WEBVTT - Andrew Putnam Talks About Making It on the PGA Tour 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:06.960 And when I find my ball in a brid egg 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:11.920 Frida Egg, the dread Frida eg, Frida Egg bride egg Lie, 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:35.320 I'm about ready to run off of the Welcome back 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.160 to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast. Today's episode 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.080 is with Andrew Putnam. Andrew plays on the PGA Tour. 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.480 He has been out there for a few years now, 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:51.159 has really established himself as a good PGA Tour player. Uh, 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:55.520 he starred at Pepperdine University, and uh, you know a 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:58.200 guy that's not really out there that much, like he's 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.280 not on social media much is He's an interesting dude 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:05.720 because he's does things a little bit differently, no swing coach, 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.759 a little bit different approach to the game, a little 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.840 bit different style to the way he plays versus the 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:14.800 rest of the tour. Really, so, I was super excited 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.080 to talk to Andrew, and we did it in person 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.440 when I was down at riv last week. And I 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.880 think this was a really good conversation. Something I wanted 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.560 to talk about at the top here before we get 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:31.679 to the Andrew interview was Riviera in general. I went down. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:33.800 I think this was the third year that I've gone 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.920 down to Riviera for the tournament, and I think as 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.160 the stature of the event, the fields continue to get 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.600 better and better, and obviously with the new designated events 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:47.440 to the field was outstanding this last week at Riviera, 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.560 and you know, the courses it really shines, even with 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:53.720 how far these guys are hitting the golf ball and 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:58.400 rendering a lot of the shots at Riviera less consequential 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.600 than they used to be, because you know, these guys 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.600 are hanging nine irons, wedges and such into long part fours. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.200 But the course continues to shine, and I think, like 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:10.360 what everybody is talking about is like how do we 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.280 get more Rivieras on the schedule. And that's the tough thing. 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.639 I think everybody looks at this event and it's been 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:20.080 such a success, and it's how do we replicate this? 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.640 And I don't know if it's actually possible. You know, 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.440 the reality of today's day and age is that clubs 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:32.280 get tired of hosting PGA Tour event after a few years. 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:35.400 You know, it used to be a huge badge of honor. 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.360 You used to see longtime hosts do you think about Westchester, 0:02:39.680 --> 0:02:43.600 you think about the Michigan Warwick Hills Course, you think 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.800 about cog Hill in Chicago. We used to have these 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:51.160 long time hosts Butler National before cog Hill, and obviously 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.600 that went away because of the lack of women members. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.160 But we have these law We used to have these 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:01.840 longtime club hosts, and really that's changed over i'd say 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:04.920 the last twenty years or so, and it's become harder 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.919 and harder to find clubs that want to host tournament 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.200 golf year in and year out. At Riviera, it's a 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.680 little bit different. It's not a membership club, so in 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.600 terms of you know, one of the big differences is 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.120 it's a single owner and the single owner wants to 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:23.840 host it. So that's what they do. They host the tournament. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.880 The history is really shown well through the clubhouse, Like 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:29.880 I mean, they have a whole wall of champions that 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.720 shows every single year LA Open winners. I thought that 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.520 was kind of cool and nice ode But the members 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:40.240 don't have a say and they can't complain about losing 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.720 their course for ten or eleven days every single year. 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.920 That's not a problem at Riviera, but that becomes a 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.360 problem at almost every other club in America that wants 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:54.760 that hosts year in, year out. The other thing that's 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:59.600 kind of irreplicable about Riviera is its location. It's right 0:03:59.680 --> 0:04:02.240 in the like it's just on the border of Brentwood, 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.840 Santa Monica, and Pacific Palisades. It's a great place, you know, 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:11.480 it's it's players are genuinely excited about Riviera, not just 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.800 because of the golf course, but because of where it is, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.960 the town. Getting to spend a week in Santa Monica, 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:18.839 they go out, they eat in one of the best 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.680 food areas of the world. So it's a unique experience 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:24.919 on tour, not only for the fans, but also for 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.599 the players. You see a lot of the players' wives 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.880 come to this event because it's such a delightful place 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.720 to be. So that's something to keep in mind with 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:37.040 tour events is that, you know, I think that the 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.600 the PGA Tour can be a grind for players that 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.440 week in week out, you go to these different areas 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.880 and you know, whether it be Palm Springs or Harbor Town, 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:49.320 it's like these vacation places where you know, it's not 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.120 a place like La where you're in the city and 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.640 you have lots of things you can go do, you 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.680 can go see sporting events and different things. And that's 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.880 something that I I kind of really thought of as 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.600 a missed opportunity for the PGA Tour is you know, 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.680 La has a lot of great things to do, but 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:09.680 it also has a lot of great golf courses, and 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.559 Riviera happens to be the one that hosts all the time, 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:16.560 and that's awesome, but you know where the PGA Tour 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.360 is missing, and how do you create something You're never 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:25.279 going to create Riviera multiple times across you know, the 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:27.880 course of a calendar year. But how do you get 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.640 better golf courses more consistently. And the key to that 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:34.920 is going to great markets, great golf markets and having 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.839 mainstay events. But you have to start to create these 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:43.880 rotations because again, the memberships, the golf courses, they get 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.280 tired of hosting year and year out. It's like, oh, 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:51.440 we're giving up ten days at one of the very 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:53.920 best times of the year in our golf windows only 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.919 six months, So you have to ration the amount of 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.599 times you're going back to these so easy ways for 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.600 the tour schedule to get better, to be a better product, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.000 because venues matter. Going to good golf courses matter these guys. 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:11.680 It's just a better test to golf. As we saw 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.159 with Rom and hom of battling down the stretch, it 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.760 was awesome to see a golf course that provided some 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.200 stuff they had to think about getting in bad places 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:25.680 around the greens, in different things. So with that mind, 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.200 I kind of started to think about what could these 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.000 what could the tour do that you know, would start 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:36.039 to replicate this at more designated events. Number one, you 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.240 got to have you got to go to a few cities, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:41.880 and right off the top of the list, New York area, 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.640 the New York market, the met golf section, that's the 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.760 most golf rich area in the country. And the fact 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.200 that there's not a regular event there is absolutely crazy 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.279 not to mention all the businesses done there. I'm sure 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.080 there's a sponsor on the PGA Tour that would love 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:02.279 to host eight annual New York Golf event New York, 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:06.320 New Jersey. So my just first stab at creating a 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:11.680 little rotation of that go Bethpage, Ridgewood and Westchester. So 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.600 with beth Page, you're hitting Long Island. It's easy to 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.240 get to from the city, and obviously it's a major 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:22.720 Championship host golf course Ridgewood is outstanding. That was one 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.560 of the golf courses that I was, you know, most, 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.400 I guess surprised. I knew it was a good golf course, 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:30.840 but I was so pleasantly surprised after playing there. I 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.160 thought it was so much fun. It stood up really 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.200 well at the USM last year, and I think it 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:39.280 stood up well at the PGA Tour playoff event it 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.840 hosted a few years back. I think Bryson won that one. 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.760 But it wasn't crazy. Even though it was wet, the 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:48.480 scoring wasn't crazy, and it's a really fun golf course, 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.240 good test. And then the final one hit a different 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.680 part of the city. Go up to Westchester, obviously longtime 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.880 host years ago, go play that golf course. And you've 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.680 got a nice little three rotation. And so you're not 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:03.240 going back to Ridgewood and asking him to host every 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:05.840 single year. You're asking him to host every three years. 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.160 Maybe you find a fourth course to put in there. 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.520 I'm sure people have some ideas. If you have ideas, 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:13.440 feel free to reach out to me. I'd love to 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.880 hear your New York rotation. Then you go to Chicago, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:19.960 you need to have an annual event in Chicago if 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.920 you're interested in upping the venue quality, because there aren't 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.840 many cities that can host an annual event at great 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.360 golf courses. With Chicago, you obviously have Olympia Fields. We'll 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.120 see it this year in the BMW. We saw it 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.599 a couple of years ago during the COVID BMW have 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.520 a great finish with DJ and John Ram. That's a 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:41.880 golf course that can stand up to players and provides 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:46.560 a pretty interesting test. Madina Number three is undergoing a 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.400 renovation this year, so that will be a new look Medina. 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:53.920 And you know, in terms of venue, just outside of 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:57.480 just golf course, I'm pretty bullish on the golf course 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.080 being very good when it's renovated because it's on a 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.199 outstanding piece of ground. But from a venue standpoint, there 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.959 are a few courses in the world that are better 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.600 suited to host big major golf terms than Madina. There's 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:15.440 so much space and it's an awesome club. And then finally, 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.080 Conway Farms. Now, is Conway Farms the most stout test, No, 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:22.240 but it's in a different part of the city and 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.920 it's just been renovated by Jackson and con it's got 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.800 a much I think they've greatly improved their aesthetic. They've 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.480 greatly improved some holes that have a lot more strategy 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.559 than they used to now. I think that golf course 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.160 is one that's gotten a lot better thanks to the 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.240 renovation from Jackson and con and that provides you a 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:46.480 nice Chicago rotation. Further on, another city, Philadelphia. How good 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.120 would it be if we saw a rotation of Philly 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.080 Cricket Club Arono Mink and Wilmington. Philly Cricket Clubs obviously 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.640 hosted a senior PGA. That would be an awesome, awesome 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.040 PGA to our course. I have no clue if they 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.480 would be opened up hosting it, but that would be 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.599 an amazing place to have an event every couple of 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.680 years around the make same bucket. That was a great 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:11.280 BMW even through the soaked rain, And obviously they're hosting 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.920 a PGA in coming years. And I thought Wilmington was 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.400 a fine PGA tour course. Is a great great golf course, No, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.319 but I think it's an above average PGA tour course 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:24.440 and serves another area. But like Philly, these great golf 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:26.880 cities you have to go do. I think the key 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.760 here is rotation. You can't go back every single year 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.400 to these places. They get tired, they get stale, the 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:38.400 events get stale. So rotations, what about regional rotations. Wisconsin 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.760 is now out of major Championship golf US opens aren't 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.360 gonna go back to Aaron Hills. It doesn't seem like 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.719 and PGAs can't go you know, Men's Major Golf is 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:53.000 not gonna go there. So what about a regional Wisconsin, Indiana, 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:57.720 Michigan rotation. So let's take the rocket mortgage and rotate 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.120 it around or you know, maybe it's a differ for 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:04.280 an event, but we got Whistling Straits, Aaron Hills, Crooked Stick, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.720 and Detroit Golf Club. It hits different parts of the 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.440 country that are going to be so excited to come 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.359 out and show up. And there are good golf courses 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.200 to go to, so you know, you're you're flying in, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.280 parachuting in. The support from local community is going to 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.520 be huge to the years you host in these areas, 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:26.880 and you're also achieving something important going to good golf courses. 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.440 Another one, a little bit off the wall that I 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:35.160 threw together here Denver, Washington, Oregon and Utah. Here's the 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:39.880 Rotation Cherry Hills, Chambers Bay Band in Dunes and then 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.200 sand Hollow Down in Saint George, which can obviously pull 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:45.839 from Salt Lake City as well as Las Vegas. I 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.480 think that would be a really great way to hit 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:51.640 up some areas of the country that aren't used to golf. 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:57.160 That's just some ideas for the America American aspect of it. Obviously, 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.000 then you could take some of these designated events internet 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:04.720 nationally the UK and Australia would be amazing. The hard 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.040 thing with those is just going to be fitting them 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:11.160 into the PGA to tour schedule with travel, Like obviously 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.079 these guys just don't want to go to Australia because 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.000 of how long it takes. I would love to see 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.959 them play in Australia in the winter sometime. Maybe it's 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.480 a kickoff, like an Australian event would be great before 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:26.319 you go to Caappealoua. So you're kind of buffering that 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.360 travel back with Hey, we're going to do Australia, then 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.200 we're going to do Capolua. But those are just a 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.520 few ideas, and I'll let us get to Andrew Putnam. 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:39.439 But I'd love to see one of the big focuses 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:44.520 with this designated event push be venues while they're reworking 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.719 this schedule in the coming year. Really, I mean this 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.160 is the time. I think They've got a bunch of 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.400 meetings in the coming weeks that are going to be 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.120 deciding how this tour looks in the next year. And 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.200 I'd love to see a little bit of a focus 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.559 on designated events venues as well as how they make 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:06.439 up the field. So, without further ado, here's Andrew Putnam. 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.120 Thank you for listening to the podcast, and thanks to 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:15.520 Andrew for coming on. I got to ask you this question. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.560 It's a question that I think about a lot. Is Reno. 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:21.920 Would you consider it as a past champion, a Reno 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.800 which you can consider it part of the Pacific Northwest? 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.880 I would not, No, that's I'd never thought of it 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:32.280 Pacific Northwest. I'm thinking more Oregon, Washington, Idaho. But I 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.360 haven't heard the case. I haven't heard the case for 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.920 why Reno would be So how's it? 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:42.080 At a bookstore in my town? I'm in northern California, technically, 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.160 you know, really kind of central if you think about it, 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:48.760 dividing the state. And I saw a book about mushrooms 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.720 of the pacifica northwest right in the window, and I 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.839 was like, well, am I in the northwest Pacific Northwest? 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.920 But my thought is wherever there are redwood trees, like 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.599 redwood forest, I kind of consider. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.400 That constitutes us. Yeah, I mean, if that's your definition, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:05.439 then I guess it would be. 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.040 It's interesting that you include Idaho. 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:12.559 Yeah, I've just always thought of Idaho just it's it's 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.600 cold and gloomy, kind of like Washington's. I don't know, 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.240 we used to. I mean there's a lot of like 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:21.880 junior tournaments that would cross over into Idaho, so it 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:26.800 just feels kind of one one area. Yeah. 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.680 Now, so you're down in Phoenix in the winter full 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:31.600 time really. 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:34.200 Well we used to actually sold our house, so now 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.960 we're actually full time in university place right by Chambers Bay. 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.640 Wow. So you're one of the that's amazing. 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.760 Yeah, I'm yeah, I'm there right now because our kids 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:47.040 and all that, But we do miss Scottsdale in the 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.320 wintertimes and we still spend quite a bit of time there. 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.680 So you're one of the few PGA tour players that's 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:57.920 not like Texas Sea Island in Florida or Arizona. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.640 Yeah, me and I guess Kyle Stanley are the only 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:00.640 ones up there right now. 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:05.920 But how do you think growing up in Washington kind 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:07.640 of shaped you as a golfer? 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:10.000 You know, I think there's a lot of good tours it, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:11.800 you know, they have, I mean, Washington Zone is one 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:15.400 of the strongest, like junior golf as one of the strongest, 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.880 I guess statewide junior golf programs wj g A. They've 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:22.360 they've existed for a long time, and competition is a 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.320 sneaky good up there. We've had quite a few tour 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.080 players come out of there, especially recently compared to how 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.880 many golfers there are, you know. And so but in 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:32.800 terms of like man in high school, I had to 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.440 play through everything like just I just remember like the 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.640 cups being full of water and still having to play, 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:41.680 and just the nastiest weather you could ever imagine. And 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.960 so I think it looking back on it like that, 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:45.680 that was just all I ever knew. So I just 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:47.600 did it and had fun with it. But I think 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.640 obviously it translates into having a little more grit on 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.320 the PJ tour. You know, a lot a lot of 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.720 kids now like went to these IMG academies in Florida 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.280 or California and just played in perfect weather, so they're 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.600 not as for bad weather as I am. 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.400 I have a buddy who's on the corn Ferry Tour. 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.960 I'm from Chicago, and he kind of he turned pro 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.760 and then he was down in Florida and then he 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.000 eventually made the decision to move back to Chicago in 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.640 the and spend winter in Chicago, and he kind of 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.280 rationalized it as like I struggled with golf all the 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.640 time and I needed a break. Is that did you? 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.840 You know? Is that something that part of you know 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.480 growing up in Washington that became part of your golf, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:32.520 like having a weather andduce break? 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:34.880 Yeah, I mean I played basketball the way through high 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.120 school and you kind of get forced time off because 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.080 the weather's just not fun to play in, you know. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:41.920 So I think that that was good for me, like 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.280 playing a team sport, and I think for juniors now 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:47.960 that's even more important because it's so hyper focused on 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.880 like you got to get good quick and fast, and 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:52.960 like you know, so many guys are burning out now. 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.760 So I think having like a forced break is great 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:58.680 and now translating to like where I am now, it's like, man, 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.160 when I was living in Phoenix, like you never questioned 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:02.320 what the weather is going to be like when you 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:04.600 woke up, Like it's sunny every day, right, And so 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:06.920 there's like if you want to take a few days off, 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.240 you almost felt guilty because like the weather's so good 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.080 that it's like why why wouldn't I go practice? You know? 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.000 But then now living up in Washington, it's like, man, 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.879 I'm not going to practice because it's forty in raining. 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:20.760 Like I'm just I'm not doing it, so I don't 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:23.480 feel bad. So it actually it does. There's a part, 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.000 you know, there's part of it that it helps with 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.520 rest because you're you're forced to take a little time 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:29.359 off on off weeks. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.640 Yeah, I was reading I found this Pepperdine article about you, 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:37.080 and there's a quote, when you spend so much time 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.639 playing a sport, your identity and worth as a human 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.199 becomes tied to how you perform. But my identity is 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.480 not in what I do or what I play. And 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.159 that's a good lesson that I'm glad I learned early on. 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.879 When is that just from having that time off that 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:53.520 you you kind of came to. 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.600 That, Uh No, that's just trial and error. I think 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.000 that just as I mean every golfer, I feel like 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:01.720 that's the big struggle is like, man, our identity is 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.080 in I mean any I think in anything obviously can 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.480 wrap your identity in your job, and but more so 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:09.119 in like competitive sports, it's just like a that's just 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:11.200 par for the course, Like you spend so much time 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:15.640 on it. It's extremely important. And yeah, when you when 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.160 I mean, there's moments when all you know, any tour 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.760 golfer has been extremely depressed with bad results, and so 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:25.240 you learn like, hey, man, I'm I'm identifying my worth 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.240 as a human because I play playing bad right and 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:30.439 it doesn't feel good. And so that's something that you 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:33.119 got to learn and get through. And I kind of, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:34.960 you know, obviously have a lot of good people around 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:37.359 me to keep me on track, and my faith growing 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:39.720 up is a big part of that. But that's a 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:41.800 huge lesson that you got to learn as a as 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.840 a high level golfer. I mean, and it's never it's 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.639 never like I'm I'm free of that, Like it just 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:48.600 always comes back. 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.480 So yeah, I mean that's I think it's got to 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:55.960 be part of it because of the individual aspect of it. Right, 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.280 versus you know, growing up playing basketball, like when the 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.399 team's playing bad, it's a joint thing and you're in 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.240 it together almost. But with golf, is does it just 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.080 make it so difficult because it's an individual thing? 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:11.600 Yeah, and it just it solely relies on you, and 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.800 it's like you can't blame anyone else. It's like, yep, 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:16.000 I'm terrible right now. I don't know what to say. 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:18.280 I mean, and golf is just like a fickle sport 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.720 where like, man, you can feel like you're like, when 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:22.640 it's going well, you feel like it's the easiest game 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:24.480 in the world, but then when it's going bad, You're like, 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.399 I honestly have no idea how I'm ever gonna like 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:30.160 play good again. There's certain it's just like the highs 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:31.160 and lowser insane. 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.080 What would you say has been the most frustrating point 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.440 of your career? Like it is there a period where 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.400 you think back to like a specific run of events 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:43.880 where it was like, God, I you know, I don't 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:44.760 know why I'm doing this. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:50.199 I mean, yeah, I've had multiple episodes of that. I 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.520 mean in college I got the driver yips, I was 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:55.280 like gonna be probably second team All American Pepperdine had 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.359 like eight top tens and then my driver broke and 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:00.359 then all this stuff happened, and I shot a million. 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.000 I went to play Carson Creek in Oklahoma, and it's 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.280 like the worst course ever to have driver problems. I 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:07.640 don't know if you've been there, it's a nightmare, but 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.560 I literally almost I mean I barely was breaking ninety. 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.240 And I'm like, dude, I'm a good player, Like I'm 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:15.560 second team All American. I mean, another guy in my 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:18.320 team the final round, I was like fifteen over another 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:21.119 guy in my group or another teammate came up. I 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.800 was like, on the sixteenth green, I saw him coming 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.040 riding in a rules officials cart coming up, and I'm like, Chad, 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:28.520 what are you? What's going on? Why are you on 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:30.600 a rules officials cart? And He's like, bro, I lost 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:33.040 all my golf balls. I had to withdraw, and I'm 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.040 sitting there with the driver ybs, having to finish this 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:37.760 college tournament. That was probably the lowest point of my 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:41.080 golf career. I remember my parents been out there watching me, 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.840 and I I was legit in tears, saying Dad, I 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.239 need to quit, Like this is not like you know, 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:48.359 when you got left and right going you can't find 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.720 the map. It was a nightmare. So that that took 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.600 me like six months to work through. That was terrible. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.280 I had a buddy who was a really good, like 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:00.600 a really good amateur player played in college, and U 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.040 like was like a very good driver of the golf 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:04.960 ball that got it. The only way he could not 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:07.560 get away from the driver, yps was hitting a ball 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.440