EP110: Would You Give Up Your Athletic Dream For Your Kids?

Interview with Todd Demsey / PGA Tour Player Who Walked Away From The Game

HOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVAN

"Thirty weeks a year on the road - it's not worth it.," said Todd Demsey who wasn't a consultant or traveling salesman. He was a PGA Tour golfer living every golfer's dream. It was his dream, too - until his children were too old to travel with him. So he gave it up and moved to a beach town in the shadows of Ponte Vedra Beach, home of the PGA Tour. And there he's been making golf clubs, giving lessons and most of all spending time with his kids. He has no regrets - and may have a second chance at playing. Listen to what he's gained. 

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Transcript

00;00;05;19 - 00;00;27;05
Paul Sullivan
Welcome to the Company of Dads podcast, where we explore the sweet, silly, strange and sublime aspects of being a lead dad in a world where men who are the go to parent aren't always accepted at work, among their friends, or in the community for what they're doing. I'm your host, Paul Sullivan. our podcast is just one of the many things we produce each week at the company that we have various features, including leader of the week.

00;00;27;12 - 00;00;56;21
Paul Sullivan
We have our monthly meetups. We have a new resource library for all fathers. The one stop shop for all of this is our newsletter, The Dad. So sign up today at the company of dads dot com, Backslash the dad. Today our guest is Todd Dempsey, former PGA tour golfer who had a change of heart when his kids got older. Dempsey grew up in Southern California, graduated from Torrey Pines High School, and then went on to Arizona State to proving ground for some of the best golfers in the United States.

00;00;56;22 - 00;01;17;06
Paul Sullivan
He won the California State Amateur title, notching his name on the plaque. At the first tee, a Pebble Beach beat two future major champions to win the NCAA championship and played on a winning Walker Cup team. He then settled into PGA tour career when his kids arrived, a daughter, then a son. His wife brought them along and the foursome traveled together.

00;01;17;08 - 00;01;34;01
Paul Sullivan
Todd made over 150 cuts, which is the marker to play the weekend and make money the tour. Then, when it was time for his daughter to start school, he had a change of heart. He wanted to be there for his kids and the PGA tour. As glamorous as it may seem, requires you to be away from home at least 30 weeks a year.

00;01;34;04 - 00;01;42;11
Paul Sullivan
So he made a decision not many would make. He gave it up to be a leave. Todd, welcome to the company dad's podcast.

00;01;42;14 - 00;01;44;24
Todd Dempsey
Glad to be here. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

00;01;44;27 - 00;02;02;18
Paul Sullivan
You know, your dad was a great golfer. He played at Wake Forest, you know, which is famous for, you know, the barber. You know, I'm a lot of out of Palmer. You know, one of your teammates in the Walker club, Jay Siegel, was a great Wake Forest player. What do you remember of him, though? As as a father?

00;02;02;21 - 00;02;29;14
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, he, just was a just incredible business man. He built a great company. He, great golfer, a great dad. I mean, really, he was. He was pretty amazing. Looking back now, I just don't even know how he did it all. He, He was there for just about everything. That that he really didn't miss much.

00;02;29;14 - 00;02;38;13
Todd Dempsey
Plus, he built built a business, and, so, yeah, he he's amazing. And I, hopefully learned something from him. Yeah.

00;02;38;15 - 00;02;41;03
Paul Sullivan
When did he get you started playing golf?

00;02;41;05 - 00;03;14;20
Todd Dempsey
I was about ten the first time we went out. He played golf on the weekends, and I finally joined him when they went out to the Loma Santa Fe Executive Course in San Diego, where I grew up. And, just loved it right away. And, started going out more frequent frequently with them. And then when I turned 12, I was pretty much all in and knew that I wanted to get a PGA tour and do this for a living.

00;03;14;22 - 00;03;29;09
Todd Dempsey
So yeah, it was, he never really necessarily pushed me to play, but I just finally joined him one day, and. And, he's been, supportive ever since.

00;03;29;11 - 00;03;33;13
Paul Sullivan
Did you have any siblings who played as well, or you were the the lone golfer in the family?

00;03;33;15 - 00;03;46;07
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. Pretty much a long golfer. My sister plays a little bit, but, but I was doing other things. Tennis stuff. So, yeah, I was pretty much the the lone golfer. Yeah.

00;03;46;09 - 00;04;06;05
Paul Sullivan
You know, you said at age 12, you wanted to play on the, the, the PGA tour. I also remember, at age 12, hitting some tour edition golf balls, in my backyard, thinking I was going to be Greg Norman for Greg Norman became this controversial figure. It didn't quite happen, for me, but it but it happened for you.

00;04;06;05 - 00;04;26;24
Paul Sullivan
And so, you know, with your skill, you were great at every level. You know, golf in San Diego and Southern California is super competitive. You know, you went on to Arizona State, which is produced amazing professional golfers. Was there ever a moment where you thought you might do something other than be a professional golf?

00;04;26;26 - 00;04;53;17
Todd Dempsey
Not. Not really. Not growing up. I pretty much thought this is what I'm going to do. And so. So I'm 60 years old and, you know, Champions Tour everything. That's kind of what I had had in mind. But it wasn't until, well, I guess the first year I had my PGA tour card in 97, and I kind of kind of realized maybe this isn't I don't necessarily love the life being on the road.

00;04;53;17 - 00;05;24;22
Todd Dempsey
And, but I, you know, having kids. And then when the kids got to school age and, and gone playing golf, I really, really realized that not I wasn't sure that it's it's worth it to, to miss, you know, half of my kid's childhood to do this, you know, so obviously, if I was playing a little better, I don't think it would make a difference, but it would make it a little harder of a decision that,

00;05;24;24 - 00;05;37;13
Todd Dempsey
But, yeah, the just not, you know, now that the kids are almost off to college, I'd consider doing it again. But we'll see what happens.

00;05;37;15 - 00;05;55;26
Paul Sullivan
Yeah, well, we'll get to that in a second. I want to, you know, come back for for the listeners who are not, complete golf geeks, like I am. I mean, you won the California State, amateur at Pebble Beach. I played at Pebble Beach, and I played in the Champions Tour event there as an amateur. The plaque on the first tee, your name is there.

00;05;55;28 - 00;05;58;29
Paul Sullivan
You beat. Who did you beat?

00;05;59;02 - 00;06;33;19
Todd Dempsey
Dave Brogan, you. And, in the final, who was, he was at University of Arizona, so we were kind of rival. He's a good friend, but, yeah. 36 hole final at Pebble. I played Pebble nine times in six days because of the matchplay format. And, you played the final. We there's two of us, obviously. And we, we would play three groups, which I've never done in a, in a big tournament before, but I guess Pebble didn't want to shut it down for us, even back in 92.

00;06;33;20 - 00;06;47;21
Todd Dempsey
So, yeah, it was interesting, but I just I love that place before that week and then after that and just imagine. Yeah, we about it. It's good. Good. A week of golf as I can remember.

00;06;47;24 - 00;06;56;02
Paul Sullivan
And then you win the NCAA. And you beat two guys who are pretty well known. Who were those two guys that you beat to win the NCAA?

00;06;56;05 - 00;07;07;22
Todd Dempsey
David Duval finished second. Justin Leonard finished third. Yeah. So yeah, that was I didn't really think much of it at the time, but but both ended up being and great players obviously.

00;07;07;26 - 00;07;25;03
Paul Sullivan
But both end up being major champions. Both ended up you know Justin Leonard you know makes one of the most famous putts in Ryder Cup history. David Duval shoots a 59 wins a couple majors. He was number one player in the world. These are legit people you beat. And then you go on, to the Walker Cup.

00;07;25;03 - 00;07;42;22
Paul Sullivan
And for listeners who don't know, it is that that's essentially the amateur version of, of the Ryder Cup. And in your singles match, you beat a guy who I've talked to many times. Who who I think the world of one. You tell the listeners who you beat in the singles match.

00;07;42;25 - 00;07;44;29
Todd Dempsey
Honestly, I don't remember what the Harrington or.

00;07;44;29 - 00;08;00;04
Paul Sullivan
You mean you beat Harrington? You beat Harrington a three time, major champion, Champions Tour standout. And yeah, you had I if I, if I'm right of my research is right. You won all your matches on the the Walker Cup.

00;08;00;07 - 00;08;25;14
Todd Dempsey
That correct? Yeah, yeah I did I think a lot of us did. We won 19 to 5. So it was kind of a blowout. But we, you know, that Interlochen in Minnesota. I remember it was rain shortened to two days instead of, I think three. So it was kind of like a quick, quick one. And it was kind of over after the first day.

00;08;25;16 - 00;08;52;06
Todd Dempsey
But it was, you know, amazing experience playing with, you know, Leonard and drawing like, Tim Hare and Jay Seagull. John Harris. Yeah. Brian Gay Bergen. Yeah, but but yeah, it was a great group. We won one pretty easily. And but yeah, those are, those are the things I remember in golf. The probably more the amateur stuff, the PGA tour stuff, I'll kind of run runs together.

00;08;52;07 - 00;08;58;13
Todd Dempsey
Just seems like one kind of a blur. But the amateur stuff was memorable to me.

00;08;58;15 - 00;09;07;09
Paul Sullivan
Yeah, but then you go out on tour and your wife now. Which your wife this time. Did you meet her early on? Did she travel with you from those early days?

00;09;07;12 - 00;09;30;18
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. We, see, we married in oh one, so. So, yeah, it was, during oh two. But it was in early days. No, but. Yeah, we met, when I was 28, so when we traveled the PGA tour and, and, what's now Korn Ferry Tour through ten, 12 years together?

00;09;30;20 - 00;09;53;27
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. And I mean, just to paint a picture here because, again, you know, you know, I'm a very amateur golfer. I was an, you know, a very amateur golfer. But having played a couple times, in the Champions Tour event out of Pebble, there's a lot of dead time. You know, it looks great when you're on TV, but even if the round takes five hours, even if the round takes six hours, you still have a lot of your day, you know, left.

00;09;53;27 - 00;10;02;06
Paul Sullivan
And what was that like to get adjusted to, you know, first as a single guy and then as, you know, a newly married man?

00;10;02;09 - 00;10;25;14
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, but much better after getting married and having kids, you know, we could do stuff together and definitely better way to pass the time and then going to see a movie or sit in the hotel room. So it, yeah, that was that was one of the things I didn't like right off the bat was that, that life out there and a lot of it seemed like a lot of wasted time.

00;10;25;18 - 00;10;44;16
Todd Dempsey
But with the family it was a lot better. But then back when they became school age and I was again on the road on my on my own and, you know, reminded me again of how, how much, how much wasted time there is out there. And I'm sure there's probably better ways to spend that that I didn't know about.

00;10;44;16 - 00;11;01;10
Todd Dempsey
But it, you know, a lot of just waiting around and, to, to play again. So it's, again, not not necessarily what I love doing. I love the golf part and the competition, but the rest I could have done without.

00;11;01;12 - 00;11;18;10
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. And so but for a couple of years, you're traveling your daughters older and your son, you're traveling with them. And what does what does that feel like? What does that do when you think back? What did that feel like? Traveling in your family, playing professional golf, going from, you know, city to city week after week?

00;11;18;13 - 00;11;46;24
Todd Dempsey
You know, that was great. The kids got to see a lot. And at a young age, maybe they don't remember it, but it was, that was probably my favorite stretch. And, pro golf, you know, I don't really remember the result, but I definitely the happiest I've been on the road. But yeah, again, that changed when when the kids got older, and then all of a sudden I'm out there alone again.

00;11;46;27 - 00;12;01;25
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, but but yeah, the driving it, we. You traveled in an RV much of the time so that that. Yeah. It's just a great, great stretch of, golf and family and travel.

00;12;01;27 - 00;12;05;09
Paul Sullivan
Do you remember, player Ken Green? Do you remember Ken Green?

00;12;05;12 - 00;12;08;17
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, yeah, he was an RV.

00;12;08;20 - 00;12;27;07
Paul Sullivan
He's an RV guy. He's my hero. Growing up, I grew up, and, you know, can I use Connecticut? Got the green glove here, Mark Cadillac getting all stoned. And he's had a rough front of it. He's had two crashes. RV had some injuries, but a couple years ago, the Connecticut State Open was at my, club, and there is a giant RV, in the parking lot.

00;12;27;07 - 00;12;33;02
Paul Sullivan
And of course, it was it was great. Still still traveling by by RV from from tournament to tournament.

00;12;33;04 - 00;12;56;08
Todd Dempsey
It's great. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that I met him, but he was somebody I looked up to, growing up. He's winning a lot of tournaments. But I do have that. He had that terrible RV accident, but he, Yeah. Great. Tommy guy, from what I've seen. But glad to hear he's still out there playing and and, he's got RV.

00;12;56;10 - 00;12;57;13
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, yeah.

00;12;57;15 - 00;13;16;05
Paul Sullivan
Now you're you're pretty much a contemporary. Maybe one year difference of a Phil Mickelson. Now, the California guy, you're a couple years older than than Tiger Woods. And of course, you know really Tiger you Phil too. But really Tiger when he came on tour that's when you know, the tour exploded. The prize money started to creep up a lot more attention.

00;13;16;07 - 00;13;35;11
Paul Sullivan
You know, you're sort of in the midst of it. But you know, there's family you want you want to be, a dad. You know, when you decided to leave that behind, what was the reaction, among your your fellow players, you know, guys that you've been playing with since you were a kid you played against in college?

00;13;35;11 - 00;13;42;04
Paul Sullivan
Walk up guys. What was your reaction when you said, you know what? You know, I'm going to leave this. I'm going to I'm going to go be a dad.

00;13;42;06 - 00;14;15;18
Todd Dempsey
It was it was kind of a gradual thing. So it's not like one day I said, okay, I'm done. I felt like doing that many times, but it wasn't like just one just kind of faded out and faded out of the game. And, you know. I mean, I have gotten a lot of, reactions from people that, you know, we should be should be out there playing and, but yeah, I think most people close to me realize that, that I just wasn't where my heart was.

00;14;15;18 - 00;14;41;09
Todd Dempsey
And, again, you know, I maybe do it again someday when it works at experience. But, you know, the golf part. I loved the rest. Not mine as much, but. Yeah, yeah, again, it wasn't like it was kind of gradual. So they. It wasn't like a big shock to anybody, I don't think.

00;14;41;11 - 00;14;46;02
Paul Sullivan
Did you know when you played your last tour where actually what was your last tournament that you played on tour?

00;14;46;04 - 00;14;49;17
Todd Dempsey


00;14;49;19 - 00;15;18;10
Todd Dempsey
Actually, I think the last one was like 2013, Byron Nelson something like that. And I remember I played steel. Share that. That's the only reason I remember it. It's because there were some articles about that was one of the last people to play a steel shaft. And in my words, but yeah, I think that was my last PGA tour event, and I might have played a couple of Korn Ferry events after that.

00;15;18;13 - 00;15;25;21
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, probably 2016 might have been my last Korn Ferry event.

00;15;25;24 - 00;15;45;07
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. What was the transition like? You know, what did what did you want. Because you now live in Neptune Beach. So that sort of, you know, people who don't know northeastern Florida geography, that's sort of in the shadow of Ponte Vedra Beach, where, of course, the global quarters of the PGA tour is, that's where you went, you know, when you got off the tour, what was that transition like from tour player to.

00;15;45;07 - 00;15;49;02
Paul Sullivan
And we want to talk about this, you know, what you decided to do afterwards?

00;15;49;04 - 00;16;15;21
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. First I was going to maybe look into something out of golf completely. I was a little burnt out on the game. And but, you know, I, I looked around and didn't see anything that inspired me too much. And, you know, not a ton of people searching for a washed up to a pro to hire. So I, I started coaching some kids, which I enjoyed.

00;16;15;24 - 00;16;57;24
Todd Dempsey
I've always been interested in, more traditional golf equipment and, you know, refinished woods back in high school. So I started messing around with Persimmon Woods and making them for myself and, experimenting with different, different things with, with persimmon woods and, and that's kind of where, where I am now just, creating, creating woods for people that are looking to kind of, and to revisit, the roots of the game and play it the way, the way they did for hundreds of years before the, hollow titanium heads came out.

00;16;57;29 - 00;17;03;04
Todd Dempsey
So it's, it's been a lot of fun. I it's a lot of work, but I, I enjoy it.

00;17;03;07 - 00;17;21;11
Paul Sullivan
So we'll we'll talk, you know, a little bit later about, you know, but more about the personal and business and explain that to the listeners. But, you know, when you're married, when you have kids, it's rare that you make, decisions in a vacuum. This is not like you were at know Arizona State still, and you wanted to hit, you know, wedge shots for five hours on a Tuesday night.

00;17;21;11 - 00;17;35;16
Paul Sullivan
You could do whatever you want. What was the conversation like? You know, kids are too young, but what was the conversation like with your wife as you talked with her about, you know, changing careers and moving on to something else?

00;17;35;18 - 00;17;58;22
Todd Dempsey
That also was kind of a gradual process. It was, again, just one moment. But, she's always been supportive of what I do. And, and and then, you know, playing professionally, it's that she had to make so many sacrifices, you know, left a good career herself to, to go out with me on the road and did some caddying for me for a couple of years.

00;17;58;22 - 00;18;41;06
Todd Dempsey
And so she's made huge sacrifices. And, So, yeah, we, you know, again, it it's so gradual the leaving the, the game at, I mean, she's always just been supportive of me pursuing my dreams. And, you know, that. That became, you know, golf, professional golf kind of faded away as, as as a dream. And, they actually, through every step, she's been really supportive and done amazing things for, to keep everything moving forward.

00;18;41;08 - 00;18;50;24
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. And so when you think about, you know, your kids, I think you told me about your daughter is a senior in high school and your son is a freshman. Is that I get that right?

00;18;50;24 - 00;18;51;15
Todd Dempsey
That's right.

00;18;51;18 - 00;19;21;05
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. So, they still very much need you. I know my kids are getting older, too. You become the driver, and the listener much more than the, you know, and then doing as much. But when you think about the journey you've had over the past, you know, ten or so years, eight, 8 to 10 years since you came off the tour, started this business making, you know, custom golf clubs, done some coaching and what have been some of the most rewarding part to being, what we call, early dad.

00;19;21;07 - 00;19;56;29
Todd Dempsey
I guess just the fact that, I mean, I did miss some things early on at the end of my playing and, and with some travel and recently. But but yeah, just just feeling like I, I was there for them from, you know, you know, that's what I look back on things because, you know, it's fun to travel the world and take the kids to some great places, but, just feeling like, between my wife and I just always being there for them and and really not missing missing much.

00;19;56;29 - 00;20;08;12
Todd Dempsey
And, similar to way my parents kind of just somehow met at work. So that's that's probably what works most satisfying to me.

00;20;08;14 - 00;20;27;10
Paul Sullivan
Yeah, yeah. And, you know, the business you've created for for listeners, you don't know golf, you know, persimmon woods are the types of woods that we played with through, played through the 1980s, I think. Right. I mean, that's and you may have played them a little bit longer, but that's, you know, and so the Callaway came out with these metal woods, titanium woods and TaylorMade.

00;20;27;10 - 00;20;48;02
Paul Sullivan
That was kind of the 90s. You're going back to that. There's a huge interest in interacting with the game of golf differently now. Of course some people always want the newest and the best when hit as far as they can. Other people want to, you know, go back to these courses and play them, you know, the way they they were meant to be played or the way they were designed to be played.

00;20;48;04 - 00;21;06;10
Paul Sullivan
What's been, you know, some of the most when you think of stories that you've had in going into this position in one business, you know, what have been some of the most rewarding, you know, interactions you've had with people and what do you try to, you know, put into those clubs that you're custom making for individuals?

00;21;06;12 - 00;21;27;21
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, it's been probably, you know, just the people that connected with actually our mutual friend Todd Rohrer, he's he's kind of got me in going in this direction in LA. And I play golf with them. And he took out a persimmon wood. And I was still playing on the tour. And, you got a great shot right down the middle with this person.

00;21;27;21 - 00;21;54;23
Todd Dempsey
I'm in and, and I kind of ask him, what, what are you doing? And he said, I play golf for a century. Reasons for sensory satisfaction. And it kind of made sense to me that I was playing to make a living or, you know, who knows what, but I it was just, kind of opened my eyes to, to a new way of looking at the game.

00;21;54;23 - 00;22;36;16
Todd Dempsey
And, and I actually played. The game a little bit more in that direction towards the end of my playing days, which was, which was helpful. Playing more for the joy of the game and the love of the game and then for some kind of result. So, you know, interactions with him. You know, just all the people that I've met that, that I've found are interested in, you know, playing the game, you know, a lot of these courses are unfortunately obsolete with the with the equipment out today, hopefully the the ball roll back will will help with that.

00;22;36;19 - 00;22;47;14
Todd Dempsey
You know there's that there's a lot of people out there with similar similar mindset as me and and been fun to, to meet with those people and create woods for them.

00;22;47;17 - 00;22;58;21
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. Now, you know, as you said, your kids are both in, in high school. They're they're both the high school athletes. Believe. You told me your daughter's a great surfer, right? Right. Yeah. Right. Yes.

00;22;58;21 - 00;23;30;01
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. The the kids are competitive surfers, and, Yeah, they found something they love doing, which I'm really happy about as a dad. And my parents kind of, encourage my, my golf, you know, just really pursuing it 100%, which the kids do with surfing. And my son, also a baseball. So. Yeah. Yeah, that, I'm, I'm happy that I've been able to, to do what I can to help that.

00;23;30;01 - 00;23;44;12
Todd Dempsey
But they're, they're just such, such motivated and, and, and good kids that, that just pour everything they have into what they're doing. So it's it's fun to watch.

00;23;44;14 - 00;23;46;12
Paul Sullivan
Do you surf with them?

00;23;46;15 - 00;24;06;14
Todd Dempsey
I do, yeah, I try to get out every day. And what, keeps me, keeps me young. I guess. Or feeling old when I'm out there with them, but I. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. It's, I grew up surfing a little bit and in San Diego, so it's fun to revisit that and kind of keep staying safe.

00;24;06;16 - 00;24;27;27
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. Now, you know, as you said, this has been a great, conversation. But as you said, you know, your kids are getting older. They need you in a different way. Now, your wife has had her own career. You got the club making business, but you've you've started to, you know, take a crack at golf, get you started to try to qualify for the the Champions Tour.

00;24;27;27 - 00;24;45;15
Paul Sullivan
And again, for listeners who don't know, I think it's probably the toughest tour, to qualify if you're one of your former competitors, a David Duval or Justin Leonard, you get to go on automatically when you're 50 because you won major championships. But, you know, other people who are trying to qualify, they only take five, and no ties.

00;24;45;15 - 00;25;04;05
Paul Sullivan
It's like the top five. And so it's amazing. And I've known some great guy I know. Jay Siegel, your former amateur teammate. He made it a more recently kind of world content. Iowa, was rocky. He made it. It's awesome to do it. It's it's sort of, a dream come true. What was it like when you went back out there?

00;25;04;07 - 00;25;20;14
Paul Sullivan
To qualify? What did it it feel like, you know, you had one of your persimmon woods in your bag. What did it feel like to be out there competing at the highest stage? Surely with some guys that you'd played with when you were much younger? And really giving it a go.

00;25;20;17 - 00;25;55;07
Todd Dempsey
You know, it's fun. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed and missed the competition part. So yeah, it was I enjoyed it. It, then I had a good chance to make that top five in the last day. I didn't play great, but I, Yeah, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, and I think just, I have a little different perspective now, so it's kind of all just a healthier, healthier mindset out there now or, it's it's not everything.

00;25;55;07 - 00;26;19;06
Todd Dempsey
You know, my whole world doesn't revolve around my score that day. So it's a little different now. And, I hope to do some more. Well, we'll see. I mean, I, it's not easy, like you say. And it's, there anything? They're trying to shut it down even more for, for guys of my kind of category. So it's,

00;26;19;09 - 00;26;41;16
Todd Dempsey
Yeah, it's a it's a tough road, but I, I miss competing, and I want to compete somewhere, at least. At least. So Champions Tour seems to be the most logical for that. But but who knows? We'll we'll see. I'll just keep keep looking at all possibilities and keep, keep practicing. Every day I pretty much just at home.

00;26;41;19 - 00;26;59;02
Todd Dempsey
I take breaks for making woods and and guitars into the net and into the school, across the street and on the beach and stuff. But I, I stay, stay swinging every day, and, so I feel ready to go, go compete pretty much any time.

00;26;59;05 - 00;27;04;06
Paul Sullivan
That's amazing. Are you going to go to, Q school again for the Champions Tour?

00;27;04;09 - 00;27;20;00
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. Most likely. We'll see. Yeah, I got my last two now, so we'll see. I feel like I can get in that top five, but, yeah, it'll be start taking them out in the fall.

00;27;20;02 - 00;27;40;09
Paul Sullivan
Yeah. Todd Dempsey, pro golfer, club maker. Amazing. Dad, this has been great talking to you today. One last question for you. For some of the fathers listening to us, you know, you're a great golfer. But your kids are surfers. You know, parents want, you know, dads and moms want their kids to play golf with them.

00;27;40;14 - 00;27;50;05
Paul Sullivan
What tips would you give, to an enthusiastic dad who just wants to go out there and play with with their son or daughter?

00;27;50;07 - 00;28;16;29
Todd Dempsey
Yeah. I mean, I and the kid has has to want to do it, you know, and and my, my kids would join me one once in a while, but I could tell it wasn't what they loved doing. So, I mean, I would just be careful not to push them too hard because, you know, I won't like it, but I, I probably could have pushed my kids a little more than I did.

00;28;17;00 - 00;28;39;00
Todd Dempsey
Maybe I'd have a couple more golfing partners, but they, And actually, my daughter and I went out yesterday in the past, you never know. She seems interested now. So I think just letting it happen naturally and not trying to force anything would be bigger. But I don't know. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

00;28;39;03 - 00;28;44;22
Paul Sullivan
Great tip. Todd Dempsey, thank you again for being my guest on the company. This podcast.

00;28;44;24 - 00;28;47;14
Todd Dempsey
Thanks for enjoyed it.

00;28;47;16 - 00;29;12;27
Paul Sullivan
Thank you for listening to the company, that podcast. I also want to thank the people who make this podcast and everything else that we do. The company of that possible, Helder Mira, who is our audio producer, Lindsay Decker hand is all of our social media. Terry Brennan, who's helping us with the newsletter and audience acquisition, Emily Servin, who is our web maestro, and of course, Evan Roosevelt, who is working side by side with me.

00;29;12;27 - 00;29;30;18
Paul Sullivan
And many of the things that we do here at the Company of Dad. It's a great team. And we're we're just trying to bring you the best in fatherhood. Remember, the one stop shop for everything is our newsletter, the dad. Sign up at the Company of dads.com backslash. The dad. Thank you again for listening.