Speaker 1: Hi, This is Fred Green of Golf Smarter with the
last installment of our annual Spring into Golf season with
the late Tony Manzoni, whom we lost in twenty eighteen
at the age of eighty two. This conversation, recorded in
November of twenty seventeen, was to announce a golf school
that Tony and two of his Palm Desert colleagues created. Unfortunately,
not long after we recorded this, Tony received his cancer
diagnosis and we lost him a few months later. This
episode also includes one of my all time favorite stories,
Tony tells about Frank Sinatra, the godfather of Tony's daughter.
We'll bring all these episodes back next spring because we
continue to get positive emails from new and old listeners
thanking us for sharing Tony's wisdom. Next week, we'll go
back to where we left off of our Friday Mulligans,
bringing back old Golf Smarter episodes that are no longer
available on any podcast app. Tony's book, The Lost Fundamental
One Simple Move Better Golf Forever is available on Amazon
and is DVD which we converted to a private link.
Online is also available for twenty dollars or for free
for the most comprehensive information ever collected on Tony. Please
go to golfsmarter dot com and while you're there, check
out how you can make a tax deductible donation to
the Tonymanzoni Memorial Golf Smarter Fund, we created in his
honor to benefit the first t of Coachella Valley. If
you'd like to purchase the video, please write me directly
golf Smarter Podcasts at gmail dot com. But if you'd
like it for free and become an official golf Smarter ambassador,
create a short recording that will be opening a future episode.
The easiest way to participate is from our website at
golfsmarter dot com. From your phone, computer, or tablet and
click on Record your show Open here, which you'll find
on the right side of the page. You'll get an
easy to follow script that includes an introduction of yourself,
where you're from, and where you play. We'll put it
at the beginning of a future new episode of our
weekly show. Once you've completed the recording, you'll receive an
email with the private link. If you have any other
questions or comments, click on the Heyfred button at golfsmarter
dot com. A golf school like no other in terms
of experience, expertise, and price. With Tony Manzoni, this.
Speaker 2: Is Golf Smarter, sharing stories, tips and insights from great
golf minds to help you lower your score and raise
your golf IQ.
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Fred Green. Welcome back to the Golf
Smarter podcast, Tony.
Speaker 3: How are you, Fred?
Speaker 1: I am doing well. It's so good to talk to
you again. How have you been.
Speaker 4: You know, I've been just terrific. As you know, I
retired from the college after thirty years and had a
great run there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, congratulations on your retirement. But knowing you, that doesn't
mean you're gonna be retiring and playing golf. You're going
to be playing golf, but it's not part of your retirement.
Speaker 4: No, I'm not gonna stop moving because when you stop moving,
then you see that guy with the green reaper comes
up behind you. Now we're gonna, in fact, I mean
involved with the two really terrific golf professionals, and the
three of us are going to start creating a golf
school in the desert and very excited about it.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about your golf school in the desert. First,
tell me about the two other teachers. You're gonna be working.
Speaker 4: With Gary Hopkins, who played the tour and also has
been a club professional, and Davey Evans, who's an iconic
pro here in the Desert. He was at Lake To
Country Club for thirty years, but he also had a
tour background.
Speaker 3: Kind of like me. We were good enough to get
out there, but couldn't really stay that long, you know,
but I probably enjoyed it while we were there.
Speaker 4: But these guys are fantastic teachers, and I consider myself
a good one also, and I think we're going to
be able to put, you know, really a good school,
something really solid for people so that they go out
and play golf and enjoy it.
Speaker 1: So so many people put these golf schools together, and
it's a weekend long thing that is expensive and time
consuming and confusing. I mean, I did a weekend golf school,
and I felt great when I walked away, and then
when I five days later, when I went to the
driving range, I had no idea what I was supposed
to do. I'd forgotten all of it. And I think
that happened.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, Yeah, unfortunately. I hear that a lot, and I
think that.
Speaker 4: What happens in some of these cases is that the
egos get involved and they start teaching a certain way
to play.
Speaker 3: And I've never been an advocate of that. I think
that's because.
Speaker 4: We're all so different in age and flexibility and so forth.
That you have to build a swing that that that
person can do so that they own their own swing.
And that's what we're going to do. We're going to
teach people how tore properly set up to the ball,
and that's an absolute, and where the ball should be
in the stands, so that's an absolute. But as for
the golf swing itself, we're going to take what the
person has and we're going to create a golf swing
for them. But they're actually going to they're actually going
to create the swing. We're just going to show them
the avenue how to get there. And I think that's
the best way to do it. You know, my success
with the young people at College of the Desert on
our golf teams, we won twenty seven conference championships out
of twenty eight. We had an incredible run. And all
these boys came in with all different concepts and different swings,
and you just can't say stop. Now, this is the
only way you do it, because that's just crazy. So
we're going to try to take that kind of attitude
in the school so that everybody, everybody can learn and
improve their their their their golf swing.
Speaker 1: Sounds so interesting to have three different teachers. Now, how
long are your your clinics?
Speaker 4: They're going to be an hour and a half. And
you know, no one, yeah, no one, No one's on
the clock. So I would imagine, uh, if we're all
having fun, it could you.
Speaker 3: Could lead to two hours, but not no more than that,
you know, no more than that.
Speaker 4: But you know, you know, when you get going, and
especially when somebody starts hitting it well, you want to
stay with them.
Speaker 3: And also when they're not hitting it well, you want
to stay with them until they are hitting it. So
but but primarily it's an hour and a half class, Tony.
Speaker 1: I've known you for so long now, well just through
the podcast, but we've had some interaction. I know how
generous you are with your time. So when you say
an hour and a half, I'm like, I know, Tony,
it could easily.
Speaker 4: Go yeah, and most likely will. But that's the fun
of doing this too, you know, to take someone that
their skills aren't honed very well and start making them
sharper and.
Speaker 3: See results before your eyes. That's infectious. You know, I
don't want to run away from that. I want to
stay there and watch.
Speaker 1: So so I'm curious. So when somebody signs up for
this hour and a half golf school, golf clinic, whatever
you want, do they have a choice of like, Okay,
I want to work with Tony or I want to
work with Dave, or I want to work with Gary
for that hour and a half. Is that how it's
going to work.
Speaker 4: Well, there's gonna the maximum in the school is going
to be nine people, three people per per teacher. Oh
and if they want one person over another, that's there
is no problem.
Speaker 3: You know, nobody has an ego about this.
Speaker 4: But three three guys or three else with one instructor
really works well. The intimidation factors eliminated.
Speaker 3: And they all they all when.
Speaker 4: They hit a poor shot, they don't feel bad because
they're all hitting poor shots that you know, they have
the game mishits. So it's a lot more fun than
a one on one because that gets that that's really
tough on the person unless they've been taking lessons and
we think that we're going to be getting a lot
of middle of the rotors, or even people that are
they've been reluctant to take lessons, maybe too expensive, to
time consuming or whatever, whatever the reason is that they
may like this, especially when there's other people with them.
Speaker 1: Sure, I mean, and when you're when you're working with
I love the idea of just three people per teacher,
and then when you're working with two other people as well,
and I've you know, had this happen before. It's nice
when it's not too many people, and when you have
the right amount, which I think three is, then you
can learn from what the other people are doing. You
can watch them while they're being instructed and get a
sense of, oh, that's what he means.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: It's like looking at it versus feeling it and then
tying that all together.
Speaker 4: Certainly, I've done this before and it really works well.
And the people taking the lessons seem to be more
into it and more relaxed about the lessons.
Speaker 3: Where I think, not with everyone, but a lot of
people it's a one on one.
Speaker 4: They get a little intimidated, they get a little too
conscious of if they hit a bad shot, you know.
So I think it just lessens that that feeling and
it's a good learning environment, there's no question about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And to have all three teachers there so you
can like rotate around and get tidbits from each of them.
Have you guys worked together before? Do you know? Do
you come implement each other's styles?
Speaker 3: I believe so. You know, we play golf, and we
talk about the golf swing. We're all passionate about the
golf swing. Uh, And we discussed it.
Speaker 4: We talk about some of the people that you know
make it pretty complicated and so forth.
Speaker 3: And we're not from that school for sure.
Speaker 4: Uh and and and during these during these lessons, Uh,
it won't be something that doesn't occur.
Speaker 3: I might say, David, come on over here, take a
look at this.
Speaker 4: This is what we're trying to and he may have
a different take on it. So we're going to be flexible.
Speaker 3: In that area.
Speaker 4: And again, this is our Our school is not going
to be ego driven. We're only there for one reason
to be a resource for these people to be able
to take their golf swing and and understand what they
can accomplish and do when.
Speaker 3: They go out and play golf. And the bottom line
is to have some fun playing golf.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, absolutely because it is because it is a game.
Speaker 3: Exactly. It's a game.
Speaker 4: And as I used to tell my player, is that
golf does not define you as a person, you know,
because some of them, if they had a bad round,
you know, it look like the world had come to
an end.
Speaker 3: And you just have to really be realistic about the game.
This is a mishit game.
Speaker 4: And what we're going to try to do to teach
you to mishit it better, uh and than you have
in the past, so that you can stay in the game.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: That's the whole idea, is to stay in the game.
There's just too much emphasis on distance and all that,
and not enough efforts on how to manage yourself, how
to get the how to how to play your c
game like Tiger used to talk about it and.
Speaker 3: Still come up with a decent score.
Speaker 1: M golf smarter. Yes, where are you going to be
holding the clinics throughout the desert or in a specific location?
Speaker 4: No, we're going to be at a specific location. Indian
Springs Golf Club in Lakita really really pristine golf course
with the emphasis on thinking it's not a real long
golf course, so it's fun for everybody. Real nice driving range,
a wonderful bar, restaurant and so forth, and really terrific.
Speaker 3: The whole thing is it's a beautiful site. It really is.
And it's open to the public.
Speaker 1: Wow. I've been to lakina. I have a friend who
has a house down there, and I've played a couple
of the different career. He's a member of the Palms.
Is that right, the Palms?
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, the Palms. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So he lives at PGA West. He has a house
down there and is a member of the Palms, which
we did an episode on the Palms a long time
ago with their general manager. That's and so the weather
is always great, especially now that winter is coming up.
This is the place to come. You want to be
down here. So Lakinta, if you're not familiar, is in
the Palm Springs area in southern California. You're out in
the desert. So even though it's winter, don't think that
it's still desert weather because it gets cold at night
in the desert. But it's beautiful.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, it can get but in the daytime, is
it's just heaven.
Speaker 3: I mean you walk outside, say, Holy mackerel.
Speaker 4: The weather is so beautiful, it really is. Don't be
here in the summer. In fact, I'm thinking about moving
to cord Alane. If anybody knows anybody that has a
nice little place they want to sell, I'm interested.
Speaker 1: Contact me. Click on the Hayfred button at golf swater
dot com and we'll get in touch with Tony.
Speaker 4: I got to get out of yeah, I got to
get out of here. In summertime, it's just a little
too it's too hot. I can't balls and do that.
So but winter, there's no finer place, no finer weather.
I don't think anywhere in the planet.
Speaker 1: Actually fall winter spring. I mean absolutely, It's spectacular and
what a great destination for golfers. A great destination for golfers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've got over one hundred golf courses. Man.
Speaker 4: I think people that if they ever have a chance
to come out and they play this little golf course
Springs are going to want to play it again. It's
a good test.
Speaker 1: So I have to imagine that if you have just
knowing that it's anywhere from one hundred to one hundred
and fifty dollars an hour for a golf teacher, and
the fact that you and Dave and Gary are all
PGA professionals, You all have tour experience, you all have
decades of teaching experience. An hour and a half for
the three of you, how do I say this gently?
It's probably not inexpensive. That's the way to do it. Inexpensive,
is it? Do you have any sense?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, are you saying that we're not going
to make a lot of money?
Speaker 1: No, I'm saying you're going to probably charge a lot
of money.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 4: No, the seventy five dollars is what it's going to
be per person. Yeah, seventy five dollars.
Speaker 1: And per teacher per the hour and a half.
Speaker 4: Each person taking the lessons in the in the group
is going to be seventy five dollars.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you have nine people in this clinic for
an hour and a half with three teachers, and the
whole cost is seventy five dollars.
Speaker 3: Correct.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay, sign us let's get signed up. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, we're not you know this is We're not
looking for a home run at this time of our life.
Speaker 3: We love teaching the game, we know how to teach.
Speaker 4: The game, and we want to be paid a little
bit for our time. But we're both we're all sensitive
about the fact that golf has been maybe pricing itself out.
Speaker 3: Out of the industry.
Speaker 4: I think that's part of the reason that, especially in
some of these areas, resort areas, that a lot of
people can't afford to play or can't afford to take
a golf lesson. So we're going to try to do
something for.
Speaker 3: The common man. Okay, let's put it that way, and
still make a.
Speaker 4: Little, a little walking around money, as they say, you know,
a little walking around.
Speaker 1: And I don't want to count how you're going to
spend and collect your money, but I'm just kind of
blown away that you can only charge seventy five dollars
in an area that has spectacular golf courses. You get
an hour and a half and you still have time
to go out and play around too, even during the winter.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I don't know, I think it's this thing.
Speaker 4: It might morph into something where we teach them and
then go play golf of them, and we've got the
golf right so.
Speaker 3: They could do that. There.
Speaker 4: We know we have, we have no boundaries that we
can't cross. We're going to try to We're going to
try to make this fun and a learning experience for everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is spectacular. Have you started doing this yet?
Speaker 4: No, we're in the planning stage. We're putting brochures together,
going to hit a lot, a lot of the hotels
and so for sure, and then start booking. And you know,
we're pretty confident because all three of us have pretty
decent names in this region, and I think we'll be
able to fill our quota pretty easily.
Speaker 1: I have no doubt. So right as we're recording this,
we're a week before Thanksgiving twenty seventeen, and so you're
kind of just announcing this clinic, this, this golf school,
golf clinic. Now, when do you anticipate starting to take
students because people are going to want to fly out
to visit with you.
Speaker 3: I think a week after Thanksgiving we're going to be
rocking and rolling. Wow, I don't see great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're gonna we're going to We're going to be
kicking in real quick, and we're all chomping at the
bit to do it.
Speaker 3: The weather's great, a sky is clear, and the golf
balls are new. So what else can you What do
you want more than that?
Speaker 1: You know, well, right now. Don't you going to start
singing to me now back to your rat pack days.
Speaker 3: Huh yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Uh listen, We're going to take a short break right back,
and then I want to ask you more about the clinic.
And also I'm still getting emails and requests for your
your book and your DVD The Loss Fundamentals, So we'll
be back right after this. Okay. Now, when we first
started talking to each other years ago, you you had
this book that you had put together called The Loss
fundamental Let's talk about Uh, well, first of all, is
the book available anymore?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we're going to go the e book route.
I sold out a couple of a couple of printings
I sold out.
Speaker 1: Congratulations.
Speaker 4: I think that yeah, thank you. I think that's the
e book would be a nice way to go.
Speaker 3: And then I have a DVD. I'm not sure how
long I'm going to have stock on the DVD. But
the book is really I think it's a little treasure.
Speaker 4: I think I had a co writer with his Paul Cervante's,
and I think we did.
Speaker 3: A nice job. It's not a big, arduous read. It's
something that you can go through.
Speaker 4: But it's a real solid book, it really is.
Speaker 1: And what is the lass fundamental?
Speaker 4: Well, it talks about some of the things that I
believe Ben Hogan discovered after his accident actually, and it
is really learning to not move the weight once you
set to the ball, not move the weight over to
the right foot more than you did at address, to
play more off what we call the left side, because
when you hit a golf ball, if you're right handed,
you have to be the majority of your weight has
to be against your left side as you're hitting the ball,
just like any other sport. In the past, there's been
a lot of what we call sliders, where people slide
their hips back and then slide their hips through and
that's really really a tough go.
Speaker 3: You can do it when you're young, but after.
Speaker 4: You get past forty or forty ish, you end up
hitting off of your right foot and not getting through
the ball. And that's the majority of things I see
in the years that I've been on playing in pro
ams and so forth, that people say, I can't shift
my weight.
Speaker 3: Well, you're not going to be able to shift your
weight if you've got it stored all on your right.
Speaker 4: Foot at the top of the swing. Unless you're you know,
Neuiav or somebody that can. I mean, you've got to
be young to slide over and then rotate, because you
got to rotate to the left eventually. So Hogan, I
think figured out a way to stay centered to the
golf ball, turn his right side back, but stay on
the inside of that right foot, and then rotate around
the left foot as an axis. And that's what primarily
it's not stacking tilt.
Speaker 3: Don't get me.
Speaker 4: Wrong, uh And I'm not speaking against them, by the way.
Everybody has their own concepts, but this concept is what
Hogan said.
Speaker 3: He says, you're going to turn through the ball a
little bit more level.
Speaker 4: Now, obviously your left side has to be higher than
your right side impact, but you're not going to tilt
down to hit the golf ball. You're going to rotate
through the golf ball. And I think by doing that,
you're generating your power more from your core than from
your arms and hands. And the sequence of motion is everything,
and that's where most people really mess up.
Speaker 3: They take the club back in a.
Speaker 4: Good position, but then they throw the club from the
top with their arms and hands, so consequently they're just
slapping at the ball and they get zero distance and
they don't get through the ball. What my book talks
about is how to get to the left side. And
it's a drag you know, it's a drag hit. In
other words, you are being they're lagging back behind you
as your body rotates and they release through the ball
and you can hit the ball not only far, but
I think you can hit it very accurately.
Speaker 3: This way.
Speaker 4: It kind of eliminates the side spin in the swing.
Once the arms lead, then you're subject to what your
hands do, and that's in my in my mind, that's
a crapshoot.
Speaker 3: It's you're you're gonna, You're gonna.
Speaker 4: You can block it or you can hook it, and
sometimes it is straight. But there's there's no real consistency
in that because most people don't have the time to
train their hands to be at that that exact spot.
Speaker 3: Time and time again.
Speaker 1: When I learned how to what I refer to as quiet,
make my lower body quiet, quieting my lower body, because
I did have the slide and I wasn't aware of it.
But once I learned to do that rotation and keep
my lower half of my body ill, my back pain
went away.
Speaker 3: Right well. That's that's the whole thing.
Speaker 4: You know, a lot of people have lower back peed
because they worked under to hit the ball and they
came back into what we call the sea position. Now,
obviously when you hit the ball, your your head is
a little bit behind the ball and your body's a
little bit forward of the ball, but but not in
that dramatic way that that that era of when Nicholas
and so forth played, everybody came in that sea position
and usually got a lower back problem. This concept gets
you to post up in a straight line. When you
finish your swing, your.
Speaker 3: Left your left side is is posted up.
Speaker 4: Like I say, a straight line, so there's no tilt back,
and it's just easier on the body. And I really
believe that you can hit the ball a lot harder.
Speaker 2: Why should Why would you? Why would your body go backwards?
When you're hitting a golf ball, You're you're going to
use your left leg as embrace. But but you're gonna
hit through the ball. You're going to release your whole
right side. You're not going to stay back behind it.
And that's what most people do. They hit They hit
from behind it too much and they stay behind it.
Uh and consequently they're subject to what their hands do.
Speaker 1: How many people are shocked when you how many of
your students are shocked when you explain to them or
show them that they slide their hip, that they you
know that they're not keeping still and they slide from
left to right. Most people have.
Speaker 4: No, No, there's no feeling of it because you know,
you're they're concentrating so much on turning, but as they turn,
they're swaying. Okay, and then if you sway to the right,
you must sway to the left, or or you never
reach the ball and you have to show them on
film or you know, we have these our iPhones now
are our cameras, so you can do that. But yeah,
that's the number one thing that I see most people.
In fact, when I get a customer or a client,
I should say that, I say, hit.
Speaker 3: A few balls.
Speaker 4: Let me just look at your actions, so you see
and invariably I see that right hip go past the
right leg.
Speaker 3: You know, I just in my mind is a bingo.
Speaker 4: Because we know we know that we're going to be
able to.
Speaker 3: Improve that in New York.
Speaker 4: Second, so, and you'd be surprised how many people do
it when you set up to that golf ball. That
right hip has to be aligned on the instep of
your right foot, and most people when they stand to
the ball, their right hip is aligned to the outside
of the right foot, and when you turn your shoulders,
you're going to if you look down at your right foot,
I don't care what you do. If you turn your
shoulders in a turning motion of the golf swing, your
right foot's going it's going to rock over to the
to the back part of it. You're going to see movement.
If you put your right hip on the instep and turn,
you'll see that your there'll be, your foot will be,
it'll be just nothing will be happening. That's a real
big thing, and no one talks about that, and it's
gigantic because if your body gets out of position, I
don't care how strong you are, you're not going to
hit the ball anymore.
Speaker 3: But if you're in the right position at the backswing
and at impact, you can move the ball pretty far.
Speaker 4: That's why a lot of these little galas can hit
so far, because they're in the right position. They're certainly
not as strong as men, but some of them can
pop it out there pretty far.
Speaker 1: Okay, so as far as the paperback book, that's no
longer available, But you do have a DVD available?
Speaker 3: Correct? Yes, I have a DVD available. I probably have.
Speaker 4: I'm probably down to about fifty And how much are they?
Speaker 3: So twenty dollars?
Speaker 1: Okay, so if any but you don't have a website.
I mean I know that people have written me going,
I can't find Tony anywhere on the web? Where is he?
And is he's right here? He's at golf Smarter. If
you want to track him.
Speaker 3: Down there you go.
Speaker 1: So if somebody wants to buy a DVD limited edition,
a few left right to me, Yes, Fredigolfsmarter podcast dot com,
and or click on the Hey Fred button and I'll
put you in touch with Tony so you can definitely
pick up a DVD from him. And we'll when when
the ebook is available. We've been talking about that one
for a while, but when it's available, we'll let everybody know. Okay,
So there is no website right now? Is there going
to be a website for your clinic? Or are you
just doing brochures? How do people get you to sign up?
Speaker 3: Right now? That's a good question.
Speaker 1: Okay, right now?
Speaker 3: We don't you know?
Speaker 4: You could call it Indian Springs and they could take
your name and contact number. But we will have a
website and we're going to be coming up with a
pretty strong.
Speaker 3: Name for the clinic.
Speaker 4: Okay uh, and we'll be to tie that all together
and that'll be happening shortly.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, you know, instead of calling Indian Springs, you
got to look it up and everything. You're on the
podcast right now, I probably am your best link to Tony
at this point. So if you're interested in signing up
for his clinic, just go ahead and write to me
and I will forward it to Tony and put you
to in touch so that you can schedule a time
and know when they're going to be doing How many
times do you hope to be Are you going to
be doing this five days a week with this clinic
with you guys or.
Speaker 4: Off listen, we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna do at
a minimum of.
Speaker 3: Three times a week.
Speaker 4: Okay, probably probably not on the weekends, but but and
that may change, but right now it's going to be
during the weekdays. It'll be two day clinic, so or
one day, yeah, one day or two days.
Speaker 1: Oh I see. So if you do two days. It's
one hundred and fifty dollars and you get an hour
and a half each day type of thing.
Speaker 3: That's correct. Yeah.
Speaker 4: So if someone someone wants to take a day and
they say, wow, I like this, I'm going to take
another day, and they can do that, or they can
just take one day, they can take three days.
Speaker 3: You see what I'm saying. They can come to as
many clinics as they want.
Speaker 1: And if you don't get nine people to sign up
for a specific date, are you still going to be
able to do this?
Speaker 4: Or we'll still go Unless it's two people, we wouldn't
do that. But no, I mean if we get let's
just say we have six or seven, No, we'll still
go forward.
Speaker 1: Before we go, Tony, I've not asked you this before.
You've told me your incredible history down in the desert
and the people you've come in contact with, the people
you played golf with, and how it impacted your playing
career because you were having so much fun with the
guys during the fifties and sixties down in Palm Desert,
the rat pack, right, and yep, can you share a story,
whether it's a I think you even mentioned Gerald Ford once, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I met the President Ford. He in fact gave
me some books out of his library.
Speaker 4: Although I did not play golf with him, but I
did have a chance to meet him. I didn't realize
what a big guy he was really, you know, Oh yeah,
he was not a little guy. He's a pretty good
sized guy. I think he played football in college or something.
But just a wonderful gentleman. I'm just a wonderful person.
Speaker 3: Story. Does it have to be golf related?
Speaker 1: No, No, it has to be fun related. I mean
something that happened, a.
Speaker 3: Memorable I can tell you Frank Sinatra story.
Speaker 4: I had met Frank Sinatra and invited to the house
on many occasions with my fiance and one day, out
of the blue, she blurted to Frank, Frank, you've got
to come over to the house and I'll we'll cook
your dinner. And of course my eyes rolled back to
the back of my head because she was a beautiful girl,
but she really couldn't boil water her Okay, so when
we got in the car, When we got in the car,
I said, that are you going to serve Frank Sinatra beans?
Speaker 3: And Franks? What are you? Are you crazy? So I said, and.
Speaker 4: She looked at me with that pretty little face, and
I said, I got this handled. So I called my mother,
who was in santase and I said Mom, and I
didn't say Frank Sinatra. I just said, I've got some
really important people coming over. Can you make some homemade
ravioli's and meatballs, put them on dry ice and fly him.
I'll pay for it, fly it from Santa'sday to Palm Springs.
So she said, sure, no problem. So she sent all
this food over dry ice. And I had a good
friend of mine who was a musician, and he wanted
to be there when Frank Sinatra was, and he was.
He said, I'll help you arrange everything, cook everything. So
we did, and Frank shows up with Jillie Rizzo, who
is his good time friend, and and we sit down and.
Speaker 1: Eat and look, he said, yes, she asked him to
come to.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he had said yes when at his house when
we were having dinner.
Speaker 3: He said yes, oh yeah, OK. Yeah, So that the
pressure was on me. So anyway, so we're sitting there
and Frank says to me, or he says.
Speaker 4: To my fiance Mimi. He said me, me, these are
the best meatballs I've ever had.
Speaker 3: In my life. He said, I mean, I've eaten all
over the world.
Speaker 4: You got to give me the recipe. And she started
to say something. I said, Frank, I had the sure ade.
It has to be over and I told him the
story that what I did, and he started howling. He couldn't.
He thought that was the funniest thing. He says, get
your mother on the phone. So I called my mother
and my mother's name was Nina. So I said, Mom,
I said, Frank Sinatra would.
Speaker 3: Like to talk to you. She didn't get the hell
out of here, but I said, no, no, I'm no mom.
Speaker 1: That's who I.
Speaker 3: Said.
Speaker 4: Frank Sinatra would like to talk to you. So he
gets on the phone. And you got to remember, at
our house, we had a picture of Jesus and the
next time we had a picture of Frank.
Speaker 3: Okay, So so.
Speaker 4: My mother says says, hello, mister Sinatra, and he said Nina,
and he says, I got to tell you something.
Speaker 3: Those are the best meatballs I've ever had.
Speaker 4: Blah blah blah blah, and can you send me the recipe?
And my mother said to them, Frank, I'll make you
all the meatballs you want, but you never get my
recipe and he broke up. He just loved that she
denied him.
Speaker 1: Okay, nobody did that to Frank Sinatra. Nobody said not.
Speaker 3: He just loved her for that.
Speaker 4: And through the years she used to make Christmas cookies
all homemade, unbelievable, and she would always send him Christmas
cookies every Christmas. And he was so wonderful. Whenever he
appeared in San Francisco or wherever my folks went, they
sat at the Sinaptra table right against the stage.
Speaker 3: The guy was just amazing.
Speaker 4: But he just when Christmas comes, he say, you think
your mom's going to send the cookies?
Speaker 3: This is Frank. You can just count on it. So
that's my story. That's my one.
Speaker 4: I got a lot of Frank Sinantra stories, but that's
one that always.
Speaker 3: Thrills me because the look on his facement.
Speaker 4: My mother says that I'll make all you want, but
I'm not giving you my recipe.
Speaker 3: I just love that.
Speaker 1: All that is fabulous. Well, I am so glad you
said you have a lot of stories, because I'm going
to continue to go to call you. Erry might remind
me and I'm not going to give the entire story,
but I do this other I did a radio national
syndication in the eighties that I brought back this year
as a podcast called Radio Baseball Cards. And the host
of the show is Don Drysdale, who is a childhood
hero of mine as a pitcher for the Dodgers, right, Yes,
And actually Cofax and Drysdale were both heroes of mine
as I was growing up. So the fact that I
got a chance to work with Drysdale in the studio
was pretty incredible. Right to do this show, Yes, So
we were recording I think it was the last episode
of the season, which actually just is the last episode
of the podcast from twenty seventeen baseball season, and it's
a story of Harmon Killebrew hitting a home run during
the nineteen sixty five World Series, his only home run
that he ever hit in the sixty five World Series,
and Drysdale was the pitcher, right they gave up that
home run. Well, he was the picture because it was
Game one of the sixty five World Series, which, if
anybody knows their history about this was the day that
Sandy Kofax said, yeah, I'm not going to pitch in
the World Series on Game one because it's home kipor
it's the.
Speaker 3: Jewish high right, right, I remember that, right, So.
Speaker 1: That's Sinatra and that's so Drysdale had to pitch and
it was terrible for him. But while we were recording it,
he looks at and he goes, you're Jewish? Right, yeah,
he goes, did you know Kofax was Jewish? And like
you said about the picture on you all, I said,
I said, Don, there's two things that most Jews in
this country know, and that's Moses and Kofax. And it
pretty much ends right then there.
Speaker 3: That's about it. Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, that's a great story. Don was a I
got to meet him here and his wife, and in fact,
he signed a baseball that I just treasure. He was
a wonderful guy and I was god knows what a
picture he was too, And of course cofacts, I don't
think anybody was ever any better than him.
Speaker 1: Nope, nope. It was amazing. And to see him in
the World Series this year was pretty awesome, all right, Tony,
So that was awesome. We covered Lost Fundamental. If anybody
wants to get a DVD, get in touch with me.
We covered your soon to be named golf clinic area
which is going to be seventy five dollars for an
hour and a half with three different teachers multiple times
a week. That's a phenomenal deal. And hopefully we'll get
to meet Dave and Gary at some point soon, right,
we're gonna I want to get them on the show too.
Can we do that?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 4: Absolutely, And they're terrific guys, and you will enjoy the conversation.
Speaker 1: Yep, yep, Tony, thanks so much for coming back on and.
Speaker 3: Good luck listen.
Speaker 4: The same to you, Fred, and again, it's always a
pleasure to be on your show. I just a real
kick in the pants for me, So let's get together soon, Okay,