Shownotes
This was an interview episode of "Grilling at the Green" with PGA professional Kat Garish, who manages Cottage Golf in Beaverton, Oregon. Kat shared her journey from learning golf as a child at a coastal course to becoming a PGA professional and opening her own golf boutique and coaching studio focused on welcoming women into the game. She discussed her business model, which started in a 1,000 square foot space above a brewery and is expanding to a larger ground-floor location with two bays. Kat explained how she's helped hundreds of clients through lessons and clinics, recently hired an assistant pro, and plans to open additional studios in the next two years. The conversation also covered her experiences with gender barriers in golf and how she's creating inclusive spaces for learning the sport
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Birdie Ball
- Cottage Golf
- Weston Kia
- Painted Hills
- Squares Golf Shoes
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores the golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass.
Speaker A:For the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers, here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt Glad to be with you this week again.
Speaker B:I hope you're getting some golf in, depending on what part of the country you're in, but it's getting close out here where we live.
Speaker B:We'd like to thank the folks at Birdie Ball.
Speaker B:John Breaker and his family back there in Evergreen, Colorado have been a supporter of the show almost since we started it years ago.
Speaker B:And if you need an indoor practice putting mat or an outdoor practice putting green and, or if you want to use the little birdie balls to, to hit them, we worked on your swing and stuff, go to birdieball.com well, it's a great pleasure to welcome back somebody we interviewed at the Portland Golf Show, Kat Garish.
Speaker B:Kat is a PGA professional, of course, but she also manages the Golf Cottage in Beaverton, Oregon.
Speaker B:And I'm gonna say it's a golf boutique, but we're gonna let her tell us the story.
Speaker B:Kat, welcome.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Yeah, so Cottage Golf is right in downtown Beaverton and we are a golf boutique.
Speaker C:We're also a golf coaching studio.
Speaker C:So we have trackman Simulator and a retail pro shop and sort of an event space.
Speaker C:And what makes us a little different is that we put women first.
Speaker C:And so we're really designed to welcome more women into the game.
Speaker B:That's kind of how we met at the golf show.
Speaker B:It was Women's Day and you were on the live show there.
Speaker B:And I think it's great.
Speaker B:I've been a big proponent of women engulfed women in anything.
Speaker B:And of course, I would say that because I'm predominantly surrounded by women.
Speaker B:So for self preservation, I say those things.
Speaker B:But how did Kat get started in the golf world?
Speaker B:I mean, you are a PGA pro and there's a lot of stuff that goes along with attaining that credential.
Speaker B:But, you know, when you were 4, did your dad or mom take you out to the golf course?
Speaker B:What happened?
Speaker C:Yeah, well, there's lots of.
Speaker C:We can go way back, so we spend a lot of time at a little beach town called Nescoan.
Speaker C:And in Nescawen, there is a darling nine hole golf course that has been around for a long time.
Speaker C:It was originally nicknamed the Jewel of the Oregon coast.
Speaker C:It was a beautiful golf course.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker C:It gets a little wet these days.
Speaker C:You know, cause the water's coming in and it's a bit of a lake during the wintertime, but during the summertime it's great.
Speaker C:And it's, it's an easy course.
Speaker C:There was no sand on it.
Speaker C:And when I was little, my dad was a sign maker and like a woodworker.
Speaker C:And he did the, he did the golf course signs.
Speaker C:So he did the tee markers and all the signs on the golf course.
Speaker C:And he traded a family membership for like two summers as part of his deal for his payment.
Speaker C:And so when I was probably 10, my brother and I had equal access, open access to the golf course.
Speaker C:So we could go play three holes, we could play five holes, we could play nine holes.
Speaker C:And so it made golf really accessible and approachable to me when I was little.
Speaker C:And there was a whole pack of kids down there that I used to run around with during the summertime and, and a lot of them played golf.
Speaker C:And so we would go spend our afternoons at the Nesquin Golf Course.
Speaker C:And so that's really how I got into it.
Speaker C:My mom and dad both played.
Speaker C:My mom learned on Nescoan Golf Course when she was little.
Speaker C:And this is interesting.
Speaker C:The LPGA used to send their players around on.
Speaker C:I think it was a Wilson Tour, like a Wilson club selling tour.
Speaker C:And so Helen Detwiler, who's one of the greats of.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So my mom took lessons from Helen Detwiler at the Nesco and Golf course in probably the late 50s.
Speaker C:Maybe the.
Speaker C:Yeah, probably the late 50s.
Speaker C:So golf has sort of always been around in our family.
Speaker C:We all play.
Speaker B:Big question there at Neskoin.
Speaker B:Is there any elk hunt on the course?
Speaker C:Because that's more.
Speaker C:That's Gearhart.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, Gearhart and Manzanita.
Speaker B:Yeah, because I've.
Speaker B:I've played at Manzanita.
Speaker B:And you had to just kind of work around the elk, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, so.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker C:There are elk and Neskoin, but it's not as.
Speaker C:Neskwin isn't as much of like a meadow as, as the northern beach towns are.
Speaker C:We're down by like Lincoln City, Pacific City.
Speaker C:They're there.
Speaker C:But you don't see them on the beach and in the sand as much.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're up on Hebo Mountain and stuff down there too.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, if we're boring you, this is a geography lesson in western Oregon.
Speaker B:Oregon coast here.
Speaker B:So what, what made you decide to really take golf seriously enough to make it a profession?
Speaker C:Well, I've.
Speaker C:I've only done that later in life, so I Played.
Speaker C:So after learning how to golf in Eskwin, then I played at Beaverton for four years and then went to Santa Clara University, and they had a GOL team that was in part due to title nine.
Speaker C:And so they needed another women's sport, so they added girls golf, women's golf, a few years before I got there.
Speaker C:And so they were really in a building phase of the program.
Speaker C:So it was a program that I was able to walk onto.
Speaker C:And so played college golf there for four years.
Speaker C:And it was a D1 school, but we were very much in a building phase.
Speaker C:But so I got to play free golf.
Speaker C:You know, if you're talking about high school and college, I played free golf for eight years, which was kind of amazing.
Speaker C:And especially down in California, we could play year round, and we got to go to, you know, tournaments all up and down the West Coast.
Speaker C:It was really, really great.
Speaker C:So loved that.
Speaker C:And then right after school, was kind of thinking about getting into the industry.
Speaker C:So I was working for American Golf and at a little club called Summit Point and was running golf tournaments so as their event coordinator and was making very little money doing it and working.
Speaker B:Go figure.
Speaker C:Working a lot of hours.
Speaker C:So, you know, I think.
Speaker C:And this is right during the dot com boom down there in the Bay Area, so I was running golf tournaments during that.
Speaker C:In the month of October, I ran 44 golf tournaments at this one course, which doesn't seem like a lot until you think that they're mostly on, you know, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:And so I would get to the course at, like, 5 in the morning, leave at 10 at night, and have, you know, having run five golf tournaments that day.
Speaker C:So it was a lot.
Speaker C:It was a lot of work.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And it's just like, you're not playing golf.
Speaker C:You know, you get into golf because you want to play golf.
Speaker C:I'm not playing golf.
Speaker C:Working really hard because I like to work and I like to be busy and not getting paid very much money.
Speaker C:And I was like, God, I don't know if this is gonna work.
Speaker C:And so I decided to leave.
Speaker C:And I will say that I was noticing that all of the boys.
Speaker C:I mean, I guess I was.
Speaker C:It was after college, all of the men were getting the jobs or getting promoted, and there was just a lot more men everywhere.
Speaker C:And so I didn't see a lot of mentors and leaders and anyone who I could really look up to.
Speaker C:And so it just didn't.
Speaker C:It just didn't seem like there was much of a future in it for me at that point.
Speaker C:And so I decided to leave and the industry and go into marketing.
Speaker C:And so I went into marketing and I stayed in, you know, corporate marketing.
Speaker C:It's sort of promotional products is what I was doing.
Speaker C:Product development, branding, marketing, sales.
Speaker C:And I did that for 22 years.
Speaker C:And so that was really a wonderful career.
Speaker C:And that was again, during that Silicon Valley.com boom and bust and boom and 2.0.
Speaker C: worked for and did that until: Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker C:So, yeah, and so that was just, what, six years ago?
Speaker C:Seven years ago.
Speaker C:So retired.
Speaker C:Because you're not.
Speaker B:You're not old enough to retire.
Speaker C:I know I say retired, but I, you know, I stopped doing what I had been doing for a long time and then covet, hit.
Speaker C:And I was playing golf a little bit more because that's what we were all doing.
Speaker C:And I am a member of a private club, and I went to go play golf on a Saturday morning, and they told me I couldn't play because I'm considered a spouse, not a member.
Speaker C:And I was outraged and really just couldn't believe that, like, in this day and age, like, we have these rules about, you know, where I say.
Speaker C:I say women, but they get around it with rules because they say spouse, they don't say women, but it's really a.
Speaker C:Where women aren't allowed and when women aren't allowed to play.
Speaker C:So I got pretty mad.
Speaker C:And then I decided that I could take those feelings and channel them into something positive.
Speaker C:So instead of.
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:And I also realized that this.
Speaker C:This one thing at this one club is really just a symptom of a much larger problem in the industry.
Speaker C:And where I couldn't make any changes at the ground level at the club, I could make a change in the industry because I have a lot of, you know, after having my career going for 20 years, like, I have a lot of leadership and a lot of business acumen.
Speaker C:And so there's a lot I can now, you know, gosh, 20, 30 years later, after I left the industry, I can now go back into the golf industry and add all of this leadership.
Speaker C:Like this female leadership.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:And so I decided.
Speaker B:Hang on for a second, Cat.
Speaker B:We're gonna take a quick break.
Speaker B:And we're gonna be back with Kat Garrison.
Speaker B:This is a great story, folks.
Speaker B:You're not going to want to miss it.
Speaker B:So we'll be back on grilling.
Speaker B:It's Green.
Speaker B:Just a minute.
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Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling.
Speaker B:It's green.
Speaker B:I'm J.T.
Speaker B:We are a proud part of the Golf News Network, whole deal radio and television.
Speaker B:Today we're talking with Kat Garish, PGA golf professional and manager at Cottage Golf in the Cottage Golf in Beaverton, Oregon.
Speaker B:And I, I had to interrupt her because we had to go to break.
Speaker B:But this is fascinating because I wanted to make one comment to you when you were talking about the guys were getting all the jobs, you know, I was around in those days and they were, and most of the women that were hired were kind of mid level administrative people on the courses that I was familiar with.
Speaker B:Okay, you, you might have seen a young, you know, new hire, if you will, working behind the counter, sometimes in the, in the pro shop, but most of the times once they got above that level and it was kind of a full time thing, but most of them, they were all administrated.
Speaker B:So that's just my observation from those days.
Speaker B:It's a little different now.
Speaker B:But anyway, you were talking about where you could make a difference.
Speaker C:Yeah, so I, I decided that I could make a difference by creating a space that was opposite of all the golf spaces I saw in the industry.
Speaker C:So I decided to, I decided to join the PGA first of all, so to become a professional.
Speaker C:And I had been keeping my game up by playing in amateur events and things like that.
Speaker C:So I gave up my amateur status, joined the pga, started going through the PGA PGM program.
Speaker C:So you know, you started with level one associate and you know, moved your way up and etc, that's a whole nother story.
Speaker C:And open and I opened a studio with a trackman simulator where I could, where I could teach women how to play golf or help them improve their games.
Speaker C:Because one of the reasons I think a lot of women don't play golf is they're scared to walk onto a lot of different golf facilities or, and not scared.
Speaker C:It's a little bit like intimidated.
Speaker C:And they don't want to go by themselves and they don't want to go look silly by asking the questions.
Speaker C:And you know, you walk into a pro shop and people, if you're a woman, people assume you don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker C:And people assume that you're not a good player and that you're slow and that you're not serious about it.
Speaker C:So I just wanted to completely strip all of those biases away and stereotypes and intimidation factors and just make a really beautiful place where women felt comfortable learning golf.
Speaker B:Well, I think you've done a good job so far.
Speaker C:Thanks.
Speaker B:Yeah, I really do.
Speaker B:When you talk about women coming to the course, I, I play, I don't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have a number for you, but I would say a good number of my rounds during the year played with women partners at times.
Speaker B:Now my scramble team, that's kind of set in stone, you know, but, but regular rounds and stuff and I always enjoy it.
Speaker B:And a lot of times they can smoke you if you're not careful.
Speaker B:You know, he can, you know, 250 right down the center and you're in the weeds type thing.
Speaker B:So there's a little pun I like to say, but it's very true.
Speaker B:But I know what you're talking about when you talk about the intimidation factor because nobody, this is a harsh word, but nobody wants to feel humiliated.
Speaker B:And if they don't really, you know, we, you've played in tournaments, scrambles and different things where there's a corporate aspect to it and some of the, they look good.
Speaker B:They've, they went to, they went and got some great looking clothes, but they've never really swung a club, you know, and it, and it, that atmosphere is more jovial than that.
Speaker B:But if you were to walk on a, A course and do that and you're skipping it out there, you know, 20 yards every time you hit it, eventually somebody's going to catch up to you.
Speaker B:Eventually somebody's probably going to say something, snark to you.
Speaker B:You know, we have this thing where we say we want to expand the game and be all encompassing until you get on the course and then, you know, no holds barred, move on.
Speaker B:Yeah, totally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And you know, even the pga, the PGA of America, you know, says we want more women in the game.
Speaker C:And then they let all of these private courses have rules about when women can't play and bars and Grills where women aren't allowed.
Speaker C:I mean, it's like, put your money where your mouth is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think to me, the only place is the locker rooms.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker B:I mean, and nobody should have an interest in going in those places.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:That's not you.
Speaker B:That's just me.
Speaker B:But it's like you have some private spaces, you know, but.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So what.
Speaker B:What changes have you seen?
Speaker B:And do you think you've kind of maybe got it started or poked the needle in that bear a little bit to make those changes start to happen?
Speaker C:Well, I mean, I've.
Speaker C:I've probably had 600 people come through the studio, you know, who have taken a lesson or come to a clinic.
Speaker C:And so we've affected a lot of lives here.
Speaker C:And I hear stories from the people I coach all the time, and I.
Speaker C:About the connections that they're making with people in their lives or, you know, people will text me when they get their first par, their first birdie, or, you know, or even just their first round of golf or their first long, you know, for their first drive that reached 200 yards.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:So I know that we're making, you know, small strides locally with all of our students all the time, and.
Speaker C:And people are joining leagues.
Speaker C:And so, you know, I really like to think of myself as a funnel into the industry.
Speaker C:And so if I can get people into the studio and then they can go find their golf group, so they can find a group that they're playing with, or they can find a club to join, or, you know, they can find their place out on the green grass, because obviously you're not going to play all your golf in a studio.
Speaker C:But if we can really be like that catalyst that gets people out there, I mean, countless, countless lives.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:What's your favorite thing that you see after somebody walks into the studio for the first time and then they've come back for a few more lessons, some practice sessions for whatever, what's the one thing that you just go that makes it worth it?
Speaker C:I mean, when somebody sends me a message about how golf has affected their life in a positive way, and that really makes it worth it to me that I know I'm doing good, so, you know, people will.
Speaker C:People say that they've, you know, just spent two hours with their grandpa that, you know, on a course because now they can golf and they can spend time with them and.
Speaker C:Or, you know, their dad in Florida is, like, sending them his old clubs or the grandma has invited the whole family out, you know, so it's like golf.
Speaker C:Like if, if I can see how golf is positively affecting people's lives.
Speaker C:It is really, when it makes me the happiest.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:We're talking with Cat.
Speaker B:Cat.
Speaker B:Cat, Gary.
Speaker B:I'm sorry.
Speaker B:My tongue got twisted.
Speaker B:My cat took it and ran away with it.
Speaker B:She's from.
Speaker B:She's a PGA pro.
Speaker B:If you listen to the show from the Portland Golf show, the Day Two show, Cat's on there.
Speaker B:Great interview there, too.
Speaker B:She's going to be back with me in just a couple seconds here, but you're listening to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
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Speaker B:Welcome back to Drilling at the Green mjt.
Speaker B:Today we're talking with Cat Gary, PGA Pro manager of.
Speaker B:What is that place called Cottage in Beaverton?
Speaker B:Yeah, that place.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I think it's great.
Speaker B:What is.
Speaker B:Tell us about your, your business model.
Speaker B:I mean, you've got some business acumen there and you were in industries for a long time.
Speaker B:So you didn't just go, we're going to go lease a space and put up a couple of golf bays and get a sim and go from there.
Speaker B:I mean, you had to think this through.
Speaker B:You don't strike me as a person who doesn't think things through on big decisions.
Speaker B:So how did you come up with it?
Speaker B:Not, not the focus of it, but I want to talk about the business side for a second.
Speaker B:How did you come up with what kind of model?
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:Or did you create your own model for this?
Speaker C:You know, I was fortunate enough to be in the middle of a commercial development project.
Speaker C:So I had, I had purchased some buildings in downtown Beaverton a few years prior, and we were developing those for restaurant and retail space.
Speaker C:So I was doing this community commercial development project anyway, and so I had, when I, when this all occurred and I decided I wanted to, to give this a try, I had some space available for myself that I carved out and made it part of the construction project.
Speaker C:So that was, that was a really easy way to start for Me.
Speaker C:And so I created this concept studio, which is the one I'm sitting in right now.
Speaker C:And it's in a.
Speaker C:It's in a cool little like Victorian house and it's above a brewery.
Speaker C:And so it's kind of part of this family of businesses that's like restaurant retail.
Speaker C:And so it was low risk.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Because I was leasing from myself.
Speaker C:So I knew that if it failed, all I had to do was move out and find another tenant.
Speaker C:And so that was really, that.
Speaker C:That helped me get off the ground really easily because it was, you know, again, no risk.
Speaker C:So I opened up the space.
Speaker C:And it's not an ideal space either.
Speaker C:It really was sort of like, let's build it and see what happens and see if people like this as a concept.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:And so we opened four years ago and there's one.
Speaker C:So I'm in about a thousand square feet right now, which is one bay.
Speaker C:And then across the hallway I have another thousand square feet where I put an event room and a little kitchenette and so I could host parties.
Speaker C:So, you know, one person, one or two people are playing golf at one time, you know, four, I guess.
Speaker C:And then you can also have people in the event space next door milling around or having a meeting or have, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, networking, deep frying, Twinkies, whatever they do.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's more like.
Speaker C:It's more like cheese and crackers and wine, really.
Speaker C:And so this has been working really well, but it's not scalable because it's up, you know, it's.
Speaker C:First of all, it's upstairs, so it's not super easy to like lug your clubs upstairs and come into it into a golf studio.
Speaker C:It does kind of feel like a little speakeasy because it's sort of hidden up above a brewery, which I like, but we're in the process right now of opening a ground floor studio again in one of my buildings.
Speaker C:But it's around the corner and it will have two days and more like the event space will be integrated into the space.
Speaker C:And so you don't have to walk out of the room to go get your glass of wine, do you?
Speaker B:Are you going to keep the original one at that point or are you going to move the whole thing?
Speaker C:I think we're going to move the whole thing and find another tenant for up here.
Speaker C:It's a great.
Speaker C:It's a great space for something else.
Speaker C:It would be a great space for, you know, a little marketing office or a lawyer.
Speaker B:Sure, sure, sure.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:And how did you calculate if you Did.
Speaker B:I mean, you've done all this, you lease the space yourself.
Speaker B:I mean, that's, that's really advantageous.
Speaker B:But then how did you say, all right, the door's open, I got to get some people in here.
Speaker C:Yeah, well, this is funny.
Speaker C: So I opened in April of: Speaker C:The brewery was also being built downstairs, so I had to wait for the brewery to be buil before I could actually open my doors.
Speaker C:And they weren't going to be like totally open until June or July of that year.
Speaker C:So I had a few months when I really wasn't technically open.
Speaker C:But at.
Speaker C:During that time I started playing, like, getting my website and my scheduling app up and running.
Speaker C:And so I turned on my scheduling and kind of was doing my menu pricing of what.
Speaker C:But I didn't have Google AdWords on.
Speaker C:I didn't have any sort of marketing.
Speaker C:And so I really didn't think people even knew how to get to my website.
Speaker C:And I was at one point next door in my husband's sign shop where I had a desk.
Speaker C:And so I was at my desk and I got a call on my cell phone and this woman was like, hey, is this Cottage Golf?
Speaker C:I'm here for a lesson.
Speaker C:I was like, you are?
Speaker C:Like, where are you?
Speaker C:She was like, well, I'm outside of a door, but it looks like it's a brewery and it looks like it's under construction.
Speaker C:I was like, oh, I'll be right there.
Speaker C:And so I had to run out of the sign shop and run over and unlock the door.
Speaker C:And I wasn't even open, but I had, I had put my scheduling site up because I was testing it and somebody had found me and booked a lesson and I was kind of like, gosh, if I can get clients without being open or trying, like, obviously this is something that people want and need.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Did she have her clubs or did you have clubs for her?
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, no, she, she had her club.
Speaker C:She was standing out in front of this construction site with her clubs in the middle of Beaverton going, I think I just booked a lesson with Cottage Golf, but I have no idea where they are.
Speaker B:Oh boy, that's great.
Speaker B:And I'm assuming, Kat, that you have expanded your client base and your practicing base from more than day one.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Hundreds of clients, and I just love them all.
Speaker C:And so I've recently hired an assistant pro, which is a really big deal because that helps me scale because I, you know, I can only teach a Certain number of lessons each day.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker C:And try to run the business.
Speaker C:So, yeah.
Speaker C:Katya Kurkosky, who I believe you met at the Portland Golf Show.
Speaker C:So she has a wonderful.
Speaker C:She's been a breath of fresh air.
Speaker C:And she just graduated from Whitman and is starting the golf, you know, the PGM program right now, too.
Speaker C:But it's interesting to look back because she's in a very similar situation that I was in 30 years ago where she graduated from college and she thinks, okay, hey, I want to give the golf industry a try, which is what I did.
Speaker C:But now I'm able to give her, like, a future.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:In the golf industry.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, you mentioned it in the previous segment that.
Speaker B:And I've said this a hundred times on the show.
Speaker B:I came from a different industry, but I've been in broadcasting a long time.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:And I thought I always wanted to do a golf show because I know something about the sport.
Speaker B:I know a lot of people in the industry.
Speaker B:And of course, that's expanded since I've been doing this show.
Speaker B:But I thought that'll be great.
Speaker B:The number of rounds I play now, significantly less.
Speaker C:I know, it's terrible.
Speaker B:I mean, if I play, like, maybe eight times a year, I think I've really, really banged on it.
Speaker C:That's pretty good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like that.
Speaker C:It's a travesty.
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker B:And listen, if anybody's listening to this and you think you're gonna start a golf company and you're gonna do good, go do it, follow your dreams.
Speaker B:But if you think that's going to lead you to a lot of stuff on the course, get that thought out of your head right now, because I'm telling you, it's not going to work that way.
Speaker B:You know, it's like that.
Speaker B:Where do you see cottage golf in, say, two years, five years, given the fact that you're moving around the corners, so to speak?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So I would like to get this new space up and running and fully activated.
Speaker C:And we're starting to do a lot more events also, and community events in the studio and community events out of the studio.
Speaker C:And being at the Portland and the Seattle golf shows were really instrumental for us because it felt like a little bit of a kickoff from the concept studio that I had been running to more of a scalable business.
Speaker C:So I think we're at a bit of an inflection point in the business.
Speaker C:I would like to open another studio in the next two years, and whether that's in Vancouver, Washington, or Seattle or on the east side of Portland.
Speaker C:Because I have a lot of people who drive.
Speaker C:People drive over an hour to come see us.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so obviously we have something that means a lot to people, so I would like to find another hub where we can really make a difference.
Speaker B:I'm thinking southeast for number two.
Speaker B:Truthfully, I just.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I've heard that.
Speaker C:Actually.
Speaker C:I've heard Southeast.
Speaker C:I've heard Gresham.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And if you're.
Speaker B:If you're close to.
Speaker B:They're going to build an in and out in Gresham that's on the.
Speaker B:So if you can get close to that and it won't be Too far off, I84.
Speaker B:I think you'll have a home run there.
Speaker B:Just people got to eat.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And if you.
Speaker B:You've seen me, I.
Speaker B:That's part of a double double and love a double double.
Speaker B:Is that when you went to Santa Clara?
Speaker B:Was that one of the first things did somebody take?
Speaker B:They did when I went to Cal Poly in Pomona.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:One of the first things, the guy said, let's go eat.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:And I said, okay, where are we going?
Speaker B:He goes, you ever had a in n out?
Speaker B:I said, no, that was a long time ago, and I am still an ardent fan.
Speaker B:And now we have one about 12 miles south of us, right off the freeway.
Speaker B:And a couple times a month, I venture down there and have lunch, sometimes by myself.
Speaker B:Sometimes I take somebody, but I have my double double.
Speaker C:Yeah, I remember.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I didn't understand what it was when I went down there.
Speaker C:And that was also during the time when, like, Jamba Juice was big, was coming on the scene and.
Speaker C:And frozen yogurt was.
Speaker C:I mean, there was all these, like, California things that were very exciting.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker B:It's one of those things.
Speaker B:But you know what?
Speaker B:In N Out has stayed.
Speaker C:It's so good.
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:Anyway, we got to take another break.
Speaker B:We'll be back.
Speaker B:Kat Garish and I will be back in just a moment.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
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Speaker E:Hey, everybody, JT here.
Speaker B:If you need something to practice with.
Speaker E:In the inclement weather, try Birdie ball.
Speaker E:Go to birdieball.com check out the actual Birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which I happen to have a couple of those, and they work great.
Speaker E:Birdieball.com.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green on jt.
Speaker B:Today, we've got Cat Gary, who is a PGA professional and also manages and owns.
Speaker B:Owns the Golf Cottage in Beaverton, Oregon, soon to become a massive franchise all over the country.
Speaker B:Maybe someday.
Speaker C:That would be great.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:Oh, we want to thank the folks at Squares Golf Shoes, too, who support this show and all my little tournament endeavors.
Speaker B:Bob and his crew back there at Squares.
Speaker B:Just go to squares.com and there's.
Speaker B:There's no.
Speaker B:There's no U in Squares.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:It's sqa.
Speaker B:Then.
Speaker B:You'll figure it out.
Speaker B:Squares Golf Shoes.
Speaker B:And if you got funky feet, that helps.
Speaker B:Anyway, Cat, you do teach men, though.
Speaker C:Yeah, we do teach men.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah, we teach a lot of husbands, brothers, partners of our.
Speaker C:Of our female students, because I think the women start getting better at golf, and I think they're the men in their lives.
Speaker C:Like, hey, I want.
Speaker C:I want in on this.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:And this one guy.
Speaker C:This one.
Speaker C:One group of guys.
Speaker C:This is one of my favorite stories from when I was, like, my second year teaching.
Speaker C:This one guy comes in, and he starts taking lessons, and.
Speaker C:And he's an engineer, and he.
Speaker C:He, you know, works and plays with these, like, four guys.
Speaker C:And he's like, I have these, like, four guys I play with.
Speaker C:And so he's taking lessons, and he's getting better.
Speaker C:And then pretty soon, one of the other guy.
Speaker C:What, Another guy comes in, and I always ask the guys how they found me.
Speaker C:And so I asked this new guy, and he's like, oh, well, you know, I play with Todd, and Todd's been taking lessons from you.
Speaker C:And I used to beat Todd all the time, and now Todd's beating me.
Speaker C:And so now I. I want to see, like, what's going on.
Speaker C:Like, okay.
Speaker C:So then pretty soon, after a few weeks, the third guy comes in, and I say.
Speaker C:I say, okay, like, you know, how'd you find me?
Speaker C:And he's like, oh, well, I play with Todd and Ryan.
Speaker C:And they.
Speaker C:I used to be Todd and Ryan, and now Todd and Ryan are consistently beating me, so I figured I might as well check it out.
Speaker C:And so then it got kind of funny, and I was like, well, who's the fourth guy?
Speaker C:And he goes, oh, the fourth guy's a holdout.
Speaker C:He's never coming.
Speaker C:And he won't come to a women's studio.
Speaker C:And then after a few months, the fourth guy came in.
Speaker C:So I had all four of them.
Speaker C:It was, it was just so funny.
Speaker C:It was such a fun.
Speaker B:Did you give him a group rate?
Speaker C:I should.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:I don't even know if they wanted the others to know that they were all coming.
Speaker B:I got it.
Speaker B:How much of your, how much of your teaching is where you have to play?
Speaker B:And I'm not talking about the, the, you know, the rank beginner, but as like those four guys you just talked about, how much of your time do you have to be a psychologist for them?
Speaker C:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:A lot of times I feel like people are coming to the studio just to talk.
Speaker C:And there's a few things there.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Like, first of all, personals come out in golf games all the time.
Speaker C:And so if somebody is really tense and is feeling like they need to control things, they probably are feeling tense and feeling like they need to control things in their life in general.
Speaker C:And so a little bit of, all right, let's understand that we don't have control.
Speaker C:Let's learn to give up control and just swing the golf club.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Or people are really hard on.
Speaker C:Like, if people are really hard on themselves in their golf game, they're usually pretty hard on themselves in their life.
Speaker C:And so, like, we're working on all of that stuff.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And here's the other thing.
Speaker C:Women come to golf at transitions in their lives.
Speaker C:And a lot of those transitions are empty nester, newly retired, newly widowed or single, new relationship, new job.
Speaker C:Those are the big ones.
Speaker C:And so those are big times in people's lives.
Speaker C:And a lot of.
Speaker C:For some reason, golf sometimes comes in at that same point where they're like, I need connection, I need a hobby, I need to, I want to spend time with this new person, this new job.
Speaker C:My kids are grown and so we're working through a lot of that stuff.
Speaker C:And a lot of it is like grief of letting go of what came before.
Speaker B:That can be tough.
Speaker B:That can be, that can be very tough in life in general.
Speaker B:And I've always been a proponent of just walk up and hit it, you know, and be present right there in the moment.
Speaker B:My game doesn't reflect that, but that's my mind.
Speaker C:It's the most important part.
Speaker B:It's right there.
Speaker B:Cat, how can people find you and cottage golf and, and all that?
Speaker C:So we, our website is cottagegolfstudio.com and we have mailing list.
Speaker C:People can get on for local events and happenings and updates.
Speaker C:And then we also have all the socials.
Speaker C:So Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, little bit of TikTok.
Speaker C:But you know, I'm Gen X so not very much.
Speaker C:Yeah, and a little bit of YouTube.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:Kat Garish folks from Cottage Golf in Beaverton, Oregon.
Speaker B:She's PGA professional.
Speaker B:She's a great lady, a lot of fun to be around and we are going to abuse her very shortly in the after segment so she has no idea what that's like, but I'll guarantee she will not forget it.
Speaker B:Kat, thank you for being on the show.
Speaker B:I appreciate it very much.
Speaker C:Thanks so much.
Speaker B:You're welcome.
Speaker B:We'll be back next week with another edition of grilling at the green.
Speaker B:Until then, please take my advice.
Speaker B:Go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker B:But most of all, be kind.
Speaker B:Take care, everybody.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserve.
