WEBVTT - RainDance National, a Fred Funk Design 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:07.800 The land as you're going to see as the sun 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:11.400 bowls today, you'll see that this property dictated what the 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.400 golf course is gonna be, and it needed to be big, 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:21.280 almosts and two holes back to back. That's large, of course. 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:31.560 Fred Funk eats up two holes in twelve yards. Put 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:39.239 another log on the fire and nobody hears. Get the 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:48.199 time Welcome to the fire pit. With Matt Chanella, ed 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.600 C was a golf course architect responsible for almost three 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.200 hundred designs and renovations, most of which were in partnership 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:59.160 with Arnold Palmer, who see started working with in v two. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.640 Courses like Tralee and the K Club in Ireland, Avillara 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:07.600 and Carl's bat The Tradition in Laquinta, Sawgrass Country Club 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:10.560 in Pontevedra Beach and Bay Hill in Orlando are a 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.680 few of his most notable projects. Ed C, a past 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.279 president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, died 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.039 in two thousand seven at the age of sixty nine. 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.639 I've worked with his son, Mason C on several stories 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.039 during my eight years at the Golf Channel, where Mason 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.000 often freelanced as a producer on projects such as the 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.720 story on Gil Hants building the Olympic Course in Rio. 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:35.959 Mason and I share a love and passion for golf 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:40.240 course architects and architecture and the stories behind the designs. 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:44.000 Mason will be a regular contributor to the fire Pit Collective, 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.720 and he starts with the story on rain Dance National 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.440 in Windsor, Colorado, a Fred Funk and Harrison Minshew design. 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.640 Funk is the winner of eight PGA Tour events, including 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.800 the two thousand five Players Championship, and has won nine 0:01:57.840 --> 0:02:01.400 times on the champions Tour. This is his first opportunity 0:02:01.440 --> 0:02:05.160 design and build his own course. Minshew worked with Ed 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.240 c and Arnold Palmer until he broke out on his 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:10.800 own in two thousand eight. The course they're building is 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:15.239 for Martin Lynde, a successful developer in northern Colorado. I 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:17.399 met up with all of the above earlier this year 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:19.840 to tour the land, walk the course as it was 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.840 being finished, and to record this podcast on how it 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.720 all came together. But before we get to that story, 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:27.880 I just want to thank our friends at Link Soul 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.919 for their support of the fire Pit. John Ashworth and 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.440 Jeff Cunningham have created so much more than just a 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.200 lifestyle brand that I live in both on and off 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:39.800 the golf course. Links Soul is a lifestyle that permeates 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:42.920 out of goad Hill Park where they've helped cultivate a course, 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.800 a culture, and a community vibe that's become a blueprint 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.760 for what's possible at a municipality. For discount on your 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.840 next purchase at links soul dot com, use promo code 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:58.280 fire pit And now sitting around a fire pit with 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:03.080 Funk Minshew in Lynde overlooking what they've created. This is 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:07.360 a story of rain Dance National. At some point in 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:11.280 your life, you acquired this property and there was thought 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:14.600 that there would be golf here, right, So as a kid, 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.440 we would come up here and trespass and slat up 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.519 and down on the hills. And then my dad, who's 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.480 ninety years old and God blessing me still alive, tell 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:26.600 stories of how he had to walk these arroyas from 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:31.080 Windsor back to his house. So it's been part of 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:33.840 property we've known, but we never owned it until the 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:38.840 uh maybe two thousand two. But we really really didn't 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.600 have a purpose because it's not really a place where 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.640 you could graze cattle. It's pretty steep, and it has 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.360 this kind of a mystique about it where it's arid 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.040 and dry and crisp in the dry ears, and then 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:54.120 it's like this in the white ears and it's just 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:56.560 magnificent and trying to fare out what to do with it. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.960 So when we got it acquired, I always felt that 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.160 we should preserve it because anytimes you see homes on 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:04.840 a hill, because we're land developers and we put homes 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:06.520 on property, but we try to be unique. But when 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:08.920 you see homes on the hill kind of scars the hill. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.520 It doesn't look good. So we want to preserve it 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.840 and thought about putting a golf course on it. And 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:16.480 we're really just in the conceptual stages of it when 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:21.000 I met Fred, and how did that happened? So luckily 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:25.799 I was going broke fast. If you're gonna go broke, 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.880 go broke fast, don't. It's a painful, cancrous thing. You 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.560 just want to go fast, right, But I was. It 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.120 was oh eight o nine and I was going broke 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:39.760 so fast and you couldn't borrow it, right, right, yeah? 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.279 And I was. I had one of my best friends 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.000 from high school was a chief pilot. We had a 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:47.480 flight department. We had to sell the jazz because you 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.479 can't get four barons agreements from banks when you have 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:52.080 jets and boats. So were we were throwing everything off 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.840 the Queen Mary, trying to keep it floating, and and 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:59.440 uh so Craig, my my pilot, said, hey, I asked 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.080 him to try to find somebody that would trade a 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.400 jet for land, because I couldn't borrow anything on land, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:05.479 but at the time you could borrow on a jet. 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.120 So I was just trying to survive. And he said, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:12.479 I've got this guy has a black lear and the 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:16.280 end numbers are Foxtrot Foxtrot, so he goes he might 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:19.560 want to trade. One ends up being Fred Fonk. And 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.800 the only thing worse than having the land development going 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:26.120 broke in the late two thousand eight nine would be 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.920 trying to go hang onto a jet and go from 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:38.080 the regular tour to the Champion tour. So yes, exactly. 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:40.920 So now we call it the two dead dogs for 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.480 a dead cat trade. So we're just trying to get 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:45.960 rid of stuff that didn't work for us. And about 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.440 two hours into this tour, Fred flew up to be 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:51.080 with me. In about two hours into it, he really 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:53.360 didn't see anything I had that was very attractive to him, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:58.760 and it just wasn't gonna workcake Ud Perkins out. Yeah, 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.479 but then you would have had all you would have 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.800 had all the good PGA tour players over there, waitresses, 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:11.080 Tiger would have been there. Hey, you're Mike up Fred. 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.800 So so we're just having kind of a hoot, kind 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.360 of like this. And I'd only known Fred an hour 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.320 and we're driving around and I said, Fred, have you 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:22.440 ever designed a course? And he goes, oh god, it 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.279 talking my bucket list. I would love to do that, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.000 but that's a pedigree that I'm never going to be 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.160 there and that that's kind of gone. And at this 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.560 time golf courses were starting to not be developed anymore. 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.480 So we drove up here, about half a mile over there, 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:36.880 and it's a friend, look at this. This would be 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.200 a great golf course, and he goes, oh, man, this 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:43.560 would be fun. So it wasn't. It wasn't six months 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:45.880 and he had gone back and called me and said, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.760 my next door neighbor, Harrison has been with Palmer and 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.320 they're not building anymore, so I want to bring him out. 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.960 And it was just a hoot and they just woom 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.040 boom boom, and then of course the recession. Okay, hold on, hold, 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:58.560 let me stop you right there, let me stop you 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:01.599 here there, because I'm gonna go back out and get so. So, Fred, 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.320 how do you remember this story where you're coming in, 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.279 You're you're trading a plane what like? What? Yeah, we 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:08.960 had a letter thirty one that we were trying to 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:13.200 get rid of, and uh, I just wasn't making the money. 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.880 I couldn't justify the cost of that thing, the annual 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.800 cost of that thing. So came out here to see 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.480 what he had to offer. And we're driving around everything 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.240 we're I could have had a residential land, I could 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.800 add industrial land. I could add a Perkin's pancake house. Uh. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:30.800 Like you know, I really don't want to and I 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.880 really need money. I need cash and uh. And then 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:36.640 he drives up on the hill. It was actually right 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:39.400 off the top here, and you could see down this 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.800 and not really see the the roy is the way 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:44.160 you see him from the bottom, but I could see 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:46.600 there was something and out of nowhere he says, Hey, Fred, 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.440 I want you to design your first signature of Fred 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:52.080 punk golf course. I go what I said. We just 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.760 met like two and a half hours ago. He said, yeah, 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.679 but you know whatever, and I'm thinking he's blown smoke 0:07:57.760 --> 0:07:59.760 and two and a half hours that was only like 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.680 a twelve pack into the deal. Yeah, that's right, that's right. 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:04.960 So then we go and where, I mean, where are 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:07.280 you serious? I mean, were you just messing around? No? 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:12.080 Because because within two hours of being with Fred is 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:13.920 about all you know you need to know about him. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.760 You just you just got this magnetic fun about him. 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.040 And I said, and that's kind of what I like 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:20.600 to have as a lot of fun in life. And 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.120 so Fred, do this golf course? Just do it? Yeah. 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.560 We we went down to his office and he broke 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:28.520 out the topo map and it said rain Dance on 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.840 the top and I said, what does that? He said, 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.240 that's the land that we're just on. I go, no kidding, 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:34.720 I said, well, that's the name of the golf course. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.880 We ever do this? And sure enough it is? And 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.800 uh and I'm not that familiar at that time in 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:42.800 my life of reading topos, but I could see there 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:47.280 were some big elevation changes in these erosion ditches. And 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:48.640 I said, we got to go back and look at 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:50.640 it from the bottom, and we did, and that's when 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:54.040 you can see it all that from looking up into it, 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.320 and that's unbelievable. And at the time I didn't think, 0:08:58.040 --> 0:08:59.800 can you really build a golf course on it? But 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.800 I went and walked the land. I went home. I 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.600 came back soon after and I walked the land and 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:10.600 this is unbelievable. And then I went back home again 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.800 to Ponto Adrian. I showed Harrison the topo map and 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.360 he just studied it for about ten minutes, dead silent, 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.240 and he's never quiet either, and uh, and he just 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.440 looks up and he goes, this is really magnificent. What 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.480 did he really say? Hey said, this is fucking awesome. 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:35.559 And so he said, So we we flew out and 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.000 and uh, he saw it, and we started working on 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.200 a routing and it kind of really the front nine 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.480 I routed itself once we decided where we were going 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.080 to start. Hold on one second, now, so what what 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:52.880 what what's your recollection of? Like seriously, like, what's your 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.600 relationship with Fred Funk? And then and then he shows 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.199 you this topo map? So Fred wins what two or 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:02.640 f tpc? Yeah, And so you know we're our office 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:04.800 is like a mile and a half from the golf 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:11.320 course from Sagress TPC and Players Club, and he he 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.719 interested in golf architecture. So he called the office up 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.240 and he wanted to have, you know, come and see 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.600 what we did that year that he won the Players. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.120 That year that he won the Players, he won the 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:26.320 players went in March, and you came there like in 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:31.439 May or something. And actually I just had a coldon 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:38.280 Osbie the morning speaking because you can't have fun without it, 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.480 because the doctor, the doctor said you need to go 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.880 home and lay down. Of course I didn't do it. 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.719 Fred's coming to the office. I wanted to hear what 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.719 he had to say and show him around and all that. 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:53.679 So so I did that, and then we met again 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.960 through a mutual friend and I said, Fred, I'm going 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.280 out on my own. I love to work with you. 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.200 And then about a year and a half later he 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.480 had this deal. He said, Harrison, he called me up. 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.640 He called Gary verbal or mutual friends said what was 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.839 Harrison's phone number? Again, I think I got something. So 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:14.840 he called me up and told me about the property 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.160 and said we'll get a topo and so I can 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.079 see what what the owner has. And Martin sent him 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.000 a topo and he came by and he showed me. 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:29.240 I go, you gotta be kidding me, because it was obvious. 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:31.679 I mean, that's what I do. I do topo maps. 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:38.120 I've been doing it for you know, thirty years. And 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:39.719 and then when I got I said, we gotta go 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.720 look at this. I said, let me do a routing 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:44.880 and getting mistake it, and let's go take a look 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.240 at it. And we came out here and I just go, Fred, 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:54.800 this is unbelievable. And then so we're chomping at the 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:59.680 bit for my freaking decade. And I mean Martin kept saying, 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.040 we'll do I'll do it when it's the right time. 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:04.920 I got it's got it. It's the timing thing. And 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.440 this is all based on sort of where the property, 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:10.760 the real estate stuff is was economy, some of it 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:12.840 was lending ability, some of it was my own portfolio. 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.160 Had to get way to get a lot of stuff 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.160 finished up that was just a mess. So I had 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.720 to get that done. And and yeah, you know, Fred 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:21.520 and now are chopping at the bit and we said, 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.040 is he really going to do this? I think there 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:25.600 was three years where they thought it was just not 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.920 a freaking prayer. And then you've been here a bunch, 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.680 you had done a routing, you'd walked to the land. Yeah, 0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:36.360 you're waiting. Yeah, and then and then he then he um, 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.679 Martin gets the old companies who come and and locate 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.800 some drill sites. And it was a drill side on 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:48.640 number one, and that obviously went away, but they moved 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:52.960 it over where they original driving range was. And then 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:58.080 he had another company and whatever, and obviously they helped 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.880 fund the golf course. And so Martin said, well, they're 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.160 gonna put this big pipeline through the golf course. You 0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.120 might want to do the grading plan for the back nine. 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:09.400 And I said, sure, of course, I mean I wanted 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:14.079 to do something. And we did that and they built it, 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:19.240 and then we waited some more, and you know, and 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.040 then I knew they were doing the development because you know, 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:25.400 I saw the land plans and all the all the 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.960 you know, the marketing and their concepts and that sort 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:32.840 of thing. I said, that's cool, and so we kept 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.320 going and then Fred and I said it is he 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:39.280 really gonna do it? Fred? Because we were just so anxious, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.240 and you know, the whole market was just nothing there. 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.079 And so we kind of came out here last August 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.680 and we you know, he had to do he was 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.440 grading these first Moore holes and they had to do 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.440 put some grass on the ground and whatever. And and 0:13:57.480 --> 0:13:59.560 then I got round up with con here and we 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.280 had to you know, we wanted to do part of 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.959 it then, so I kind of talked him into doing 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.200 and I said, you know, we could probably deal without irrigation, 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:12.040 and Jeff or the superintendent, that better irrigated. And then 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:16.000 and then I said, well, well, well we can put 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:20.600 some permanent irrogation in. And then the HTP pipe was 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:25.120 you know, all time, right down that drawer right there 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:30.480 right now. See him, Yeah, wow, look at him. He's 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:35.840 got about a seven foot wingspan. Uh huh. So anyway, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:41.200 finally it was Martin pulled the trigger. And it's been 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:48.600 frigging balls to the wall ever since. And I wait, wait, wait, 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:53.800 let's go. What happened? It was like wait, wait, wait, hurry, hurry, hurry. 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.360 You know, Martin, Harry said, when he starts, we're gonna 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.520 have it to finish. We're not going to just starting, 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.200 not finish this thing. So when he pulled the trigger, 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:07.040 the bullet was out and it kept on going and 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.680 we'd never stopped. So and that last fall. When Randall 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:14.160 and Harrison got together and gave me the preliminary budget, 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:17.360 I said, okay, let's go, let's do it. And then 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:19.960 I got their first change order and I haven't needed 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:33.600 colonoscopy since I didn't ever say that, Garrett. So so 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:37.920 obviously you guys bring I mean, you guys bring three 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.320 different perspectives here. So you've got the grizzle, grizzled veteran 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:46.280 who has done and seen it all and it's been 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.400 waiting for this kind of opportunity for for your whole life, right, 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:53.040 I mean, this is absolutely this is you know, at 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.680 one point in your career you were working with a 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:00.400 firm that had seventy courses on the books in a year, 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.200 and now you're down to sort of the idea of quality, 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.120 you know, one course at a time, spending your living 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:14.400 here and running this whole project. I mean it's I mean, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:16.840 that's what I always wanted to do. I mean, you know, 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:20.800 I'm from August of Golf is in my DNA, and 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:24.080 obviously there's a good golf course there, or a couple 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.120 of them anyway, or maybe more, but there's one that's 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.720 on TV a lot, and you know, I thought all 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.040 golf tournaments were like that until I went out someplace 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.720 else to see another golf course and I got another 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:41.800 golf tournament. But I was just it was I was 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.640 just kind of force fit, and that was just the 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.520 industry back then. And I always wanted to do this, 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.640 and Martin said yes, and I go wow, and I 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:56.760 said and so for me to be here every day 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:02.040 made it possible for Rand to have a sign off 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.280 so he can go to the next step, next step, 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.920 next step. And from a creative standpoint, working with somebody 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.119 that really knows how to build a golf course and 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:17.000 really really great shapers to go through the process like 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.840 that and to be on site is just the most 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:26.680 exhilarating creative thing that a golf architect can do. Dream 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:30.399 come true for you. And meanwhile, for you, this was 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.920 this was a bucket list scenario. You know, you've been 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:38.000 watching and looking and playing all these golf courses. There's 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:39.560 been a lot of players that have gone on to 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:43.199 do golf course architecture. This obviously was of interest to you. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.280 This is this is a dream come true for you too. Absolutely, 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:52.520 I never thought I'd have this opportunity, but to actually 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:54.439 have input on a piece of land like this is 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.840 incredible to have my first project, hopefully not my last, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:00.040 and I don't think it will be after we it 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:03.520 on the map on this golf course. But this is 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.720 so much fun. I had no idea how much fun 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.560 it is. And I gotta say that a lot of 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:12.160 that is the team and the attitude and the personalities 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.800 that are all involved with this project, starting with Martin. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:17.879 Martin has created this whole area, all the people that 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.240 work for Martin, all the people that live in his communities. 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.600 It seems to be a super high energy, a lot 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:28.080 of love of the land, the love of family, love 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.879 of things to do, and Martin has created this. And 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:33.280 when you go down to Pelican Lakes, which will be 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:37.960 the sister golf course of this um that's been here 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:43.080 since n and the the attitudes and the energy down 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:47.320 at that golf course is incredible. It's already there and 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.320 everybody is super excited about what this is going to 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.040 be and and have this in their backyard as well. 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:57.000 But the team that we brought in, UM, Harris and 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.520 I are working together awesome. Uh. This whole project of 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.919 going from the initial stages, the three of us have 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:06.600 walked this property. I don't know how many times together, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:10.400 and we've all had all the different inputs, no egos. 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.800 It's all about this wouldn't be this would be great, 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.399 this doesn't work, it doesn't really matter. We just have 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.119 done things, changed things. Everybody has had a lot of 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:24.719 input and that's been great. And then we have Randall 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:28.080 and Rocky are in here, the Shapers are I've never 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.440 seen shapers do what they do with super heavy equipment 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:36.200 and be that meticulous and that exacting with the dirt 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:40.840 that they moved with these awesome machines, and uh, what 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.639 this thing has turned into. So it's it's been not 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.359 only a dream come true, but something that's way beyond 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.160 I ever thought how much fun it would be to do. 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.400 And every time I come out here, I can't wait 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:54.040 to get out here, and I love being out here. 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.920 It's changed dramatically every single time I've come out here, 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.720 and uh, it's a amazing. It's going to be very 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.120 very special. What is it about your vision and your 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:10.119 energy and your passion that is about not just building homes. 0:20:10.119 --> 0:20:14.840 You're obviously building communities, You're building this culture, You're building 0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:19.040 you know, play ground, you know what what is at 0:20:19.440 --> 0:20:22.800 at the base of your vision. So I didn't grow 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.240 up golfer. I never held a club until I was thirties, 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:27.720 so in my game pretty much reflects that. Now. All right, 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.399 I'm a terrible golfer. So you want of the mansaying 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:37.240 the other. You can't afford to lose second places, first loser, Harrison, 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:43.600 And I'm quite a competitor too. But you know, family lifestyle, 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.520 having a place where people can live, work and play 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.800 all without getting back in the car, that's super important. 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:52.640 So that's what we did at Water Valley. We manifested 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:54.320 it up here in the rain Dance. We've got about 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:57.440 four thousand acres now that, by the grace of God, 0:20:57.480 --> 0:20:59.480 we just kept acquiring. When we're doing good. Back in 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.439 the early two thousands, I didn't go by Ferraris. I 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.199 put a deposit on the next farm and we just 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.600 kept We have this thing going, and we have families 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:13.800 that are immersed about golf, and if you go down 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:16.240 to Pelican Lkes right now, there's thousands of kids on 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:18.680 that golf course, and so we wanted to have something 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.399 up here that would make sure the families are really 0:21:21.760 --> 0:21:25.280 respected and that the golf was fun and fair. And 0:21:25.280 --> 0:21:29.360 you can't get anybody more fun or fairer than Fred right, 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:32.479 and I thought the same Harrison and Randalls. I got 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:37.359 that first change order, and then I'm just kidding so that. 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.960 But but the kind of the thing you'll find about 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:43.600 our golf courses that's very unique is and it helps 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:45.480 us with what we're doing. When Fred said this is 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:49.880 fun is there's no civil engineering down there. We don't 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:51.479 have to We don't have to every time we make 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.560 a change. We can just let the land dictate the change. 0:21:54.560 --> 0:21:56.239 We don't have to worry about a street next to it, 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:58.960 a sewer line that's in the way. Because there's not 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.399 a single home on this golf course, there's kind of 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:04.280 a moat around it up on Holds one, two and 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.359 three where there are homes. Um, there's only sixty lots 0:22:07.359 --> 0:22:10.840 on the entire golf course, but yet there's hundred lots 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:14.840 in rainows. So it gives us the latitude to when 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:17.960 the land says, hey do this, I mean we've we've 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:20.240 had a green down there that we lowered fifteen feet. 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:22.640 There's a lot of dirt. I think we've lowered about 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.880 fifteen ft. We've we've flipped Part three's left or right 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:29.240 right to left and we don't have to ask anybody 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:32.120 but ourselves to on in the land. And it's been 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:35.399 a really fun experience and it really has been the carbon. 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.280 Moving the dirts the fun stage. For me, that's the 0:22:38.280 --> 0:22:40.480 fun part because that's when you really make the permanence 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:43.359