Shownotes
The salient point of our discussion centers on the evolving relationship between professional golf and everyday golfers, as we explore the perspectives of our esteemed guest, Kat Gerrish from Cottage Golf in Beaverton, Oregon. Throughout our dialogue, we delve into the accessibility of professional golf, particularly through the lens of social media and new formats such as the TGL league. Kat articulates her belief that these developments foster a greater connection between aspiring golfers and the professional realm, rather than creating a divide. Additionally, we engage in an examination of indoor golfing facilities and their potential to reshape the traditional golfing experience, raising important questions about the essence of the game itself. Our conversation culminates in a thoughtful reflection on the future of golf and the myriad ways it can adapt to engage a broader audience while maintaining its inherent values.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Cottage Golf
- Beaverton
- Oregon
- Paul Azinger
- LIV
- TGL
- Golf News Network
- Nelly Corda
- Tiger
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Welcome to Grilling at the Green After Hours, the conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours here on Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:Today we've got Kat Garish with us from Cottage Golf in Beaverton, Oregon.
Speaker A:She's a fun, fun person to be around, I can tell you that because I've had two interactions with her besides talking to her on the phone and stuff, but at events and stuff.
Speaker A:And she's very bubbly.
Speaker A:She knows her stuff.
Speaker A:Sharp as a.
Speaker A:Probably just beat you with a seven iron, period.
Speaker A:That's all she'd need anyway, so Cat wistfully agreed to stick around for after hours.
Speaker A:And so now it's our time to play the Torquemada questioning of golf.
Speaker A:Are you ready?
Speaker B:I'm ready.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Don't know what I'm signing up for here.
Speaker A:We'll start out with something very easy for you.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:What's your favorite color, Lifesaver?
Speaker B:Red.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:The two top answers are red and green.
Speaker A:So you got my vote there.
Speaker A:Name an unsung hero in the golf world.
Speaker B:An unsung hero in the golf world.
Speaker A:Might be you.
Speaker B:You know, I was a. I was a big Paul Azinger fan when I was younger, and I feel like he didn't get as much attention as everybody else.
Speaker A:I think he got the attention, but for the wrong reason.
Speaker A:Because of his cancer.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:In that, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, this is my thoughts, but I. I would.
Speaker A:No, I would agree with that.
Speaker A:Do you think professional golf is getting further removed from everyday golfers?
Speaker B:No, I don't.
Speaker B:I think that.
Speaker B:I think that as people enjoy golf more and get more into golf, they are watching more professional golf.
Speaker B:And so I think people are interacting with professional golf a little bit more than maybe they used to.
Speaker B:And I think that the.
Speaker B:The younger golfers are more accessible through social media, etc.
Speaker B:And I then, you know, I'm not a huge Liv fan, but the different types of how we can play professional golf, whether it's the TGL league or the live league, I think it's opening up the conversation of how we're interacting and consuming professional golf.
Speaker B:So I don't know if it's getting further away.
Speaker A:Except maybe the.
Speaker A:The distance.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're definitely hitting it farther than the rest of us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker A:Which leads me to another question, like, do you think there is a place for.
Speaker A:And this is obvious to our conversation today, but I'd like you to expand on it.
Speaker A:A place for indoor events.
Speaker A:Like TGL to be considered real golf, because you've got some folks that like, yeah, that's an anomaly.
Speaker A:Kind of like live.
Speaker A:I'm not a big LIV fan either because I think it's more of an exhibition type match than a real match.
Speaker A:But the proponents of it would disagree wholeheartedly with that.
Speaker A:But I also think that with today's technology, that TGL thing, especially the putting green there, has me just fascinated.
Speaker A:Our Golf newsnet partner, Ryan Ballinger was at the.
Speaker A:He flew down and watched it Monday and he was telling me about how they go in and you don't see this on tv, how they go in and change the pin locations.
Speaker A:And then he goes.
Speaker A:And the funny thing is that green is moving while they do it and have you been there?
Speaker B:No, I haven't.
Speaker B:I would love to go check it.
Speaker A:Out, but it's really fascinating.
Speaker A:So do you see that facilities like that and your facilities are part of that, are going to expand and expand to where they could.
Speaker A:You were talking about having leagues and things like that.
Speaker B:Yes and no.
Speaker B:I'm a, I'm a purist at heart and I like golf for golf.
Speaker B:And all of the indoor facilities and ways to play golf are really interesting ways to consume golf, but it's not, it's definitely not the same.
Speaker B:But I like the idea that there are alternate ways to consume and to welcome people into the game.
Speaker B:But I think that golf for what golf is in its purest form, it cannot be replaced.
Speaker A:Okay, I, I would agree with you.
Speaker A:If you could get a lesson from one touring pro, who would that be?
Speaker A:Cat.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh, I would love Nelly Corda and Anna.
Speaker B:Gotta look at my swing or just play golf with me.
Speaker A:I cover the Portland Classic every year.
Speaker A:Have for a long time.
Speaker A:This year, I think we're going to be doing some live shows out there.
Speaker B:Fun.
Speaker B:I was just talking to them this morning.
Speaker A:Yeah, but you know what?
Speaker A:Well, if I'm there and we're doing a live show, you'll be there, so we'll just set that in stone right now.
Speaker A:But I've actually, you know, I don't follow golfers.
Speaker A:I, I.
Speaker A:Because usually I'm taking pictures for somebody too, because I do that and.
Speaker A:But I actually followed Nelly Korda last year, the year before, for like five holes.
Speaker A:I've never done that unless I was on an assignment for something.
Speaker A:Never done that.
Speaker A:And I just found myself just watching her play.
Speaker A:It was, yeah, it was just like, she's got the greatest swing in the world.
Speaker B:So beautiful.
Speaker A:If Kat Garish was Declared Supreme Leader of Golf for one day and one day only.
Speaker A:What would you decree as supreme Leader?
Speaker B:I would decree that women are allowed on any golf course at any hour of any day, forever, forever and ever,.
Speaker A:Ever and ever, ever and ever, ever.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If you could play golf with one of your golfing heroes, who would that be?
Speaker A:Now, you can't say Nelly because you just ironica.
Speaker A:Because you just use them.
Speaker B:So I would probably have to say Tiger.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because we're about the same age, and he was at Stanford when I was at Santa Clara, so I've been a Tiger fan the whole time.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I'm an unabashed Tiger fan.
Speaker A:And I'm.
Speaker A:I'm a bit older than he is, but it's like, I caught that kid in his amateur, of course, being from up here, and he played, you know, a pumpkin and all that stuff.
Speaker A:And multiple times I was like, yeah, this guy's gonna be good.
Speaker A:Name something that you were really enthused about in the Gulf Sphere when you first saw it or heard about it, but then as time went on, you kind of fizzled out on it.
Speaker B:Like all the.
Speaker B:All the stuff that's collecting dust in the garage.
Speaker B:What have I fizzled out on in golf?
Speaker A:I mean, just something whether it was.
Speaker B:What hasn't turned out to be what we thought it would be.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, like, if you thought, man, this.
Speaker A:This, let's just say, a product to make it easier, and you thought, this is really gonna do something, and then it went.
Speaker A:Or your enthusiasm went for it like that.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm feeling enthusiastic right now about, like, the.
Speaker B:The load torque putters, like the labs and the different putters, but I have tried them, and I don't know if I'm all in because I. I don't know, because I'm a purist.
Speaker B:I'm a purist.
Speaker B:I don't see.
Speaker B:I don't like a lot of, like, the gizmos and the gadgets.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:There's a few that I. I don't have that many of them, you know, but I've got some stuff that, like delta putt that you can practice with indoors in the winter because of where we live.
Speaker B:And that's why my mom got those for every one of us for Christmas last year.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I know Dave and the science behind him, you know, it makes pretty good sense like that.
Speaker A:But then these other things that come out, these contraptions, and I'm like, what the hell is that?
Speaker B:How would you answer that question?
Speaker A:Something I was enthused or lost interest in.
Speaker B:Yeah,.
Speaker A:You know, that, that is.
Speaker A:Nobody's ever asked me that, cat, because I wrote the question.
Speaker A:So I guess I should know.
Speaker A:But I.
Speaker A:There's been so things that I thought again, products or maybe promotions.
Speaker A:I see coming from a marketing background and stuff like you did, I see people trying to tie into the golf world and they do a really poor job of it at times.
Speaker A:Outside products, grills, for example.
Speaker A:Because I'm big in the barbecue world and cooking.
Speaker A:I'm talking about my size, not my status.
Speaker A:You know, I do the television version of the show Grilling at the Green, which we do tie food in with golf and profiles of people like yourself on that show.
Speaker A:And we're going to start season two this fall with that.
Speaker A:But everything else has just been trying to get really high end stuff because they figured the demographics of golf is all high end.
Speaker A:That's not your average golfer.
Speaker B:Not at all.
Speaker A:Your average golfer is not going to pay $8,000 for a grill.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:It's just an example.
Speaker A:So at first when I see that stuff, I'm like, yeah, that's really good.
Speaker A:Because they're bringing in the lifestyle aspect of it like that.
Speaker A:I don't think.
Speaker A:I don't think that through all their efforts they've done a really good job with the lifestyle pieces in promotion.
Speaker B:I'll say.
Speaker B:I think that most of the putting mats are overrated because people don't actually use them.
Speaker B:But I'm more of like.
Speaker B:I sort of am more of like a futurist, I guess, of like looking forward instead of looking back.
Speaker B:And so I think that.
Speaker B:I think that I would like to see golf courses have like three and six whole loops in the future.
Speaker B:I like golf courses that have like night golf with lights.
Speaker B:There's one down in Palm Springs I played a few years ago where it's par three and at night they turn on the stadium lights and you can play, you know, until 11 or 12 o' clock at night.
Speaker A:Kind of hard to do up here because of our weather.
Speaker A:Yeah, it doesn't conducive to that.
Speaker B:It's very cold.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Speaker B:I make my coffee.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:I have a parakeet, so I talk to my parakeet and I drink my coffee.
Speaker A:I. I talk to my cat, Marvin Garden.
Speaker B:Yeah,.
Speaker A:Some fun things here.
Speaker A:What's your favorite movie?
Speaker B:Goonies has traditionally always been my favorite movie.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Oregon.
Speaker A:Oregon.
Speaker A:Deal.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Oregon Beach Girl here.
Speaker A:Yep, yep, yep.
Speaker A:What's the wor movie you ever watched?
Speaker B:I walked out of U2, rattle and hum because I couldn't take it.
Speaker B:It's the only movie I've walked out of in a theater.
Speaker B:And I think I was, like, 17 years old.
Speaker A:I. I used to write when I was in college up here.
Speaker A:I wrote movie reviews for the student newspaper.
Speaker A:There was a couple I walked out on, but I couldn't be too critical because they gave me free passes and free popcorn and.
Speaker B:Yeah, you got to be careful.
Speaker A:Got careful on that.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:If you could dine with a historical figure, they don't have to be alive.
Speaker A:We'll bring them back for a couple hours for you.
Speaker A:If you could dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
Speaker B:Oh, no idea what would be on the menu.
Speaker B:I would love to dine with Amelia Earhart and some of those, you know, really strong women from the beginning of the century when.
Speaker B:And there was, like, there was something.
Speaker B:I'm kind.
Speaker B:I'm interested in that age, that time period of women's rights, because it felt like we were going somewhere.
Speaker B:And then something happened.
Speaker B:I think the 50s happened and, like, traditional housewife Ville sort of, like, took over.
Speaker B:But there were some really amazing women in, like, I don't know, teens, 20s, 30s.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Where they're flying planes.
Speaker B:And it was like the LPGA was getting started.
Speaker B:Like, Babe Zaharis.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Like, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I would love.
Speaker A:Oh, she'd have been a hoot to spend a night with.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, that would be amazing.
Speaker B:So maybe I'll do that.
Speaker B:Although Amelia Earhart, Babe Saharis, and, like, just some of those, like, badass women who are, like, great at sports, flying planes, you know, doing things that were, quote, unquote, you know, male roles.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:There was some women in World War II who were reporters.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That were right on the front lines.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, and they had no fear.
Speaker A:Well, I'm sure they had some fear.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:20S, 30s, 40s, 50s.
Speaker B:And then 50s kind of stopped all that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I think.
Speaker A:I think after the war and everybody was.
Speaker A:That was.
Speaker A:That was it.
Speaker A:You know, we're going to calm down here.
Speaker A:And that's when you saw row houses start coming up and suburban cul de sacs and all that stuff.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:We lived through it, though.
Speaker A:Are you a sweatshirt or a formal girl?
Speaker B:Sweatshirt.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:But a cool sweatshirt.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:You gotta have cool sweatshirts.
Speaker A:And it's gotta have just Enough grungy look to it to not look awful, but also look like you just didn't pull it off the rack right then.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:It's got to get that comfort vibe, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Soft and warm and all that stuff.
Speaker A:And, you know, if you live in Arizona, you probably don't dig that type of thing down there, because I lived there a long time ago.
Speaker A:Up here, it's part of the uniform.
Speaker A:Every day sweatshirt.
Speaker A:Here's one I think you'll really enjoy.
Speaker A:What would be your last meal if you were on death row?
Speaker B:That's dark.
Speaker A:Makes you think, though.
Speaker B:I mean, my fa.
Speaker B:So my favorite meal that I asked for on my birthday every year is ribs, which I'm sure you can.
Speaker B:You have some opinions about.
Speaker A:I know a guy.
Speaker A:I know a guy on that.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, like, ribs and corn on the cob and watermelon and maybe margarita.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Besides the ribs, I mean, I couldn't call myself a food guy in the barbecue world if I didn't know how to do ribs.
Speaker A:Well, but I. I will have a confession here.
Speaker A:I grew up.
Speaker A:My mom made this fantastic potato salad.
Speaker A:Loved it.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And she's long gone now.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I figured it out last summer.
Speaker A:I had rarely if ever attempted to make potato salad.
Speaker A:I make a mean Mac salad, but I just.
Speaker A:Because you get that, you know, you got that thing in your head, and it's like, I can't compare that.
Speaker A:But I figured it out.
Speaker A:So what was the secret balance of, you know, the.
Speaker A:You have to use some of the sweet pickle juice.
Speaker A:A little bit in there like that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You go light on the mayo because you're going to put other stuff in there.
Speaker A:And then lots of crunchy stuff.
Speaker A:We always had celery, and she used.
Speaker A:She would chop up like a yellow onion, but then for the look, she'd put green onions in it, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And radishes.
Speaker B:All right, Little bite.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:A little heat.
Speaker B:Little crunch.
Speaker A:Little heat and crunch.
Speaker A:There.
Speaker A:That was it.
Speaker A:So that was kind of the secret.
Speaker A:And then there's this product called Salad Elegance, which is Johnny's seasoning.
Speaker A:They have it at a lot of the stores.
Speaker A:You put that in there.
Speaker A:And while you're mixing it, you put it in, and then you put a little more on top.
Speaker A:And then, of course, the sliced boiled eggs on top like that.
Speaker A:It's pretty good.
Speaker A:Anyway, maybe I'll make you some ribs sometimes.
Speaker B:I'd love it.
Speaker A:We can do that.
Speaker A:Couple more and we'll let you go.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:If, if I gave you a box cat with everything that you've lost in your life, what would be the first thing you would reach for?
Speaker B:Oh, you know what?
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:When I was 18, I just graduated from high school.
Speaker B:I was babysitting a family friend, kid, and we, I took her fishing.
Speaker B:And when we were walking back to my car, I saw a car pulling away from my car.
Speaker B:And I was like, oh, that's weird.
Speaker B:There wasn't anyone down here at this fishing hole, I hope.
Speaker B:I locked my car and I had not locked my car.
Speaker B:And they stole my golf clubs and they stole my CDs and they stole my wallet that had maybe some money in it.
Speaker B:But the one thing that I cared the most about was my Malibu Grand Prix driver's license that I had gotten when I was in sixth grade that I had in my wallet and I had my feathered hair and my Gotcha.
Speaker B:Sweatshirt.
Speaker B:Sweater, sweater, Gotcha sweater.
Speaker B:And I cherished that Malibu Grand Prix driver's license so much.
Speaker B:But I still, I would still really love to have that.
Speaker A:It's an iconic collectible, put it that way.
Speaker A:I had one once too, but it, it went away.
Speaker A:One last question.
Speaker A:When you're watching golf, if you're at a tournament or even if you're at home, what's the one thing you wish spectators would not do?
Speaker B:Oh,.
Speaker A:I mean, you can't, you can't.
Speaker B:You know, there's some people I like.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:But Phoenix Open does not count in this question for the behavior of the fans.
Speaker A:Okay, that's, that's a one off deal.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, You know, I think, I think it's sort of annoying when they, like when they talk about things that, in, in people's games or like what they should have done or could have done or they knew they were going to do something I think, like, like, I don't need the com.
Speaker B:I don't need their opinion about what just happened.
Speaker B:I just kind of want to watch what just happened, I suppose.
Speaker A:Does it ever irritate you when the commentators are like, they're like sometimes fretting old grandmas.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:When a guy it's, oh, slow down.
Speaker A:Oh, you have no control.
Speaker A:Shut up.
Speaker B:Yeah, don't tell my ball what to do.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it's my ball.
Speaker A:If we have a dialogue, you won't listen anyway, so forget it.
Speaker A:So hush up.
Speaker A:That's one of the things.
Speaker A:And I mean, all these guys are pros, they're professional broadcasters.
Speaker A:I get it.
Speaker A:They do a good job.
Speaker A:But when they go, oh, oh, oh, you'd think like they're driving off a cliff or something, you know.
Speaker B:But I do like, I like all the backstories.
Speaker B:I like to hear from the players and I like, I like replays and I like, I like to see how they're, what they're thinking about different shots and things like that.
Speaker B:I like it when I can hear the caddies.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker B:That's what I really get interested in about or, you know, and there's, and the swing mechanics and what they're changing in their swings and how they're playing different shots and that sort of stuff.
Speaker B:I like to hear more.
Speaker B:And then I love the after round interviews, too.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I was always like tigers, like, well, the third shot of number four I didn't hit.
Speaker A:Well, next question, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, Captain Obvious there.
Speaker A:Anyway, Kat Garish from the Cottage Golf in Beaverton, you've been a charm again.
Speaker A:I appreciate it very much.
Speaker B:So thanks for having me.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I will send you this stuff when it's ready to go.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours.
Speaker A:By the way, you can get After Hours now on Golf News Network as well as the social media platform.
Speaker A:So there you go.
Speaker A:Go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker A:Most of all, be kind and enjoy the spring.
Speaker A:It's officially spring.
