Shownotes
The primary focus of this podcast episode is the evolving landscape of professional golf, particularly the return of notable players from the LIV Golf series and the implications of these developments for the sport. I engage in a dialogue with Brendan De Jong, a former tour player who has transitioned into broadcasting, elucidating how this shift has affected his perspective on the game. We delve into the increasing youthfulness and athleticism of players on the PGA Tour, contrasting it with the prior generation's approach to the sport. Furthermore, our discussion encompasses the impact of technological advancements and training regimes on performance, as well as the cultural changes that have accompanied these transformations. Ultimately, we reflect on the nuanced interplay between competition, camaraderie, and the evolving nature of golf's professional environment.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Golf News Network
- iHeart
- DP World Tour
- PGA Tour
- SiriusXM
- Birdie Ball
- Snell Golf
- Painted Hills Beef
- Kia
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores the golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass for the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt.
Speaker B:We're on a number of radio stations around, and of course, we turn this into a podcast after that.
Speaker B:But more importantly, we are on the Golf News Network iHeart channel on Fridays and Sundays, and we thank you all for listening.
Speaker B:You've been very kind to us.
Speaker B:Well, today, an old friend has come back to the show.
Speaker B:Brendan De Jong.
Speaker B:Brendan, former tour player.
Speaker B:Finally, his brain worked and said, no, I'm not doing this anymore.
Speaker B:And I'm sitting behind a microphone now, and he's having fun.
Speaker B:And he works with our friend Lisa on that.
Speaker B:Lisa Cornwell.
Speaker B:And welcome back.
Speaker C:Thanks, Jeff.
Speaker C:Yeah, we were talking about you getting your knee replaced and how it was finally time.
Speaker C:That was kind of how my golf career was as well.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker C:It was definitely finally time.
Speaker C:I probably stayed a little longer than I should have, but, yeah, you're right.
Speaker C:I'm absolutely loving what I'm doing now.
Speaker C:Being on the other side of it, a lot easier.
Speaker B:Less gear to pack around.
Speaker C:Yeah, definitely a lot easier.
Speaker C:You still get paid.
Speaker C:You still get paid regardless of how you do.
Speaker C:Obviously you'd like to do better and hope you keep your job for a little bit longer, but you get paid regardless.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, that's a good thing.
Speaker B:That's a good thing.
Speaker B:It's not all this, you know, Saturday morning, how in the hell am I going to get home Deal.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, it's.
Speaker C:It's a little easier.
Speaker C:You know, your flights are going to go home Sunday night as opposed to when you're playing.
Speaker C:It could be Friday night or Sunday night.
Speaker C:So, yeah, it's.
Speaker C:Planning travel is a little easier, too.
Speaker B:And I would think the stress maybe is a little different type of stress because I work in this business, but it's not the.
Speaker B:The nebulous thoughts of, am I staying or am I going all the time.
Speaker C:Yeah, no, it's.
Speaker C:It's true.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's a lot less stressful.
Speaker C:And it's, as I say, absolutely loving it at the moment and long may it last.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Now, well, let's talk about this right off the top, because I saw you talking to Trey Wingo the other day, and big news with Live.
Speaker B:They're, you know, Brooks is coming back.
Speaker B:Pat Reed looks like he's on a path to come back.
Speaker B:We've got some other ones, Kevin N. I heard or read about and those types of things from where you sit as a former tour player and then now as a broadcaster.
Speaker B:Give us your overview on that, if you would.
Speaker C:You know, I JT I, I look at this from, you know, obviously from the point of of a player and then, and then from the the point of as well.
Speaker C:And the, the overwhelming majority of fans want this.
Speaker C:They want the best players back playing against each other as often as possible.
Speaker C:You know, everybody you speak speak to that they want to see this fracture in the game go away.
Speaker C:So I, I, from that standpoint, I absolutely love the fact that for one, they were able to create this pathway to where Brooks Kepker could get back very quickly, which I think it probably took him off guard how quickly he was able to get back.
Speaker C:And then now with Patrick Reed as well, that he, he's going to have the to wait it out until I think it's August where he hasn't played on live for a year.
Speaker C:And it looks like he, you know, he would come back there with past champion status.
Speaker C:But now it also looks like he's going to play all DP World Tour this year and he's without a doubt going to finish inside the top 10 on that DP World Tour.
Speaker C:And then we'll see Patrick Reed, if he wants to, in the fall, playing some PGA Tour events.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, he's already won one on, on the DP Tour.
Speaker B:And when I checked yesterday last night, I think he was, he was in the top three.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Where are they, Dubai this week or.
Speaker C:Someplace or they are where they in Qatar this week.
Speaker C:So I think it's their Middle Eastern swing.
Speaker C:It started in Dubai where he won, then he lost in a playoff in Bahrain the next week and then he was up right around the lead.
Speaker C:I know after the first round, I'm not sure where he is after the second round.
Speaker C:But you know, if, if he has a strong weekend, he's, he's essentially done enough to lock up a top 10 finish on that DP World Tour and will I will see Patrick Reed playing a full schedule next year back on the PGA Tour.
Speaker B:You know, I was talking to Dave Bisby last week and we were talking about this a little bit.
Speaker B:A lot of news has transpired since that show and this show, but we were kind of talking about Pat Reed and the different players like that.
Speaker B:And I said, you know, the bottom line is Reed is one of those guys that you love him or you hate Him.
Speaker B:Door needs a villain once in a while, but he's a damn good player.
Speaker C:Well, that's exactly right.
Speaker C:He's.
Speaker C:He's a great player.
Speaker C:He's a polarizing figure.
Speaker C:And you said it.
Speaker C:They love him or hate him.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You need that.
Speaker C:You need these prickly characters in the game.
Speaker C:And then there's no doubt about it that Reed is one of those.
Speaker C:He's.
Speaker C:He's kind of outspoken.
Speaker C:Every.
Speaker C:Every time he says something, it ends up being a soundbite, which is great, though, which, which is wonderful.
Speaker C:I think that just, it adds to it, and it's going to add to the.
Speaker C:The product of the PGA Tour.
Speaker B:You know, I'd, I'd much rather listen to those kinds of takes and Rory's takes and this type of thing than I would about Bad Bunny in the NFL halftime show or something like that.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously, golf interests me, but we get bombarded with so much stuff.
Speaker B:I think if we can rise to the surface, Brendan, with sound bites and stuff that actually are kind of logical, whether you agree with them or not, I think that's a good thing.
Speaker C:Well, that's the thing.
Speaker C:You said it there, Jeff.
Speaker C:Whether you agree it or not, it's going to be something that you think about, and hopefully you think about it before you decide whether you agree with it or not.
Speaker C:And, and readers, he's.
Speaker C:He's good for those.
Speaker C:And, you know, getting, getting back to the live guys, and you hear sort of the, the way Bryson's speaking right now, where he's been trying to renegotiate his contract, his next contract, which is up at the end of this year.
Speaker C: It's up at the end of: Speaker C:Sounds like he's come to a little bit of a stalemate there with, with his contract.
Speaker C:So he's.
Speaker C:He's not.
Speaker C:And then there's.
Speaker C:There's also been a little bit of discontentment amongst, amongst some of the players that are now playing 72 holes, but because they.
Speaker C:They signed on originally for 54 holes, now all of a sudden, this has changed.
Speaker C:So there's a.
Speaker C:There's a lot that they're dealing with over there at Live right now.
Speaker B:I'm interested to see the progression of Brooks being back and playing 72.
Speaker B:I watched him some, you know, last week and this week, and he still got it.
Speaker B:He's just got a couple of rusty spots and the fatigue of doing four days versus if he makes the cut, of course, but, you know, versus three or whenever they run out of beer, you know, over there.
Speaker B:And So I think it's a good thing.
Speaker B:And now they've got World Golf rankings.
Speaker B:They got a piece of it a little, I think Trey Wingo called it a, a kid's meal or something like that.
Speaker B:But I found that interesting too because I don't know what those guys expect.
Speaker B:I know how they do business because they've got all the money in the world.
Speaker B:They've got a big machine in the back that just keeps printing it, you know, like that.
Speaker B:But the point is when you take established things like the, the PGA Tour and the DP and that, and they've been around a long time and they've crafted these points and stuff, again, agree with them or not of how they're dispensed, but you can't just come in and throw a bunch of money at it and say, okay, in two and a half, three years here we want equal points.
Speaker C:I thought it was very interesting that they, they did now finally get assigned world ranking points.
Speaker C:And they were not happy with it.
Speaker C:They, they weren't happy with the allotment of points that they got.
Speaker C:And look, looking at this jt, it honestly is very, very short sighted.
Speaker C:So they've been assigned this allotment of points.
Speaker C:Points.
Speaker C:With having had no previous points, their, their players are ranked pretty lowly.
Speaker C:So now as their point, as their players get ranked higher and higher, that allotment of points is going to go up and up.
Speaker C:So it's going to start at this as what is essentially a base level.
Speaker C:But say John Rahm goes and John Ram goes and wins at Augusta in April and John Rams, all of a sudden his ranking is top 10 in the world.
Speaker C:Every time John Rom tees it up in one of these live golf events now he's going to be a top 10 player in the world, automatically going to bring up their rankings, their amounts of points that they're playing for.
Speaker C:So they're not looking at it like that, which to me is very, very short sighted.
Speaker B:I think it's, you know, people that really like live and I've got nothing against it at this point.
Speaker B:I was adamantly opposed to it when it first came out because it was confusing.
Speaker B:And I, and I've given it some thought like that, but to me it's kind of like a petulant child stomping their feet.
Speaker B:You know, we didn't get what we want.
Speaker B:We, we want to do this, we want to do that.
Speaker B:We want to be equal with, with DP and with the PGA Tour.
Speaker B:And it's like you've got to, you know, you got to have some maturity there.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, you do.
Speaker C:You, you said it a little while ago that it's, it takes a while to become established.
Speaker C:This is a tour that's been around for what, four years now.
Speaker C:You can't all of a sudden just expect.
Speaker C:There you go.
Speaker C:You guys can have the equal amount of points to the store that's been around forever.
Speaker C:It's, it's just, it's not going to happen.
Speaker C:That's not the way things work.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Brendan and I are going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back in a couple of minutes.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
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Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:We want to thank you for allowing us into your eardrums today.
Speaker B:Want to thank a couple folks, the folks over in, in Colorado at Birdie Ball, they make some great practice mats out there.
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Speaker B:You can make your own choice, but just go to snellgolf.com and check those out.
Speaker B:Anyway, we're talking with Brendan D. Ah, my tongue left me there.
Speaker B:Brendan, for saying Brendan De Jong today, how has your life changed since you put down the bag and picked up the microphone?
Speaker B:We talked a little bit about it at the, before the show and all that, but it's a big change.
Speaker C:It is, J.T.
Speaker C:it's a massive change, but certainly one that I, that I'm happy that I made.
Speaker C:We talked about a little bit at the beginning.
Speaker C:A lot less stressful for one, I think overall, I'm a lot Happier.
Speaker C:I really was not enjoying the game of golf towards the end.
Speaker C:I was.
Speaker C:I was kind of bitter towards golf, which is not fair because, I mean, I still love watching the game and I still love watching the best player.
Speaker C:So, yeah, certainly a lot happier.
Speaker C:And as I said earlier, I absolutely love what I'm doing and the respect that I have now for the players, for one, and then the respect that I have for the guys on the other side of it, just watching the best in the business, how they go about stuff.
Speaker C:I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Mike Tirico at Augusta last year.
Speaker C:Watching how Mike Tirico prepares for, for a broadcast is something unbelievable.
Speaker C:And it's a.
Speaker C:You know, when we were playing, we thought it was just, you know, you show up, you.
Speaker C:You watch the golf, you talk about what you're seeing.
Speaker C:There's a.
Speaker C:There's a little bit more that goes into it than that.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, again, another guy, love him or hating Brandell Chamblee, that guy is more prepared than anybody.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:He can be caustic and rub you the wrong way.
Speaker B:That's part of his gig.
Speaker B:But I don't think there's anybody that can rip off stats as fast as he can.
Speaker C:And that's the thing.
Speaker C:If Brandle says something and you challenge him, he's going to listen to what you're saying, and then he's going to go to a yellow legal pad and he's going to show you the, the exact statistics that he's talking about.
Speaker C:And more often than not, much more often than not, he's exactly right.
Speaker C:And yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah, we talk about somebody that's prepared.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's really cool to see what Brandel does to get ready as he start.
Speaker C:You know, with him, it's typically the.
Speaker C:In studio shows.
Speaker C:So he's, he is.
Speaker C:He spends hours and hours just researching through statistics and.
Speaker C:Yeah, just wonderfully prepared.
Speaker B:Does he watch game films, you might say, like they do in football?
Speaker B:Does he go back and watch, you know, if you were playing, would he go back and watch your round at Tory or something to.
Speaker C:So what.
Speaker C:What he'll typically do is he'll.
Speaker C:He'll watch a broadcast that's on, and then if he sees something, he will, he'll write it down and then he'll go find the producer of, who's producing that morning show, evening show, whatever it might be.
Speaker C:He will ask the producer to clip that, and then he will watch it over and over and then he'll make his.
Speaker C:His argument if it is, or if he, you know, he's wonderful.
Speaker C:Got a wonderful eye for the golf swing as well.
Speaker C:He'll, he'll sit there and he'll break down the golf swing that way as well.
Speaker C:And it's, it is, it's fun to watch.
Speaker B:And, and how you talked about spending time with Tirico and, and these other folks at Golf Channel.
Speaker B:How has that changed the way you prep now?
Speaker B:Because I know when you probably walked in the studio the first day, they gave you some training and this and that a little bit, and then here you go, you're on.
Speaker B:And I know how that stuff works for the most part, and I'm sure that has changed for, for you.
Speaker C:100, Jeff.
Speaker C:It's, you know, you, you kind of, when you, when you first doing it, it's, it's almost sink or swim.
Speaker C:You know, you get, you get thrown out there with a little bit of advice and, and a little bit of guidance.
Speaker C:You don't get a whole lot.
Speaker C:And then, you know, you either you, you figure it out or you don't.
Speaker C:But, yeah, as far as preparation goes, you know, I, I thought you could shoot off the cuff, like, okay, I can watch this.
Speaker C:I can talk about what I'm realize now that, you know, if you really want to sound good, you've got to go through a ton of preparation and you've got to, you know, you've got to put in the time.
Speaker C:I, I find myself now watching a hell of a lot more golf than I ever used to.
Speaker C:You know, whether it be dp, World Tour, PGA Tour.
Speaker C:Even if I catch myself watching a little bit of live, I think it's, it all, it all adds to it, and it all creates for a, for a better.
Speaker C:It makes me sound better, I guess.
Speaker B:Oh, sure.
Speaker B:And you work with one of the, the pros in the business, Lisa Cornwell.
Speaker C:Yeah, Lisa's.
Speaker C:Lisa's wonderful.
Speaker C:She, as far as a host goes, she's, she's excellent.
Speaker C:I've been fortunate enough to work a fair amount with Lisa on PGA Tour Live.
Speaker C:And, yeah, she's very good at what she does.
Speaker B:You like that?
Speaker B:Do you like sitting in that box?
Speaker B:And, and, you know, you're, I think a lot of people are aware of it now, but when you're in the production trailers, you're not actually on the course walking with somebody.
Speaker B:You're looking at a monitor.
Speaker C:You know, I, I do, I, I.
Speaker C:And I like the product that we put out at PGA Tour Live as well, because it's, you know, so often when you, you see The.
Speaker C:The fan watching golf, you're seeing the leaders.
Speaker C:All you're watching is the leaders.
Speaker C:Now with the PGA Tour live product, you.
Speaker C:You get to see an entire round of golf, and you realize that even the best players in the world, they're going to hit their fair share of bad shots.
Speaker C:They're going to hit some.
Speaker C:They're going to hit some awful shots out there.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's a difficult game.
Speaker C:And, you know, I. I think that's, you know, it's been a big plus for the.
Speaker C:The comm.
Speaker C:See what goes into kind of how you piece together an entire round of golf.
Speaker B:I don't think you're old enough yet, Brendan, but you ever think about playing on the Champions Tour?
Speaker C:You know, I'm.
Speaker C:I'm still five years away, J.T.
Speaker C:if you ask me right now, I would say absolutely not.
Speaker C:It's the last thing I want to do now.
Speaker C:Obviously, something can change between now and then.
Speaker C:I might.
Speaker C:I might get a kick in the butt, and I might want to start working at it and practicing at it.
Speaker C:But, yeah, as I say, if you ask me right now, absolutely not.
Speaker B:I bet you that makes Mrs. Brendan happy you're home a little more.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:You'd have to ask her that.
Speaker C:In the right setting, it either makes her happy or either makes her happy or the other way she might want me on the road a little bit more.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:That would be a question for her.
Speaker E:Yeah.
Speaker B:On any given day, the situation might change.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Multiple times.
Speaker B:I understand.
Speaker B:I've been married for a long time, and I. I know the ground rules.
Speaker B:At least I think I do.
Speaker B:And I'm foolish to probably say that because they're.
Speaker B:They might say they're.
Speaker B:They're flowing.
Speaker B:It's an ebb and flow in.
Speaker B:In the ground rules there.
Speaker C:Yeah, no doubt about it.
Speaker C:And I think she'd probably admit that as well.
Speaker B:We're talking with Brendan De Jong, former Tour player.
Speaker B:If you.
Speaker B:You haven't caught this show before and you live under a rock.
Speaker B:Brendan played on Tour, came out of South Africa area, worked his way up, worked his way down, worked his way back up, played on Tour for a while, and now he's in the broadcasting business, and he does a great job.
Speaker B:Brendan and I will be back in just a moment.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
Speaker C:Cold coffee.
Speaker E:My old boots are by the door.
Speaker E:Hey, everybody, it's JT.
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Speaker B:You won't regret it.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt and we thank you for listening.
Speaker B:Of course, we're all out there on the social media platforms and a handful of radio stations, not just here in the Northwest, but in Texas and some other places.
Speaker B:And of course, we are on part of integral part, I might say, even if I say so myself, of the Golf News Network on iHeartRadio.
Speaker B:And there's a TV version of the show on GNN TV, where my other show on Barbecue Nation, Leanne Whippin and I do some cooking.
Speaker B:And then we interview some people here in the Northwest, interesting people in the golf world.
Speaker B:So you might check that out on Golf newsnet Television.
Speaker B:How has professional golf changed?
Speaker B:It's a big, broad question, Brendan.
Speaker B:I know that.
Speaker B:But how has it changed since you put down the sticks and started heading to the broadcast booth?
Speaker C:I, I would say, for one, Jeff got a lot younger.
Speaker C:It's definitely got a lot younger.
Speaker C:I, I know we've talked about this a lot, that these, these kids come out now, and I call them kids.
Speaker C:These, these youngsters come out early 20s, and they're ready to win.
Speaker C:That, that never used.
Speaker C:Used to be sort of a.
Speaker C:Kind of a.
Speaker C:A grooming period.
Speaker C:You, you'd get out on the PGA Tour, it would take you four or five years to get comfortable, and then you felt like you were.
Speaker C:You're finally ready to win.
Speaker C:Now, there were obviously some outliers to that, but that was sort of the, the norm.
Speaker C:Now.
Speaker C:You see just about every kid that's coming out of college, they've won at every level, and they get on the PGA Tour, and they don't view it any different.
Speaker C:They should be ready to win out there in their mind.
Speaker C:And, and more often than not, they are.
Speaker C:So it's definitely gotten a lot younger in saying that.
Speaker C:It's also become a lot more powerful.
Speaker C:It's become a lot more athletic.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:It's now to a point where if, if you don't have ball speed in the high 100 80s, low 100 80s, it becomes very, very difficult for you to compete out there.
Speaker C:You have a, a limited number of golf courses where you actually can compete.
Speaker C:So it certainly has changed there.
Speaker C:You know, and, and, and that all goes back to the, the fact that these young kids have access to the greatest equipment out, greatest coaches out there.
Speaker C:So you're optimizing everything from a very, very young age.
Speaker C:So, you know, it just all goes into these kids coming out more prepared and more professional.
Speaker B:Yeah, I don't.
Speaker B:You know, there was kind of a time, especially when I was growing up and got out of college and was watching golf, and they used to have more pro events here in the Northwest in those days.
Speaker B:And you'd see these guys, the guys that always won had been out there for 10 years, most.
Speaker B:Most part, and they weren't, you know, Michael Phillips or something as far as physique.
Speaker B:You know, they, they're more like Brendan and Jeff.
Speaker B:A little, little punch there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, they like both chocolate cake and scotch, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:And they.
Speaker B:You don't see that now.
Speaker B:I mean, the ones I've seen up close and personal, and you see them every week.
Speaker B:But that these guys are fit as a fiddle, man.
Speaker C:They are.
Speaker C:And, and the, you know, the whole lifestyle has changed out there as well.
Speaker C:Jeff.
Speaker C:I remember when I, when I first got out there, you know, you'd finish around a golf, and you would maybe sit in the bar afterwards at the club where you were playing, and you might have a beer or two with a couple of the guys.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That is not the case now.
Speaker C:You know, everybody finishes around a golf, even if it's on a Sunday, and they are either straight to the next event or they're straight into the gym or they're straight on the range.
Speaker C:Even dinners now, you won'.
Speaker C:You won't see these guys drinking a couple beers at dinner anymore through during a tournament week.
Speaker C:Now, maybe Sunday night they might let themselves have a beer or two, but it, I mean, it's gone from being the norm to becoming a very, very rare occurrence out there.
Speaker B:I know that when they had the Corn Ferry Tour, the Winco here for years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the, the press room was right next to the men's locker room or within really short order there.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so I, I go in the locker room and I would look at the stuff that they laid out for the players as far as food and snacks.
Speaker B:I wouldn't eat that stuff.
Speaker B:It's too damn healthy.
Speaker C:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:I mean, they, they, yeah, they had a few pepperoni sticks and some beef jerky, but there was a lot of fruit.
Speaker B:There was a lot of power bars.
Speaker B:There was, you know, drinks that I'm like, you know, where's the Pepsi.
Speaker B:But it's not in there, you know, like that.
Speaker B:So that, that change and it's for the better, I get it.
Speaker B:But that change is huge I think for these guys.
Speaker C:Oh, it is.
Speaker C:And then yeah, as you say, a lot of, a lot of stuff laid out with ingredients that you can't pronounce.
Speaker C:And yeah, it's, but yes it is, it's all, it's all, you know, it's, it's become so scientific as well.
Speaker C:The, the, and the proof is out there and that's the thing, right?
Speaker C:If you, if you're gonna have the argument with somebody that the proof is going to be right there that it obviously it is better for you that you don't drink a couple beers throughout the week.
Speaker C:You know, it did through the, the course of an entire year.
Speaker C:It's going to add up and it's going to prove to be for you better.
Speaker C:In saying that though, you, there is a little bit of the camaraderie that gets lost.
Speaker C:There's, you know, you kind of lose the ability to pass the stories on down to the younger generation because you, you don't, you don't have the sit down dinners for a couple hours where you're kind of, you know, shooting it and enjoying yourselves and having fun that way.
Speaker C:So that, that, that to me is a little bit sad because that, that certainly is phasing out.
Speaker B:It always seemed to me that there were little, excuse me, little groups.
Speaker B:Well, even not that long ago you had Justin Thomas and Tiger and, and maybe Jordan and there was a little group there, the pod, if you will.
Speaker B:I think Azinger said that when his, when he was the writer kept captain, you know, he had these pods or groups and, and I don't know as you see that anymore because, and some of these guys are very young and they're coming out on tour and they're already mar.
Speaker B:And they got a, you know, their wife is with them, they got maybe a kid in tow and they've got their, their team.
Speaker B:Everybody's got to have a team.
Speaker B:Now back in my day it was probably Team Budweiser, but, but the point is it's just a completely different lifestyle.
Speaker C:No, it is.
Speaker C:And you know, you'll, you'll see three guys go out and play a practice round and they won't say a single thing to each other.
Speaker C:For if it's a nine hole practice round, those things take three hours.
Speaker C:Now they'll go play nine holes, it'll take three hours.
Speaker C:They will not say a single thing to the Other two guys in the group.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker C:And I've seen this so often when I've been out there, you know, they'll, they'll chip a bunch of balls to different whole locations and there's never any interaction.
Speaker C:You know, I, I remember some of my.
Speaker C:The most fun I had out there was Tuesdays.
Speaker C:We'd have a game, we had a standard game every single Tuesday.
Speaker C:It was always myself and Brian Snedeker against Johnson, Wagner and Ryan Armor.
Speaker C:And we played every single Tuesday.
Speaker C:And you, you.
Speaker C:It was just fun.
Speaker C:It was something that you really look forward to.
Speaker C:And unfortun these guys, the way it is is being done now that you miss out on that as well.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, the camaraderie is important.
Speaker B:One last question before we go to break.
Speaker B:Brandon, we got plenty of time on this and, and we talked about this the last time you were on the show.
Speaker B:But the ball rollback, this type of thing, I still don't understand why they want to do something like that when you're only talking about 1% of the 1% of golfers like that.
Speaker B:And you know, a little grass seed and some shovel work, you could get the same results.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:And, and from where you sit, what does that tell you?
Speaker C:Well, for those, for those that are against the golf ball rollback, I, I think there's been some encour news recently that they've pushed, they're pushing it back another two years now, which, which I think is wonderful.
Speaker C:I'm right with you.
Speaker C:It never made sense to me when, when they came out with us that this was necessary.
Speaker C:I still think that your longest hitters are going to find a way to be your longest hitters anyway.
Speaker C:It just did not make any sense.
Speaker C:I think they're looking in the wrong place, Jeff.
Speaker C:I think if you really are trying to do something, you need to look at the size of the driver head.
Speaker C:I think that, that that's where you need to look first is bring the size of that driver head down where there actually is a skill to hitting the ball in the middle of the club face again.
Speaker C:Now these, these drivers are so good.
Speaker C:You can hit it anywhere over the, anywhere, anywhere on that face and it's going to be just fine.
Speaker C:You need to bring that skill back where you've got to start hitting the driver out the middle of the club.
Speaker C:To me, that is in a.
Speaker C:To me it's, it's, it's common sense.
Speaker C:You know, you see every now and then these, these guys out there, I know they've done a lot on DP World tour where they, they'll take a driver from 20, 30 years ago and hit it.
Speaker C:And you just numbers, how different the numbers are.
Speaker C:Why, why wouldn't we look there first?
Speaker B:Well, and I think you could, as far as the civilian population, guys like me, I like it having being as big as a Volkswagen.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:But on the pros, and if you're making those, those rules, if you will, about the size and weights and stuff for the pro pros, there's very few pros that go grab a club off the shelf at Dick's Sporting Goods and take it out on tour.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're tweaked, they're weighted, there's all kinds of stuff done to them, special shafts, what have you.
Speaker B:So if you're gonna cut down the head size for that, that's a lot more palatable too for the manufacturers.
Speaker B:They say, yeah, we could, you know, we can make a thousand of these heads a year for our various guys, whatever the number would be that are out there on tour and we can live with that.
Speaker B:But if you're going to talk about slimming down a, you know, $35 billion golf ball industry, that's probably not going to fly.
Speaker C:Yeah, no, you're exactly right.
Speaker C:I have many billions of golf balls they're putting out there as opposed opposed to the driver heads.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's a massive difference.
Speaker C:But yeah, as I say, I think very encouraging if you're want someone that's anti that ball rollback that they, they have pushed it back another two years and which, which to me leads, leads you to think that they're looking closer at it and they're thinking, is this actually something that needs to be done?
Speaker B:Yeah, I always remember I saw Fuzzy Zeller at an event up here and he was telling people, don't go looking for your golf ball.
Speaker B:They're like Doritos, they'll make more.
Speaker B:Anyway, take a break.
Speaker B:We'll be back.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
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Speaker E:Birdieball.com.
Speaker B:Hey, welcome back to grilling.
Speaker B:It's Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt.
Speaker B:Today we got Brendan Dejon with us.
Speaker B:Brendan, as you know, as we said before and we will continue to say it on this program, first of all, a great guy, former Tour player, now works well.
Speaker B:You got, you're working with PJ Tour Live.
Speaker B:You're doing some stuff for the Golf Channel.
Speaker B:What else are you doing?
Speaker C:I am, I'm calling the majors for SiriusXM.
Speaker B:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Which, which I've done the last, last few years.
Speaker C:Now I have a radio show with, with Johnson Wagner on Sirius XM as well.
Speaker C:Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at 11 o'.
Speaker C:Clock.
Speaker C:That's a Wagyu and Filet with Brendan Deong and Johnson Wagner.
Speaker C:So yeah, it's, it's been exciting, jt.
Speaker C:It's been, it's been a lot.
Speaker C:It's kept me busy, busy in a great way.
Speaker C:But yeah, there's about four or five different hats that I'm wearing and loving every minute of it.
Speaker B:You'll have to get me on your show to talk about barbecue.
Speaker B:There we go with your Wagyu tag and all that in.
Speaker C:Yeah, love to.
Speaker B:I, I can do that.
Speaker E:Now.
Speaker B:You sat behind the mic for a few years.
Speaker B:You sit with Lisa you on Golf Channel every, all the accolades that we've talked about on this.
Speaker B:What's the one thing that has one really gotten under your skin that you see in tournaments these days?
Speaker B:And what's one thing that is is you said, yeah, finally somebody's doing something right.
Speaker C:The one I could go for several things that have gotten under my skin.
Speaker C:But this, this aim point, good Lord, it's hard to watch.
Speaker C:It's, it, it takes forever.
Speaker C:It, it just doesn't look good.
Speaker C:You watch these guys, they're trampling all around the hole.
Speaker C:It just, it's not a good look to me.
Speaker C:That's, that's the one that really has crawled under my skin is and a lot of times I have commented probably times when I my tongue and not said anything on a broadcast.
Speaker C:But yeah, that, that, that's one that is, is hard to watch.
Speaker C:One thing that I've really enjoyed, I would say that and it's been more noticeable this year that there seems to be an uptick in the pace of play.
Speaker C:And I know that I was just talking about the aim point but it feels like there has been an uptick in the pace of play.
Speaker C:And I, I, I was one who was a little bit skeptical when they said they weren't going to cut the fields to help the pace of play.
Speaker C:I thought, hang on a second.
Speaker C:That's not really the.
Speaker C:There has been an uptick in the pace of play.
Speaker C:It feels like guys just on a play a little bit quicker.
Speaker C:Now, obviously you're always going to have your, your slow guys out there, but for the most part, it does feel like there has been an uptick in the pace.
Speaker B:Well, I, I, I've kind of noticed it as far as, you know, watching it on tv.
Speaker B:Of course, TV is very deceptive because you're not right there.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, on the grounds and watching these guys and, and, but you're right, the aim point thing, that kind of, you know, they're doing this and they're doing this and they're doing this and whatever they're doing, you know, and I'm like, what the hell are you doing?
Speaker B:You know, I'm, I'm an old farm boy.
Speaker B:You, you can look at the ground.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You look at the dirt, so to speak, and it'll tell you what you should do.
Speaker C:Well, you've, you've got the player doing it one side, then you've got the caddy doing it the other side, and then they come and have sort of a confirm confirmation there about what they see, and then one guy sees something different and then they've both got to do it from the other sides and it's just, it's hard to wash. Watch.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker B:And it's like you say, it's hard to watch.
Speaker B:It's not very attractive for your ultimate consumer, the viewer.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because they have no idea.
Speaker B:I mean, they're not there.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I just, I guess I've never taken, I've always been a fairly decent putter and it's, I spent a lot of time in the dirt as a kid, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Working with farm animals and stuff.
Speaker B:And so you, but you can, you can see.
Speaker B:I don't get it.
Speaker B:So I think to me, me, I'm going to be snarky here, Brendan.
Speaker B:It's a, it's a sales thing.
Speaker B:Somebody created this and there's probably some validation to some of it, but it's also a lot of golf coaches and stuff are making some good money doing it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And, and I'm saying this, Jeff, and I, and I don't know if this is the case or not, and I, I would love to actually see a breakdown of the numbers that, of guys that are doing Aimpoint now that didn't used to.
Speaker C:And see what the, what the help is.
Speaker C:Has there been that much of a help or has there been any, any up, you know, any improvement in your putting since you have started this method again?
Speaker C:I, I haven't looked at those numbers.
Speaker C:I haven't broke it down.
Speaker C:That would be, it would be an interesting graphic to see.
Speaker B:Brendan Deyong from former Tour microphone jockey.
Speaker B:Now like me, much higher level than I do anymore.
Speaker B:But he's doing good.
Speaker B:And Brendan gonna stick around for after hours.
Speaker B:But thank you, microphone friend, for being with us.
Speaker C:You're welcome, JT anytime.
Speaker C:Thanks for having me again.
Speaker B:And tell them about real quick before we go.
Speaker B:Your show, you are in.
Speaker B:And Johnson's show.
Speaker B:Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, did you say?
Speaker C:Yeah, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 11 o' clock Eastern Time.
Speaker C:It's Wagu filet on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio, channel 92.
Speaker C:And it's just, you know, Johnson and I were college roommates.
Speaker C:We know each other very well.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:We just kind of talk about what's going on in the world of golf.
Speaker C:We kind of go through some old stories that we can share from, from previous Tour events that we've been at.
Speaker C:And it's, it's very laid back.
Speaker C:It's a, it's an easy listening and we're both having a lot of fun doing it.
Speaker B:You and Frank get along pretty good?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Indeed.
Speaker B:When he's on, we always talk steaks and food.
Speaker B:Anyway, we're gonna get out of here.
Speaker B:Don't forget, After Hours is coming up.
Speaker B:We'll be back next week with another show.
Speaker B:We've got a litany of them booked right now.
Speaker B:So until then, go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker B:But most importantly, be kind.
Speaker B:Take care, everybody.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
