Speaker 1: It is our festival of Teas brought to you by
Speaker 1: the UGA, so stay tuned for that.
Speaker 2: Speaking of the UGA, our next.
Speaker 1: Guest is the executive director of the UGA, and we're
Speaker 1: only going to talk golf for the next twenty minutes.
Speaker 1: Easton Folster, Happy Monday, buddy. How are we doing right?
Speaker 3: I'm doing fantastic. And you guys couldn't have picked a
Speaker 3: better song and sucked us hoping you would. That's just
Speaker 3: that made my heart happy.
Speaker 1: There you go, And we're not only going to talk
Speaker 1: golf because your text offering your presence on this radio
Speaker 1: show came with a mandate. And Easton, even though you're
Speaker 1: a local boy, you happen to be a lifelong fan
Speaker 1: of the New York Knickerbockers. Let me start with the
Speaker 1: origin story. When did you and why did you become
Speaker 1: a Knicks fan?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a good question, you know. Obviously, being a
Speaker 3: nineties kid, the Knicks were a little more relevant, you know,
Speaker 3: back then than they are, you know in the previous
Speaker 3: two decades now. Obviously I had the jazz troup for
Speaker 3: but for some reason I hooked on with the Knicks.
Speaker 3: Was a big trick Ewing fan and I will say
Speaker 3: that I've remained loyal through some dark years, and now
Speaker 3: there seems to be somewhat of a light at the
Speaker 3: end of the tunnel. So things are looking a little brighter,
Speaker 3: that's for sure.
Speaker 1: So I wonder what you find most likable about this
Speaker 1: iteration of the Knicks, Because Porter, my producer, is a
Speaker 1: younger Nick fan, and so he has this idea in
Speaker 1: his head that the Mellow years were awesome, and they
Speaker 1: just weren't. They won a couple of playoff series and look,
Speaker 1: I'm a mellow guy, love mellow I just it's all
Speaker 1: bottom line this to me, this is the most likable
Speaker 1: Nick team, literally since nineteen ninety nine.
Speaker 2: What what do you like most about this team?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I agree, they're fun to watch, you know. I
Speaker 3: think the compelling component is the fact that I feel
Speaker 3: like they're never out of a game. You know. I've
Speaker 3: told some friends and you know, solo basketball fans, that
Speaker 3: I feel like, if the Knicks can get to the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter within ten points and Jalen Brunson is in
Speaker 3: the game, we have a shot. And I think being
Speaker 3: able to watch a player like him with as clutch
Speaker 3: as he's been, it's amazing. I mean it almost feels
Speaker 3: like this this confidence when he has the ball, that's
Speaker 3: something magical is going to happen. So even if we're down,
Speaker 3: which we've obviously seen in the Celtics series, the Piston
Speaker 3: series as well, do you have a chance with Jalen
Speaker 3: Brunson And he's a closer. And it's been a lot
Speaker 3: of fun to watch. But it's a gretty team. They hustle,
Speaker 3: they play hard. I wish they wouldn't dig these holes.
Speaker 3: I'm sure I speak for all Knicks fans, but they
Speaker 3: find a way to claw out and it's been heart
Speaker 3: stopping sometimes, but it's been a lot of fun up
Speaker 3: to this point.
Speaker 1: Did you anticipate Friday Night happening the way it did
Speaker 1: at all? I mean, I finished the show and drove
Speaker 1: home and you know, a what, man, it was kind
Speaker 1: of fun because I will say in this space, when
Speaker 1: you do this for a living, and as long as
Speaker 1: I've done it now, you know, approaching twenty years full time,
Speaker 1: you do have to be agnostic a little bit. You know,
Speaker 1: you do have to kind of put the biases and
Speaker 1: fandom aside in order to do the job the right way.
Speaker 1: Like I would love for the Jazz to be good again,
Speaker 1: but I cannot be dishonest about where they're at. Whenever
Speaker 1: anybody asks me, who do you cheer locally for, I
Speaker 1: said all of them. I want everybody to win, because
Speaker 1: when everybody's winning, more people listening to sports soccer radio,
Speaker 1: and it's better for my bottom line. It's better for
Speaker 1: my business. But the PTSD of being a Knick fan
Speaker 1: for really since I was ten eleven years old, really
Speaker 1: settled in. And I approached that game on Friday night
Speaker 1: with tremendous trepidation, and even when they were up like forty,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I still don't feel like this was real.
Speaker 1: So what stood out most to you about the way
Speaker 1: they just blew out the Celtics on Friday.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm with you. I was terrified, you know, when
Speaker 3: we lost Game five the way that we did, even
Speaker 3: without Tatum, I was. I was really nervous. And it
Speaker 3: just has felt like Nick's never really blow team out,
Speaker 3: you know. If anything, They've been getting blown out in
Speaker 3: games and have caught back, which has been a lot
Speaker 3: of fun. But I had I wish I could say
Speaker 3: I saw the Nicks blown them out. I didn't have
Speaker 3: that level of confidence. I thought it'd be a great game,
Speaker 3: but it seemed like, you know, they had their foot
Speaker 3: on the gas and they didn't let it go. And
Speaker 3: I'm with you. Even when we got up twenty thirty
Speaker 3: and I think we even touched forty plus points, you know,
Speaker 3: there was still some trepidation, like you said that the
Speaker 3: bottom was going to fall out, and you know, as
Speaker 3: we know with coach Tibbs, of course kept his starters
Speaker 3: in the whole entire game, so I'm not even sure
Speaker 3: that he was confident that we're going to hold on.
Speaker 3: But exciting way to win the game, and a lot
Speaker 3: of momentum going into the Eastern Conference finals, So it's exciting.
Speaker 1: What is your confidence level against this Pacer team that
Speaker 1: just has a grip of physical pitbull wings. They just
Speaker 1: want to fight everybody all the time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's going to be a great series.
Speaker 3: I think we'll match up well. I'd really I think
Speaker 3: that Knicks fans might be making a mistake and kind
Speaker 3: of overlooking the Pacers and looking onto the finals. That
Speaker 3: would be a mistake. I mean, Pacers man handled a
Speaker 3: really good Cavs team and so I could see this
Speaker 3: going six. I could go see it going seven, but
Speaker 3: of course, as a true Knicks fan, I think I
Speaker 3: think we'll get it done. You know, I'd have to
Speaker 3: say maybe Nix and Nixon six would be my prediction.
Speaker 3: In fact, I think that's what we've done. The last
Speaker 3: two series is one in game six, so hopefully we
Speaker 3: get that done again.
Speaker 2: Does it make it sweeter that it's been so long?
Speaker 1: I mean, I've kind of gone back and forth on
Speaker 1: this because certainly, as a fan, every year, you want
Speaker 1: your team to have a shot, and if for honest,
Speaker 1: you know, the Knicks have not had a shot it
Speaker 1: doing anything since nineteen ninety nine. I mean, it literally
Speaker 1: has been twenty five years, and if for honest, the
Speaker 1: Jazz haven't had a chance to win a championship in
Speaker 1: my opinion, probably in that same timeframe.
Speaker 2: But during that time, the Jazz had d.
Speaker 1: Will and Booze and Memo, and then they had Heyward
Speaker 1: in favor in that group. Then they had Mitchell and
Speaker 1: Gobert and good teams. So I know the Jazz right
Speaker 1: now are nowhere close to competing, and we have a
Speaker 1: fan base that's a little bit disenfranchised with the products.
Speaker 1: And my hope is, you know, when the Jazz are
Speaker 1: able to get this thing figured out, and they're back
Speaker 1: to respectability and competition. Our community here and our basketball
Speaker 1: fan base here will be reminded of how fun spring
Speaker 1: basketball is. So I know, as a long suffering Nick fan,
Speaker 1: you probably prefer to have better teams over the past
Speaker 1: twenty five years.
Speaker 2: But does it make it any sweeter that it's been
Speaker 2: so long?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think so, And I think most Knicks fans
Speaker 3: would say that. I mean, if anyone saw the social
Speaker 3: media buzz around the Knicks fans going absolutely crazy in
Speaker 3: New York City, I mean, on one side, it's a
Speaker 3: little embarrassing. I mean, all we did was win two series,
Speaker 3: but they celebrated, you know, like we won the championship.
Speaker 3: So I think you see that that somewhat of a relief,
Speaker 3: you know, from fans that it's been so long that
Speaker 3: we've to this point, and it certainly is sweet. You know,
Speaker 3: I've I've had to stop myself from you know, day
Speaker 3: dreaming to what might be and in a few weeks
Speaker 3: we still have a really, really long way to go
Speaker 3: for that. But no, it's it's it's been what you know,
Speaker 3: two decades or twenty five years since you know, we
Speaker 3: got to this point and so I think, you know,
Speaker 3: for all Knicks fans, there's this certain release that you know,
Speaker 3: it's been satisfying to see the team perform. I listened
Speaker 3: to your previous segment about the Jazz playing the lottery
Speaker 3: offs and some of their struggles and you know, and
Speaker 3: tearing it down and can't help but be reminded that
Speaker 3: that's what the Knicks were doing for the better part
Speaker 3: of the last two decades. And so it feels it
Speaker 3: feels good, you know, to be at this point, and
Speaker 3: hopefully we can keep it rolling.
Speaker 1: All right, Before we will, we do need to talk
Speaker 1: a little golf. But before we get there, I have
Speaker 1: your Instagram pulled up and number one, congrats, that's number one.
Speaker 2: I was going to ask you if you're raising your
Speaker 2: young your young.
Speaker 1: Fella as a fan of this team, because one of
Speaker 1: the things, like my poor son has grown up Jazz, Nicks, Jets.
Speaker 1: Luckily we have the Yankees, but I feel bad that
Speaker 1: I ever encouraged him to cheer for the Knicks or
Speaker 1: the Jets. But he was at one of the games
Speaker 1: and he posted a picture in his John Starch jersey
Speaker 1: that I bought him when he was about the same
Speaker 1: age as your boy, And I see you've got your
Speaker 1: boy in a Jalen Brunson jersey.
Speaker 3: Yeah that's right. Yeah, No, And he's a you know,
Speaker 3: for only being four years old, he's a real fan.
Speaker 3: I mean he can name I would say at least
Speaker 3: six or seven players on the team. So for being
Speaker 3: four years old, i'd call him a real fan. I
Speaker 3: mean he's watching the games with me, and he's and
Speaker 3: he's excited. And you know, as you mentioned, wife expecting
Speaker 3: and I've told her, if we're lucky enough to win
Speaker 3: it all, Jayalen, the name Jalen is certainly in play.
Speaker 3: You know, she's not necessarily a fan, but I've just
Speaker 3: warned her that Jalen is in play. So you might
Speaker 3: see that here in a few months. But yeah, I
Speaker 3: mean we're excited, and I know my son is too.
Speaker 3: He of course didn't have to suffer through the long
Speaker 3: decades of ineptitude. But yeah, we're pretty pumped at our residents.
Speaker 2: Thinking, Jalen Spencer fulster, how's that land?
Speaker 3: I like it. I'm all in.
Speaker 2: You put a basketball in his hand, can he shoot it?
Speaker 2: Did he dribble it?
Speaker 3: All? He can play? Yeah, he's an athlete, you know.
Speaker 3: Right now, he's just kind of trying to figure it
Speaker 3: all out soccer, te ball, you know, basketball. But he
Speaker 3: can play, and you know, like I said, he's he watches,
Speaker 3: he observes, and you know, he's a big fan. So
Speaker 3: Jalen's is his favorite player. We went to the Knicks
Speaker 3: Jazz game when they were here in town and he
Speaker 3: caught Jalen's attention. He waved at him, and of course
Speaker 3: that just made his day. I think it made my
Speaker 3: day more than his. But yeah, he's a big fan.
Speaker 1: Have you put a golf club in this young fellaw's
Speaker 1: hand yet, Yeah, a.
Speaker 3: Little bit, just a little, you know, a little plastic set.
Speaker 3: Golf's tricky, as you know, I mean, we're we're adults.
Speaker 3: I still haven't figured it out. And I've been playing,
Speaker 3: you know, for the better part of a deck gage.
Speaker 3: So I feel like that's a long road and maybe
Speaker 3: I can get him some more quicker than golf. But eventually, yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll put a golf club in his hand and see
Speaker 3: what he can do. But got a long ways.
Speaker 1: To go for that, hopefully, Because when I was younger,
Speaker 1: I thought it was boring. I did not want to
Speaker 1: play golf. My grandfather may he rest in peace. Loved it,
Speaker 1: and he always said, like your natural athlete, you could
Speaker 1: be good at this if you wanted to, And then
Speaker 1: I would just get frustrated and quit, and I'd want
Speaker 1: to go shoot buckets. I want to go play basketball
Speaker 1: or football. So are you planning on fighting through the
Speaker 1: boardom to encourage him to keep playing the game, or
Speaker 1: you just kind of going to kind of let him
Speaker 1: find out what he loves on his own.
Speaker 3: Yeah, probably more of the latter, you know, figure out
Speaker 3: what he likes, you know, I think exposure is important,
Speaker 3: especially for kids, you know, expose him to everything and
Speaker 3: let them kind of pick what they excel at and
Speaker 3: what they enjoy. And if it's golf, great, you know,
Speaker 3: that would make me certainly a happy father, you know.
Speaker 3: But not going to push him, you know, in that
Speaker 3: in that direction. But you know, hopefully, you know, like
Speaker 3: I did, and it sounds like maybe you did as
Speaker 3: a youth, he'll pick it up recreationally and you know,
Speaker 3: from there we'll see what happens. But yeah, no, you're right,
Speaker 3: I mean, eighteen holes as a kid back in, that's
Speaker 3: long and it takes a little bit of time to
Speaker 3: learn to enjoy that. But we'll see what happens with them.
Speaker 1: What do you think it is about this game, the
Speaker 1: game of golf that seems to draw people in on
Speaker 1: a level where it truly turns into an addiction.
Speaker 2: And I'm not even kidding. What do you think it is.
Speaker 1: About how people just get addicted to the game.
Speaker 3: I think it's I think it's those little moments of success,
Speaker 3: which of course are relative to the golfer. You know,
Speaker 3: if you're incredible and you're really talented, obviously you know
Speaker 3: your success and that little addiction might be shooting a
Speaker 3: sixty four, sixty three, going for the course record, winning championships,
Speaker 3: you know. But for the rest of us, it might
Speaker 3: be flushing a fore iron and that feel of, you know,
Speaker 3: hitting a green in regulation and a drive that's straight
Speaker 3: and far. And it's those I've always found you can
Speaker 3: get a golfer to hit, you know, just one, two
Speaker 3: or three of those moments in a round where they
Speaker 3: think that was a lot of fun. I think I
Speaker 3: can do that again. I think that's where the addiction
Speaker 3: comes in, as Wow, I just flushed a foe iron.
Speaker 3: That's how it feels. I'm going to go back next
Speaker 3: week and I'm going to give it another shot, and
Speaker 3: if you can turn that into a few times each round,
Speaker 3: that's where the development comes. And that's where you know,
Speaker 3: those moments of you know, like you've kind of said that,
Speaker 3: that addiction which I think we've all had with golf.
Speaker 3: Those that you know love the game, it's those small
Speaker 3: moments of success that give you a taste and you
Speaker 3: know what, you know, the really good player, you know,
Speaker 3: experiences on you know, on every shot basis. We don't
Speaker 3: get those very often, but with golf, you know, on
Speaker 3: any given day, you know, there's a lot of players
Speaker 3: that can hit a shot like a professional. They do
Speaker 3: it consistently. We do it maybe once around, But it's
Speaker 3: that one shot that I think gives people that itch.
Speaker 1: You know what's interesting you reference how the pros are
Speaker 1: so consistent with it. I don't know that I fully
Speaker 1: understood their ability to figure out problems and get out
Speaker 1: of trouble until I went down to Bay Hill as
Speaker 1: an honorary observer and followed Sam Stevens' Nick Taylor around
Speaker 1: the course. And then when you look at some of
Speaker 1: the stats like fairways hitting regulation or greens hitting regulation,
Speaker 1: these guys aren't hitting every fairway they're not hitting every green,
Speaker 1: and watching their ability to problem solve has become like
Speaker 1: a fascination of mine. Have you noticed the same as
Speaker 1: you've watched some of these pros, Like yes, to your point,
Speaker 1: they're going to hit most of their shots pretty flush, but.
Speaker 2: They're not hitting every fairway. They're not hitting every green.
Speaker 1: They've got to figure out how to solve problems and
Speaker 1: get out of trouble. That that to me is like
Speaker 1: the line of delineation.
Speaker 3: Sure, and you know, and I think it's you know,
Speaker 3: it's avoiding the big mistakes that I think amateur players
Speaker 3: you know, tend to make the big numbers you just
Speaker 3: don't see as often from the prosolical out and make
Speaker 3: a number of double bogies and triple bogeys in around.
Speaker 3: And that's what kind of adds to that score. And
Speaker 3: those guys, you know, bogie for them is bad because,
Speaker 3: like you said, they're able to calculate, they're able to
Speaker 3: see risk, probably unlike you know, you know, every diameter player,
Speaker 3: and so you know, I think they avoid the big
Speaker 3: numbers more often than probably you know, the double digit
Speaker 3: handicapped player is. And then just the talent, you know,
Speaker 3: to be able to pull off some of the shots.
Speaker 3: I'll say that maybe I can see the shot that's required,
Speaker 3: but I don't have the talent to pull the shot off.
Speaker 3: So I think that combination of you know, if talent
Speaker 3: and risk management is really what makes you know professional
Speaker 3: golfers the elite.
Speaker 1: You have a favorite golfer to watch right now or historically?
Speaker 1: Is there one that comes to mind?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I hate to be right on the bandwagon,
Speaker 3: but I just there's I can't find anything not to
Speaker 3: like about Scotti Scheffler, both from a playing standpoint and
Speaker 3: just from a you know who he is as a person.
Speaker 3: Of course, I don't know him personally, but from everything
Speaker 3: I see, just seems like a very likable guy. Like
Speaker 3: the way he plays his swing a little unorthodox. You
Speaker 3: don't see that every day, and it's consistent and just
Speaker 3: wins and so, like I said, I hate to jump
Speaker 3: on the bandwagon of probably where everybody else is at,
Speaker 3: but I when he's in contention, I certainly like to
Speaker 3: jump in front of the TV and watch. He's probably
Speaker 3: one of my favorites right now.
Speaker 2: When he's dialed in.
Speaker 1: And I've talked about this on the show with a
Speaker 1: lot of my golf guests quite a bit. One of
Speaker 1: my big regrets is that I was not dialed into
Speaker 1: the game of golf when Tiger was Tiger. I wasn't watching.
Speaker 1: I had an opportunity. In nineteen ninety seven. I was
Speaker 1: living with my grandparents, and as I referenced, my grandfather
Speaker 1: was a big golfer, and for whatever reason Easton, it
Speaker 1: is known on the show that my grandfather named me
Speaker 1: nickname me Spencer Doobie when I was two years old.
Speaker 1: I don't know why. There's no way he knew what
Speaker 1: that was. I can promise you that. And so nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven, I'm a senior in high school and I'm
Speaker 1: downstairs and my grandfather yells down, do be come upstairs.
Speaker 1: This young man is about to make history. So we
Speaker 1: watch the final round of Tiger at Augusta. But I
Speaker 1: did not see Tiger at peak Tiger very much. I've
Speaker 1: watched some documentaries, I read the book, and I find
Speaker 1: them to be very fascinating.
Speaker 2: And I know that it is it is very, very
Speaker 2: dangerous to compare.
Speaker 1: Like golf gatekeepers in a way remind me a little
Speaker 1: bit of NBA gatekeepers. When the Jordan stuff comes up,
Speaker 1: like there are so many people, and by the way,
Speaker 1: I'm one of them. There's so many people that will
Speaker 1: say Mike is the greatest and he'll always be the greatest.
Speaker 1: Do not come to me with Kobe or Lebron or
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk about it, Okay, And whenever
Speaker 1: I draw comparison to Tiger, it's like sacrilegious for golf gatekeepers.
Speaker 1: But at what point do we start talking about Scotty
Speaker 1: as potentially in the midst of the beginning of a
Speaker 1: run that kind of feels like it did when Tiger
Speaker 1: was being Tiger.
Speaker 3: If that makes sense, Yeah, it does, and I think
Speaker 3: we're there. I think the run has at least started,
Speaker 3: you know, like you said, now, what made Tiger so
Speaker 3: great is you know, the how long the run really
Speaker 3: was and the dominant really was. I mean we saw
Speaker 3: with Rory he came out too, you know, when he
Speaker 3: was a younger golfer and he started that journey and
Speaker 3: I think he had if I'm not mistaken, he had
Speaker 3: four majors right off the bat and then had to
Speaker 3: wait eleven years until he just recently won the Masters.
Speaker 3: And so you know, there's some cautionary tell there as
Speaker 3: well as yes, I think he's on that path. I
Speaker 3: think there's been other golfers like Rory, like Jordan Speif
Speaker 3: that have come out hot and then they've fizzled. So
Speaker 3: to be able to be that dominant, that consistent, I
Speaker 3: think that's what made Tiger, and that's what made Jack great.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: I think Scotty is certainly right there on the path.
Speaker 3: Only twenty eight he's got, you know, I would say
Speaker 3: fifteen twenty years of competitive golf left, and we'll see
Speaker 3: what he can do. You know, Tiger was fifteen majors.
Speaker 3: Scotty now three, so he's got a little ways to go.
Speaker 3: But I mean, I'd be shocked if you if you
Speaker 3: asked me to predict, I'd be shocked if he's not
Speaker 3: at least at double digit majors by the end of
Speaker 3: his career. So he's a lot of fun to watch,
Speaker 3: and I think we're watching something special and we'll see
Speaker 3: what happens.
Speaker 2: Does the live thing move the needle for you at all?
Speaker 1: I mean I was gonna ask you, like, I don't
Speaker 1: know how it would affect your job, but in you know,
Speaker 1: in and around the game of golf, it still seems
Speaker 1: to dominate the conversation part of me feels like we've
Speaker 1: settled into acceptance, if that makes sense, where like, all right,
Speaker 1: Live is just gonna be around, and it's just gonna
Speaker 1: be another tour. It's going to be like the USFL
Speaker 1: or Minor League Baseball or whatever it is. It's just,
Speaker 1: you know, for a while, it was okay, the merger's happening,
Speaker 1: and then there were negotiations and Jay Monahan and the
Speaker 1: leader of the pift Fund, we're kind of like, all right,
Speaker 1: we're making progress and there's no progress. Then the President
Speaker 1: gets involved, like okay, maybe this is going to move
Speaker 1: the needle, and it hasn't, and we're just kind of
Speaker 1: in the place where we've come to this acceptance that
Speaker 1: Live is going to be lived, and the tour is
Speaker 1: going to be the tour, and the best players on
Speaker 1: Live that have earned the right to playing majors are
Speaker 1: going to have the right to do that. It feels
Speaker 1: like that's where we've landed. You think that's where we're
Speaker 1: always going to be. And does this stuff kind of
Speaker 1: move the needle with what you have to deal with
Speaker 1: day to day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's really tough to predict. I do
Speaker 3: agree that I think that we've kind of landed in
Speaker 3: this acceptance. I think that there was some turmoil there
Speaker 3: when Live was picking off some of the you know,
Speaker 3: the best tour players, and I think that made everyone uneasy.
Speaker 3: That's settled, and now kind of the rumors are Bryson
Speaker 3: could come back, John rom could come back. You know,
Speaker 3: there's some regrets that they took the money and don't
Speaker 3: get to play on the on the tour, you know,
Speaker 3: as Live loses those players. If that does happen and
Speaker 3: they lose a Jen Ram and they lose you know,
Speaker 3: a Bryson Deshamba, I don't know. I mean, there's not
Speaker 3: a lot of interest in Live Golf right now, and
Speaker 3: if there was any, you know, without those golfers, I
Speaker 3: really don't know, like you said, outside of being a
Speaker 3: minor league, I just don't know how they survive now.
Speaker 3: Could they continue to pump money and and try and
Speaker 3: you know, I'll say, steal more players or take away
Speaker 3: more players from the tour maybe, but that hasn't happened.
Speaker 3: I feel like in you know, at least a year
Speaker 3: or two, So I don't know, you know, if I
Speaker 3: had to predict, I don't know that Live will be
Speaker 3: here long in the way that we know it. But
Speaker 3: I do, you know, I do agree that I think
Speaker 3: we've kind of landed in a place of acceptance and
Speaker 3: it seems like it's kind of settled a little bit,
Speaker 3: and you know, maybe they can come to grips or
Speaker 3: come to terms on an agreement where we can get
Speaker 3: some of these players on tour, because how fun has
Speaker 3: it been to watch bryceon to Shamba. I know he's
Speaker 3: not for everybody, but he's been incredibly relevant at the
Speaker 3: last three majors, I think top five in the last three,
Speaker 3: and a great personality and it's been a lot of
Speaker 3: fun to have him. I mean, golf is missing having
Speaker 3: ice into shambles and having John Rahm's play, you know,
Speaker 3: in on a consistent basis on on weekends that we
Speaker 3: all get to watch. So hopefully we get those players
Speaker 3: all playing on one tour again. I you know, I'm
Speaker 3: strictly on the amateur side, you know, far more on
Speaker 3: the local side than ever having to deal with live
Speaker 3: So you know, I just cheer for what's best for
Speaker 3: golf and let's get people excited to play. I don't
Speaker 3: know that that's live. I think it's more like Scottie
Speaker 3: you know on this tear that he's one or Rory
Speaker 3: winning the Masters. I think that's what gets people excited.
Speaker 3: So that's what I tend to roop for.
Speaker 1: We don't really need to get more people excited to
Speaker 1: play Euston. We just we just don't. Okay, I've already
Speaker 1: presented my endeavor of hashtag shrink the game, which you
Speaker 1: summarily dismissed, And of course I'm being facetious. But before
Speaker 1: I set you loose, I know you've got tournaments, you've
Speaker 1: got mid ams, you've got state ams, qualifying senior and
Speaker 1: all that women, all that stuff. So what what do
Speaker 1: you want our listeners to know about what you have
Speaker 1: going on with the UGA?
Speaker 3: Yeah, appreciate it, and you know very much we're we're
Speaker 3: in the camp of expanding the game, and you know,
Speaker 3: we want everyone to come out and play as much
Speaker 3: golf as humanly possible and stack up the t sheets
Speaker 3: and and hopefully there's still some tea times that you
Speaker 3: can book as well. But you know, my challenge for
Speaker 3: any golfer that's listening, or even non golfer, is to
Speaker 3: push themselves to the to the next level, whatever that
Speaker 3: may be. You know, golf is on a boom right now.
Speaker 3: It seems like everyone's you know, trying to get in
Speaker 3: the game one way or another, whether it's at top golf,
Speaker 3: whether it's going to the driving range. I would encourage
Speaker 3: everyone to go get top golf a try go to
Speaker 3: the driving ranges if you're new to the game, and
Speaker 3: as you become more familiar, we'd love to have you
Speaker 3: as members of the UGA. You know, get a handicap
Speaker 3: index and start tracking your progress. That's that's our goal.
Speaker 3: We think it's you know, we help develop those players
Speaker 3: that can go from just beginning to maybe one day
Speaker 3: playing you know, championship level golf here in the state.
Speaker 3: So I encourage everyone to go out and try something new,
Speaker 3: whatever that may be. And if you'll visit you Jade
Speaker 3: dot org. That's how you can become a member, get
Speaker 3: a handicap index, and play as much golf as possible.
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you before I set you loose, after
Speaker 1: you're on last time. I showed up the next morning
Speaker 1: to play around of Bottleville and as I checked in
Speaker 1: paid the fee. As I was walking out, one of
Speaker 1: my guys up there said, hey, go easy on Easton,
Speaker 1: will you? So I don't know if you got any
Speaker 1: feedback last time, but people were listening, and I apologize
Speaker 1: if I went too hard on you.
Speaker 3: No, of course not. I know where you're coming from.
Speaker 3: Everyone wants to tea time, and everyone wants to get
Speaker 3: out there and play. You know, like I said, from
Speaker 3: our standpoint, love seeing t sheets full, and our golf
Speaker 3: professionals are working really hard to make it a good experience.
Speaker 3: But no, we want you to be able to get
Speaker 3: out there and play, you know, a quick ground too.
Speaker 3: I know you're busy, so hope you'll keep playing.
Speaker 2: Oh you know, I will. You know, I will, Buddy.
Speaker 1: I appreciate the time today, and if the next keep advancing,
Speaker 1: we're going to keep having you on because now the
Speaker 1: good luck charm apparently he's in play, all right.
Speaker 3: I love it. Thanks for time, Spence, Go next.
Speaker 1: Easton Foster, executive director of the Utah Golf Association.
Speaker 2: Go to UGA dot org