Shownotes
This podcast episode presents a compelling discourse on the intersection of women's sports and community engagement, particularly in the context of the Standard Portland Classic. The partnership between Standard Insurance and the tournament exemplifies a profound commitment to promoting women's athletics while simultaneously enhancing the event's significance within the Portland community. As we delve into the intricacies of the tournament, notable insights are shared regarding the contributions of various players, including reflections from prominent figures like Kate Cockrell and Nancy Lopez. The dialogue further explores the evolution of the golfing experience, emphasizing the necessity of strategic play and mental resilience on the course. Through this discussion, we illuminate the broader implications for women in golf and the continuing journey toward equity and recognition in the realm of sports.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Standard Insurance
- Golf Channel
- NBC
- Birdie Ball
- Weston Kia
- Painted Hills
- Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures
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 short grass for the hackers, dew sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff,.
Speaker B:Everybody.
Speaker C:Welcome to this special edition of Grilling at the Green live from the Standard Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater in North Portland, right next to the airport, which you will hear the jets flying over during this hour here.
Speaker C:I want to talk to you real quick before I introduce my first guest, which is the Standard Insurance company.
Speaker C:Partnership of the Standard Insurance and the Portland Classic underscores the Standard's dedication to supporting women's sports along while elevating the tournament's impact on the Portland community.
Speaker C:Community.
Speaker C:Excuse me.
Speaker C:Little something new this year.
Speaker C:For every birdie made on the eighth hole, Standard Insurance will donate 500 bucks to support the first tee of Oregon.
Speaker C:And they're shooting for $40,000.
Speaker C:Now, it's only the second day, so I don't know what the tally number is, but we'll find out.
Speaker C:For the end of the weekend, my first guest friend of the show.
Speaker C:We've talked many times.
Speaker C:This is actually the second time we've met in person.
Speaker C:First time was when this was held up at the Oregon Golf Course and you went buzzing by me in a golf cart.
Speaker C:But that was several years ago.
Speaker C:Kate Cockrell from the Golf Channel in NBC.
Speaker C:It is so very nice to have you here.
Speaker D:Great to be here.
Speaker D:Thank you for this special session.
Speaker C:This special session.
Speaker C:You've covered this event many times and I know you like to come back to Portland because of the food and the great company you keep here.
Speaker C:But what's your overview so far of the tournament?
Speaker D:Kay well, this was always one of my favorite events to play on tour when I was competing, and it's still one of my favorite to walk the fairways and call the golf.
Speaker D:And that's because I'm a Northern Californian.
Speaker D:This is relatively close to home.
Speaker D:With similar terrain, it just feels like home.
Speaker D:I love the atmosphere in Portland.
Speaker D:I, I have a lot of friends here.
Speaker D:I love this golf course.
Speaker D:It's just one of my favorites.
Speaker D:It's such a beautiful course.
Speaker D:You never get tired of playing shows so well on tv.
Speaker D:And like you said, the food scene is pretty darn good, too.
Speaker D:You can, you can find some good food trucks, you can find great neighborhood restaurants and a variety of food.
Speaker C:As you can tell by looking at me, it's a wide variety of food that I don't think we've ever really talked about this on the Regular show, when you've been on the radio show before, but here we are.
Speaker C:You got to go to work here in an hour and a half or so or similar.
Speaker C:What is your prep like when you're getting ready to go live?
Speaker C:And this year, this tournament is live on Golf Channel and stuff, which is kind of different.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:Yeah, I pretty much have the same routine.
Speaker D:A lot of times I. I get up in the morning and I read the transcripts from the night before, the media interviews with the players that.
Speaker D:That had good rounds, and kind of cherry pick out a few things that I might want to talk about, especially if it pertains to the group that I'm following.
Speaker D:And then I. I have my little.
Speaker D:My little notes, my little.
Speaker D:Little cheat sheet.
Speaker D:My group today, Hinako Shibuno.
Speaker D:Hey, hey, down you.
Speaker D:And Chisato.
Speaker D:Ey.
Speaker D:So I have just kind of compiled basically what, you know, what they did yesterday.
Speaker D:Birdies and bogeys, kind of their key highlights on the gear.
Speaker D:And I may or may not even mention any of these things.
Speaker D:I mean, they.
Speaker D:They say you prep, and you might use 10 or 15% of all that you prep, but I have it here.
Speaker D:And then in going through it, it kind of gets me thinking about these players and what they've done.
Speaker D:Well, where they've struggled and just gets me kind of set for the day.
Speaker D:And then after I talk to you, the driving range is only about 100 yards away.
Speaker D:So I'll head down there as the players are warming up, and I'll talk to their caddies, mostly their caddies and.
Speaker D:Or if any coaches are around or family members, and just kind of glean a little extra information.
Speaker D:Like, I haven't worked an LPGA event in over a month, so I've watched them on tv, but, you know, have they done anything different with their game?
Speaker D:Any change of clubs, any new clubs, any drills, any things that they've spent extra attention on?
Speaker C:The Caddy Information network is very important.
Speaker D:It's huge.
Speaker E:You.
Speaker C:You can get a lot, sometimes more than you want to know, I think, but it's always readily available.
Speaker D:And that.
Speaker D:That was a key point that you said.
Speaker D:I've learned a lot of information from family, from caddies, from the players themselves, that.
Speaker D:That is actually quite private and that I wouldn't share.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker D:Unless they give me the okay.
Speaker D:If it's some.
Speaker D:Something kind of interesting, I'll say, oh, that's, you know, quite fascinating.
Speaker D:Is that something I can share?
Speaker D:Like.
Speaker D:No, I'd rather keep that private.
Speaker E:Sure.
Speaker D:And I've never felt like I'm the type of journalist that needs to break something, especially if it's salacious or something.
Speaker D:Style.
Speaker D:I just.
Speaker D:That's not my.
Speaker D:An interest for me.
Speaker D:And I've gained a lot of respect from the caddies of players, families because they know I'm not going to say something, but it's in the back of my brain and kind of helps me understand maybe why that player is the way they are.
Speaker C:You don't want to ever break that trust.
Speaker C:No, no.
Speaker D:It's not worth it.
Speaker C:It's not worth it.
Speaker C:A couple of things.
Speaker C:What is your most fun part in covering Portland this event?
Speaker C:The standard.
Speaker C:Not about the food and the friends, but as far as on the course, is there one hole that you walk?
Speaker C:Is there one section of the course that historically you say this is a tough three holes?
Speaker D:Well, we focus mostly on the back nine.
Speaker D:And the back nine on Sunday is the most important nine in golf, especially if there's a lot of players jockeying for position.
Speaker D:It's like, who is going to be able to execute the shots under pressure when it counts on the final, final day.
Speaker D:But I think this is one of the most beautiful, pleasant walks in golf.
Speaker D:It's easy to get from hole to hole.
Speaker D:Not a lot of elevation change.
Speaker D:So it's an easy walk.
Speaker D:And with these gorgeous trees, these sequoias that are out here, I love.
Speaker D:Let's see.
Speaker D:I love, I think about 10.
Speaker D:You know, 10 has a great payoff.
Speaker D:Like, you could go for it and hit it in two, but there's water.
Speaker D:So if you're in trouble, then you lay up.
Speaker D:I love the.
Speaker D:Some of the quirkiness where you have to be a little bit strategic off the tee.
Speaker D:Like, 15 is a great par four that goes left to right.
Speaker D:Do you hit driver and challenge the bunkers or do you stay short?
Speaker D:16 Is a tough little par 3.
Speaker D:17 And 18 are tough par fours.
Speaker D:I mean, that's a great finish.
Speaker C:And if you've not been here, folks, actually the first tee is 18 in the normal circle or the 10th or the 10th.
Speaker C:They flip them.
Speaker C:They flip the nines here for this.
Speaker C:So excuse me, if you've never played or you've never been here, it's.
Speaker C:It's not the normal layout.
Speaker C:I'll just put it that way.
Speaker D:But this 18th is where you want to finish, and for the tournament, it works really well because it requires a straight drive.
Speaker D:I mean, there's no if, ands, or buts about it.
Speaker D:You got to stand up on 18 and hit a Straight drive.
Speaker D:Whether you're more comfortable, you're three wood or your driver, I don't care.
Speaker D:But it has to be straight or you're laying up to avoid possibly going in the lake.
Speaker D:And the green itself is really, really demanding.
Speaker C:Well, and the pin placement on Sunday is always kind of from where we're sitting, it's over that way.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it can be tough.
Speaker C:I know when I was a photographer here it was.
Speaker C:I'd always camp out by the fence over there.
Speaker D:I bet you got some beautiful shots.
Speaker C:Oh, it's great stuff.
Speaker C:But you know, this side was always the toughest to shoot them from over here.
Speaker C:Just, I don't know, from a simply framing the image deal.
Speaker C:Personal question.
Speaker C:Did you ever put one in the water here?
Speaker D:No, I didn't.
Speaker C:Good for you.
Speaker D:I'm sure I punched out a few times and laid up well sharp.
Speaker D:The old adage, if you're going to lay up, lay up.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:Drives me insane when people lay up into trouble.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:As a golfer, when I did that, I just thought that was like such a mental error.
Speaker C:Do you still play?
Speaker D:I have a love hate relationship with the game.
Speaker D:The problem is I still have expectations of playing decent golf.
Speaker D:But I also know that without practice that's pretty impossible.
Speaker D:My game and my swing, actually my swing in the way I hit it is, is fairly good relative to, to me getting up there in years and relative to when I was 20 year old.
Speaker D:But the short game is, is so inconsistent and that if people are listening, I don't care who you are.
Speaker D:Spend 75% on your short game.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker D:And I'm talking 100 yards in wedges, chipping and putting.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:It's fun to go bang balls.
Speaker D:Do that if that makes you happy.
Speaker D:But if you really want to improve your golf game, if you want to lower your scoring average, you have to practice the short game.
Speaker C:Well, here's.
Speaker D:Fall in love with practicing the short game.
Speaker D:Make it fun.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Well, pro tip and you know, been around here a couple days.
Speaker C:If you put your set, your watch and I'm just making up an example, they'll spend 45 minutes on the range and they'll spend an hour and a half on the putting.
Speaker C:You know, I, I watched Carolyn Inglis because I know her and I was watching her the other day, she hit some balls and, and, but she was on the putting range first or the putting green, I should say, and she went and hit some balls and then she came back to the putting green.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker C:So that's, that's what that's what makes.
Speaker D:Winners, what high level players will do?
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Speaker C:Special edition of Grilling at the Green Live from the Standard Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater in North Portland, right next to the airport.
Speaker C:Kay Cockrell from the Golf Channel in NBC, it is so very nice to have you here.
Speaker C:Are there players that sometimes you just wish no names.
Speaker C:No names, Kay, that you wish.
Speaker C:Oh, that's a tough draw for me today to cover.
Speaker D:I always had a problem playing with exceedingly slow players.
Speaker D:I was a quick player.
Speaker D:I know there's quick players out here like Nelly Corda, Gino Titicun, they just hit and react and their caddies are very efficient and the players that go on and on and have an extensive conversation with the caddy and or a over just over deliberate pre shot routine drives me insane.
Speaker D:I would love to see, you know, four hours or less every time both man, woman and child that are competing at all the levels play.
Speaker D:There's really only negative stuff can come into your head if you're overthinking this game, you've done your prep, go out and just react and hit the shot.
Speaker C:I, you know, we've kind of got the catbird seat up here.
Speaker C:So I've been watching and I've watched a few of the players that are new on tour versus the wily veterans, I'll put it that way.
Speaker C:And the newer ones, a lot of them are flipping along at a pretty good pace.
Speaker C:But there's been a couple that the uncertainty crept in.
Speaker C:You know, when they were looking at a putt and they, they looked at it, they thought they lined it up and they backed off, they went and they did this and they're going to the side and all that.
Speaker C:And you look at them and it's reflective on the scoreboard too.
Speaker C:You know, that's a very tough deal.
Speaker D:It is, it is.
Speaker D:And I think, you know, sometimes players that used to complain a lot just complain after every single shot that Used to kind of drive me crazy too.
Speaker D:Because you get tired.
Speaker D:I have to listen to that.
Speaker D:Do I have to listen to your complaining for four hours?
Speaker D:If, nowadays, if I'm home, I don't care what your game is like.
Speaker D:If you play quickly and you have a good attitude, chances are we'll play again and again.
Speaker D:If you have a bad attitude and you're slow, it's one and done.
Speaker D:I'm not, I'm not playing time.
Speaker D:Life is too short to spend with miserable, slow golfers.
Speaker C:So, yeah, I, I, I like to just flip through it, have some fun.
Speaker C:I don't even.
Speaker D:Hey.
Speaker D:And we're, you know, we're all going to miss shots.
Speaker D:Oh, it's going to happen.
Speaker C:It's going to happen every round.
Speaker D:And that's the big thing too is these players on tour for the most.
Speaker C:Part,.
Speaker D:Have a great ability to just forget the bad shot.
Speaker D:And it's a really hard thing to do to let that go.
Speaker D:I mean, you can have a little quick moment with yourself, then you have.
Speaker E:To let it go.
Speaker D:It's done.
Speaker D:You have to get onto the next shot and be in the present.
Speaker D:And that's the way we should live life anyway, day in and day out.
Speaker D:No matter what you're doing, you can't get it back.
Speaker D:Be in the moment.
Speaker D:Enjoy that moment.
Speaker D:You know, focus on this moment as much as you can.
Speaker C:Okay, predictions?
Speaker C:It's Friday.
Speaker C:It's early.
Speaker C:They haven't even put the cut line out as far as before we, just before we did it.
Speaker C:So let's do the simple ones.
Speaker C:Who are you watching?
Speaker C:Who are you watching?
Speaker C:And what's the cut line and what's the winning score?
Speaker D:Well, right now the cut would be looking at like probably a couple under par.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker D:At least, you know, it's.
Speaker D:The thing is, this tournament and this golf course does not favor any one player.
Speaker D:If you're, if you're a long ball hitter, you really don't have an advantage unless you're hitting it straight.
Speaker D:Yeah, a lot of times you have to, you know, hit less off the tee.
Speaker D:I'm looking at Gino Titicun right now, who's five under today, nine under.
Speaker D:She is such a strong player.
Speaker D:I watched her yesterday.
Speaker D:She's one of those players that makes golf look easy.
Speaker D:I mean, she hit 17 greens.
Speaker D:Her caddy thought she hit 18, but she was technically like a half an inch into the fringe.
Speaker D:So that's not a green hit.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:You know, I also look at Yaleemi.
Speaker D:No.
Speaker D:Which kind of surprises me because she Get.
Speaker D:Can get a little wild off the tee.
Speaker D:She's a beautiful ball striker, but she can hit it sideways a little bit.
Speaker D:But she's played well here in the past.
Speaker D:You'll see a lot of players come back to the same venue and play well.
Speaker D:I like.
Speaker D:I like her chances.
Speaker D:She's going to be on the Solheim cup team.
Speaker D:Of course, I was happy to see Mario Galdiano, a fellow Bruin.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:At the top of the leaderboard.
Speaker C:I knew that was coming.
Speaker E:Well, she's.
Speaker D:She's such a good kid.
Speaker D:She's from Hawaii.
Speaker D:She had a great UCLA career.
Speaker D:Played with Lilia Vu and Patty Tabatanika on the team.
Speaker D:And Bronte Law, she was in.
Speaker D:So she had to fight hard for her position at ucla.
Speaker D:And then she's been playing basically on that.
Speaker D:She got her card finally last year, then lost it.
Speaker D:She's been playing on the Epson Tour, and I just.
Speaker D:I would love to see someone like that break through.
Speaker D:Whether she wins or not, I would love for her to at least have a top 10 finish and get some momentum going to finish out this season.
Speaker C:Any predictions?
Speaker C:Solheim Cup.
Speaker C:I know it's a little ways out there.
Speaker D:I'm going to be working that I love working.
Speaker D:I think this is going to be my 20th Solheim that I've worked.
Speaker D:I love that event.
Speaker D:I love team golf.
Speaker D:I love match play.
Speaker D:It's going to be tough for the US to win in Europe.
Speaker D:It always is.
Speaker D:The home field advantage has a great advantage, but the European team has a few younger members that might just, you know, succumb to the pressure.
Speaker D:I'm hoping the USA wins.
Speaker D:Wins it and gets two in a row.
Speaker C:I would love that.
Speaker C:I would love.
Speaker D:I'm actually going over there early with my husband, and we're going to tour Amsterdam and Belgium the week before, then work the Solheim.
Speaker D:He's actually working as a team helper for Team usa.
Speaker D:And then we're going to jump over to Italy afterwards.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker C:You're going to eat there.
Speaker D:We will eat.
Speaker C:I was going to say, if you want some restaurant recommendations for Amsterdam and stuff, can send you those, too.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker D:I welcome them.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker C:So I don't know where Mark disappeared to.
Speaker C:Mark Gans.
Speaker D:He.
Speaker D:He is.
Speaker D:He is around.
Speaker C:He is.
Speaker C:He is.
Speaker D:He might have gone in for another cup of coffee.
Speaker C:He might.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:He needs more coffee like that.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker C:I wish you the best of luck.
Speaker C:Thank you for stopping by.
Speaker C:It's a pleasure to have you here on the show today, and I always enjoy talking.
Speaker D:I Appreciate your being here and, and supporting women's golf in general and specifically here in Portland.
Speaker C:Before you go, what is the most.
Speaker C:This is a test.
Speaker E:Kay.
Speaker C:What is the most.
Speaker C:Your most favorite thing you've ever eaten in Portland?
Speaker C:Wait, any.
Speaker C:Wait for the jets to go by.
Speaker D:There they go.
Speaker D:My husband's capturing us.
Speaker D:I'm a big, big fan of fish, so the salmon here is usually pretty good.
Speaker D:And I, I always at least have salmon at least once or twice a week when I'm here visiting.
Speaker C:I'll have to send you my cashew crusted salmon recipe.
Speaker D:I've also had some pretty good scones here.
Speaker D:You guys have a lot of good bakeries.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Can you tell?
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you so much.
Speaker F:Thank you.
Speaker C:It's good to see you and enjoy the rounds.
Speaker C:I'll be saying Heidi over the next three days.
Speaker D:Sounds good.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker C:Kate Cockerel, everybody.
Speaker C:NBC Golf Channel.
Speaker C:Always, always a pleasure to talk to her and absolutely fantastic.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody, is jt.
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Speaker B:Put a big, bright smile on your face, and whoever is at your dinner table will have a big, bright smile on their face.
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Speaker C:This is a live version of Grilling It Green.
Speaker C:And we are coming to you from the standard Portland Classic out at Columbia Edgewater on the banks of the Columbia River.
Speaker C:And as you can tell, right next to the Portland Airport, Nancy Lopez.
Speaker C:I'm going to actually stand up for you.
Speaker C:What an honor to meet you.
Speaker E:Oh, thank you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:Great to be here.
Speaker C:I used to photograph you when you.
Speaker C:But, yeah, but we never met, so.
Speaker E:It's nice to meet you.
Speaker C:Okay, most of you who didn't wake up just yesterday, Nancy's had.
Speaker C:See if I get the numbers right.
Speaker C:48 Tour wins, three majors, hall of Fame.
Speaker C:Now she's got Nancy Lopez golf Adventures.
Speaker E:Yes, sir.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:AP Sportsman of the Year.
Speaker C:It goes on.
Speaker C:It's a long, long list.
Speaker C:It's a long, long list.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's really.
Speaker C:I'm almost tongue tied, which is unusual for me to meet you.
Speaker C:What are your memories of playing in Portland?
Speaker C:I know you won.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:You know, always say that when the LPGA schedule came out, I'd always put Portland.
Speaker E:I'd look for what the dates were for Portland, Toledo and Rochester.
Speaker E:Those are my three favorites.
Speaker E:And so I'd put them in my calendar, and then I would kind of play, you know, how many tournaments will I play up to Portland or how many would I play after?
Speaker E:So it kind of just set the schedule because I loved coming here.
Speaker E:The weather was not always great, but I loved being able to wear sweaters sometimes.
Speaker E:And it was nice to be here and being able to play here at Columbia Edgewater.
Speaker E:It was such a great golf course.
Speaker E:Beautiful.
Speaker E:I got to play in the pram on Wednesday, and it was amazing.
Speaker E:You know, they built the tees further back, and it was really long for me compared to what it used to be.
Speaker E:But it's a beautiful golf course.
Speaker E:The greens are in great shape, and it would just, you know, you look down the fairway, the first fairway, and you just.
Speaker E:You want to get out there and start playing.
Speaker E:It's so pretty.
Speaker E:But just one of my favorite places.
Speaker E:People have always been great, very supportive of women's golf.
Speaker E:So to come and play in front of them was always a lot of fun.
Speaker C:When you, when you come, if.
Speaker C:If you do come to the tournament, folks, when you walk from the parking lot, you walk down this path, and they have the.
Speaker C:The past winners on banners.
Speaker C:You'll see Nancy there's.
Speaker C:She's there.
Speaker C:Let's talk about.
Speaker C:Let's talk about women in golf for how things have progressed the last few years to.
Speaker C:At a.
Speaker C:At a good rate, and they're getting better.
Speaker C:Can you compare where they are now to when you played?
Speaker E:Oh, wow.
Speaker E:Well, I know now that the players are making a lot more money than we did.
Speaker E:Of course, when we started, we thought we were making a lot of money because first place, back in the late 70s and eight early 80s, first place was $15,000.
Speaker E:Now you can make a million dollars.
Speaker E:Yeah, but.
Speaker E:And I remember, you know, when I won nine tournaments my rookie year, and I was the first player to reach the $200,000 mark, which was pretty.
Speaker E:Pretty big, a lot of money for us back then.
Speaker E:So the purses, you know, I think, you know, not that they didn't back then, but the sponsors of today, they want to have the best tournament.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker E:The best golf course to present to the LPJ players, which is awesome.
Speaker E:You know, I looked at the players like Donna Campone, Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann and all those great players and Judy Rankin, Joanne Carner that, you know, got me to where.
Speaker E:Got us to where they got us.
Speaker E:And then I was.
Speaker E:I think, you know, they were smart enough to know we were the next group that was going to carry the torch for the next part of.
Speaker E:Sure.
Speaker E:You know, the centuries of golf to come and.
Speaker E:And to be able to do that.
Speaker E:And.
Speaker E:And I hope that whatever I did, and Pat Bradley and Patty Sheen and all those players hopefully took that towards to the next generation to help the Tour grow with whatever we did, because that was always my goal.
Speaker E:I think, you know, when you.
Speaker E:When you're a top player and you're winning, there's a lot of pressure for you to play all the time.
Speaker E:And of course, you'd like to play all the time, but you just can't do it.
Speaker E:But when I was asked to do things, you know, I didn't do it for Nancy Lopez.
Speaker E:I did it for my Tour because I knew that that's what we needed during that time.
Speaker E:And.
Speaker E:And I hope that players always realize that, you know, you need to give to a tour that you love to keep growing, because that's the only way it's going to keep growing.
Speaker C:I got to add this little sidebar question.
Speaker C:What was it like playing with Big Mama?
Speaker E:Well, she was my idol.
Speaker E:She was.
Speaker E:You know, when I watched her on TV as a little amateur, in which I didn't get to see her much because we weren't on television much, but she had such a great attitude.
Speaker E:You didn't know if she was playing good or bad.
Speaker E:She was just the same all the time, but hit the ball a long way.
Speaker E:And when I got to play with her, I played as an amateur with her in the women's U.S. open.
Speaker E:Of course, I wanted to beat her.
Speaker E:I wanted to show her how good I was.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker E:Because she's my idol.
Speaker E:She was so much fun to play with, just a great attitude, great shot maker.
Speaker E:I mean, she got in trouble a lot because she didn't hit that driver very straight, but she could get out of trouble and get on the green from anywhere.
Speaker E:And I thought that was always pretty cool.
Speaker C:I thought maybe that's representative of her life in general.
Speaker C:Getting out of trouble.
Speaker C:You never know.
Speaker C:You never know.
Speaker E:She was a character.
Speaker C:She was a big character.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:We were talking about giving back to the tours and that.
Speaker C:I think that from my perspective, that's very, very important.
Speaker C:But I think the players now, with social media and just stuff like we're doing here, they have more opportunities to that, too, to reach out to fans and to young players, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker C:And if.
Speaker C:Let's step back for two weeks and if this stuff was available when you guys were coming up, because like you said, you and Joanne and Betsy and everybody like that.
Speaker C:You're icons now.
Speaker C:You're just icons.
Speaker C:I mean, there's a display on your stuff in the clubhouse here.
Speaker C:I walk by it every morning when I come in.
Speaker C:Would that have changed?
Speaker C:Would that really have made LPGA Tour and performances and tournaments jump, you think?
Speaker E:Yeah, I think back then it probably would have, for sure.
Speaker E:Just to make people more aware of what we were doing out there and to, you know, keep them informed on what we were doing, how the purses are growing, where we were.
Speaker E:I think, too, because when you can do that, there's a lot of places that we go that some people don't know are there.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:And back then, you know, if we could have done that, we'd probably bring more people out to watch women's golf.
Speaker E:If everybody was connected like that, for sure, I would think.
Speaker E:I would think it would have helped it grow even faster.
Speaker C:Well, you guys.
Speaker C:Well, when you're talking about Joanne and stuff, that was kind of the station wagon brigade back in those days, going from event to event, wasn't it?
Speaker E:Yeah, well, the founders talked about that a lot.
Speaker E:And they would travel.
Speaker E:They were always traveling in a caravan.
Speaker E:And I think they had different color signs.
Speaker E:Like, you know, red was, you know, we're going to stop and eat, you know, green, we need gas, you know, whatever.
Speaker E:Yellow, we have to go to the bathroom, you know, those kind of things.
Speaker E:And I know that that's what they did so they could travel together.
Speaker E:And then when they got to the golf tournaments, they set up the course, they put up the ropes, they paid themselves at the end.
Speaker E:At the end of the tournament, they.
Speaker E:Somebody was writing the check for whatever place you finished.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:And, I mean, it was.
Speaker E:It's amazing.
Speaker E:You know, when they were all alive, when they would tell us the stories, it was fun to listen to them.
Speaker C:There was like a little caravan.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:Traveling circus, if you will.
Speaker E:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker E:They worked very hard to.
Speaker E:I mean, who.
Speaker E:Who would have thought these women would have started a tour with what they were doing?
Speaker E:But they wanted to do it, and.
Speaker E:And they made it happen.
Speaker C:They made it happen.
Speaker C:How's the.
Speaker C:The level of golf compared to when you were on tour as of today, when we look out and we see, you know, Nelly, etc.
Speaker C:Right on down the line.
Speaker C:And is it comparable with.
Speaker C:Given the exception of the technology and the equipment and stuff from when you were playing to what is today?
Speaker E:I mean, the equipment has definitely changed the game.
Speaker E:The players hit it very far.
Speaker E:I mean, we hit it far back in our day.
Speaker E:Carter And I were probably average 275 off the tee.
Speaker E:And we had wood heads and steel shafts back then.
Speaker E:So if we had the equipment that they have today, you know, that would have helped us a lot to the balls.
Speaker E:We were playing a lot of balls back then.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker E:So I think the equipment has definitely changed.
Speaker E:I think, though, that I think golfers now are more athletic because I know when we were on tour, we didn't have the workout trailer and we didn't have people taking care of us.
Speaker E:So just us, our caddy and, you know, our exercise was walking and playing and practicing all the time.
Speaker E:So, you know, I think Annika kind of started that athletic part of it.
Speaker E:If you were going to stay up with Annika, you had to be in good shape because she was, you know, after 72 holes of golf, she probably could have played another 72 holes and won again because she was in such great shape.
Speaker E:And you see these players are all really, I mean, nine out of ten are in great shape.
Speaker C:Well, and you said, you know, there wasn't a team Nancy back in those days, was there?
Speaker E:No.
Speaker E:Oh, just me and my dad and my daddy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:Well, that's kind of a team, I guess.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker C:Small team, you get, you get better seating.
Speaker C:You don't have to take up a banquet table when you go to eat.
Speaker E:No, no.
Speaker E:But it, you know, just golf was so much fun.
Speaker E:I still love to watch the players.
Speaker E:I, you know, I played on Wednesday, like I said, in the pro am and it was so much fun to be out there.
Speaker E:I, I had so many memories as I was teen off and I remembered where I used to hit it and then, you know, what I had into the greens and it was just, it was really fun.
Speaker E:And like I said, the course is just beautiful.
Speaker E:It's in great shape and I, I just love it here.
Speaker E:It's been one of my favorites and I'm so glad.
Speaker E:I'm, I'm an ambassador for the Standard and they, they bring me in.
Speaker E:I came in last year, the year before, and now this year.
Speaker E:And it's just nice that they include me to come and be a part of this event.
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Speaker C:This is a live version of Grilling at the Green, and we are coming to you from the Standard Portland Classic out at Columbia Edgewater on the banks of the Columbia river.
Speaker C:And as you can tell, right next to the Portland Airport, Nancy Lopez.
Speaker C:I'm going to actually stand up.
Speaker C:So I want to talk to you about Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker C:How'd you come up with the concept?
Speaker C:I'm sure you get, like you said, you play in the program.
Speaker C:So there's always somebody that wants to play golf with Nancy Lopez.
Speaker C:I mean, that's never going to change.
Speaker C:But how did you come up with that and how does it work?
Speaker C:And, I mean, I've read about it, but you need to tell them, okay,.
Speaker E:Well, this is our 12th year, and the way it started was Teresa Zamboni and Sue Powers.
Speaker E:We were all involved with Ladies Links for Golf Magazine.
Speaker E:And after the magazine went away, I got to know Teresa and Sue really well.
Speaker E:I said, you know, it'd be fun to be kind of partners with them in something.
Speaker E:And when I left the Tour, I thought, you know, how can I give back?
Speaker E:What can I do?
Speaker E:I thought about doing golf schools somewhere.
Speaker E:Just, you know, have a stationary place, have golf schools.
Speaker E:And I talked to Teresa and Sue about it.
Speaker E:Well, they pondered about it, and they came back with me, and they said, why don't we start something called Nancy Lopez Golf Adventures and we'll travel?
Speaker E:I said, okay.
Speaker E:That made me nervous because I'm like, okay, how are we going to do all this?
Speaker E:They work very hard.
Speaker E:I just show up.
Speaker C:That's a great job.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:That's a great job.
Speaker E:But I work really hard when I'm there.
Speaker E:So anyway, they thought, you know, let's travel, let's teach.
Speaker E:Some of our schools are more teaching, some are more golfing.
Speaker E:And then we teach while they're golfing.
Speaker E:And it's just been.
Speaker E:It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker E:We have.
Speaker E:We have men and women.
Speaker E:We have husband and wives.
Speaker E:Anybody that wants to come and be a part of it.
Speaker E:You can be just a starting golfer to a really decent golfer.
Speaker E:We can always give you tips.
Speaker E:I always tell people, can't get better unless you know what to work on.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker E:Because you can go on the dry range and hit all the balls you want.
Speaker E:And if you don't know what you're trying to fix.
Speaker E:You're not going to get better.
Speaker E:So it's a lot of fun.
Speaker E:I'm.
Speaker E:We'll go on four or five day trips.
Speaker E:We were in Iceland last month.
Speaker E:We took 50 people and we played golf.
Speaker E:It was kind of cold, but it was, you know, when you're with 50 people, it's okay because everybody's cold together.
Speaker E:Now if I go play with my husband and it's cold, we're like, we're not playing today.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker E:So you just.
Speaker E:It's like a team.
Speaker E:And we're all out there.
Speaker E:We're having a good time.
Speaker E:Teresa and sue, great players, top 50, great teachers, great in the top 50 on the LPG tour, teaching professionals.
Speaker E:Now we have Nancy Henderson, who did work for the lpg.
Speaker E:Now she's joined us.
Speaker E:And so we have a great team.
Speaker E:They're fun.
Speaker E:They don't beat you up when you're trying to learn how to play golf.
Speaker E:They're, you know, they're going to help you.
Speaker E:And I am, too.
Speaker E:I've learned how to teach because I didn't know how to teach.
Speaker E:Everybody says, you're a professional golfer.
Speaker E:Why can't you teach?
Speaker E:I'm like, I just teach feel when I'm thinking.
Speaker E:But now I can really teach because I've learned from them.
Speaker E:But it's.
Speaker E:We have a good time.
Speaker E:We were in Scotland the month before we played the Open course.
Speaker E:Everybody played.
Speaker E:So we were, you know, everybody was like, oh, my gosh, I get to watch this on tv.
Speaker E:And we played here.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker E:So we just try and find places that are fun for people to go to.
Speaker D:We.
Speaker E:Some.
Speaker E:Sometimes they'll say, well, can we go here?
Speaker E:So we'll work on a trip somewhere else, just whatever they want to do.
Speaker E:But we have a great time.
Speaker E:And if I can give back by teaching, it started where I said, you know, we have to get women out there on the golf course, make them feel comfortable, make them feel like they belong on the Gospels instead of being intimidated.
Speaker E:And so we kind of started like that, but then the husband started coming.
Speaker E:And we always joke that my husband leaves the pub crawls so they have a good time.
Speaker E:And then the husbands play with the wives.
Speaker E:If they want to play with the guys, they can.
Speaker E:We just try and make it a lot of fun.
Speaker E:And we plan all the dinners and, you know, when we're in Iceland, we planned all the different sites that we were going to go see.
Speaker E:So we're all together and we have a really good time.
Speaker C:Did you play under the northern lights?
Speaker E:We Did.
Speaker E:We were there.
Speaker E:We weren't there at the right time, but it was beautiful to watch the waterfalls and the glaciers and things like that.
Speaker E:And it was just so cool.
Speaker E:And I didn't realize that, that it was just an island of volcanic, Volcanic action.
Speaker E:Yeah, there's volcanoes there all the time.
Speaker E:And I was like, okay, well, I hope nothing goes off over here because I want to get home.
Speaker C:I did that about four or five years ago.
Speaker C:They had one go off and it kind of closed air traffic over Europe part of the time.
Speaker C:So you couldn't, you couldn't go anywhere.
Speaker C:That's all the ash going to put you on the spot a little bit.
Speaker C:Nancy, what was your winning score here?
Speaker C:What was your best winning score?
Speaker C:Do you remember?
Speaker E:Holy moly.
Speaker E:It was probably really good.
Speaker C:And that's an unfair question because I didn't look it up.
Speaker E:Okay.
Speaker C:So I'm just asking as a point of reference.
Speaker E:Yeah, you know what?
Speaker E:That's probably out of my memory banks.
Speaker E:I'd have to go back and look.
Speaker E:But I, I, I, you know, I won the US junior here when I was 17 also.
Speaker C:Do you remember that score?
Speaker E:Not just the.
Speaker E:What was match play.
Speaker C:Oh, okay.
Speaker E:But, yeah, I won the, the US Juniors here.
Speaker E:My mom and dad were with me and the clubhouse was across the street back then.
Speaker E:But yeah, a lot of good memories here.
Speaker E:It's been a good place for me.
Speaker C:We're going to wrap it up for grilling at the Green for this episode here on Friday, August 14th from the Standard Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Golf Course.
Speaker C:So for Nancy Lopez and myself, we wish you have a good day and we'll be back tomorrow, same time, same multiple channels.
Speaker C: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.
