Swing It & Ding It: Episode 190

Joined by Josh Saunders- Director of Grounds at Lancaster CC and winner of the E.J. Marshall Platter by the USGA. Scotty wins another Signature Event at The Travelers, The Course of Course with Harry Mayes! Preview and we See The Line with Draftkings Sportsbook for The Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Thank you to our Sponsors: DraftKings Sportsbook, Mall Chevrolet, Comcast Business, Rita’s Water Ice

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This episode is brought to you byComcast Business. Whatever your day brings,
they'll help you handle it with reliablegig speeds and advanced cybersecurity solutions. Every
day in business is a big day. Comcast Business will keep you ready for
what's next. Comcast Business Powering Possibilities. You just got to get out there

(00:25):
and swing and ding it. Yeah, you know, just guess it's gonna
go out there and try to swingit and ding it. All right,
Hello and welcome to Swing It andDing It and iHeartMedia Podcast. This is
Moose and May's Matthews is on theclock, Harry. Maybe Matthews is coming
any second. You'll meet you,guys posted on social media and the future

(00:48):
LPGA star the Matthews Family is born. Vienna excited to see that we are
sponsored by Comcast Business, introducing UltimateSpeed for Business, the fastest Internet plans
yet from Comcast Business, Houring Possibilities, actually playing with the Comcast Business guys
today, Harriet, Oh yeah,yeah, nice, absolutely all access gt
GT. We'll talk about some golftravel and of course DraftKings Sports book.

(01:10):
More on that when we see theline. But as we like to do,
Harry, we keep it local.Local is a debatable word. Apparently
on our show, you can't sayPhilly area. Course is aout getting a
lot of grief, right, Ilove one whatever, all these people that
have never grown up in the citythat love to tell you what's Philly or
not right right, But we arevery fortunate to be joined by our friend
Josh Saunders, director of Grounds atLancaster Country Club, Lancaster Country Club,

(01:34):
Lancaster Lancaster Country Club, recent hostof the US Women's Open. Second time
swinging ding it, that's right.Hey, hey guys, thanks for having
me. It's been a long timesince we've been able to chat and looking
forward to it absolutely, man,I mean, what a what an incredible
showcase of the club of everything aboutit. I know it's something that you

(01:57):
guys we talked about, you know, years ago we first talked about knowing
this was coming and all the preparationand the trials and tribulations that come along
with with that and what you guysdealt with. But to see the accolades
that not only the course, Scott, but you in particular right awarded the
EJ. Marshall Platter by the USGAfor your preparation, the for the US

(02:20):
Women's Open, which I know youshare that with your team just a I
had a quick question though, becauseyou know the Stanley Cup, does guys
drink out of it? You wantto platter? Does that mean you guys
eat all? Though? Well no, see here's the deal. It was
definitely mentioned to me and I thoughtof it. So we had an after
party for the staff and friends andfamily at Stubby's here in Leicester, one

(02:44):
of our favorite watering holes. Anddon't think it didn't cross my mind to
take and have a few wings offof it after a long week, that's
for sure. I was quickly talkedout of it. You know. The
one perk of the week is mymom was in town all week, so
she kept me in line so thatit stayed in the jeep, that's for
sure. Nice. But thank youguys, Thank you guys very much.
I mean, it was a specialweek and I'm sure we can get into

(03:07):
it, but honestly, I wishthey had twenty platters on that green you
know you said it. Moose withthe team and it was a long journey
for six years since I set footon property with COVID. With renovation,
we had a pretty big tragedy atthe course too during construction, and then
just segue into this year with beingshort staffed and the hours we put in,

(03:30):
and man, I wish I couldhave I mean I did share it
with everyone, but I wish everyonehad a little piece to take home,
that's for sure. Well, speakingof that staff, take a few minutes
and brag about this staff, Imean, tell us about how many people
you got and you know some ofthe people that really worked, you know,
long and hard to help make thisthing a reality. Well, I
think we all did right. LikeI mean, I don't want to single

(03:52):
into any one individual out. Imean from top to bottom, management team
to full timers, the seasonal guysthat came on staff. You know,
we maintained four hundred and twenty sevenacres with eighteen people this year, I
mean eighteen people and hosted a nationalchampionship, and you know it was it
was a lot of sacrifice, alot of time, and a lot of

(04:13):
heartache, you know, but theysensed my urgency and we all sensed each
other's urgency and the passion that thisgroup have. I mean, I have
six or seven guys that were herein twenty fifteen when they hosted their first
women's open have a great management teamthat obviously knew that this was something that
was not only great for their resume, but something that you know, they

(04:38):
wanted to take with them memory wisefor their entire life and professional journey.
You know, two guys on mymanagement team started off as high schoolers for
me when I first started here intwenty nineteen. And to see their progression
and their smiles on their faces,and then my superintendent, who's you know,
been with me for a long timefrom Virginia to Pittsburgh to now is

(04:59):
just I can't tell you how speciala week it was, guys, no
doubt, no doubt. So whatabout the course itself? Right nineteen twenty
Flynn course, what about it?That youse that resonated not only with the
people watching it but the players,Like, what were some of the things
you were hearing about the course thatreally just stood out to you that kind

(05:21):
of like really showed that appreciation forit. Well, I think Nellie said
it best on Tuesday, and thisis what two days before she made her
epic ten, right, Like,you know, it's a brutal test,
and you know, the elevation changeshere are very very unnoted, you know,

(05:41):
like and I don't even know theproper adjective to use. They're just
when I remember when I was inmy interview process and had my first interview,
they it kind of ended with that, you know, informal question of
what did you think of the propertyafter my first course walk, and I
said, I hope you guys trulybelieve and realize what you have. And

(06:02):
tree removal exposed that. But thetopography and you know, twelve uphill second
shots to the firm conditions we had, it was, you know, she
pegged it. It was a brutaltest. The rough was healthy. We
were extremely healthy, healthy, soit was really dangerous around the greens for
those that missed. And look,it showed, i mean two people finished

(06:23):
under par. Two people I thinknine of the top ten in the world
made the cut, I mean missedthe cut. Excuse me. You know.
So I'm probably most proud outside ofthe staff and their performance, that
this place finally showed its teeth andthe world got to know it. And

(06:44):
that's not just on what we accomplished, it's on what this entire membership accomplished,
in this entire community. It's justa great, great golf course.
It really is. And I've beenvery fortunate in twenty plus years. I've
played a lot of great places.I've worked at a lot of great places.
I knew when I saw this Iwanted to call it home. And
it wasn't just because of the women'sOpen, that's for sure. Now.

(07:08):
I know you got twenty seven upthere, but I've been there once to
play it, but I don't knowthe property, like the back of my
hand, take us through. Wasthat a composite routing of some of all
three of the nines that they puttogether for the eighteen holes? No,
it's an original Flinn. I mean, you know, when it opened in
the twenties, everything was on theclubhouse side of the Conistoga, So if

(07:30):
you remember the property, the Conistogakind of dissects the vod currently right.
In the early forties, Flynn purchasedmy side of the Conistoga, so the
lamp Eater side, and that's wherehe built three through six. It was
actually kind of his last work becausehe passed away in the mid forties,
so they re routed it then.The original kind of it was a drop

(07:55):
down part three off the second fornumber three and then number four was actually
the on par five that goes alongthe river, the river right, and
then they played back up to theclubhouse with eight and nine and currently eight
nine, and then they wrapped aroundthe back of the clubhouse kind of where
our driving range is now and pole. So that was the original layout and
then and some other changes up onthe backside with some holes up kind of

(08:20):
around thirteen that was eventually developed withthe houses that go parallel with thirteen.
So yeah, I mean outside ofyou know, their early forties, it
hasn't been really touched. I mean, Nagel's been here for years with Force
Design and now he's on his ownwith Nagel Golf Design, and it's you
know, just a lot of tweakshere and there. Greens were redone in

(08:41):
twenty eleven. But you know,to answer your question, Harry Highlands was
built in the early nineties by BrianSilva, which is a pretty you know,
big Northeast name. Back in thosedays, we had a long waitlist
at the time. If you're familiarwith f Lancaster, it's right before Bent
Creek was was was built, sokind of for us to help the wait

(09:03):
list and stay current, they builtthis other nine and it's a fun nine.
It's a great nine. I mean, anybody it's been here will tell
you. I mean, you know, I generally say all the time it's
the third best nine in Lancaster.But it's, uh, it's perfect for
me, it's right. It kindof circles around my shop so a lot
after a long day, especially duringCOVID and you know, pre girlfriend life,

(09:24):
I would easily walk out with acouple of beers and uh walk nine
and in the great days, that'sthe best. Yeah, And it's it's
it's a perfect compliment to Flynn too, right, because it's a link style,
it's wide open, it's perfect forfamily, it's perfect for kids,
it's perfect for all skill levels andit's still challenging, but it's a perfect

(09:45):
It's so awesome that that that's beenthere when a lot of courses are trying
to find a way to get thereright, right, It's something that that
you guys had and have been ableto take advantage advantage of for that long.
Yeah. I'm really hopeful for thefuture of it too. I mean
I think, you know, somediscussions have already started. I know,
it's kind of a pipe dream formine. But you know, we definitely
have the layout and property size toget another nine holes here. We would

(10:07):
have to reduce that nine, youknow, and I think if we did
that, we you know, we'dalmost get kind of a Marion feel,
right. We'd have the East andbe the championship course, and then we'd
have Highlands that would be kind oflike the West and be just the perfect
go out, take a big coolerbeer and who cares if you make a
nine or who cares if you makeeight birdies in a round? Right?
So yeah, I'm really excited forthe future with this club. I want

(10:31):
to hear more about these birdies.At some point. We'll talk about that.
Bertie Jews, are you guys ready? We love asking the question about
about our guest golf journey because Harryand I are so intrigued by the stories
and the game and the people wemeet. And you have a pretty unique
one, and it's been some reallycool places. We know at firsthand.
Obviously you're spending some time with youplaying around with the nineteen twelve club,

(10:52):
But tell our audience, you know, kind of you're here now and you're
in an incredible place and doing greatwork. But talk about how you got
here. I mean, golf hasalways been my life. I mean it's
you know, I don't know howto worry an the other way. Dad
put it in my hand, puta golf club in my hand before I
think I could even remember or talk. And some would say I still can't
talk really well. So but youknow, my parents actually consider it daycare.

(11:16):
So probably once I was like elevenor twelve, during summer months,
instead of getting dropped off at thepool or running around the neighborhood with friends,
my mom dropped me off at agolf course, Lynnwood Country Club,
back in Martinsville, Virginia, everysingle morning on her way into work.
And she would pick me up everysingle day on her way home from work.
And I was the kid that playedfifty four holes. And you know,

(11:39):
I had friends at the pool atthe club, but never went hung
out. I just kept playing,you know. And during that I walked
and I saw the grounds crew working, and if they were on an irrigation
hole fixing something, I would lookin the hole and like, what's going
on, guys. You know,I was just so intrigued and just new.
And I remember, probably right whenI turned fifteen, we were sitting

(12:01):
at the dinner table and I lookedat my mom and dad, I said,
this is what I want to do. And I've never steered differently,
you know. I went to VirginiaTech and started in agronomy. Back then
it was called agronomy now it's turfmanagement or you know. So, and
I had a little period, whichyou know, Virginia Tech asked me to

(12:24):
take a little time off politely,if you know what I mean. So
I took a semester off and actuallywent pro and was a junior golf teacher
in Ryno, Virginia, and hatedbeing in the pro shop, hated seeing
the guys out there working kind ofyou know, got my bleep together and

(12:45):
went back to school and went intoturf and debated a little bit with architecture
just because it was the tiger boomerin the late nineties. Took a few
classes in that, but didn't realizeit wasn't really for me. My dad
also kind of got sick during thatperiod, so it kind of brought a
lot of things into perspective, andyeah, was very fortunate from a one

(13:09):
stop sign town. Went to myfirst internship at Westchester Country Club up in
New York had the Bwett Classic forthe longest time. I think it was
the longest running PGA event, andjust opened my eyes, guys. I
mean, it was the first timeI ever saw walk more. It was
first time I ever saw a staffover four people. It was thirty six
holes. You know. I stayedon property, would work ten twelve hour

(13:35):
days and then play golf every singlenight. Man, did it open my
eyes that summer. I mean Igot to play Shanacock, I got to
play Bethpage, I got to playSunningdale, which is unbelievable. Of course
in New York, just north ofthe city Apple Wamas. You know,
I could go on and on,and I think that's when it really hit
me that this is what I trulywanted to do. And you know,

(14:00):
everyone has our path, right andgolf you guys, you know, you
know, Jean, you're you're veryfamiliar with superintendent life, right, Like,
everyone kind of has their own nicheand what they want to do and
whether it's public, municipals, semiprivate, private, or the big realm.
And I knew right then at youknow, nineteen years old, I
wanted to host championships. I wantedto host championships and was very cool.

(14:24):
During the Uwick Classic, there wasa couple of ties that connected Augusta National
in Westchester through the management teams,and they sent a bunch of guys up
and of course, me being theSouthern you know, the Southern bell or
whatever you want to call it thatI am, I threw back a bunch
of Budweiser's with them that week,and you know when they heard y'all come
out of my mouth the first time, we were immediately buddies and it was

(14:48):
great week with them, and notto date myself, but I didn't have
a cell phone. So I cameback from my internship at Westchester, rolled
into Blacksburg. All my roommates werethere in the house and you could have
heard a pin drop. They said, listen to the voice answer machine.
And I had a voicemail from BradOwen, the director at Augusta National,
asking me if I'd be interested incoming doing an internship there and took the

(15:13):
four year off, you know,the year Phil jumped about what that fleet
far off the ground and won hisfirst and that was a great event.
You know. DeMarco kind of blewup there at the end. But Phil
made that epic run on the backnine. I think he burdied like five
or six holes on the back ninethere to win. And you know,

(15:35):
I think that kind of sums itup right, like it just that was
the pinnacle at the time, andit's something I'll never forget. I was
fortunate enough I got to play it. It was actually my last round of
go Off with my dad, soalways be special to me with that.
You know, if he was stillliving, he would tell you about his
famous driver that he hit on numbersix, Yeah, R three. He

(15:56):
hit it to about two feet andtapped in on way to shoot in one
hundred and nineteen. So you know, but that was him and got to
play from one step off the backs. You know, that was a long
time ago where you know, Iwas a young, strapping lad and could
vomit and play really really well.You know, being a coming to golf
course superintendent kind of hinders that hindersyour game a little bit. So yeah,

(16:21):
I mean, and then after afterAUGUSTA, my first job out of
college was at Kinlock Golf Club inRichmond, Virginia. That's a great spot
too. Yeah, yeah, inanother place, you know, single years
and just working my ass off andplaying golf every night and just loving life
and just always knew that this iswhat I wanted to do. And we
hosted the Senior Amateur, the USSenior Amateur, and that was kind of

(16:45):
the you know, the first segueright, like part of the peat went
Tree at Penlock is amazing as itis, right, so like his network.
I mean, I think I wasthe thirteenth assistant that moved on to
become a superintendent and you know,just really really epic and met a lot
of individuals with the USGA when wehosted the Senior am Ben Kimball, who's

(17:07):
now the director for men's Championships,the great Keith Tappho's who's unfortunately passed away
to was the agronomist at the time, and about three months after the championship
he approached me about an opportunity inPittsburgh and said, hey, look,
you know, I know you're aVirginia boy through and through, but with
your you know, dream and passionof hosting championship, you need to think

(17:30):
about going to a market. Andyou know, I could see the chimney
stacks of Oakmont from Longview and Istarted there in twenty in just January of
twenty thirteen. And you know,I don't want to use the word restoration,
but you know, I feel confidentthat my team and I transformed the

(17:52):
property. And you know, thehighlight of that was being granted a co
host with Oakmont and for the forthe Amateur and I think that was twenty
one, but I left in nineteenfor Lancaster and when I heard about the
possibility of being Women's Open. Butyou know, and that's just my professional
journey, guys. I mean,I know we talked way back when we

(18:15):
played. Like the biggest thing aboutmy professional journey is I've been very,
very fortunate to play a lot ofgreat golf courses. I mean a lot.
I've been very fortunate to walk ona lot of great golf courses.
So I'm very blessed, very veryI try to remain humble, but I'm
very, very very blessed where golfhas gotten me at life, and I

(18:37):
wouldn't have any other way. That'sawesome that you went to obviously went to
Virginia Tech. But is there arivalry between some of these turf management programs,
because I know Penn State likes tosay they've got the best and it's
the it's the turf place to gotalk about. Is there any kind of
rivalry amongst that? Well, yeah, I mean I think you know,
it's kind of for me. AtVirginia Tech, we were in the tree

(19:00):
transition zone, so it is atransition of cool season grasses and warm season,
right, so you know, wedidn't per se necessarily have a rival.
I think we were very unique atVirginia Tech because we had the ability
to learn both grasses because we wereright on the transition zone. When you
look at the southern schools, youlook at Auburn, you look at Mississippi
State, you look at Texas,A and M they're the three biggest for

(19:22):
warm season. But when you lookup here, I mean there is no
other turf management program than Penn State. And I mean, you know,
Rutgers has a great online line program, great two year program. I mean,
you know they're doing things, butPenn State that's just that's the mecca.
You know. I think Michigan State'stheir rival. I know they have
the Cutter Cup every year. Ibelieve it is where they kind of do

(19:45):
a Ryder Cup styles between the turfprogram. So that's pretty neat. But
yeah, it's it's you know,Penn State's that's it. I mean the
investments they have there with the ValentineResearch Center. You know, I've been
fortunate enough. I've gone up andspoke to the Turf Club a couple of
times. I'm actually going back inNovember, so yeah, just John Kaminsky
was actually here yesterday. I haveone of their two year interns working for

(20:08):
us the summer. So yeah,nice. So you talked about it,
right, You've played a lot ofplaces. A couple part question here because
we like to rile up our audienceand talk about Philly aarya courses. But
first of like, you know,anywhere right, if you could play one
round of golf anywhere right, wherewould that be? And then after that,
I'd love to hear your thoughts onlike your top your favorite Philly area

(20:30):
of course. Okay, well Iknew you were going to ask the Philly
Club. Threw me for a loopwith the other one. You know,
that's tough, mist because I feellike I've played most of them, and
I don't mean to say that,you know, being conceded. That's why
I'm asking it. I've played Cyprus, point. You know, I've played

(20:52):
Pine Valley, I've so to me, it's like not so much, I've
played number two. Uh, it'swhere do I want to play next?
You know. I think that's howI would look at it, like I've
gotten to a point in my lifewhere, you know, competition and golf
is that's an afterthought. I'm readyto be with buddies. I'm ready to

(21:15):
have fun. I'm ready to popsome cold ones and enjoy my time away.
I'm very interested at Cavit Farms thecitrus down in Florida. I think
taking a group like I think thatseems really really cool. So I that's
definitely up there for me. Man, I'm trying to think. I mean,

(21:40):
being at Pebble last year for theWomen's Open, I think I would
love to play that. I don'tknow if I would want to open my
wallet for it, but I wouldlove to play there just to say I
have. But you know, that'sthe only one I'm miss missing at work.
I mean, that's the only oneI'm missing from the top five.

(22:00):
So yeah, I would say probablyPebble Citrus, you know, But then
you know, to segue into thePhilly apartment, it's like I haven't played
a lot of great Philly courses,Like I haven't played with the Hicken yet,
and I'd love to play with theShicken. But you know, I
think, yeah, I would sayPebble, probably Pebble. And then when

(22:22):
you talk about Philly, man,where do you start? So many great
Flynn courses here, and obviously I'vefallen in love with him. I mean,
you have to put PV up there, right, Like, I know
you recently just had a podcast whereyou guys were talking about that, and
you have to I mean, thatplace just every single hole you have to
think about something, right, AndI've got I've been fortunate because I've I

(22:45):
have you know, a couple ofmembers are there, so I've gotten to
play it, you know, acouple of times. And I remember the
first time I played it, I'mlike, oh my god, because you
don't realize how much room is inthose landing zones. Yeah, you know,
you think about the first time youplayed Pine Valley. You know,
I'm a five handicap, so youknow you're you're picking your angles, not
realizing where your missus can be atPV. You know, I think that's

(23:08):
that's how I would look at it. So that's one of those tracks I
progressively got better at every time I'veplayed. Now, Oakmont's the polar opposite,
right, like, you know,like complete opposite. But yeah,
PV's great. I mean, GolfMills Man, what a great little track,
you know. I mean, I'lleven give nineteen twelve shout out.

(23:30):
I mean I enjoyed it when Iplayed with you guys, and when Colin
and I came up, and youknow, I remember that and you know,
thinking to myself and knowing Gene andlike the work they're doing there and
following it online, like I'm sureit's great. I mean, there's so
many great little fun tracks over Brook, fun little track to you know,
load up a cooler and go bumpit around, and you know there's just

(23:52):
uh now, I feel bad ifI'm missing someone, But you know,
I haven't gotten to play Ironomic yet, so I would like to play there.
Of course, Mary and I've beenable to play a few times.
And of course the history and traditionthere just speaks for itself as soon as
you walk in that clubhouse. Weappreciate you bringing up some courses that people
can actually get on, because weget that a lot like, yeah,
you talked about these courses. Wecan't get on those. It's like,

(24:14):
yeah, I'm happy that you broughtup some that everyone can play. Well,
look, I'm a golfer. Yeahthat's what I do. I mean,
you know, I have a greatfriend at White Marsh and I go
and play there quite a bit.I mean, you're on landscaping and I
go there quite a bit. AndI know Darren Well, Darren Ferrar there
and like that's a great fun littleGeorge Thomas, right like, there's so
many great, good old architecture inPhilly that you know, yes, it

(24:37):
may not have the name, andI think I remember the reference in last
week's or a couple of weeks ago, you know, two of the top
five or top ten or in Philly, and I would consider pev in Philly
for the record, you know,so like you can't just stop there though,
right like, and honestly I evenput us in Philly. I mean

(25:00):
we're forty five minutes to an houraway. Part of the gap. That's
what I said, if you're partof the gap in the Philly area course,
that's what we say on this podcast. You know, it's funny,
like when I first started here.I used to get so like just agitated
because I was always here. Wellif you picked elsc up and you moved
it thirty miles east, you know, it would be a whole different realm.

(25:22):
Well you know what, I thinka couple of weeks ago, we
proved everybody wrong with that one.So yeah, I mean, just so
many great courses around there that it'stoo many to mention. I mean,
Philly. I saw another thing onInstagram that maybe you guys saw. It
was like a reel where someone wasreferencing, like, what's the best metropolitan
area for golf in Philly? AndI'm thinking to myself, You're right,

(25:45):
dude, you pegged it. Imean New York metropolitan area. That's the
tradition. That's like you know Wingfootand you know Beth Page and Shinnakok and
like you think of these big grandold money right, Pittsburgh's market is tough,
it's fast, it's speed, it'stough memberships, but a lot of

(26:07):
fun. Because to me still tothis day, and I hope my membership
doesn't hold this against me. Ithink pure POA putting surfaces are the absolute
best puttying surfaces to play on.So that that's a bigger treating thing with
Philly, and then you like yougo to Chicago, which Golf Club,
and you know Madna and like justso many great places. But I think,

(26:29):
top to bottom, top to bottom, in my thirty five years of
playing golf and twenty five plus yearsof being in the industry, it's hard,
it's hard pressed to beat Philly.I really do wldheartedly believe that.
Well, we were talking about I'ma Pittsburgh fan, so we can get
on that conversation. But well wewere talking about tree removal and some things

(26:53):
before we started recording. But inyour opinion, what is the biggest challenge
for a golf course superintendent in thisarea of the country right now? The
membership? Yeah, I mean Iwould say tree. Honestly, Harry,

(27:15):
I would say still say tree removal. I mean, I think, you
know, the evolution of golf,especially for those that really truly appreciate it.
You know that late fifties to sixtiesperiod when they were planting all the
trees, right, to me,that just really changed great old classic architecture.

(27:37):
It hid a lot of great oldclassic architecture. So what happened is
then corridors became narrow, right becausetrees started to grow, you know,
things became more narrow than single lineirrigation that's all you had. Right,
So I think, to me,continue to expand on tree removal and kind

(28:03):
of get back to the roots ofwhat all these great old golf courses that
were, you know, the nineteenhundreds to nineteen thirties in our area built.
Right, it's showing the topography sitelines as far as you can see.
You know, when I started here, you could only see about five
holes from the clubhouse. You know, granted there was a huge pool behind

(28:26):
us, which is now gone,but you can only see five six holes.
Now you can see fourteen to fifteenof them, right, And like
the scene that that created not onlyon a normal Saturday and Sunday, but
during the Women's Open was pretty special. So yeah, I would say tree
removal. You know. The otherchallenge I think, and this may just

(28:51):
be my personal preference, is it'sstaying true to the original intent of the
golf course of the architect, right, Like we get our role. I
always say this to a lot ofpeople. You know, as a golf
course superintendent, we're kind of anartist. We're definitely a scientist, but
most important we're a businessman. Butmost importantly we're public relations in HR right,

(29:18):
Like, and when you're embarking ona renovation or you're embarking on staying
current, like there's there tends tobe way too many agendas, you know
what I mean, Like we shoulddo this, we should do that.
But how a club got its notorietyis its tradition, is its history.

(29:41):
So I think, you know,outside of tree removal, Harry, I
would say, you know, thebiggest challenge is is keeping that integrityating true
to that, right, Yeah,And maybe it's it's modern you know,
maybe it's how the game has changedand how technology has changed the game.
And I get that, you know, you know, I grew up in
the I referenced it earlier. Andit's like, how long can we make

(30:03):
a golf course? You know,how where are we going to stop?
It's seventy six hundred the max.It's seventy eight hundred a max. If
you keep doing that, you're goingto lose sight of all of these great
golf courses, the Lancasters of theworld, the Marions of the world.
You know that can have a lotof teeth at sixty eight hundred or sixty
nine hundred, you know, alot of beef. So oh yeah,

(30:26):
yeah, all right, we listen. We don't want to keep it.
We'll get you out of here onthis. But we know you have a
big week, uh more pressure theWomen's US Open or a member guest the
week for you and your team,probably this member guest. You know,
that was funny. I was drivingaround this morning thinking myself, Man,
a month ago, we were youknow, a day from we were Wednesday,

(30:47):
you know, we were Wednesday beforethe first round. But honestly,
guys, uh, the Women's Openwas was was pretty special and we were
firing all cylinders and you know,it's I take a few things away from
that week. And A was Mondaymorning when all the volunteers got here and

(31:07):
I was sitting in eighteen fair awayat about four ten, and I tell
you, I haven't cried that hard, probably since my dad passed away.
It was just such a sense ofrelief knowing that so many people were here
and that it was starting, itwas beginning, and having my mom there
the entire week, you know.Tuesday afternoon, the USGA said, let's

(31:30):
not change a thing. We're perfectwe didn't mow greens at night from Tuesday
on through the rest of the championshipweek. Wow. And you know,
so the pressure was on me formy staff and for our community membership and
for our community. So yeah,no, I mean that's a tough one.

(31:52):
It's a good that's a good question. I think equally both because I
always want to represent this club thebest I can. So right now my
focus is on on our member guests, which you know starts tomorrow, and
you know we'll put on the bestchampionship we can. It's been a long
month in this region, very dry, very hot. We haven't had chance

(32:12):
for recovery at all. But we'regreat inside the ropes. So but the
funny thing now is I get towatch people hit it outside the rope.
Worry about that a month ago.So yeah, no, it's you know,
I think when you surround yourself withgood people, pressure doesn't really happen.

(32:32):
Yeah. Absolutely. Is the buildout still visible? Are they still
taking stuff down and out of there? No? They finished up late last
week. I'm still I'm still pickingup there what they left behind, trust
me. But yeah, I knowit's there. It's just you know,
look, and I get asked thisdaily. We're just not at a point
right now where we should see itoutside the ropes or saw it anything.

(32:55):
You know, it's just with theway this weather pattern is, we need
a little time. And my membership'son board with that. They understand.
You know, we get compensated fromthe USGA obviously for restoration, and we
only get one check from them,so I don't want to jump the gun
and not utilize that the best waypossible. So we'll get going on all

(33:15):
that mid late August. But youknow we'll be good to go. Awesome,
Well, listen, we appreciate yourtime. Congratulations again, incredible accomplishment
out there. Was awesome to seeit. Awesome to see you know,
you've received the EJ. Marshall platter. It was so cool to see that
on social media, set on TV. And we'm excited to get up there

(33:37):
at some point, right we gotto get up there, Harry, No,
that's exactly what I was gonna say. It's been too long, guys.
I know, my focus shifted towardsthe open and I enjoyed it.
I mean, we can even getColin involved and have a little rubber match
back down a little home away backdown here. So absolutely. Yeah.
Well let's keep in touch and youguys take care, thank you, thank
you. Let's take a quick breakand we will be right back. All

(34:00):
right, Welcome back to swing Itand Ding It. Great to talk to
Josh Saunders. He's seen he's seena little something or two in the game
of golfer. Yeah, a coupleof things. Just the the places that
he has played, it's just amazing. And you talk about, you know,
building a resume. I mean,what better way to start that than
in turning down at Augusta National.I mean, my goodness, you know,

(34:22):
Kinlock and then Longview and now Lancasterand that's that's quite a resume.
Yeah. Yeah, well we gotto get that on the on the calendar.
We got the Union League on thecalendar right now, we need to
get that. It's the summer ofus hare, right, It's time.
It's time to start cashing in onsome of these offers. Yeah. I've
lived fifty eight years. For everybodyelse. From now on, it's all
about us, Okay, I likeI like it. The Travelers Championship Hare,

(34:47):
Yeah, Scotti Scheffler, he uh, he won another signature event.
It's a la golf. He alreadyhad the all time earnings record on the
PGA Tour before this. Right nowhe's over. He's at like only eight
million dollars for his six win ofthe year goes five under sixty five or
a twenty two under. Tiger hadsix in nine total, right I think

(35:12):
it was, and then Scotty alsothirteen. But yes, he's got four
centure events, the Masters and thePlayers. Yeah, it's funny. I
saw interesting is that it's like,uh, you know, would you would
you consider Ricky Fower Vowler a Hallof fame golfer close to Okay, I
would close, right if he hasto win, But Scotty already has his
basically has his career already with thenumber of wins and but with you know,

(35:37):
obviously in the year, Ricky Ithink only has six in his career.
Not only it's that's still a greatcareer to me, it's not hall
of fame, but in this year, yeah, in one year, including
majors, I mean, it's justit's unbelievable. And he's not done.
Now. He's got the Open Championshipcoming up, He's got the Olympics,
and then he'll have the playoffs sohe's not done. Yeah, yeah,

(35:59):
it was obviously the the ending ofthe tournament was was what everyone was talking
about just on the course, butthe off the course activities. But you
know Tom Kim, who It's funny. I'm watching it and you know,
he tie if everything happens, hesinks that birdie putt to tie it,
and you know, big fist pump, and I'm wondering, like, how
long between that fist pump to thinkingI gotta play Scotty Scheveler in a playoff

(36:22):
now against that guy? Right right? Yeah, I mean he executed an
incredible wedge shot, you know,put it close and made the putt,
and then you're thinking, that's exactlywhat I wanted. I wanted a more
drama. I wanted, you know, forget about the protesters and all that
stuff, but I wanted to seea couple of playoff holes. Now we

(36:42):
only saw one because Tom Kim thewind died on him. He had a
helping wind and it was factoring thatin. I thought that was fascinating.
He and his caddy going back andforth about the yardage and you know,
wind help and all this kind ofstuff, and he hits another another wedge
and the wind died and he comesup short in that bunker and that's the
Jordan spief bunker where he hold out. So I'm thinking, maybe we're going

(37:05):
to see another hole out. Itwas not to be. They moved the
pin position because of the you know, some of the traffic that they had
during that stupid interruption, and youknow, did that change things? I
think it made a little bit harderof a shot maybe, you know,
I don't know, but uh,you know, we saw one playoff hole
and and the best player won.So I thought Tom Kim was very gracious.

(37:25):
He played great. Now he's anotherguy, you know, maybe a
lot of people will be pointing tothis week because he is playing in Detroit
and he is the favorite in Detroit. So you know, it's good to
see, you know, him comeback because he had that great beginning couple
of wins the President's Cup and thenhe kind of fell off a little bit,
you know, where he was maybeexpectation, you know, maybe he's

(37:49):
trying to tweak something. I don'tknow, but he seems to be back,
so that's good. Oh yeah,yeah, So he had Scheffler and
Kim obviously at the top. HOGIwho had a surge and tied son Jay
for and then in fifth you hadAkha j T can't lay and feenale Jt
has been like hanging around the leaderboard, know, you know, not making
a ton of noise, but likehe's hanging around Harmon Young and yeah,

(38:12):
they kind of finished out obviously,Cam Cam Young with the fifty nine on
fifty nine, yeah, yeah,yeah, yeah. What'd you think about
the because you know they talk aboutthis one of the easier courses. What'd
you think about the weekend watching it? Well? I like, I like
the golf course. The back ninelooks like a whole lot of fun to
play like that. That's one ofthese places where they play where I'd be
like, you know, I thinkI could have fun there. Uh So

(38:34):
I enjoy that. I love drivablepar fours, especially when you can work
it into the finish of your yourgolf course. That provides great risk reward
and drama. And you saw someguys going in the water there, some
guys, uh you know, makingmaking birdies and eagles. And you know
the par five although there are onlytwo of them, you know, the
one on thirteen is very reachable,which makes for a lot of eagle opportunities,

(38:58):
and you know, it's just ajust like a whole lot of fun.
We got the water on six youknow, fifteen, sixteen, and
seventeen that is that is very prevalentthere. And then the eighteenth hole with
that amphitheaters you know, provides.Now, we wouldn't be an amphitheater of
you and I were playing there.It would be just a hill, a
grass hill. But still it justit just looks like a whole lot of
fun to play. So I likethat. I like that tournament. It's

(39:20):
always very well attended. Yeah,so yeah, yeah, they say it's
a very great hospitality. It's alot, you know, a lot going
on out there. So great wayto wrap up this the signature golf season.
Yeah, did you watch any livegolf? I didn't catch much of
it. Now. I was flippingaround a little bit because I wanted to
see that they had some weather delaysand stuff there too, right they did,

(39:42):
Yeah they did. Yeah, anduh, you know, Hatton ends
up winning it going away, andhe was a lot of fun. You
know, he's cursing at the wind. I mean he was. He was
on full blast on the microphone forthe final two days. Because that's all
that they televised. Now, youknow, they don't even televise the first
round of that tournament on the CW. You can only get rounds two and

(40:07):
three Saturday Sunday. But I justlike to look at the golf course because
it's the place that that I knowis pretty good in the Nashville area,
the Grove. And then I want, you know, I just wanted to
see Bryson again, and I wantedto see rom and ram Is. Of
course, you know, he's yellingat drone whenever he hits a bad shot,

(40:28):
and this was when he was onthe PGA tour to a bad putt
or something a misread. It's alwayshe's looking at the gallery or it's always
somebody else's fault. I'm telling him, you know, three or three hundred
and fifty million or whatever he gothas not changed that. He's still true
to himself. Keep the drones.Wow. Wow, speaking of running hot,

(40:52):
Harry, you angered some of theRory fans last week with your comments
I did. I just want youto know that, yeah, you know,
you know they might just supported you, but the really fans, I'd
actually like to read some of them. If you don't mind, no,
go ahead. There were some goodones. Go ahead. Yeah. My
favorite was dude, you're not themedia. You're a guy who bought a
microphone at radio shack goes that right, No, I didn't. Actually,

(41:16):
this is a Yetti microphone. Ibought this on Amazon, I believe,
or no, maybe a best buy. Maybe it was a best Okay,
how about sad commentary the guy wascrushed. I don't really understand that one.
YEAHR was crushing Okay, all right, Well I just thought he showed
a lack of class. Yeah,because he didn't even he didn't congratulate the

(41:39):
winner. I mean, you know, just show some class. You don't
have to say much, uh oneof you know, one or two questions
and then go yeah. Apparently peoplefeel like you've had to have, you
know, played for a major championshipto be able to talk about it.
Okay, Yeah, I love thatvoice of a guy who's never been competitive
enough at anything for it to matterthat much. Oh yeah, he really

(42:01):
angered some. I love it.Look, I did this for thirteen years
in Philadelphia sports radio. I couldn'tcare less. Yeah, well's right off
the back. But I mean,listen, we appreciate the comments. We
appreciate the follows to continue to uhto speak about the game and uh and
everything about it. But fun.If you get a chance to go to

(42:22):
our Instagram page and read some ofthe comments, absolutely absolutely tremendous. Oh
man, Rory fans, maybe maybea little bit like Rory Button a little
bit. Yeah he look, maybehe wins the Open Championship and then he
can give a nice long interview andshow off his watch and everybody. He's
right there, man, Yeah,he's right there. I mean I think

(42:44):
he's closer than farther away. Iagree. You know, I would just
like to show a little uh,you know, class and in defeat as
well as factory. That's all we'reit's all we're asking for. What's it?
Yeah? How's the golf game?Hair? I'm I'm excited. So
I'm getting out with the Comcast businessguys today, getting out a couple times
this week, which I'm excited aboutbecause I've had a little break since stea
Green Valley member guest. I likethat. Yeah, you're getting powers out

(43:07):
on the golf course too, Iunderstand. So that's gonna be. I
can't wait to hear about that.Well, we talked about getting sort of
stuck on the right side, youknow, not getting to my front side
as much as I wanted to.I've not had that much of an issue
with that of late, So thingsare getting better there with you know,
some of the work that I've beendoing. And I started something else.

(43:27):
My wife actually saw this on anInstagram where you're chipping with a metronome.
So immediately I download a metronome apponto my iPhone and I go out to
the short game area the next dayand I put the phone in my back
pocket that the video was Kevin Kissnershowing somebody I forget who it was,
shipping with a metronome and he laidthe phone down on to the to the

(43:52):
short gamer and I'm like, well, I can't do that. It's too
hot the phone, will you know, get too hot and it'll shut off.
So I stuck at my back pocketand my shorts and I'm hearing this.
You know, I've said it atsixty seven or whatever Kidsin's said to
do, and I'll be darn ifit doesn't work. Wow, it's amazing.
You don't put anything else in myhead. It's awesome. And then

(44:14):
and then for the full swing,you knock it down to about forty five
beats per minute sixty seven for chipping. I took the sixty seven down to
sixty because I like it a littlebit slower. But man, you just
on the take of what you takeit away on the beat and then you
hit it on the beat, andit really like you start adjusting, like

(44:34):
your brain adjusts where you're not quick, you're not too slow, it's you're
on the beat and it really I'mtelling you, I clicked some of the
best chips I've ever done in practicewith this stupid metronome. So I think
that's going to be a part ofmy practice. Are Arsenal and I did
some indoor simulator work over at thePenn Club on second in Concha Hocken.

(44:58):
I'm starting to really become comfortable becauseI was very uncomfortable indoors. We talked
about this. Yeah, a longtime, I felt claustrophobic. I've gotten
over that, Okay, I've gottenover that. I'm really enjoying it.
So that's with these really hot days, it's impossible to go to the range
and beat balls. You know,it's just too freaking hot. So if

(45:19):
you have access to an indoor doit. Yeah, yeah, you have
to just adjust. It's a littlebit of a difference, right it is.
But I know the ball, youknow, my issues sometimes are like
you know, with not taking adivot or when I miss taking too much.
See you miss that a little bitright with the contact of the ball
against the ground. But yeah,I still have to build moose Ali golf

(45:39):
club in my in my garage.Oh that'd be great. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. You just can't get toocaught up in the numbers because we're
never going to be able to takethe ball the way near close to where
these guys are. So I don'tget really caught up in you know,
in club head speeds, ball speedsand all that nonsense. I just you
know, but it's helping because itreally is a great way to figure out

(45:59):
how far you carry your clubs.That's that's the real benefit of it.
You want to know, if you'vegot to go over a bunker and you've
got a you know, a seventyfive yard shot, am I going to
be able to get my fifty eightdegree to the green over that bunker?
Or do I have to go tothe fifty four to make sure I carry
the bunker like that kind of stuffis really good. It's really good for

(46:20):
it. Yeah, well I gottaI gotta figure it out quick. I
have a lot of golf coming up. Yeah, you do. I have
a lot of golf coming up.I thought you were going to invite Josh
out to Pebble because he said,I can't believe he hasn't played Pebble Beach.
But you're playing there in a coupleof weeks. I am over eleven
days, I'm playing Galloway, Spyglass, the Hey, Pebble Beach, and
then Trump Coltsneck can do process Wowover an eleven day span. So you're

(46:45):
going Spyglass too. Oh that's awesome. Yeah, staying there with the the
iHeart trip. But uh yeah,I need to figure the game out there.
You know, I want to play, Okay, I don't. I
don't. I'm past right now playinggreat. I just want to play.
I just want to be respectable.Sorry, we got to figure it out
here. We gotta figure it out. And the Great Sean Palmer has invited

(47:05):
us out to play Toursdale. Soexcited to see the landing and play Toursdale,
which will be exciting very much.Today we get ever closer to the
Fox Sports the Gambler Swing It andDing It open benefiting the Magical Meala Foundation.
Uh. So much has been confirmedfor that. A lot of our
great sponsors back from last year,including Rita's. Make sure you head out
to Ritas to try the new koolAid Tropical Punch ice. Oh yeah,

(47:30):
try it in a five layer jilattieor an ice blender drinks. Ice blender
drink available only for a limit oftime, So get to read as quick,
be cool, go to Rita's.A lot going on for that.
Hair really excited for the outing.Now we just wait a great day and
and we will be there. Yeah, you're gonna get introduced to the great
Joe Clark to who will be playingin my foursome because my one buddy Scott

(47:54):
Duke is actually getting his hip replaced, so he's out, so we replaced
him with Joe Clark, who's actuallyplayed Cyprus Point Augusta National, uh you
know all the ones over in Europetoo. He's been all around the world
playing golf. This guy is areally interesting cat. Nice nice, that's
awesome. That's awesome. Rocket MortgageDetroit. Yeah, sick. Sixth year

(48:19):
only have twelve of the top fifty. Uh Ricky the winter last year offending
yep, Cam Young, akshay Zal, tourist Tom kim minmood Lee. So
I always like, I don't know, I maybe just the time of the
year, right, the the NHLplayoffs or over the NBA is over right,
it's Phillies or golf. And Ialways remember like taking in a good

(48:39):
amount of this. It's not aholiday weekend, right, It's like it's
like an off weekend that sits ina good spot to watch it. But
let's talk about the course of course, because this is a great Donald Ross
the Detroit Golf Club. Yeah,it's also my birthday weekend and I turned
fifty nine on Saturday, so I'llyou know, I'll be next year.
And the Phillies have the Marlins andthat I think this weekend and that is

(49:00):
one of the least favorite opponents onthe Phillies scheduled to Nothing excites me about
watching the Phillies play to Marlins.But anyway, Yeah, Detroit Golf Club
of Donald Ross Classic from nineteen fourteen. They use a composite layout for this
because there's there's obviously two courses andthey use seventeen holes from the North course
and one hole from the South course, which is hole one from the south

(49:22):
which actually serves as the third holeof the golf course. So you know,
we'll be giving a quiz later on. Eighty seven bunkers five and fifty
is the average square footage of thegreens, so they're not small, but
they're not as large as they typicallyget on PGA tour courses. Par seventy
two three hundred and seventy yards,very flat. In fact, it plays

(49:45):
is like the flattest golf course thatthese guys will play all year long,
so really virtually no elevation changes.And Tyler Ray, architect from the area
here Philadelphia and Wilmington, is actuallydoing a renovation at this golf course.
He goes around and does all theDonald Ross renovations and he's going to be

(50:06):
doing this one in twenty twenty five, so this will be getting spruced up.
They've got the area three to onethree, which is a big part
of what they do charity wise upthere with Rocket Mortgage where they have three
holes, the fourteenth hole, thefifteenth hole in the sixteenth hole figure into
a big donation. Now it's prettyhard to do because you've got to make

(50:27):
an eagle on the par five fourteenthhole, okay or yeah, an eagle.
You've got to get a three there. Then you go to the par
three fifteenth and you got to geta hole in one. That's the one
in the three one three, andthen the sixteenth hole is a par four,
not a very difficult par for it. You got to make a birdie.
That's probably the easiest thing to do. There'll be a lot of eagles

(50:50):
on fourteen, but you also gotto make a hole in one, and
then then they donate three hundred andthirteen thousand dollars to local charity. So
that's you're going to see a lotof that played up this weekend. The
fourteenth hole par five, five pointfifty five, really generous fairways, only
one bunker on the right. Theapproach, you got to deal with the
pond short and left, which isthe only water hazard I believe on the

(51:10):
golf course, and bunker's right,very reachable, plenty of eagle looks.
Fifteenth pole, par three, it'sonly one hundred and sixty some odd yards
to one of those Donald Ross crownedputting surfaces with bunkers all around it.
You have large galleries. There alot of energy at this part of the
golf course. The sixteenth hole,they start going back down the other way.
Par four four hundred and forty six. Two bunkers to the right and

(51:35):
one to the left that pinched thefairway at the landing area, but otherwise
not a very difficult hole for theseguys. Seventeenth they start coming back up
different direction. Par five, anotherreachable one, five hundred and seventy seven
yards. The bunkers are the estheticsare only for tour players because they're going
to just bomb it right over thosethose fairway bunkers. And the eighteenth hole,

(51:58):
which is kind of iconic because it'sgot this like ditch that runs along
the fairway and sort of divides thefairway up close towards the green and it
becomes actually part of the border ofthe green. It's like a ditch that'll
be dry at this time of yearbecause they're not getting much rain up there
either. But it's kind of iconic, you know. It's it's it's kind

(52:19):
of a not the most esthetically pleasinggolf course because it's still in the city
kind of, but you know,it's a classic old one, which will
probably look a whole lot better afterTyler Ray gets done with it in a
couple of years. But it isDonald Ross and Ricky's defending. Are the
Ricky fans going to come after melike the Rory fans when I said he's
not a Hall of Famer? Theymight? They might, Yeah, they

(52:40):
might, they might. He's gotsome more work to do. But so
you talk about Ricky, he wantedit at sixteen hundred and twenty three feet
now won it in twenty two attwelve hundred. Cam Davis was the long
shot, he was ten thousand,and then Bryson won this Bryson h twenty
twenty at nine hundred. You know, so when we when we see the
line with our friends at DraftKings Sportsbookhitting the links this weekend, the pros

(53:04):
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(53:25):
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(54:37):
terms and responsible gaming resources. So, guy, how you go? First?
Tell me who you like? Igotta call. Actually, i'd like
a couple guys a lot in thistournament. Yeah, lots jumping out at
you when you when you saw thatboard. Huh. Well, before I
get before I get to the picks, I gotta let you know. Miles
Russell, the fifteen year old isteeing it up in the Rocket Mortgage.

(54:59):
Remember us talking about this guy acouple of weeks months ago when he finished
top twenty in the Cornferry event backin April. Well, he's getting his
opportunity now to take it up againstthe PGA Tour player. So that's cool.
Hopefully he'll make the cut. AndNick Binns, I don't know if
you saw this Monday qualifier. Heshot seven under sixty five in the Monday

(55:22):
Q and was waiting around to seebecause he thought he was going to be
in a playoff, and he's nervousas hell, and he whacked three beers
after he finished his round, andsure enough he was in a playoff.
It was a five man for fourspot playoff and it took him to the
eighth playoff hole when he made abirdie for him to qualify. So he's

(55:44):
in it, and he's just talkingto the Monday Q guy, you know,
sitting there drinking his second beer ofthree to calm his nerves down.
So you shoot sixty five and you'renervous, Like, think about how good
this guy is. He works atGolf Galaxy. Yeah, I believe in
the Indianapolis area, you know,to fund his his golf. And I

(56:05):
couldn't root harder for this guy tomake the cut. Oh yeah, how
cool was that? Someone else Iknow I'm gonna be rooting for. Is
that Neil Shipley, Oh right,making his debut. That's right, thirty
thousand to one number if you wantto take a little shot on the on
the young fella from the Pittsburgh area. Yeah, so some good stories in
this one, for sure, Yeah, there really are. I'm gonna I'm
gonna go with Aaron Rye as myone and done, so I probably just

(56:28):
cursed the man with two gloves.But I also like him in the top
twenty at plus one fifty. Ilike Steven Jaeger in a top twenty at
plus one forty. I think hecould compete to win it. And your
boy ev R I'm taking in amatchup at minus one twenty over former champ
Cam Davis. And I'm taking HubbsHubbard minus one thirty over Thorbjorn Olison in

(56:52):
a matchup. So those are acouple of plays. I do have a
play or not a play, ButI got to bring up some other things
about some of the other tournaments goingon. But I want, I want
to hear your picks first. Yeah, I actually took Jeger in my one
and done. He has er intwenty two. He has a T nine
here last year at twenty five hundrednumber on DraftKings. Some of the other

(57:12):
guy mimmoo Lee and Maverick, butyou know the twenty twenty eight hundred respectively.
But Pendrith T two here in twentytwo, T fourteen and twenty three
at twenty five hundred. But theguy I love with the biggest. Number
two is Matt Wallace T twelve andtwenty T ten and twenty twenty two.
You can get him at six thousanddollars and he's been you know, he's
been earlier in the year. SoI really like like Matt Wallace this week

(57:35):
very nice. Now there is aUS Senior Open going on this week.
Infect our buddy Mike Dinda is upin Newport, Rhode Island right now.
It's helping out with Mike Brown fromLulu Country Club, who qualified, and
of course he's rocking the Mikefield putter. But he's up there getting ready to
go, and I texted with himthe other night. He's very fired up,

(57:55):
considers himself very fortunate and a luckyto be involved in this, but
hopefully he'll make the cut. Interestingstarter, a guy making his first start.
Lee Westwood is in the field.He's actually the third favorite, and
this is his first Champions Tour event, I believe, since he's eclipsed the

(58:17):
age of fifty. He's plus sevenhundred behind Richard Bland, who's the favorite.
Believe it or not. He's fromLive Tour at plus five hundred.
And then you get Steve Stricker wedgedin between Key and Westwood, so kind
of an interesting field. I wantto watch this because the golf course I've
been told as spectacular, some ofthe great views of the you know,

(58:37):
the ocean there at Newport, it'sa really cool spot. But we're all
rooting for Mike Brown to make thecut. Absolute We're gonna do something here
soon, hopefully after talking about kickingsome butt up there for sure. Talking
about GoF travel, don't forget ourpartners, all Access GT. There is
a link in our Instagram bio witha special portal that will take you to

(58:58):
some great options, some great dealunlocked the golf experiences you've always dreamed of.
With All Access GT. The onlyway to travel in the world of
golf is through those guys. Andwe inch ever closer to the Open.
I was taking a look at theodds. We'll take a look at that
next week, a little bit ofan advanced preview. It's it's who you
would think and where you would thinkthey should be right now. But yeah,

(59:21):
looking forward to getting out there playingsome golf. Don't mind the heat.
Had enough rain and cold that Idon't mind the heat at all.
So and thanks again, to JoshSaunders, director of grounds at Lancaster Country
Club. We'll be back. Whereto the sunscreen? Make sure ours has
sunscreen on. I'm gonna lather himup right now, as soon as we
get off the h That's why he'shere, right. You can't do it

(59:44):
by himself. I have a supersoaker out back, all right. Get
out there and swing it and digit. Yeah, but listen, swing
it and ding it.