WEBVTT - A Look at High-Level Amateur Golf 0:00:00.040 --> 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 --> 0:00:05.880 And when I find my. 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.720 Ball in a fried egg Friday egg, the dreaded Frida 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:11.440 Egg Friday Egg, Frida Egg brid Egg, Frida Egg Bride 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:12.040 egg Lie. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:40.240 I'm about ready to run off of the. 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:41.199 Welcome to the Frida Egg Golf Podcast. I'm Garrett Morrison, 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.080 and today we're talking about the state of amateur golf 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:49.320 with Lawrence Donagan. But first before we get into that, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:51.720 we're going to talk about what we're in on and 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.480 what we're out on this week. Here to do that 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.279 with me is Joseph Lamania. Joseph, what are you in on? 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:05.039 Gary, I'm in on the unexpected wonderful golf weekend that 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:09.080 we had the Women's Olympics, which was a super exciting 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.160 finish with Lydia Coe. You don't always know that you're 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.399 gonna get a compelling finish down the stretch. She had 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.320 to play great golf, and she did play great golf. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.200 Was super emotional when she won. Thought that was a 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.280 delightful ending to a great Olympics, both on the men's 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:26.440 and the women's side. And then we got the little 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.679 cherry on top yesterday evening with Matt Coocher's debacle at 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:33.440 the Window Championship, which I don't know how plugged you 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:36.200 and you were to that situation, Garrett. But in case 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:40.080 anyone missed it, every golfer got done with a marathon 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:44.560 of play at Sedgefield after rains storms. They crammed everybody 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:48.360 in except for one Matt Coocher, who returned to finish 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.480 on Monday morning. If you somehow missed it, he was 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:56.000 completely out of contention. T twelve missed the FedEx Cup 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.480 playoffs like just nothing. I mean there is still some 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.880 fall positioning to play for, very little to play for, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:03.960 and decided that he was not going to finish the 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.760 eighteenth hole due to darkness, despite the other guys in 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.720 his group finishing, and he came out made a nice 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.560 dramatic par this morning as we're recording this. So you 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:16.160 never know what kind of weekends you're going to get 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.440 in August. It could have been sleepy, but between lydia 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:21.280 Co and Matt Kucher, I love that windfall we got 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:21.960 this past weekend. 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.000 Yeah, yeah, created an extra day of work for all 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:29.880 the tournament's staff and you know, I was just doing 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:32.400 Matt Kucher things. I think my favorite part of this 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.640 was his explanation of why he did that. He was 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.400 trying to set an example, right, he was trying to 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.760 set an example for a playing partner of his, and 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.600 this playing partner happens to be happens to be twenty 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:46.360 nine years old. 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:51.960 He apologized to everyone today that he had to be 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.440 the one that didn't get to finish. I loved the 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:57.840 passive language there, as if some wrong had been done. 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:00.320 Happened to him, right, happened to him? Do it happened 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:00.600 to him? 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:01.320 But I'm in on that. 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.799 Yeah, I mean it seemed it seemed to be pretty delightful. 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.480 I was actually out at dinner with with some neighbors 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.800 when when this was all happening. But I came back 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:14.959 and it was one of those things where I had 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.320 to gradually piece together what was going on from a 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:22.679 variety of different tweets, and that's always an interesting process. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.119 But eventually the picture came into focus. This is Matt 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:31.560 Coucher being Matt Coucher and uh and and that is 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:34.720 always always pretty funny. But we haven't we haven't seen 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.040 it in a while. From from Cuture. He's he's been 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.200 a little bit obscure lately, hasn't hasn't really been a factor. 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.640 But man, when he gets back in the spotlight, he 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:45.360 he really seems to make the most of it. So 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:46.360 all credit to him. 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.720 Good to have him back. Yeah, what are you in on, Garrett? 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:56.200 I'm in on men's and women's fields playing simultaneous or 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.560 back to back tournaments at the same venue. 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:00.240 Yeah. 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.320 This has obviously been tried a couple of times. It 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:06.440 hasn't worked that well. It does work well at the 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.960 VIC Open in Australia where this is the format of 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.840 the tournament. They play simultaneously. They kind of mix the 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.200 men's and women's fields together and it seems to really 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.320 give that tournament an identity and people are excited about it. 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.480 There's a thirty six whole facility that they play at 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.719 that helps it all function. Didn't really work that well 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.360 when they tried it at the Australian Open. The Ausie 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.159 seem to be going after this a bit like trying 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.640 to make this happen, which is a great thing. But 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:39.080 they did it at the Australian Open and the logistics 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.440 seem to have not worked that well. So there are 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.719 ways that these simultaneous tournaments can come off well and 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.760 there are ways that they can fail, and so you 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.760 just have to execute it right. I also think it's 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.039 interesting to see men's and women's fields playing back to 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.600 back tournaments at the same venue as they did at 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.000 the Olympics, at the Golf Nacional, as they did at 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.880 those US Opens back in twenty fourteen at Pinehurst, and 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:09.039 I believe a repeat of that structure of the US Opens, 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:11.560 the Women's Open as well as the Men's Open, is 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.240 coming up in a few years as well, and so 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:17.360 this is being tried. But whenever it happens, I love 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.800 it as a golf nerd, seeing men's and women's fields 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.640 playing the same course in very different ways, seeing different 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:29.640 holes be set up in distinct ways is really interesting, 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.080 something that I wish maybe the telecast made more of 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.159 or showed more of. I do think people would be 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.919 interested in that if they were delivered that kind of content, 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.120 So I'd just like to see more experimentation here. And 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:47.240 obviously I think that this kind of this kind of 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:52.120 mashing up of the men's and women's games could potentially 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.920 really help the women's game reach a larger and more 0:05:56.040 --> 0:06:00.520 enthusiastic audience than the LPGA Tour seems to have so 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.520 far this year. This season has been really interesting on 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.400 the LPGA Tour for a number of reasons, Nellie Korda 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:10.159 being one big one. But it just doesn't seem to 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:14.240 be gaining much public momentum, and so I'd like to 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.159 see the powers that be try to figure out how 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:21.039 to unlock some of that enthusiasm that surely would be 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:26.440 there if women's golf tournaments were presented properly and given 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:30.600 a stage to shine. So yeah, like this idea of 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.400 the men's and women's fields being kind of in the 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:36.000 same place at the same time and playing the same course. 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.760 Yeah, I thought it was super cool during the US 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.359 Open at Pinehurst in twenty fourteen, how some of the 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.640 women were out watching the men's tournament and warming up 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:48.800 getting ready for their week, like as the men were 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:51.560 playing theirs tournament. It'd be cool to see it go 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.680 in the other direction too, But I mean, scheduling is 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.560 just a huge part of that, right, Like none of 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.240 those guys were sticking around in Paris after they were 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:00.600 done with the Olympics. Some of them had to go 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.600 play the Windom Championship. So this just gets into the 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.600 scheduling and the lack of cooperation generally. But Garrett, I 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:09.960 guess where do you land on some kind of mixed 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.600 team event at the twenty twenty eight Olympics? Like that 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:17.240 seems there are people of two minds on that one. 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.640 This version of the Olympics worked very well and the 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.080 individual portion of this seem to motivate players both on 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:26.960 the men's and the women's side, to where now the 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:32.480 Olympics is an unbelievably compelling event, Like let's not do 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.440 away with that, right, Like, let's not try something that 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.720 gets away from a winning formula. But there are only 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.040 two weeks to run these events, So do you think 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.680 that doing a team mixed event in between is the 0:07:45.360 --> 0:07:48.160 winning formula? Like? How do you think this comes to fruition? 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.120 Because I think a team mixed event would be super compelling. 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.080 I just don't want to jeopardize something that's already special. 0:07:54.000 --> 0:07:56.160 It's hard to work it out, because, yes, the stroke 0:07:56.200 --> 0:08:01.440 play tournaments, now that we're three additions in, seem to 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:05.680 have gained their own identity. You know, there were objections 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.000 and including I would imagine from me, I don't exactly. 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:09.840 Remember what I said about this at the time, But 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:11.960 when I heard that they were doing seventy two whole 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.960 stroke play, I was disappointed for the Olympics. I wished 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.760 that they had been a little more daring and creative. 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.840 But now that that's what we've settled on, this is 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:22.840 the Olympics tournament. 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:23.360 Now. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:28.280 It has that identity and it has that kind of tradition. 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.920 So far, it's not much of a tradition yet because 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:35.280 again only three but this is what it is, and 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:37.680 so we've got to keep that and got it. We've 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.200 got to build on that. But yeah, I'd love to 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.040 see a mixed team event. I'd love to see some 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:47.239 match play, some you know, some kind of teammate interaction 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.880 between between players, which we don't get right now. But 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.720 I just don't know how that's going to be worked 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:58.800 out practically. And furthermore, I think that especially the men, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.840 are at their limit with the Olympics of what they're 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:07.679 willing to do for free. They've got the President's Cup, 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:09.960 I mean, none of this is They're not doing it 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:11.720 for free. They're get they're getting paid in a number 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.800 of different ways for these things, but you know, it's 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:18.040 not not big prize money. They've got the Olympics, they've 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.960 got the President's Cup, they've got the right Cup. I 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.200 fear that adding more Olympic events would just set up 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.040 those events as well as the existing ones that we 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.200 already have, for failure. I think there would be some attrition. 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.760 I think there would be players who would balk at 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:37.320 doing not just the seventy two hoole stroke play, but 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:39.600 also the additional event. I think there would be players 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.880 who wouldn't want to go that far with it, and 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.920 that's unfortunate. I don't think that's the right thing or 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.320 the right attitude necessarily. I think that's just the reality. 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.720 I haven't thought too much about the optimal format, but 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.520 thinking about it right now in real time, I could 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:58.920 see some kind of it doesn't need to be four days, 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:02.640 Like what if it's the very front end of the 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.880 Olympics in twenty twenty eight, there's like a two day 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:10.200 team mixed event, where like maybe it's one day of 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:13.800 best ball in the morning, alternate shot in the afternoon, 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:15.600 and then they take the top four teams and do 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.840 some kind of little match play the next day. That's 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:20.920 not a huge lift, it's a decent amount of golf 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:22.560 for the teams that go all the way to the finals. 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:25.400 But I think if you ask four days of them, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.960 they're much less likely to say yes. If it's two 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.480 days and they get a little bit of time to 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:31.760 play the golf course get ready for their own individual 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.440 stroke play events, it could be a cool way to 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:37.080 set the stage. So maybe they should experiment with an 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:41.079 abbreviated format, some kind of sprint one or two day event. 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:42.400 I think would be pretty. 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:43.920 Cool, little prologue. 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:47.040 Yeah. I mean imagine seeing Minji Lee and Min Wuli 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.280 play together as brother and sister. That would be incredible. 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:52.600 All right, Joseph, what are you out on? 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.840 I am out on the stranglehold that ranking systems have 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:01.760 over the professional golf world just in general. I know 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:04.800 that the official World Golf rankings has been in the 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:09.440 crosshairs a lot. Team Europe, in announcing their criteria for 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:11.360 how you're going to qualify for the Ryder Cup in 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:15.080 twenty twenty five, did not include any official World Golf ranking. 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:18.439 It's not included as part of the criterias as to 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.520 how you get points, and it was part of their 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.360 criteria in twenty twenty three that was how three of 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.480 the spots were allocated was based on Official World Golf Ranking. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:32.000 I think the second order effects of what ranking systems 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:34.640 do there are benefits. It's cool to see that some 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:38.040 players in the top ten for however many consecutive weeks, 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.120 or it was in the top ten and twenty ten 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.400 and then again in twenty twenty, and you see these 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.760 You evaluate the players legacies and windows of their careers 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.160 via the Official World Golf Ranking. So I think it 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.440 has its positives. But the way that it funnels players 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:56.640 to one tour or as we may talk about on 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:01.360 this podcast as a little teaser, the wagger the amateur 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:04.160 golf rankings, some of the knock on effects that has 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.400 if you're deterring players from showing up because it's going 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.880 to impact their rankings, either as an amateur or as 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:15.520 a professional. That's just one of the cons to having 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:18.280 a ranking system, and I do think the golf world 0:12:19.040 --> 0:12:22.400 should consider if potentially the golf world would be better 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.280 off without having a ranking system that had some of 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:28.840 these negative effects like preventing players from showing up because 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:33.040 they're prioritizing their rankings, or funneling players into one location, 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:37.840 in this case America on the men's side, it is 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.840 a worthwhile conversation to consider some of the benefits of 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:45.400 going away from or making ranking systems less central to 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.960 the golf ecosystem, so to speak. 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:53.120 What would happen if we just eliminated all of them tomorrow? 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.840 If we just did like a fanouse snap and all 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.800 of the world rankings systems in golf just disappeared, What 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:04.760 do you think would happen? 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:05.040 Then? 0:13:05.480 --> 0:13:07.640 I think you'd have a bunch of qualifiers into tournaments, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:08.679 which would be really cool. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:11.640 So like Major Monday Ghue, you would love that. Ryan 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:13.920 French would be very happy. 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:16.440 I think it would be I think it would be cool. 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:17.679 But you could do a lot of you know, if 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:21.160 you finish in the top of this event, you're automatically in, 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.880 Like that's a way you could round out fields. So 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:25.880 you know, if you finish in the top twenty of 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.360 the Masters, maybe you're back the next year. Like, there 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.000 are ways that you could do it. The main con 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:33.800 is that you'd have a hard time saying, hey, who's 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.440 the best player in the world right now? But there's 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.560 already debates about that. And on the men's side, like 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.480 Live Golf doesn't get a Fisher World golf rankings point. 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:44.760 So people have already been saying, well, maybe Bryson's the 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.560 best player in the world. It's not a great argument, 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.800 but we already deal with that issue. So I think 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:52.080 you'd have a lot of more of a qualifier based 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:58.280 system into getting into certain golf tournaments, and I think 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.120 that would probably be a better version of golf. But 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:04.280 and this is not to tease our upcoming interview too much, 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.760 but I think this is probably more of a problem 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.680 on the amateur side even than on the professional side. 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.839 So yeah, people know, I think I'm going to be 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.600 digging into the world to the world amateur golf rankings 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:18.440 a little bit, and if people are super knowledgeable on that, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:20.160 feel free to reach out. But it does seem like 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:21.960 it causes a lot more problems than it solves. 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.200 Little off season project for Joseph. I like it well, 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:31.280 long form, long term, long term investigation of world ranking systems. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.600 I like that worth looking at. What are you add on, Garrett, I. 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:38.200 Am out on denying that you said the F word 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.920 on live television when you clearly said the F word 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:47.560 on live television. Morgan Pressel, an announcer during the Olympics, 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.360 said about Brook Henderson. At one point, Brook Henderson had 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.720 just hit a good shot and had like high fived 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.920 or fist bumpter caddy or something. Morgan Pressel said, she's 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:02.840 fucking fired up. You to see it, and it was funny. 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:07.120 People shared the clip around social media. It was just 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:12.560 a little little extra sideshow during the competition, something to 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:17.320 chuckle about, nothing particularly offensive. We all know that she 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.040 didn't really mean to say that that. Probably what she 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.360 meant to say was she's fricking fired up or freaking 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.720 fired up, and it just came out the wrong word. 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.360 But she did say the F word. She said it. 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:34.520 It's on air. We all heard it. Pressel statement the 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:38.400 next day. I stumbled over my words, and unfortunately it 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.680 sounded as if I said something inappropriate. I am so 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.320 sorry that it came across as such, because I would 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:51.360 never say that on air in a broadcast. So I mean, listen, 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.440 this isn't that serious, this isn't that bad. But she's 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:58.240 not saying I said it, And it was just a slip, 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.400 she said. I didn't say it. It it just it just 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:05.920 came across like I You you may have thought that 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:07.800 you heard that, but I would never I would never 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.600 I would never that was the tactic. And it's just 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:16.200 this kind of gaslighting approach to pr cleanup that so 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.960 many golfers seemed to think is the way to do things. 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:20.640 But it's not the way to do things, because we 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:24.600 all know that you're lying, you're not this is not 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.880 the truth. You said what you said, and you might 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.000 as well just own it and say, you know, listen, 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:34.360 sorry about that. I don't even need her to apologize. 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.960 Maybe some people do, maybe she needs to, but I 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.080 just I just don't accidentally said the wrong word and 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.560 egg on my face, my bad. That's that's really all 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.080 you need to do. And Zach Johnson the same thing 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:51.120 at the Masters when he told the gallery in Amen 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:53.680 corner to fuck off. We all heard it, we all 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:55.720 saw it, saw it, we knew what he was doing, 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.520 and he flat out denied it, said he was saying 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:02.720 it to him self. It's not what happened. Guys, Just 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.639 just admit it, Just just say I'm fallible, you know, 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:11.320 that's my bad, and laugh it off. But that's that's 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.720 not what people seem to want to do and trying 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.600 to clean up these messes. So so we're left with 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:21.440 kind of being gaslighted. But in any case, just thought 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:23.040 i'd point that out. I thought it was a fun 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.199 part of the weekend. And by the way, they dmcad 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.440 the clip almost immediately and so it's no longer really 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:32.760 available on on on Twitter or wherever else. And so 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.480 that's just another thing that they do to try to 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.240 memory hole certain things that happened during golf tournaments. 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:42.159 Look, this is bigger than golf, right, It's it's the 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:46.359 art of apologizing. It's the i'm sorry if you were offended. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.239 Not of the non apology, right right, this is not 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.520 an apology. It's like I'm sorry that you guys so 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.400 weird that you heard me say this when I. 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:02.080 Didn't, right, And I think the main lesson when you 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.560 watch people apologize successfully and just own it, it works better. 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.240 Like this is not a good strategy, so. 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:12.200 It becomes like a good thing for them. 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.240 Right right, Like just own it. So I'm with you. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.800 I don't have much to add. This is much bigger 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.240 than golf. It happens in all fields. But I think 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.040 people need to learn that the right approach is just 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:24.240 to own it. So I'm going to hear it. I'm 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:25.040 out on that too. 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:29.800 All right, Something I am in on is Goodwalk Coffee. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.879 Let's talk about Goodwalk Coffee for a second. Here in 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.640 my mug right now, I've got my Goodwalk mug. Here 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:40.080 is the Frida Egg Golf Blend from Goodwalk. It is delicious. 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.439 It's about nine am where I'm recording this, and so 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:45.639 this is helping me wake up. In fact, this is 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:48.000 my second cup of the morning, so that's kind of 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:52.119 my cadence through the morning. But Friday Golf Blend is 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:57.040 absolutely delicious. It's a bright and vibrant organic coffee roasted 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.159 to a medium light level. We also have some other 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:04.159 blends for those who prefer other kinds of roasts. 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You can pause, skip, or 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:47.359 cancel your subscription at any time on the website, So again, 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:53.920 go to Goodwalkcoffee dot com slash fried Egg. All right, so, Joseph, 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.359 We've got an interview with Laurence don again coming up, 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.719 and the subject dis amateur golf. The occasion is that 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:02.879 the the US Women's Amateur just wrapped up yesterday at 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:07.000 Southern Hills and the US Amateur is getting underway right 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:11.399 now at Hazelteine. Those tournaments are just always a delight 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:14.879 to watch. So first of all, I would definitely recommend 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:19.520 tuning in this week and watching the golf. But Lawrence 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:24.399 Donagan is the person we're talking to about amateur golf, 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:27.560 and you know, he's many things in golf media. He's 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.439 a veteran journalist who has written for The Guardian and 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.600 The Harold and other outlets. He's also the founder of 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.720 mckeller magazine as well as the co host of the 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:42.119 mckeller podcast along with Jeff Shackelford. But maybe most relevant 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:45.080 to this episode, he is the father of an excellent 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:48.800 young amateur golfer who is playing this week in the 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.159 US Amateur at Hazelteine. So Lawrence has a lot of thoughts, 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:54.920 a lot of takes about amateur golf. Such an interesting 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:57.439 guy to talk to, and so let's just go straight 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:07.160 to that interview. Okay, So Joseph and I are here 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:10.119 with Lawrence Donnagan. Lawrence, it's great to have you on 0:21:10.160 --> 0:21:11.520 the podcast. How are you doing right now? 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:13.880 Thanks for helping me on Garrett. Hi, Hi, Joseph. We've 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.679 never made before, so here we are. Yeah, we'll just 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:19.720 dive right into it. Joseph will chip in when he 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:22.480 wants to chip in, But just to get us started, 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.200 we're going to talk about amateur golf, about the amateur 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:28.119 golf scene, about some of the issues, and also some 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.239 of the joys of participating in amateur golf. You have 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:34.159 a unique perspective on this, Lawrence, not only because you're 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:38.040 a longtime golf journalist, but because your son, Nile is 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:40.840 a very good player who has in fact qualified for 0:21:40.880 --> 0:21:43.520 the US Amateur. So, just briefly, to give people a 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:47.080 sense of what your perspective is on the world, what 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:52.040 was the US Amateur qualification experience like for you? Well, 0:21:52.400 --> 0:21:55.040 it was great for me because I ass my want, 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:58.840 I wasn't there. I act as a chauffeur. I teake 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.440 young Now he's not that young as nineteen I took him. 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:05.879 I always drop him off at the golf course, but 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:10.080