WEBVTT - Sugarloaf Social Club Bought a Golf Course 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.800 I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset. When 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:04.920 I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.920 And when I find my ball in a fried egg 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:11.880 Friday Egg, the dreaded Friday Friday, fridagg fridagg bride egg Lie, 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.080 I'm about ready to run off of the hup course. 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.920 Welcome back to another edition of the Friday Egg Podcast. 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.519 Today I am joined by Ian Gilly. Ian is the 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:47.720 founder of the Sugarloaf Social Club. It is a popular 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:51.400 Instagram account. You've probably come across them. They do a 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:55.160 ton of stuff on golf courses. They also have a 0:00:55.200 --> 0:01:00.279 creative business, a Sugarlove Creative Lab, which is does kind 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:04.560 of logo design creative services for clubs or across the country. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.680 So I had Ian, I this is a long time coming. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:13.479 Ian a great golf course mind, a great golf course explorer. 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.160 So I wanted to talk to him about his recent 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:23.200 trip through Kansas and Oklahoma as well as talk to 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.240 him about the golf course he built. So, without further ado, 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:34.960 here is Ian Gilly. So tell me about your your 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:37.800 recent golf trip. I'm always intrigued. I feel like you 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.959 getta you go on at least once a year a 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.880 trip that makes me wish that I was on the 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.560 trip slash wish I had I had done that trip already. 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.520 So tell us about your your most recent trip. 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.320 Yeah, so a couple of years ago, I was like, 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.440 you know, what would be interesting the end of the year 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.040 sort of detox, go on a solo golf trip. You know, 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.800 like that feels like it could be really interesting and 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.480 therapeutic and you can knock out a ton of courses 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.840 in one day. So last year I did Nebraska and 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:09.320 it was incredible. And then this year, so last week 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:12.320 also flew into Denver, but flew out of Oklahoma City 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.480 and just kind of played little niners and some nice 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:19.680 eighteen whole spots along the way. Probably the highlights for me. Well, 0:02:19.680 --> 0:02:22.040 Boiling Springs is pretty cool and perhaps you've heard of 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:24.120 that Golfers journal I think had an event out there 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.000 last year. I mean there's like a ton of sandy 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.240 terrain kind of in this like prairie landscape, and so 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:33.960 there are some courses built on dunescapes. So yeah, Boiling Springs, 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:38.600 which is in this little town in Kansas, oh, in Oklahoma, 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.520 excuse me, in Woodward, Oklahoma, just kind of was incredible. 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:45.600 It was like a mash up between like Worldwoods to 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:50.000 Bacco Road and kind of like Jupiter Hills Club vibes 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.519 just set in that kind of terrain. So that was 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.400 pretty That was pretty incredible. But I think that the 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.480 highlight for me of the trip, and we were texting 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.839 about this a little bit, was Buffalo Dunes just south 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:04.600 of Garden City, Kansas, another municipal course. And these guys 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.960 are really they view themselves as you know what wild 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:13.040 Horse in Nebraska is two sand hills like, they view 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.640 themselves as sort of that public b side option to 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:21.080 a prairie dunes. And the superintendent who used to be 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:25.119 out at bally Neil and Prairie Club has come back. 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.880 He's a local, local guy, and he's been restoring this 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:30.920 course three holes every year with an totally in house 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.480 team and an incredible budget. And they got one of 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.120 one of core crunch Jaw's shapers to help with the kind. 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.760 Of massive pack Zach Vardy. 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.560 Yeah, it's it's incredible and like what they've pulled off, 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.600 they're probably halfway done from a budget standpoint, and then 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:49.240 the aesthetic standpoint and a playability standpoint is insane. I 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.800 mean it's set on sandy soil and these rippling, you know, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:57.440 prairie dune vibes, and they're delivering like exceptional, like world 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.880 class muni golf for an insane valley. It's probably like 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:02.040 fifty bucks to play there. 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.320 It's one that I've I've wanted to go for a 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:08.760 couple of years, and every time I look up, like 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.680 I always look up Garden City, and every time I 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.640 look it up, I'm revided. I'm like, I really have 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.720 to go there, and then it's like you got to 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:18.360 hike back? 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.600 But what prompted that? 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.880 As the locale, it's it's absolutely stunning out there, and 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.680 there's just some incredible nooks and crannies where they're I mean, 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.320 Nebraska is much more like severe like sand dunes wise, 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.240 but yeah, what prompted me to go there? It's really 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.080 like I'm a two year old kid. I think you 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.680 got a young kid too. It's like how quickly and 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.080 officially can I pull off like a three to four 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.120 night golf trip basically, And so it's really starts with 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.159 like where can I fly into that's convenient and fly 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:47.960 out of that will give me home super fast? So 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.760 that almost like that bookend like dictates sort of this 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.839 this road trip, and I know that like if I'm alone, 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:56.680 or even if I'm meeting up with one person, like 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.240 in these rural places, I can knock out. I mean 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:01.440 the first day I saw, I'm nine four nine whole 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:04.320 golf courses, Like I was just flying and like you 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:07.360 can drive like crazy fast out there because there's basically 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.720 no one out there. So yeah, I was looking at 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.920 all sorts of like Denver to Albuquerque. I mean there's 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:18.080 some cool stuff, Like there's this Andy Staples course. I 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:20.800 really want to check it out out there rock Winn Dude. 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:22.880 That was I was like trying my best to like 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.200 figure out how to get there. So there's like a 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.159 lot of stuff left to be seen, and I think, like, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.400 I mean, you can spend all your money and take 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:32.680 a couple of weeks and try to get through these 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.360 obscure courses in like northern Scotland or wherever. But if 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.720 you go to the middle of our own country and 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:43.080 sure it's like remote, but maybe it's a two hour 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:44.960 flight to Denver and then a three hour car ride 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.760 to Bayside, Like that's some incredible golf in it. You 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.160 know you're there quicker than you were somewhere else. So 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.520 it's hopefully like encouraging and like inspiring to folks to 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:58.240 like think outside the box for a golf trip number one, 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.440 and like you can go by yourself, just go with 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.040 one other person and it'll still be cool. A cool. 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.840 Hang, How did you how did you start? How did 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.120 you decide to go by yourself? Was it was a 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:12.000 COVID induce Like what you know, I I've got a 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.400 two year old too, We're in like the exact same boat, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.440 and it was kind of like I think COVID at 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:20.280 that time was really weird because you know, when COVID hit, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.760 my wife was pregnant, so you're very very careful, you know, 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.840 and then you know, afterwards, then you have a newborn 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.039 when the world's starting to open it up, but you 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.200 have a newborn, so you're still being really careful. Like, 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:34.880 how did the solo aspect of this trip come about? 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.039 Yeah, I mean that first year, so that was my 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.080 first one was last year around the same time, and 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:41.920 so you know, he's he's almost one years old at 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.200 this point, and you know that first those first six 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.400 eight months are just tough man as a first time parent, 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:49.720 and you're like the first three months are a black hole. 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.320 The next few you're just trying to like come back 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.680 to the reality. And so there was like a year 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.360 where I didn't get to go like on a golf trip, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:03.279 and so yeah, last year was just on a whim, like, hey, babe, 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.520 I'm thinking about flying to the middle of nowhere, Nebraska 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.040 and playing golf for like four days. Is that possible? 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.280 And she's like, sure, go go this weekend. So I 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:12.280 like booked that trip in like a couple of days, 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.000 and yeah, it's it's kind of intense. It's an intense 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.040 golf trip for sure, because you don't know what you're 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.240 getting into. And some of these courses, even on this 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.720 last trip, like I did weeks of research and I 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.840 show up and the course has been close for you, 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:29.760 Like there's just no updates coming from like selling Oklahoma, 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.080 you know, to the golf world about their little nine 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:32.960 hole Sandhle course. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.640 So they aren't keeping up to date on their Facebook page. 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:39.880 I mean, sometimes Facebook's the best place to find out 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.240 about these courses. I mean, if I see a post 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.520 within the last few months, I'm like, Okay, maybe they're open. Maybe, 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.000 but yeah, it's it's funny, man, it's and I just 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:51.840 I love I mean, I didn't see a soul for 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.040 like the first two days at these golf courses. Like 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:57.440 it's just it was a little creepy. Honestly. Everything's on 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.240 honor box system for the most part. Like I mean, man, 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.680 when I saw my first pro Shop at Boiling Springs, 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.640 I just like dropped my whole wallet in there, basically 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.880 because I was so excited to like see a box 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.120 of Proby ones for the first time in a few days. 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.440 So yeah, it's really good. It's fun though. 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:15.960 Yeah, what's the uh, what's research? You said you spent 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:17.360 weeks researching. 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.720 Yeah, Google Earth, man, I spent hours on Google Earth. 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.720 And I'm like, you can almost guarantee that every little 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:28.760 town has some semblance of something golf. And so I'm 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.840 just on there, like I know, I'm in Denver, finding Denver, Okay, 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:35.160 I'm just like plotting points like along this route and 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.160 just finding courses and like starring them basically, and then 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:42.080 from there going into the their Facebook pages or you 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.440 know what, maybe someone wrote an article about them ten 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.040 years ago about their grand opening or whatever. So tons 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:51.640 of notes and you know, knowing where you're sleeping each night, 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.200 is kind of like the first order of business. I'm 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.920 and locking those in. So being a huge Google Earth guy, 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.400 that's pretty much I find all these courses in the 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:02.240 middle of nowhere. 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:03.960 Yeah, we we did. 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:04.319 Uh. 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.520 I was in this sand Hills of Nebraska a few 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:11.240 times this year and it's it's funny they uh both 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:16.040 times stayed local lodging and like the highlight of my summer, 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:18.520 I would say, is we finished like a long day 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.640 we were doing shooting at sand Hills for this uh, 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:26.200 this Superintendent thing that we're putting together this fall and uh, 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:30.000 and it was like we finished shooting, the restaurant had closed, 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.280 you know, because it's later at night. We got we 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.720 got a pizza from the gas station. We drive to 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:36.719 our motel and we're just eating on the hood of 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.480 the car and we got like, you know, a. 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:39.320 Six pack of beer. 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.920 And it's like that's the beauty of doing these like 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:45.719 remote trips. And in some of those, like when you're 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:49.440 talking about Nebraska sand Hills, you know, Western Kansas, is 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:51.600 you just have these moments of like it's a little 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:56.080 bit more. It does not it's definitely not filled with frills, 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:58.520 but it's filled with these moments where you're just like, 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.600 you know what, this is pretty good. So I think 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.440 for people that are familiar with your page at Sugar 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.280 Left Social, they've seen your journeys, and I feel like 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.760 this is kind of an extension of your journeys through 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:16.360 the Northeast and upstate New York and Maine and Vermont, 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:20.520 and you know what are some of your favorite places 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:24.520 from those journeys A little bit less known golf courses. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.360 Yeah, I think we're gonna like look to Maine. I 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.640 mean there's so much cool little stuff there and styles 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.040 of van Kleek. I mean they're just dotted all over 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:37.880 the Northeast. But I think North Haven Island, which you have, 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:39.640 it's in Maine. You have to take a ferry to it. 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:44.640 Nine hole SDK course out there, all these secret tea boxes. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:46.280 I mean there's you know, one T box that's like 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.000 on the beach held up by like lobster crates basically 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:54.240 with AstroTurf tea box and you're hitting over this little 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.479 tiny inlet and that one, to me is like incredibly 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.120 incredibly special. Yeah, you get up, you get up in 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.640 to Aderomdacks. I mean there's something there's like I mean 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.800 basically you look at all these like nooks and crannies 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:08.880 that are deep in the middle of nowhere in the 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.480 northeast and kind of down the east coast that were 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.839 like summer retreats for the for the wealthy one hundred 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.760 years ago. So you'll find a lot of Golden Age stuff, 0:11:18.240 --> 0:11:20.880 Like there's the frontline of Fendara out there, and uh 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.800 near the Adirondacks is just Donald Ross. It's incredible, absolutely incredible. 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:29.200 I mean it's it's hard. Once my like perspective on 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.560 like what made golf kind of fun and like shifted 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.920 from trying to chase lists and see all the cool, 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.400 super nice famous stuff Like there's so there's an endless 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:45.120 supply basically of interesting, quirky local stuff. So yeah, those 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.080 are a couple of my like absolute favorites up there. 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.400 I would say, I think something that appeals to me 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:56.280 about when you're going somewhere that's relatively unknown is the 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.000 discovery aspect of it. 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:00.520 You know, having never seen a phot of a. 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.640 Place or a good photo of a place or never 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.360 you know they're not being something written up or a 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.559 grand thing done about it. Like it really appeals, like 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:13.000 makes me excited to turn the next corner. It's almost 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.600 like you build certain experiences up so much in your head, 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:21.760 and when you go on these discovery trips like you've done, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.880 it's almost like you your expectations are out the window. 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.480 So then it allows you to just like almost enjoy 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:30.480 the courses more. 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:34.600 Yeah, it's probably like what I'm always like secretly chasing 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:40.080 is that feeling of discovering something organically for the first time, 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.080 like you haven't been. I mean, I can't think of 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.040 like a top one hundred club that I almost haven't 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:48.320 seen every hole on Instagram Hollywood Golf Club, Like would 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.120 really love to go there, but Country Complection just posted 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.080 every hole today and I was like, I just played 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.640 the course basically, so you know, there's there's not much 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.200 left uncovered. And that's kind of what drives me to 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:03.520 go deeper and deeper and more obscure. Like the other 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:05.800 day I was looking up in like what is near 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.120 the Arctic Circle in Canada? Like how how weird and 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:13.280 far can we keep pushing this that people haven't seen 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.880 kind of in our orbit? And I think like a 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.439 lot of the really really cool stuff is found, I 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.840 mean has been found, but you know, ever every so 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.199 often I mean even even locally to me. Here this 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.760 place called Capon Springs, which is like, once upon a 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:32.120 time rivaled Greenbrier and Homestead, and it's in West Virginia, 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.360 and it's like it took me like ten years to 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:36.439 find this place. And it's ninety minutes from my house. 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:40.160 So there's still some like truly like hidden gems out there. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.360 But you're right, it's that feeling that like it's like 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.839 a treasure hunt or like I don't know, antiquing or something, 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:51.000 and you find this cool little trinket and like that 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:54.000 makes that experience incredibly special. And that's kind of what 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.200 I'm always chasing, honestly. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:58.920 I you know, I looked at at a golf course. 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.520 There's a golf course in a Yukon territory of Canada. 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.720 That's I've looked this up. It's only open for like 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:07.800 two months of the year. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:09.640 So tell me a. 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:14.400 Little bit about about Sugarlove Social how you guys got started, 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.520 And then I think I have a feel, but the 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.840 evolution of it and what, you know, what is become. 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.240 To make a long story as short as possible, it 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.040 really goes back to when I was at Rollins College 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.360 with my two roommates. This is in twenty eleven, and 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:34.120 we're playing Corn Crunshaw's Sugarloaf Mountain, which doesn't exist anymore 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.880 outside of Orlando. You know, it's getting towards the end 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.480 of the school year, and we're getting kind of sentimental 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.600 and emotional and we're all going our separate ways. And 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:43.640 you know, I've always been a huge fan of like 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.360 I just love branding and like, let's let's name something 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.520 and then figure it out, like let's invent a sport 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:52.040 and run with it sort of thing. Like so we're 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:55.520 on the sixteenth hole at Sugarloaf Mountain and I'm just like, hey, guys, 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:57.800 why don't we why don't we just call our little 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.600 group here Sugarlove Social Club and sort of give us 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.560 some incentive to you know, keep in touch after college 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.800 and maybe add some new friends to the fold. And 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:10.320 that's literally like what Sugarloaf Social Club was for five, six, 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.640 seven years. I mean, it was like a text chain 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.840 and like a private Facebook group of like twenty guys 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:16.160 and we would go on one trip a year to 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.360 Finers and we still the core still still does that. 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:23.400 But obviously, like wanted a cool logo for our little 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:27.960 group and love merch, so started making making some hats 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:31.120 and we're kind of one of the early people into 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.960 Instagram at this point. And oh yeah, you know, I 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:38.560 saw Instagram as like this incredible platform that beyond like 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:42.800 maybe any other niche like golf was poised to like 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.720 be so strong with Instagram by its side, because it's 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:50.520 such like a visual like you're collecting Pokemon cards going 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.760 to all these courses, right, and like I think one 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.280 of the not to derail from like the orgins of Truelive. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.480 But yeah, like I think people like under like forget 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:03.160 or underestimate how important like Instagram was to these cool 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:08.440 like Tobacco Road today that place was mocked or people 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.120 didn't understand it, and like you can't tell you can't 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:14.960 show a picture of someone Tobacco Road in nineteen ninety nine, 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.480 you know so, but damn like that Instagram comes around 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.600 and now you can like visually collect this like social 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.960 currency of like hey I was here and look how 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.160 cool it is. And it shifted perspectives for you know, 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.200 I think we were, you know, part of that, and 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.560 places like Tobacco Road are like the coolest place to 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.640 like get that Pokemon stamp. Get that passport stamp. 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:40.440 Now, there's definitely like Instagram courses, like courses that you 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.320 know it, I I know, you know it. I know 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.320 it as people that you know post pictures, but like 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:49.520 you go certain places and you discover place and it's like, 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:51.920 oh when I post a picture of this course, people 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:54.120 are going to be like holy shit, like where is 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:54.680 this place? 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:55.040 All right? 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:59.160 And and Tobacco Road was you know, Tobacco Road Sweeten's Cove. Like, 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:01.480 you know, you could go down a list of courses 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:03.960 that visually, you know, not a lot of people have 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.280 been to. But once that like it's one thing to 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:09.720 say to somebody, hey, you should go see this course, 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:12.840 but it's another thing to show to show them why 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.280 they should go see it course. And that's what Instagram 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.200 has done for so many courses. 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:20.480 Yeah, I totally agree. So anyway, I mean going like 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:22.520 kind of recognize that early, like this is going to 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.359 be a powerful platform for cool golf stuff. And I 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.560 had this incredible library from like of golf pictures, you know, 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.600 from playing golf you know, after college to this kind 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.919 of Instagram moment and even stuff from traveling, you know, 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.439 when I was abroad in Scotland for school and anyway, 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.040 it was just like this perfect storm of like we 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:43.840 had a brand before we had merch basically, and then 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.320 once we had merched, people were like, hey, that's a 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.239 cool hat. Can I like PAYPALU you and you can 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:50.720 send it to me, and like that kind of worked 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.399 for the first few you know, merch transactions, and I 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:54.639 was like, you know, this is like really annoying. I 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:57.000 got to build a website and then just snowballs from that, right, 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.880 and so like I always wanted to have my own 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.280 brand and have it kind of be a part of 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.000 something and and kind of mean something to people and 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.720 make folks happy, which I think Sugarlift does for many 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.200 many offers. And that's just kind of how it started 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:12.720 in snowball. Our and our strategy is like what does 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:15.040 Ian want? Like, you know, I really need a new 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.000 white hat? Okay, so we order new white hats. Like 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.280 that's that's kind of like as complicated as like the 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.040 ordering strategy is and the design process. So and that's 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.760 so yeah, that's Sugar Loaf Social Club. And then behind that, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.119 my business partner and I also had have an agency 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.240 called sugar Lift Creative Lub We've done a bunch of 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:36.000 creative work for big and small golf properties across the 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:38.879 country and so that's that's a really fun you know, 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.919 Sugarloaf Social Club is a very public facing entity and 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.880 that kind of proves some of this you know, creative 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.639 sauce to folks and they're like, hey, like maybe you 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.119 guys can help us with this logo or the scorecard. 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:54.080 So yeah, it's been awesome. I mean Pinehurst and Pebble 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.480 Beach and PG National and it's been it's been incredible, 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.480 But we're really focusing on ourselves more going forward. So 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:03.840 looking forward to that, I. 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.320 Know that you guys have done a lot of work 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.560 with like Pinehurst with logos and branding. 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:10.800 What's the what's the key? 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.080 If you this is what's the key to distilling down 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.879 a great logo for a course that's looking for a 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:17.439 new logo? 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:19.399 Like what do you think? What do you how do 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:20.920 you go about that process? 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:25.439 Yeah? I think like we're our special sauce. Liede was 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.399 being able to sort of find that like kernel of 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.840 something interesting from the archives, whether it's the color palette 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.840 of the courses at at Pinehurst or a picture of 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.159 a sea lion on one of the greens at Pebble 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.680 Beach when we did their Part three, their new Part 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:45.000 three logo finding finding this like little kernel of inspiration. 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.120 And then you know, I think there's like a language 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.320 of golf course logos that like works and stuff that 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:56.439 doesn't work, and things don't necessarily need to scream golf. 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:58.800 You know, we definitely have some like Flag six and 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.600 some of the logos we've done, but like we think 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.159 of these logos these courses as like almost like a 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.680 peril brands, like Pebble Beach's logo, that's their swoosh, that's 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:11.440 their ralph laurn pony. So like, how do you these 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:15.320 are very simple, almost you know, monotone marks sometimes that 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:18.160 have stood the test of time and so not trying 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.080 to be too trendy and pulling from the archives and 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.600 making something that we feel like will last for one 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.800 hundred more years basically, and like there's a great you know, 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:29.959 you look at the top one hundred courses and like 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:31.959 there's only a few horses that kind of have like 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.720 whackish logos like crystal downs or something, you know. 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:41.040 Like oh man, drive five Crystal Downs. 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.439 I They're on my pinboard of like what are the 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.760