether Rory or
Scottie take the title.
If you like to bet on sports andyou like to bet on golf, you
can't leave Rory at yourdecision set for the PGA
Championship at Valhalla thisweekend.
His odds are second favorite toScotty Shuffler.
(27:00):
But for me, I'm done betting onsports.
I'm done betting on anythingthat I'm not competing in.
Now, that might seem selfish,but I, and I alone, know my
chances to beat whoever I'mcompeting against and for
whatever reason, if I don'tthink I have my best stuff to
(27:23):
win, I either don't play orcertainly don't bet big on
myself.
Look, I know my physical andmental status before I tee it up
.
How's my back doing?
How's my swing been?
How's my confidence level?
My hope when wagering on myselfor on my team is that my body's
(27:45):
ready for the torque.
My swing has been honed throughpractice or play and, as a
result of my confidence, is it aplace to be worthy of a battle?
Or, as bad as I might feel, theguy or guys I'm playing against
are worse.
When betting on professionalsports, you have to rely on
(28:06):
stats, experts' opinion and yourgut, all of which get hard
gamblers in the worst of trouble.
Case in point in the worst oftrouble, case in point,
fierceness was the overallfavorite to win the Kentucky
Derby at 5-2 odds.
All the experts weighed in andsaid, yeah, fierceness, it's the
(28:29):
horse, and they told you 100reasons why.
Meanwhile, mystic Dan, at 16-1odds, won by a nostril, but not
to the favorite, who finished24.5 lengths behind.
I can't predict how any athletefeels going into their event.
They might appear confident,but under the surface, something
(28:52):
within their sport, withintheir life, or how they react to
their own bad play, or how theyreact to their competitor's
great play, or how they react totheir own bad play, or how they
react to their competitorsgreat play or they.
How they react to fans oftheirs or fans of their
competitors, how they react tothat smoking hot femme fatale
trying to veer for theirattention, or in the
replacements, trying to avoidthe mob in the stands reminding
(29:15):
them to miss the kick or get abullet in the head.
My point is this Vegas odds tryto comprehend most all of those
things, with an algorithm thatcomputes almost every possible
scenario.
I've told this story before inprevious podcasts, but I spent
close to an entire summer'swages painting houses in
(29:39):
Saratoga, new York, on a surebet at the races in Saratoga,
and lost, and that's why theyplay the game.
That's why they run the races.
Nothing is certain.
Here's how I decide whether I'mgoing to bet or not.
If the feeling that you getfrom losing weighs heavier than
(30:01):
the elation you get from winning, stop betting Without any
wagering on my part.
I tend to feel better watchingthe awesome athleticism when an
individual or team wins.
I wanted San Francisco to winthe Super Bowl this year, but
after watching Patrick Mahomes,kelsey and Taylor Swift manifest
(30:26):
a win, I found myself amusedwith the battle and the outcome.
I was happy that they won.
No money lost or won, but a lotof stories to bolster the win.
You know, sometimes I feel likeI'm alone on an island when it
comes to gambling or, in my case, not gambling.
Here's the thing I've gotbuddies that compulsively bet
(30:50):
multiple sports, multiple teamsand individuals each week.
They get excited about thepossibility of winning big,
which they do occasionally, andthey don't seem to be down when
they lose, maybe because there'salways another bet to bring
them back.
One of my favorite comedians,sebastian Maniscalco, stars in
(31:12):
this sitcom called the Bookie.
I think it's on Primer Max.
He, his partner and his sisterrun this sports book in Los
Angeles during the era whereonline, legalized sports
gambling is coming in andchallenging his survival.
To make a buck, each episodeintroduces degenerate, unstable
(31:36):
clients that most likelycouldn't get credit anywhere
else to gamble, so they go tohim.
It underscores the highs andlows, mostly the lows, of an
unbreakable gambling habit.
I'm pretty sure if I won bigback in Saratoga in 1976, I
(31:56):
would have gone on to bet moreraces, bet more sports, because
that thrill, that rush ofwinning would have gotten into
my bloodstream.
I would have probably ended upas like a caricature on this new
show the Bookie.
A caricature on this new show,the Bookie.
But as the story goes, Ilearned the hard way early
(32:20):
enough to leave big wagering topeople who can predict all of
the future winners, whoever theyare.
So who's the man?
Who's the man this weekend atthe PGA Championship?
Who's the man going to be atthe US Open, the British Open or
in the Olympics in Paris?
Your guess is as good as mine.
I'm just going to enjoy thegames and try and win some milk
(32:41):
money on the golf course.
That's it.
Thanks for listening to anotherepisode of Tales from the First
(33:03):
Tee.
I'm your host, rich Easton,telling tales from beautiful
Charleston, south Carolina.
Talk to you soon, thank you.
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