Shownotes
The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around a thoughtful exploration of the recent Ryder Cup, particularly the conduct of the fans at Bethpage and its implications for the future of golf events. We engage in a candid dialogue about the contrasting cultural dynamics between American and European golf, particularly in terms of team play and the significance of the Ryder Cup to players from both sides of the Atlantic. Additionally, we delve into the evolving landscape of professional golf, highlighting the recent surge in participation and interest following the pandemic, and the challenges faced by the PGA Tour amidst competition from alternative formats. The episode further features a reflective discussion on the state of golf today, emphasizing the camaraderie and positivity inherent in the golfing community, which stands as a testament to the sport's unifying power. As we navigate these topics, we aim to provide our listeners with a nuanced understanding of current events in golf, underscoring the importance of sportsmanship and community in this beloved game.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Birdie Ball
- MD Anderson
- Scott Kopetz
- Painted Hills
- Snell Golf Balls
- Carsley Golf
- McLemore
- Weston Kia
- 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 a golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass for the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Everybody.
Speaker C:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker C:I'm jt show originates out of Portland and of course goes to Seattle and a few stations across the country in between.
Speaker C:And then we're a proud part of the Gulf News Network.
Speaker C:This segment is brought to you by Birdie Ball.
Speaker C:If you need a practice putting green at home, Birdie Ball's your company there.
Speaker C:They're, well, affordable.
Speaker C:They've been rated very high.
Speaker C:Sports Illustrated just rated them super.
Speaker C:And go to birdieball.com so the big timer is back.
Speaker C:My buddy Charlie Reimer.
Speaker C:Haven't had Charlie on the show for, gosh, better part of a year, I think.
Speaker C:Charlie, I don't know how you've made.
Speaker D:It that's this far without me.
Speaker D:JT I just don't know how you've done that.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's been a test.
Speaker C:I'll put it that way.
Speaker C:It's been a test.
Speaker C:First of all, I'm sure our listeners would like to know, how's your health?
Speaker D:Oh, man, I'm, I'm doing great, J.T.
Speaker D:i'm a colon cancer survivor, and I'm three years, six months and three weeks cancer free.
Speaker D:So I'm very excited about that.
Speaker D:And, and just got back from a trip down to MD Anderson to see my oncologist, the amazing Dr. Scott Kopetz.
Speaker D:And for a while, I was going down there for treatment and then surveillance every three months and then every six months.
Speaker D:And I was down there a few weeks back.
Speaker D:He said, you get out of here and I don't want to see you for a year.
Speaker D:So I'm very happy about that.
Speaker D:Yeah, so it's been not a lot of fun, but we're on the right, on the right track, and I plan on staying there.
Speaker D:And I appreciate you asking.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker C:No problem.
Speaker C:But it's, you're one of my favorite people, Charlie, and I think that's great.
Speaker C:And the wife and family's all good.
Speaker D:Oh, man.
Speaker D:Yeah, everybody's doing good.
Speaker D:I had my youngest son who played football, University of Missouri.
Speaker D:He was in town over the weekend with his best friend who was a lineman.
Speaker D:He bought two of me and we, we did some cooking out.
Speaker D:We played some golf.
Speaker D:We might tell a few lies.
Speaker D:And the weather's great.
Speaker D:I live in northwest Georgia, and the weather's great this time of Year.
Speaker D:And so we.
Speaker D:We had a big old good time.
Speaker D:Thank you.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:And I got my.
Speaker D:My grand.
Speaker D:My grandbaby's got birthday.
Speaker D:She's 8 now, so Tom just kind of goes by, you know.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker C:Do you do a low country boil for them or what'd you do?
Speaker D:No, we.
Speaker D:This part of the world.
Speaker D:I live on Lookout Mountain, which is a.
Speaker D:Just a beautiful mountain that.
Speaker D:That.
Speaker D:The very northern tip of it is in Tennessee, and then it runs right down the Alabama.
Speaker D:Georgia line.
Speaker D:Most of it is in Alabama.
Speaker D:I'm on the Georgia side, but very close to where the three states come together right this time of year.
Speaker D:You know, we've got this thing here in the south called college football.
Speaker D:I. I know y' all don't really mess with that out on the west coast, but it's really cool.
Speaker D:You ought to check it out sometime.
Speaker D:College football of year, you know, on the weekends we got some pork cooking, so I. I got my pellet grill.
Speaker D:Grill fired up.
Speaker D:I did a pork butt and collard greens are great this time of year.
Speaker D:Did some collard greens and some beans and some hot slaw.
Speaker D:And you know when you do those collard greens, you know what hot chow chow is?
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:You got to put hot chow chow on those collard greens.
Speaker D:So that.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker D:It's just a part of the South.
Speaker D:You gotta have.
Speaker D:You gotta have some pork smoking on the weekends while we're watching this thing called college football.
Speaker D:Georgia Tech, by the way, hadn't lost a game this year, so.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm aware.
Speaker D:That'd be five and.
Speaker D:Oh.
Speaker C:You'Re the guy.
Speaker C:You're the only guy I know.
Speaker C:That takes.
Speaker C:I think it was your egg salad sandwich at the Masters.
Speaker C:And puts the barbecue chips on it.
Speaker C:Puts it back.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:You do egg salad and pimento cheese and.
Speaker D:And you crunch it up some Masters barbecue chips and put it on there.
Speaker D:And you do the crunchy egg Mento, of course, that's on white wonder bread or.
Speaker D:I don't know what they put it on, but it's good.
Speaker C:Whatever it is, but it's good.
Speaker C:It's good.
Speaker C:I like.
Speaker D:I might be the.
Speaker D:I might be the guy that invented that.
Speaker C:I'm going to give you credit for it.
Speaker D:I'll take it.
Speaker C:I'm going to give you credit for it.
Speaker C:There'll be a plaque in your future.
Speaker C:Put it on the wall right behind you.
Speaker D:I got a few plaques on the wall back.
Speaker C:I see that.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker C:Right in the center front there.
Speaker C:Okay, so there's been A lot of stuff going on in the world of golf since the last time we talked.
Speaker C:Oh really?
Speaker D:I haven't noticed.
Speaker C:Oh, I know.
Speaker C:Well, I, I read that on a plane the other day, so I just, I thought I'd bring it up to you and see what's going on.
Speaker C:Let's start with the, the time proximity now and work our way backwards.
Speaker C:But we just got done with the Ryder Cup.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And regardless of the end score, which our guys played pretty good on, on Sunday and really made a comeback, I'm, I thought that was cool.
Speaker C:But the behavior of the fans at Beth Page was a little to be desired, I would think.
Speaker C:I wanted to get your take on that.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think there was some really unfortunate things that happened there.
Speaker D:I think maybe the PGA of America, of which I'm a very proud member, probably in their post mortem will pick up on a few adjustments that they need, need to make.
Speaker D:And, and a lot of the things we saw there, you know, to some degree it is expected.
Speaker D:You go, there's nothing like a New York sports fan.
Speaker D:And yeah, you know, the, it's, it's so darn expensive to go to any kind of sporting event now.
Speaker D:And when, when you're paying 750 face value for a ticket and you throw some alcohol in and, and kind of feel like, I think a lot of folks fans feel like, hey, I can be part of this.
Speaker D:You know, I paid for my, you know, my, my pound of flesh.
Speaker D:So I, you know, I get to get to be a part of the action.
Speaker D:And, and that, you know, that's for a Yankees game or they still, they still have the Jets.
Speaker D:They hadn't won a game in a few years, I don't think.
Speaker D:I think they still play jets game, Giants game.
Speaker D:You know, that part of the world they, they get, they're famous for getting riled up.
Speaker D:But there's a, there's really, there's a line that you go to and, and that, that line I definitely got crossed.
Speaker D:I wasn't there on the grounds I happened to be watching a pretty good amount of it and you know, up to a certain point it is expected, but they exceeded that point.
Speaker D:And so I'm hoping that PGA kind of figures things out a little bit and maybe some of the fans up there kind of re examine their, how they acted in particular at golf course.
Speaker D:Obviously US Open tennis isn't very far from, from where the venue was there.
Speaker D:Beth Pigs Black.
Speaker D:But definitely some of it was shameful and unfortunate and I hope again adjustments are made moving forward and we don't see that what should be a great celebration in the game and a spirited competition.
Speaker C:But sure, go any farther than that, I would have.
Speaker C:One suggestion for the PGA is don't sell loudmouth until, you know, noon or something.
Speaker C:You know, don't make it available at 9 when those people have to sit there for four hours before they ever even get a glimpse of a golfer.
Speaker C:Yeah, nothing to do, you know.
Speaker D:Yeah, well, you know, and we were talking about the, the Masters and their, the sandwiches.
Speaker D:Augusta is I, I think the high water mark for any sporting event, golf and beyond.
Speaker D:And they have, they have a couple of advantages and one of them is unlimited resources.
Speaker D:But the other one is that they, they do it at the same place every year.
Speaker D:And, and they, they have all this data.
Speaker D:They know how many people are coming, how many beers are going to drink.
Speaker D:They know, they got all of the information.
Speaker D:When you do a Ryder cup, you go to a venue.
Speaker D:A lot of times it'll be the only time it's ever been at that venue.
Speaker D:And it, and it had been, it's four years since it's been there previously.
Speaker D:And you can look at things and evaluate best you can and set up a game plan.
Speaker D:But even the best at conducting events, they're not going to get everything right.
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker D:But I think that as we move forward, you know, I'd like to see some communication with the golf fans that are coming.
Speaker D:We're in Europe and then we're back in the US Ahead of time.
Speaker D:And, and let's make sure we don't repeat what happened this time.
Speaker D:Come and have fun.
Speaker D:And I've always had a jt, a tagline for my show that, that I did for quite, quite a long time.
Speaker D:I'd always tag the show and keep it in the fairway and, and that didn't really.
Speaker D:That applies to a lot more than just go.
Speaker C:Oh, I agree.
Speaker C:We're going to take a break.
Speaker C:Charlie and I will be back.
Speaker C:Just a couple minutes.
Speaker C:Got the bills, so we'll be right back.
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Speaker B:Hey everybody, JT here.
Speaker B:If you need something to practice with in the inclement weather, try Birdie ball.
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Speaker C:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker C:I'm JT.
Speaker C:Today we've got Charlie Reimer with us.
Speaker C:My fave.
Speaker C:You know, you guys don't hear the stuff we talk about off air is mostly about cooking and mostly about barbecue.
Speaker C:But Charlie and I are both.
Speaker C:We are certified food guys, so I'll just leave it at that.
Speaker D:Yeah, we pay our dues.
Speaker C:We paid our dues.
Speaker C:And we, we might, you might say we bring the receipts with us.
Speaker C:Charlie, you know, they can.
Speaker C:They can see that.
Speaker C:I want to touch on one more thing about the Ryder Cup.
Speaker C:Do we just not play enough, like, foursomes and stuff?
Speaker C:They do a lot more of that in Europe and they, you know, they do a lot more match play, and they kind of grow up on that stuff over there.
Speaker C:We don't.
Speaker C:Ours is always about stroke play for the most part.
Speaker C:And it just seems to me like we've got, you know, I don't know the exact number this week, but if you take the top 20 golfers in the world, we've got more than half of them.
Speaker C:You know, if you look at that.
Speaker C:But I don't know if there's an actual answer, but your take on it would be appreciated because I just think that we don't.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker C:I don't want to have people say they don't take it seriously.
Speaker C:They do take it seriously, but for some reason, the four ball and all of that always comes around, bites us a little bit.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think somewhat.
Speaker D:Listen, some of it is cultural, and here in the US I think we have more rugged individualists than.
Speaker D:Than you do in Europe.
Speaker D:We, we in particular in golf and tennis is another good example.
Speaker D:You just don't really pair up that much.
Speaker D:And, and golf is.
Speaker D:A lot of people are attracted to team sports, which I get it.
Speaker D:But very early on, if you're a young person that is.
Speaker D:Is attracted to golf, a lot of it is because you want to control as many variables as possible.
Speaker D:You think about it, hey, I want to be a quarterback or I want to be a point guard.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's a lot.
Speaker D:Well, basketball is not a great example, but if you want to be a quarterback, for example, it.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker D:You can have your best game ever.
Speaker D:And if your defense thinks you lose and a lot of people like, well, I don't want that.
Speaker D:I want it to be all about me all the time.
Speaker D:And that's what, that's what golf is.
Speaker D:And we celebrate it here in, in the, in the US and, and you really don't play a ton of team golf.
Speaker D:Even in college, very seldom are you leaning on your teammate.
Speaker D:You can't hit a shot for your teammate.
Speaker D:You can't sub in, you can't sub out.
Speaker D:Even now they, that they play more and more match play.
Speaker D:It's all about you all the time.
Speaker D:You, you either, you know, you're either the goat or you're the hero.
Speaker D:And, and folks love that.
Speaker D:And, and I loved it when I was a kid and I love not having to depend on anybody else is all about me.
Speaker D:And, and I think culturally the Europeans in general will team up a little bit more.
Speaker D:I mean now they have some great champions, obviously, but just a little more receptive to team golf.
Speaker D:And we don't, don't play it that much as kids.
Speaker D:And, and the other thing I'll tell you is nothing against the Ryder cup is a great event.
Speaker D:Obviously a lot of fans love it globally and it's one of the more popular events.
Speaker D:When I was a kid growing up, I would be on my putting green in Tiga K, South Carolina, late at night with just a light on in the parking lot and underneath that light, hitting putts on the putting green.
Speaker D:There was one light there and you could, you could putt, you know, for three or four hours after sunset till somebody turned that light off.
Speaker D:And in my mind I'd have a, an eight foot putt and I'd build it up.
Speaker D:This is to win the biggest event I can win.
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker D:And for me, what was the biggest event?
Speaker D:Well, it might have started local elsewhere in a state championship.
Speaker D:It's, it's breaking 60 for the first time.
Speaker D:We're about two and a half, three hours from Augusta.
Speaker D:So it's for the Masters and it's for US Open, that's for the PGA and it's for the British Open.
Speaker D:Then, then it's for the, you know, the Kemper Open was played nearby and then was the Atlanta Classic and all that.
Speaker D:And about the 50th event I got to was an eight footer to win the Ryder Cup.
Speaker D:Ali Westwood, growing up and in England when he's doing that same thing, he's a little younger now, but not much.
Speaker D:The first putt that he had in his mind, the biggest putt he could ever get in his career, was to win the Ryder Cup.
Speaker D:For me, it was about the 50th biggest.
Speaker D:And I'm not, I'm not I'm just telling you the importance of this event to the Europeans.
Speaker D:For the longest time, it was greatly more important than it was for US Players.
Speaker D:I think that's kind of move this way a little bit, but it's still not as important as a lot of the other events that I just mentioned.
Speaker D:And that's just the way it is.
Speaker D:And I don't apologize for that.
Speaker D:It just.
Speaker D:Just the way it is.
Speaker D:And so we don't team very well together.
Speaker D:And for the longest time it was looked at as an exhibition match.
Speaker D:Now that it's more competitive, it certainly is not looked as an exhibition match.
Speaker D:But for the players, it's, it's not everything they live for in the US And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
Speaker D:Just the way it is.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I will say again that I thought our guys put on a hell of a show on Sunday.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, it came down to, you know, a couple of half points type thing and well worth the ticket of admission on Sunday.
Speaker C:I, that's my take on.
Speaker C:I just think it was, it was.
Speaker D:Amazing Sunday for the US but the first two days were amazing.
Speaker D:Amazing for Team Europe.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was.
Speaker C:And I, I've kind of come to the point where I listened to it, but I also tuned it out.
Speaker C:All the, the chatter, if you will, the, the nonsense.
Speaker C:And some of it's worth listening to, Charlie.
Speaker C:But I, I think.
Speaker C:But I also think there's a lot of this and there's always a lot of speculation, you know, what if this and this and this and this and this and this.
Speaker C:Yeah, let's just watch them play golf.
Speaker C:That's what.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:The coaches, captains get a lot of pressure.
Speaker D:But I've watched Ryder cup for quite a few years now.
Speaker D:I've yet to see a captain hit an actual shot.
Speaker D:Yeah, it comes down to who putts.
Speaker D:Well, first two days, team US didn't putt very well.
Speaker D:I did hear that the European team spent a little more time playing and practicing and checking out the golf course at, at Beth Page than the, than the US side did.
Speaker D:Maybe that played a little bit of a factor.
Speaker D:But, you know, I, I think that the only thing I would question, pairings are a bit of a wild card, especially with alternate shot.
Speaker D:But sure, the home captain can determine the, the format of play that starts each day.
Speaker D:And I was a little surprised that Keegan Bradley rolled out the, the four sums or alternate shot to start each session.
Speaker D:I think traditionally it'd probably be a little more comfortable for the team USA to open up each of the sessions with, with four ball rather than alternate shot.
Speaker D:But, you know, that's, that's easy to say now.
Speaker D:It wasn't anything I was thinking about before the Rider cup actually started to be perfectly fair.
Speaker D:So I think it's something that it is to create something.
Speaker D:There's no doubt about that.
Speaker C:You bet.
Speaker C:We're going to take another break.
Speaker C:Charlie and I'll be back.
Speaker C:Don't forget, we're part of Golf News Network and on every platform out there and still on terrestrial radio.
Speaker C:How about that?
Speaker C:Not very many of us.
Speaker C:We'll be right back.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody, it's jt.
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Speaker C:You won't regret it.
Speaker C:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker C:I'm jt.
Speaker C:Today we got Charlie Reimer with us.
Speaker C:We'd like to thank the folks at Snell Golf Balls, Dean and Jason back there.
Speaker C:They have tour quality balls that consumer direct prices to you go to snellgolf.com also Carsley Golf.
Speaker C:If you've never used the rhymer, hence Charlie, but he didn't have anything to do with this because they spell it different.
Speaker C:But it's if you got a little problem with your stance or the width of your stance or your alignment, get yourself a rhymer.
Speaker C:In fact, they're on sale now between now and the end of the year.
Speaker C:For holiday gift Items, go to carsleygolf.com okay, some of the other majors this year, Scotty Scheffler is on a tear.
Speaker C:You know, I mean, he just is.
Speaker C:He's like almost the perfect golfing machine at times.
Speaker C:But once in a while we have somebody else pop up.
Speaker C:And one of the things that I'm a, I'm a fan of Tommy Fleetwood, Charlie.
Speaker C:I just am a fan of his.
Speaker C:I always have been.
Speaker C:I think he carries himself well.
Speaker C:He plays lights out and stuff and he finally knocked off a win this year.
Speaker C:But I wanted to get your take on the major majors this year.
Speaker D:Well, watching Scotty Scheffler play, you know, is, it's really a treat and I love that folks are kind of comparing what Scotty has done to what Tiger did.
Speaker D:I think that's very premature to do that.
Speaker D:But Scotty is just, you know, he's a baller and he's absolutely in the the mix every time he plays, which is, you know, takes a just a tremendous amount of.
Speaker C:Of.
Speaker D:Of preparation of.
Speaker C:Of.
Speaker D:You know, emotional strength of discipline, obviously talent and.
Speaker D:And it's just.
Speaker C:It.
Speaker D:It really is historic and watching the way he plays the game and, And.
Speaker D:And what he's able to do.
Speaker D:You mentioned Tommy Fleetwood.
Speaker D:I think that that was him getting that first PGA Tour win, which everybody knew was, you know, was.
Speaker D:It was a.
Speaker D:Was coming at some point is one of the more popular wins that I've seen, you know, in the, in the locker room in a long time.
Speaker D:And and so that.
Speaker D:That was.
Speaker D:That was a lot of fun to watch.
Speaker D:And, and.
Speaker D:But it's, you know, the thing about the, you know, the majors is there's such a different.
Speaker D:Different test.
Speaker D:I was.
Speaker D:Was down in Augusta and watch.
Speaker D:Actually was dealing with a little bit of COVID during.
Speaker D:During the British Open and got a chance to watch all of it.
Speaker D:But they're just, you know, the tests are so different.
Speaker D:You know, you think about.
Speaker D:There's nothing like Augusta.
Speaker D:There's nothing like the British Open at all.
Speaker D:The, The.
Speaker D:The PGA is.
Speaker D:Is maybe the one event that's the closest to being similar to a.
Speaker D:A very stern setup at a regular pga.
Speaker D:PGA Tour event.
Speaker D:But.
Speaker D:But it's, It's.
Speaker D:They kind of, you know, do the most fair setup, I think, and it's kind of the way is what the biggest obstacle is.
Speaker D:But you know, to go through major golf is just so different than anything that you see.
Speaker D:And to watch these guys get through it this year, obviously, Rory, in fact, Rory kind of, I think breaking through and getting the career Grand Slam at Augusta and just kind of resting on his laurels a little bit.
Speaker D:But, you know, if you look at.
Speaker D:At, you know, who's performed the best and the.
Speaker D:In the majors relative to par this season, Scotty Sheffield was 32 under par.
Speaker D:Roy McElroy, who's 11 under shuffle 10 under, Rom six under, Harris English five under, and a couple other players in Matt Fitzpatrick and terrell Hatton at 1 under.
Speaker D:So if you look at them cumulatively, you know, all of those players, that's, That's a heck of a run.
Speaker D:But.
Speaker D:But 22 shots better than everybody else.
Speaker D:And the Masters, that's pretty, pretty darn strong for, For Scheffler and, And I get the feeling that as long as he doesn't start tinkering and trying to you know, mess with that swing a little bit or try to stabilize his lower body a little bit, then it's going to be hard for the other guys to catch up with him anytime soon.
Speaker C:So two things that you just spoke of, and I wanted to, to bring up one, I agree with you that I think it's to start comparing Scotty to Tiger.
Speaker C:The folks that are making those comparisons are getting over their skis.
Speaker C:It's a long road.
Speaker C:If you look at tire Tiger's entire career.
Speaker C:And I'm not sure we'll ever see another golfer like Tiger.
Speaker C:That's just me.
Speaker C:I'm an unabashed Tiger fan.
Speaker C:And the other thing is, and this, this goes to your realm, what you used to do, I don't know how many golf announcers when they're watching somebody play, and you said it was a foregone conclusion kind of that Tommy would do that, you know, get a tour win and all that.
Speaker C:And I would agree with you, but it kind of drives me nuts, Charlie, when I hear some of the guys in the booth say, yep, we're going to see a lot of this young man out there.
Speaker C:He's gonna, you know, he's gonna win many majors or something like that.
Speaker C:How the hell do you know?
Speaker C:Well, I know they've got air to fill.
Speaker C:I've got air to fill.
Speaker D:You don't.
Speaker D:You don't.
Speaker D:But, but a lot of it, JT is.
Speaker D:What's a fancy term?
Speaker D:Recency bias.
Speaker D:And, and if you're golf announcer and I'm not in that space anymore, you watch a lot of golf and, and if you're a big fan, you watch a lot of golf and, and the players performing in front of you right now are over a window of, let's say, 18 months or two years.
Speaker D:You kind of get so caught up in them, you get skewed a little bit on the, on the history.
Speaker D:I made the mistake one time early in Sergio's career.
Speaker D:I knew he was going to be a special player.
Speaker D:And I, I on air, I said, yeah, Sergio's going to win four or five majors.
Speaker D:And this is before he wanted Augusta.
Speaker D:And Billy Kratzer, one of my best friends and four time PGA Tour winner, boy, he jumped all over me.
Speaker D:He said, there's no way to win four or five majors.
Speaker D:And I went, oh, yeah, no problem.
Speaker D:Look at, he's like, do you have any idea what you're talking about?
Speaker D:The club gets smaller.
Speaker D:The number of players that have won four or five majors is very minuscule.
Speaker D:And yeah, so it's easy to have that recency bias and look at a player doing some special things and kind of project forward and think, well, this player is going to go out and do this, this, and this.
Speaker D:And very seldom does it actually play out that way.
Speaker D:So sometimes it does, but more often than not, it doesn't.
Speaker D:And so, you know, TV announcers just get a little worked up over what's.
Speaker C:Oh, yeah.
Speaker D:Worked up over what's in front of them.
Speaker D:But, you know, Scotty's off to an amazing start.
Speaker D:He's just got to keep doing it for another 10 or 12 years and then we can start maybe possibly the rate that he's going at now, then start putting him in the discussion with Tiger.
Speaker D:But there's.
Speaker D:There's a great start, no doubt about it.
Speaker D:But he's got a long way to go before he starts get.
Speaker D:Getting in the discussion with Tiger Woods.
Speaker C:Charlie, I want to talk about the Tour in general.
Speaker C:We got three or four minutes where we have to go to break here, but give us your thumbnail on the state of the Tour and that.
Speaker C:Not just the number of stops and stuff, but just overall.
Speaker D:Well, if you look at TV ratings this year, they've made a nice bounce back for the PGA Tour.
Speaker D:There was some concern that folks weren't watching this year, and a lot of instances did set some records.
Speaker D:I think that the whole situation would live for the first time ever, really, the PGA Tour had some competition.
Speaker D:I think they probably did some things well.
Speaker D:I think they probably struggled with some things.
Speaker D:Just, just.
Speaker D:You've never had any competition.
Speaker D:You've been the only game in town, and now you're really not.
Speaker D:And that.
Speaker D:That was a real curveball.
Speaker D:But I think that overall the game is strong.
Speaker D:If you look at the impact that the pandemic had on the game of golf, roughly Speaking, there was 26 million golfers prior to pandemic.
Speaker D:Now we have 44 million golfers.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And it looks like we're getting some stickiness to that.
Speaker D:Those golfers are staying in the game.
Speaker D:So there's a.
Speaker D:There's a really strong interest in golfers.
Speaker D:More golfers than we've ever had.
Speaker D:A PGA Tour is.
Speaker D:Is a wonderful, proven product.
Speaker D:Some people in particular, the demographics skewed towards younger folks with.
Speaker D:With live.
Speaker D:They, you know, they've got.
Speaker D:That they can look at.
Speaker D:You're about to get into the simulator season with.
Speaker D:With the.
Speaker C:The.
Speaker D:What is it TGL that Tiger and Rory have.
Speaker D:Mike McCarley, who was my president when I was at Golf Channel, that.
Speaker D:That's a great way to consume golf that brings younger people in.
Speaker D:So there's, while there's some healing that needs to be done and, and you're looking at the game globally, some ways and things need to line up.
Speaker D:I don't know how all that's going to happen.
Speaker D:But, you know, if you're, if you're a golf professional and you're playing any tour in the world, you're playing for more money than anybody ever thought was possible.
Speaker D:And, and I think obviously from the player standpoint, that's, that's a really good thing.
Speaker D:But the business part of it is a little bit different because it's, it's a little more challenging to raise some of the charity dollars that the PGA Tour has already done.
Speaker D:So it's, it's a, it's a, you know, bold new world and golf and you don't get into the Bryson DeChambeau outdraw and PGA Tour events with his YouTube channel.
Speaker D:Y know, it really blows my mind.
Speaker D:But the game is good enough.
Speaker D:That's not the right word.
Speaker D:The game is so good, the people in it are so good, the interest is so strong.
Speaker D:It's gonna get to a new normal at some point that everybody's going to be okay with.
Speaker D:I just don't know when, how, what that looks like.
Speaker D:But it's certainly a global gang that live, I think will have quite a bit of success globally, while I think BGA Tour will probably end up being a little more, you know, on the domestic front.
Speaker D:But a lot of people don't know, you know, exactly how things are going to play out.
Speaker D:I'm one of those people.
Speaker D:Heck, I don't know anybody that knows how it's going to turn out.
Speaker D:But there's enough good stuff to where it's going to survive and I think it's going to thrive.
Speaker D:It is right now.
Speaker C:I agree.
Speaker C:We're going to take a break.
Speaker C:We're going to come back and wrap up the regular show with Charlie Reimer.
Speaker C:You're listening to Grilling at the green on Golf NewsNet and all the platforms everywhere.
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Speaker C:Welcome back to Brilliant the Green.
Speaker C:I'm jt want to thank the folks at Squares Golf Shoes, Bob Winskowitz and his crew there.
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Speaker C:We're talking with Charlie Reimer today a little bit.
Speaker C:Talk about the McLemore there.
Speaker C:How when you first started talking to me about this, I don't know, what, two or three years ago, it's been.
Speaker D:Yeah, a little longer than that.
Speaker D:I've been here Macklemore about six years now.
Speaker C:Oh, wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:See, time flies when you're having fun.
Speaker C:How's that?
Speaker C:How's the reception?
Speaker C:Been to the Macklemore?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So last year was a big year for McLemore.
Speaker D:And, and we're located JT a couple hours north of Atlanta.
Speaker D:We're kind of right in a sweet spot with Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville.
Speaker D:It's a two hour drive from each one of those markets.
Speaker D:So we're maybe two hours or less from 14 million people or so.
Speaker D:So it's a great drive to a golf resort.
Speaker D:When I first got here, we had one golf course and, and a halfway house.
Speaker D:And now we've got two golf courses, a major hotel, and five and a half restaurants.
Speaker D:I might have had something to do with pushing the restaurants.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker C:That's my boy.
Speaker C:That's my boy.
Speaker D:But last year we brought on a beautiful hotel.
Speaker D:It hangs on the side of a mountain.
Speaker D:It's called cloud on.
Speaker D:That's 245 rooms.
Speaker D:Got great meeting space and convention space and, and wonderful food and.
Speaker D:And we also brought on a new golf course that we opened towards the end of the year called the Keep.
Speaker D:That's just absolutely beautiful, like the, the Cloudland Hotel.
Speaker D:It hangs on the side of a cliff and there's a Bill Bergen Reese Jones course.
Speaker D:It'd be really good golf course within a cornfield, but it is certainly not in a cornfield.
Speaker D:It's hanging on the side of Lookout Mountain and that gives it tremendous drama.
Speaker D:We just a couple weeks ago, 1st of October, had our official opening.
Speaker D:We've been in preview play for about a year.
Speaker D:People Reacted wonderfully to.
Speaker D:It's a, it's an emotional place.
Speaker D:You, the views are just so incredible and we don't let music out there, so it's nice and quiet.
Speaker D:There's a lot of width in the fairways, which I like, but that, that means there's a strategic golf course, so you can kind of choose your route around there.
Speaker D:One day you might be best off on the right side of fairway, the next day with a different win, a different whole location in the left side of the fairway.
Speaker D:But we've had a lot of raiders coming in and, and the, the reaction has been very positive.
Speaker D:A lot of positive reaction from a lot of the golfers.
Speaker D:We did get off to a little bit of a slow start.
Speaker D:We, we opened in a tough time of year in a drought, coming right off of that horrible Hurricane Helene that did so much damage up through this part of the world, but really, really tragic.
Speaker D:But the, the golf course has grown in nicely.
Speaker D:People are loving it right now in October.
Speaker D:It's spectacular.
Speaker D:They like the hotel and, and the imagery that comes out of here, what we produce and then more importantly, what, what a lot of the photos and videos that the golfers that come here and our guests are, they're putting out on their own.
Speaker D:They're just kind of blown away by it.
Speaker D:But it's a neat place.
Speaker D:It's near where I grew up, so it's a special place in my heart always.
Speaker D:Well, and, and the, the world is noticing and the world is starting to come to Macklemore and it's, it's really a lot of fun for me to see that happen.
Speaker C:I'm familiar, I've never been there, but I'm familiar with the area.
Speaker C:I've got some in laws that live in Tennessee, but in that kind of three corner area you were talking about, they live right up above Peyton Manning's golf course there.
Speaker D:He's got Sweden's Cove.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, yeah, they live right up there.
Speaker C:And I was up there a year or so ago, a real quick trip back there and saw the, stood out on the bluff and looked at everything.
Speaker C:It was just magnificent.
Speaker C:Just absolutely breathtaking.
Speaker D:Yeah, geologically it's a fascinating area.
Speaker D:There's, there's a lot of these flat top mountains here and we get, we get a nice break from the heat in the, in the summer, typically 7 or 8 degrees cooler than what it is say in downtown or Chattanooga.
Speaker D:And that's always nice.
Speaker D:And, and that gives us enough of a break in the heat to have Ben Grass on the greens, and it's really thriving up here.
Speaker D:And there's so much bermuda in the southeast now.
Speaker D:And it's a.
Speaker D:It's a good putting service.
Speaker D:Bermuda on the greens, but there's nothing like bentgrass, and you just don't see it much anymore.
Speaker D:And our greens are just absolutely wonderful.
Speaker C:We got just a little over a minute here, Charlie, before we wrap this up and go to after hours.
Speaker C:But what's one thing with your time at the McLemore?
Speaker C:What's one thing that Charlie has learned about the golf world?
Speaker C:Make you think for a second.
Speaker D:It's just there's amazing people that play this game.
Speaker D:We get a lot of travelers that come through here, and.
Speaker D:And I have a lot of friends that come visit me and.
Speaker D:And, you know, I just.
Speaker D:I'm so blessed to, at a young age, have been introduced to golf by people that care about it, the junior golf programs over in South Carolina.
Speaker D:And, you know, this amazing game has provided for my education, most of meaningful friends I have, and places I've been able to see Career A, career B, career C. And I enjoy going up to our hotel, having dinner, and talking to golfers that are coming to visit us from all across the world.
Speaker D:And it's just some amazing people.
Speaker D:You know, you just.
Speaker D:You don't.
Speaker D:You just don't.
Speaker D:JT Run into many jerks in the world of golf.
Speaker C:Too many.
Speaker D:You know, we're really.
Speaker D:We're really blessed in this game.
Speaker D:And at a time where, you know, there's so much friction everywhere and divided people, there's not a whole lot that brings folks together and have a common interest, and golf is something that does that.
Speaker D:And I'm just so, you know, so blessed to be in this game.
Speaker C:Absolutely, Charlie.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:I miss talking to you.
Speaker C:And we'll do it more frequently.
Speaker C:How's that?
Speaker D:You got it.
Speaker D:Love to do that.
Speaker D:We got to get into cooking next time.
Speaker C:We will.
Speaker C:We will.
Speaker C:Okay, that's going to wrap it for Charlie and me here on Grilling at the Green, but we got after hours coming up, so you have to listen to that online, though.
Speaker C:They won't.
Speaker C:They won't let that over the airwaves.
Speaker C:Anyway, go out, everybody.
Speaker C:Have a good week.
Speaker C:Play some golf, have some fun, and most of all, be kind.
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 reserved.
