Golf Dads
Just 3 guys who carry the bag for their kids on the weekend. And then some.
Golf Dads
Playing Youth Golf: Embracing the 18-Hole Challenge
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ALERT! BE AWARE, THERE IS SOME ECHOING FEEDBACK IN THE RECORDING. WE WILL DO BETTER.
In this episode of the Golf Dads Podcast, hosts Ryan, Jason, and Adam share their latest experiences navigating the world of youth golf, particularly the transition to playing 18 holes. With busy schedules and the joys (and challenges) of youth golf consuming their lives, they delve into the nuances of this significant shift in their children’s golfing journey.
Preparation becomes even more critical as the stakes rise. The group discusses the logistics of preparing for an 18-hole round, from early wake-up calls to ensuring breakfast is substantial enough to fuel the kids through the day. They reflect on how the entire day is consumed by the game, making it essential for parents to plan accordingly.
Key Takeaways for Parents Navigating Youth Golf
1. **Plan Ahead**: Ensure kids have the right snacks and hydration to keep their energy up during the round.
2. **Mental Resilience**: Teach kids to bounce back from mistakes and focus on the next shot.
3. **Enjoy the Journey**: Emphasize the fun and social aspects of youth golf, even as competition intensifies.
Hey, welcome everybody back to another episode of the Golf Dads Podcast. It's Ryan, Jason, and Adam in the house this morning. We're recording early because our schedules are always intertwined with other things. So here we come early. What is it? 7 45 in the morning. I have a 10 o'clock tea time. Adam is leaving for Ohio to go play tournament golf with Alex this weekend. And uh Jason, what do you got on a schedule this weekend?
SPEAKER_01Uh we've got deck hockey this morning, and then we have a pool party after that, and then we have golf tomorrow. Pool party sounds awesome.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Golf, yeah. So we're busy and and we've realized it's been a while since the three of us had been on here chatting about youth golf. I actually looked, it's been over five months since the three of us chatted about youth golf. We did have one or two episodes in between with some interviews, but uh just the three of us and haven't talked about golf, but we have been playing a ton of golf in the last five months. January 30th, I think, was the last time we talked. I know you guys played a decent amount of winter golf, kids' winter golf. I myself and my kids didn't play any winter golf, but uh we just started the Cleveland Spring Tour, or excuse me, finished a spring Cleveland Spring Tour, played the Arnold Palmer invitational last weekend, and also playing the Pittsburgh summer tour currently. So we're busy, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we're kind of like full swing again where it's not, you know, the the winter in Pittsburgh, obviously everybody it's like kind of scattered what you can take and what you can't take, but now we're we're back into it and it's just taking over our lives.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it is consuming our lives for sure. Adam, what do you what's uh what's going on with Alex and everything on your end?
SPEAKER_00So much youth golf. I mean, it feels like it's every day. We can throw in junior PGA junior league too. So you so you have that on top of tournaments, on top of lessons, on top of big news in our house, actually. We we did win the Callaway division and the father-son golf event at our club this past week. So Noah. If we're not if we're not winning if we're not winning youth tour events, at least we can win a a father-son in a uh in the Callaway division. So I was just glad I didn't let Alex down, which he reminded me over and over again that I'm the weak link on our team, and he wasn't wrong.
SPEAKER_02So that's awesome. Yeah, that is big news. You know, bringing home the bringing home the W and the father son. Um that's pretty solid.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. He he burned through that shop credit real quick. Real quick.
SPEAKER_02So we have been uh, you know, we talk offline a ton about youth golf and everything we're doing and how crazy and how much money we spend, and what are we doing here? Like, seriously, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? Yeah, it's crazy. We're uh Jackson, your Jason's Jack is ten and Alex and Jackson and Harper are nine. And as we mentioned, we're we're waist deep into kids' golf.
SPEAKER_01So you're you're all joining the eighteen holes you know, lifestyle now, so that's kinda that's a big jump and a big change for everybody uh compared to last year. Which to me is crazy that they're nine and ten years old and playing eighteen holes of golf. It's also I think it's a big change for everybody when you get out there and you see it's not live or die by the first hole. You know, you you have time to kind of settle in and figure things out.
SPEAKER_00What did you think? I have a lot of thoughts on 18-hole golf at nine years old, actually. So I'm glad you asked, Jason. It's it's a bigger, it's a bigger change than just it's nine more holes. It's and this is gonna sound ridiculous, and people are gonna be like, oh, what is he talking about? The kids nine years old just play golf. But it's like you're not allowed to ride in the cart, right? So you're you're walking all 18, you're doing it back-to-back days, you're doing a practice round, so it's really 54. I'm already mad because the red, white, and blue that we're playing in in Pinehurst over the 4th of July sent out an email, hey, practice round, no carts. It's like, all right, guys, we're we're playing in 100 degrees three days in a row. You can't have a cart for a practice round, kid's nine years old, seems crazy to me. But in addition to the golf, it's well, how many snacks do we need on the golf course? And I don't even mean that in a joking way, but you're playing 18 holes, you have to keep the energy up. Like, what's the right snack? How many snacks? When are we eating? What's the hydration schedule? Because it's super hot. Western PA is very hilly. So, like that that walk at Darnold Palmer was not an easy walk by any stretch of the imagination in the first round. Wow, we pushed almost five hours. So, like, get adjusting to that whole new uh, I guess, cadence of of golf and and how much do you warm up before and how do you stay engaged for for 18 holes? It's a whole new thing. But I do agree, I I loved it from the from the standpoint of the the mindset is definitely different. Like today we're playing a nine-hole event. If he bogeys one, it's like shit, we got to make a couple birdies or this tournament's over after the first hole. In an 18-hole event, you could have a double, I mean, he had a double and a triple on the second day on the front nine. And I I really I really thought we were going into the tank. The clubs almost went into a pond, but then he comes out and has four birdies on the back nine, and the front nine is a distant memory, but it's like, okay. And you know, we talk a lot on here too about, you know, what do we say to our kids? And I mean, my my catchphrase is Alex, what are we doing here? Like, what what are we doing? How do you miss that? What do we you can't miss right and you just blow it right. What are we doing? And we were walking off the ninth grain, and this is just one of those things you never know what's going to land with the kid, right? And I was like, hey, bud, you might be eight over right now, but if you make nine straight birdies, we're under par for for this day. And just like the youth brain, he just looks at me and it's like something clicked, and he goes, Oh yeah, nine birdies. He goes, Well, if I make an eagle on a par five, then I can make a par too, right? And I'm like, Yeah, that math's still maths. And he's like, Oh yeah, well, let's go. And I was like, that was it. That's all I had to say. So it is it is a whole different thing, that 18 holes, which I I do and I wasn't sure I was gonna like it, but I I did enjoy multiple aspects of it. I do think, I do think it is a long, kind of slow, and you just got to get used to that. But it's fun.
SPEAKER_01It's a different grind. It it totally changes your view of, I think, in golf, in junior golf in general, because the nine-hole stuff was always like kind of fun. You you sit there, you hang out, you know, they they play nine holes, and then everybody, you know, grabs dinner or something, and now you're playing 18 and the whole day is consumed, you know, especially depending on where you're at. You gotta get up and get to the range and you know, make sure that they're getting a good enough breakfast in them. And like you said, you really have to plan out the dietary, the nutrition, the hydration.
SPEAKER_02It's not and I Arnold Palmer was the nutrition, the hot like we got some calling. You have to. Meanwhile, they're eating gummy bears and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
SPEAKER_00That's important too. You got to get the blood sugar up. I mean, I was like, hey, buddy, we need some candy right now. We we're we're we're starting to dip. I need it for me too, is the caddy. I couldn't get enough water in the the second day. It was so hot.
SPEAKER_01I can't get Jackson to eat no matter what, so it's so important for us to like pick what he's gonna try and eat in the morning and then like the night before and what we're gonna take on the course with us. He will not eat on the course. It's the craziest thing in the world. But we I remember when we were down in South Carolina, he was playing great and he started to kind of dive a little bit. I tried getting like uncrustables in him and gummy bears and beep jerky, and he wouldn't touch anything. And I'm thinking the whole time, like, he hasn't had any sugar at all. So I got him a Gatorade, and that just perked him up. You know, it was enough to like kind of get him through the last couple holes and keep his mind where it needed to be. But it's a it is a total, total grind at 18 holes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then well, Ryan was still lucky enough to play nine, and so we show up at the course. We we haven't even warmed up yet, and he's on his second surf side, and I was like, man, that that's nice.
SPEAKER_01He's leaving. He's he's got a drink in the hand, he's like, I'm gonna take a nap. That was that was awesome.
SPEAKER_00I mean, so late that the bar was closed when I when we got done. I was like, what is it?
SPEAKER_02Adam's face, whenever I told him I was on my second surf side before he even went out, he was very disappointed. It was that is that to him, that was the major downfall of an afternoon 18 hole round.
SPEAKER_00It was true sadness. I I had never felt so so alone. What are we doing here?
SPEAKER_02But you know, to that is true. I mean, 18 holes is is a game changer. I mean, I think I look at it two ways and just and I haven't done it yet. Jackson's gonna do it next week for the first time at Ohio States, but you know, the physical part is is the uh the physical part is for sure the game changing part. But I think after that, to Adam's point, like it's more golf, and our kids love to play golf. So it's more opportunity to do well, it's more opportunity to learn, it's more opportunity to do bad and learn from that. But at the end of the day, I mean, it's more golf, man. So that's what we're doing. And as Chris Reed famously says all the time golf's an outdoor sport. We're playing outside, let's go, you know. Shout out to Chris Reed, the U.S. Kids Cleveland tour director. I'll see him later today. Fan of the show.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the um the more golf and the the lessons I I felt like on our second day, we had a a full golf career of life lessons in in 18 holes.
SPEAKER_01And it's it's I told Jack, this was this was my speech to Jack on the second day of the Ornal Palmer. And we've done 18 holes many times before now that he's 10, which is crazy. But we played uh three or four, maybe five different tournaments that are 18 holes. But I told him on Sunday, I said, I do not have a six-hour therapy session in me, so you need to keep it together today, otherwise you're on your own. It is such a grind, and these kids are so hard. The first day he played even par until I think the fifth or sixth hole, something like that, and then he hit one bad iron shot out to the right, and his whole like mental state just came crashing down, and it was so hard to recover that and get him through, you know, to find positivity that it was just I told him the next day, I was like, you have to do this on your own, otherwise you're going to be on your own carrying this bag. But it's it's it is tough when the 18-hole stuff comes around. It's not you're fighting the golf course, but you're also fighting fatigue, you're fighting hunger, you're fighting a 10-year-old trying to keep an attention span for five hours. You know, it's a lot.
SPEAKER_00We do. And was it you was it you that played with somebody that did make their daughter carry the bag?
SPEAKER_02Or was that I was I was just gonna say so the first day of Arnold Palmer, this is nine whole girls, I was caddying for Harper. I think we're on like the sixth hole, and no, we were coming up five, and the young lady we were playing with and her mom was caddying. They got into a little altercation or an argument, if you will. And the next thing I know, the girl basically fires her mom and says, I'm doing this myself. Mom's like, Okay, I'm not fighting with you. So that was coming up five, and then the very next hole, there was a father-daughter, and they were doing really well, and they had let's call it a mutual agreement that they were going to separate. So from five to six, I was the only cat was the last Mohican. Just me and two little girls pushing their own parts up the hilly and uh you know, Marlon Palmer, course that they drove country club. So I was the only one to finish, and then the next day, the uh the father and daughter who had the mutual separation, they decided that it was better to stay he stay on the sideline even the second day. So she pushed her cart and caddied for herself the whole second day, and also shot two under par.
SPEAKER_00That's crazy.
SPEAKER_02Maybe looking for a job. So but no, he uh he and I talked, and he's actually probably going to come on the podcast at some point. But he said that this has been about six months in the in the making, and not that they were arguing, it was just he felt that she needed to take some accountability, and you know, he hated that it was at Arna Palmer a regional event, she was doing well, you know, but at the same time, he was like, Hey, it's time to it's time to see if you can handle this. And that's what happened, and she did really well. You know, and that that is a hilly core, especially coming up 18. I mean, these girls, little girls weigh 55, 60 pounds. I mean, their carts and bags probably weigh twice as much.
SPEAKER_00Especially when they're loaded with snacks, coolers, and the whole thing. Yeah, that's it it's so interesting because I will say, as we've mentioned many times, I'm continuing to work on myself and and my caddying uh when I'm out there with Alex. And and I will say I I had a great Arnold Palmer tournament. I did I did so good. But the one thing that I still I still I still can't put up with is if if there's a bad shot or a missed putt, and the and the first turn is to the to me or to whoever, and it's like this was your fault. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not hitting the shots you are. I understand you're frustrated. That's okay. It's okay to be mad about a bad shot or a missed putt, but let's not put blame elsewhere. Like the that accountability word I think is very important, and it's again, they're nine and ten years old, so like that that comes, but you have to I was like, Alex, buddy, I didn't hit the putt, you hit the putt. Just accept it was a bad putt and let's move to the next hole. This is where we almost had our explosion because he would not accept that, and then he triple bogeyed the part five, which should have never happened. And that's where I thought we were one of us were going in the pond with his golf ball that also ended up in that pond. And uh yeah, I it's just to get them to understand, like, okay, hit a bad shot, it's okay, but you can't just throw blame around because that it just's gonna work.
SPEAKER_01Do you think Alex came into the Arnold Palmer with like an expectation of being his first 18 hole and but it also I think being a local tournament for us, you know? I know Jack put a lot of weight on it. He really wanted to win that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we had we had an expectation discussion and I laid out what the expectation should be. And real honestly, our expectations we had we had two goals learn how to get through 18 holes and keep a good attitude. And I and honestly, I was like, I don't care what your score is, what place we come in, like this is your first 18-hole event. We just got to figure this thing out because we have like Ryan said, we have the Ohio State next week, we have red, white, and blue a few days after that, and then worlds is right around the corner. All 18-hole events. So, like in my mind, it was like, okay, this is just learning and practice on how to play 18 holes, and and I'm sure he had different expectations of himself, as I'm I I'm positive he did. And so there was probably some disappointment when he wasn't playing how he wanted on that second day. I I thought he played great the whole tournament, was super proud. He had two rounds in the 70s in his first 18-hole event, so it was like, this is great, and and we figured our our way through it. But I will say that that opening T shot on hole one at the Arnold Palmer is one of the most stressful T-shots I've seen in youth golf because it's so close to like the practice screens. I mean, the T-box is attached to a practice screen, and then there's another practice screen. There's a ton of people, there's a bar right there, and then you know, depending on yeah, Ryan's at the bar, and then you got I'm wishing I was at the bar. You got people like just hanging out, you know they're done. And normally you might have like, I don't know, half maybe eight other people around the tea box, but that one it felt like there was like 40 or 50, and then you get the loud announcement, and so then some people stop talking, but some people don't. And I was just like, man, we just we just got to get away from this tea box. Like, let's just put a qu put a good swing on it and let's go.
SPEAKER_02Let's talk about expectations a little bit. Uh the discussion in our house has I I've really lately tried to shift the focus from you know, it although it is a competition, but we're just not competing against other people, you know, we're competing against ourselves in the course. And I've really at every opportunity just tried to hammer home, you know, we're just trying to get better. We're trying to keep a good attitude because, you know, we've you know, especially my Jackson, uh, he gets very angry when he doesn't do well. So that's he's gotten a a lot better at that. But we have just been, hey, let's just keep trying to move the needle, you know. It's I don't care if we're 10th place, 20th place, whatever. I mean, Harper at Arnold Palmer last year was last place. And uh I even went back and looked, and it was actually a joke in our house that was like, Well, Harper, in order just to do a little bit better in last year, you you you were last place by and next to last place was eleven strokes better than you. There's a slight gap. So the bar's pretty low here, man. We got this. Yeah. But so and and we said it jokingly and we laughed about it, you know. And she did have a it was just a bad weekend for last year, and and this year she did, you know, fairly well. I don't even I think she was maybe seventh place. So hey, we moved the needle, right? It wasn't trying to beat somebody, it wasn't trying to stand on the podium. We're just progress, you know, slowly, incrementally trying to do better.
SPEAKER_00I think one of the things we've been doing too, because you mentioned it, Ryan, is try trying to take the focus off of yeah, if you win, that's great, that's cool, you get a different ribbon. These kids, like if they all they all get a medal, it feels like, so whatever. But our our saying, yeah, I know you hate that, is I'm like Alex, you can you can control what you can control. And I actually, this was a McElroy thing that I was like, oh, this is this is really good. And obviously, McElroy and and our kids are playing the same level of golf, so this obviously applies. But I I think from a mindset standpoint, it's it was perfect. He was like, look, you can control what you can control. When I'm out there, the only things I'm thinking about are myself, the golf course, and my golf ball. I cannot control anything else other than what I'm doing on the golf course I'm playing with my golf ball. So if I'm doing the things that I need to do with my golf course or with my golf ball, it doesn't matter what's going on in the group I'm playing in, it doesn't matter what's going on elsewhere in the tournament. I can only control what I can control. And so that's kind of been our talk track is like, hey, buddy, you're not gonna win every week. You shouldn't expect to win every week. Golf's a hard game, but let's control what we can control, and that's that's our attitude in our golf ball. And if we had a bad shot, that's fine. Again, we we've also talked through a little bit, it's okay to be angry for a couple seconds because you're gonna be frustrated, so you can't pretend like you're not. I mean, it doesn't have to be an outward like mental breakdown like some kids have. We'll leave names out of this, but I I but but I think I I actually think it's healthy to live in some of those emotions because we've we have the same conversation on the first tea box. I mean, that was a nervy T ball on Juan at Latrobe, but he feels nerves on every first T-box. I'm like, buddy, that's fine. Like being nervous is good, it means you care. So let's figure out how to like take a deep breath and rip a shot. And like I was I was super proud of him because he was like in our last Cleveland Spring event, he was like, I want to hit the first T ball so I can hit one out there and just see what we'll see what happens. And I was like, Yeah, I I'd love that. Like if that's how you feel, that's what we that's what you should do. And then luckily he was the first one, ripped one. I was like, This is great, let's go. So it's like those little mindset things of okay, it's it's like not not shying away from nerves or not letting the kid have the emotion. Like they have to have the emotion, but how do we deal with it? And how do we how do we kind of position it in a in a positive way as we're trying to work through the the nine-hole or eighteen-hole. One's a sprint, one's a marathon, but at the end of the day, the the the thinking and the thought track and kind of the I don't know, the the game plan or strategy of of emotions is the same regardless of holes.
SPEAKER_02I've gotten a lot better at over the last two years of just you know, and we've had, you know, Rachel Rahana on, we had Coach Ryan McDonald on, we've had Chris Reed on, we've had, you know, a few different guests on, and we listen to other golf podcasts, and everybody, you know, one of the same things that keeps coming up is hey, they're nine years old, and honestly, this just doesn't matter. We're we're trying to prepare them. You know, I I don't think any of us want our kids to peak at nine or ten years old. So we have to keep some element of fun in it, and we have to just be like, yeah, it is what it is, and you're gonna hit bad shots. And you know, it uh Harper tested me at the uh she's at the end of Ohio, you know, she could have won the whole tour. She had she had three chances to win the whole tour, even by missing one tournament, you know. Uh she double bogeyed eight with a three shot lead and then missed a eighteen inch bar putt on nine to tie her and put her in a playoff and then lost. playoff. So that's like, what are we doing? What are we doing? Yeah. And then at Arnold Palmer, you know, she we're standing on seven T box at even par. She had made six or six per pars in a row. And which would have been, you know, I'm thinking, hey, this is a good spot. Probably end up with, you know, she's hitting the ball well. You know, we might be one over to come in, which will be her personal best. And walking off of seven, which is a par five, with an eight, a triple bogey. I'm like, okay, here we go. We're allergic to going low. You know, but my whole point is it's like I was extremely frustrated. And of course I was like, what are we doing here? We made an eight. But I just looked at her and said, hey, that's golf girl. You can either let this turn into two more double bogeys because we have two more holes to play. Or you can just be like, whatever, flush it down the toilet. That's what I told her.
SPEAKER_00Not that flush it down the toilet. We've used that. It's like, hey, you can flush this turd or you can flush the round. You pick.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's it. You know, and so she went par bogey finish. And it's like finish with a 40 with a triple bogey and seven pars. It's like, hey, that's golf. And it's fun. And she laughed about it. Honestly, it was really cool because you know we didn't talk. I was still very happy with her play. She played very well that day, just had, you know, a hiccup. But she was like, yeah, that's pretty hard to do. It is kind of hard. But what are you going to do? You know, so yeah, you know, it's youth golf, man. And, you know, we see some of the parents get caught up in it. And yeah, we we the three of us get caught up in it, I know. But I also know at the end of the night, you know, when we go home, maybe have a drink or we're drinking together and unwinding, and we realize it's it we're good. We're in a good spot. Our kids are in a really good spot. They're doing what needs to be done. And it's okay.
SPEAKER_01It is cool watching their mindsets like especially when you see them on 18 holes watching how their mind works. And you you talk about how they're like sharing their feelings and stuff with you. I think I think that's huge in itself just the kids being able to tell you like what they're thinking, what they're feeling, you know, and and I I kind of brought some of that up because I I know Jack like put so much pressure on himself for this Arnold Palmer that it actually ended up in a negative way for him where it was too much for him at that point where we played other tournaments or you know some of the Ohio stuff where again we were down in South Carolina for an 18 whole tournament and he had no expectation. And it just kind of was like let's go have fun and let's play and let's see where we're at. And he does significantly better when he takes that pressure off himself. So I think it's going to be interesting to see how kids deal with this as they grow up and how we deal with it and how we can kind of mitigate some of that. But if we can I think I think if we can continue doing what we're doing like we talked about the things we talked about over winter and how we want to help the kids in caddying and keep an even keel mindset and things like that. They're all going to come around. They're good enough players they're smart enough. It should be a fun year.
SPEAKER_02I you know I think that yes with Jack I know you were texting us saying he was just like grinding it out you know hitting balls for getting ready for Arnold Palmer because he wanted to do well you know and that's great. He's grinding it out and just like he's learned that you have to practice to do well he's also going to have to learn that he can't put that much pressure on himself. And I think all three of our kids or four, you know, if when you add in Harper, they're going to go through that the ebbs and flows of figuring out what's going on between their ears, you know, during a golf tournament and it's just something that they have to experience and they have to learn themselves. We can't we can say all we want hey let's just have fun. Let's just you know not try to put too much pressure on ourselves but until they actually do it. You know and that's that's what's so cool about golf that it's just really comes down to you you know the player itself. You know we can't hit the ball for them we can't they have to do all that and they have to they have to handle their emotions and uh you know they have to handle the adrenaline as well if they're doing well. You know that's something else that needs managed and that's what I we it's another conversation in our house especially with Harper it seems we're not a good closer. We got good six good we have six good holes in us and then you know coming down the end I think he realizes that oh I can do well here and the wheels come off. So that's something that do you think she does think about that?
SPEAKER_00Do you think that's something that she's consciously thinking or try keeping track of her own score and recognizes where she is and then like presses?
SPEAKER_02I don't I I she does keep track of her own score she like but not like compared to others. She anxiously wants to do her as her personal best as she calls it. So I think I don't think it really affects her like a lot but it does it's there some. And I just don't think she knows how to handle those types of emotions you know because I I tell her some one of the things I told her is if we have to get used to understanding is the game's not over until you sound the scorecard. So like you gotta yeah I know it's a great spot to be and you kind of want to celebrate it with them. Say on you know whole six or seven if you're even or one over like and they're very happy you want to celebrate that. But at the same time it's really hard for me to say okay let's focus on golf here because I feel like I'm taking the front fun from it and I want it to be fun for so I want to celebrate with her but I also want her to be serious on the closing two or three holes. And I I did find myself conflicted because she made a birdie and was celebrating and that's the second day of Arnold Palmer. And yeah I wanted to celebrate but she made a birdie on the first hole so it's like we got eight more golf holes you know so let's let's let's let's be careful here.
SPEAKER_00You know but I I felt bad because I did I did say that you know and I should have just been like yeah let's go you know so I think it's tough because I as a former low level still waiting for my peak athlete very superstitious. And so like when Alex is playing well I like I if he makes a birdie I mean my man is an emotional golfer so he's gonna throw a tiger fist pump or he's gonna do the shooter finger pistols at the hole which was like the greatest video I've ever seen.
SPEAKER_02We might have to share that on social because we there is a video of Alex taken by someone else this is for listeners that he made a putt and he did the whole shooter McGavin at the whole deal and that is absolutely raw Alex awesomeness.
SPEAKER_00It it it cracked me up I every time I watch it I laugh it's so good. But but like celebrate the birdie and it's like okay we got to play the next hole I don't talk about score with him if he's playing well if he comes up to me and says hey like my score is this or I'm like don't worry about it. It's the next shot it's the next shot to the extent where my parents were watching and this is where people will think I'm crazier than well probably not crazier than I am I am fairly crazy but like my dad kept asking me after every hole like what what do you get? What's his score? What's his score? And I was like I swear to God if you ask me one more time you're you're not allowed to come back to another one of these tournaments. If you jinx him on this hole because you keep asking what his score is it's like I'm going to absolutely lose my mind.
SPEAKER_01So do you mentally keep the score like when you're having a good round do you like mentally keep track of it because I I when a good round is out there and Jack's playing and whatnot he'll look at me and I know he knows kind of where he's at but I don't I won't even in my head I won't even start like you used to talk about superstitions. I won't even start like trying to figure out where we're at I just know I'm like all right we're doing well let's just keep going let's just keep going.
SPEAKER_00Yeah I mean I I I typically have a a pretty good idea but I will not look the numbers on the card if I feel like we're going the right way because I don't want to be like I like that Ryan situation of oh we're even par through six because then I would be like okay well we're sitting on a par five this could be a birdie we're gonna be we could be minus one or even par and then boom triple and then now I'm now I'm mad I would be mad because I like I had a new expectation for the for the round that I had just set without just just in my head and now I'm gonna be more frustrated than I should be because golf is hard. So it it is I I'm just a superstitious guy. But yeah that that kind of stuff but it but it is the same way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah so it it's it's you know I yeah I'm not I'm not that I can I kind of always know like you know we're three over four over you know I don't know just bogeys and pars type of deal on my head and I don't have a problem looking at the scorecard. I I don't I don't want to say I'm not superstitious but I also think like you can create your own either way.
SPEAKER_01So well I think that can also like change the emotions and the way that you're dealing with the round and how you're talking to you know your kids and how I like if I'm you know when we were down in South Carolina Jack was playing really well and he was on like a really good round and I he kept asking me kind of where he was at. I know he had an idea but I know if I looked at it and I started tallying things up I might have that like little extra pep in the step that we don't need right now. We need it to stay just kind of a calm even keel you know round. So I don't like to look at it. I I don't and I don't want him to look at it either because his super move is birdie bogey. It's just how it always happens you know so if I can follow up a birdie if I can keep that as level headed as possible without focusing on the score and just focusing on helping him with the round and stuff I think that helps him just stay more involved than constantly thinking like oh I'm one under or oh I'm one over or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_02So but on the flip side of that is when I know when you're doing well we get superstitious and don't want to think about score and we don't say but whenever you're doing bad you know we constantly know where we're at and it's constantly being talked about. You know Jackson for instance my Jackson uh in Ohio I don't know which one but Mary predominantly caddied for him all spring Cleveland tour because he and I are too much alike and we tend to argue with each other and Mary is very like whatever dude go for it. You know and uh it seems to work well for him. But anyway he one of the tournaments he went double bogey double so he's five over after three holes and Mary's thinking like this is going to be an absolute disaster and they talked about a score walking to the fourth hole his attitude was horrible and she was like I'm not gonna caddy for you if your attitude's bad and you have a lot of golf in front of you so why don't you just put that behind you like your dad says and try to play good golf and he made two birdies a bogey and pars and I think finished 40 you know so that was we talked they they talked about score they talked about the emotions and he was like yeah okay I was super proud of him because of that conversation because you know you're you're five over after three and you're playing a nine hole to limit I mean I would flush that round down the toilet. You know what I mean like I I would know it was going to be a bad round I wouldn't do better. I'm just saying I would just talk it up to like yeah this is going to be a bad day I can't wait to get to the clubhouse. So the this the discussion then you know talking about it I think changed his mindset. And you know that one birdie he made a birdie on the fourth hole and his Mary said his whole momentum shifted. You know his whole mindset and it shifted to momentum and it's amazing what one shot can do one good hole you know how it it and and golf is such an emotional game that it is something that I think needs talked about. So there is that flip side of the coin.
SPEAKER_00Well it's funny because we definitely talk about bad scores on on the course. So like if we're playing well we're we're not talking about score if we're not playing well and there's definitely more score discussion and what what I started to do because again this is a learning process for all of us is like if he knows because he these kids know when when the round is I don't want to say when it's over but these nine holers it is it is kind of a sprint. So like if you have a couple doubles like that's awesome he bounced back but in his head at that point he probably knew like okay like what what do I take from the rest of this round and that's kind of where our conversation has gone is like hey buddy this probably isn't your day but we have five holes left let's take something from these five holes like I don't care what it is like let's set a new goal like let's hit all five fairways or or greens or let's have something positive that we walk away from this tournament with some positive thought as opposed to hey it's another round in the 40s and I know you're gonna be mad about that because that's not what your goal is but let's you're you're not gonna shoot your your personal best every round. That is like crazy. So there's gonna be days where you have it days where you don't and we had we were having a bad day in one of the Cleveland events and I was like hey dude we got three holes left let's let's find a way to take one shot from these three holes and let's just remember that one shot. And he was like okay we can figure out a way to hit one good shot I was like I don't give a shit what your score is on the three holes. Let's just find one good shot remember what that felt like and then we'll take that from this tournament because we're not going to talk about this tournament in great detail going forward with where your score is so let's let's have one positive to walk away from also the drive home from Cleveland are very long so like you got to have something positive for the two and a half hour car ride, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah yeah the those drives they uh you know the we love going out there but we ain't driving home we gotta have a we gotta have a serious chat and he's gonna listen to this so we're gonna ask tea time of the day for the people going the farthest away. That was brutal. Hey mate two and a half, three hour drive home at the last tea time of the day crawling in here at 10, 11 o'clock at night.
SPEAKER_00It's funny you say that because I think we're the second to last tea time tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01So it's just I think they say it's supposed to get better at some point I just still haven't found when that is I know when it gets better whenever the kids are on their own bag and doing their own thing and we're just hanging out no and they got a license I'm telling you kids Uber we need we need to roll that out.
SPEAKER_02We just throw kids Uber just throw throw the kids in an Uber I got to call up our boy Ricky throw him in the Uber golf wagon yeah yeah yeah exactly so let's uh you know we had uh we had a couple guests on or just the the past guests which got some really good feedback and the reason I say this is we were at Arnold Palmer and all three of us were recognized as you know the host of the big bad golf dads podcast uh so that's pretty cool especially in the girls group but uh we had Rachel Rahana on and man she was you know she's a Southwestern PA girl played plays on the LPGA tour well she plays on the Epsom tour played on the LPGA tour has played in US women's opens has won a lot of tournaments and she had a lot of good insight and I know one of the things you know I I don't know Jason if your kids listened to it but my kids had listened to it and Adam's did as well Alex had and uh you know she had a couple good you know mic drop moments if you will and one of them was like hey if you're three putting from over 30 feet you you're not a bad putter you're a bad iron player you got to hit it closer and and that has really stuck out I know Adam said that Alex really took to that and and so did my Jackson you know and and then also I think she mentioned in there one time you know three and four foot putts like we got to drain those like those are the ones that you know change you from shooting you know a few over par to maybe a few under par. But uh it's really good insight for our kids you know to hear that like you're you're not a bad putter if you're three putting from 30 feet or more.
SPEAKER_00No I I that was one of the first of all I I very rarely give you credit for anything Ryan but I I thought that was a you did a great job on on that and and Rachel was incredible ton of good insight. So if people are listening to this one and haven't listened to that one go back and and listen to Rachel because there's a lot of good stuff there. But yeah that that piece specifically we were on our way I think to junior PGA and we were listening to it and it and it's funny enough because this whole spring that's kind of been been um I don't want to say Alex's problem but he's he's played really well some of the scores haven't been there and it's like we're just lipping tons of birdie putts and and longer putts and I'm like buddy you're hitting great putts but they're you know we're 15 20 feet away like you're not gonna make those every single time and then when she said that on in your interview I was like it like you could see just something click with him. He's like oh my gosh like this is not a putting issue I'm putting it great. This is a I need to be better with my wedges so that I'm five to ten feet not 10 to 15 or I'm I'm 10 to 15 not 15 to 25 and I and I will tell you without us I very rarely if ever ask Alex to practice he just does it because he wants to and he loves it. He's been on the on the practice pitching green for hours over the last couple weeks just like okay I got to work on this chip. I want to get it closer here of how do I hit it higher how do I hit it lower and skip like he just got a new 52 because we had too big of a gap between our 56 and pitching wedge and he's like okay well now I have this now that unli un unleashes a different kind of shot toward at the green so that that was like incredible insight that honestly it it's something that's so simple that I'm shocked I like well I'm not shocked I never thought of it. I'm kind of surprised maybe Ryan you never thought of it you think you're smart about golf I guess not as smart as you think but that's why we have a podcast that's smarter people. Right now or not I'll decide later. Yeah no we'll we'll listen to it back but that that's why we that's why we have these guests on to hear how they think about things and what their what their process is because process is important. But yeah that was that was awesome. That was that was really good insight for sure.
SPEAKER_02I think process I've I've come around a little bit on that because I've noticed jack my jacks and his process is let's hurry up and see how fast we can hit the ball and then run to the next ball. So he needs to develop some sort of process because his mindset is that golf is not only a sport for low score but it's also a race.
SPEAKER_00So I'm trying to slow him down with process I think slowing down in general because when when these kids are playing like they they're very aware just like we like to get to the bar after the round they like to get to the practice green with their buddies and like they were doing some it was it was actually cute to watch like all these kids from from all over the country and in Canada and elsewhere they were doing a a rider cup hutting and chipping on the green after they just played 18 holes you would think they'd be gassed because I I certainly was and they're like no we we're not leaving we're gonna hang out on this green and do a rider cup event I was like well that's okay but flop shots over the over the US kids.
SPEAKER_01Yeah oh my God. Which is incredible terrifying like you're watching it you're like oh my gosh and then you see all these kids hit these like perfect 10 12 yard flop shots from standing right behind this like I don't even know what you want to call it a little banner thing. Yeah but they're so good they can do it.
SPEAKER_02I feel like Arnold Palmer would have loved that had he been there. I think you know the Arnold Palmer Foundation shout out to them because they did interview Harper and I it was while you guys were playing golf I think or maybe you hadn't even gone off yet. Jason I think you were out there Adam hadn't gone off yet because he actually saw me being interviewed but the uh Arnold and Winnie Palmer Foundation uh their people were at the uh Arnold Palmer and they had interviewed Harper and myself because we had just came off a nine and they asked us and you know they asked Harper you know if she knew who Arnold Palmer was and you know that type of stuff. But we did talk about they asked specifically me what what what I felt Arnold Palmer would think of this event. And you know obviously I didn't know Arnold Palmer but you know what how many couple hundred kids running at his bar yes a couple hundred kids running around his course and being respectful and not tearing anything up I think like man he that was probably exactly what he wanted to see. And he would have loved those kids down there hitting these flop shots up towards his clubhouse it was super cool. But you know to kind of bring it home a little bit here we we did meet some uh in some pretty cool people I know I was on the bag with uh Alan I think his last name was 2 tu he's a listener of the podcast from Ontario Canada super nice guy you know started Academ for his daughter and you know he said to me specifically it's like I think their first big tournament was US kids worlds last year and they got in like kind of last minute and he went there not knowing what to expect and you know there's a lot of pressure there that little kids can put on themselves and and his daughter did that and he found our podcast because he said he came off the course and was like I clearly don't know what I'm doing here. I need all the help I can get so he started Googling literally Googling how do I get better at understanding youth golf and I think our podcast popped up so he and I were talking a lot about it and he was super cool dude and uh you know it's just it's really humbling to hear that we're all in this together type of deal because it's just not us and and it's other people at that are going through the same types of emotions emotions and you know, what are we doing here with our kids and you know, I mean that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00I just I love hearing other dads say that. What are we doing? What are we doing? I mean we're all in the same boat trying to get through hoping we're doing the right stuff and but yeah that that was super cool to to talk to other people that had listened and apparently we're still huge in San Antonio but you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah San Antonio is uh highly downloaded. We're not sure why yet but uh shout out to y'all down there. I mean it's just keep keep the downloads coming. We want to hear some feedback too from you. Like how popular are we actually in San Antonio? Yeah?
SPEAKER_01We gotta get back on the social media stuff. That's my fault. I gotta start putting some of the stuff that we're doing out there a little better. And we we actually do have a give it a messages that I went through the other day and we have some companies that have reached out surprisingly but some companies that have reached out that they want to talk about you know their products with us and some of their kids stuff. What did you say? No Tito's logo yet no Tito's no not yet if Jack Daniels is listening give me a call. Yeah but no it's we're gonna get back on the social media stuff. Start pushing it a little bit better. And it I think it was nice to hear that people are still listening because we haven't done it in so long. Our schedules are so crazy and it's just so hard. I mean again we said it's 7 30 in the morning we're doing this on a Saturday because we just we can't get together like we we used to right now. So we're trying our best to just get together, get it out there but when you you go to a tournament and you go to some place and you hear somebody mention the podcast or say like hey I've listened to this it it really helps you know helps continue what we're doing and make it you know makes us think all right maybe we should keep doing this or or start I think moving forward you know what to let the listeners know like I have a little more free time than Jason obviously runs his own business.
SPEAKER_02Adam travels a lot and I I you know have like a nine to five so I'm more at home than those guys.
SPEAKER_00I feel like it's more like a nine to eleven but semantics.
SPEAKER_02Nine to two days a week two's counting anyway. Yeah maybe I can I'm gonna throw in a couple interviews you know whenever we all can't get together and then we'll meet you know periodically the three of us and discuss everything we have going on just kind of like what we're doing now after the Rachel Rahana interview. Um so you know I had met a couple people just yesterday I went to the Sonny Hannah amateur you know which is if you follow amateur golf you know sunny Hanna itself is that amateur tournament is probably top five in the country of amateur tournaments. I mean there's so many PGA tour players that have played there and wanted you know Tigers been there, Jack Nicholas, Arnold Palmer, Ricky Fowler, Jordan Speed, Dustin John I mean I mean Colin Morikawa, you know, I mean there's so many of those type players have have won it and I wanted to go see it yesterday. So I went up yesterday afternoon and just kind of was dumbing around watching people I knew a couple people in there one of the kids from Adams Club uh Mikey Quallock was is playing in it doing pretty well he made the cut so I watched him for a little bit local guy David Fjord uh who won it two years ago he's playing in it uh I think he missed the cut but I ended up meeting a uh a guy just a a dad another golf dad from Ontario actually Toronto and uh his son played for Texas AM I think he's currently two or three under par doing pretty well but he and I started chatting it up and uh I mean he he uh has been he started US Kids you know did AJG did it them all and man we were talking and I was like dude I got super cool dude his name's Rich he's gonna come on the podcast I mean really funny guy but had a lot of insight you know his son's just you know 18 years old playing for Texas AM you know was one of the top recruits in the country met his son named his son Alex super cool kid he even said he would come on it was pretty neat to see but like so we're gonna do a lot of that type of interviews and then talk about what we got going on and and yeah hopefully you know we keep reaching the masses. Yeah. Anyone else have any closing thoughts?
SPEAKER_00No we're in here. It's time to go I need to make some French toast. I'm starving.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Well everybody thank you for listening and tuning in to the Golf Dads podcast. Give us a shout out on social. Jason will let us know what's going on out there, where you're from, what you're doing and uh we'll talk to you next time.