Shownotes
The primary focus of this episode revolves around an engaging discourse with Steve Merrill, the esteemed general manager of Shortland Golf in Westland, Oregon. We delve into a variety of topics including personal anecdotes about our initial experiences with golf, illustrating how these moments foster enduring connections with family and friends. The conversation further explores culinary preferences, particularly the significance of sharing meals with influential figures, and the evolution of golf culture, which now embraces a more relaxed atmosphere. As we reflect on our past mistakes and the lessons learned, we emphasize the importance of following one's passions and the joy derived from communal experiences. We invite our listeners to engage with the vibrant community at Shortland Golf and join us in celebrating the sport that brings us all together.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Golf Newsnet
- Shortland Golf
- ShortlandGolfClub.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Welcome to Grilling at the Green After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours here on Grilling at the green.
Speaker A:I'm J.T.
Speaker A:And of course, we are part of Golf Newsnet, and they're airing after hours now.
Speaker A:That's kind of a cool thing.
Speaker A:And we've got radio stations here and there, and we've got, on all the platforms.
Speaker A:You can hear us on Apple podcasts and porn.
Speaker A:Wherever you get your podcasts, we're there.
Speaker A:So we're talking with Steve Merrill, general manager of Shortland Golf in Westland, Oregon,.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:He's graciously agreed to stick around for a few minutes and do some of this after hours stuff.
Speaker A:So I hope you're ready.
Speaker A:We'll see.
Speaker A:We'll see how good your mental short game is on this stuff.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We'll start out easy.
Speaker A:What's your favorite color?
Speaker A:Lifesaver.
Speaker B:Oh, that's really easy.
Speaker B:Red.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:I'm a red and green guy myself.
Speaker B:Oh, it's green.
Speaker B:I just can't do.
Speaker A:Sorry, can't do green.
Speaker A:No, I love the green.
Speaker A:Okay, Steve, if you could dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
Speaker B:Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker A:I came from the food business, so the menu.
Speaker B:I did, I did.
Speaker B:And I, I've always been fascinated by people I thought were intelligent and, to your point, kind.
Speaker B:And I, I, I would love to have dinner with Obama, President Obama and his wife.
Speaker B:I think that would be one of the most interesting dinners you could have.
Speaker B:And I don't, they don't strike me as people that need gourmet food.
Speaker B:I think a good steak would, would sit well with, with the president stuff.
Speaker B:So I would, I would find a good steakhouse that would, that really knows how to do that kind of cuisine, and, and I would get very entertained and all the stuff he could share with me.
Speaker A:There's, at least in our area, there is not a lot of great steakhouses.
Speaker A:We have some.
Speaker A:We have some, yes, but some are overpriced and overrated and, but anyway, that's just my take because I'm a food guy, too.
Speaker A:If you could erase one mistake from your past, what would it be?
Speaker B:You know, I had, I didn't make a lot of, I made a lot of mistakes.
Speaker B:I shouldn't say that, but I don't regret a lot of them because I grew from most of those things.
Speaker B:I would have, I would have.
Speaker B:I really did follow my passion.
Speaker B:I went to school for marketing.
Speaker B:I went into the restaurant industry and then.
Speaker B:And really realized that that's what I was meant to be.
Speaker B:I was meant to be around people.
Speaker B:I love people.
Speaker B:And I think that I wished I could have got into this earlier.
Speaker B:That's maybe the one thing I wish to kind of a regret.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:Follow your passion.
Speaker B:Follow what.
Speaker B:Whatever you do well and, And.
Speaker B:And enjoy life.
Speaker B:So short.
Speaker A:That's kind of why we did the first season.
Speaker A:Now we're working on season two of the TV version of the show Grilling at the Green, because I've been a foodie guy for a long time and foodie media guy for, I don't know, 25 years or so.
Speaker A:And I just always thought we'd just meld the two together, so.
Speaker A:And it's worked out pretty good.
Speaker A:So anyway, and if I didn't tell you folks, we've gotten over a million views, downloads, whatever you want to call it, of the first seven episodes of Grilling at the Green through Golf News Network.
Speaker A:So that's kind of a cool thing.
Speaker A:Do you remember a time when you picked up your first golf club?
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's really interesting.
Speaker B:I grew up in Wyoming, so quite frankly, playing golf in Wyoming is a very different venture.
Speaker B:Sometimes you can hit the ball 30 yards and with one shot, and you can turn around and hit it 300 yards, depending on which way the wind was blowing.
Speaker A:Wind was blowing.
Speaker A:I was going to say.
Speaker B:Yeah, so.
Speaker B:So, you know, I didn't play a lot when I was in high school or in college.
Speaker B:First when I met my wife.
Speaker B:Her dad was a avid golfer.
Speaker B:Just loved to play golf.
Speaker A:Very, very.
Speaker B:He was an engineer.
Speaker B:Very good teacher, an amazing teacher.
Speaker B:And so, yeah, first Christmas I go to their house when we're just engaged, and.
Speaker B:And I got all these presents.
Speaker B:I went, wow, what am I getting?
Speaker B:Well, I got golf shoes, I got golf balls, I got teas.
Speaker B:I suddenly knew I was going to learn how to do this.
Speaker B:But I'll tell you, I was so lucky to have that man in my life because he didn't try to correct everything.
Speaker B:He would get there and say, steve, hit it as hard as you can hit it, you know, and.
Speaker B:And hope it goes the right direction.
Speaker B:And then he would get up and beat us to death because he was always down the middle.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:No, I, I get that.
Speaker A:I. I started with a. I grew up on a farm and we had the woodshed.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:That wasn't the.
Speaker A:Its only purpose was not to store wood for the fireplaces.
Speaker A:It was a punishment situation sometimes.
Speaker A:And growing up in Wyoming, I know you understand that, but I found my brother's old set of, with a ripped canvas bag and I don't even remember what they were.
Speaker A:Probably McGregor's or something.
Speaker A:Oddball set.
Speaker A:I remember on the driver the string was unraveling up there by the hosel.
Speaker A:I mean, it was a mess, but.
Speaker A:And I started hitting in the pasture and that's kind of where my love of golf came from.
Speaker A:Was there just.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Hitting balls and then.
Speaker B:Don't we all fall in love with it?
Speaker B:I mean, I, I tell you, as much as I enjoyed golf as a sport that challenged me, because I love sports and played a lot of sports in my life, but you know, I got to be with dad and, and my, my son, my brother in law and it was, it was fun.
Speaker B:It was a, it was a bonding time.
Speaker B:And we laughed, we, we, we complained.
Speaker B:We might have swore a little bit.
Speaker A:Oh, sure.
Speaker B:But, but it was, I just don't think there's a better bonding thing.
Speaker B:Look at the picture behind you.
Speaker B:And all those guys, they get a chance to laugh and you get to see how bad a putter you are.
Speaker B:Good driver.
Speaker B:You are.
Speaker B:It's just, yeah, it's amazing sport.
Speaker A:And I speak fluent golf.
Speaker A:I was going to do that.
Speaker A:What's the first thing you reach for when you're done with a round?
Speaker B:Can I say a beer?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I definitely believe that there's a marriage there between golf and enjoying a good beer with a bunch of friends.
Speaker B:I just can't.
Speaker B:That's why we built the deck we built on this building was because we wanted to be a place that afterwards you wanted to stay around and swap stories and laugh and do all that stuff.
Speaker B:And we just don't have enough situations in the United States today.
Speaker B:We do too much online and I think we should do more of this where we get together and raise a good cold beer.
Speaker B:Enjoy yourself.
Speaker A:Is there a course you would like to play that you haven't been able to play yet?
Speaker B:I haven't been able to play all the courses over at Bandon.
Speaker B:I, I've had the thing of the first two or three of them.
Speaker B:I have not.
Speaker B:I would love to go see that.
Speaker B:Of course, we'd all love to play Augusta just one time.
Speaker B:I mean, just, just to know what it's like to walk down that, those, those fairways were the greatest to play, but not normally easy.
Speaker A:I, I, I should always rephrase that as a place where mere, mere mortals can play.
Speaker B:I definitely.
Speaker B:Mere mortal.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There you Go.
Speaker A:What's the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Speaker B:I got a great dog.
Speaker B:I got a, you know, a guy who waits for me every morning, and he's standing by the door.
Speaker B:And so I take a long walk and I.
Speaker B:And I used to be a runner, so I was always out in the mornings running.
Speaker B:But that had purpose.
Speaker B:The walk with him the last few years have been just amazing.
Speaker B:And he's a, you know, just.
Speaker B:He's always.
Speaker B:He always wants me.
Speaker B:He wants to come back to me.
Speaker B:So I go and replace that for the world.
Speaker A:Oh, sure.
Speaker A:This is kind of a personal thing.
Speaker A:Not too personal.
Speaker A:But what is one thing you wish spectators at golf tournaments would not do?
Speaker B:I don't really know that anymore.
Speaker B:I used to say it was, you know, pay attention to the people when they're.
Speaker B:When they're hitting and stuff, that you're being quiet.
Speaker B:But nowadays, when you see the.
Speaker B:The, you know, Waste Management Open and all that stuff.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, you're starting to see that.
Speaker B:That golf is evolving.
Speaker B:One of the things I noticed in this golf course like none other, is that people carry music source of some sort, and they listen to music all the time.
Speaker B:When I was growing up and when I was learning to play golf, and I'm sure it was the same for you, it was, shh, don't say anything.
Speaker B:And they'd hold the paddles up and say, hey, quiet.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I. I would be afraid to hold a paddle up at.
Speaker B:At the Waste Management deal.
Speaker B:They'd probably throw full beer cans at you.
Speaker A:See Steve Merrill flying out of the third deck on 16?
Speaker B:He has.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Take a little time out there to come clean up the mess.
Speaker A:Okay, a couple more here.
Speaker A:What would you have if you were on death row as your last meal?
Speaker A:Doesn't matter what you eat.
Speaker A:At that point, you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want, so.
Speaker B:Well, I gotta tell you, I'm a. I'm a big.
Speaker B:Because I come from Wyoming.
Speaker B:I'm big on beef.
Speaker B:I. I would.
Speaker B:I love prime rib.
Speaker B:I love a ribeye cut.
Speaker B:And that's different because a lot of people like filet mignons and those kind of things.
Speaker B:I'm much more of a rib eye kind of guy.
Speaker B:But it's got to be seasoned well, and a guy who's cooking it's got to know what he's doing.
Speaker B:He's got to know how to sear it and lock in all that great flavor.
Speaker B:And I would send the first three back just so that they Would have to keep me alive longer.
Speaker B:Just fill that in.
Speaker A:Well, the guards and the warden probably wouldn't have a problem with that.
Speaker A:They'd be set up right out outside your that.
Speaker A:Steve, what's one song you would like to hear on the radio in the morning when you first start your car to go to work?
Speaker A:Something that gets you juices flowing, motivates you?
Speaker B:Yeah, I normally listen to country but I find that it's.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's too low keyed so I pick up some of the newer stations.
Speaker B:I don't have a song for chances coming right to mine, but more I look for the genre, I look for the beat.
Speaker B:I listen to the I, I love it when I can find an old 80s song and sing all the way home because I've got 30 minutes to go to work.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:All by myself.
Speaker B:I sing along to just about everything from the 80s.
Speaker B:I, you know, and the words come to me in that moment, you know, so I, I don't have a special song.
Speaker B:I've got people that I think do great work in the country genre.
Speaker B:But you know, Blake Sheldon always strikes me as a great guy.
Speaker A:So maybe my, my daughter is 32 and she just got married and they're now we're going to have a reception thing in June for her here at our, our house and we've got a very large backyard and stuff.
Speaker A:So not that.
Speaker A:And so they were talking about the music and of course she's got her own stuff but she grew up with me driving her to school most days.
Speaker A:Like I said, we lived on a farm.
Speaker A:So I had a big Ford F250, had a great sound system in it and so, and we didn't have Sirius XM and all that stuff back then, so we had a lot of CDs.
Speaker A:So having worked in the radio business for a long time in the entertainment business, I had a variety of artists.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And so she learned everything from Bob Seeger to Charlie Daniels to, you know, Michael Martin Murphy to the Eagles, back and forth like that.
Speaker A:And she assured me the other day when she was down here planning the party with her mom that there would be plenty of, you know, 80s music, 90s music in there because she grew up, even though she wasn't born yet, she grew up listening to it.
Speaker A:And then she's got her stuff that she listens to which I can't even understand at this point in my life, but there'll be something for everybody there.
Speaker A:So that made me feel good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I listened to Boston on the way to work yesterday morning and I knew the song, and it was just great.
Speaker B:I had the windows down, and the lady in the car next to me looked at me like, why are you crazy?
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:Okay, last question.
Speaker A:Steve, if I gave you a box with everything that you have lost in your life, what would be the first thing you would reach for?
Speaker B:With a box full of everything I've lost?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I lost a Callaway driver, and I've never been able to replace it or hit it near as well.
Speaker B:So if it's in that box, please get it on board, because I get.
Speaker A:It on board for you.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Steve Merrill, general manager at Shortland Golf in Westland, Oregon.
Speaker A:You've been a delight to talk to.
Speaker A:Stick around after we shut off the recording, but go to Shortland.
Speaker A:Is it ShortlandGolf.com or just Shortland?
Speaker B:ShortlandGolfClub.com.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And you can find out more there about it.
Speaker A:If you're in the area or live in the area, go up there and do that.
Speaker A:I'll be headed up there.
Speaker A:I've got some tournaments to play throughout the course of the summer, so I guess you'll probably be seeing me at Shortland on occasion.
Speaker B:Look forward to seeing everybody.
Speaker A:It's great.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:As I say, thank you for listening.
Speaker A:And we'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours.
Speaker A:Until then, go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker A:But most of all, be kind.
Speaker A:Take care, everybody.
