No Winter Lasts Forever: Anthony Kim, Redemption, and Spring’s Return

0:00Welcome to The Bag Drop, Untold Stories in golf. I'm your host Matt Cossack here with our beloved co-host, the professor, Slascha Good Morning, professor. I was jamming out to some Sturgel Simpson this morning, so I'm in a nice Viby move today. I have no idea who that is. Sturgel Simpson has? No, I'm offended. He sounds like he sounds like the founder of an 1890s golf club, though. Sturgel Simpson. Sturgel Simpson, true country artist. Okay, all right. Yeah. My fix albums under his name Sturgel Simpson, just phenomenal, phenomenal art. We don't listen to much country. I don't know how this happened, but my five-year-old Nora is always coming home from from daycare and putting on her, she calls them her cowboy boots. They're just boots. She calls them her cowboy boots, and she wants to hear these boots

1:01were made for walking, good for her, which is a badass empowerment jam, but then she's like gotten into other country songs. She's requesting contrast. Where is this coming from? She must have a teacher or something that, who are artists, what is she going with? Well, see if there's Sturgel Simpson approved or not. Yeah, I couldn't even tell you to be honest. I'm trying to think of you would recognize them for sure. With the exact Brian's sort of stuff. I'm so bad. It's not my forte. What's fun one today. It'll probably be one of our shorter episodes. We're getting back into the swing of things, obviously, in 2026. We're getting into the golf season here soon. Hey, I can see grass today in Northern Ohio. Yeah, I can see grass today. That's a nice sign. But last week we did an episode about what the professor and I missed and what you might have missed, listener of the golf news during the winter months, kind of the dull dreams of winter when we all unplug a little bit, which is healthy. But there

2:02was some eventful stuff we talked about that occurred on many fronts in the golf world. But as we were doing that, we talked again, and we're like, I just want to get excited for the season. I just want to, that's one of the things we miss. What do we think we really miss about golf season? It's not watching it on TV. Yeah, that's a component. It's not getting all the updates from the golf world. It's our golf. And what we missed. So we thought the professor and I would kind of fire each other up here, talk about the golf season ahead and what we miss about it, what we're looking forward to about it. There was one thing though, we missed last week for sure, because it was unfolding while we were talking. And I have to bring this up because he's right, a generational talent that we, we both competed with not well, but we, we were in similar events. Anthony Kim wins on live in Adelaide. What did you take of all that? We haven't talked about it.

3:02I mean, it's more evidence that the world is just a simulation. That's just someone at the level. It's just turning things because that was, I mean, impressive, right? I think I saw Final Round, where Adelaide maybe was where they were at. Final Round 6, 63, I think, you know, shot. I don't know, seven under in the back nine or whatever it was, pretty five out of the six, something along those lines. Yeah, nine out there. Yeah, what an insane, like insane talent. Tell you what, there's deep dive stories, someone to do on, you know, do on that in terms of the whole potential insurance policy issues, all of that. That's that go along, long enough. You know, live comes not in the door. Obviously with enough financial incentive, they're like, by, you know, bypass any insurance policy or any issues there. And to come out and get your competitive game back, I mean, it's just so hard to compete against the best of the world. You know, the margins are so small, you become so dull when you're not iron, you know, sharpening your iron against them to just jump back into

4:03it. And within a year, go out and compete and be, I mean, and people can argue that fields aren't great, sure, but it's still a lot of great players out there, right? It might not be the best field in the world, but it's a darn good field. And if you beat everybody in that field, you are one of the top, you know, 0.1% golfers in the world. Well, I mean, yeah, like, we like to keep live on as I think from our perspective of what the field really is, right? The bottom half is not as strong as what you're going to see on the contrary tour in some cases. And I think though about what took place and I haven't watched it yet, I do want to go just see some highlights at least or watch, you know, I saw some clips on social, but I mean, the guy's playing with Bryson and, and Ram, two of the most top generation and the best of generation toe to toe after more than a decade of no reps, of not doing it, of being in a dark, dark place. That is wild. That's wild to me. I mean, who

5:06can't put yourself in that position? Just imagine you had the game to play and then you're playing with Bryson and Ram and you win by three. Like the mental, the mental fortitude there is significant. And I, I know there's the golf media or big golf media, not, you know, chuckleheads like us. I saw some dichotomy between, you know, do we celebrate this as this incredible triumph or do, like, what do we have to? We don't think we have to, you know, this is, it's, it's live. It's different. It's like, but I love two things. I love characters, people that are interesting, that are flawed. And, and I love a redemption. I love personal growth and I, and I, and I, I don't, like, I hear his interviews and sometimes I come on. Oh, it's. Yeah. It's, but, dialed up to cheesy totally, but those two things, like he was, we have first hand accounts of some of our friends who, who already with them went out with them and we know that he is a character for sure. And,

6:08and you can't argue that that was a hard place to come back from. Anyone that's had friends that's paddled addiction and stuff, it is brutal. It is dark. And so I don't know, man, I couldn't believe it. I'm sure most of the golf world couldn't. And it's kind of a wild thing and cool thing for 20, 20 seconds. Yeah, I think two things can be simultaneously true. Like a lot of his stuff with self-inflicted, right? And we can be epithetic to the mental states that lead to that. So it's not a, like, oh, you overcome adversity other people put on you. So that's not, let's not sell it like that. Also, like the comparisons to Ben Hogan in his situation are just ridiculous. So like, sorry, live announcers. We know what you were doing there. At the same time, we can acknowledge to your point, Matt, like how impressive that is to dig yourself out of your own hole and be gone for 10 years, not be competitive. Think how nervous we get. If me and you were playing in a match, when we go to the 18th full tide. And it's a tight driving. How nervous we get in a no-risk situation. Right. Like, like, like in just an everyday Sunday game with your buzz, you get nervous.

7:14And he stood up there after everything he's been through had to dig himself out of. I'm sure all the self-doubt, all the self-struggles, and then face down two of the best of our generation. And not crumble in those, you know, we see how many pros for three to five years. And they never took any time off. Just crumble over and over until they learn to win. And he steps up and just does it, which I think just speaks again to what a generational talent he is in terms of his skill set. There's a different world in which, you know, he's probably our generation's Rory McRoy. All right, like Rory is not Rory in AK is instead that individual that picked off, you know, all these majors, wins the Grand Slam, you know, Ryder Cup, Phenom, all, he's, there's a different world in which that's the case because there's no doubt he has a talent and he showed the ability to put it back together. I'm excited to see where he goes from here because again, like to your point, I like characters, I like narratives. You know, I love watching Patrick Reed. Like, yeah,

8:15I don't love Patrick. Obviously, like, I've been I'm sure on this record in the pod of like, that's not good for the game of golf. That's not good for role models and all that. But he is good for this for an entertainment of PGA tour golf. You know, it's funny you bring him up because I was thinking this, you know, reading about this come back and this try-off and there's definitely this confidence required, obviously. I mean, we skipped over the embarrassment side of his reentry and how bad he played. I Kevin, I saw him live in Nashville, actually. My one live attendance and it was bad. I mean, I would be glad if I said I didn't look at him out there and think I could definitely beat this guy in a foot race, but I'm pretty sure I can beat him in 54 holes. Like, this is bad. And so there was embarrassment there. I mean, even though you took that time away, like he had, but where I was going with your Patrick Reed comment is I've always felt that golfers, good golfers, the best of the best, there is a irrational belief and confidence

9:17and sometimes it borders on psychosis. And I've met some of those. I know you have two and I think some of the best golfers in the world have possessed that. But the thing, so going toe-to-toe and believing in yourself and doing that, I respect that no matter how you generate it. But the thing that I don't yet see with him and I wonder and maybe it's come out and I just haven't paid attention is, and I've read a lot about Bobby Jones, one of the things I love so much about his personal journey in triumph because he had plenty of his own struggles, mental health before it was really talked about and such is that his humility caught up with his self-belief and his confidence. And I think that's such a beautiful thing. And I admire that more than anything is when somebody has that incredible belief in confidence, we'll go toe-to-toe with the best in the world, but then still remain humble. You know, the Arnold Palmer comes to mind. I mean, Roger Federer, he had no business when as many majors as he did in terms of his

10:23personality and not being psychotic, right? Like he did not have the same blind confidence at everybody else that typically achieves what he achieved at, like he had self-doubt, you know, was very humble and had huge humility and all of his losses, you know. Yeah. Well, we could talk, this is, I wasn't intended at all, but that's a big headline and that's getting... And Kudos applause to Anthony Kim, seriously, like, to accomplish that no matter where you've been, that's just, you just have to look at that and applaud and say, you know, Kudos, do you dig yourself out and get back to playing at that level? Absolutely. Any fact for us, Professor, outside of the golf world, perhaps, or in? I do. It's kind of just a fact that just a shout out to all the different Chinese students that I get unfortunate at the work with. We have a math education, it's big in China. And we're fortunate to have lots of grad students that come in as well as several faculty and several of my graduate students that I've loved to work with have been Chinese.

11:25So just shout out to the Year of the Firehorse, right? We're here and we're just, you know, a couple weeks ago was the Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year, just to read a little bit about it. I don't know Sterling Simpson, and I definitely don't know a Firehorse. What the heck? So you've got your... So for those not familiar, the Chinese Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year was began on February 17th, so a couple weeks ago upon release of this. Every year is a some sort of, you know, animal creature being that is symbolizing the year, obviously, just has meanings for what this year is going to bring. So just the terms of what that means to be the Year of the Firehorse. The Firehorse symbolizes energy, independence, and rapid forward moving changes known for being sociable, intelligent, and confident. Horses are quick-witted, but can be vain and patient and get bored easily. This year is predicated to be a time for bold action, risk-taking, and significant personal growth. For all those other fire listeners out there, remember that. Year of personal growth. Let's make it up. Taking a risk, you know? Quit that job.

12:26Leave that... Leave that loser spouse, you know? That's definitely not what you're about to leave the country, right? Those we don't. Yeah, leave the country, yeah, maybe. Or make some changes to your golf bag setup. I got a fact from you, professor. I was with a friend of ours who former employee of the golf equipment industry and big stats guy. We were just talking about different things and just products. And I'll ask you in your style, what do you think is the equipment purchased by units that not dollars, but by units that sells the most in Q1, January, February, and March? What would you say is the... Like year by year, like what sells? Yeah, yeah, consistently year of year. As set of irons, I assume counts as one unit. We got, yeah, we counted that as one, correct. Yeah, I think that's... And you got to count that as one. Actually, no, I don't... I don't

13:30have these. I don't know. I'll have to go back to them. Then if something's beating irons, right, that says something because every time you buy an irons... That's 14 to 1, right? Yeah, I doubt it's going to beat irons. I would, oh man, the fact you asked that, like my gut would have been driver, but I'm going to go... I'm going to go new wedge season. So trust your gut because it's driver. And I thought that was wild, just based on... I know. What is that? It's so true, right? So the driver consistently by number of units, right? And I think he had metal woods as a unit. And like we said, irons, but drivers by a pretty substantial market, it actually makes sense why, you know, is it chicken or egg? Is it the release cycles of all the companies that are dropped from every year? Or is it us? And are he goes in the distance? And they are tapping into that. And so as much as

14:33I absolutely adore my title as GT driver, which I probably should be talking about right now, based on what people will go out and buy, I now feel like it's my duty to resist that trend or reset that trend because if my last couple of years taught me anything, it's that the wedges are truly the scoring clubs. And you need to invest in your wedges every year. If... I mean, you don't have to every year. The companies wouldn't recommend that. The engineers don't either, but maybe if you're playing 100 plus rounds. But... Or you're into bunkers a lot. If the sandblosses invest in your wedges, they give back. And so the SM-11s have all these, any customized detail you want to get you dialed in for your wedges. But they're really focusing on those three components in the new updated designs, which is cleaner contact, controlled flight, and the right amount of spin. But man, I heard that. And I was talking to

15:36them. I said, where do wedges typically fall on that? It goes wedges, putters, or I'm sorry, it goes drivers, wedges, putters. Oh my gosh. Drivers, one, putters. I was gonna say putters too because every wedges three. I've got the solution this year, right? Everybody thinks out of the putter. I'm gonna buy that new putter and it's gonna make... I've contributed to that putter trend, but it's usually just a rotation of my same five that I've been going back to now for a while. But yeah, invest in your wedges is folks. I can't encourage that enough. And the SM-11s are hell of a club to invest in. The CG changed slightly. Some of the grinds are updated, that the same voki-trusted stuff is there. I like my new one so much I've had dreams about them recently. Actually, I'm practicing when playing with them. I like again, I'm thinking, I mentioned last episode, they're turf interactions, something about them, and they're just clicking for me. My distance control was back. If I'm at 80, 90, 100 yards, just every ball is coming out in the same window, landing within a yard or two, my intended carry distance, and

16:37confidence levels way back through the roof. That's the guy I know. That's the guy I know. I can't wait to see that. All right, without further ado, let's get on to what we miss about the God season, what we're looking forward to ahead. Do you want to start us off? I want you to start. Start us off. I'm happy to start us off. My first one is an easy one, because it's the same reason that we record this podcast, you know, listen, and I think we record it for them, but obviously, we record it for ourselves and have a catch up every week to talk about golf and then offline, talk about life and what's going on with family, business, professional world, all that. Man, I missed the walks with the crew. Just being out there, having that time to connect, catch up. There's something about golf, right? You spend that four to five hours with each other, at least once a week, and you spend so much more time talking, vibing, connecting, being present, then you can catch up on, you know, over a dinner or anything like that. So I just really missed

17:38the time with the crew every morning, and, you know, being on the first tee at 8 a.m. and seeing other guys walking up and just knowing what you have forward with you. I just, yeah, I missed that feeling. How important is the walk? Let's say that the crew is advocating for, there's a lot of hills in Georgia, so you're going to one of those tracks that isn't walkable. Do you have that same excitement? Oh, I mean, if I'm being honest, I have to be honest and no, I don't have the same excitement. I'm to be clear, super excited, pumped. Yeah, yeah. I definitely, for me, a walking golf round with other walkers, I find more connection with the whole group than a cart round, where yes, I'm going to connect with the person I'm in the cart with, but you're just moving in and out of conversations so much in those situations where if everybody's walking, you just have so much more, you know, four to five, and we're fortunate to be able to play five sums at Athens Country Club. So we can have conversation amongst five of us spanning from the time we leave the tee box or get

18:41to the tee box all the way up, you know, through that hole, you're able to converse as a group, and and that's that's special. So I'll take either over none, give me the walking rounds overall, if I have to choose. I get a lot of family members that are just so curious about my obsession with walking, and my wife, even, she doesn't fully understand it all the time, and what you say about connecting with the whole group, and that is relevant, but one thing that helped my wife realize this is that in our neighborhood, there's a lot of women or wives, fathers, as well, just adult women who go on walks, and you see them, and as twos and threes, going on walks, they're probably talking, chatting with each other, and saying, you know, hey, when I get home from work, I'm gonna go for a walk, and they talk, and they do that. Guys, I, you know, we're in the age of equality, and there's nothing, a woman can't do the man does, a man can't do the woman does, maybe childbirth, but there's definitely some, some chemistry at work

19:47that say, and, and for whatever reason, guys just can't text a buddy and be like, hey man, you want to go for a walk? And I, I see, I see this with my dearest friends who are now fairly obsessed with golf, and, and it's not for all the complex reasons mine is, but I, I think this has the main thing to do with it. It's like, I can just go for a walk with my buddy, and, and, you know, play whatever version of my game with golf, but it opens this door to conversation without, you know, feeling weird about it. I think there is totally something about that. I've always been amused, you know, friends with a lot of people younger than me, and I'll never forget, I'll leave them nameless by texting them one time, like, hey, we're playing golf on, you know, Saturday, do you want to go grab breakfast, you know, beforehand at 7 a.m. or whatever? And he's young in his 20s, and he's like, that's weird. And then I think it is, like,

20:47golf is one of our entries, like, we just lag behind women in so many different ways in terms of a mature maturity. We're like, yeah, going on a walk with guys like, like, we should be like, obviously, then by the time we're sex 60, 70, we go to breakfast every day as I get there. All the time with your career, that's so true. You're like, man, me and you're going to breakfast, man, that's weird, man. We would, no, I'll see you on the first tee. That is so wild that you talk about maturity and how women are just more mature, because you're right. Like, what groups of men do you see eating breakfast and going for walks? They're usually like in their 80s, you know, and they miss out. We miss out all our time in our 20s, 30s, 40s to be doing that. Well, well, thank God we have golf, because at least it gives us that, you know, excuse to do it, but that, you know, there's also something about your, maybe those younger years about also needing to feel productive. And one way to do that is feel challenged. And so golf being so hard, I think that's another, like, excuse for us to have the current stage. It's like, well, yeah, but I'm, yeah, I'm not just talking with my bros on a walk. Like,

21:49I'm also trying to carry this bunker at 2.90 and I'm trying to, you know, get better at my six footers and I'm trying to make birdies out of here. Yeah, there's probably something to that. All right. Mine is, uh, during these doldrums of winter, which has been brutal in North or Ohio this year, just I can't remember even in my childhood, a streak of such cold, like we had, basically four weeks in a row through five weeks in a row through January and February that were, you know, around the zero mark, windshield. And, you know, when it's that, you can't even get out side for that long. I got kids. So I can't really like bundle them up in a way that's safe for their, you know, little digits and whatnot. So it, it, uh, when I was in Chicago, I used to always pry myself on just being out in that cold and wearing, you know, the ski mask or whatever. And I, I kind of enjoyed that challenge. But now it's like, you can't. And what I notice in those winter

22:53months is that waking up is, is tougher. I think this is probably a big reason that a lot of people retire and move down south. There's just, there's something about a little bit more ease in getting your day started when, you know, there's not frigid temps hitting in the face on the way out. So I, I noticed in the winter, I'm more tempted to hit the snooze. I, I'm more, um, it's just a little bit more of a struggle to get rolling. What I miss most about the golf season is not just that warm weather, but because it, because even if you got to wake up for work and it's 90 degrees out, it's still waking up for work. And sometimes I struggle to get going, right? I, I, everybody probably relates to that. But how about the change when there's an early morning tea time? Oh, yeah. I could, I could, but I talk about this with my wife too. I could have very little hours of sleep. Let's call it two hours of sleep. The kids are sick, coughing and, and yeah, I got you up at 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. I could have two hours of sleep. As if I have a 6 30 a.m. tea time and my alarm is

24:00set for five. I jump out of bed. You might be up at 455. I know. I, I jump out of bed. And, and, my wife sees the pep in my set. She sees how, how mad does that make her? That's what I want to know. How mad does she get? You'll, you'll do that for a tea time, but everything else you're hitting snooze. Yeah. She probably doesn't sit great. Although I, I mean, I'm carrying the bulk of our, our daycare drop off. So she doesn't even have to deal with it. But the, she does with plenty of others as a nurse. But I definitely miss that. And I'm, and I'm looking forward to it, right? Of just having the earlier weekend tea time, which is kind of my world these days. And it's just such a lift, right? I, I feel like instead of getting hit by the bus, I feel like I could lift the bus. And it's such a wild thing. I think it's, is it in dread, is it adrenaline? Is it anticipation of the, the challenge or, or maybe the connection that you're talking about? What do you think that

25:02phenomenon is? Yeah, there's got to be some sort of endorphin release that's occurring because the anticipation and the body getting hyped up for something that's excited about. I mean, there's got to be something behind that versus waking up on a cold day with, you know, nothing, well, we say nothing to look forward to. I think that just speaks to having a mission. And what you're doing and how important that is and golf can serve that purpose, you know, a shared round with buddies in the morning gives you a mission for that day that you're excited to partake in and, and get something from. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. We could analyze it much deeper. I was going to maybe attempt to tie it to the flight of the ball. I actually think there is this metaphysical thing that occurs when you send, you, you, the motion of your body is sending this object into the air. And when you see the flight of the ball, I almost think that that first t-shot for me is like the buildup of that. And then it kind of tapers throughout the round. But

26:06yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I'd love to have a psychologist physicist somebody analyze that for us. Yeah. So just tell us all golfers are pretty messed up in the head. Maybe it would be the conclusion would be totally, totally. What's your next one? What else do you miss about the golf season? Kind of flip a little bit opposite of the, you know, the first ones about connecting with the crew, those walks on the opposite of that just afternoon evening decompressions. Being able to just, if it's one hole, if it's three holes, if it's six holes, if it's nine holes, just, you know, pulling out of work and saying, hey, I'm going to take a couple hours to just stop out of golf course and walk to the first team, just peg it and go. I've always found that to be very refreshing to just be out there on your own and an evening nine holes with the sunsetting. What is your time? Like what time do you, when you're doing the decompression round, however many holes, what time are you typically getting a peg in the ground? I love if the daylight allows it.

27:07I love a 430. Just put it in, you know, play, getting around Athens and nine holes is a single ball. You can honestly get around in an hour and 10 minutes pretty easily, especially if I'm putting some forward tea, sometimes I'll just walk off to the closest teabocks and play a couple of the fours as drivable. And you know, you end and you walk off and it's like, okay, quick shower, go home, you know, cook up dinner. And, you know, so between 430 and 730, you've got nine holes in, you know, spent some time with the wife, you know, cooked up a meal, ate all that like that run. It's just such a great way that the wind down the day. Yeah. What's the opposite of decompression? Just compression? Sure. So my 430 to 830 is that. It's just a compression chamber of, have you ever seen like Jurassic Park, the one where I can't remember the big movie star? He's the tamer of raptors. Yeah. And he's got the three raptors

28:11around him. And he's trying to like, he's, that's how I feel, but between 430 and 730. So I, I miss so much that golden hour. I so, so do that was my childhood. I mean, 90% of the golf I played growing up was in that window of time. I know life is stages. I can't wait to get back to it. I think I hope, like you, you obviously don't take this for granted, but I hope everybody listen and like, use that time. That is such a valuable time to get out and go play. I miss it terribly. It's just not in the cards right now for me, but I will get back to it. My though, as I say that, I do have this next one. This was, I moved back to Ohio three years ago. And this was probably a not something I thought I was going to get into. And I've been very grateful that I have. And that is playing in my Uncle Mike's Monday night old man beer league.

29:13On a nine-hole golf course that stretches to 3,300 yards. What's the venue? The public course at Firestone 9 or the Firestone 9 at Firestone Country Club. Publicly accessible, beautiful land. Finally, have some details on who built it. The reason there was no listed architect is because really there wasn't professor. I mean, there was, but not a certified architect. It is, you're going to recognize this name, maybe. I'm blocking on his other name, but maybe was part of the superintendent crew for the Country Club. And he laid it out with Don Paget's senior. It was a PGA professional legend. These guys, I mean, it's more interesting than the 52 54 other greens across history. I'll just say that. But anyways, I think so. I think that's right. Yeah. I don't bring it up because of the course. I bring it up because, you know, so much in golf

30:13and in life, we think we know what we want. And that's what we need. But we ended up, we always end up getting what we need from golf, I think. And this is a great example. And, you know, getting my ass kicked by my uncle's buddy, wherein who's wearing blue jeans and a T shirt at a 25 handicap in a nine-hole match is what I need. You said, yeah, you said no chance in that match. Well, no, I'll fight. I'll get some of them. But I just, it shows you how broad this game is. And it reminds me to be appreciative of everybody's experience in the game. And so, like, personally, I really take a lot of joy in that. The other thing I discovered in it, because playing the same nine-hole golf course, even though I find it very intriguing and a very interesting walk, you need like things to keep your interest, I think, for the year, because you played every single Monday night. There was even a window at time. And I had to go

31:14talk to the agronomy team about this, where the pins were the exact same every Monday night, whatever rotation they were on. So I was like, boys, come on. How many other leagues you got here? If everybody's playing the same pins, we got a problem. And they did. They adjusted. They understood. They totally got it. But I created a birdie challenge for myself. Shout out to the NLU guys. I think DJ Piowski was the first one to turn me into it. And the funny part was I ripped through. So I'm a scratch golfer still. And I ripped through the first birdie challenge fairly quickly, like before the first half of the season, all nine birdies. There's two par threes, which is always the tricky part, some short fours though, that once I did that, I said, okay, I'm going to do it again. But what about an Eagle challenge? Could I, Eagle? This is a 30? Now, keep in mind, the longest trees are, are tees are, I think it's not even 3,300. It's like, just over 3,000 yards. So it's not long. It's a par 35, but the 33.9 rating slope of 109. So

32:16my par is usually 33. And I did the nine of nine pretty quickly, went around to do it again. And I couldn't birdie the final par three. So I never got the second birdie around, which was cool. But the Eagle thing was kind of a joke at first. And my partner was a member in a new club, Jay Collins. He would always joke about the birdie challenge is like, no, you need an Eagle challenge. And so I finally say, oh, yeah, Eagle challenge. But then it started to happen. You know, you have a chance, chip in here. The hardest par four, I hold out from 120 yards. So it's like, all right, we got that one now. And it became very real. And so with, with the two par threes, because I didn't make an ace, I eagle six of nine holes throughout the year. And that's cool. So like, you know, if you have a home course that you play, I can't encourage this enough. It's fun to keep track of. It doesn't make you focus on score either.

33:19You kind of have that chance. It adds a little bit of pressure, because you know, you're coming up to the hole that you haven't birdied. And it's like, all right, I got to put something close to give myself a chance. And then you miss it. You're like, all right, I got to wait another week. But I really like that game. It's it's kind of a cool, a cool portion of it. Yeah. Yeah. Again, shout out. And I know you because it's a pretty challenge. It's something I do every year. Do you? Okay. I didn't know that. Yeah. And follow at ACC and just track it just because it gives a, especially as you wind down the year. And you know, you've got that tough four or whatever. And you've only got so many shots at it. It's kind of phone. You get that like 10 to 15 footer in November. And you're like, well, if I don't make this now, this might not happen. Is there a, I'm just thinking of a regulation 18 hog off course like Athens, could you do a eagle challenge with like four holes or five holes or something? Yeah, you definitely, they do the par, par fives. They're all reachable. I do that long term. Like I have a record of what holes I've eagled my whole life there. Oh, do you keep that too? Yeah. Kind of the best, your best 18,

34:20right? Like, what's my best 18 in my home course sort of thing? Yeah. Anything they keep to low excitement. There was a, what's also cool about that challenge, where I play it, again, 3000 yard par 35. A lot of drivable ish par fours for me, but with wind necessary. And what's so cool of a whole year, I mean, these guys are die hearts, Kevin. They will play in anything, anything mostly cart guys, but they, I don't care. They're riding and dying to get out and play. The wind in the spring is opposite to the wind of fall. It's probably, obviously, most people, but like, those are my windows for some of these holes. And I have to get going on. And so when it, when it happened with number eight, the wind number eights, this downhill par four that is into the wind most of the year, but then in the fall, it's down. And so I was getting right up next to the green. I had all these makeable chips that I just had to make. I couldn't

35:21get it on the green. Never hit the green. There's water just in front too. So it's like kind of a tricky. You got to miss right. But anyways, I lived the one out and I haven't thrown a club in years. And this club just launched in the air because I lived out a chip to get my final eagle on this hole. Anyways, I love, I love that stuff. All right, you're going to be fired up, obviously. This show is working for me, getting me ready for the golf season. What's our, your third and final? My third and final is just the idea of process. So with golf season coming along, like just having a process of that, that's working on the game. Or just like, okay, building out the schedule, so making sure to do the right fitness things and also playing enough sort of just getting in that normal scene where that normalcy where you have a routine and a clip going about, where it just helps bills the day. I know what certain Saturdays are going to be like. I'm T off at eight. And then I'm going to work out afterwards and then going to hang out and have lunch with the guys and then go, you know, see Claire for the afternoon and just getting back into

36:21sort of a routine and a process around everything. I love it. It just makes the days, unfortunately, makes them fly by because then it's like, you know, what you're doing every day and all of a sudden, it's like, well, they're just went 13 hours this Saturday. I just woke up. So you're generally a routine guy outside of golf too, right? Yeah, like with my professor's job, rude, it routines a weird word because I leave a lot of my mornings unstructured. So I try to keep nothing on my schedule from seven a.m. till noon or one, no meetings or anything like that. And I don't time block like some people do like, I'm going to write for these two hours. I just wake up. I'm like, okay, what am I working on the day? So I have a routine in the sense I know what the day looks like, but I don't know where I was going with that question. It's like, does your process, so you have that routine, you know, built in around the golf season, which is sounds awesome, by the way. I definitely. Yeah, I don't know.

37:23I'm bringing up. You're probably just fuming inside and I got it. No, it's my no-kid life. Is there an apprentice ship at the UGA I can jump on? But my question is on like, does your process change throughout the season? I mean, all golfers can relate to getting a little bored with certain things, whether it be the range or I don't know. Does that routine or the process within that routine change throughout the year? Yeah, certainly. There's years getting competitive right and there I'm much more structured with practice time. What am I working on? When I'm going to work on it? Now, we've talked before on several episodes. We haven't been living that lately, me and you in terms of like die-hard competitive. So I've been much more unstructured recently. It's just, okay, these five hours going to be dedicated to golf today and maybe I hit balls. Maybe I just play and then go play an extra nine or something like that. So right now, you know, unstructured in terms of I'm not really working on improvement and going to be really

38:25critical on myself about what do I need to do to improve. But I certainly know, okay, I'm going to go spend this amount of time at the course today and just eat it up the whole time I'm there and just flow through and do the things I don't want to do right now. That means playing if I'm going to be there. So not really focusing on the range as much as I as I used to. Will Claire play more this year in 2026? Probably not. She's working at 10-year push. She wants to play more, but you know, her, she does do much, right? And the best way is you know, she teaches fitness class. Takes on a lot. Yeah. Takes on a lot as, you know, good friend circle, you know, wants to do the X, Y and Z works hard at work. So you know, while the 10-year push is going on, I don't expect her to pick up the game that much, you know, she'll go and hit balls with me in the summer and you know, mess around that way. Yeah. It's expected about five years from now. We're going to be talking about her, you know, pushing for the club championship or something like that. Yeah. I, I, I, I, I think our future, my wife does adore golf. She just doesn't play it right now, but I think I look forward to that kind of routine in a way of those evening hours with, you know,

39:28your partner. I got what a cool thing that can be. Yeah. I do have a question because you brought up performance and I'll squeeze this in because even though I can see grass right now, we're not going to be playing for quite a while. So simulators are a bigger part of my life than, than yours, I imagine. And I'll just shout them out. Ohio golf club, this place for our, Northeast Ohio members, you guys on new club, you guys are going to see this place soon and we're going to do some with because there are very few premium performance. You know, we're talking 10 track men, uh, bays, the, the best turf. Like I, I now, this is how nerdy I've become. I can tell a considerable difference in turf. And I asked him about this and he goes, oh, yeah, let's go down that's rat. So I went down this rabbit hole of like what you can do now, underneath the turf, rub, the, the timing of how you replace the turf, how the turf you stand on is slightly different

40:30than what you hit. And then blah blah. It is fascinating, but it's all meant to prevent injury and what better simulate golf. So I, I was like, I was loving that. Um, but here's my question. I haven't done a combine. So this is track man specific. No, no free ads, but I guess we'll, uh, I wanted to ask you about the, this is, I'm, I'm tapping into your golf blueprint brain here now. The, the combine to me, I haven't done one since 2019. My count still has it up. So it was fun to, to do again, I did one last week. Um, and for those that don't know, it's about what 60 to 70 golf shots, uh, the, the, the arges change and it's about your, um, um, dispersion and accuracy and all the stats that go into trying to hit, you know, the, the shot that they're calling, uh, you to hit, um, a little bit of pig in a way, right? Yeah. But very much with your, with yourself and you get a rating, but I, I, uh, I was doing this. And for me, I think it adds a layer of, uh,

41:30focus. Yeah. But also competition with myself and, and a little bit of pressure even, you know, and so I, I, I, I vaguely remember you, when you were doing all your research and you were working with some of the, uh, tour pros that you, you were almost critical of the combine. Is it? It, it, should I be cautious of designing? Cause, cause frankly, it spits out, you know, a ton of data on what my strengths and weaknesses are. And now I was going to kind of take the hour, I have a week to gain playing around that. Is that a mistake? Or, or would you say that's, that's good. I think, you know, we get to have Dr. Darius back on at some point too, because, you know, him and I have had long conversations about this. I mean, just starting here, the fact you're doing it, anybody doing it, you've got something that's, you know, competition oriented, that's being intentional, that's better than nothing, like to be clear, right? It's, it's not rocket science on how to get better, you know, find, find something intentional where you have in some sort of feedback, being given to you, something you could try to beat, weaken,

42:30weak out, and that's, you know, getting you there and as long as you're enjoying it too and enjoying that push, like you're going to get better. Um, so then a day, if you're doing trackman combine, awesome, keep doing it, you know, work hard at it, gives you really good feedback. Now, in terms of nuances, you know, a little bit more variation and like switching clubs, you know, between every shot, simulating more of a golf round in the way you're moving through shots, you know, hit a driver, then go to seven iron and so on. Just having a better simulated round, working a little bit more creativity into it. Um, I think better simulates how you're going to do actually under the gun and under pressure than the combine is going to do for you. Um, but the combine is a good middle ground between how people typically hit the range versus, you know, what you're actually doing when you're on the golf course competing. It gets you kind of halfway there. So thank you. That's interesting. I don't know if anyone else out there is, you know, doing those, but I did it on the tail end of, uh, uh, hitting balls and I haven't

43:31hit balls in ages and I was pretty tired. Like that was the other thing is kind of the endurance level of, like a real round of golf, you're making, uh, a lot of swings and you're not going to be the same guy on 13 as you were on one. Uh, but yeah, your, your, your insight there is, is helpful. I just got to get doctored up for my next golf blueprint is what it sounds like with, uh, we'll get Dr. Dars back on. I'll use my, cite all my woes and insecurities. Um, I did I get my last one? No, I just, you didn't totally derailed us talking about you track me and count by as well. You, you, you, you, you got the, the high golf, I mean, you sent me those flurry of texts the other day. I was like, okay, there's something cooking there. So it's, it's cool. And, and I, I love, there's so much in the indoor space now with the proliferation of simulators and theirs, um, uh, you know, just a demand for golf. But I, I really respect the facilities that lead with passion and, and, and, you know, it's, it's still about playing

44:36the game. If that makes sense, the, the outdoor game and, and supporting that. So, um, hey, like, having a top golf in places that you can have some chicken wings and beers and, and hip balls is awesome too. I'm not saying there's not places that, but I just really respect the places that, uh, devote themselves to supporting that and, um, they're just one of those places. It's, it was cool, cool find and, and great new facility. My last one, I'll just keep it short. I miss my backyard swings. So just being able to step out from the desk for a few minutes and make what I call backyard swings, which are totally free. You know, there's no, uh, worry about the water hazard or the bunker. It's, it's usually either, uh, fan some swings, no ball or, uh, the little foam ones that you buy and the only thing it's going to hit is my house and it ain't going to break anything. And so I just love that. My, if the kids are around, they're running around. I'm trying not to hit anybody in the face. Um, sometimes they have their own clubs now too, but I, I just really love

45:44even, and this is what's so fascinating about golf to me is there's this really basic instinctual human thing to a stick and ball game. And I'm doing some research as you well know right now in the earliest golf, uh, clubs and, and organizers. And it's just so evident that even before golf was golf, human beings have picked up sticks and hit balls. And so I just, sometimes, you know, get a little bit, uh, uh, and then we can all relate to this. When you can't get to the golf course, you almost get depressed. You almost get a little bit set it yourself that you didn't make time. I would remind people that, you know, hitting a stick and ball game in any way, go take a whiffle ball bat and it might not have the same feeling for you if you're a devoted golfer. But to me, that is, uh, that is golf. And in just the feeling of having the weight of a club

46:49in my hand and making that swing and sending a little object or not sometimes into the, that sky, as I talked about, make it fly. Um, that's therapeutic for me. And, and so I miss it. I, I also live in a house where you can't swing a golf club. So that might be my tragic error for these winners. Uh, it's a very nice farmhouse style. I don't know what you call these. Um, anyway, so low ceilings, you can't swing a golf club. I, I did investigate raising the roof of my garage. No bueno. Very structurally unsafe. I've been told by the architects. Uh, so I had a very short lived architecture career with my, my drawing. But, um, yeah, getting outside and swinging the club, man, that's, that's really at its core. What, what, um, I'm going to look forward to. Nice. Well, this was great. Professor, thank you for the chat. Uh, listeners, thank you for being with us.

47:50I hope some of that got you excited for the golf season ahead. If you're a member of new club, you definitely should be excited. Chicago, Atlanta and Northeast Ohio, starting June 1st. They're all firing on all cylinders. We got so much coming down the hopper, a director of golf and his team have been busting their booties to make sure that we have a ton of golf to look forward to. And, and the people to play it with, I love a lot of your points, Professor, we're about who you're out there with. That is truly a massive component of why I think we're also obsessed with this game. Um, new club, we put that right in its heart, right at the core of everything we do. Uh, our partners at Titleist support us, the Bagdrop podcast along with new club golf society. I'm going to say it again, invest in your wedges. The SM 11s are out now. You can get all the benefits of their customizations and what you need specifically for your game. But check them out now at Titleist.com. We'll catch you on the next one.