July 16, 2025 • 9 mins
"Mr. Golf" Ray Hustek looks at a very tough course, Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, and who can navigate it the best to take hoe the trophy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is kind of the culmination, and I don't know why. Honestly,
maybe that should be the forget about what you should
call it. Should should it be the end already, because
summer is just in full swing right now. Mister golf
ree Husting joining me on the Legacy Retirement Group dot
com full lines. Good morning, Ray, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm good, Good morning, I'm great. Thank you very much.
This is always a fun week. I got up this
morning at two o'clock to start watching the Open, but
of course it's not till tomorrow morning early, you know,
I miss that. But it's not the end of the season.
It's just the last major. We still have all the
playoffs and all these other things coming up. And we're
in Irish Links, which is if you don't like unpredictable bounces, that,
(00:39):
if you don't like a lot of wind and rain
and sleep and hail and bright sunshine, this is not
the week for you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, that's what Campy was saying off the air. I
guess this course is very, very challenging. And what were
you talking about, Campia As far as the attack with the.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, I can do unpredictable bounces all by myself in
the regular golf course. But if I'm not mistake and
Ray Shane Lowry who's an irishman, he won this back
in twenty nineteen, but the weather was an absolute mess,
as is common with some of the Open Championships. But
you know, iron play has got to be a big
factor in this, right. Does it hurt more than help
(01:16):
those that try to overpower a links golf course like this?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah? And really you're spot on. You have to hit
the ball on the sweet spot more often if you're
playing in a lot of wind, because you needed the
ball to hold the line, and if you are hitting
it off center, it's very difficult to do that. A
lot of guys get over there and kind of they
try to fight the wind the first time they're playing
Links golf instead of working with the wind. I mean,
(01:42):
the guy says, I'm one hundred and fifty yards out.
As a tour player, I can't imagine I really have
to hit a five iron here to this green that
I normally, you know, normally hit a five round two
hundred and twenty yards and with the wind is howling
in my face and I don't want the ball to
get up in that and have it come back to
me like a boomerang. But they can't get over trying
(02:02):
to overpower the wind or fight the wind or argue
with it. It's just a matter of using what's in
front of you playing with it. If you got to
hit a three arned from one hundred yards or putt
from fifty yards away, go ahead. That's part of the game,
and that's part of the excitement and the unpredictability and
the creativity.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
This is.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
This is a golf course, like all the Links courses
are that you could not design a computer to go
out and play it. I mean, we can build a
computer that could play a lot of the American golf courses.
You aim it here, you hit it three hundred yards
in the air, it hits there and stops. Then you
hit it one hundred and sixty two yards and it
sits right by the hole, and then you make the putt.
That's not Links golf. Links golf is messy, it's unpredictable.
(02:41):
There's a lot more to worry about after the ball
hits the ground than there is while it's in the air.
We play an aerial game here and most of the
you know, the parkland style courses that we play on
tour in the US.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I want to thank you for what you just said, because,
quite frankly, that's something, as you know, a novice layman
person when it comes to golf, I've really never understood
the difference between an American golf course and what's referred
to as the links, how they differ. And you kind
of put a spin on that that I've not heard before.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well, and Link's golf too, is something that the ground
is so firm, the ball bounces and it rolls like
it's like a rabbit running away from you. It just
hits and bounces and runs and goes sideways.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And the way the.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Bunkers are placed on a lot of these holes, especially
on Irish links courses, is that they're in the low
spots anyway, so the balls tend to want to find
the bunkers. Well, these bunkers are deep, they're little, those
little pot shaped, very tiny little buckers, you know, that
are the size of your diningham table. There are things
that you're like, man, I don't want to get up
against the lip. And that's why you see all those
(03:46):
famous pictures of professional golfers hitting shot sideways or putting
the ball from the bunker lip back to the middle
of the bunker just to try to have a shot out.
It's fun to watch. It's messy for the players, of course,
and some of them embrace the challenge and love the
challenge and the creativity that's required, and others just they
fight it and they're the ones that end up at
(04:08):
the you know, missing the cut and leaving Friday night ray.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
These these courses, because they're linked, you have, you know,
those shared greens, which are interesting. I always wanted to ask,
as I was intrigued by this from a rule standpoint,
can somebody these golfers more or less I don't want
to say cheat is probably the wrong word, but are
there moments or holes where you can actually go down
almost a different fairway to get a better angle in
(04:33):
the green and not be breaking any rules by doing that?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Absolutely? The downside is if you don't get it past
all the heather, gorse, bushes and salad bars between the fairways,
then you risk being in that stuff and either losing
the ball or you or climbing in there and trying
to you know, hack something out. There are certainly places
the old course of Saint Andrew's obviously with all the
(04:58):
double greens where there really isn't rough. There's either you know,
it's mostly fair way and if you're way offline, you're
either out in the old town, the old Gray Town,
or you're in some of those nasty bushes. Port Rush
is something that's not quite as parallel holes running back
and forth against each other, although there's quite a lot
(05:18):
of that, but not as much as the old course
as we're used to seeing on the Scottish Lenks courses.
But this golf course is beautiful. It's spectacular look at.
It's got some amazing views of the water of course,
as lengths courses do because they're the lynks Land and
it's something that the players, I think most of them,
after they played a few times, really come to love it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Let me ask you, this is by the way, Ray
Hustik joining us right now, mister Golf on the Legacy
Retirement Group dot com phone lines. The Open begins tomorrow
morning in North Ireland. And is it possible, is it
feasible or is it just stupid to ask? Could you
be an incredible American golf champion and absolutely suck at
this type of the links course? Is it? Is it
(06:01):
so different? That it's two different worlds, or can you
make the adjustment usually from one style to the other.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You absolutely could be a great player on parkland courses
and be terrible on links courses. And a lot of
it's the mental part of it, but also, you know,
a lot of it has to do with just the
way you play. If you have mostly stock shots, in
other words, you hit you know, you hit a club
a certain distance, and you're consistent with the trajectory and
the flight pattern, whether it's left or right, right to
(06:28):
left or whatever, and that's how you play. Then you
know you cannot take that game and have no ability
to modify that and go play links golf and play
it well because the weather is going to eat you up. Now,
if you happen to have a calm week next to
the sea at a link style course and you were
able to play that aerial game that you used to,
(06:50):
then then you probably could. But your point is is
very well taken, and it's something a lot of Americans
struggle with. Scottish Eplock taught guest today and his press
commerce about the fact that you know he never played
golf here as an amateur. He never came over across
the pond, so to speak, and played in the links
on the links courses to play in a lot of
the events, and amateurs play and so by the time
(07:10):
they're pro they may have played three or four times
on links courses. Scott he never did that, and so
he hasn't had a great record in the Open. He
was seventh last year, which is his best finish ever
in the you know five or so that he's played.
So it'll be interesting to see how he does. I
think he's learning it, and he's definitely when you when
you're he and talk, he's growing to love it.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
You got a couple guys, Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I was just ask if you guys wanted to fight
over who comes out on top with the smoke clears,
because you know, you know your golfers. I have no idea,
so I was going to culminate with you guys having
a fight over who's going to win.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
There you go, Well.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I guess uh, I'd like the hometown feel with a
couple of the irishmen. Rory McElroy had been rooting for
him all year. He got the you know, the Masters
to finish his Grand Slam, and Shane Lowry's pretty good.
But do you like some other you know, I you
just brought it up. I was gonna say, Scotty Scheffler,
who's captain consistent, may not be that consistent this year.
(08:09):
Do you like other players that are like a Xander
Schoffley perhaps, or do you like Rory and Shane being
near the leaderboard on Sunday?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I think Rory was so embarrassed in twenty nineteen when
he you know, quadrublebogi the first hole, went on to
miss the cut. That was awful. I mean, he grew
up not far away from here, and he loves it
and he wants to play a home game, so to speak.
I mean, this is this is his kind of golf
and his kind of golf course. And I think the
(08:38):
embarrassment of that, plus the fact that now he's been
you know, he got his grand time out of the
way in April and he's kind of been up and
down since and people are asking him what's wrong? Why
didn't you start winning more? What's the pressure?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Like?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I think finally he's just like, I'm over it. Okay,
that's behind me, it's done. Now, let's keep let's go forward.
And yes, this is the Open in Northern Ireland or
my home. I want to win this thing and I
think he'll play much better. But I think there's a
lot of guys that we have to look at. You
mentioned Xander who was a defending champion. I mean he's
(09:09):
coming in here strong. John Rahm badly wants to win
a major and get have people quit asking him about
whether playing on live has hurt his game. You know,
we have our friend Bryson Deshamba who says, you know,
I don't care that they say you can't be a
scientist in calculating and win the Open. I'm going to
go do it. So he's got, you know, something to prove,
so to speak. And you know Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood,
(09:33):
you know British players who would love to win the
Open Championship. This is this is a big deal to
guys who you know, have grown up playing golf in
Europe because it's their kind of golf and it's, so
to speak, it's a home game for them.
This is kind of the culmination, and I don't know why. Honestly,
maybe that should be the forget about what you should
call it. Should should it be the end already, because
summer is just in full swing right now. Mister golf
ree Husting joining me on the Legacy Retirement Group dot
com full lines. Good morning, Ray, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm good, Good morning, I'm great. Thank you very much.
This is always a fun week. I got up this
morning at two o'clock to start watching the Open, but
of course it's not till tomorrow morning early, you know,
I miss that. But it's not the end of the season.
It's just the last major. We still have all the
playoffs and all these other things coming up. And we're
in Irish Links, which is if you don't like unpredictable bounces, that,
(00:39):
if you don't like a lot of wind and rain
and sleep and hail and bright sunshine, this is not
the week for you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Well, that's what Campy was saying off the air. I
guess this course is very, very challenging. And what were
you talking about, Campia As far as the attack with the.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, I can do unpredictable bounces all by myself in
the regular golf course. But if I'm not mistake and
Ray Shane Lowry who's an irishman, he won this back
in twenty nineteen, but the weather was an absolute mess,
as is common with some of the Open Championships. But
you know, iron play has got to be a big
factor in this, right. Does it hurt more than help
(01:16):
those that try to overpower a links golf course like this?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah? And really you're spot on. You have to hit
the ball on the sweet spot more often if you're
playing in a lot of wind, because you needed the
ball to hold the line, and if you are hitting
it off center, it's very difficult to do that. A
lot of guys get over there and kind of they
try to fight the wind the first time they're playing
Links golf instead of working with the wind. I mean,
(01:42):
the guy says, I'm one hundred and fifty yards out.
As a tour player, I can't imagine I really have
to hit a five iron here to this green that
I normally, you know, normally hit a five round two
hundred and twenty yards and with the wind is howling
in my face and I don't want the ball to
get up in that and have it come back to
me like a boomerang. But they can't get over trying
(02:02):
to overpower the wind or fight the wind or argue
with it. It's just a matter of using what's in
front of you playing with it. If you got to
hit a three arned from one hundred yards or putt
from fifty yards away, go ahead. That's part of the game,
and that's part of the excitement and the unpredictability and
the creativity.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
This is.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
This is a golf course, like all the Links courses
are that you could not design a computer to go
out and play it. I mean, we can build a
computer that could play a lot of the American golf courses.
You aim it here, you hit it three hundred yards
in the air, it hits there and stops. Then you
hit it one hundred and sixty two yards and it
sits right by the hole, and then you make the putt.
That's not Links golf. Links golf is messy, it's unpredictable.
(02:41):
There's a lot more to worry about after the ball
hits the ground than there is while it's in the air.
We play an aerial game here and most of the
you know, the parkland style courses that we play on
tour in the US.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I want to thank you for what you just said, because,
quite frankly, that's something, as you know, a novice layman
person when it comes to golf, I've really never understood
the difference between an American golf course and what's referred
to as the links, how they differ. And you kind
of put a spin on that that I've not heard before.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Well, and Link's golf too, is something that the ground
is so firm, the ball bounces and it rolls like
it's like a rabbit running away from you. It just
hits and bounces and runs and goes sideways.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
And the way the.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Bunkers are placed on a lot of these holes, especially
on Irish links courses, is that they're in the low
spots anyway, so the balls tend to want to find
the bunkers. Well, these bunkers are deep, they're little, those
little pot shaped, very tiny little buckers, you know, that
are the size of your diningham table. There are things
that you're like, man, I don't want to get up
against the lip. And that's why you see all those
(03:46):
famous pictures of professional golfers hitting shot sideways or putting
the ball from the bunker lip back to the middle
of the bunker just to try to have a shot out.
It's fun to watch. It's messy for the players, of course,
and some of them embrace the challenge and love the
challenge and the creativity that's required, and others just they
fight it and they're the ones that end up at
(04:08):
the you know, missing the cut and leaving Friday night ray.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
These these courses, because they're linked, you have, you know,
those shared greens, which are interesting. I always wanted to ask,
as I was intrigued by this from a rule standpoint,
can somebody these golfers more or less I don't want
to say cheat is probably the wrong word, but are
there moments or holes where you can actually go down
almost a different fairway to get a better angle in
(04:33):
the green and not be breaking any rules by doing that?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Absolutely? The downside is if you don't get it past
all the heather, gorse, bushes and salad bars between the fairways,
then you risk being in that stuff and either losing
the ball or you or climbing in there and trying
to you know, hack something out. There are certainly places
the old course of Saint Andrew's obviously with all the
(04:58):
double greens where there really isn't rough. There's either you know,
it's mostly fair way and if you're way offline, you're
either out in the old town, the old Gray Town,
or you're in some of those nasty bushes. Port Rush
is something that's not quite as parallel holes running back
and forth against each other, although there's quite a lot
(05:18):
of that, but not as much as the old course
as we're used to seeing on the Scottish Lenks courses.
But this golf course is beautiful. It's spectacular look at.
It's got some amazing views of the water of course,
as lengths courses do because they're the lynks Land and
it's something that the players, I think most of them,
after they played a few times, really come to love it.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Let me ask you, this is by the way, Ray
Hustik joining us right now, mister Golf on the Legacy
Retirement Group dot com phone lines. The Open begins tomorrow
morning in North Ireland. And is it possible, is it
feasible or is it just stupid to ask? Could you
be an incredible American golf champion and absolutely suck at
this type of the links course? Is it? Is it
(06:01):
so different? That it's two different worlds, or can you
make the adjustment usually from one style to the other.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
You absolutely could be a great player on parkland courses
and be terrible on links courses. And a lot of
it's the mental part of it, but also, you know,
a lot of it has to do with just the
way you play. If you have mostly stock shots, in
other words, you hit you know, you hit a club
a certain distance, and you're consistent with the trajectory and
the flight pattern, whether it's left or right, right to
(06:28):
left or whatever, and that's how you play. Then you
know you cannot take that game and have no ability
to modify that and go play links golf and play
it well because the weather is going to eat you up. Now,
if you happen to have a calm week next to
the sea at a link style course and you were
able to play that aerial game that you used to,
(06:50):
then then you probably could. But your point is is
very well taken, and it's something a lot of Americans
struggle with. Scottish Eplock taught guest today and his press
commerce about the fact that you know he never played
golf here as an amateur. He never came over across
the pond, so to speak, and played in the links
on the links courses to play in a lot of
the events, and amateurs play and so by the time
(07:10):
they're pro they may have played three or four times
on links courses. Scott he never did that, and so
he hasn't had a great record in the Open. He
was seventh last year, which is his best finish ever
in the you know five or so that he's played.
So it'll be interesting to see how he does. I
think he's learning it, and he's definitely when you when
you're he and talk, he's growing to love it.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
You got a couple guys, Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I was just ask if you guys wanted to fight
over who comes out on top with the smoke clears,
because you know, you know your golfers. I have no idea,
so I was going to culminate with you guys having
a fight over who's going to win.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
There you go, Well.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I guess uh, I'd like the hometown feel with a
couple of the irishmen. Rory McElroy had been rooting for
him all year. He got the you know, the Masters
to finish his Grand Slam, and Shane Lowry's pretty good.
But do you like some other you know, I you
just brought it up. I was gonna say, Scotty Scheffler,
who's captain consistent, may not be that consistent this year.
(08:09):
Do you like other players that are like a Xander
Schoffley perhaps, or do you like Rory and Shane being
near the leaderboard on Sunday?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well?
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I think Rory was so embarrassed in twenty nineteen when
he you know, quadrublebogi the first hole, went on to
miss the cut. That was awful. I mean, he grew
up not far away from here, and he loves it
and he wants to play a home game, so to speak.
I mean, this is this is his kind of golf
and his kind of golf course. And I think the
(08:38):
embarrassment of that, plus the fact that now he's been
you know, he got his grand time out of the
way in April and he's kind of been up and
down since and people are asking him what's wrong? Why
didn't you start winning more? What's the pressure?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Like?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I think finally he's just like, I'm over it. Okay,
that's behind me, it's done. Now, let's keep let's go forward.
And yes, this is the Open in Northern Ireland or
my home. I want to win this thing and I
think he'll play much better. But I think there's a
lot of guys that we have to look at. You
mentioned Xander who was a defending champion. I mean he's
(09:09):
coming in here strong. John Rahm badly wants to win
a major and get have people quit asking him about
whether playing on live has hurt his game. You know,
we have our friend Bryson Deshamba who says, you know,
I don't care that they say you can't be a
scientist in calculating and win the Open. I'm going to
go do it. So he's got, you know, something to prove,
so to speak. And you know Matt Fitzpatrick and Tommy Fleetwood,
(09:33):
you know British players who would love to win the
Open Championship. This is this is a big deal to
guys who you know, have grown up playing golf in
Europe because it's their kind of golf and it's, so
to speak, it's a home game for them.
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