1
00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:07,080
Speaker 1: Well, he said, and that wonderfully emotional interview after the

2
00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,120
Speaker 1: final with George that there were dark days in January.

3
00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,240
Speaker 1: I think he said when he just felt all the

4
00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,439
Speaker 1: injuries his game had gone. He was very close to

5
00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:18,840
Speaker 1: saying that's it. I've had enough, I'm not going to play.

6
00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,759
Speaker 1: To go from there to where he is now is

7
00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,240
Speaker 1: just fantastic. It's one of the great sporting stories, as

8
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,600
Speaker 1: I think I said, and the commentary it transcends golf.

9
00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:40,880
Speaker 1: Put another log on the fire nobody here is given time.

10
00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,240
Speaker 1: Welcome to the fire pit with Matt Chinella. The British

11
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: Amateur Championship is one of the oldest and greatest events

12
00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,120
Speaker 1: in golf. The first in eighteen eighty five was played

13
00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,880
Speaker 1: at Hoylake in England. Bobby Jones won the British Amateur

14
00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,440
Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty and was then considered a part of

15
00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:05,840
Speaker 1: his Grand Slam of championships. Other notable winners include Sir

16
00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,920
Speaker 1: Michael Banalik, who won it five times, Joe Carr, the

17
00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,640
Speaker 1: Great Irish Amateur, who won it three times, Jose Maria

18
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,319
Speaker 1: Olethable in nineteen eighty four, and Sergio Garcia in nineteen

19
00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,520
Speaker 1: ninety eight. Runner ups include Colin Montgomery, Trevor Immelman and

20
00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:25,240
Speaker 1: Tommy Fleetwood. You like the stories of Monday qualifiers who

21
00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,480
Speaker 1: get a spot in a PGA Tour event, then you'll

22
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,680
Speaker 1: love the fact that the winner of the British Amateur

23
00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:35,440
Speaker 1: Championship gets a spot in the Open Championship, the Masters,

24
00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:40,080
Speaker 1: the US Open, a European Tour event, and a five

25
00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,000
Speaker 1: year exemption into the US Amateur assuming they don'ntcle pro.

26
00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,760
Speaker 1: The twenty twenty one British Amateur Championship would be played

27
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,240
Speaker 1: at Naarron Golf Club in Scotland on the same weekend

28
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,520
Speaker 1: as the US Open at Torrey Pines. Here at the

29
00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:57,200
Speaker 1: fire Pit Collective, the team had assembled to meet and

30
00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:02,680
Speaker 1: greet brainstorm story ideas. Colt Nedler, our newest Hire, jumped in,

31
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,280
Speaker 1: did you guys hear what happened at the British Amateur

32
00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:11,360
Speaker 1: Championship Wild, pausing here to thank John Ashworth and Jeff Cunningham,

33
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,200
Speaker 1: co creators of Link Soul, for their support. Here's Ashworth

34
00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,679
Speaker 1: on why the game of golf matters. I mean, it's

35
00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,079
Speaker 1: very important to humanity. I always go back to that.

36
00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:25,840
Speaker 1: It's it's like this thing you can always go back

37
00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,040
Speaker 1: to and I'm just glad. I mean, I feel like

38
00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,840
Speaker 1: there's the golf world and everything at the other world.

39
00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,760
Speaker 1: They go parallel. And that's why even through COVID, I mean,

40
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,639
Speaker 1: it's such a positive thing through COVID because people allows

41
00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,720
Speaker 1: people to get outside. You can easily keep your distance

42
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,360
Speaker 1: and it's positive. Go to links sol dot com and

43
00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,919
Speaker 1: use promo code fire Pit twenty five for twenty five

44
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 1: percent off your next purchase. All right, before we get

45
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,840
Speaker 1: to what would be one of the greatest thirty eight

46
00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,200
Speaker 1: hole finals in the one hundred and twenty six year

47
00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,400
Speaker 1: history of the tournament, you should get to know Laird Shepherd,

48
00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,360
Speaker 1: the twenty three year old Englishman who was thirtieth alternate

49
00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,680
Speaker 1: and came into the week not only inspired by being healthy,

50
00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,840
Speaker 1: he was also just grateful he had a spot and

51
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,760
Speaker 1: stroke play. We start with Shepherd's earliest memories of golf

52
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,320
Speaker 1: probaboy playing with my I've got twin brother playing golf

53
00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:25,200
Speaker 1: with him in our back garden, backyard, and plastic clubs,

54
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,239
Speaker 1: plastic golf balls that when you go about thirty five

55
00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,320
Speaker 1: yards and making our own little golf course. I mean,

56
00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:33,600
Speaker 1: I mean that seems like a common story for a

57
00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,040
Speaker 1: lot of people that play golf. You know, that was

58
00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:41,440
Speaker 1: my earliest memory of playing golf. Never really took it

59
00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,280
Speaker 1: very seriously, just enjoyed it and pretended like we were

60
00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 1: on TV. And Stuart Shepherd, Laird's father has always loved skiing,

61
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,760
Speaker 1: horse racing and golf. Laird is an elite amateur on

62
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,320
Speaker 1: the links. His twin brother, Callum, is one of the

63
00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,240
Speaker 1: best young jockeys in England. They were both they were

64
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,760
Speaker 1: born prematurely, so seven and a half weeks premature, so

65
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,680
Speaker 1: they were both pretty small. Lead was only three three

66
00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,760
Speaker 1: pound two outs as I think Um, you know, hardly

67
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,000
Speaker 1: anything to him and the result they were always small

68
00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,640
Speaker 1: and they love soccer and they were pretty good at it,

69
00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,960
Speaker 1: Led up front as an attacker and Callum at the back,

70
00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,640
Speaker 1: but they were just ultimately too small to compete that.

71
00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,640
Speaker 1: You know. They actually went to specific school to play

72
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,040
Speaker 1: soccer when they were thirteen, but really they're already probably

73
00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,080
Speaker 1: you know, being outgrown by all the lads at the

74
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,320
Speaker 1: same age, so obviously they've both found their way to

75
00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,919
Speaker 1: their respective sports. Laird's College golf was on scholarship for

76
00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,760
Speaker 1: Dean Robertson at the University of Stirling in Scotland where

77
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,279
Speaker 1: he was a freshman in twenty sixteen. It's funny because

78
00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 1: you know, the guys from Stirring we usually go and

79
00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,160
Speaker 1: play in the Prestige in California and February, which I

80
00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,800
Speaker 1: think is Stanford's and UC Davis's co host did event,

81
00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,120
Speaker 1: and I mean, wow, that's it was eye opening to

82
00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,320
Speaker 1: go and play in that. But I remember the year

83
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,159
Speaker 1: before I started at Sterling, UM the guys were leading

84
00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,880
Speaker 1: after the first round. UM, which was amazing because you

85
00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,760
Speaker 1: know that the level of golf that the biggest you know,

86
00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,680
Speaker 1: college teams were playing, it is just amazing. And UM

87
00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,000
Speaker 1: to see Sterling competing in that was like, you know,

88
00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,839
Speaker 1: I don't need to go halfway across the world to

89
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,719
Speaker 1: play against some great players and UM. So that that's

90
00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,160
Speaker 1: really what made me decide that Sterling was placed for

91
00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,800
Speaker 1: me to go. Basically, the good news was they had

92
00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,719
Speaker 1: a good team. The bad news was they had a

93
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,919
Speaker 1: good team. Now look back and at the team that

94
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:47,840
Speaker 1: we had at the time that year. Two guys played

95
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:52,520
Speaker 1: Old Cup in twenty fifteen, the year before I came

96
00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,200
Speaker 1: at two Swiss guys who who were in the top

97
00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,800
Speaker 1: hundred in the world. Another couple of guys who were

98
00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:00,359
Speaker 1: you know, if not the top hundred very year to

99
00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,720
Speaker 1: m So it was a very competitive team and you know,

100
00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,360
Speaker 1: I I went from being probably the worst player on

101
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:09,560
Speaker 1: the team my first year, and to be honest, that's

102
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,799
Speaker 1: where you want to be if you wanted to develop.

103
00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:13,440
Speaker 1: You want to be that worst guy on the team

104
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,080
Speaker 1: and you know, you want to get in your your

105
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,279
Speaker 1: buck kicked every practice and that's what it was for

106
00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,320
Speaker 1: the first you know, three or four months, but um

107
00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,680
Speaker 1: led to a huge like personal improvement and growth for

108
00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,720
Speaker 1: me and you know, soon became one of the better

109
00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,880
Speaker 1: guys in the team. I mean, so, I mean it

110
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,920
Speaker 1: just worked out perfectly really those those first few years. Yeah,

111
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:41,720
Speaker 1: meet Chloe Goby. Hello, Hello Chloe. Are you doing? Shepherd's

112
00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,080
Speaker 1: girlfriend of three years and h by the way, is

113
00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,040
Speaker 1: the recent winner of the women's Scottish Amateur Championship. So

114
00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,840
Speaker 1: we both started at Stirling University in two thousand and fifteen,

115
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:57,080
Speaker 1: in September two and fifteen, so that's kind of where

116
00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,520
Speaker 1: where we first met, and we were both the two

117
00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,919
Speaker 1: were the two only freshmen and the golf scholarship program

118
00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,680
Speaker 1: at Sterling UM, so kind of coming into the same

119
00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,320
Speaker 1: experience and we came into a really great team, Like

120
00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,280
Speaker 1: there was four players on the men's team in the

121
00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,040
Speaker 1: top one hundred in the world rankings. The women's team

122
00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,480
Speaker 1: was starting to get some strength to it. So there's

123
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: a mixed kind of program there, and you know, obviously

124
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,640
Speaker 1: that's where we got to know each other and just

125
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,800
Speaker 1: on kind of trips and things, and yeah, then we

126
00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,480
Speaker 1: then we became became what we are today. So so

127
00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,760
Speaker 1: things were good at Sterling until they weren't anymore. I

128
00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:40,880
Speaker 1: struggled with a low right side back pain probably you know,

129
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,760
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, so my end of my second year, um,

130
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,920
Speaker 1: and at that point I was starting to play pretty well. Um,

131
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:51,880
Speaker 1: so I had a few months off here and there,

132
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,720
Speaker 1: and it's just something that bugged me for a long time.

133
00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:00,480
Speaker 1: I mean essentially for the last four years, um, you know,

134
00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,920
Speaker 1: excluding January from now because I've seen him got things

135
00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,040
Speaker 1: under control now. But I literally would would barely practice

136
00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,560
Speaker 1: hit in long shots. I just welcome up, I just

137
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,160
Speaker 1: welcome a short game and then you know, two three

138
00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,560
Speaker 1: days for an event. Would just solve hit a few

139
00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,880
Speaker 1: longer shots and just get used to it and would

140
00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,680
Speaker 1: just go about things that way because I couldn't handle

141
00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,800
Speaker 1: head a lot of balls. Laird's back pain led to

142
00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:30,080
Speaker 1: an MRI which revealed inflammation of the facet joints, which

143
00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,080
Speaker 1: and I'm no doctor here, but Laird says, and Google

144
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,920
Speaker 1: confirms that they hold the discs in place. So Shephard

145
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,720
Speaker 1: made a change to a swing. Then there was knee

146
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,840
Speaker 1: pain which led to minor knee surgery which he came

147
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,840
Speaker 1: back from too soon, and that led to more knee pain,

148
00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,280
Speaker 1: more surgery, and when he got that under control, there

149
00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,400
Speaker 1: was more back pain. As he said to me, you know,

150
00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,800
Speaker 1: it takes its toll not to mention short days, bad weather.

151
00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,800
Speaker 1: There's some long winters over in Scotland here, so you know,

152
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,679
Speaker 1: dark and dark nights, cold winters, and I think you know,

153
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,439
Speaker 1: spending days on end, just we lived together one winter

154
00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,120
Speaker 1: and at university and just spending days in the flat

155
00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,439
Speaker 1: where he can't go and play golf because of because

156
00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,200
Speaker 1: of his knee. I think was probably some of the

157
00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,680
Speaker 1: toughest times for him. I think it was February two twenty.

158
00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,000
Speaker 1: I had to walk off the golf course and started

159
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,400
Speaker 1: having some sort of like severe and nerve pain and

160
00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:34,040
Speaker 1: my left hip and low side, my left back and again,

161
00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,560
Speaker 1: it was pretty much the same thing in flame facet

162
00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,360
Speaker 1: joints and stuff. And that's when I was at my lowest.

163
00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:45,360
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, it was pretty pretty lost, is what

164
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,640
Speaker 1: to do at that point. So to be physically lost,

165
00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,600
Speaker 1: as it relates to golf is every golfer's worst nightmare.

166
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:57,480
Speaker 1: I really doubted for for a long time that my

167
00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:01,559
Speaker 1: body would allow me to to do what I wanted

168
00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:05,760
Speaker 1: to do. And the more you look at golf swings

169
00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,200
Speaker 1: and stuff. You know, I watched Bryce and hit balls

170
00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,960
Speaker 1: on when it's on my phone and it's like, you know,

171
00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,080
Speaker 1: that just it freaks me out because I just, you know,

172
00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,600
Speaker 1: I think of all the things that your body doesn't want.

173
00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,840
Speaker 1: It's not designed to do that, and it's not really

174
00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,160
Speaker 1: designed to swing a golf club, to be fair, So um,

175
00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:28,480
Speaker 1: all that stuff you start to really internalize and just

176
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,720
Speaker 1: sort of doubt whether, um it's it's going to work out.

177
00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,960
Speaker 1: And to be honest, I think the coronavirus hitting when

178
00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,720
Speaker 1: it did was Obviously it's a it's been a disaster

179
00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,160
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, but for me, it came

180
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:48,520
Speaker 1: at the best time it could have done in terms

181
00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,400
Speaker 1: of I was at my lowest and I probably needed

182
00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:53,800
Speaker 1: the whole world to stop for a few months so

183
00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:59,400
Speaker 1: I could try and figure figure it out. So I mean,

184
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,120
Speaker 1: in a way, I'm thankful for that because if you know,

185
00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:08,600
Speaker 1: if I'd lost another five six months, I don't think

186
00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,880
Speaker 1: I would be able to face it, really, So shepherds

187
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,440
Speaker 1: Sting seeing Charles Marshall in March of twenty twenty while

188
00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:20,559
Speaker 1: sheltering in Scotland. He was also doing his college dissertation

189
00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:25,199
Speaker 1: on how elite athletes come back from injuries. And I've

190
00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,120
Speaker 1: been someone who had been told that basically, the stronger

191
00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:31,040
Speaker 1: you get, the more immune to injury you're going to be,

192
00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,840
Speaker 1: which is true to a certain extent, but it just

193
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,080
Speaker 1: didn't work for me. I worked my butt off in

194
00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:42,560
Speaker 1: the gym, you know, I really went through a stage

195
00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:46,720
Speaker 1: of lifting lots trying to get really strong, and never

196
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:51,439
Speaker 1: and never helped me. It just actually, you know, disadvantaged

197
00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,480
Speaker 1: me really, so going to see Charles and and doing

198
00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,080
Speaker 1: things that you know, you'd never ever so I'd never

199
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,440
Speaker 1: ever think about doing a lot of it. Stuff we

200
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,560
Speaker 1: started with was breathing drills and a different sort of

201
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:10,800
Speaker 1: mobility modalities, but you know, stuff that I walked away

202
00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,480
Speaker 1: from that and thought that's really different. Now. I've never

203
00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:19,280
Speaker 1: done stuff like that before, and I think for someone

204
00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,080
Speaker 1: searching for an answer, doing things that are completely different

205
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:25,920
Speaker 1: is great because you think, well, at least I haven't

206
00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,880
Speaker 1: tried this before. So the sheltering in Saint Andrews was

207
00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,600
Speaker 1: with Chloe and her sister Lauren. I think Covid probably

208
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,240
Speaker 1: gave him a good chunk of time to work on

209
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,960
Speaker 1: his body. I mean, he's the hardest worker. I know

210
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,679
Speaker 1: the amount he puts into rehabbing his body and just

211
00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:44,839
Speaker 1: doing every everyday things that people don't realize that people

212
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,000
Speaker 1: do to kind of just to keep him in a

213
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,480
Speaker 1: place where he can play, to break up the boardom

214
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,319
Speaker 1: and to make a little cash. The three of them

215
00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,400
Speaker 1: got jobs at Tesco's call center, which they had to

216
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,800
Speaker 1: do from home. Tesco is a chain of supermarkets. The

217
00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:01,640
Speaker 1: job answering phones paid eight pounds an hour, which is

218
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,720
Speaker 1: eleven dollars. So yeah, it was an interesting one for us.

219
00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:06,200
Speaker 1: We felt like we had to get up early and

220
00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,520
Speaker 1: get everything done before three o'clock when our shift started.

221
00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:13,120
Speaker 1: And I think Laard he probably hated it every day

222
00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,080
Speaker 1: every day we did it, but I guess it gives

223
00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:22,000
Speaker 1: you some perspective, doesn't it. It was eye opening. It's

224
00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,200
Speaker 1: definitely not what I want to do for the rest

225
00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:30,000
Speaker 1: of my life. So whatever I end up doing, you know, God,

226
00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,520
Speaker 1: tryma best and do it the best of my abilities,

227
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:37,280
Speaker 1: because you know, you've got to make the most of

228
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,880
Speaker 1: your opportunities to make sure you don't do something you

229
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,439
Speaker 1: don't want to do. Chloe got laid off in July

230
00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,840
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty, been an act of what Laird referred

231
00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,640
Speaker 1: to as I quit in solidarity with her, so Shephard

232
00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,840
Speaker 1: quit Tesco and they both started playing some golf again.

233
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,000
Speaker 1: I think it was the start of July and that

234
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:58,840
Speaker 1: kind of gave us a good block. We both played

235
00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,840
Speaker 1: the British Amateur in twenty twenty in August, and I

236
00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:04,920
Speaker 1: think we had about six weeks to kind of prepare

237
00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,080
Speaker 1: for that, and that was quite nice to have a

238
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,600
Speaker 1: good chunk of time to dedicate to perhaps sing and

239
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,280
Speaker 1: we just went out and played lots together trying to

240
00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,800
Speaker 1: get a card in the hand, to try and create

241
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,360
Speaker 1: some form of pressure that we hadn't had before. So yeah,

242
00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,760
Speaker 1: I think that's an experience neither of us will forget.

243
00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,720
Speaker 1: Who doesn't love a card in hand? I love that

244
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,080
Speaker 1: phrase card in hand. You know, you get to get

245
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,040
Speaker 1: card in hand. That's competitive, that's like that means you're competing. Yeah,

246
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,160
Speaker 1: I love it. I got to get card in hand.

247
00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:35,720
Speaker 1: When Laird and Chloe would practice, it was at Duke's,

248
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,120
Speaker 1: not far from Saint Andrew's, and even though it was

249
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,720
Speaker 1: nice to be outside and swinging the club again, the

250
00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:44,760
Speaker 1: golf wasn't great and Laird's body still wasn't right. August

251
00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:50,440
Speaker 1: we played the British buck Dell. That was great to

252
00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,800
Speaker 1: just get playing again. Made the match play, then got

253
00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,360
Speaker 1: got beat in the first round. But I was happy

254
00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,720
Speaker 1: because I played decent and I, you know, physically held

255
00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,960
Speaker 1: up to plan some golf again. I remember him saying

256
00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,600
Speaker 1: something before the tournament that he was a bit concerned

257
00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,240
Speaker 1: about his body and that he felt that if he

258
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,560
Speaker 1: got through the thirty six holes straight play qualifying, if

259
00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,640
Speaker 1: he qualified for the match play, he was concerned that

260
00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,840
Speaker 1: he wouldn't be able to play the match play because

261
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:24,080
Speaker 1: of his body. Like most golfers who were chasing answers,

262
00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:27,240
Speaker 1: Shephard was open to any opinions on his swing and body,

263
00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,320
Speaker 1: which included David Patrick, Chloe's coach. I asked Shepherd for

264
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,920
Speaker 1: the consensus of what they all considered his issues. Basically,

265
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,520
Speaker 1: my don't I didn't really turn my head, so I

266
00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,320
Speaker 1: didn't turn my heaps at the time. So my swing

267
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,880
Speaker 1: was a very short John Ram length action and I

268
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,160
Speaker 1: had a lot of lateral shift into my lead side.

269
00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,800
Speaker 1: So so that was basically think what was causing quite

270
00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:57,760
Speaker 1: a lot of discomfort because every time he hit a

271
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,400
Speaker 1: golf shot, it's like you've got mini car crash going

272
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,360
Speaker 1: on and you're sort of left her basically because everything's

273
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:09,000
Speaker 1: compressed and going into the ground. So trying to get

274
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,320
Speaker 1: more turn in the back swing and then hopefully that

275
00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:15,520
Speaker 1: should mean you know you're clearing a little bit better

276
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,600
Speaker 1: on the way through and give yourself a bit more time.

277
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,200
Speaker 1: By the fall of twenty twenty, the back pain started

278
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,920
Speaker 1: being a factor again, which is where fate plays a

279
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:27,600
Speaker 1: part in the life of Laird Shepherd. I mean, this

280
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,040
Speaker 1: next bit I think is quite a fairy tale sort

281
00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,000
Speaker 1: of just like thank God our paths across the right

282
00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:37,520
Speaker 1: time type of situation. But I was during my junior

283
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,160
Speaker 1: golf days, I was friendly with this guy called Tom

284
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,640
Speaker 1: Bailey Matt Jinella. Here, how are you? I'm good? Thanks?

285
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,200
Speaker 1: How to Bailey, who's currently competing and coaching, remembers the

286
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,760
Speaker 1: early days special like he was good. Everyone knew his good.

287
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,080
Speaker 1: He was never the longest, like he's never been the

288
00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:01,080
Speaker 1: biggest guy. It's still not. He can get it out

289
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,960
Speaker 1: there for pound pound he gets out there, yeah, but

290
00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,000
Speaker 1: not the longest. And junior golf, he just potted it

291
00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:08,639
Speaker 1: and chipped as good as anything I've ever seen. We

292
00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:10,960
Speaker 1: we we were mates. He played the same golf course.

293
00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,320
Speaker 1: We played a lot of golf together, and we traveled around.

294
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,679
Speaker 1: If you turn us together when when I was younger,

295
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,520
Speaker 1: we all knew that Lead was going to be good.

296
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,439
Speaker 1: And then obviously went for issues with injuries and and

297
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,720
Speaker 1: he went quiet for a while. But yeah, he just

298
00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:26,200
Speaker 1: got to get him healthy and on a golf course

299
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,520
Speaker 1: and he's going to do something good. So I'm back

300
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,440
Speaker 1: home in January or in December, sorry, just came down

301
00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 1: before my grandfather's funeral and then stayed for Christmas. But

302
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,040
Speaker 1: I was at arranged nearby and were setting balls and

303
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,560
Speaker 1: Tom had just recently started coaching. Yeah, we bumped into

304
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,480
Speaker 1: each other and and we're more just catching up about

305
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:50,919
Speaker 1: the last few years. And then we were getting some

306
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,359
Speaker 1: shots with each other and as you do, talk about

307
00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:57,119
Speaker 1: what you're working on. And yeah, he was saying about

308
00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,240
Speaker 1: stuff he wanted to sort out in his swing that

309
00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,959
Speaker 1: were causing him issues with his body. And with my

310
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,600
Speaker 1: background of how I got into coaching, what got me

311
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,360
Speaker 1: into coaching and reading, he was going to seek out

312
00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:10,960
Speaker 1: someone to help me with the issues I just happened

313
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,760
Speaker 1: with my own body. So I learned a few things

314
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,200
Speaker 1: from that, and yeah, I put some of those points

315
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,200
Speaker 1: across it and said, well have you thought about maybe

316
00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,560
Speaker 1: this is the cause to and I'll go to more

317
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,200
Speaker 1: detail about that, but you thought about this is causing

318
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:27,000
Speaker 1: what you're trying to fix to happen instead of dealing

319
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,600
Speaker 1: with the root cause of what was happening. It was

320
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,360
Speaker 1: the right stuff that he wanted to work on to

321
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,840
Speaker 1: try and free up some limitations and take some stress

322
00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:37,800
Speaker 1: off his body, but the thing that was making a

323
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,080
Speaker 1: move like that wasn't being fixed. And so I just said, look,

324
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:42,560
Speaker 1: you've got to look at how you're set up to

325
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,960
Speaker 1: the goal, or you can look at your posture, positioning

326
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:46,800
Speaker 1: of your belvis. This is all having a big influence

327
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,320
Speaker 1: over the way you can move. And I think I

328
00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,360
Speaker 1: think he heard the same thing a lot about these

329
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:54,919
Speaker 1: are the things you got improving your goals doing, and

330
00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:57,040
Speaker 1: he works, as you know, works his ass off on

331
00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,040
Speaker 1: it and tried to improve it, doesn't doesn't see it

332
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:01,959
Speaker 1: getting better. And I think it was probably a bit

333
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 1: of a breath of fresh air for him to hear

334
00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,840
Speaker 1: a different viewpoint on maybe why there's problems with what

335
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,119
Speaker 1: he's doing. He'd gone out to see George Ganghis in

336
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: the States, I think earlier that year, and so of you. Basically,

337
00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:21,679
Speaker 1: I think with George's busting trying to do some of

338
00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,400
Speaker 1: the stuff he's been taught, and I know Tom as

339
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,320
Speaker 1: well as has had definitely got his own ideas well

340
00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,760
Speaker 1: stuff as well. So Tom Bailey's ideas were based on

341
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,040
Speaker 1: the research he had done to solve his own back issues.

342
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,840
Speaker 1: Just one day strolling for Instagram and came across George

343
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:41,280
Speaker 1: Gangus and he familiar with George yet Yeah, so he

344
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,199
Speaker 1: I see the swings and this is that four or

345
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,440
Speaker 1: five years ago, back when everyone thought he wasn't mental

346
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,679
Speaker 1: and crazy guy. He's just a random blake with a

347
00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:56,760
Speaker 1: good Instagram with crazy GOLs things. And I saw that

348
00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:58,600
Speaker 1: it's none of his guys had any of the issues.

349
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,480
Speaker 1: I had and I thought that, oh, I'm going to

350
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,200
Speaker 1: go see this guy because he seems like he was

351
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,760
Speaker 1: doing something different. He was a big jump all the

352
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,920
Speaker 1: way over to the States, and he was quite expensive.

353
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,199
Speaker 1: But yeah, I learned some stuff with him that was

354
00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:13,840
Speaker 1: getting changing from my own game, but also led me

355
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,040
Speaker 1: into the coaching quite complete accent, and basically the way

356
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,440
Speaker 1: he teaches posture is very very different to the last

357
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,360
Speaker 1: thirty years of instruction, but not that different to previous

358
00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,119
Speaker 1: thirty years before that, the way people used to set up.

359
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,119
Speaker 1: So he just comes onto the range and he always

360
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,560
Speaker 1: usually asked me how I'm doing a white working art

361
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,520
Speaker 1: because you know, we're mates, so we haven't chat. And

362
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 1: he was saying, well, you know, let me have lucky

363
00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,320
Speaker 1: al swing. At the time, I was pretty reluctant to

364
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 1: show them because you get into a stage of having

365
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,280
Speaker 1: too many opinions and having too many people try and

366
00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:54,320
Speaker 1: tell you what they want. But I let him have

367
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,960
Speaker 1: a look seeing hit few balls and said, yeah, I

368
00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,000
Speaker 1: think I know what your problem is. And I'm like, yeah,

369
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:04,240
Speaker 1: sure you do. Yeah, because that's a classic line for coaches.

370
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:08,200
Speaker 1: Back to Stuart Shepherd, Laird's father on the chance meeting

371
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,320
Speaker 1: with Bailey, I guess it was probably fake. I mean Tom,

372
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:14,520
Speaker 1: Tom is quite a garrulous guy. I'm not I've not

373
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,080
Speaker 1: seen him for a couple of years. I briefly managed

374
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,480
Speaker 1: our County junior side, and so I know I knew

375
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,000
Speaker 1: Tom Reasley well then, and he's only one of the

376
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,720
Speaker 1: guys who will talk a lot and sometimes you might

377
00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:31,119
Speaker 1: switch off. But he's a very nice guy. And I

378
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,000
Speaker 1: think Lad probably when Tom came inside sort of given

379
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,360
Speaker 1: him a sense of what to do. He was initially

380
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,840
Speaker 1: a bit resistant, maybe a humid him and was like, okay,

381
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,880
Speaker 1: so what would you have me do? So I talked

382
00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: and Sue through some of the posture stuff, and it

383
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,600
Speaker 1: it feels crazy at first because it goes against everything

384
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:53,639
Speaker 1: week with the last thirty years of coaching and of

385
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,439
Speaker 1: what we would believe is fundamental good posture and text

386
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,919
Speaker 1: book and looks aesthetic and everything. And he's like, he

387
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:02,600
Speaker 1: does feel weird, but here a couple of shots and

388
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,080
Speaker 1: he said he felt some swings that he felt free

389
00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:07,280
Speaker 1: and he ever had in some ball flights and he felt,

390
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:08,880
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, he can move it by place.

391
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,359
Speaker 1: He came and got me into the position that felt

392
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,800
Speaker 1: completely alien to me. I mean the first time I

393
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:19,120
Speaker 1: showed the golf swing um of how I was trying

394
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 1: to do it to my girlfriend. After that, she thought

395
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,680
Speaker 1: I was joking. She thought I was joking. How list

396
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:32,119
Speaker 1: to the ball? I can't believe, he said, But but

397
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,040
Speaker 1: I did. Yeah, he showed me and I was like,

398
00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,160
Speaker 1: I looked at him and I thought he's not being serious.

399
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:46,640
Speaker 1: But he was being serious. So I said, you do

400
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:51,679
Speaker 1: you you know everyone? You know everyone's are in person.

401
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what's right. So there

402
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 1: you go. So it wasn't a massive amount of work

403
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: to get him to actually make the change. It was

404
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:08,480
Speaker 1: more just I think giving him the actual explanation behind

405
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 1: how the anatomy works and what it was causing him

406
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 1: to do. And as soon as he understood that, it

407
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 1: clicked and he's like, well, why wouldn't I want to

408
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 1: do that. I think he was willing to try anything

409
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:23,080
Speaker 1: at that point. So I did it, and I was like, wow,

410
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 1: this actually feels a lot easier to do the things

411
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: that I'm trying to work on with with David, And

412
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 1: you know, this is pretty amazing, Like I wasn't expecting this.

413
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: And so then a few more days went by and

414
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: saw him again, and he's big on on just doing

415
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,160
Speaker 1: a lot of um, you know, movements that you could

416
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 1: do in the gym, drills that you could do away

417
00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,280
Speaker 1: from the golf course. And for me that was brilliant

418
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,359
Speaker 1: because I was I was at that point, I was

419
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: getting pretty sick of playing average golf. And when I

420
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: go and hit balls, I want to hit shots. I

421
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 1: don't want to work on stuff. It's just the way

422
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: I am, so, you know. For for then January of

423
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: facetim and I had to go back up to school

424
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,160
Speaker 1: and because of the lockdown restrictions and stuff again, but

425
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: with FaceTime Tom quite a few times and just get

426
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: different drills and different stuff to work on and a

427
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 1: lot of sort of band stuff and trying to create

428
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 1: a bigger turn essentially. And to be honest, it hasn't

429
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,880
Speaker 1: been like an intense relationship in terms of he's coming

430
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,120
Speaker 1: to me every week. We've been rhynding. It's me given

431
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,320
Speaker 1: him some more like consulting to help him with his swing,

432
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,520
Speaker 1: and kind of got a FaceTime every few weeks to

433
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:38,720
Speaker 1: see how things are going, made some progress and other things.

434
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,920
Speaker 1: And yeah, that's how it went over over the lockdown

435
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 1: I mean, my whole business went online because of the

436
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: lockdown here, and I was getting used to pretty much

437
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,119
Speaker 1: that's where I do most of my work now. I

438
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:51,119
Speaker 1: was online anyway, so and you know it worked. You know,

439
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,000
Speaker 1: I didn't hit a ball for probably the first six

440
00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: weeks of the year, and twenty twenty one, I just

441
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 1: did was this droll stuff every day and went to

442
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 1: a ball. So the first time I made February and

443
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 1: sent a video to Tom, was like, Hey, you've You've

444
00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,800
Speaker 1: solved it. You've you've done it for me. So um

445
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 1: I was. I was just so relieved to have something

446
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 1: that was seeming to be to work, and that was Yeah,

447
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: that was huge. You know, even up until a few

448
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: months ago, I would I would call my parents and

449
00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,280
Speaker 1: they'd ask me how I'm getting on. I'd say, I

450
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: can't believe that Tom Bailey has saved my golf career.

451
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,160
Speaker 1: And he's you know, one of my mates from when

452
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 1: I was little. It's just just pretty pretty cool that

453
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,439
Speaker 1: he was. He was the guy to really helped me.

454
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 1: And you know that's not saying that David and Charles

455
00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:49,639
Speaker 1: haven't helped as well, but you know, everything just just

456
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 1: come together at the right time. So you know, it

457
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: couldn't be going to be more grateful for that. I'm

458
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: sure the text he received from Laird, the one he said,

459
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:03,640
Speaker 1: which was from the year than May, was so really

460
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 1: I said, high Chief had the first event in the

461
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:08,880
Speaker 1: last few days. Just wanted to thank you for the help.

462
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: Body is feeling good and played golf Monday through to

463
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: Saturday with no problems. It was very rusty and it's

464
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: always different bringing newish move to tournament golf for the

465
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,359
Speaker 1: first time, but overall happy with how things are going.

466
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: Dropped three shots in the last three holes and missed

467
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,160
Speaker 1: the cup by one, but grateful to be pain free.

468
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:30,640
Speaker 1: We're on the right track. So I just just wanted

469
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: to say that it's awesome to hear that he's actually

470
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,440
Speaker 1: he's happy that he's he's played an event without pain.

471
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 1: He knows he's missed the cup and he's laughed about it,

472
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,679
Speaker 1: but the fact that he's done it without pay was

473
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 1: was a start. So that was that was nice to hear.

474
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: And obviously when you've helped to play, you want to

475
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 1: know they're they're having success to their scores and through

476
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:56,200
Speaker 1: their events. But it's weird that it almost brings more

477
00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: satisfaction knowing that you've you've helped them actually you continue

478
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:04,280
Speaker 1: to bite goal. It was instantly noticeable to me. Um

479
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:08,439
Speaker 1: how it was just much easier to move basically, And

480
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:10,639
Speaker 1: that's the worst sensation I think for any goal, for

481
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: if you're stiff, or you you can't, you feel like

482
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,880
Speaker 1: you can't do, or your brains telling me to do.

483
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 1: And yeah, so it was. It was instantly a lot better.

484
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 1: And then you know you've got to work at it

485
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: because it's a it's a very different For me, it

486
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,159
Speaker 1: felt very alien at the time, so it took a

487
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 1: lot of work. But um, the best thing is when

488
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: you get in sort of instant satisfaction or instant results

489
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 1: from something and you can see that it's working. And

490
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,280
Speaker 1: that's that's what That's what kept me going because I

491
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: was getting results, whereas previously, you know, I put a

492
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,920
Speaker 1: lot of hard working and not really seen any benefit

493
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,679
Speaker 1: from it. So did you get to times where you're like,

494
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: you're emotional, you're out, you're done, Um, fuck it? Yeah,

495
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:01,879
Speaker 1: hundred percent? Yeah, multiple times, Yeah, definitely. I Mean I

496
00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 1: said to my girlfriend in November last year, I said,

497
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 1: you know, I think my words were I don't know

498
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: how long, much longer. I want to keep doing this

499
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 1: if nothing changes, if I'm not getting any results. Basically,

500
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: I think at that point he was just it's just

501
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,159
Speaker 1: that thought, like, can can I actually put myself through this,

502
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 1: you know, all the work that goes into it if

503
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:30,600
Speaker 1: it's not going to work out. So yeah, I think

504
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 1: that was a tough, tough time for him, and to

505
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 1: have that. I think he did have a bit of

506
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: a conversation with himself in terms of he needed to

507
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 1: be open to exploring a few different things, if there

508
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:45,479
Speaker 1: was anything that he was interested in, you know, just

509
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,320
Speaker 1: being open to the idea that it might not be golf,

510
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 1: might not be the thing that works out for him.

511
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 1: My most memorable sort of melt down, let's say, was

512
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,479
Speaker 1: probably in the very start of January. It only just

513
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 1: started to Tom, or only just seeing Tom in December,

514
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 1: and hadn't really played much golf and went to practice

515
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,560
Speaker 1: one day and just was not hitting it very well

516
00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: and starging him with a little bit of sort of

517
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,400
Speaker 1: residual back painting. Although that it seemed to work out

518
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,920
Speaker 1: in the end, but I hit about five or six shots.

519
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 1: It was very very cold obviously January and Saint Andrew's

520
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 1: but hit five or six shots and just chucked my

521
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,480
Speaker 1: club about fifty yards into some rough and walked back

522
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 1: to my car. And I was pretty upset. You know,

523
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,480
Speaker 1: I just said to my girlfriend, I'm not very good

524
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: at anything else. So it's kind of scary thinking he

525
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 1: spent five years, five six years your life pursuing something

526
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 1: that ultimately turns out, you know, potentially not to be.

527
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 1: You know, I was there next to him when he

528
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: was throwing that club and tell on him to you know,

529
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,440
Speaker 1: keep his chin off or whatever, or trying to be

530
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:05,480
Speaker 1: the positive boys. But there's just nothing you could say

531
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 1: at that point, because again, I've not been through what

532
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,320
Speaker 1: he's been through, and you know that's unique to him.

533
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 1: And fortunately after that was when I base decided I'm

534
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 1: not going to hit a gool for a month and

535
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:20,480
Speaker 1: just do this this stuff. And you know, that gave

536
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 1: me a little bit of time, which is which is

537
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: probably a good thing as well, just to just to

538
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,040
Speaker 1: get used to the changes and just get back to

539
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: playing golf, playing golf and the golf course. I mean,

540
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:35,120
Speaker 1: you know, wow, I look back and the first four

541
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: years of five years at university and I could probably

542
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 1: count on both my hands and in that four years,

543
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:45,840
Speaker 1: how many bounced games I played. I mean I literally

544
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:50,320
Speaker 1: didn't play golf if it wasn't the golf tournament. So

545
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,640
Speaker 1: just just being able to get back and enjoy playing golf.

546
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:56,920
Speaker 1: I mean, if you want to get better at something,

547
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 1: you go enjoy it. And that's that allowed me that

548
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 1: time to just get back playing and enjoy the game.

549
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,880
Speaker 1: So Laird Shephard entered the one hundred and twenty sixth

550
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: British Amateur Championship at Naron as eight hundred and forty

551
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 1: six in the World Amateur Golf rankings. Yes, I got call,

552
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 1: probably it must have been near two or three weeks

553
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 1: before the event, so it was quite a long time

554
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: before it started saying that. You know, I got a

555
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: place in the field, and I know there was a

556
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 1: lot of ultimates to go in just because of the

557
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: travel restrictions and stuff. So obviously, you know, one of

558
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: the most depressing things for me was thinking about, imagine

559
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: if I don't even get into these events anymore, events

560
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 1: that you know, I was planning to win three years ago.

561
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 1: I was really thinking I could could win these events,

562
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 1: and to think that I wasn't even going to get

563
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 1: a spot in the field that was hurt pretty bad.

564
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 1: So I knew he could go far and it obviously

565
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: I think he did too. And but you know, you've

566
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,800
Speaker 1: got to make at one step at a time. You know,

567
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 1: the first portocole is to make the make the cut

568
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 1: in the qualifying and you know he didn't exactly breeze

569
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 1: and that breeze through and that either or so you know,

570
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 1: it was kind of a two step process. But I

571
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 1: think once it gets to the march player, you know

572
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: he's gonna he's gonna always grind it out to the end.

573
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 1: So Part two of this podcast starts at the first

574
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 1: round of stroke play. At NARN. You'll meet several new

575
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 1: characters and you'll not only hear about one incredible comeback,

576
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 1: an amazing display of sportsmanship in class. There's also some friendship,

577
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: tough love, bad yardage, a big coffee, the jitters, and

578
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,720
Speaker 1: a street fighter in new shoes. Yeah. On the first tea,

579
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: there was a behind the first tea there was a

580
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 1: guy and he turned to the guy who was with

581
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: him and said, oh, that I've been watching this lad Shepherd.

582
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 1: He's a real street fighter. I thought that was a

583
00:32:55,000 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 1: pretty presdent thing to say. In the circumstances. Important note,

584
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 1: we couldn't be doing this without the support from our friends.

585
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: At Part Points, here's Brandon Ebert, who has two young sons.

586
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,440
Speaker 1: He's also the co founder of the app that is

587
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:11,600
Speaker 1: helping grow the game. When I take the boys to

588
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,640
Speaker 1: play golf, we would play forward and you know, I'd

589
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 1: play maybe from a T box for a T box.

590
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 1: They play up And there was a time where my

591
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 1: oldest son Corman gets par from fifty yards and my

592
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: youngest son Keaton gets parts from twenty five yards, and

593
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: Corman goes, see, I deserve more points than my brother

594
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,240
Speaker 1: because I made part from from further back, and that's

595
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: what my ball went on. I was like, yeah, we

596
00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 1: have something, And then I realized I was having so

597
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,960
Speaker 1: much more fun playing golf when I was scoring than

598
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 1: I was trying to navigate bogies and pars from you know,

599
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: the blue tea boxes. If you will download Part Points

600
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 1: and go make Part