The Making of a Dream Golf Course: LA Country Club North | US Open 2023 Preview

Get ready to explore the beauty and history of the Los Angeles Country Club North Course, a new dream golf course on this week's PureGolf Podcast. Did you know it's one of the most expensive pieces of property a golf course can sit on? Join us as we discuss the brilliant restoration done in 2010.

We'll cover the intricacies of golf course architecture and the most noteworthy holes at the upcoming US Open, like the notorious drivable par four on hole six, the massive par three on hole eleven, and the tiny par three on hole fifteen. Plus, Zach joins us to share his picks for the tournament and debate who can pull off a win at this beautiful course. Who do you think will take home the trophy?

Lastly, we'll dive into what our dream scenarios for the final day of play would look like, and discuss the perfect week of golf. From the media's portrayal of Brandel Chamblee to Zach's satisfaction with Brooks Koepka's "welfare check" joke, we've got a lot of excitement and anticipation leading up to the US Open. Don't miss this engaging conversation on the making of a great golf course and the anticipation of a thrilling tournament.

Chapters

• 0:00 US Open Golf Course Analysis
• 15:02 US Open Golf Analysis and Picks
• 36:05 US Open Anticipation and Preferences
• 49:32 Golf Course Hole Recommendations

Transcript

Jordan: 0:00

What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to the Pure Golf Podcast. I am your host and my name is Jordan. Today we cover the US Open. That is just one day away from teeing off And you know what? I think I have a new dream golf course I'd like to play. You heard me correctly. But first let's get over to the announcements. On Sunday, we have our first ever virtual competition between one of our fellow podcasters against Zach. It is Zach vs David, in two completely different states competing against each other.

Jordan: 0:44

I've never seen anything like this on any YouTube channel and, to my knowledge, we're the first to do it. I could be entirely wrong, but I'm gonna stick to my guns until someone tells me differently. But do you know what is happening every day on the Pure Golf channel and all the social medias this week? Shorts. We are posting shorts every single day across all of our platforms. So if you're not following us on social media to enjoy the content that we are putting out, give us a follow. The handle is at my pure golf. All one word M-Y-P-U-R-E-G-O-L-F across TikTok, instagram, facebook, youtube. We're on all the major platforms. So go, give us a follow. Help us grow. Tell your friends and family about us. We want everyone to join in and be a part of the fun, and if you can also subscribe and rate the podcast, that would be absolutely amazing. We really want this thing to grow and it just isn't possible without wonderful people like yourself And we just really want to help golfers consistently break 80. We are finding that that is what we are growing into as a company To help golfers consistently break 80 in any and every way possible. So thanks so much for joining us.

Jordan: 2:03

Now back to the podcast. Okay, i had a podcast partner for this one, but something came up right around the time we were going to record and he needed to miss it. However, rest assured, i brought reinforcements later in the podcast in the name of Zach. So after this segment where I talk about the brilliance of this golf course, a little history of it, zach and I are going to sit down and talk about who we think can win on this beautiful course. We talk about what we hope the winning scores will be, who we think can pull it off and what our dream scenario is for the final day of playing.

Jordan: 2:50

But before we get to that, let's talk about this incredible golf course. Like I said earlier, i think this is my new dream course to play And I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to. It sits on one of the most expensive pieces of property that a golf course can sit on. It may be the most expensive in the world that is not confirmed but it's probably a top five in terms of value of the landed sits on. But okay, i knew nothing about this course going into this tournament. Well, i mean, we really haven't had a ton of big events played here And whenever the players go around the LA area, it's always to go to Riviera. So that's the. That's the course we're pretty familiar with.

Jordan: 3:39

But having a podcast has started doing a deep dive on this course And yet again I'm finding myself giving a shout out to the fried egg YouTube channel. You guys may have heard me mention them before. Go give them a subscribe on YouTube. We have zero partnership with them, but they are simply unbelievable at storytelling in terms of a golf course And they put out about four videos on this golf course of LA country club, the North course in particular. If you're a golf nerd, you will absolutely dig this stuff.

Jordan: 4:11

But let's just get to the facts of the golf course for this US Open. This is being played at Los Angeles country clubs North course. This tournament, the 2023 edition of the US Open, is going to be played, like I said, la country clubs North course. It's a par 70. It has five par threes and three par fives only three, which is a bummer to me that we only get three. But five par threes is always extremely exciting, right, and it's going to total around 7400 yards. Later in this podcast you're going to understand that front to back yard just 7400 yards may be tinkered with a little bit, but that is quite all right. I think it actually makes it a little bit more exciting.

Jordan: 4:59

But initially, when I started digging into this golf course, i was pulling up pictures of the course. I was just thinking to myself dude, this place looks dated. It looks like it's in pretty rough shape And like I was getting a little concerned. And I mean, the grass is in all sorts of different colors. There's sand in places that just look like there shouldn't be sand there. It looks really uncared for. It just looked really rough to me. But then, the more you dig into it, it's very intentional that the course looks like this. It was literally a part of the renovation for them to take it, give it tons of splashes of color and make it look dated, like it's like it's original design in the 1920s. I've seen some pictures of it prior to the restoration they did in 2010. And it looked just. It looked like any other golf course, it just looked green. You know it is boring, to be honest with you, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I mean, we're already talking about a renovation, but let me rewind a little bit.

Jordan: 6:04

A course architect by the name of George C Thomas was one of the initial architects of this North course at LA Country Club. And I just just a little history on Mr Thomas. He was a pilot in the military in World War One. He crashed his plane like three times, which obviously gave him physical injuries. Like who's going to survive three plane crashes, be alive and not have some type of injury? So he got an honorable discharge from the military But just due to all the physical injuries and stuff he had, he wanted to find a place where he could stay for a while and live comfortably. So he chose LA because the weather just agreed with him and the injuries.

Jordan: 6:44

He loved the natural beauty that surrounded him And then he starts getting into horticulture, which is like gardening management, and this dude knows all sorts of stuff about gardening flowers and especially roses. But he also gets into golf architecture. And for the record, this guy like I think I've heard stories like He grew over like 1200 types of roses or hybrids of roses. It was amazing. I can't remember the stat exactly, probably shouldn't put it on the podcast, but I'm gonna put it out there. There's something that the number 1200 and Roses with him, but Whatever. So if you see any roses in the decor of this tournament at any point, that's why it's just a little shout out to him.

Jordan: 7:34

He goes on to design Bel Air in California, which is a country club out there, then Riviera, then LA country clubs North course. After he finishes that up he has some health problems and he tries to come back and do the South course at LA country club. But he has a heart attack in 1932 and suddenly passed away And I think there were some designs for that South course that he had that they apparently tried very hard to dig up, but they just can't find him. There seems to be no record of them, which is a bummer. But you guys, this guy was like a freaking time traveler. I swear he was Way ahead of his times in terms of designing a golf course and I mean, i'm gonna give you a couple of the stories of just how ahead of his time He was of like he's doing things in the 1920s that I don't think I've seen repeated in the 2020s. It it's insane.

Jordan: 8:31

So at Bel Air, the courses front nine takes this massive dip into some deeper terrain of LA And at the end, at the end of nine holes, there was like no way to get to the 10th hole. You had to take like I'm exaggerating, but like a mountain of a drive to get there, and so what he did was he builds this tunnel for golf carts to just drive into. And then How how would you get to hole 10, which is up quite a ways From hole nine? you think you know it. Just drive underneath the tunnel, it'll connect you like a steep hill, no wrong. He has golfers get out of the cart, unhook their bags and hop in an elevator You are hearing me correctly. So you are actually transferring carts from hole nine to hole ten, right an elevator and then you're at holes, and I couldn't Couldn't verify whether this is still happening today, but this is in the 1920s and It's just amazing to me that he was thinking of these, these things, back then. I Mean, yeah, yeah, i've literally never heard of a golf course that has an elevator take you from hole nine to hole ten. I've been spoiled and only walked or taken a golf cart, but this guy's doing it in the 1920s. This is, i mean, it's just amazing to even think about.

Jordan: 9:59

Given the time, his design and forward thinking gets in a Completely different way, even more insane for LA country clubs in the North course, and I mean we're spoiled by what we have today, but again, taken to account that it was the time. So He designs what we're gonna call a regular golf course within a championship course. You know like, isn't that what most championship courses do Today? yeah, i think more than more than usual. Yeah, but what he does is He can make this course much, much easier or incredibly freaking hard, just based on pin placements as well as tee boxes. And so while he's building and designing the course and doing his golf architecture thing, it like this genius level He's noting that through his design where he can place tee boxes to make it play much, much harder, but he also has pins that he can tuck away in, like these inaccessible areas for regular golfers. So what he did was he had a quote-unquote regular layout that plays as a par 70 But then when it moves over to this championship course, the park could be as low as a 69 or as high as a 73 and Obviously, it goes without saying, there was a short tournament layout and a long tournament layout Which would lead to the 69 or the 73? And you just kind of think about like people today or are designing these, these golf courses, and they're very similar to that kind of design now. But I think from from all the records that I have, he's the first to really incorporate the championship versus regular in his design. So that kind of brings me to One of my. My points that you're gonna hear all week is You're gonna hear a lot about what is par and a half, and I'm saying that in quotes. They're probably gonna be moving those t-boxes and pins around, just as it was designed back in the early 1920s.

Jordan: 12:10

So Hole number one is a par five, but it's this very, very easy par five that He's kind of expecting you to birdie or at least walk away from Like with a little confidence. You know. But it's so easy that you know It could probably be safely labeled as a par four point five. But What backs up the first hole? after you get a little confidence It's then a par four that is going to smack you in the face. It's just long Hole, it's a long par four. It's a struggle to play and it's so hard that you could probably safely label it Guess what a par four point five.

Jordan: 12:50

And From what I gather, that's what George Thomas was known for in his designs. He wants to start you out of this very easy hole to get your confidence up. Then he wants to smack you in the face with a super difficult second hole and Throughout these golfers times playing this course, i just think they're gonna be left saying Just take my par and get on to the next hole. And I think that's really what the US Open is all about Get your par, move on. It's not about making birdie. It's sometimes going to be about making bogey, saving the bogey, but a lot of times get your par and move on. That is my favorite thing about the US Open is it is the hardest golf tournament in the world and it is a struggle many times to just make par, and it is a very big struggle to make birdies, or at least it should be in a proper course design.

Jordan: 13:45

So if you guys tuned into our Oak Hill podcast before the PGA Championship there's a little bit of a similar story here And if you haven't, even to just go back and listen to the first part of that podcast I would highly recommend. Granted, it is pure golf channel, so I'm going to recommend it anyways. But just the course design of Oak Hill is amazing of what all went into that. Just like Oak Hill for the PGA Championship, this course has undergone some redesigns from George Thomas initial design. George Thomas did not design Oak Hill, but you get what I'm saying. He's the original architect and they kind of strayed away from it over the years. But in 2008, two guys named Gil Hans and Jeff Shackleford come in and pretty much restore George Thomas initial design And I had just a little bit of flair to it. but I want to give you guys their two names Again, that's Gil Hans and Jeff Shackleford, because these guys deserve some real credit for what they do, because as I heard them talk more and more on this fried egg channel, i find myself wanting to know more and more about golf architecture And Jeff Shackleford.

Jordan: 15:02

He just sounds like this absolute genius when you hear him talk is he's obsessed and I mean utterly obsessed with attention to detail. Just recently he actually came out with a book on golf course architecture that I just ordered today because I can't wait to learn more about what this guy has to say. But the little details I'm talking about are found throughout the golf course, but also in what types of grass go where. So where you see the bunkers around the course, pay close attention to the grass growing in them and buy them, and when you see one of the bunkers with the grass, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. They actually ran an experiment with all sorts of grass around these fairway bunkers and like ran tests of how does it grow here, how does it grow there, what color looks best, what kind of looks like what George Thomas had in mind in these pictures that they had And they had this picture in the fried egg video of all these different grass types trying that they were trying, and when I saw it my mind was just completely blown. It wasn't just a pick of a random type of grass, it was hours, if not days, if not months or years of making each little decision around this course, and that type of stuff is just what fascinates me, so I had to share that with you on the podcast today. I'll link the fried egg channel in our show notes if you want to learn more, but I couldn't recommend the channel anymore.

Jordan: 16:30

If you're looking to hear more about the playability of the course, let's just jump into that right now. Like I said earlier, we start out with a very easy par 5 on number one. Then we jump to a very difficult par 4 on number two. I'm going to give you three holes to watch out for. If you are to tune into any of the coverage, let's focus on hole number six. If you have watched any of the golf channel this week in preparation for the US Open, you have definitely heard about hole six. It is garnering some of the most attention I've ever seen for a hole in a major championship, and so I'm going to put this next part in air quotes.

Jordan: 17:12

Hole number six is, quote, unquote a drivable par 4 that sits around 325 yards, and I'm telling you right now, even if I were Rory McElroy and could hammer the ball on a line, i wouldn't touch driver on this hole. This green is super narrow and super elongated and there's so much trouble around this green that you could put a ball like 5 yards off the green and have this completely ridiculous like even for professional golfers. I think you're going to see them like multiple shots over par on what is considered a quote, unquote drivable par 4. I mean, this hole looks like it could be one of the most electrifying goals of electrifying holes in major tournament history. You're probably going to see someone grab this miraculous eagle of a two, but you're also going to see some people triple bogey along the way. I can't wait to watch this hole And it really is garnering the attention of the golf channel right now simply because how do you play it?

Jordan: 18:18

Do you drive it or do you just lay back to the fairway? It is a blind tee shot. By the way, if you're trying to see the green, you can't from the tee box and you just have to make a decision. You can give yourself this super flick of a wedge in that also isn't guaranteed due to how narrow and just insane this green is Or do you just want to maybe pull off the land in the very small safe area on the right of the hole. Maybe hit a little chip in there and give yourself a 15 footer for birdie? I don't know. I'm very curious what the statistics say at the end of the week. Should you go forward off the tee or should you not? If history is a teacher, it says go for it. I don't know on this one. It's going to be very, very curious to see.

Jordan: 19:09

Another one I want to mention is hole 11, and it is a par three that is almost 300 yards long. It's right now it's sitting at 290 on the scorecard. I saw, but you heard that correct. It's a par three at almost 300 yards. Hole seven is also an insanely long par three at 280, but hole 11 is like no, you know what. You had your time. Now it's my time. Shine, i'm going to come in at around 300 freaking yards. What is the average golfer even supposed to do with that yardage? What do we step up there with Driver and then sandwich or lob wedge, maybe like a full lob wedge, who knows? man, it's another hole. I can't wait to watch. I've got a bit of trouble around the green and I don't know. I'm just pumped for this hole. Man, i'm very curious. Do we see any golfer take an iron off the tee of a 290 yard hole. It has to be wood, right, it has to be wood for most golfers, like a five wood, something like that. But how do you land a five wood on these greens? I don't know. I'm talking myself out of it.

Jordan: 20:18

As I talk more, i could easily mention hole 18 and I do with Zach later in the podcast but the final hole I'm going to focus on is hole number 15. It's this 124 yard par par three. Again, there's five par threes on this course, so they take up a lot of real estate. But 124 yard par three should be pretty easy for these guys, right, and I'm not thinking so. And especially if the wind starts kicking up, if you don't land the ball in the perfect spot on this green, i think it's actually going to be a struggle to make par here many days. It's another one of these just weird greens and you can try and play in the middle of the green, but it's such a unique shape that you're going to be hitting wedge. But I don't know how you can hit a wedge if the wind really starts picking up. I've read this whole can play as short as like 78 or 81 yards and, from the analysis that I've heard, like you still may not even be able to pin seek at 80 yards. Like I can't fathom that for a professional golfer. But here we are, here we are, and now that one just really excites me. Finally, okay, what type of golfer do I think wins here Every year at the US Open, regardless of the course.

Jordan: 21:39

Anymore you can log on to social media and just see pictures of balls being dropped in the rough. They always seem to be impossible to find. It's the same old story every year that it's almost become boring that you expect that at the US Open. But obviously, as a golfer it doesn't make it any easier to expect it and not know how to play out of it. I don't think you need to be perfect off the tee to win here, regardless of how thick that rough is out of the fairway. I've heard that the rough is playable. It's thick, you should be able to find your ball, but it's not brutal like what I'm hearing around the greens. So the greens and the fescue that sits by them is diabolical to get out of. Apparently, it's not nearly as manageable around the greens in terms of rough, so it looks like you need to be pretty sharp and consistent with your approaches, but when you get yourself into trouble you need an elite short game to simply make par.

Jordan: 22:43

So, taking all that into account, my pick right now is I'm going with a maybe on Scottie Sheffler. He's got a new putter in the bag this week. His ball striking has been otherworldly good lately, but he's going to need that putter working in order to get the W. So I'm curious how the new putter works. But if he does get it rolling just a little bit better than what it's been doing lately And it's definitely on the table if he gets that club going And even if the ball striking fades a little bit, it's still doable. He doesn't have to be this otherworldly ball striker as he has been, he just has to be pretty close to it.

Jordan: 23:26

Obviously, before I get to the segment with Zach and myself, i want to inform you all of one thing. You are going to hear the word Barenka a lot this week. If you don't know what a Barenka is, it's kind of like a winding river valley And in terms of this place, the Barenka is filled with sand, really, really thick grass and probably some rocks along the way, but a lot of the color you're going to see is the winding on your leg. On your leg, on your legion is the Barenka. So now that you know all the nitty gritty about this course, let's send it over to Zach and myself to make some picks. And well, quite frankly, we do educate Zach a little bit on some major championship for golf. So enjoy and let's send it over. You guys aren't even playing fantasy golf anymore. It's just me and David that are competing in fantasy golf at this point.

Zach: 24:22

Dude, I forgot. Like I keep forgetting.

Jordan: 24:25

Oh, it's OK.

Zach: 24:26

I keep getting emails about the fantasy golf. See, that makes it worse. I say to myself, no, i get it after the round starts, like I check it and it's after the round is already started. I'm like, well shoot, i'm already going to be behind on this, so might as well just not fill it out the rest of the time. You know, yeah, i'm the type of guy that has to read everything. I don't have emails left unread, so, and so I don't leave it as a tab. I'm thinking, ok, i'm just going to swipe And then I'm going to remember to do it later, and then it never, ever happens, ever.

Jordan: 25:05

I leave it unread. I'm like you. I leave it unread to remind myself oh, I still have that unread email. That means I got to go make my picks, And so I then go pick them, See you do it, what you do, what I'm trying to do, but I never get to that point.

Zach: 25:19

I never strive to get that that greatness right there. You know what I mean There's, there's like an open. I don't know what it is. You know, what the problem is is that we did so many recaps back to back to back to back to back, and there was a potential where I'm thinking, maybe this is going to turn into like a segment, like a consistent segment. Yep, so because of that, i consistently filled out my roster, because I'm thinking, ok, well, at least if I win, i can brag on the pod and talk about it. But now, since we've had some breaks in between some of the recaps and stuff, it's, it's thrown off, it's really thrown down.

Jordan: 25:54

I get that It's the podcast fault. It's not your fault.

Zach: 25:59

It's always blame everything but yourself. It's like golf, exactly You blame the course, you blame your club, your clubs, the playing partners, the weather.

Jordan: 26:08

That's what we teach on here, you know, on the PGA or the slow play in front of you and the people that are playing too fast behind you. You, you find anything you can to the uneven lie, whatever it takes.

Zach: 26:19

And that's how you break any bonus. You find excuses and everything but yourself, and that's how you break Absolutely.

Jordan: 26:26

You've got this. So now that we've wrapped up what you've learned through your entire time on the pure golf podcast, i have nothing left to teach you. You chose Matt Fitzpatrick as your captain. We're good, so OK, if you had to choose and we don't even need to like round Robin, this one I'm curious who your picks are for the US Open. So it is. It is a very confusing golf course. I'm very curious what the winning score is going to be. There are reports that it could be really hard and reports that it could be somewhat not easy, but it's a US Open, which is probably the hardest golf tournament they're going to play all year. But the PGA championship finished at negative seven And I'm curious, off the get go, do you think the winning score will be above or below negative seven, meaning better or worse than negative seven?

Zach: 27:21

I really hope the winning score is less than seven under, in the sense of like six under or worse if that makes sense, like I want.

Zach: 27:34

I want the course to be worse or harder for the players, because I feel like when that happens, when you get a birdie, it's so much more of a reward. That's what. That's what I want to see. I don't want to see 24 under the 23 under. It feels like if you're making part or falling behind and it's it's not, it's it just. I don't. I don't like that for majors. You know some of these other courses it's okay, but not for majors. So, yeah, I'm hoping for under. So I'm hoping for a score that is six under or worse as the best score in this, in this championship.

Zach: 28:08

I know you already mentioned it earlier in the pod, but what course are they playing at again?

Jordan: 28:12

So it's going to be LA country club, okay, and it's going to be a tough one, which is obviously in Los Angeles, but the it is the like. All the buildings are on the skyline and everything like a super, super beautiful layout And it is probably like one of the most expensive properties that golf course can sit on, just due to how real estate is in LA. So it's it's going to be a tough one from from, i think. But do you have any players that, like I'm going to give you the granted? Colin Morikawa. I know you're pulling for Colin, so if you have like four other golfers to choose, who would you choose?

Zach: 28:50

Yeah, can I? can we go the route of surefire making the cut? Can we then go surefire missing the cut, and then I will give you okay, this is that's how I'm going to do it My surefire making the cut. I don't want to be boring. I don't want to be boring, i'm going to go. Victor Hoblin.

Zach: 29:14

Surefire making the surefire making the kind. Okay, i think he's going to start out hot, like he always does, and then he's going to stay with it, surefire missing the cut. I genuinely not because I'm trying to flatter you or like boost your ego or make you accept me I really think Matt Fitzpatrick will miss the time. Wow, i don't want. Okay, i think it's somebody who is so obscure, so like nobody knows. I want it to be somebody that is very well known And I I have a feeling Matt Fitzpatrick Patrick is going to miss it. Now here's my thing is this is you, can I mean? this isn't the same exact courses last year? right, they are. They rotated?

Jordan: 30:04

No, it's rotated Okay. Yeah.

Zach: 30:07

Yeah.

Jordan: 30:08

Last year was in Boston. Yeah, this year, last year, you want to last year?

Zach: 30:12

in Boston. And that's my bullet. Prediction is that Matt Fitzpatrick won't even make the cut this year. So I've got Victor Hoblin for sure making it, matt Fitzpatrick for sure missing it. And then, if you want me to give reprojections of who I think is going to win it or who I hope is going to win it, yeah, i've got Colin.

Jordan: 30:33

Okay.

Zach: 30:35

I'm going to go Hideki Matsuyama. Okay, i'm going to go Hideki Matsuyama. He gets the plastic role and, like you said, he's a danger. Then I got to go. One live guy, right, i have to, just for the boys. I mean, i feel like the obvious answer is Brooks Capricot, right.

Jordan: 30:51

Right, that's the obvious one. It's the Adon favorite. Yeah, sure, but are you seeing a spark from Phil, like after being right this whole time about live, like is he rejuvenated And we see him go out because in his career grand slam he's never won the US championship? That's the US open. And if he did it?

Zach: 31:11

like He would get the grand slam. That's the one he's missing. This is the one he's missing.

Jordan: 31:14

So do you see it happening at he's what? 51, 52 years old now. Do you see him? just this is the one he wants more than anything is the US open.

Zach: 31:25

I mean that would be the best narrative, right? Sure, or you know the whole live merger, and then Phil's on top of the world, then he wins the next major, the one that he's missing. I'm going to pivot from him and I'm going to pivot from Brooks Kepka And I'm going to say Cam Smith is going to win it for him.

Zach: 31:45

If that's my live thing, because I feel like he's been very lackluster in these other tournaments And I feel like he's also had times, especially in the masters, where he had to tee off and it was just horrendous conditions right. So that really just set him back And he's one of my boys. So I got to go, cam Smith, in that final, final spot in a little bit. I love how you told me to pick five winners and I just completely went against what you said And I've said somebody who wasn't going to make the cut, somebody who actually was, and then three of the winners.

Jordan: 32:16

So you're like Harvey Dent in the dark night He makes his own luck. You were just completely declining the question and just made it into your own question, and you then chose your own question. I like it.

Zach: 32:29

Okay, so who do you, who do you have in those five spots?

Jordan: 32:33

So surefire, make the cut. For whatever reason, i'm very high on Brooks. this week I he conquered some demons at the PGA championship. I think he'll go out and play really well this week. He seems more confident of himself than he's been in a long time. So he's my surefire make the cut. Surefire, miss the cut. Man, i like I wasn't going to go Ryan, i always go Ryan Fitzpatrick, that's the quarterback. Yeah, i don't know why. I'm second fantasy football. Surefire, miss the cut. All right, there's four dudes who qualified from Stanford University. I'm going to go with the fact that all four of them missed the cut. That's what.

Jordan: 33:20

I'm going to go with, which is kind of like a. I don't have any other names on me, but I know that they all qualified And, which is amazing, that an entire like golf team qualified. I'm just going to go with. All four of them missed the cut. That's a unique way of doing it.

Zach: 33:36

Yeah, I like that. I like that way of doing it. Yeah.

Jordan: 33:39

And then who? then I have three guys. To what did you make this question to?

Zach: 33:44

All right three guys you think could win, like your top three picks to win the entire thing.

Jordan: 33:52

I'd be stupid to not choose Scottie Schaeffler. Schaeffler's been like historically amazing ball striking lately. Then I'm not choosing a winner here. I'm thinking Ricky Fowler will top 10 this. I just want to put that one out there, nice, i hope so.

Zach: 34:11

I think he's had a little fallback, just a little bit, but if he's able to come back on top 10, finish that, just that. just get that. get me going. This is much as calm, winning the entire thing.

Jordan: 34:20

So sure, sure, and then I will go. I'll go, rory, for my final one. I do this, i do this all the time. But the, the stars are lining up for the guy. He's he's been in contention lately, he's lost it on the final round. Then this whole frigging merger thing happens, and I think it would be like, i think, if there are golf gods above us, i think he's worthy of winning this one. I think this one would mean a lot.

Zach: 34:47

So you're, you're saying he's going to get that same exact spark as Phil is.

Jordan: 34:51

Yeah, it's the opposite side of it, though, because, like Rory labels himself the sacrificial lamb, yeah, phil isn't even taking interviews right now because he was so right the entire time. Like what does he really need to even say to the press? So it's the total opposite side, but I think both of them would be in terms of narrative. I think both of them would be amazing for headlines. They would be insane.

Zach: 35:14

I think you know how the NBA has that one ref where they always try, and Scott Foster whenever they want to try and rig a game so that the series is extended or whatever. Sure, sure They. If they had a ref in golf, this is the time, like Scott Foster just needs to come start repping professional golf. I don't know how that's even possible, but just get him out.

Jordan: 35:37

there is like one of those on rules guys, And they just give him three drops everywhere.

Zach: 35:42

Oh the narrative. You're in the bunker. He's going to wear his NBA ref jersey too, Like the whole thing. And it's not foster. What's going on, I like the NBA reference.

Jordan: 35:49

That's normally me here, but you pulled this one out. I'm proud of you for that one. It's really great, i'm teaching you some good ways by you choosing Fitzpatrick to miss the cut And then Scott Foster.

Zach: 36:00

I'm proud of myself right now I, yeah, yeah, you've really rubbed off on me. I will see. I another thing that I can't wait to watch is has Brando Shambly said anything in life after, like, coming out? I know he says something really stupid, right, as the thing was announced, but do you think he's going to avoid all topics of the merge and just try and focus strictly on the major? I feel like they're going to have to cover it, right. Or are they going to try and just completely who gaze the entire thing And just say we're just, we're just going to focus on the golf today, which they never did prior to this.

Jordan: 36:37

They. they didn't, and I think there have been some brief segments on the golf channel about it. What, from what I've seen and I definitely miss some coverage along the way I haven't seen Brando comment on it any further, but it's also kind of well. what else do you have to comment on? Like we're all still waiting here for all these answers And the reports this week. like, if you watch any player in their press conference, they're all just. like we know as much information as you. Like we don't have any more to comment on because it's all out there now. Except by being all out there, it's not out there at all, which is the problem?

Zach: 37:13

Yeah, nobody knows anything. I think the best tweet from this entire last week was Droskepka tweeting welfare check on Chambley was the best peak tweet of all time And that's that just. The satisfaction that I got from that was I knew you get it.

Jordan: 37:29

That's why I put it in our group chat. I was like Zach is going to love Keptus tweet more than anything because, like it's everything that you've been like feeling the past few I mean not past few months, the past year, yeah.

Zach: 37:43

I'm just like you hate Brando and you hate his.

Jordan: 37:45

Holier than that attitude of the PGA.

Zach: 37:48

Well it's. it's dumb too, because everyone gives Brooks a bad rap because of full swing. They always say that you know he was a complete dick on it And you know he wasn't even paying attention to the master. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And my thing is like they obviously took out a lot of that just to paint a picture of Brooks in that way. And Brooks literally on podcasts after said that they had taken out a lot of stuff that he said just so that they could paint their own picture of him, which you know they always do for the drama. blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But you mix that with me pulling for Brooks even harder after hearing all of those after interviews of him, like saying like they just kind of screwed me, and then Brando Shanley just being just the idiot that he is and just pisses me off to no end. Just the satisfaction of my two worlds colliding together, that's what really topped it off. I got you man.

Jordan: 38:46

So, OK, you know you're brand new to golf, So we've been watching all of this. golf is brand new to you. What are you?

Zach: 38:57

second guessing just so that people know, like, how new it all is to me. I couldn't remember if Matt is Patrick earlier, if this was the same tournament that he won last year, like I had. Absolutely I was pretty positive but I wasn't 100 percent.

Jordan: 39:13

Right, And that the courses rotate, which is which that's fine. I mean, that's your journey in the golf. You're brand new. This is like This is. This is so new for you. So, OK, Are you looking forward to anything this week? What would make your week complete If X happened for the US Open? you'd be like I can call this a good week.

Zach: 39:39

I feel like I got to go positive route here, right, and I think the obvious answer is Colin winning Favorite golfer. But see if, if Brooks didn't win last major, my answer would be a live guy winning it. I don't care who. Well, no, i do care who. If Bryson DeShamble won, i wouldn't.

Zach: 40:01

I would not be celebrating this win, but if anybody else on live one I would be. I'd be ecstatic. However, brooks already won, so that kind of takes the wind out of those sales. So I would just say Colin winning it. Just being in contention, i feel like I haven't seen his name up there in an eternity. I don't know what happened to him after a century of champions, but he just fell off the face of the planet for me, yeah, or I've always liked Hideki Matsuyama. Those are the two guys from No OK, colin, hideki and Kamsman. If I, if any of those three, like I said, if any of those three win, i'm, i'm very, very, very happy you know, And I also will say if this tournament goes to a playoff, I don't care who's in the playoff.

Zach: 40:47

The playoff always instantaneously makes a tournament better.

Jordan: 40:51

And.

Zach: 40:52

I think we need it for a major. I think that's a necessary thing. that would make me happy as well. Right, i don't want to run away guy.

Jordan: 41:00

You know you don't want to run away guy. OK, you want some competition, you want it to be. you want it to be a good, you don't want it to be a runaway. So on Sunday we're not tuning in to watch who we already know is the winner. You want it to be a battle down the stretch right And for just like openness.

Zach: 41:17

I'm not. I'm not the type of person that sits there and watches for four days straight. Jordan may be he seriously probably will But me, on the other hand, you know, i'm keeping up with the highlights, keeping up with scores, keeping up with the updates each day, and then Sunday is my day. That's my day to sit down and just like watch and grind the entire thing, and that's my day. I don't want it to just be a Debbie downer like the NBA Dude. The NBA finals were, so I don't know if you watched it. I know we're going back to the NBA finals.

Jordan: 41:47

Boy you want to talk about watched every day? Yeah, absolutely, NBA playoffs. I'm in front of a TV screen all the time. Yeah, dude.

Zach: 41:55

It was like I don't know what the heck happened, but the heat is fizzled out. You know what it was? is that the role players could not even the role players, everybody. But what's his name? The center for Audubio, the Audubio, yeah, everybody on the heat just decided to just quit, like that entire NBA finals. I don't know what's going to happen. Sorry, i'm getting a very much so off track. No, it's fine.

Jordan: 42:21

I wanted to hear how you're bringing this back to the US open.

Zach: 42:25

I was letting you take this and run, okay, the way, the way that I bring this back to the US open and so you do not have to cut this out of the podcast, is that by the time the heat were down three one, i'm sitting there and I'm like this is so. I'm going to reluctantly watch this because I want a miracle to happen, but it was already old, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen on Sunday, where I'm sitting there and Sheffler or Rahm are already up by five strokes and I'm like why am I even watching this on TV Right? Why am I rooting for who's going to win second place? Like that's just boring. So let me paint you a picture.

Jordan: 42:59

Let's say, Colin Morikawa is up by like 12 strokes entering the final round. You're tuning in to watch that, right Oh. I am, i am But you're enjoying every second of it.

Zach: 43:10

Man, i'm going to relish in it, i'm going to really enjoy it, but I'm a man of like I want to see competition, i want to see action. I don't. I will be happy if Colin wins by 12 strokes. However, the competitor in me wants to see that playoff. So whatever, however, that works right. Yeah, if Colin has to make it a little interesting and then win in the playoffs, that means I get the satisfaction of him winning and I get the satisfaction of a playoff, a showdown.

Jordan: 43:40

Yeah, that really just gets me going on that Sunday, you know Now are you gripping the edge of your seat with a 12 stroke lead with Colin? Because, again, we're going to reference the century tournament of champions and what happened? because he choked on the stretch.

Zach: 43:53

So it's what number you like, colin's got this, no matter what you've got to tell me There's too many, there's too many different circumstances in that question. You've got to tell me who's in second place, because I thought Brooks was fine in the Masters. Okay, here I'm going to paint this picture.

Jordan: 44:10

Okay, we got Colin Morikawa going into Sunday six strokes ahead, but who sits six strokes behind is all tied. John Rom Brooks Kepke and Scottie Schaeffler.

Zach: 44:23

I'm freaking out. That's ridiculous. That is horrible. I was thinking maybe one, but then you just throw all three out.

Jordan: 44:30

I throw all three And I think actually that would garner some incredible ratings because of what happened earlier this year at the century tournament of champions of like it would. I know you don't know as much about the course as me, but all it takes here is one bad hole and it can happen in a heartbeat of like, let's say he doubles one and then you see that lead shrink to four and then Brooks is birdie and one. It's just like it would make good TV. Is what I'm saying.

Zach: 44:57

Yeah, i, if anybody was going to be in a playoffs, it would be for me like Colin, and then if you throw Brooks in there, i think that'd be an incredible playoff. But it's like you said, yeah, like six strokes with Colin, with those three dudes behind him. I'm freaking out the first bogey he makes, you know, because it's it's. There's something I just remember watching the century tournament of champions. I remember watching at the beginning of this year and when everything fell apart for him, like as it was falling apart, his face and demeanor changed. I just know, in a major situation the same thing could very easily happen to him and I think there's a greater chance of that happening. So I would almost prefer I would almost prefer Colin being down one stroke to one of those three guys than him having like a few strokes lead, and I know that sounds absolutely insane. You'd rather him chase than lead. I would rather him attack every single hole rather than him trying to play it safe, because we know what happened to him at the century tournament.

Jordan: 46:05

He played not to lose.

Zach: 46:06

You didn't play it away. Yeah, exactly, you just played like a baby, and you never want to play like a baby, especially in this type of situation.

Jordan: 46:13

Okay, so we've got your dream scenarios. Um, i'm really looking forward to this tournament, man. The more research I do on how cool the course this is, i'm all about it. So we have your picks. We're going to be able to come back here on Sunday and say you know what, zach? we crowned Colin Morikawa as the champion. How are you celebrating? How are you going to celebrate if Morikawa wins?

Zach: 46:37

I will have a fortune cookie here, okay, and we will open it and read what's in the fortune cookie, because he will be my winner easily in that fortune cookie award.

Jordan: 46:46

So okay, we'll read.

Zach: 46:47

Can I ask you a?

Jordan: 46:48

question.

Zach: 46:49

Yeah, go ahead.

Jordan: 46:49

Your mom would be pulling for Morikawa, correct?

Zach: 46:52

Oh easily.

Jordan: 46:54

Okay.

Zach: 46:54

So pulling for any Asian that's up there. She doesn't have to know who it is. It's just, if he's Asian, then she's pulling hard.

Jordan: 47:04

If an Asian won, i'm going to say Morikawa, just to keep the president rolling. Is there any chance you pop open a beer, sitting next to your mom on the couch, to celebrate?

Zach: 47:13

Well, first off, we don't have one here, So okay.

Jordan: 47:20

But, like Colin's, got a two-stroke lead. You run out to the Chinese restaurant. You grab your fortune cookie. You also grab a beer. pop it open when you get home on the 18th as Colin's walking off Dude.

Zach: 47:33

She would be excited, but then she would pick me out of the house. It's like a she'd be celebrating, it'd be all excited. Then she realizes what's going on and then I would be scent packing.

Jordan: 47:45

So Can you enter the podcast that night with a giant red handprint on your face?

Zach: 47:51

Or like a belt lash, like right here, or a belt lash, it's a cross my face.

Jordan: 47:56

I love it, man. Okay, well, this is a great preview. I'm I want your predictions to come true. Is what I want. I'm all about this. Yeah, did we?

Zach: 48:05

did you give your? did you give your final? What would make you happy? We never even asked you what would make you happy.

Jordan: 48:13

So for me. I really miss the US Open used to be an 18 hole playoff where you would go to golf the entire next day, and I miss that more than anything. That is my dream upon dream scenario. However, it can happen. My secondary dream scenario which also can happen is Tiger would you win the US Open? but he's not there playing, so that also can happen. So my dream scenario would be We end the score around negative one to even, and it is an absolute battle between about five or five or six players down the stretch. I don't really care who wins. You would love a big name to win. I'm not against Phil winning. I would love for fill a Rory down the stretch to pull it off, but I would like a well-known name to pull it off and not some total mystery guy that we've never heard of. You know, i agree with that.

Zach: 49:03

I won a lot of big names on that leaderboard. Yeah, yeah, i think. I think it's like you said you got five or six do's at the end. That's. that's something I would sit in front of the TV the entire time and watch for sure, yeah, so that's my dream scenario.

Jordan: 49:17

I'm pretty easy to please. I just like tough golf courses and and big names down the stretch, and this is going to be a tough golf course.

Jordan: 49:24

Yeah, it's, it's going to be brutal. So do you, as a beginner, do you want me to give you a whole or two to watch? Yeah, go ahead, hit me with it. Okay, hole number six is a drivable par for that. I'm not going to recommend anybody drives for That's what I'm going to say. It is an absolute dastardly whole. I think it's going to be can play anywhere from like 300 to 330, depending on where they have the T box. But all around the green is like the thickest, sandiest rough you've ever seen And if you end up in it you could very easily like doublebow you the whole, no problem. But it's also like this really long picture your home course of those tiny greens. Picture like that tiny. It's like this super elongated green that's like very front to back narrow, oh God, and you're not going to hit it with a driver very often Yeah, you can't stick the green Yeah.

Jordan: 50:19

So you're probably going to see scores range from like two to seven on that one hole.

Zach: 50:23

Well, it's okay. What's your, what's your other hole?

Jordan: 50:28

Hole 18 is going to be a. It's going to be a fun one to watch. That's going to be in our the section before this. I'm going to talk about that one a little bit more. It'll be a very fun. Closing hole is what I will say of. If we have some big names come down that leaderboard, it's going to test them. It's not going to be some easy cakewalk coming down the end. It's going to test them. We're going to see some, some bogies for sure, and I'm hoping that your boy doesn't bogey coming down the stretch. That's I'm hoping for.

Zach: 50:57

Well, I'm hoping for that too. We got to send a quick prayer tomorrow. All my boys that I picked all your boys? Yeah, all of them, literally all of them. Oh gosh. Okay, perfect for the beginner golfer. That's what you're looking for. Hole four and hole 18. Hole six and hole 18. Definitely what I said Hole six and hole 18. That's what I'm talking about. Okay, Fantastic. Okay.

Jordan: 51:22

Well, thanks for coming on, my man.

Zach: 51:23

Yeah, it was fun, that was easy.

Jordan: 51:26

Oh, so you did that almost.

Zach: 51:28

That covered the second half of the outline that I had.

Jordan: 51:49

Theyassen you.