WEBVTT - Info on The Monday Q 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:06.880 When he was in high school, his golf coach said 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:12.479 to him, Brian, you know more about golf trivia than 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.240 I've ever met, but you will never make a living 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.919 on this. And and the fact I ran into his 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:22.119 golf coach in the grocery store and I said, I 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.800 don't know if you're married aware about Ryan's doing. He said, 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:26.759 I am. And I said you remember what you said 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.280 to Himn't? He said no? And I said, he he 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:34.320 did say that, But I mean, fifty thousand people follow him. 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:39.159 It's just an every single day, isn't. He said, He's aware, 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:42.520 and he's so thankful. He's just overwhelming, and he will. 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.040 I don't think he will ever lose that, man, I don't. 0:00:45.159 --> 0:01:00.320 I don't think he will. Another logo nobody he h 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:06.600 Welcome to the fire Pit with Matt Janella. Thanks for 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.399 spending time with us again here at the Pit. It's 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.360 been a crazy stretch as Alan, Schipmunk, Alex Upeggy and 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.240 I continue to build out this modern media network of 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:20.160 content creators. Much more to come and soon, but let 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.840 me start by thanking links soul who I know will 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.920 approve of and appreciate the higher ware announcing with this 0:01:26.000 --> 0:01:30.440 podcast what is links Soul. Here's Jeff Cunningham, who, along 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.920 with John Ashworth, our co creators of the lifestyle brand. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.479 I've worn on and off the course for over eight years. 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.760 I think Links sold. You know, we've always called it 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.480 just an idea that we we just tend to. When 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.160 we finally got chewed up and spit out of enough 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:50.160 corporate gigs, we decided to do this thing ourselves, um, 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.000 the right way, because we just don't fit into that 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.200 culture anymore. And Links Soul, now that you know about it, 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.480 it just it's not meant to be in that It's 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.160 not a it's not a plant that grows in the 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.800 corporate settings, so you know, and a handshake in my 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:08.919 backyard on March third, oh nine nine, we shook hands 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.080 and decided to do it this way, our way. Go 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.760 to link soul dot com and use promo code fire 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:21.519 Pity for discount on your next purchase. All right, now 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.880 to the news. From a TV fire to the fire pit, 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.360 we welcome Ryan French to the collective, a robin hood 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:33.160 of golf and media. The humble and thoughtful stay at 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:36.919 home dad found a platform and a purpose while tending 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.600 to the responsibilities of a daughter and a son who 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:45.480 at the age of eighteen months was diagnosed with Kari malformation, 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:51.200 a rare brain condition that required surgery. With a support 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.880 of family and friends who he made along the back 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.960 roads of scruffy mini tour venues, French launched a Twitter 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:02.440 handle at a case of a golf one more commonly 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:09.160 referred to as monday q Info, which recently surpassed fifty followers. 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.440 One of those is Cede Hawker Smith, who's a thirty 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:14.919 six year old mini tour player who French has caddy 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.600 for over the years. It's unbelievable, Like he's by far 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.320 the best person for you know, for the job in 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:24.640 terms of just running the account, because you know, like 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:26.920 you said, he's just he's like, you know, just alt 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.200 of the Earth, like one of the best guys. UM 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.520 uses his platform so well, especially to what it's kind 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:36.640 of turned into now with you know, um connecting like 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.760 teams in need with you know, equipment gear and all 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.880 this stuff. So it's it's really been cool, um to 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:49.760 just see everything kind of come about and whatever followers later. Um, 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:55.520 It's it's amazing. Meanwhile, the likes of Aaron Rodgers and 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.240 other successful fans have slid into his d m s 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:01.040 in order to help donate resource is to high schools 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.080 and Monday qualifiers in need of support. Monday Q info 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.480 is one of the best stories in golf right now, 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.600 and it's because of the stories he's compelling all of 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:15.920 us to care about. See Michael Vassaki, Corey Connors and 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:19.520 the guitar playing Lasso champion who competed in the Byron 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:24.840 Nelson pre Qualifier. What's French's relationship with the PGA Tour? They, 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:29.279 like everyone else, are taking notice, as we all should be. 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.719 It's been crazy. I wrote an article for you guys, 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:37.880 for us, for us, I gotta say us no, Um, 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.839 you know, I guess I have always been a golfer 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:45.160 in man. I mean, I will tell the story of 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.000 my dad's sitting next to me. My dad's a huge 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:50.159 part of my golf life, A huge part of my 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.400 life obviously, but but my golf life especially. So Um. 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.440 I say in the article that that I became a 0:04:56.480 --> 0:05:00.479 golf nerd on the day our TV started on fire. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:04.640 So um. We were watching a Stanley Cup Finals game. 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:06.960 I was seven. The only thing I remember about it 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.360 is my so our our TV was in the basement, 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.640 and uh, our living space was on the on the 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.599 middle floor, and then upstairs with all of our bedrooms, 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.760 and my dad yelled up to my mom, go get 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:23.720 the fire extinguisher, and my mom yelled back, I can't 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:28.599 lift it. You remember those moments like yesterday and we 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.560 you know, our our TV was in our basement and 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.840 it just all of a sudden, it just went. I 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:37.080 was upstairs and it just went kind of boom, and 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.280 you know, Howard yelled at me and I couldn't find 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.760 the I mean, it was kind of it was just chaos. 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:46.760 And Mr French, do you do you remember the burning TV? Yes, 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:51.360 call me Howard plays that it makes me more comfortable. Yes, 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:55.840 I certainly did. We had a finished basement and the 0:05:55.920 --> 0:06:02.360 TV exploded and fires and the as Ryan described it, 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:05.000 that's exactly what it was. And it was you know, 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:09.320 I've never faced a fire at that time. Uh, but 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.760 it wasn't very fine. And then as as he was explained, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.400 we had no intention of going in twenty years with 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.880 the whole TV and we were well known around the 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:24.680 community for crazy people that don't have a TV. I 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.360 don't know that Howard Night. I mean, it was just like, well, 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.360 let's wait a week. And then we said, well, let's 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:33.320 wait a month, and we waited twenty nine years, and 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:36.919 I mean it was it was very interesting because it 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:40.120 was I think embarrassing for our children, and he didn't 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:44.280 have a TV and we just never gave in, so 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.440 he just never had one, and they'd have to go 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.719 to grandma Grandpa's if they had an assignment, and that's 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:52.880 the way it was. Obviously, this is pre internet. So 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.719 I got all my sports information from the Detroit Free Press, 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:58.680 which was delivered to our house each morning. I read 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.520 it from cover to cover. And we lived on a 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.760 golf course, so golf became my favorite sport. And and 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.719 I always say, like, I don't remember the age, probably 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.320 around ten. I remember Monday mornings just flipping to the 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.320 back page and if you'd have to be our age 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.960 to kind of get this, but in the back page 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.080 was the only day you could find the full field 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.960 scores of a PGA Tour event or whatever it was 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.000 called at that time, the Night Tour or whatever. And 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:28.920 I remember just reading those and saying, like, I wonder 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.920 how these guys make it. Ryan French of Alpino, Michigan 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.280 was seven when his TV caught fire. They lived on 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.000 the Alpina Golf Club, and thus golf has been his life. 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.720 My dad was the CEO of a company that put 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.880 mentally and physically handicapped people into the workplace. But he 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:48.840 tried his best every day to come home at five 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:53.360 o'clock and we would We lived on a small municipal 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.560 course and on the third hall. We were members. And 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:58.840 what we would do is Dad would come home and 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:01.760 change and we would go out and start in the 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.960 fourth hole and around dark on the third hole at 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.760 our house, come home and and uh and do and 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.000 and and we did that five or six times a week. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.440 We kept our scores on the back of our basement 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.680 door and average them up and all those kind of things. 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:19.680 But but I think, Matt is that game was so 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.560 important to like I love golf. It was important. But 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.800 my dad and I were best friends. Ryan was a 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:28.800 very good golf for even as a little boy, and 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:30.960 he would go out to the golf course during the 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:33.600 day and no one would play with him, No adult 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.640 would play with him. Um and he wasn't allowed on 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.120 the golf course by himself when he was seven for eight, 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.679 and he would wait at the golf course on all 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.160 day to play, and then his father would come and 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.440 play with him at five o'clock. No, I mean, I 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.960 can see him to this stage. Just come, I just mom, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:56.560 nobody will play with me, you know. And his dad 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:58.560 came home and did it. It was just a part 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.720 of their life. It was wonderful. There was fights on 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.840 the golf course, nothing to do about about golf. There 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:10.360 was conversations about real world things that happened. Uh, you know, 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.880 whether it was in his life or my life. And uh, 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.000 it just became a special place for us. It's where 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.560 we you know, Um, my dad's health is not great 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:24.040 now he's sitting next to me, um, but you know, 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.960 it was we were best friends and that relationship on 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.440 the golf course taught us a lot about life. Looking back, obviously, 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:33.719 when I was young, I didn't know what the hell 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.360 I was doing out there. But we had a conversation 0:09:36.360 --> 0:09:43.120 about grades and girls and friends and you know, anything 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.960 anything that that was going on in the world, and 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.120 and and it it is. It's a special part of 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.560 our relationship. As we get into my story, will just 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:54.959 can it has always been a part of who my 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:58.440 dad and I are. Uh, you know, today I haven't 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:00.560 seen him in a couple of months, and you know, 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.960 we talked about golf. It's just it's been a huge 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:06.559 part of our relationship for sure. Howard French suffered a 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.760 stroke and has been dealing with dementia. But welcome to 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.720 the opportunity now to talk about his son and golf. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:16.800 We're very proud of Brian. Uh. He's done a wonderful job. 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.960 I take absolutely no credit for UM. I liked the 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.560 golf um and it was so convenient because it was 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:29.160 in the backyard, and we always liked it to storm 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.960 from uh oh anywhere from noon to about four o'clock 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:35.960 and everybody got off the course and then we Brian 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:41.280 and I are known for a very quick players, uh, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.040 and we could fish around and we could finish around 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.640 in uh thirty five minutes with that a lot of 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.920 attention to anything else to get the ball in the 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:55.080 hole and go over the next hole. UM. So it 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:59.760 was a tremendous boost for us as a family. My 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.720 life was certainly patient with us, and that was good, 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:06.680 uh and we love her for that. And it was 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.680 really a bone of contention in Howard's in my marriage 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:12.760 that Howard never let him win. He never let any 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.480 of his children win. And it was not what I wanted. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.440 I wanted him to give in. I wanted him to 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.400 lose to him. I wanted a kid to come home 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:24.040 not upset, and he said, no, he's got to earn this. 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.480 And it was just below And I will never forget 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.360 the day that he beat his father. I will never 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.400 forget it. And it was like, I mean, before the 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.280 ice cream Sunday, he ran in the house, you know, 0:11:37.360 --> 0:11:40.600 and said, Mom, I won. You know, I beat dad, 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.959 and um, I think from they and they just continued 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.280 that relationship and it was the only thing. I mean, 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.480 he could do that with his grandfather and his father 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.240 and him, and it was a bond and it was 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:56.360 just amazing. It was one thing to beat his dad 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.280 at Alpina and he was having some success in high 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:03.160 school and in like so many others, French received a 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:05.600 reality check. You know. I grew up in a small 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.439 northern Michigan town and I was like I always say, 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.880 it's like a big fish in a small pond. You know. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.160 I won the club championship, in the men's club championship 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:14.959 at sixteen. I thought it was a big deal. Now 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.440 looking back, there was probably five or six guys that had, 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:22.880 you know, any sort of real golf skill. Uh. But 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.200 I mean I thought it was you know, I thought 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.000 it was I was big ship and then uh and 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:31.520 then no, no schools recruited me, and I was like, what, 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:34.240 you know, I thought it was. I thought it was 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.640 pretty good. So I went to a community college, Lansing 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:39.440 Community College, and it was like, I don't know if 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:41.120 there's such a thing. It's kind of an oxymore, but 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.160 a good junior college program. And we went to National's 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.560 twice in the two years I was there, and you know, 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.680 I was like, oh, I'm still okay. And then I 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.160 tried to walk out of Michigan State. And I always say, Matt, like, 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:54.520 I walked in there and I was like playing pretty 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.439 good golf for me, And I mean I had no shot. 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:00.920 You know, I was gonna be of the twelfth man 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:02.880 on a five man team. And at that time, Michigan 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.760 State was a pretty bad golf school. So it was 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:08.720 my wake up call that I had I had no 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.319 business in this game. And and looking back to now 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.440 what it was, it was, it was definitely my wake 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:18.160 up call of how many talented guys that were out there. Um, 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.640 you know, it was. It was eye opening because I 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.520 was shooting, you know, seventy four on seventy two on 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:28.000 a good day, seventy seven on a bad day, pretty consistently, 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:31.080 and I had no shot. He might not have had 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.200 the ability to play professionally, but French was still willing 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.760 to help others to try to get to the PGA Tour. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.560 In all of my years of covering Buddy's trips and 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:42.760 father and son traditions within the game, I've never heard 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.640 of an annual father son caddy trip, which the French 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.400 boys did several times a year. From two thousand three 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.760 until two thousand ten, my parents still lived in northern Michigan. 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.720 I was running a group of restaurants restaurants in southern Michigan, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.120 and you know, we wanted to find a trip that 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.760 we could make to like kind of connect So, um, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.360 my dad and I did a caddy trip. And I 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.240 always say, is now this is the Internet days. I 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:12.360 found this was the McKenzie Tour now, but it was 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.720 called just the Canadian Tour. I found a tournament that 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:18.559 was close in Toronto that we could drive to. I 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.600 called the caddy master and I said, hey, you I 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.080 see her looking for caddies, and he was so excited 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.040 when he found out that I had played college golf, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.680 and my dad knew what was happening, and so we're like, oh, 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:30.440 we'll make it a trip. There was no intention of 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.080 making it a yearly trip or anything. We just went 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:37.440 out to caddy on a mini tour. And so definitely 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:43.760 that trip and the following trips are what why this 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.880 account exists. If I didn't go on those trips, I 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.720 would never be sitting in this chair talking about these stories. 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.760 And it was eye opening. And what I say two 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.320 respects is one, how many good players are out there 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.360 that weren't on the e J Tour. This was a 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:05.560 mini tour in Canada. And to the lifestyle that they lead, 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.440 and that is essentially what the account is about, is 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.440 how good these guys are and the lifestyle they lead 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:16.360 isn't what you see on TV. When they went candying, 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.640 I mean I sent them off into places without cell phones, 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.640 I and I was, I mean, I just went the 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:25.600 stories and I thaid, oh my god, I'm gonna what's 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.920 gonna happen here? It was amazing. They came home they 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:35.160 loved it um and I mean they I mean trains 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:39.720 going through was awful, but it was you know, I mean, 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:45.160 those are those are memories that are just forever with him. Definitely. 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.000 What I learned most on that trip, Matt, that first 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.440 trip is the off the course stuff. And I tell 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:54.840 him the story is a week Our tradition was a 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.120 camp every year, and so Dad and I set up 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.120 our tent and the next morning I went in to 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.520 brush my teeth the community bathroom and and next to 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.840 me was a player, and and I just like it 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.480 was I just didn't know anything about off the course 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:14.320 life for these guys. And I really like stunned of 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.400 why a professional golfer was next to me at a 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:21.720 thirty five dollar a night U campsite when he had 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:23.680 a golf tournament the next day. It just like it 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:28.440 really boggled my mind. I really had no thought that played. 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.640 I just didn't think of the financial side of of 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.800 golf or off the course stuff. And that moment sticks 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:38.560 with me because it really was the moment I was like, Wow, 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.000 these guys, you know, this is not the pro golf 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:45.040 that I know. At some point this part time Caddy 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:49.240 became a life partner. Yeah. So I was in Chicago 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:52.720 and uh, Yeah, we met. I was running a group 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:57.520 of restaurants, and yeah, my my wife is is an 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:03.040 amazing lady. And a friend introduced us here and and 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.160 she had I always tell a story about my wife 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:10.119 and golf. Her only relationship with golf was that she 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.240 tried out for the high school team in order to 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.480 meet a boy. She had never played golf before, but 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.600 the boy that she was interested in was on the 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.760 golf team, so she tried out for the girls team. 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.000 Obviously was terrible as she had never picked up a club, 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.280 didn't make the team, didn't get introduced to the boy, 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.119 and and has never played golf before in my life. 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:36.120 Here's Stephanie French, Ryan's wife, a nurse he met ten 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.679 years ago. Was it love at first sight? What? What? 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.000 What struck you about him? And said, Oh, this is 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.919 my guy. This is so funny, So I will always 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.280 remember this. We had a mutual friend that worked for 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:54.240 Ryan at our in the restaurant industry that introduced us, 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:58.040 and I had just moved to Chicago. Ryan had just 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:02.399 moved to Chicago. And our friend that introduced us was 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:06.040 a very um, very kind, wonderful man, but he was 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.920 very sort of promiscuous with his love interests and he 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:13.960 had just broken up with a man. And so I 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.359 came into his apartment and Ryan was sitting on the 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:20.480 couch and I was like, oh, Jacob's taste in men 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.240 is really improved, Like how I could get on board 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:28.000 with this, Maybe this one will actually last. And so 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.280 I sat and I talked to Ryan and I was like, oh, no, 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.600 this guy is for me, not Jacob. And um, and 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:38.960 so we just started hanging out as a group of friends. UM. 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.200 But I think pretty quickly, yeah, we started dating. And 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.960 I mean within I want to say, six or eight months, 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.800 we were engaged. This is about the time when Ryan 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:53.439 also meets cde Hawkersmith. The first year we met, I 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.000 think we were just engaged. I said, hey, there's a 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.280 mini tour event in town. It was actually a tour 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.440 of the U S Pro Tour. Fino was the leading 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.840 money winner and the owner stole everyone's money, which is 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:10.199 another insight into the mini tour life. But they had 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.560 an advantage Chicago. I think the last event they ever 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.320 held before the owner disappeared with everybody's money. But they 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.119 held a mini tour event in um in Chicago. We 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:23.640 were living downtown at the time. In a small apartment 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.760 and Uh I called the tour and said, hey, we'd 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.919 like to house a player, and my wife's like, what 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:31.960 the hell is this? You know we're gonna have a 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.399 stranger in our house. Two thousand twelve, I was playing 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:40.439 on the National Progolf Tour. UM and Ryan we had 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.920 an advantage Chicago, and Ryan offered us UM offered a billet, 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:48.119 UM which just host housing, offered us a room. So 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.800 buddy and I took him up on it and stayed. Um. 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:56.080 It was like it was basically a closet UM with 0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:00.280 two air mattresses. UM. And so that's how I first 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.159 met Ryan. I think it was junior two thousand and twelve, 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:04.920 and he can't He didn't caddy for me that event. 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.280 He caddied for the other guy. But we just we 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:10.399 hit it off. He took us up to it was 0:20:10.440 --> 0:20:12.800 a John Hancock building and UM up to the bar 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:14.720 up top, and it was just it was a fun 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.879 week and UM, we just we stayed in touch ever since. 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.960 How what's he like as a caddy? Ryan's really good. Um, 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:27.399 he's a good player himself, so that helps UM. But 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.080 he's he's really good at like knowing what to say 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:32.840 and when to say it or when not to say 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:37.160 anything at all. Um, And I know him like our relationship, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.360 you know, like we we joke a lot, and so 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.440 it's to have him on the bag. It's like it's 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:45.080 it's really good because it keeps me, you know, calm 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:49.240 and just loose. So but he's he's very good, very 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:52.119 good Caddy. I've been so fortunately, so lucky just to 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:54.680 know Ryan and just kind of have like a front 0:20:54.760 --> 0:21:00.200 row seat just see everything unfold. Um. And one thing 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.080 that you know, obviously doesn't really get talked about on Twitter, 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.360 but like his wife's staph is like she's awesome. Um. 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:10.600 Every time I'm up there, uh for a qualifier or 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.600 whatever and out with Ryan, it's just she's kind of 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.679 doing whatever she can to let Ryan like have a 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.159 good time because you know, like he he is at 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:23.080 home all day, um, and he's he's busy doing work, um, 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.800 putting out content. But she's just like she's super supportive, 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.720 and I think it's awesome. You know. I would think 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.520 Ryan would agree that most wives would be like, hey, Bud, 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:35.879 like take the sweatpants off, put on a suit and 0:21:35.920 --> 0:21:38.640 go get a real job. But she's just been She's 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.000 been great, so she deserves a lot of credit to 0:21:41.560 --> 0:21:45.440 my wife. Is uh. I mean, I haven't had a 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.680 job for three years tweeting about golf, So to say 0:21:48.720 --> 0:21:52.520 that she is supportive is um is is an understatement. 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:57.000 She's an amazing woman who's uh a nurse dealt with COVID, 0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:01.040 lost her dead in the last year, and um, she 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:04.200 is a huge part of of what this is. For sure. 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:10.359 Any French was born in her little brother, Jackson French, 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.240 was born in and for the first year and a 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.080 half of his life they couldn't figure out why he 0:22:17.119 --> 0:22:22.000 wouldn't stop vomiting. Our son, Jackson has what's called chiari malformation. 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:24.600 And I'll try to give a quick version of what 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:27.359 it is. Um. You know, part of his brain is 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:30.159 down the whole hole in his skull. And for for 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:33.600 different kids, that means different things. Uh. For jack it 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:36.000 meant that he he vomited every day of his life 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:37.920 when he was from the time he was a baby 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:41.919 until time he had brain surgery. UM. And we didn't 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.280 know anything that doctors didn't know anything. We went to 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:47.159 numerous doctors to try to get some answers, and the 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:49.879 only reason we found charity was like we thought he 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:51.919 had a brain tumor. So yeah, we had done at 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:56.880