WEBVTT - Fire Drill 030: To The Linksland 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:05.000 It drives on tour every week and you seek Golfers Bay. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.200 You hit a drive and you just pick up the 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:07.680 tea and you walk off. You can't pick up the 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:09.280 tea at the Old Course. You never know where it's 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:12.800 going to finish. You know, there's no it's because down 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:14.560 when the ball runs a hundred yards and it's like 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:16.040 the ball can go. You could land on the right 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:17.400 hand soil of the fairway and miss the fairway to 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:19.040 the left. You know if it's going to run a 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:20.960 hundred yards but sort of bounces it gets so you've 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:23.200 never got to pick up the team moment at the 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.960 Old Course, which is I don't know. People think it's 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.240 flukey and there's a bit of luck involved, but there's 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.879 no luck involved. If that if Tom Own, Nicholas sevy Faldo, 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.920 Tiger one, there so much that's that's actually removing luck. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:43.320 If you actually analyzed it, probably put another log on 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:54.000 the fire nobody hears. Give it time. Hello, This is 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:58.120 Alan ship knocked back for another Fire Drill podcast, delayed 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:02.080 to be joined by Michael Bamberger, Matt Janella and US 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:05.920 Open champion Jeff Ogilvie. We're talking about the Old Course 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.240 and the Open Championship and all the related fun issues 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:12.440 real quick. Want to thank our corporate sponsors will help 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.480 us keep the lights on here at the Firebit Collective 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:19.720 that's part Points, Seed Golf and Link Soul. We've talked 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:22.720 about each of these companies individually. We believe in them, 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.240 we use our products, we love them, and so thank 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.600 you for the support to all those fine places. And 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.480 so let's just let's just jump right in here, Jeff. 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:35.160 What makes the Old Course such a charming test of 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:39.679 golf and such a fun tournament venue? Wow? I mean 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.720 the name helps you know a minutes the O g right, 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:46.319 it's the original golf course. Um, it's been there forever. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.720 Just driving from Edinburgh an exciting experience. I feel like 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.440 the closer you get to the town, the me start 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.480 saying sort of the buildings and it's just so old 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:58.080 and it's just such a just the town I think 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:00.720 makes it as much as anything else. There's grooves in 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.760 the sidewalk from the metal spikes over the last few 0:02:03.840 --> 0:02:06.720 hundred years walking up the side. You're actually out of 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:08.520 place if you're not wearing golf clothes when you go 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:15.840 anywhere there, And it's truly just it's just in the 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:18.280 it's just in the buildings, and it's in the town, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:21.040 just the culture of the game over the last four 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:24.160 or five hundred years, and the golf course itself, it 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.160 is just it's the best first team in golf place 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.600 by some stretch. I think it's a very nerve wracking, exciting, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.200 thrilling sort of experience. Just tearing off on the old 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.760 course and you've got this very docile, gentle first hole 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:37.799 which doesn't really give you any sets of what's to come. 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.280 And then you get in the second hole and you 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.800 just get further and further away and sort of spotted 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:45.680 with these random bunkers all over the place, and the 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:47.520 course makes no sense at all. And then the more 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.679 you play it, the more you play it, gradually it 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.040 it sort of shows itself. And it doesn't you can't 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.519 work it out. It'll show you when it's ready to 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:58.000 show you, you know, and you've got to play it 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:00.799 lots and lots of times and lots of different way 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.480 the conditions, and gradually it sort of starts making it 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:04.960 a sense. To the point when you get to the 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.240 you come to a realization or and a waking or 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:11.240 a moment of enlightenment that you realize that this is 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:13.640 actually why golf is such a great sport, because this 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.040 is the starting point of the whole thing, and it's 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.880 set it off in such an amazing direction, and it 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:21.720 just makes you. It makes you a better golfer, and 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.640 it makes you like golf more than you did before. 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:27.880 And as you come back into town, you're getting closer 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.240 and closer and closer and closer to town. The spires 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.800 on the cathedrals in the buildings are getting taller and taller, 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:37.000 and you're getting closer to the seventeenth. Sort of you've 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:38.640 gotten your mind for the last few holes, and then 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:40.480 you get to come up eighteen, which is the flip 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:42.840 of which is the flip of the first with this 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.720 big wide fairway, and you've even outside the open, you've 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:50.000 got spectators. They're crossing the fairway. When you've got to 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.400 wait for spectators cross the fairway while you're about to 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:57.160 play eighteen. People clap applaud good approach shots on eighteen, 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.520 even on a public play day. And you come all 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:02.280 the way back into town and I'm into the clubhouse 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.360 at a loss. It's just everything. As I said, I 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:07.600 just think golf is such an amazing sport because it 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.320 got set off in such a good direction by the 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.520 all course to begin with. I think we should just 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:16.920 end this podcast like that, that's a rap, saying it's 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.159 a rap? What do we say on top of that? 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.080 Transcribe it printed out for your grandchildren, because you're not 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.000 going to get a better description. I mean, I'm literally 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.680 about to I'm like, actually, I am, I am, I 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.600 have a tear in mynd Like I was like, oh 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:36.479 my god, that was That was like the only only quibble, Jeff. 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.520 I would say, it's the trolleys that create the rut 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.240 in the sidewalks. In other words, the jets come down 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:47.240 with their trolleys right down through your town, and it's 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.559 that was beautiful, Jeff. Well, I mean, Matt and Michael, 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.440 you guys like myself, we've been privileged to be there, 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.640 for to be in Saint Andrew's during open weeks and 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.359 just during regular play. I mean, what are some of 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:04.320 your your favorite memories and some of your favorite experiences there. Well, yeah, 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.080 I was very fortunate. I got a trip over to 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.479 the UK with dad. My dad was visiting his sort 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:15.000 of aging mother who I've basically never met, and she 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.720 lived in the Isle of Man, this little island between 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.800 the UK and Ireland. So the whole purpose is the 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:25.680 trick was to visit her so he could see her 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:27.800 one last time. But he sort of took me with 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.280 him and we sort of landed London and we got 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.840 a rental car and we just drove around and I 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.000 was already frothing on golf and I'd read a lot 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:36.760 of books by then, which is kind of weird for 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.280 a sixteen year old kid. But we ended up traversing 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.000 the country and got to the Old Course at one point, 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.360 and just as I said, it's just the excitement when 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:47.280 you come into the town is worth the trip, just 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.960 to go to the town and visit. And normally when 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:52.320 you play the Old Course, you've got to go in 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.440 the ballot. You can't book a tea time, really, you 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:55.880 go and you've got to put your name down with 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.120 the startup for every time the next day. And so 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.080 we did that. We were laid into town four or 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.000 five o'clock the day before and we put our name down. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.920 The guys like, you're doubtful here, but you never know. 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:08.800 You'll see how you go. And we missed out on 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.440 the ballot. But he said, if you don't get the ballot, 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:13.520 come down as a two ball, there might be a 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.680 two ball who gets on and they might let you join. 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:19.200 So he turned up at like seven or eight in 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.960 the morning and waited around, and finally there's this Swedish 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.000 couple who said, yeah, we'd love to play with another 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.040 two So we got out that first day we were there, 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:30.039 which was incredibly fortunate. We went out with them and 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.520 played and played it at sixteen, and I was in 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:34.080 love for the first moment. I mean, I kind of 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.200 want to hate it because everyone historically has hated it 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.839 first time and Bobby Jones tore up his card and 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:41.520 walked off the course. I mean, there's a lot of 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.560 stories like that. But I loved every minute because I 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.280 knew I wanted to like it before I got there, 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.960 so it wasn't really a fair thing. But I had 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:54.440 beautiful weather, played it, had a great time, so I 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.680 was lucky to play it at sixteen. And then I 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.320 played the Sandrews Lynks Trophy and amatea tournament probably the 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:01.440 coolest ammuate tournament in the world by a long stretch. 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.080 It used to cost US forty pounds to play the 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.720 Sandrew's Links Trophy, which was around on the Old and 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.200 the new first day and then thirty six on the 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:12.480 old on the Sunday, so you would or the second 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:14.880 day so you would get a practice round on the 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:17.600 older the new, and three rounds around the Old and 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:19.560 another round on then for forty pounds. This is the 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.200 best deal in the world with all the best golfers 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.120 in the world played with Justin Rose in that and 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:25.760 a tone of the guys that you sort of see 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.640 today or you've seen over the time. Everyone who can't 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:31.119 play that tournament does and it was so I played 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:32.760 it a lot growing up as an amateur. And then 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.160 the three opens there a few eyes, a few other visits. 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.680 Scottie and I Adam used to come and go and 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:40.320 camp a couple of times. We camped in the Old 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.520 Course hotel before and opened. When it opened was somewhere 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.920 else and we'd stay there and you would play all 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.400 around five Fleet, London Links and leaven Links and Krayle 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:52.560 and all the Sandrew's courses and it's just an incredible region. 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:55.960 But the Old Course is just the place. Yeah, And 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:59.480 my first Open I finished, I wasn't playing very well 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.280 the whole time, and I'd just snuck in and make 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.640 the cut. I think I parted Birdie the eighteenth at 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.440 nine twenty on Friday night to make the cut and 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.800 had a nice week, and it was really slow playing 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.280 in the Open at Sandrew's, which is my only pick 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:17.520 probably playing the Open at Sandrew's because all the double greens, 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.360 like in US Precious Pros, we're not going to hit 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:21.320 when somebody else is hitting, so we're always waiting for 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:23.320 somebody else to part and hit a shot. You're always 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:28.360 you're often playing the holes from the other fairway, the 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.880 corresponding fairway on the way in because the strategy a 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:35.200 long times just to go up the other side. Had 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.120 finished fifth in the end, that one that Tiger won 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.600 his second one sort of had a backdoor fifth Birdie 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:45.800 sixteen thirty, fifteen, seventeen and eighteen. I've had a birdie 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.680 seventeen on Sunday, was pretty nice feeling, hit it up 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.360 on the green about twenty five feet and made the part. 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:51.840 That was a pretty nice feeling, and you get that 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.040 fantastic raw that you get the British Open that's unique 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.800 only to that tournament. And then Birdie the last to 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.720 finished fifth. Felch was pretty exciting, so lots of good memories. 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.840 It's been a pretty learn how to drink scotch whiskey 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:06.720 on that top floor, that whiskey bar up the top 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:08.200 of the Old Court hotel. That's sort of taught me 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.880 how to like scotch. So um a lot of times. 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:17.360 It's an address, that's true. I think there's only one 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.760 slight note we could add to everything that's been said. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.960 It's so obvious, but there maybe some people don't know. 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:27.880 It's a muni. I was going to say it's closed 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.160 on Sundays and used as a park land for the locals. 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.000 That's the best part about it. And I think it's 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.720 and that's Scotland again. It's not only the old course 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:40.920 that's set off golf in the right direction. It's Scotland. 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:43.760 We all everywhere. All the other countries managed to mess 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.480 it up, but they started it off so well. It's 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.080 it's the it's the town's land. It's public land. You 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.640 can't nobody owns it. There's a golf club that operates 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.240 and sort of looks after the land, but nobody owns 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:58.080 it and the golfers generally, the public has a right 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.679 away over the golfers. You know, it's their lands, Like 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:02.280 you can play golf here if you lock, but don't 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:03.680 get in the way of anyone who's just trying to 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:08.920 have a good time. You know. Such a fantastic athos 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:11.600 and golf kind of lost its way, and the place 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:15.199 is sort of grasp that concept that this is sort 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:16.520 of a game for all and a bit of this 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:18.120 is a nice area and you can play golf if 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:19.880 you want to let everyone out out here enjoy it 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:23.000 as well. I think it's fantastic when you go there 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.200 Sunday and there's people walking their dogs on the eight eighth, 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:26.839 that's sitting down having a picnic in the valley of 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.120 sin and stuff. It's just incredible. It's just makes it 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:36.520 even more special. It's which I just I just I 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:38.640 just saw it for the first time on a Sunday, 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:41.920 after having gone there several times and played fortunate enough 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:43.960 to play the course several times. The first time I 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.520 played it was actually with Alan, which is a whole 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.480 separate story which I hope we get to. But I 0:10:51.320 --> 0:10:55.200 rolled up on a Sunday and was just captivated and 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.920 astounded by the visuals, which was the way of the dogs, 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:06.600 the throwing the balls with kids, the picnicking in the valleys, 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:10.640 and like it was all happening right there, and I 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.520 was like, oh, this really is closed on Sundays and 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.079 this really is open to the public. And that it 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:19.800 made me feel exactly that same sentiment, which is, how 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:22.720 did we lose our way? How did we get so 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.400 far removed from what this is as it relates to 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.600 the game of golf, And we were just chatting just 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:34.600 before coming on, and the beauties of some municipals haven't 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.120 lost their way, like goat Hill Park where dogs are allowed, 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:43.240 where you can where John Ashworth essentially has created that ethos, 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.360 which is that golf for all, come as you are. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:52.240 This is your recreational time. Who am I to say 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:56.000 what you were or how you know? Yeah, they're general rules, 0:11:56.120 --> 0:12:01.440 but otherwise, go have fun, utilize this land in a 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:07.680 way that makes sense as a community. It's just so 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.880 special when you come upon it and feel like you 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.960 know and and again the idea that the old course 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.920 is it and has been it for hundreds of years. 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.360 It's like, just look back to that as your guide 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.679 if you're managing a municipal, if you are in you know, 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:33.679 if you are a municipality, this is it, Well might 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.840 add to that, it's also it's truly our mecca and 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.240 when you go there, there's a very large expectation that 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.400 you'll play with people who do not speak English. People 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.200 come from all over the world to play that golf 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.040 course because people all over the world love this game. 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:51.040 I think that's part of the beauty of it as well. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.440 I can't think of another golf course where you would 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:58.320 say that so clearly. Yeah, well, okay, since Matt mentioned it, 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.280 we just have to tell the story. We'll do the 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.360 short version of the first time we played the old course. 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.240 This was ninety seven. We went on this bender that 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.480 was organized by some other sports illustrated guys. It was 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:09.920 sixteen rounds and nine days. First time I've ever been 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:14.280 in Scotland. Really somewhat uneducated about the links golf experience, 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.679 and so we got to the Old course and didn't 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:18.600 realize he had to show proof of handicap. We did 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:23.080 not have any cards. This is before smartphones and this 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:26.319 there's a grumpy old starter in the shack said well, 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.160 you'll have to provide proof if you're going to play 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.720 the course. And so this was in the this was 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.440 early morning and so in Scotland. We were racking our brains. 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.160 You know, everyone in New York we knew was asleep. 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.079 Even in California. It was probably eleven o'clock at night. 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.719 But match brother was living in Hawaii, so would the 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:43.839 time change. So we were like, oh, we got to 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.840 call Sean. And so we rang them up on some 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:51.120 public phone and explain the situation and asked if he 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:55.640 could concoct some counterfeit letter attesting to our handicaps. And 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.160 so he had some graphic design skills, so he made 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.680 up was at the Bay Country Club like a phony 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:05.480 letter head and instead and not only did he write 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.280 like our our handicaps, it was like this long, flowery 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.280 letter about how we were upstanding members of the club 0:14:11.400 --> 0:14:14.000 and we we were the chairs of this committee, and 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:16.840 we had volunteered for for this and that, and it 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.640 was this an unbelievable letter that he faxed over to 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:22.800 the starter and I'll never forget this. This this like 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:26.080 wrinkly um, you know, old Scottish dude with the gin 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.080 blossoms on a those like wraps on the glass. He's like, gentlemen, 0:14:29.520 --> 0:14:31.960 your letter has been received. And it was like, oh, 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:33.480 thank God, And we got to go and play the 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.440 old course, but it was one of the all times Shenanigans. 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.480 Well yeah, and then then the thing was is that 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.480 we had to get picked in the ballot, like we 0:14:43.480 --> 0:14:45.360 had to wait, we had to get it. We had 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.280 to get an available time because we didn't get the 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.360 ballot box. We had to get an available time, and 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.800 we had to get this this proof of handicap. And 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.480 so while we were waiting for a spot, we went 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.200 to that little pay phone that I still think i've 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:01.560 I saw recently right down the street, right near the museum, 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:04.800 and that's what we called. We called my brother and 0:15:04.840 --> 0:15:08.520 he pretended to be some sort of director of golf 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.800 at Turtle Bay Golf Club down the street in Hawaii. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:12.800 And that's how we were able to get on. I 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.280 mean we had we had a handicap. We weren't we 0:15:15.280 --> 0:15:18.080 weren't in theory sort of you know, violating any kind 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.200 of came out of play golf. But we didn't have 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:23.160 any of the necessary credentials. That's actually the lowest my 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:24.720 handicaps ever been. I think he made me like a 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:29.640 plus one or something. And then we went out back, 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:32.400 we went out again. We went back out for another 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.280 eighteen holes, we got separated, but we went back out 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.680 and we got to play two eighteen hole rounds in 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.840 one day. Yeah. And to your point, Michael, I got 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:44.000 paired with these airline pilots and they were Scandinavian. I 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.160 can't remember which country they hailed from, and you know, 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.960 they weren't speaking English, and but they were good players 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.640 and it was just like, um, it is. It is 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:58.280 an amazing melting pot. And and you know, let's talk 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.440 about the merits of the old course, Jeff. I want 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.000 your take on this as as it's become so much 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.840 of a power game and they have tipped it out 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.560 as much as they can. You're now teeing off on 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.720 three or four different golf courses. It feels like where 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.640 they've they've put these new teas for the open to 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.400 try and keep up. And I mean, for for the 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.000 recreational golfer's it's as fun as it gets and the 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:22.080 challenge is never ending. Um. But for for the best pros, 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:24.560 I mean, does does the old course still stay in 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:26.600 the test of time? What was your take on that? 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:31.280 I think so. I mean, it's disappointing someone where that 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.080 some of the teas are now that you kind of 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.960 have to um because the coolest part about the old 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.920 course is probably you you finished the first I mean 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.040 one of those ten original rules. Are those one of 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.120 the eight original rules of golf. It's like tea up 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:50.040 within one club length of the previous hole. Used to 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:51.720 just you just put out and you're tee it up 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:53.400 next to the hole and you'd go that was the rules. 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:56.880 The old course actually does that. The traditional original teas 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.720 are basically touching the previous grain. You play the first, 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:02.200 you walk to the edge of the first green, you play, 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:03.800 the second, you walk to the edge of the second green, 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:05.359 you play the third. You do that all the way around. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.640 Now we walk back one hundred yards in every hole, 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:12.640 which is necessary. And that's a debate for a different time, 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.400 but I think it generally does. I don't think par. 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:22.440 You've got to take par away from the equation and 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.439 just see what questions does it ask, and it just 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.080 it asks every question. You've got to move the ball 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.159 both ways. You've got to understand. You've got, as I 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:32.880 said before, you have to play the course a lot. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.240 Because everyone's complaint when they first play the old course, 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:38.160 as they say it's blind, but it isn't blind. It's 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:39.959 actually it shows you where to hit it. You just 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.600 have to play the hole that you play the course 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.080 enough to sort of start learning what to look at 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:50.760 you it. Gradually she shows herself over time and playing 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.080 it in lots of different conditions. Bunkers that you thought 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.600 were just made no sense at all, and this place 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:59.120 is weird. The next day when it blows into the wind, 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.080 all of a sudden, you're hitting it into those bunkers 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.840 you didn't even think. We're sort of relevant bunkers. And 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.720 as time goes on, it's the ultimate sort of think 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.080 test for a golfer. It's an execution test because you're ball. 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.320 You're never on a flatler. Your ball is always above 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:15.439 your feet or blow your feet down slope, up slope. 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:21.320 The bunkers have some other worldly mystical magnetism to them 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:24.359 that it just goes from you think you've given it 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.800 forty thirty forty yards, I mean you give it twenty 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:28.640 yards of sort of air on the right or left 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:30.000 of some of these bunkers. It's the width of the 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.000 viewers open fairway and the ball will still find its 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:36.200 way into it. So you've got to really understand the course. 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:41.560 What wind does to a lynx and hit all the shots. 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.199 I mean it looked historically back I mean Peter Thompson 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.760 won there, Jack won there, Tiger dominated their Foaldo one 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.080 there when he was number one in the world. It's 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.440 a it's a sort of a platform for the best 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.400 to show why they're the best, because it's a complete 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.720 test of golf. And I don't think that changes even 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:01.560 with shorter clubs into the holes. I really don't, because 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:04.639 the question you're doing it with different clubs, but the 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:09.320 questions are still asked. And I think often wedges into 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:11.880 greens at the old course is sometimes a disadvantage because 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:13.760 it's easier to be running the ball in with a 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:16.120 sixth n sometimes than it is with a wedge. So 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:19.360 I think the scores get a lot lower and it's 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:20.760 a lot longer than it used to be. But I 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:25.760 think the fascination there isn't really they're hitting it straight 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:27.400 up the fairway and hitting it straight on the green. 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.119 It's finding your best way around it, and sometimes that 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.159 can be thirty forty degrees off to the left or 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.720 thirty forty degrees off to the right, and then quite 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:36.720 often you'll play it up the fifth on the fourteenth hole, 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.000 which is you're making a five hundred and fifty yard 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.600 hole six hundred and fifty yards, but it's avoiding the 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.560 bunkers and making sure you don't hit it into hell 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:46.840 bunker on your second shot. You're making sure two shots 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.960 before that that you can't hit it into hell bunker 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.520 and stuff like that. So I think that's all still there. 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.800 I think you'll see great players win there or players 0:19:56.800 --> 0:20:00.919