Speaker 1: Hi, This is Mitch Goldstein from Venice, Florida, and I
Speaker 1: play at Rotanda Golf Course in beautiful Southwest Florida. This
Speaker 1: is golf Smarter.
Speaker 2: Golf Smarter number four hundred and sixty three, published on
Speaker 2: November eighteen, twenty fourteen.
Speaker 3: Welcome to golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain
Speaker 3: insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the
Speaker 3: Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never gets Old. Our
Speaker 3: interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations
Speaker 3: like this that are no longer available in any podcast app.
Speaker 1: I don't hit the ball very long.
Speaker 4: I would say I probably reach around two sixty yards
Speaker 4: in your terminology, but I hit it very straight. I
Speaker 4: don't miss too many fairways. I don't miss too many grains.
Speaker 4: If there's parts that I can look at, which playing
Speaker 4: tournaments helps you do, because if you're not learning, there's
Speaker 4: no point playing golf. Sure, game's got a bit of
Speaker 4: work to do of pitching and chipping, and that's having
Speaker 4: your podcast has helped me that way.
Speaker 1: There's been some great people.
Speaker 4: I pick up little tips all the time from your podcast,
Speaker 4: whether it be even Dennis with the hands going back,
Speaker 4: hands going forward, or Tony Manzoni who with the body
Speaker 4: turn and also with mental with Joseph parent and that
Speaker 4: you pick up tips all the time and if you're
Speaker 4: not not learning, as I said, you're not playing golf.
Speaker 1: Just short game and putting.
Speaker 4: They're the only two parts that I've really got to
Speaker 4: pick up on to help me get to the next level.
Speaker 2: Struggling to make the tour with Australian pro Darren Garrett.
Speaker 3: This is Golf Smarter, sharing tips and insights from golfers
Speaker 3: and golf professionals to.
Speaker 2: Help lower your score. It's worked for your host, Fred Green.
Speaker 2: Welcome with the Golf Smarter podcast.
Speaker 1: Jarin Good ay, Fred, how are we?
Speaker 2: Oh? We are very happy to hear. Gooday.
Speaker 4: Well, it's a nice beautiful morning down here in Perth, Australia.
Speaker 2: And here in Northern California. The sun is about to
Speaker 2: go down.
Speaker 1: Got a lot of time difference, don't you.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 2: I love scape that we can do this and it's
Speaker 2: not going to cost either of us anything to make
Speaker 2: the phone call because I really want to talk to you.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm looking forward to talking to you as well.
Speaker 2: Right well, thank you very much for reaching out. I'm
Speaker 2: just kind of touched that you were listening and that
Speaker 2: you wanted to share your story. I find it very interesting. Basically,
Speaker 2: you are a golf touring pro wannabe.
Speaker 4: Yes, I've done my trainee ship through the PGA of Australia,
Speaker 4: so I can teach as well.
Speaker 1: Okay, but basically.
Speaker 4: It's in my heart to go on to go and
Speaker 4: play across the world. I've been to various places throughout
Speaker 4: the world, namely through Asia and the South, but there's
Speaker 4: just a part of me that there's always want to
Speaker 4: play the game, no doubt.
Speaker 1: I love to teach as well.
Speaker 4: It's great seeing kids with a smile on their face
Speaker 4: after you give them a good lesson, or even even adults.
Speaker 4: But there's just a place in my heart that always
Speaker 4: wants to play and it's hard to get rid of sometimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so you're you're too competitive. You need to
Speaker 2: get out there and compete.
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 4: I see days where it's beautiful sunshine and I might
Speaker 4: be doing something else, in my heart's going what are
Speaker 4: you doing here? You should be out on the golf course.
Speaker 2: Get the work done first. Yes, absolutely, tell me how
Speaker 2: long have you been playing golf?
Speaker 4: I've been playing since I was age ten, so twenty
Speaker 4: eight years okay.
Speaker 2: And at what point did you get it in your
Speaker 2: head that you wanted to play competitively well?
Speaker 4: As a youngster, I was doing t ball and baseball
Speaker 4: for a long time, and we just had a season
Speaker 4: where the coach was favoring his son as a pitcher
Speaker 4: and we were losing basically every match, and it just
Speaker 4: wasn't fun anymore. And because I'm a saw loser, and
Speaker 4: I'm happy to admit that, I wanted to do something
Speaker 4: by myself. And at that time, I'd been playing golf
Speaker 4: sort of at a little club over in Victoria, just
Speaker 4: a little nine hole place with my father, and when
Speaker 4: we moved over to wa Weather's beautiful over here, just
Speaker 4: decided to take it a bit more seriously.
Speaker 2: And so, okay, I saw a loser competitive How did
Speaker 2: you start competing in golf when you were young as well?
Speaker 4: Yes, over here we have what's called the Graham Marsh
Speaker 4: Junior Golf Foundation and they house local tournaments for young
Speaker 4: kids up to the age of eighteen. So I just
Speaker 4: became a member of a private golf course called Lake
Speaker 4: As Country Club and then started playing those junior tournaments
Speaker 4: and just kept developing friends and also started playing golf
Speaker 4: better and better, and then it just took off from there.
Speaker 2: And how well did you do in the junior tournaments?
Speaker 4: I want to I want a couple, But basically I
Speaker 4: did well enough that I got my handicapped down to
Speaker 4: scratch by the time I was eighteen.
Speaker 2: Wow, yeah, okay, and then go ahead, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4: And then before I before I turned pro, I was
Speaker 4: plus three mm, so that that also fueled the fire
Speaker 4: of wanting to see how how well I could do
Speaker 4: as a as a golf professional.
Speaker 2: So is this just more of a g I wonder
Speaker 2: how I could do? Or is it okay, get out
Speaker 2: of my way, I'm going to take this place over.
Speaker 1: I think it's a bit of both.
Speaker 4: I think probably a lot of people saw it as
Speaker 4: g I wonder how well he going to do, whereas
Speaker 4: inside of me it's sort of, well, all right, let's
Speaker 4: go see how well we can be, and let's see
Speaker 4: how good we are against some of these top guys.
Speaker 2: And what's the highest level you've competed at so far.
Speaker 4: I went to Asian Q School in January last year.
Speaker 4: That was unbelievable to be on a tour at that
Speaker 4: level where everything's looked after for you. I was lucky
Speaker 4: enough to stay at the resort where they were playing
Speaker 4: the Q School, so all you had to do is
Speaker 4: roll out of bed and hop onto the golf course
Speaker 4: and get ready to play a game. And that was
Speaker 4: just just unbelievable how.
Speaker 1: Different you looked after as opposed to some.
Speaker 4: Other places of where I've played and associations that have
Speaker 4: looked after me.
Speaker 2: I'm not really familiar how Q school works. Can you
Speaker 2: give me a rundown and walk me through what it entails?
Speaker 1: And okay?
Speaker 4: So with as and Q School, we had seven hundred
Speaker 4: and forty guys start off in first stage. So generally
Speaker 4: generally they run in two stages. I know with American
Speaker 4: now it goes to the web dot com. But with
Speaker 4: the American twur schools they go through four or five stages.
Speaker 4: But with the one in Asia, it was only two stages.
Speaker 4: So when I went up there, there was it was
Speaker 4: spread over two weeks of first stage, so there was
Speaker 4: about one hundred and fifty guys at each of the
Speaker 4: five courses.
Speaker 1: We played four rounds.
Speaker 4: After two rounds there was a cut of eighty guys,
Speaker 4: so basically went in half from one hundred and fifty
Speaker 4: to eighty, and then after that it was the top
Speaker 4: twenty percent of guys who entered went through to the
Speaker 4: second stage all final stage.
Speaker 2: Wait, did you say there was seven hundred and forty.
Speaker 1: To start, seven hundred and forty that started, yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what happened to them on that first or
Speaker 2: do they're all playing different courses all the same time.
Speaker 1: All playing different courses all at the same time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I see, okay.
Speaker 4: So what if you got into the top twenty percent,
Speaker 4: then you would continue on to the next stage, which
Speaker 4: is final stage. If you didn't get in the top
Speaker 4: twenty percent, that was it.
Speaker 1: You finished.
Speaker 2: You're done.
Speaker 1: You're done. Whether it's twenty shots or one shot, you're done, right.
Speaker 2: And when you're done, do you get to try to
Speaker 2: come back next year? Or they're saying thank you very much, see.
Speaker 4: You, thank you very much, see you for this year,
Speaker 4: over this year. Yeah, and then you can go back
Speaker 4: the following year.
Speaker 2: And when you go back, what do you just fill
Speaker 2: out paperwork or do you have to In my business
Speaker 2: we call it audition do what do you have to do? Tickets?
Speaker 4: But well, playing is basically our audition. But what you
Speaker 4: have to do is just fill in paperwork, make sure
Speaker 4: you pay the right fees, and then find a flight
Speaker 4: and make sure you do all the proper visas, make
Speaker 4: sure you get your accommodation sorted out.
Speaker 1: So it's just a lot more than just playing playing golf.
Speaker 4: So with me, when I went up to Thailand, I
Speaker 4: flew Thai airways that left from Perth straight to Bangkok.
Speaker 4: I could have gone from Perth to Singapore, then Singapore
Speaker 4: to Bangkok, but just really being in one plane direct
Speaker 4: flight was the most appropriate thing, rather than spending a
Speaker 4: couple of hours or three hours in an airport trying
Speaker 4: to find your way through and then maybe having to
Speaker 4: go through customs. And it's just that added rigmarole that
Speaker 4: you don't necessarily want.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, I'm kind of curious because I remember how long
Speaker 2: it took me to fly from Santa Francisco on the
Speaker 2: West coast of the US down to Bangkok. Yeah, how
Speaker 2: long is it from the west coast of Australia to
Speaker 2: be eight hours? Eight hours? That it's a shorter flight, Okay.
Speaker 1: From the West coast of Australia.
Speaker 4: It's a lot easier through Asia than it is through
Speaker 4: through even the East Coast. I think the East Coast
Speaker 4: of Australia is probably eleven or twelve something like that,
Speaker 4: because you can't necessarily get direct flight from where you are,
Speaker 4: so if you're in Brisbane, you might have to go
Speaker 4: to Sydney first and then then up to Bangkok.
Speaker 2: All right, so let's go all right. That was one
Speaker 2: of my very famous whoops going in the other direction.
Speaker 2: So let's get back to.
Speaker 1: Ye travels, right, that's all right.
Speaker 4: So I went got into Bangkok and then I took
Speaker 4: a two and a half our bus ride that the
Speaker 4: Asian Tour provided for us down to Huahin, which is
Speaker 4: a small coastal town in Thailand, and it's absolutely beautif
Speaker 4: for there if any of your any of your listeners
Speaker 4: get a chance to go to Thailand and play in Wahin,
Speaker 4: it's just beautiful. I played at Springville Village, but we
Speaker 4: also had Black Mountain Banyon. I think there's a course
Speaker 4: Royal Thay Navy, which I don't know if people can
Speaker 4: get onto, or there was also Imperial Lakeview, but all
Speaker 4: through that area is just absolutely beautiful. And then there's
Speaker 4: also working on the visas. You've got to make sure
Speaker 4: that you have the correct paperwork, otherwise I won't let
Speaker 4: you into the country's And that's basically it. And then
Speaker 4: once you get to the once you get to the tournament,
Speaker 4: you just basically play golf.
Speaker 2: I actually got to play in pouquette at the Blue
Speaker 2: Canyon Country Club. Yeah, in two thousand and seven. There's
Speaker 2: actually episode numbers seventy eight of Golf Smarter is my
Speaker 2: interview with their director of golf there and I loved it.
Speaker 2: So what happens now you're paying for everything? Yes, when
Speaker 2: you're headed out there, yes, And this is great for them,
Speaker 2: it's great. Oh good, Now you're gonna keep paying us
Speaker 2: and you gotta fly and you got to pay for
Speaker 2: a year overnight and just hoping. I mean, if you
Speaker 2: win or you make the cut, you're not winning any
Speaker 2: money in Q school.
Speaker 4: Are you no money whatsoever? So basically in a round
Speaker 4: ballpark figure, it cost me five thousand dollars to go
Speaker 4: up for Q School.
Speaker 2: WHOA, yeah, that's quite the investment.
Speaker 1: It is it is it could be it.
Speaker 2: Well, it's gambling basically, because if you don't make the cut,
Speaker 2: that's it. You got to win another year and then
Speaker 2: you've got to come up with another five grand.
Speaker 4: Right, basically, yes, and I had a chance going into
Speaker 4: the final round. I shot seventy two seventy three and
Speaker 4: was in that twenty percent. I hit two bad shots
Speaker 4: and I missed out on going through the final stage
Speaker 4: by two shots.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh that's terrible. I'm sorry, But
Speaker 2: that's golf. Yes, it is, especially you look at your
Speaker 2: scorecard going, oh, I can make this, and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden you made two bad shots.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, I think I think I had an uneasy sleep
Speaker 4: the night before because i've because of the position I
Speaker 4: was in, and it sort of plays on your mind.
Speaker 4: And then you get up on the first tee, hit
Speaker 4: a good drive, second shot was all right and made
Speaker 4: six out of nowhere, and when it boils down to it,
Speaker 4: those were the two shots.
Speaker 2: Wow. Oh man, I see I couldn't. That would not
Speaker 2: go well with me. Now were you getting support from
Speaker 2: home of doing this or were you all on your own.
Speaker 4: I'm fortunate enough to work for a company that will
Speaker 4: a boss in particular that allows me to play my golf.
Speaker 2: Oh that's nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, when I'm working for Richard at a fast food place.
Speaker 4: If I'm not working for him, I play golf. If
Speaker 4: I'm not playing golf, I work for him.
Speaker 2: I see, you work in the fast food industry.
Speaker 4: I work in the fast food industry. I actually clean
Speaker 4: a restaurant for Richard. I start work at three in
Speaker 4: the morning and finish at eleven in the morning.
Speaker 2: So it allows you to play golf in the afternoon.
Speaker 1: Plays golf in the afternoon.
Speaker 4: But man, it's tough getting up at quarter pass two
Speaker 4: five days a week.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Oh yeah, it's very It really messes with you,
Speaker 2: and it's got to make it tough to play golf
Speaker 2: well too, if you're exhausted.
Speaker 4: I think I've I think personally I'm used to it
Speaker 4: from the fact that that's what I've been doing all
Speaker 4: my golf life. Because you play golf during the day,
Speaker 4: you work nights. So whether you work at four in
Speaker 4: the afternoon to midnight or what I'm doing now, I
Speaker 4: think your body's used to the fact that you do
Speaker 4: your golf during the day and you work at nights.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you didn't make the cut that time, No,
Speaker 2: I didn't make the cut. How many tries? How many
Speaker 2: times have you been to tour school trying to make
Speaker 2: the cut?
Speaker 4: That was my first up in Asia. I'm planning to
Speaker 4: go to Q School in Australia in December and then
Speaker 4: we'll just see how my wallet is situated. I know
Speaker 4: the PGA Tour have now developed a school a tour
Speaker 4: in China and there's also Canada as well, so we'll
Speaker 4: just see how things go over the next next couple
Speaker 4: of months as to what we can do with regards
Speaker 4: to that.
Speaker 2: So you've only been to tour school the Q School once. Yes,
Speaker 2: didn't make it. But are you still able to play
Speaker 2: competitively in tournaments and that possibly can help your earnings?
Speaker 1: Yes? Absolutely. We just finish.
Speaker 4: What are the West Australian Open here in Perth which
Speaker 4: is part of the PGA Tour of Australasia. Ryan Fox
Speaker 4: from New Zealand one with an impressive score of twenty
Speaker 4: three under for four rounds. Wow, yeah, I play. I
Speaker 4: was really happy with how I played. I shot rounds
Speaker 4: of seventy two to seventy and missed the cut by one.
Speaker 4: Oh so yeah, so three under was the cut and
Speaker 4: we were all shaking our heads because I think that's
Speaker 4: maybe the lowest cut on the Australasian Tour in history.
Speaker 4: I'm not one hundred percent certain on that, but I
Speaker 4: believe that could be the case.
Speaker 2: Close to no cigar one more time.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you always always you always, you always rude.
Speaker 4: The parts you miss are not the ones you get,
Speaker 4: of course, had I had an eight footer eight foot
Speaker 4: on the last for Birdie to make the cart and
Speaker 4: I just missed the edge.
Speaker 2: So and we complain here about missing a pot or
Speaker 2: two around, it's like, oh, I could have had a
Speaker 2: broken ninety if I just oh man, how often do
Speaker 2: you get to play competitively.
Speaker 4: In West Coast of Australia is tough. We've got basically
Speaker 4: two months over May and April that we that we play,
Speaker 4: and then we've got the Ouscilation Tour coming around for
Speaker 4: the three weeks this week this time we've got the
Speaker 4: Perth International, which I tried to preq for.
Speaker 1: Yesterday.
Speaker 4: I shot seventy five, but I had to have shot
Speaker 4: sixty seven to get into the field for that one.
Speaker 4: They only offered up four spots. So generally with prequalifications
Speaker 4: for tournaments, you might have X amount of spots that
Speaker 4: are available to go into the tournament. The West Australian
Speaker 4: Open one we had about twenty four spots and there
Speaker 4: were seventy six guys going for those twenty four spots.
Speaker 4: Yesterday with a Perth International, we only had four spots
Speaker 4: available and there was about eighty guys going for that one,
Speaker 4: and then next week in Calgooley they're still tossing up
Speaker 4: whether or not to have a pre qualification. At this
Speaker 4: point in time it is, so there's probably going to
Speaker 4: be about I think it's about forty spots and about
Speaker 4: forty six people gone for that spot, so there will
Speaker 4: be six people that miss out.
Speaker 2: I hope you're not one of them.
Speaker 1: Not the way I'm playing at the moment, I won't be.
Speaker 2: No. Oh good good, Okay. So now the father in
Speaker 2: me is going to ask a question that many fathers
Speaker 2: are thinking about right now. How long are you going
Speaker 2: to continue to try to do this and keep coming
Speaker 2: up with five thousand dollars to try to get you know,
Speaker 2: on past Q school. Are you giving yourself a deadline
Speaker 2: to say, you know what, I've tried it four years,
Speaker 2: five years, eight years, ten years, I'm done? Or do
Speaker 2: you not even go there?
Speaker 4: I actually did that with Asia. I got to a
Speaker 4: point where Okay, I've had enough. But there's a part
Speaker 4: of me that just says I got to keep going,
Speaker 4: and it's just hard to turn off. Like I'd love
Speaker 4: to just go and teach golf, but there's just this
Speaker 4: part in my in my heart that wants to see
Speaker 4: me out there playing and mixing with the guys. It's
Speaker 4: sort of where I feel home and judging after last
Speaker 4: week to only missed a couple by one, I know
Speaker 4: that I can, I can mix it with him, and
Speaker 4: I suppose that's that's the other part, Like if I
Speaker 4: had to play it last week and shot two really
Speaker 4: bad scores, well, then it's probably easier to to say no, we'll.
Speaker 1: Go down a different path.
Speaker 4: But when he get so close to continue on to
Speaker 4: the afternoon, then it drives you a little bit further.
Speaker 4: So I would like I would like to say to you, Yeah,
Speaker 4: there's a cutoff time of when I turned forty, which
Speaker 4: is a couple of years. But I could get to
Speaker 4: forty and still be playing great golf and my heart
Speaker 4: still wants to go in it. It's just something that
Speaker 4: you can't turn off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're at an age now where you know
Speaker 2: the most guys who are on the tour, you know,
Speaker 2: including Tiger. You know, we talk about him too much,
Speaker 2: but he's still he's still the name out there. You're
Speaker 2: getting to an age where it's going to be tough
Speaker 2: to compete with these young guns.
Speaker 4: Well, it's going to be tough to compete with Tiger
Speaker 4: even when I turned fifty as well. So I don't
Speaker 4: even get a break that way. Yeah, yeah, But when
Speaker 4: you get to a certain age, unless unless you've done
Speaker 4: really well, I think your mind, hopefully your mind tells
Speaker 4: you that enough is enough?
Speaker 2: Are there ways for you to keep your expenses down?
Speaker 2: Like you talk about five thousand dollars, Is that five
Speaker 2: thousand dollars the overall cost to go through Q school
Speaker 2: or is that something that you have to pay to
Speaker 2: them to get in on the tournament and get a chance.
Speaker 4: Now, the five thousand dollars was the overall it was
Speaker 4: about it was roughly about two thousand dollars Australian to
Speaker 4: enter the tournament, and then of course you add your airfares,
Speaker 4: your accommodation, your visas and all that. So that was
Speaker 4: the overall and just basically work working, you're through just
Speaker 4: being able to work for Richard and save up a
Speaker 4: bit of money. That way helps me get to specific
Speaker 4: tournaments next week. For example, we're in Cawgooley, which is
Speaker 4: about if you're driving about six and a half hours
Speaker 4: due west of Perth, and I'm flying there and it's
Speaker 4: going to cost me six hundred dollars airfare return, so
Speaker 4: I've basically got to make the cart and probably finish
Speaker 4: in the top top twenty to make my money back.
Speaker 2: So in Q school, there's money to be won.
Speaker 4: Not in Q school, it's not until you actually not
Speaker 4: until you actually get on tour. Once you get onto
Speaker 4: a tour like Asian Tour or US tours, then when
Speaker 4: you start getting paid some of the money for endorsing
Speaker 4: clubs using using tailor made using titleists, than a sponsor
Speaker 4: will come along so you can have their name on
Speaker 4: your shirt. That's when you start making the money. But
Speaker 4: until that point you've basically left to your own devices.
Speaker 2: So you are not getting any sponsorship endorsement at all
Speaker 2: at this point.
Speaker 1: Not at this point except from except from Richard, which.
Speaker 2: Was going to say except from Richard, Yes, does he
Speaker 2: do you get to wear a shirt that has his
Speaker 2: fast food restaurant on your shirt while you're playing it?
Speaker 1: Yes? I do? Yes?
Speaker 2: Oh good, yeah, yeah, I hope he doesn't charge you
Speaker 2: for the shirts.
Speaker 1: No, No, he gets a lot of joy seeing me
Speaker 1: do do well.
Speaker 2: So that's nice. That's nice. So what can you do
Speaker 2: to keep your expenses reasonable?
Speaker 1: It's a bit hard from the west coast of Australia, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would think so.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because if you can drive cross country right.
Speaker 4: No, Well, as I said, it's six hours to cat
Speaker 4: Gully and that's still in our state. Basically, it basically
Speaker 4: takes three to get to Melbourne.
Speaker 1: It will take three days.
Speaker 4: Adelaide you can do in two, and Brisbane's probably about four.
Speaker 4: But even with driving, there's there's costs of fuel of course,
Speaker 4: accommodation like there's you play whatever top price there is
Speaker 4: over the nullball for accommodation because you're so far away
Speaker 4: from basically civilization. But even airfares, it's actually cheaper to
Speaker 4: fly to Bali return it it is to fly within Australia.
Speaker 2: Do you have anybodies that are also attempting to do
Speaker 2: this so that you can travel with them and share expenses.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, there's quite a few of us.
Speaker 4: So when I went up to Asia, there was quite
Speaker 4: a few guys from Australia, so we shared accommodation, which
Speaker 4: helped keep it down a bit. And generally when we
Speaker 4: play tournaments within our own state, we'll either drive with
Speaker 4: each other or stay in rooms together, just to try
Speaker 4: and keep costs down because even in some of the
Speaker 4: some of the places, like when you go up to
Speaker 4: Port Headlin and Kartha in the far North with the
Speaker 4: mining and all that, there's very little accommodation available, and
Speaker 4: whatever accommodation there is, they could charge you three to
Speaker 4: four hundred dollars a night. And that's not in a
Speaker 4: that's not in a flash hotel either, whoa so. And
Speaker 4: most of the time when we go up to those places,
Speaker 4: the members of the course will look after us, so
Speaker 4: we get billeted into their houses and that helps immensely.
Speaker 2: Does a class more to play in some tournaments and others?
Speaker 2: And how would you make a decision of which ones
Speaker 2: to play?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it does like some of the local ones aren't
Speaker 4: too bad. The one that I'm playing today is at
Speaker 4: Lakelands is a fifteen thousand dollars tournament, and that'll cost me.
Speaker 4: I think it's about twenty dollars to enter with.
Speaker 2: Eighteen thousand dollars prize money.
Speaker 4: With a fifteen thousand dollars prize money yet, but they
Speaker 4: get that prize money through sponsors, so they'll have a sponsor,
Speaker 4: they might have a couple of sponsors put up that
Speaker 4: fifteen thousand dollars.
Speaker 2: And does that twenty dollars cover if you make the
Speaker 2: cut all four rounds?
Speaker 1: Well, the twenty dollars is only for a one round tournament.
Speaker 4: Oh okay, So we've just basically got a one day
Speaker 4: pro am where we'll look after sponsors or amateurs, play
Speaker 4: with them, try to play the best we can. But
Speaker 4: we also like to give out for most of us
Speaker 4: as teachings or club pros. If the amateurs are having troubles,
Speaker 4: we like to hand out tips while we're going around.
Speaker 4: So that's yeah, Well, that's one good part about having
Speaker 4: pro ams. And the best part about golf is someone
Speaker 4: like myself can play in the same group as someone
Speaker 4: like yourself, Fred who's on a different level, and there
Speaker 4: might be might be a guy of single figures, there
Speaker 4: might be a guy that hasn't played before. And that's
Speaker 4: the best part about pri ams. It's just helping other
Speaker 4: people learn and grow their love for the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm sorry, I just don't believe you that
Speaker 2: when you say somebody who's never played before, you were
Speaker 2: enjoying yourself.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well there was one time when we were playing up
Speaker 4: at Newman in the Far North and I had a
Speaker 4: lady who sponsored the tournament who had never touched the
Speaker 4: golf club before, and to try and help her sort
Speaker 4: of at least hit the ball, hit the ball forward.
Speaker 4: Took a fair bit of time, as well as trying
Speaker 4: to maintain your concentration on your game as well.
Speaker 2: Sounds painful. I admire your patients. If you can get
Speaker 2: through that, well.
Speaker 4: I think that's one good part about being a teaching
Speaker 4: pro as well, as you've got to have the patience
Speaker 4: and at the level where if you're not on the
Speaker 4: main circuit where you get to play with the pros
Speaker 4: all the time, so you've got to play on a
Speaker 4: pro am circuit. You come across that, and if you're
Speaker 4: someone who's not not got that patience or done that
Speaker 4: level of experience of teaching, it can be quite hard.
Speaker 4: But doing it as I have, it's quite easy.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, more power to you, my friend. That's crazy. Well,
Speaker 2: are there any things about touring school Q School? The
Speaker 2: tour school in Q school are the same things right, yes, okay,
Speaker 2: go ahead.
Speaker 4: We probably have different names for it. You see this
Speaker 4: tour school week, call it as Q School.
Speaker 2: Okay, So are there any things that surprised you when
Speaker 2: you first when you did your first one that you
Speaker 2: weren't anticipating.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the more the business like approach that
Speaker 4: all the pros have, Whereas when we play on the
Speaker 4: little pro am circuit that we've got here, we're all
Speaker 4: friends and we all get along and we all.
Speaker 1: Go have a drink afterwards and all that.
Speaker 4: Whereas when I went up to Q School, it was
Speaker 4: all business, which is understandable.
Speaker 1: We're all playing for.
Speaker 4: Our futures, so we all go into our own things.
Speaker 2: But what happens, I mean, what kind of how did
Speaker 2: their attitudes change? How do they change? I guess getting
Speaker 2: your game face on?
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 4: That's basically it. This is your playing for your life
Speaker 4: and if you might around now, there's there's no turning back.
Speaker 4: You go out, you play golf for the best of
Speaker 4: your ability, and and you.
Speaker 1: Go out and try.
Speaker 4: I'm not saying that they weren't trying, but you just
Speaker 4: have this different, different approach, very interesting, where every shot counts,
Speaker 4: every shot counts.
Speaker 2: And you are teaching, You were, you were earning some
Speaker 2: money doing teaching as well.
Speaker 4: Not at the moment I'm having I'm having enough fun
Speaker 4: doing the cleaning at the restaurant and playing afterwards. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and practice, So I really don't have time for teaching.
Speaker 2: So what's your strength in your game? Not in your cleaning,
Speaker 2: but what is what is your strength of your game
Speaker 2: that makes you feel like you're This can set you
Speaker 2: apart and make you good enough to play professionally.
Speaker 1: I hit the ball very straight.
Speaker 2: Ooh nice, I don't.
Speaker 4: I don't hit the ball very long. I would say
Speaker 4: I probably average around two sixty yards in your terminology, sure,
Speaker 4: but I hit it very straight. I don't miss too
Speaker 4: many fairways, I don't miss too many greens. If there's
Speaker 4: parts that I can look at, which playing tournaments helps
Speaker 4: you do, because if you're not learning, there's no point
Speaker 4: playing golf. So short game's got a bit of work
Speaker 4: to do, pitching and chipping, and that's having your podcast
Speaker 4: has helped me that way. There's been some great people
Speaker 4: with I pick up little tips all the time from
Speaker 4: your podcast, whether it be even Dennis with the hands
Speaker 4: going back, hands going forward, or Tony Manzoni who with
Speaker 4: the body turn and also with mental with Joseph parent
Speaker 4: and that you pick up tips all the time. And
Speaker 4: if you're not learning, not learning, as I said, you're
Speaker 4: not playing golf, and just short game and putting. They're
Speaker 4: the only two parts that I've really got to pick
Speaker 4: up on to help me get to the next level.
Speaker 2: You know, it seems like at any level, the short
Speaker 2: game and putting is what's going to hold most people back.
Speaker 1: Oh.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, you can't afford to three part at the top level.
Speaker 1: No, and I did.
Speaker 4: I was well to say that I only had one
Speaker 4: three part at the thirty six holes in the last
Speaker 4: tournament was pretty good, but that three point eventually cost
Speaker 4: me the.
Speaker 1: Cut.
Speaker 4: And that three part was only from ten feet because
Speaker 4: I got a little bit aggressive.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, three pint from sixty seventy feet, I understand,
Speaker 2: But from ten feet that's painful.
Speaker 4: Yep, hit at about three or four feet, pass and
Speaker 4: then miss it coming back.
Speaker 2: So I guess for that level you want to stay
Speaker 2: under thirty puts, under twenty eight puts around Where do
Speaker 2: you want to be as far as the number of
Speaker 2: parts you haven't.
Speaker 1: Around under thirty?
Speaker 2: Under thirty?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I think for a pro you need
Speaker 4: to be between twenty seven and thirty and you got
Speaker 4: to hit a lot of fairways and greens, a lot
Speaker 4: of fairways, a lot of greens, unless you're.
Speaker 1: Bubba Watson.
Speaker 2: And then you just hit it far.
Speaker 4: Then you just hit it anywhere and just make it
Speaker 4: up as you go along. That's how it appears to me.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: Do you find him to be one of the more
Speaker 2: creative people on playing today?
Speaker 1: Oh? Absolutely?
Speaker 4: That hook shot from a from the trees that Augusta
Speaker 4: was just unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I don't think I've seen anyone play that type of shot.
Speaker 4: Maybe maybe Tiger might have the ability to do it
Speaker 4: when he was on top right, but no he was.
Speaker 1: That was believable.
Speaker 2: So you hit it straight. But are you accurate?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 2: Because that there's two Those are two different things, aren't they?
Speaker 1: They are two different things. Absolutely. Yes.
Speaker 4: Yesterday when I played the pre qualification for the Perth International,
Speaker 4: I hit fifteen grains.
Speaker 1: Wow, yeah, I had.
Speaker 4: I had full three parts, but that's in a different environment.
Speaker 4: When you've only got four guys going through, you have
Speaker 4: to go.
Speaker 1: Full ball all day.
Speaker 4: So you're very aggressive, very aggressive, a lot more aggressive
Speaker 4: than what you would be normally interesting.
Speaker 2: Well, what do you tell somebody? I had an email
Speaker 2: today from a listener and thank you very much for listening.
Speaker 2: I'm flattered that you've you've found some useful information on
Speaker 2: the podcast. That's that's really nice. But here's somebody who's
Speaker 2: been listening for a while and he says, no, matter
Speaker 2: what I've tried, and he's written this before, and he
Speaker 2: cracks me up. Open stands, closed stands, stand so the
Speaker 2: ball stand far from the ball, weight on my heels,
Speaker 2: wait on my toes, wide stands, narrow stands, taking a
Speaker 2: long backswing. He's so frustrated. And you know, when I
Speaker 2: was saying, well what about your short game? How are
Speaker 2: you doing? He goes, I just want to hit it
Speaker 2: longer and straighter. Right, how is that really the goal?
Speaker 2: You want to hit longer and straighter I mean straighter, yes,
Speaker 2: But is longer really the ultimate goal for players who
Speaker 2: are getting up in age?
Speaker 4: Well, it depends on what level you want to be.
Speaker 4: I found that I was about twenty to thirty yards
Speaker 4: short of where I needed to be to be on
Speaker 4: the Asian circuit.
Speaker 2: And that's just on your drives you talk to just
Speaker 2: on my drives. Yeah, I would think it's like that's
Speaker 2: where the distance is. The most important is that first shot,
Speaker 2: but after that you've got a lot of other clubs
Speaker 2: in your bag to help you out.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, and that's where short short game is priority.
Speaker 1: But to that guy that you've just asked.
Speaker 4: Me about, Stu you're listening, I think that's where the
Speaker 4: US Tour and other tours sort of promote that sort
Speaker 4: of thing where they put a high emphasis on Bubba
Speaker 4: hitting at three hundred and fifty yards or three hundred
Speaker 4: and sixty yards, so when people go out, they want
Speaker 4: to hit that long ball and don't realize that it
Speaker 4: doesn't matter so long as I can find a way
Speaker 4: to get the ball in the hole and.
Speaker 1: The fewest shots possible.
Speaker 4: Whether it's being able to get up and down from
Speaker 4: fifty meters all the time, or I only hit my
Speaker 4: drives two hundred meters but I hit them straight and
Speaker 4: then hit the next one on the green and hold apart,
Speaker 4: I don't honestly, I don't think it matters. But I
Speaker 4: think the US well I'm just specifying the US too,
Speaker 4: but there are other tours out there that you hear
Speaker 4: When Gary McColl and plaid a cost us all the
Speaker 4: time saying, Wow, he's hit that three hundred ninety yachts,
Speaker 4: and I think that's just makes everyone else go, well,
Speaker 4: I need to hit at that fine. And it even
Speaker 4: affected made to that point. I spent probably last yeh
Speaker 4: on a chase yachtich where where I shouldn't have. I
Speaker 4: should have been focusing in other areas.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And you know, it makes me think that maybe,
Speaker 2: just maybe that this emphasis on distance is part is
Speaker 2: part of what's contributing to so many people leaving the game.
Speaker 2: You know. I mean there's no golf courses being built
Speaker 2: in this country. There was this huge, uh you know,
Speaker 2: onslaught of construction being done because they wanted to make
Speaker 2: longer courses and longer courses and seven thousand yard courses.
Speaker 2: And most people, you know, they're quitting. They're like, I
Speaker 2: can't play this, can't hit it. Well I can't, you know.
Speaker 2: And so with all this emphasis on going along all
Speaker 2: the time, maybe that's what's turning people away from it.
Speaker 4: I've got to disagree with you on that point, Fred, please.
Speaker 4: I actually think it's the length of time that we're taking.
Speaker 1: To play golf.
Speaker 2: Turning people away.
Speaker 1: I think so.
Speaker 2: Yes, so how do we do how do we fix that?
Speaker 1: Honestly don't know to.
Speaker 4: I know that yesterday when I played, we took five
Speaker 4: hours in a full ball to play eight eight holes.
Speaker 2: That's too long.
Speaker 1: That's too long, and that's basically four pros.
Speaker 2: And actually touring golf, especially today, it seems to take
Speaker 2: more than four hours to play around on when they
Speaker 2: were watching on television.
Speaker 4: And that's where the PGA Tour and and other tours
Speaker 4: have to lead. By example, you see the guys on
Speaker 4: TV and they take forever to find out their yardage
Speaker 4: and their caddy and them talking over whether or not
Speaker 4: to hit this club, what it is to get over
Speaker 4: this bunker and all that, and it's just I think
Speaker 4: if the tours clamp down a lot harder than what
Speaker 4: they do on bad times and pushing people through, then
Speaker 4: it'll go down to amateurs because all they do on
Speaker 4: tour is they just find guys. And when you're at
Speaker 4: that level, thousand and two thousand dollars doesn't really mean
Speaker 4: anything to them. But if they started, if they started
Speaker 4: taking adding shots to their game. So let's say guys
Speaker 4: on the number or one in front of the cart
Speaker 4: and they give him a two straight penalty and now
Speaker 4: he's missed the cart.
Speaker 1: That'll change things, that's what I believe.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's an interesting thought. Instead of penalizing them financially,
Speaker 2: penalize them on their card.
Speaker 4: Penalize them on their card, and once they start missing
Speaker 4: carts because they start getting penalties, then they'll start speeding up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but they need the time for those commercials to
Speaker 2: pay for the broadcast.
Speaker 1: It's got nothing to do with that, Fred.
Speaker 2: No, No, they'd find a way to get it in.
Speaker 2: I'm sure they would.
Speaker 4: They just they just fool around doing like you have
Speaker 4: the yardage book, and there's so much information on the
Speaker 4: yardage book of from this sprinkler. It's that it's two
Speaker 4: hundred yards to carry that bunker, and it's like, well,
Speaker 4: sometimes you need it, but then the caddy and the
Speaker 4: player go through. Well do I lay up short of
Speaker 4: it or do I go over? What's the advantage of
Speaker 4: going over? Can I get it up and down from
Speaker 4: that area? Or am I better off laying back and
Speaker 4: hitting a full shot in. It's so those other sort
Speaker 4: of things that take the time.
Speaker 2: So interesting. Well, Darren, I wish you all the luck
Speaker 2: on the entire planet. In the world and hope that
Speaker 2: we get to see your name in the newspaper on
Speaker 2: a regular basis.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Fred.
Speaker 2: But you need one before you go. You've got it
Speaker 2: for Richard. What's the name of the restaurant. We got
Speaker 2: to plug the restaurant?
Speaker 4: Well, actually, and I need to plug the restaurant because
Speaker 4: it's the biggest phosphoid chine in the world.
Speaker 1: Oh, it's the one with the golden oches.
Speaker 2: Oh okay? And does he have more than one that
Speaker 2: you work at?
Speaker 1: I just work at one, but hey has more than one?
Speaker 2: Well, Richard, thank you, that's very kind of you for
Speaker 2: being so generous and letting Darren get his game on
Speaker 2: and hopefully become a success.
Speaker 1: Andie's wife Annie as well, And.
Speaker 2: Thank you Annie. Richard and Annie, we appreciate that. So
Speaker 2: when you're playing, you're wearing a McDonald's shirt.
Speaker 1: Huh, I am Do.
Speaker 2: You have name tag that has a little on it
Speaker 2: as well as your name on it?
Speaker 1: Only at work? Only at work?
Speaker 2: And have you ever asked any of your playing partners
Speaker 2: if they wanted fries with that? Not?
Speaker 1: If I can help with Darren?
Speaker 2: Thanks so much. I really appreciate you reaching out because
Speaker 2: I find this to be an absolutely fascinating story, and
Speaker 2: I hope that you have great success with this.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Fred, it's been enjoyable, and.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to my pleasure. Maybe we'll get
Speaker 2: you a Golf Smarter shirt to wear someday on the tour.
Speaker 1: That would be very nice. I would enjoy that immensely.