My Golf Source
Attention Golf Enthusiasts! Level up your golf game with hosts Darren Penquite and Noah Horstman, PGA as they keep you up to date on the latest trends, equipment, training aids and more. Learn tips and tricks from PGA Professionals to lower your score and grow your love for the game of golf.
My Golf Source
Golf Mastery: From Mini Tours to Teaching Excellence
Ryan Kukula, PGA Professional and Director of Instruction at Golf Garage, shares his journey from childhood golfing prodigy to competitive player and respected coach while revealing powerful insights about golf improvement and performance mindset.
• Growing up at his father's nine-hole course in Ocean Park, Washington where Ryan and his brothers would run the shop and play golf daily
• Shooting an impressive 63 recently while maintaining the same free-swinging feeling developed in simulator practice
• Competing on mini tours after college and learning that consistently shooting in the 70s wasn't good enough at the professional level
• Developing one-handed chipping techniques during a wrist injury that transformed his understanding of short game principles
• Using simulator practice to develop a freer swing without being attached to outcomes
• Breaking the habit of score-tracking during rounds to stay present and execute shots without mounting pressure
• Setting tournament goals for the upcoming season including pro-ams, sectional majors, and the Pacific Northwest Championship
• Accepting the challenge to help podcast host Darren break 80 before the end of 2025
Visit Golf Garage for lessons with Ryan and experience how indoor training can transform your game with measurable improvement.
Welcome to the MyGolfSource podcast. Welcome to MyGolfSource. I'm Darren.
Speaker 2:And I'm Noah. Hey, what'd you do tonight? Just got done with Sim League. How'd that go for you?
Speaker 1:Rough first hole.
Speaker 2:Same here.
Speaker 1:Where did we play tonight?
Speaker 2:I think it was like Tiger Woods' course. Maybe we can have like our. You know what was it called.
Speaker 1:It was something naughty, it was just.
Speaker 2:You know, I think we have somebody on later that can tell us more uh, excited about our guests later. How about you? What did we play, Ryan?
Speaker 3:We played black Jack's crossings black Jack just outside of big. Ben Texas.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, is that tiger's course.
Speaker 3:Not a tiger course. I think it's a Nicholas course actually. Okay yeah. It felt a lot like Utah or Wyoming Looked like it yeah, it did, but that's a lot of Big Bend right there in Texas.
Speaker 2:Problem I had was when I went in the desert I was like am I in Vegas? Am I in Scottsdale? What kind of sand is this?
Speaker 1:I was just venting to my teammate Tyler here that I wanted so badly to hit a 300-yard drive tonight.
Speaker 2:Did you do it? 299.4, so I had to round it up.
Speaker 1:You're 0.1 away from the 300-yarder, 0.1 away from rounding up to 300 yards. Well, you know what's unique.
Speaker 2:I mean, ryan already kind of let the cat out of the bag that he's hearing, but we've got our director of instruction here from Golf Garage who I've known for a very, very long time, and I bet he could probably get you to maybe 300.1. Would that be happy?
Speaker 1:happy I I wouldn't be happy until I was at 315 with ryan, because I know, because I know he can do it well, absolutely, darren, I've, I've seen your golf swing, we've got, we've got 15 extra in there.
Speaker 3:I think, think so, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, obviously Ryan's on right now. Definitely need to introduce him a little bit. So, uh, ryan Kukula, pga professional. Uh grew up here in Southern Oregon and a native till he was a couple of years old. I'll let him tell his own story, but I've known Ryan since he was two. I actually, uh, worked at Bear Creek Golf Course when I was 12, picking range balls for free golf.
Speaker 1:So that's, over 40 years 28.
Speaker 3:So who's doing the math? I'm 41. He's not that. He's not that old.
Speaker 2:Okay, 29. Yeah, yeah, ryan will hold me to this story. So I'm out there, I'm picking range balls for some free golf at this par 3 course. So I'm, I'm out there, I'm picking free, you know, range balls for some free golf at this par three course and I think, uh, first time out there, we did a good job and the owner's like, hey, uh, come back the next day. So I did and, you know, had a good time and that's that's basically the, the gist of me getting into golf. And then, about a week later, I remember uh, uh, one of the, this guy that was out there and he's teaching golf and, um, you know, I went up to him and talked to him and, um, found out that, uh, he's got this little kid who's like two years old at the time and there's a miniature golf course and and, uh, he's like, hey, will you go out there? And and pot with my son. I'm like, yeah, absolutely. So we go out there and we're playing and like two-year-old kids like, knock at it in the hole and like two putts and three putts, and I'm like, who is this guy? And, you know, we get up to this hole. There's a volcano hole and the kid makes a hole in one on it I don't know if he remembers this or not and we get done and find out it's. It's Ryan. And you know I'm out there miniature golfing with him and you know, know, short end of this is, you know I'm.
Speaker 2:You know, let's fast forward about 20 years and I'm coaching college golf and I see a name on a prospect list at willamette university and the last name's kakula. And I see ryan. I'm like no way is that kakula. That rings a bell? I know I was like, is that related to john Kukula, who gave me my first golf lesson? And uh, sure enough, I, I, I call him and I'm like one of the and again, ryan can probably fix this story. But, like one of the first questions I asked him, I'm like hey, uh, so are you related to John Kukula? And I mean I remember the phone going silent a little bit and and he was like, uh, yeah. And I'm like, oh, uh, your dad gave me my first golf lesson. So you know, luckily I was able to recruit this guy because he shoots under par every time he plays golf and he's a glorified tour player and he works at a golf garage as our director of instruction. So for some reason he follows me around. I don't understand why, but maybe it's just because.
Speaker 1:Don't ask questions, just go with it.
Speaker 3:I'm like just go with it right.
Speaker 1:Just go with it.
Speaker 2:So we'd like to welcome to the show Ryan Kukula, pga professional and director of instruction. There we go. And Ryan, real quick. I heard you played golf with one of your students. I know you play a lot of golf with your students, but uh, what'd you shoot? The last time you played, shot 63 on Monday, I was 63. Nobody shoots 63. Come on.
Speaker 3:It was a weird 63, but uh, yeah, it was no, I mean, that story is the story. Spot on it was. I remember having that phone call after the original email to you at Willamette, and I probably hadn't told my dad who I was emailing. I was just like, hey, it's the head coach at Willamette, I'm going to reach out to them and see what happens. And that phone call was wild, I guess, to say the least. It was like, oh my gosh, and I got off the phone, talked to my dad hey, do you know Noah? And he's like, yeah, I actually gave him a golf lesson at Bear Creek.
Speaker 3:I was like, whoa, okay, so fast forward a couple of years. It was play golf at Willamette for a couple of years before Noah left to Ohio and then, when he moved back to Oregon, I was caddying at Bannon Dunes, was looking for a career in golf, had bounced around some mini tours in the Midwest Dakota's tour 2017, golden State tour 2017 and 18. Wanted to stay involved, playing golf competitively, and then moving back to Medford actually was the farthest thing from being on my radar. I remember at the time like six months before actually moving here, I was no way I would ever live in Medford, but I remember saying that to some friends and we've all been there but ends up, you know, coming back here.
Speaker 3:Opportunity, uh, opportunity to teach, opportunity to play, uh, learn the game in a completely different way than I've ever, I guess, thought of learning it. Um, my dad, he, right now he runs a nine hole golf course in ocean park, washington, on the long beach peninsula. It's a it's a great little nine hole track called surfside golf course. It's you see the ocean from the pro shop. It's a two minute walk to the beach. Um, playable year round, except for when it's monsooning on the washington coast never happens, never happens no, but outside of that it was, uh, yeah, growing up, growing up playing golf.
Speaker 3:It was my brother and I. Uh, I have two brothers, but brother and I we'd take a golf cart or walk up to the pro shop every morning. 7 am, open up the shop, pull the carts up. One of us would make breakfast. One of us would work in the pro shop from 7 in the morning until 1 o'clock. The other one would go out and play golf. We'd invite friends out and play golf every day. We'd flip at lunch, have lunch together and what. The other one would go out and play golf all afternoon, built a pretty cool high school program, uh, where, if you ever go to the town of Iwako, washington, when you enter on either two sides, you'll see a welcome to Iwako, home of the 2008, 2009, 2010, 11, 12, etc. Etc. State golf champs. It's awesome, pretty wild, actually. That's still there, um, but going back, it's, uh, it's. It's always pretty cool to still see it family ties yeah, definitely my dad.
Speaker 3:He does something pretty cool where he allows every high school golfer to come out there and play for free anytime they want, as long as they're on the high school golf roster. Um, you know, they can go out hit range balls. Hit a, hit a bucket, go pick up a bucket. Hit a bucket, go pick up another bucket. As much as they possibly want.
Speaker 2:So, ryan, we have so much history together and one of the things I'll never forget when I was recruiting you at Willamette was your high school coach was more gung ho about getting you to come play college golf. I think then even you were. I mean, you were this, this guy that was like the most level headed kid ever. You still are. We know when you're playing good golf cause you're jumping about three feet every step. It's almost like a skip. Ryan's got his look. It's. It's amazing. I always look for it to be like man. How many birdies do I have to make today in this program when Ryan's playing? And, um, I'll never forget it because you're, you're in a high school tournament. It's my second year coach in college golf, so I'm green and I'm just like Rose city golf course.
Speaker 3:Rose city. That's right. That's right, so Portland that's right.
Speaker 2:So we get up there and your coach drives me straight out to you V lines. It stops 50 yards short of the green and there's these sequoias that are about 40 to 50 feet tall and Ryan doesn't know I'm there and hits this drive and he and he he's a lefty, unfortunately, we'll hold it against him so he pulls this drive right over the sequoias and it's dead. He's like 220 out. He's got 30 yards in front of him. He's like 40 to 50 foot tall sequoias and I mean, as a high school kid, you got to be shaken. And his coach drives up, doesn't say anything about the shot and he's like hey, ryan, here's.
Speaker 2:You got to meet the coach from Willamette, like as he's playing high school golf, which is probably illegal at the time. I mean, I don't think you could even talk to your players at that time. So I'm like, hey, hey, ryan, good to see you. You know I'm, you know blah, blah, whatever you say to try to get a kid that you want, and you know, and that was it. Then Ryan walks past us, goes to his shot and I'm just, I'm like, just wait here, coach. You know, let me watch this shot. Ryan hits this nasty high draw four or five iron or whatever it was, and he plays it left of the pin, 30 yards short of the green. I'm like, wow, what high schooler doesn't go with the pin in this situation, plays the spot uphill green, chips it to a foot. I literally told the coach. I said take me in, I'm done. That's the kid I want.
Speaker 1:Ryan, what was the phrase that got you To Willamette? Yeah, what was the one sentence or word that Noah said? That said I'm sold.
Speaker 3:I think it was some helping out with the financial aid department. To be honest with you, Willamette University is not a cheap school to go to.
Speaker 2:We give no athletic scholarship.
Speaker 3:That makes sense and to be honest, that was a huge one. That was to be able to go to school there. Um, I, you know, I I did a lot uh, I was hoping for a sappy story.
Speaker 1:No, nothing that makes total sense 100 financial.
Speaker 2:It was, it was massive ryan was actually for a really, really good player. That was one of my I don't want to say easiest recruiting, you know, because the ones that don't have it. He's humble, right, he already knows he's good, he's confident, you know, but the ones that don't have it are the ones that are asking for everything, right. So it was one of those weird conversations. I still remember going to the AD and being like, yeah, there's a kid that's going to change the program. We should probably figure this out. And again, like we can't give athletic scholarships.
Speaker 2:So luckily Ryan had really good grades, we were able to make it work. I mean, I mean we, we pulled every string possible. Like how can we give him the most we can give him as a work study? Like what do we do? And, and um, you know, again it's, it's one of those things Ryan's personality trait you'll never know what he's thinking and I think that makes a great golfer in general. Um, and I, and again I want to hear more from ryan about, like you know, his time out on the mini tours, because you know that's a tough road, you can go so many different routes and like, what do you learn? What do you do right?
Speaker 1:so you know, you know, ryan's a funny guy in that I was just sitting here talking with the with another teammate in the conference room here about, you know, youtube video, golf tricks and stuff, and how we all get so frustrated watching these things on youtube, going, oh they make so much sense, I can do that. That'll, that will improve my game, surely. And then we get out on the course and we're set up for disappointment. And I was telling him how Noah always says none of that matters if you're not hitting the center of the club face right? So all these tips and tricks you see on YouTube makes so much sense if you're hitting the ball in the center of the club face every single time. And ryan walks out of the office and I I had no idea who was in there listening to this conversation and was going.
Speaker 3:Those are true words oh yeah yeah, yeah, and that was you know specifically I was. I have a friend who I used to work with at bandandon who caddies now on the PGA Tour. Used to caddy for Bryson for a long time, now caddies for Kurt Kudiyama. Got to spend a day with him last year at the Houston Open Tuesday practice round. Got there at 7. Actually, one of the craziest things that happened that day was. So my friend's name's Tim, him and I go park in the caddy parking lot, jump on the shuttle that takes us to the pro shop. Another caddy jumps in the shuttle cart with us and it's Ted Scott. Ted Scott, caddies for Scotty Scheffler. Okay, so I'm like, oh wow, this is another one of the caddies that I know on the PGA Tour. So Scotty's maybe here, walk into the pro shop person. I see scotty scheffler and he's given my friend tim and then his, his caddy ted, a hard time for being a couple minutes later than they should have been.
Speaker 3:Um, but that whole day was, it was watching everyone, every pj tour player, warm up on the driving range. We went out, played nine holes. Uh, actually got to carry the bag a couple of holes, which was kind of fun. Um, you know, talked with everyone that we played with. It was Chan Kim, david Lipsky, kurt Kitayama. In our group, kurt finished the front.
Speaker 3:Nine took a lesson from his coach, did a short game lesson, got to observe that. That was really special, really cool. And then they had lunch, hit a few more balls at the range, went out, chipped and putted on the back. Nine went through a bunch of groups just cause we were chipping and putting. We would just walk every hole, go to every green chip putt for 15 minutes and uh, yeah, I got to see a lot of tour players, uh, a lot of a lot of nationally recognized coaches, coaches that were out there with their players. Um, just all in all, incredible experience. Um, that was my second pga tour event I got to go to, but first one like inside the ropes, walking with the players and actually took a couple of kurt's clubs that day and flipped them over, hit them left-handed, hit some chips, uh, and hit a couple good ones, which was just kind of nice so when you're inside the ropes on the pga tour, what the tour players?
Speaker 1:what is there from an inside insider's perspective? Where is their mind at?
Speaker 3:yeah, they were just I mean a it's just trying to get a feel of the golf course that day. I mean that's what it was. It was they were being a tuesday practice round. I I think everyone was extremely approachable, they were easy to talk to, they were pretty laid back. It was it was literally just trying to get a feel for what the course was. You know they all have their shots that they hit, control the ball better than you know anyone else that we ever play golf with. And I thought it was just hey, I'm trying to learn this green.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to learn this green. I'm trying to learn this tee shot. What's the grass feel like when I hit an iron shot? What's the mindset difference between Tuesday practice round and Sunday morning, given that they make the cut?
Speaker 3:yeah, probably. I mean hopefully not a lot, right, I mean that's, that's probably the goal, it's maybe a little less approachable.
Speaker 1:That, yeah, they're definitely gonna be less approachable. Yeah, they're definitely going to be less approachable.
Speaker 3:And being a Tuesday versus a Sunday. Yeah, tuesday was pretty cool because the tournament hasn't started yet, so you're kind of, I think, able to see them as just another golfer that day, and they just happen to be really good at the game. And then Sunday they're trying to make a check trying to pay for everything they're doing.
Speaker 2:And look at, the event you were at is right before the masters. So how many guys want to win that that are 150th in the world to go get into the masters? There's a lot of those Cinderella stories in an event like that.
Speaker 3:Valero Houston that that week Houston. That week Steven Yeager ended up winning because Scotty Scheffler missed. I think he missed a six-foot putt on the last hole to force a playoff. But Steven Yeager won, got himself a PGA Tour exemption for the next couple years.
Speaker 2:Sounds like your buddy could tease Scotty a little bit, not being late. But six footers, 70% make rate. What happened so?
Speaker 1:every young golfer who is, you know, play college golf, is wanting to make a career in golf. Every young golfer's aspiration is to be on the PGA Tour. What did that look like for you? What was your goals later? What was your goals later? What was your goals when you were in your late teens, early 20s, versus what your goals are now?
Speaker 3:yeah, when I was in my late teens, early 20s, uh, so a that's going through college, finishing college, uh. And then it was figuring out what I wanted to do with golf. You, you know, I I had some successful years at Willamette. Um, that prompted me to want to give give uh playing golf as a career a shot. Uh, that was the minute. Then that led to the mini tours in 2017, 2018. Um, it led me to caddying abandoned too. So I a went to caddy abandoned to pay for my college. I started that as a summer job, would go and work and then go back to school and pay my bill. When I got done with school, it was I'm going to go caddy abandoned, save up a little money and try to go do this all on my own.
Speaker 3:During that time, I was able to meet a few people that were extremely helpful in helping me fund that playing endeavor. When I was out there, it felt like A you're on the road solo for weeks at a time. And the Dakotas tour was nice for me because I have some family in Northwest Iowa and that tour is very much centered. That would maybe be the center of that tour. It goes from South Dakota, north Dakota, minnesota, nebraska and Iowa Might sneak into Wisconsin certain years. So I was able to stay with family travel for three or four days at a time, come home for a couple of days and then go on the road again, and I learned quickly that you cannot shoot in the seventies.
Speaker 3:Uh, it was. It was a humbling experience. I played a lot of really good golf. Um, where you know, even you know, after you know, let's say, a three-day event, uh, after two days, they make a cut. If you're plus one, 40, uh, over 140 shots after two days, which is 70, 70, you probably missing the cut and you're going to the next event. So, learning that was uh humbling, yeah, humbling, to say the least. Um, like I said, a lot of good rounds. It was a ton of experience, ton of good experience, but it was.
Speaker 3:It was something that I think spurred a change in my golf game, and what I mean by that is at the end of 2017, during that tour, I was, I was spending time living in Las Vegas in the winter and then I was going to caddy and band in in the summer. At that point, I was only caddying when I've, you know, couldn't afford to go play. So 2018 starts. Uh, sign up for Canadian Tour Q School. A week after that I hurt a bone in my right wrist at the gym, went and played golf that afternoon because I didn't think much of it, but I hit a shot and then it just shot some pain up my right arm and ended up not being able to play golf or hit a shot for the whole first half of 2018.
Speaker 1:Amateurs know that feeling. It feels like you're swinging rebar yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, I went home that day after that injury and I couldn't open the fridge with my right hand, so it led to the first half of 2018. Actually, I just I putted a ton and then I went and I learned how to chip one-handed, started chipping one-handed with my left hand, my trail hand as a lefty golfer which I'm actually a right-handed person just golf left-handed so I start chipping one-handed. Once my right hand starts to be able to absorb impact on chips, I start learning how to chip right-handed, one-handed. And it just taught me a lot of different things as far as short game principles, fundamentals, how to release a golf club, how to have the club's interaction with the turf be the easiest it could be.
Speaker 3:And so 2018, once I started being able to swing golf again, or swing my golf club again, I went back to band and enlisted the help of a couple of friends who I uh, I thought understood the golf swing Well. A couple of friends Kevin Rye and Kyle Crawford, two really good amateur golfers here in the state of Oregon. Um, kyle caddies abandoned, kevin lives in Portland now but both of them helped me, like originally, like initially start to understand why my golf swing does what it does? They started giving me some drills that they had gotten from coaches prior. Um, and then I went through this long overhaul that was 2018, 2019 of just revamping my golf swing to making it something that was more consistent, you know, and that was like a year and a half before I really played tournament golf again. It was something that I had never really gone through a swing overhaul like that before. So it just made something. It created a golf swing that I mean the ball flight's just more predictable.
Speaker 1:So your reputation here in Southern Oregon and in particular here at the Golf Garage, is impeccable as a coach, as a trainer, as a professional, as somebody who really understands the game and can help develop people's skills. I talk to people around the golf garage all the time who they come to me and they're like dude, have you seen Ryan play golf? And they're like dude, have you seen Ryan play golf? And I'm like, yeah, I'm like I've never had the privilege of playing a round of golf with you. But they're like we were out at Sonarage and he shot a 65. I'm like, yeah, it's Ryan you're talking about. I know that I've never played're talking about. I know that I've never played with you, but I know that and you're so humble and so low-key in your demeanor around here. But the people who I talk to, who you have helped in their golf swing, have improved dramatically and just have the highest level of respect I can. You know I can't put words to so I've got a ryan story.
Speaker 2:Ryan, I don't know if you remember this, but when you first came to willamette you were a very good ball striker. You hit a lot of greens regulation. You're always somewhere in that even par range, couple of times under par, and you know, putting wasn't your strongest suit at the time, but you were still a really good player. Um, and one of the things I remember, I was always trying to figure out how do I motivate Ryan. We had a lot of good talent on the team but we were always kind of in that top 25. You were the guy that got us there. You brought in a lot of good recruits and I was like there was a term and I think you finished like second and you were super bummed.
Speaker 2:It was like one of the first times I saw some emotion. It't. It was just like frustration after and you know, almost didn't want to like talk about it and I remember going to the fan by you and I'm like you know how you doing what's going on. You know, yeah, whatever, and you know typical. I mean, why would you want to talk about finishing second? And then I started saying I was like hey, you know what? Guess how many tournaments I won my freshman year. You're like I don't know. I said I won six, go beat that. And literally the dude goes out there and he starts winning golf tournaments. I'm like I don't know if that did it, but I literally was like, hey, maybe the guy just needs something to shoot for silent. But that it was silent but deadly. And we're like he's shooting 67 all of a sudden out of nowhere and he hits a slinger draw that he doesn't talk about yeah, with wedges.
Speaker 2:Nobody wants to do that. Never, never, actually, let me coach him, but that's okay.
Speaker 3:that's that's why I went through that swing change. Yeah, we always joke about that.
Speaker 2:I'm like you never let me coach you in college, but it's okay. But he wanted to beat me Right and it was fun, like it was a really really good relationship that way. And you know, ryan, I think one of the things that you bring to the table, um, at the golf garage this director of instruction is, is the playing side of it. Obviously, you know you're a great player, your demeanor's awesome. You don't go up and down.
Speaker 2:I'm sure you're going through stuff, but what was the biggest thing on the Dakotas tour? That was probably the hardest thing to get to because I mean, like college golf, you have a family, you have backing, you have it's all about the team too. Right, it's an individual sport, but you have the opportunity to be on a team and then you go out there and all of a sudden there's this buzzsaw of really good players nearby yourself. You had some family in Dakotas, which was nice, but like, how do you find that support? You know, what would you give as advice to somebody out of college that wants to go and try to play on the tour?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I think, uh, when I was out there, like there were a few guys that I remember you know a seeing at every event, because it's a very small community of you know guys that are playing these tournaments Um, and towards the end of the season it ended up turning into hey, like we're sharing hotel rooms, we're going to dinner together. It would be trying to figure out how to build a network as fast as you can with a couple of people and if that, you know, two people turns into six by the end of the you know tour or whatever it is it's not like the show naked and afraid.
Speaker 3:No, it's not, it's, it's very much. You know, it is a cool um, like the camaraderie I guess you get from having guys out there. I mean, I'm not a religious person at all, I wouldn't say, but when I was out there ended up meeting up with some guys who they had, like I don't know, just nights where they talked about faith, um, and then that was just, I guess, super like the, the door was super open into like what that actually meant to everyone, um, and then it just, I think, allowed a bond to to be fostered.
Speaker 1:To what grounds people?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it's yeah, exactly it was I don't know. Yeah, it was something that I guess was different to me when it started, uh, but turned into something normal by the time it ended.
Speaker 2:So now let's fast forward because obviously you know great advice, build a bond. Um, you need support. It's it's literally the biggest village in the world to play tour golf and, um, my, my little experience out there as well, it's like it's amazing. You've got to keep your player positive, you've got to keep them in the mindset and go, go, go, go go. And then there's all these people that say I want this, but they really don't know what it takes to do this. And so golf garage is interesting because you just shot 63. It's March, we played no golf, we've had snow, we've had all this terrible weather, right. So how is it that you can keep your golf game sharp indoors? What are some of the tricks that you do at golf garage? Potentially, whether it's it's teaching, coaching or just like for yourself. I've seen you hit balls in here before you practice. You play, you're in our league. You know what do you do to keep your game short. To say, in March, with terrible conditions, I'm still shooting nine under par.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's, it's just knowing how far the golf ball is going with all the irons, it's knowing what swings create what shots. Um, seeing shapes on the screen actually to me is very beneficial. Um, super, uh, I think I think a very, very much a visual learner. So when I see shapes on the golf swing, like on the simulators on the screens, like to me that's all right, that's a draw, that's a left edge of the fairway starting shot, it's moving back to the right center of the fairway. Um, and then what did that swing feel? Like it would be a golf swing for me that I generally draw shots, so like when I try to cut shots, uh, they go pretty straight. So, like, what is that feeling for me? And then I take that to the tee box on a on a golf course and then, hopefully, you know, stripe it down the center.
Speaker 3:But I think biggest thing is just it's it's distances. I know how far I hit the ball with all my clubs. And then I guess something that you know was I get, you know, really unique was the other night I was playing. I came in Sunday night the night before that round of 63 played, 36 in about an hour and a half and uh, yeah, played, played Copperhead and played grand reserve, so that's uh, that's the Valspar and that's the Puerto Rico open. Um, and when I was, when I was playing out there, I was realizing, like, the more I play golf on the Sims, I realized how freely I swing the club.
Speaker 3:It's really interesting because I feel like when people put out on the golf course, golf swing becomes super restricted because they're so, you know, focused or attached to the, to an outcome. Then all of a sudden you're hitting into a screen nine feet in front of you and then that has to change. Like, in my opinion, that has to change. Repetition, yeah Well, repetition, but also just how, how freely can your swing be?
Speaker 3:Because, like, how attached are you to hitting a golf ball into a screen nine feet in front of you? So to me I'm like I'm making all these motions the way, exactly the way I want to make them, hitting shots, and they're going the distances, maybe even a little bit farther than I actually normally would, because the swing is so free. And then I go out, and it was, you know, second hole at centennial, uh 195, out of the rough with a six iron. The swing was as free as it felt the night before when I played that 36 and hit it to six feet, make eagle, and that was the start of the round. So it was just like that. That six iron swing on two on hole two the other day felt the exact same as like every iron shot that I hit the night before on the sim.
Speaker 1:I'll bring up the six iron because that's near and dear to my heart. I love my six iron.
Speaker 2:Not your wedge.
Speaker 1:My 69 degree wedge is my girlfriend.
Speaker 3:That's the one it comes through for me every time. Darren, I don't take on students that have that wedge. Come on, don't get me wrong, I love it.
Speaker 1:What's the balance on that thing? There is no balance 6.9.
Speaker 3:There's none.
Speaker 1:It just goes in the air, it lands and it stops. It stops which I don't know.
Speaker 2:I got to echo something real quick here because Ryan hit the nail on the head. I don't get to play a lot of golf, right, I'm trying to run the golf garage, I'm coaching, I'm doing all this stuff. But like I played tonight and I noticed the same thing that Ryan did, I made five birdies on the sim tonight and that's the most I've made in sim golf in a while and I haven't played a ton. But there's something about it that you do swing freer and I, oddly enough, felt the same way and I was like my six iron doesn't go one 90. I hit it on 77 on the golf course, but it's odd because on the golf course you're controlling it to a yardage. It's not your potential, and I think that's some things that people struggle with.
Speaker 2:and then a lot of 100 percent amateur golfers come in and they hit it shorter and like this isn't accurate. And you're like, uh, let me hit one, let me make sure it's working. You hit eight iron stock whatever and you're like you know it's, it's there. So I think there is some mental side of this that if you hit more in a simulator, you're going to find out number one. Like you said, every ball you hit you can see how far you hit it. It's not about the other 13 parameters. Most people don't need to know what their face to target is. I mean, end of the day, their goals aren't going to be what your goals are as a tour player, and I think it's like like as a coach, you have to decide what are the goals. How can we?
Speaker 1:help you very quickly and Golf Garage allows you to do that. I will tell you firsthand with, specifically, the 6-iron, I'll get out here in the simulator and I will hit the 6-iron over and over and over and over again. And when I get this club dialed in I'm carrying, raw carry, the six iron 197, 196, 198, you know right in that just shy of 200 yards. When I get out of the golf course, if I'm at 177, 180, course, if I'm at 177, 180, I'm grabbing my six iron because I'm not hitting on the golf course with the confidence that I'm hitting in the simulator. And it's not that one is more accurate and one is less accurate, it's that in the simulator you get that repetition to where you get that confidence to start swinging more freely. And when you get out on the golf course and you're not swinging in the level of repetition that you are in the simulator, you're not striking the ball with as much confidence.
Speaker 3:For sure. And where do most people miss Short?
Speaker 1:Right 100%.
Speaker 3:I've gone out and caddied for a lot of my junior golfers your son actually, for nine holes one time and then a handful of others, and for the most part like hey, let's take another club. If we go long, we go long, but most golfers don't go long. Short is the dominant miss, short right specifically. But short would be a better miss or a more often you know a miss that's more often than than long.
Speaker 1:My miss today on the KP competition was long left. Who won that left? Who won that?
Speaker 3:I think, the owner of the golf. First time, though.
Speaker 2:First time.
Speaker 1:I'll take credit, baby, how far I was. I was seven yards. I don't know, ryan, I was seven yards from the pain you're like okay, well, we'll add it would have been 21 feet when I was off of the green because it was back plant. You would have been pin placement t4 maybe fifth what did they say?
Speaker 2:and?
Speaker 1:so there was a lot of close people today.
Speaker 3:Winner winner chicken dinner. Noah gets half off a Bay rental.
Speaker 2:I'm donating that to one of my teammates and I said anybody with PGA attached to their name is not eligible. That's why I don't run the events, I just play Ryan's in charge.
Speaker 3:I took that guinea pig shot that first one because it was 155 down 28, and I hit a gap wedge.
Speaker 1:You couldn't see the green you couldn't even see the green, you couldn't even see the flag. Black Jacks.
Speaker 3:Crossing golf trip coming up. That place looks sweet.
Speaker 2:I got to toot Ryan's horn a little bit here because director of instruction. Why is Ryan the director of instruction? Well, he's about to be a Class A PGA professional. For one, he's a heck of a player. He knows statistics, he is a really good mechanical coach and he's still learning. And what's really cool about Ryan is he's a lefty so he can mirror every righty and then he just tells everybody that's lefty, that he's really good, so he gets the lefties and the righties.
Speaker 1:So, ryan, here's a very raw and personal question in your future, do you see yourself being more on the teaching side or in the tournament side?
Speaker 3:Well, I mean I, I deal, I yeah, I mean, I ideally like to do both. Um, don't get me like I don't want to stop playing competitive golf. Uh, competitive golf.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, we have a tournament to win on, like what, next Friday?
Speaker 3:Yeah, the, what is it the?
Speaker 2:high school we got to support those high schools.
Speaker 3:The high school shootout supporting the high school, the local high school teams.
Speaker 2:You know, what we should do is we should play some bets against all the amateurs in the field. They can't take us down and we'll double that money. I like it yeah.
Speaker 1:Take me on.
Speaker 2:It's for the kids, man, it's gross baby.
Speaker 3:Yeah, RVCC Shootout hosted by Garrison's Furniture. If you don't have a team already get a team. Support the kids.
Speaker 2:We've got to support the team. You coach too, right, we haven't even talked about that. What school do you coach, Ryan? I?
Speaker 3:coach in the St Mary's High School, a small school here in Medford. Great history of golf too, by the way. Dylan woo uh alumni who's on the pga tour right now it's.
Speaker 3:It's a fantastic group of kids. I have right now, um, you know, one, one senior, two seniors on the golf team, um, but two seniors, one junior, a great sophomore class, great freshman class, a bunch of kids I've taught now for up to almost six years at this point. So, yeah, really, really fun starting the high school season. Have a good look at, uh, you know, competing for a state title so, in your tournament, play career goals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what is the next six 12 months? Hold for you, what's your yeah, what's your goal? What's your plan? Yes, in the in your cards yeah, so it's.
Speaker 3:It's some local events. We medford, southern oregon, has has quite a few really good uh pro-ams for the local professionals. Uh, rogue pro-am mid-april, right around master's week has two days at grants pass golf club, two days at rogue valley country club. Then there's the opga events that I'll play in uh throughout the year, just great events that I take students to, typically almost always take students uh as my playing partners. And then we have the Washington open, the Oregon open, the Northwest open, as some of the Pacific Northwest section major majors. So those events are held at, you know. The Washington opens Tacoma country club Great course. Uh, the Northwest open. Uh is at a court golf course called the home course in DuPont Fantastic track One I played actually my senior, senior year of high school.
Speaker 3:Uh state championship at um finished second to uh, to a good friend, good friend but um. And then the the oregon open, this year, I think, is at aspen lakes. So three cool, three cool golf venues, courses I've played before. So those events. And then in september the pacific northwest section has their major championship. It's in missoula, montana this year. Canyon river golf club Awesome course. Actually caddied for Noah there back in 2019.
Speaker 2:Best caddy I've ever had.
Speaker 1:That will point you in the direction of potentially PGA tour card.
Speaker 3:So PGA tour card would be different, but it would. It would you know, play well at that event gets you into another event. Play well at that event gets you into another event. Uh, play well at that event gets you into another event type of deal. Um, the 2026 skipping the corn fairy? Yeah, it's well, it's not going. It's not going many, it's not going to a route. Actually it's so. This, this event in missoula, montana, if you play well enough, you qualify for the club championship, like the PGA professionals club championship event. Um, and that is in 2026, held at Bannon Dunes. If you go there and play well enough, you qualify for the PGA championship, the major. So then you play, you get to play in a major event. So, like you know, theoretically speaking, if you play eight really good rounds of golf as a club professional, you find yourself in a major championship.
Speaker 1:Excellent.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a route into a major just like that. So yeah, that'll be a fun event.
Speaker 1:So what is your favorite golf course of all time?
Speaker 3:Oh, it's such a good question. My brothers and I have debated, have debated between this uh, over the years I, you know, if I was, if I was being loyal, I would say surfside golf course, my dad's home golf course. But uh, maybe it's, maybe it's band and dunes. I've played that golf course with my dad and my family since they opened in 1999.
Speaker 2:What about Citrus Farms? Where's that rate?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got to play Cabot Citrus Farms just a few weeks ago. Cabot was incredible.
Speaker 2:I would love to go back there, one of the top courses in the country 30 new courses.
Speaker 3:32nd. I got to play all the courses at Streamsong in the last month. Those were incredible because they felt like Bandon Dunes and a couple of them I got 30, 40 mile an hour winds, just like Bandon Dunes. The greens were faster, so it was even harder.
Speaker 2:We're not in Kansas anymore.
Speaker 3:No, but that's the first course that actually popped into my head when you asked the question. It might be Pasatiempo. I've gotten to play Paso Tiempo down in Santa Cruz three different times Um, once with my dad and then twice with uh one of our coaches here, matt Preston, and uh, and then when a couple of our golf garage members we took a golf trip down there a couple of years ago. Actually, a cool story with that one was we went early March 2023. My birthday is March 2nd. We played Pasatiempo March 2nd and we flipped out a hole-in-one on the 15th hole there.
Speaker 2:That's a video I've looked at like three times it's a wedge.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have it on camera.
Speaker 1:We've got to post that to the my golf course. It's a wedge.
Speaker 3:It's a wedge shot that lands 114 yards. Uh, wedge shot. Lands eight feet behind the hole, spins back, hits the flag stick and then wraps around the cup, ends up half an inch on the front edge looking in. So it was just, you know, looking back like what a memory that would have been having an ace on. It was my 30th birthday and you know, whatever it is now is what it is.
Speaker 1:But do you have any superstitions? What do you eat the night before a big tournament, or the one pressure's?
Speaker 3:on. No, I quit. I quit having superstitions for a long time. For a while now, actually, like on the golf course, I would used to have certain things, like I wouldn't go to the bathroom if I was playing well, but if I was playing poorly I would use the bathroom. If I needed to use the bathroom, you know, I thought plan ahead, everybody, yeah. And then I just started like telling myself this is ridiculous. Uh, so no, I, I don't think it's this point. Maybe some peanut butter and banana sandwiches are probably my favorite thing to have on the golf course during tournaments. I'll eat those on hole seven and hole 13. Outside of that, I mean, don't be specific or anything.
Speaker 2:Well, so let's back up here the best players in the world have a process. That's why Ryan can shoot those deep numbers 65.
Speaker 1:It doesn't scare him, it's just like let's keep going.
Speaker 2:Let's make birdie, let's make eagle. It's not a big deal, right? I always?
Speaker 3:used to use, uh, for a while. One of them was I had this Oklahoma state quarter, um, and I just liked the emblem on it, but, uh, I mean, that was that's probably like the most superstition thing I ever had for a while. Now I use a different ball marker, so I don't use that quarter anymore. Okay.
Speaker 1:All right, here's a big ask. In 2025, you and Noah have to help me break 80.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, doable Ryan. I don't know if we can do it, buddy, as much as we can. Oh, come on, darren, that's so easy, you just need some time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have until December 31st 2020.
Speaker 2:Ryan will take you on the golf course because he loves to play golf, and I'll help you in the golf ground.
Speaker 1:We're going to document this and we're going to make it happen. Yeah, break 80. I'm telling you, I'm the type of person I was thinking there's some par 3 courses around here.
Speaker 3:We can make that happen, no problem. Yes, yes, yes, par 28.
Speaker 1:I'm the type of guy I go out there on an 18-hole course and it's definitely not my best round of golf, but it was my best start to a round of golf. I was one under going into hole seven and I shot a 94. Yeah, yeah. So what do you say?
Speaker 3:What do you say to that? It's a really good start, because I know everybody everybody listening to this podcast is in that boat.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, it's something that I've started to do over the last I don't know how many years has been. Well, a going back to when I was a junior golfer, my dad taught my brothers and I, uh, and I have two brothers right now that are both OPGA golf pros. Uh, my youngest brother, blake, actually just won his first event as a pro. Uh, couple of like just literally the last couple of days at Astoria golf, uh, golf and country club and Gerhardt, um, but he always taught us to try to not keep score. You know what I mean. Like write, write the number down, but try to not track it Right, because then, all of a sudden, the start, you know. The second, you start tracking it. All of a sudden, the start, you know the second, you start tracking it. All of a sudden, you're, you're attached to something right, and and and people, just as human beings, want to be attached to something.
Speaker 1:So if you can figure out how to detach yourself from that, all of a sudden, something good could happen my best rounds of golf, which are in the mid mid 80s, are shot when I don't walk away feeling like I did anything exceptional.
Speaker 1:I just played consistently boring boring maybe right I like that word where some of the my rounds of golf, where I hit the best shots of my life that I'm super thrilled about, don't even get me in the 80s. Yeah, yeah, so it's. It's that mindset of not caring about the score, it's just about getting out there and executing every shot individually yeah, the best of your, your ability, which might not be a birdie, might just be a par or a bogey, but that will bring your score into the eighties, low to mid mid eighties.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, yeah, sometimes bogeys are great, and as cliche I mean, there's so many golf cliches, right, let's get there, I'm going to hold you guys to it.
Speaker 1:You two between the two of you have to get me sub 80 by December 31st.
Speaker 2:Uh, wow, at me, sub 80 by December 31st. Wow, I don't think it'll take that long If you do what we say you're going to do. It might take like two weeks, two weeks. Are you willing to take two weeks off work?
Speaker 1:I can't take two weeks off work. That's your own problem. I mean, I'm the normal person.
Speaker 2:You're the CEO of your business partner and all you got to do is take two weeks off. You want to accomplish this goal or not? I mean, we're just putting you in the challenge here because here's, let's go, let's real quick here.
Speaker 1:Give me six months, not two weeks. Six months and I still get to do my full-time job.
Speaker 2:We'll see, we'll see, we'll see. We've got to write some things down.
Speaker 3:You sound like Chubbs from Happy Gilmore. Give me six months, I'll work with you every day.
Speaker 2:Well, you know what's really funny about all this Happy Gilmore 2 coming out in July? We're going the golf garage is closed when Happy Gilmore 2 comes out, or we're going to host it here, hey, you know what? Every golfer has this expectation and we deal with this daily, Ryan. And it's how to manage the expectation, because they tell you one thing in an assessment and then week three comes along.
Speaker 1:Oh no no, no, no, I want this yeah.
Speaker 2:And so you know. The nice thing about the technology is we can look back at it and say here's where you were, here's where you are Plain and simple. Stats Don't lie. Measurable, measurable, measurable. Number two we have video apps that say here's the accountability aspect, this is what you wanted See this video, and this is me voicing it over and this is what you were supposed to do, right? So what's really nice about it is, if you really want to get better, it's like a gym, right. Why would I ever go to a trainer? I know how to work out. I really do Like I I've taken classes. I know I've been to trainers Like I don't need one. I do it for accountability.
Speaker 2:Why would you take golf lessons from our director of instruction? Because he will keep you accountable and he understands it, he's been through it, he knows all the details of it. He you're not going to make the same mistakes he made twice right? That's the whole goal of coaching. That's the goal of Golf Garage. We can make you accountable for your actions and you're going to get better way faster. Ryan just shot 63, right. I have the same experience in a pro-am in Arizona where I played really well. I think, like these things. Golf is not hard if you understand what you're trying to accomplish, and the golf coach's job is to keep you accountable.
Speaker 1:It's still hard.
Speaker 2:For you Until we break that number.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like it's hard for anybody without PGA attached to their name. Is it a?
Speaker 2:bet, like you and I, versus Darren, and he has to do something for us.
Speaker 3:Yeah, let's make this? A running tab or something like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that sounds good, but maybe next week, like we'll come up with this off the air, and then we'll come up with it next week and, darren, you got to come up with this. I mean, like this is game on.
Speaker 3:I think that's a good idea. Especially with a lot of my students, I try to inspire practice. I know how much I've practiced in my life, so you know my goal with anything anyone that I'm ever working with, is just to inspire them to practice more than they ever have, because a lot of people don't practice. They hit golf balls, like maybe once a week after work and I get it. You have a job.
Speaker 1:That's hard.
Speaker 2:We have a full-time job, I have a 24-7 facility and you have a key fob, Danny.
Speaker 1:I own a business and a full-time job and I have a wife and four children at home.
Speaker 2:And they're asleep at about midnight and you're still ready to go.
Speaker 1:Let's do this, and I've got one of our clients. Tyler hanging out with us today on the podcast and he's he's a full-time real estate agent. You know for his career.
Speaker 2:That's a pretty cool magazine too.
Speaker 1:He does, and we'll talk about that in the next couple of weeks. Oh yeah, but it's. You know, it's a full-time job and we're golf enthusiasts. We want to be better, but it's not our full-time job. It's hard, I get it. Golf is hard and I don't care what you say about golf being easier. It's always hard, no matter how easier it gets.
Speaker 2:Would you say that after you played Augusta and Pebble? Or would you be like, oh my gosh, that's the coolest golf course I've ever played dream.
Speaker 1:I will say it is the coolest golf course I've ever played. That is a dream come true, but man was it hard. That's exactly what I'll say. I played Coeur d'Alene resort course, which is one of the bucket list golf courses.
Speaker 2:How far was the par three? 174. You know what's awesome? Hold on so.
Speaker 1:Ryan changes every day depending on the tide.
Speaker 2:I was thinking about this. So when Ryan said that earlier about his hole in one, good golfers remember every shot.
Speaker 1:I remember that I was the only one in my group before that hit the green and real quick, Darren.
Speaker 3:I'd like to point out it's a lake that there's no tides, it's just the level of the lake.
Speaker 2:Where was the moon at?
Speaker 1:We'll look back at that, whatever it was the level of the lake changes and they moved the green barge closer, further out. How long was the boat ride?
Speaker 3:Not long enough. I played there in August 2008.
Speaker 1:I didn't finish my course light from leaving the dock to getting to the dock of the green. I didn't quite finish it. Lake levels were up. Yeah, it was a long par three that day.
Speaker 2:Love it, noah's dying have you played that course, not yet Someday. Bucket list courses, though. What do we think for Ryan and got a couple of questions.
Speaker 1:What's your bucket list course? Bucket list course Not lick course Bucket list, course Bucket list courses.
Speaker 3:So I've gotten to play a couple different allister mckenzie courses with my dad, which have been pretty sweet. Uh, red, uh, northwood, northwood's golf club. Uh, just north of san francisco is an incredible nine hole public golf course in the redwoods. Um, if you haven't played there, go play it it's, it's insane, we played it 18 holes one evening stayed there overnight. Played 18 holes in the morning. The morning fog and the sun coming through the Redwoods on the nine hole public track is something special.
Speaker 1:Um on top of that, have you played the coyote Creek tournament course, San Jose.
Speaker 3:I have not played coyote Creek. No, um played a few times in San Jose, but I haven't played that one. Um court of all was one I played down there in that area used to be where they had the. I think it was the Safeway classic. Actually, um, did you walk or did you?
Speaker 2:ride in a cart, road in a cart, I think. Oh, because I caddied five rounds on that one.
Speaker 3:That's not. That's not a fun walk, but Alistair McKenzie golf courses would be a pretty cool track. So the few that I've played have been Pasatiempo, northwood you played Pebble, yet I haven't played Pebble. Metal Club was a pretty special one, just north of San Francisco for Alistair McKenzie's first golf club on the West Coast. And then Pasatiempo is actually the model for Augusta, if people don't know that, if you get the chance to play, pasatiempo just went through a remodel. That place is incredible. They hold the Western Collegiate College Tournament there every single year and I think it's hosted by Pepperdine. That place is worth the walk. I've rode there once and then walked twice, walked that golf course. It's a brutal walk but it is worth the walk.
Speaker 1:I've played Sandpiper Golf Club and Rancho, san Marcos and La Parisima in Santa Barbara County several times. I am going to be playing what's one of Klamath Falls running why? Arnold Palmer and Taurus for the first time next month. I want to play band in dunes this summer and sometime in the next couple of years I want to get pebble. Pebble is great on my list because it's, you know, nearby and within my member travel. Can you say?
Speaker 2:member trip.
Speaker 3:Yes, let's game on it, on, let's go in the fall. What is member trip?
Speaker 1:we will do our podcast live from pebble.
Speaker 2:Ryan's invited, let's do this game on. Hey, I think we need to figure out what Ryan's favorite food is. Do you know what it is?
Speaker 1:tacos on Tuesdays what about Thursdays pizza yes, I love it.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining us. My golf source podcast. See you next week.
Speaker 2:Y'all.
