WEBVTT - Manning Brother's Buddies Trip (Part 1) 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:05.519 The Morris Gravesite is on the right wall of the cemetery. 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.600 My guess is there will be a few people, perhaps 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:11.840 a dozen, that are they're doing the same thing. Your 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:18.760 flashlight APP will come in Handy and Taylor wrote. Well, 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:23.239 we're at ruse x right now. Cooper wrote. I'm wearing camouflage. 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.280 Peyton said, Jim do we have to wear a turtleneck? 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.800 I said required at the door, proferably tweet jacket also. 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:44.200 Peyton then said hello, dead friends. Put another log on 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:55.920 the fire. Here is give the time. Welcome to the 0:00:55.920 --> 0:01:07.000 fire pit. With Matt Chanella. It was a Thursday afternoon 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.800 and I was getting a call from Jim Nance. I 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.000 forced myself to take a second before answering. It felt 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:16.080 like high school, purposely pausing so as do not appear 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:21.399 desperate or too excited. Jim Nance, I asked, I have 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:25.920 something for you. He said. I'm all ears. Obviously, the 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:29.759 manning brothers, Eric Church, Taylor Zarza and some of their 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.720 friends have just returned from an ultimate buddies trip to 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:36.640 Scotland and Northern Ireland, and apparently it was something special. 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.200 I wondered if you'd be interested in telling their story 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:47.080 in obviously well, fourteen interviews in almost eight hours of 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:51.480 recordings later, we've assembled a two part podcast reflecting on 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.240 and rehashing the best buddies trip that was happening in 0:01:55.280 --> 0:02:00.320 and around the playing of the open championship at St Drews. 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:05.400 There are course reviews and insider info. A man named 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:09.080 church breaks into a cemetery and gets inspired to write 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.040 an original song. There are traditional drinks and magnums of wine. 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.040 A tall boy of tenants was used as a t 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:23.680 there's a proper lunch, special guests robes red socks and 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:26.440 you get the details of a new drinking game that's 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.840 already sweeping the country. They play a variety of formats 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.800 in great weather. There was a spirit of competition and 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.840 a specific spirit that will, as Cooper manning put it, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.680 make you forget your middle name. But one thing was 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:47.120 made more clear than the Kumo. Nothing was more important 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.440 than the Camaraderie. Before I go any further, I want 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:52.200 to thank some of the sponsors of the fire pit. 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:54.919 We couldn't do this without the support of link soul, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.880 the lifestyle brand that was started by my friends John 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.400 Ashworth and Jeff Cunningham. It's all I wear on and 0:03:01.480 --> 0:03:05.760 off the course. Use Promo Code Fire Pit off your 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.080 next purchase at links soul DOT com. I'd like to 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:12.000 also think part points, the innovative APP that alters the 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.760 way you can score the game of golf. I especially 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.880 like it for beginners. Family Golf were buddy strips, looking 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.760 for a way to change things up. Download part points 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:24.400 now and go make part and then there's dormy workshop, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.000 who we've collaborated with on all of our leather goods. 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.200 Head to the pitch shop at fire pit collective dot 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:33.400 com to see our latest line of CO branded merchandise. 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:38.040 All right, in this podcast you'll hear from Peyton Eli 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.800 and Cooper Manny. Country Music Star Eric Church is here. 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.640 There's Taylor's oars of Sirius X M, who by day 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:48.880 was playing golf. In the afternoons in St Andrew's he 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:53.680 was calling the golf. We hear from Nance Tiger's caddy, 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:58.640 Joe Lacava, and more. The trip included Marshall Alexander, who 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.240 works with Eric Church, Ben Wepbron and Eric Hasberger of 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.400 a j capital who, along with Cooper Manning and a 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.360 long list of their friends, bought and transformed the Russex 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.680 hotel which overlooks the eighteenth green of the old course. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.880 And they didn't stop at the RUSEX. Cooper Manning explains. 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:19.119 We're in the hotel business. Me a couple of members 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.680 of the trip are all in the partners and we 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.440 have a college hotel platform called graduate hotels, and so 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:29.400 we have great, cool hotels and all these great towns 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:34.880 from Ann Arbor to Charlottesville to Oxford Berkeley. Anyway, we 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.080 have thirty five of them and going to do it more. 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.400 And we were in the middle of that Um we 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.280 said look, if we're gonna be a college hotel platform, 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.280 we gotta have hotels and the two of the greatest 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:48.400 college channels of all time, which are Oxford, England and Cambridge. 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:51.440 So we wound up meeting a gentleman over there kind 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.520 of through acquiring them, and I got named Donald McDonald, 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.720 and he said look, he kind of liked us and 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.360 likely to get things and he admitted he said, look, 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.240 I've had this hotel kind of in my hip pocket 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.080 for a long time. Personal Account. The RUSSACKS y'all would 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.960 be probably the right group to come in and bring 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:11.960 it back. He had not put it very much money 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.440 into it and it kind of fall on hard times. 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.039 But and so we were like, let's take a look, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:21.919 you know. You know, we had no business thoughts or 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:27.120 future about going into the golf hotel related business, and 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:31.280 so we said, look these things. Wow, this is one 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.880 of the most iconic assets there is. These things don't ever, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.640 you know, they don't trade. We're gonna look into it. 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.560 And then so we, UM, being weapon who's WHO's the 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:46.400 boss and the visionary here, said this is, you know, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.839 this is unbelievable and we, you know, normal. We were 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.119 private at refirm. We raised money from bigger institutions stuff, 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:55.400 and we said let's do this and let's raise this 0:05:55.560 --> 0:06:00.160 money just by friends and lovers of Golf. Meet Ben Wet, 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.800 CEO of a capital. The whole idea was, you know, 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.479 there was an opportunity to sort of impact and set 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.960 ourselves apart from anybody else in the space by creating 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:15.280 an hospitality experience that matched the uniqueness in history and 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.680 charm and sophistication of the golf experience. And there was 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:20.719 a white space in the market and then to connect 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:24.440 it with multiple markets and create the ultimate you know, guys, girls, 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.480 trip journey venue. Um, you know, our goal as a 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:31.200 company used to create backdrop for life's most meaningful moments. 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.360 And like we started with, you know, university based hotels, 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.920 and it's the same idea or thesis and that sort 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.960 of Disceral, limbrick connection you have in those marketplaces and 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:46.440 how your passion and your nostalgia and your connection to 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:50.000 these places. We wanted to create a hospitality experience matches 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.400 that and that's all through history and storytelling and really, 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:55.960 you know, creating a mirror that when you you look 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.360 at our hotel, it feels like you're looking out into 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.720 the community, into the market in who you know, St Andrews, 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:06.000 into you Truan or Royal County Down or Berwick. It's 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.080 it's it's all an idea to be a reflection of 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.600 those places how especially unique they are. And you know, 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.560 you mentioned the fifty investors. There's actually more than that. 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.400 And then they're all so critical and important part of 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:20.880 the journey and they're all partners. You asked me. They 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.120 all own it. We all I don't even think we 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.480 are stewards of the asset. Having stayed at the rue 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:28.360 six the week of the open I wish I could 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:30.600 say I own it. We're pretty good at taking old 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.000 dogs and bringing it back to life. And so, anyway, 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.840 past the hat, I mean we got, I don't want 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:37.480 to get into who all, but you know, the Jim 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.360 Nances of the world, and got a couple of golfers 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.480 and just a lot of the west coast crowd and 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.440 some a lot of green jackets and a lot of just, 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:51.200 you know, really cool people who love golf who, I 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:53.600 thought this would be fun and the idea was to 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.040 say we said get going. I had more fun. It's fun. 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.680 Raising money is not hard, I mean it's hard. This 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.960 was fun because if someone didn't want to do it, 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.120 no problem, because I knew there was a laundry list 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:08.000 of guys behind them who wanted to be a part 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:09.520 of this. And you know, I didn't know if we'd 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.800 had tournaments. I didn't know what we'd do. And we know, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.160 everything got it got delayed with the open we knew 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.240 we were on the clock to get it done. There 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.520 was a parking lot next door. We were gonna build 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.240 more rooms and had this unbelievable rooftop bar, a panoramic, 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.240 I mean of the of the you know, the most 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:29.280 story story of Golf. And so Um covid kind of 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:30.760 delayed us a little bit and they pushed back to 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.400 win and we knew that was a clock. So that 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.520 that kind of had been brewing. Boy, it would be 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:40.720 fun to get a big trip around the open and 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.640 and that's kind of how it got. But the concept 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.520 I started the rebuilding and rebranding of the rusicks hotel 0:08:47.800 --> 0:08:51.160 to build up to open and the birth of a 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:55.080 buddy's trip back to web brin. Originally it wasn't about, 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:58.520 you know, bringing our friends together and going on this journey. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.240 It was for me. It was like the tell and 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.920 you know I've been going over there, obviously since we 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.400 acquired the hotel, you know, whether this one or buck 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.120 or troon or Royal County Down, but I've never played 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.480 over there. I was saving it for this. As you'll 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.040 hear in both parts of these podcasts, it was all 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.319 well worth the wait. You know, it's Eli pay was 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:22.400 like Eli. I was like, you know, let's see if 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:25.280 let's see there's really something there with Cooper just got 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.000 us into you know, he's like ship, let's go check 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.560 it out. So there was a lot of curiosity but 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.520 at the same time the idea of being able to 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:38.400 play golf and then watch golf and have the best 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.719 view in the in the whole world and then do 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:42.920 it with, you know, we have. You know, the trip 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.280 was made up of kind of it was. It wasn't. 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.960 We're all at all this close, close friends, summer close. 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:50.199 Some don't really know each other's some no, it was 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.559 kind of pepping around. But yeah, I think it was 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.200 kind of a little I'm curious. And we wound up 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.319 going to see three of the four assets. We stayed 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:00.320 at Bruce as, we stayed at North Barrack and we 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.200 stayed at the sleeve donner to Brokaw. We didn't get 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.560 to turn this time, but you know, it was kind 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:11.640 of a yeah, and investors, uh, let's check on these assets. Also, 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.200 let's play some of the best golf in the world 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.360 and have more fun than we can, you know, have 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.880 in a long time. Before we get to the fun, 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:23.199 Cooper Manning, my main narrator of this adventure, introduces the 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.960 cast of characters involved and then each person explains their 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.280 role on this ultimate buddy strip. I'll give you a 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:34.680 breakdown of everybody. That's okay. So Ben Wepburn is the 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.840 is the founder of a J Capitol and he's the 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:45.320 mastermind behind Um he's the boss and but but reluctant. 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:47.959 He didn't. He doesn't act like it, and I think 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:50.760 he had more fun than anybody and he's uh, he's 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:52.439 the one that but he was the guys that we 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.360 got to get a good perfect eightiesome and let's go, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.920 let's go figure out, let's go see these assets and 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.960 go have some fun. All these things in life, right, 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.720 doesn't matter if you're not sharing it with somebody right there. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.040 Just minutes, then they become moments and then you have memories. 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.880 That lasts forever and that's the whole reason we all 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:13.320 do and everything that we do is to have those 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.160 moments and those memories and those shared experiences. They just 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.200 you know, when you get older in your our age, 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.120 you're working, your families, you have kids. I mean that's 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.200 why people are so nostalgic about college, just you and 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.240 your buddies hanging out all the time. You don't get 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:26.040 to do that as much anymore. Right. We all have 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.280 responsibilities and the things change and life changes and they 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.079 go on a journey for a week with your best 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:37.120 friends in these places, Dude. I mean, I mean I 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.520 just you know, I could make it up Eric Church. 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:46.199 There's a country music rock star and UH, and he 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:49.400 lives there in Nashville, and you gotta have a rock 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.560 star on your trip. And I think there's just you 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.079 know whether this guy is, whether he's a real one 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:56.319 or whether he thinks he's a real one. That's kind 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.000 of I've been on plenty of trips where I think 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:02.079 I thought he was, but you know, and and Eric's 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.880 so what's so cool about him is he is a 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.240 you know, I'm not sure he can walk down. He 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.240 can walk down and he can't walk down in the street. 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:11.319 You know, when he looks like he's on stage, but 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.440 when he puts on a pair of accounting Goggle, accounting 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.200 glasses and has just a good old you know golf 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.160 had on, he can he can be anonymous, which is 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:24.600 pretty neat for him, I think, especially in Scotland, you know, 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:27.520 doing all they don't hound him, which I think he 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:31.320 loves the anonymity. I was the best drinker of all 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:33.559 of us. Um, yeah, I had to. I had to, 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.160 I had to, had to hold down, you know, the 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.760 drinking part. We were in Scotland and Ireland, for God's sake. Um, 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.400 I had to, had to hold up my musician heritage 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.839 the rock and roll lifestyle. But I know I hoped 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.360 that with some of the travel and you know, transfernace 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:49.960 across the pond and stuff like that. So we each 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:51.680 had kind of a role, you know, the things that 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.319 we did, you know, and that was no other than 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:56.360 just being a kind of fun. That was that was mine. 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:03.600 And then uh Eli, Um is. Uh Eli and Ben 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:08.280 are old friends, really kind of introduced. UH, they're really 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.040 good friends, family friends, kids the same age. I love 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.600 to have a good time. What is mine? What is 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.680 my role? Well, I did. I did bring the wine. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.640 So that was that was, you know, as he said, 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.360 you know, I had to had, you know, I had 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:21.000 to do something. You know, he kind of had. The 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:24.480 plane was going on. Someone had the hotels, coops, always 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.720 entertainment and storytelling, Um, and so it was kind of 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:30.480 I was kind of searching. It's like what can I 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.160 do to to help, you know, chip in on this? 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.240 And and so, Um, you know, asked, asked. WEAPURN feed 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:39.120 mind if I brought, you brought some wine for some 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.120 of these dinners where I have at the rus sacks 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:45.200 or other places, and so he said that would be fine. So, 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.679 uh yeah, brought, you know, eight magnums of of some 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.439 good red wine that I've been been saving, and so 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:57.160 it was. It was happy to include that on the 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.840 trip and get to have those in some special places. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.240 There's nothing better than having a friend that not only 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.800 has good, good wine, but is willing to share it 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.839 right like the worst cases having someone, Oh, I got 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.040 a great wine cellar, but he never busts out the wine. 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.839 At least you're you're selfless and willing to actually share. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.960 That's the key I needed to drinking. I gotta, I gotta, 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:20.880 I gotta make up for some lots time. So I gotta. 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.840 You know, I gotta Start Consuming. I've done good job 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:27.600 of buying, not as good at consuming, but it's not. 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.000 It's not been because of a lack of effort. I'll 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:34.120 play that. So, uh, I just gotta go on more, more, more, 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:37.400 golf trip. So you can bring bring a bunch. Then 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:42.680 we had I got in Marshall, Alexander Marshall runs point 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:47.360 for all of the Churches UH tours and it just 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:50.920 does everything for the church. He's a he's a logistics guy, 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.360 gets things done behind the scenes, making making it happen. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.200 He's a short guy, got a lot of grief being 0:14:57.240 --> 0:14:59.520 the shortest guy. Is a pretty tall group of this trip. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.520 You know, uh, you know everybody. I always tell him. 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.760 You know, he he's not even tall as his driver, 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.880 but he kills it. He hits it a long way. 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:13.640 So Uh, you know, he's got a he doesn't get 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.280 offended easily. I helped with the transportation, just the logistics. 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.160 You know, that's kind of my role in Eric's world, 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:22.200 is is the day to day like getting him from 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.440 point a to point B. So me and him kind 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.960 of tag team that side of it. So everybody else, uh, 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.000 I didn't have to worry about you know where, you 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:37.520 know when to be. H Taylor has all these golf connections, 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.040 so he had been working throughout the years and tea 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.640 times and the connections with the golf courses. So it 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.040 was really a team effort. And Uh, Cooper brought the humor, obviously, 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.400 as he always does. He probably quickly learned he's uh, 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:54.160 he's the Jokester of the group. And you know, it 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.320 was funny because, you know, the mannings them setting their 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:02.600 pro athletes very tall. Eric's tall, ben is tall. You know, 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:05.040 you banks is tall and we did all these group 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:10.320 photos and I'm pretty short and UH. So, you know, me, 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.840 five foot and nothing, standing up to a bunch of 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:15.600 you know, six ft five inches. You know, that was 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.840 a running joke through the whole thing. Is like, you 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:20.800 know who's the short who's the guy that brought their 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:25.280 kid on the trip? Peyton is loves golf and it 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:30.400 really loves golf and and loves boys trips. Um can 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:34.560 be typically pretty anal on like where we're supposed to be, 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.920 what time we're getting there, who's going? He's kind of 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:42.000 a detailed guy and typically likes to be in charge, 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.840 but had no and no to say so on anything 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:49.440 this trip. So he's relaxed because he's like, you know, 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:51.720 I can't doing about it anyway. So it's it's kind 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:54.160 of takes the edge off Paike. You know, what are 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.000 we wearing? What time we're gonna BE THERE? What? What's 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.000 the dinner? What? You know, like just relaxing and just 0:16:58.080 --> 0:16:59.600 you can kind of go along for the ride. It's 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:03.160 fun and also, I think you know he's he's known, 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.880 not as known you know, as you know golf, sure, 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:10.399 but you also it's I think it's also fun for 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.240 him a little bit to be in uh, when you're 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:17.399 in Europe. He's, you know, he's not the best soccer 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.160 player in a world right now, you know. So it's 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.640 like he can kind of he can kind of blend 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.040 to which is which is fun for him. I was 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:28.520 part of the Logistics Transportation Committee. Uh, me and Eric 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.080 Church were kind of on that committee together. I'm a 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:34.720 big logistics guy and this was a great trip because 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.440 mark you banks, who was on the trip, who works 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:41.000 with Bookbra and bend, he is like Mr Logistics. I 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.639 mean that is his job to help organize golf trips 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.959 where people can say at these hotels and play at 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.560 these courses. So this was right up his alley. It 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.159 was kind of Nice not to have to organize every 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:58.359 piece of the itinerary. So I enjoyed that part of it. But, uh, 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:02.159 I did my part on certain parts of the transportation 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:07.120 and logistics and uh kind of help the trip go smoothly. 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.720 No problems since. So, Um, I feel like I did 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:12.639 my job. And we have a guy named mark EU banks, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.159 and mark is was formally he was he was the 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.200 head of of of a golf course called the old farm. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.480 For a while. The GM there and we're all we 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.640 all played golf there and mark came to work for us, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:30.639 just thinking this guy is just such a he is 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.800 just built to be in hospitality. He loves taking care 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:39.159 of things, of problems, of like if it's chaos and 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.520 people are coming and going a hundred miles an hour, 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.320 he's looking at my door now. He is the best. 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.440 Talking about you, mark. I'm sending your praises, a ton 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:51.280 about it anyway. And so like, I mean high profile 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:56.960 people who demand a certain level of excellence and Um, 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.280 anything he gets it. I mean he gets done. I 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.720 saw an interview where they had Jordan's speed was talking 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:05.199 about how he gets ice. Bass. You know, how do 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.480 you get an ice? You call it mark eubanks. Mark 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:10.560 Eubanks and delivered nights. Everybody kind of just took on a, 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.399 you know, their own role. Um. You know, I started 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:15.560 working on Tea Times with Taylor. We got the tea 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:19.320 times together. Transportation came together with with Eric and of 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:23.680 course Peyton helped with the transportation. Ben, you know, is 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:26.679 he's the founder of a J and Marina Lawn. So 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:29.640 you know, we had the hotels covered, Um, and then 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:31.120 it came to you know, where are we gonna eat? 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.040 And after being at the Russ the eighteen rough top bar. 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:36.720 We decided we're gonna be there as often as we can. 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:40.320 We had some courtyard settings over marine north berry. So 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:43.760 it was it was pretty easy. It was a collaboration 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.960 with everyone, but Marshall and I kind of made sure 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:51.199 that everyone got what they wanted. Another guy, Eric Hasberger, 0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:54.120 who's President Aj capital, was over. He was over there 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.320 earlier with some people who played Presswick, kind of medicine 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:00.000 the middle and didn't catch the tail. In my prime, 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.399 Mary roll would be, Um, taking as many pictures and 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:05.439 videos as I can. So the ones you know, the 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.119 pictures you saw, Um, that kind of got posted by 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.399 John or by Peyton. The video of John Hitting the 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:13.760 beer off the beer can, I that was that was 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:16.879 me on the other side laughing. Um. So you know, 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:18.960 I was and I was happy to serve that role 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:20.560 and just just be a part of it because, you know, 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.440 those guys have known each other forever and I've worked 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:25.800 with Bennekoper for a long time and I've gotten to 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:29.640 know them through Bennekop Um. But being, you know, being 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:32.000 a part of that trip with them was pretty it 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:34.480 was pretty special for me for sure. And we also 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:40.720 had Taylor. Taylor obviously you know serious x him es 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:47.600 Ben Golf Guy. And so Taylor set up his coverage 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:51.639 of the open championship in his on a on a 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:56.119 outdoor porch. Outdoor, I would call it kind of a porch, 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:59.119 I don't know that's the right word, an outdoor of 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:00.960 of one of the rooms the Russex. So he had 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:03.119 all he was on the headphones sitting out there and 0:21:03.200 --> 0:21:10.520 his room kind of turned into a makeshift bar and UH, hangouts. 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.760 Everybody's winning there, had drinks, we had tunes and you 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.400 walked out and right there on eight team and he 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.359 was doing his broadcast from there and he helped line 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:21.200 up a lot of the golf because we were on 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:23.120 a little bit of a you know, we were not 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.160 we didn't have this plan to early sort of play 0:21:26.240 --> 0:21:29.359 some of these golf courses. He was really crucial to 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:32.520 lining us up playing with different members where we could 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:34.560 get on as opposed to just a bunch of Americans 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:36.560 coming over there and have it lined up. We played. 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:39.720 We played with either a pro or a member or 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:43.159 even a captain of the club at both at North Barrack, 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:47.280 at Mirfield and at Royal County Down, which to me 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:51.240 was one of the coolest things I've ever done. It's 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:52.680 one thing to go and play with your buddies, nothing 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.640 even played with your buddies and some locals and members 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:57.639 and then have drinks with him after and have lunch 0:21:57.680 --> 0:22:01.119 and hang out and, you know, shooting your friends like 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.480 lifelong friendships. First of all, this is, as you know, 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.880 as special backdrop as you can have, like just there's 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:11.159