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Birdies, Bogeys, and Biceps 10 - 11
(upbeat rock music) ♪ Straight down the middle ♪ ♪ It went straight down the middle ♪ ♪ That it started to poke just the wee wee bit ♪ ♪ That's when the county lost sight of it ♪ ♪ That little white palette has never been found ♪ ♪ To this day ♪ ♪ But it went straight down the middle ♪ ♪ Never had that problem ♪ ♪ Out of the woods, yes ♪ ♪ Straight down the middle, never a problem ♪ ♪ As we take a stroll down the fairway ♪ ♪ Here on this football Friday evening ♪ ♪ On sports talktime for birdies, bogeys, and biceps ♪ ♪ With George Bryan joining us here tonight ♪ ♪ Since Phil normally monopolizes the time with golf ♪ ♪ We're gonna give George plenty of fairway ♪ ♪ He can hit it 50 yards either way ♪ ♪ And he'll still land in the fairway here tonight ♪ ♪ George, how you doing? ♪ ♪ Well, it couldn't be better ♪ ♪ And we've got the fall season ♪ ♪ Which is perfect weather ♪ ♪ Perfect weather for golf ♪ ♪ And then what sets it off ♪ ♪ What tees it up just makes the sweet spot easy ♪ ♪ To make contact easy to make contact ♪ ♪ Is the fact that football season's here ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, that means the golf courses ♪ ♪ Are all hours, hours, those who are listening ♪ ♪ They know where I'm going with this ♪ ♪ That means we got it to ourselves ♪ ♪ Saturday, all day, all day, all day ♪ And we can just run laps. We can race. Chris, we took a stroll just a couple of minutes ago now. Hey, we had a special guest lined up. We'll have him back next week. But at the last minute, he had to bail. He had to cancel. Had a, yeah, it does. So we gave him a ticket back. We're not going to talk about who it is, but he will come back and, but we took a little stroll within two minutes ago about your start in the game and in coincide beautifully with what's in my heart. So take it away. Give me a little background. Let's kick it off and let's go live with where that is, where your start in golf was. All right, and I want to make sure we circle back. I want to take a mulligan a little bit later on because I want to ask you about the fall time for golf because I think it's interesting something that occurs now that the daylight is not as long. I want to talk to you about playing in the twilight and how difficult that can be for golfers. But we'll get back to that in just a second. But you were asking me during the break. First off, you didn't realize I'm as old as I am. So I appreciate that. I'm a sound y'all are on the radio. So thank you. You sound like a puppy. And but you got a few miles on your tread, which is cool. I do. I do. You asked when I graduated high school back in 1988. So yeah, it turned 54 this past August. But I did play a lot of golf. You were asking, you know, how much did I get to play? And I don't play nearly as much as I would like. Partly some of it's expense. Of course, a golf is just an expensive venture. But on the flip side, I just don't have as much time as I would like. And part of it is too, I don't carve out time. You carve out the time to do what you want, right? And I think I probably could play a little bit more golf than I do, but I love the game. I grew up playing the game. And as a matter of fact, my grandparents on my mother's side, they were a huge influence on me and my uncle, my mother's brother, outstanding golfer in his own right. At one point in time, I actually had the course record over to Arts World Country Club. I could really flat out play and just sock the golf ball. He's gotten older and his back doesn't cooperate quite as much as I'm sure he'd like to play. But nonetheless, I love the game. I started playing about when I was three or four years old. Those plastic clubs that kids have with the big, huge white golf ball, I'd hit those down the fairway. So yeah, I played golf pretty much all my life. I just don't play it nearly as much as I wanted to. And you mentioned, though, that your grandparent got-- they had influence on you coming into the game. So take us down that road. How did they do it? What was the picture for you? As long as I can remember, George-- He's been lured to win. They would put a golf bag in my hand. And basically, hey, we're going to go out and go to the driving range and go to the golf course. My grandfather, he didn't hit it far. He wouldn't hit it out of his shadow. But you could put a sheet of notebook paper out in the middle of the fairway, and he'd hit it every time. I mean, he was as straight as they would come. And so I just loved watching him play. It took him two or three shots to get on to the green. But every time he was down in the middle of the fairway, he never had to worry about finding his golf ball. And so when I got to a point where I could actually play with him to the standpoint that I could hit it as far as he did, I would be over in the woods trying to find my ball, and he'd be standing out in the middle. Are you done? But yeah, they were big, big influence, and really loved the game they were members at the local country club. And so we'd go out there every time we'd come to visit, go out there and play golf. And it really was the reason that I got into the game because of my grandparents. Well, what club did you all-- what club did you get started? Dad, Heartful Country Club. What was the golf course? Heartful Country Club, mm-hmm. Oh, my goodness. So, Heartful Country Club is very dear to my heart in that, that's where-- well, I'll put it this way. Junior's the SCJGA is kind of where I got-- well, my children got in, golfed through the SCGA and Heartful Country Club host, the players' championship. Coming up just around the corner, we'll talk more about that later on Q. And we'll always talk about results. But speaking of Q, Randy Few was the head golf professional there. No Randy. Back in the day. Now, he's no longer with us, but man, he had a beautiful golf swing, but was always just really supportive of golf. In fact, I can't mention a lot of last names. Every now and then, I will, but I was lost as a high school kid, not sure what to do. Graduated, and Randy Few was at the country club of South Carolina as I went to visit my brother. He was in Florida anyway, Randy-- He knew, he knew what it looked like for someone trying to sneak on. And I was on the way to trying to sneak on the golf course in which he was the pro. And he called me out, and he said, hey, what are you doing? And I went, well, be honest. I'm trying to go play golf. I'm trying to get to the thesis. Are you a member? And I said, absolutely not. He's a lot bigger now. But he's one of the first ones that kind of caught me. But anyhow, Randy Few, we go way back. And anyhow, heartful country club. I love that old style golf. And let's see, the Brown family over there, my daughter, Claire Brown, who now is Keith Mitchell. She's Claire Mitchell. She is married to Keith Mitchell, who-- Oh, man, I was in a conversation yesterday with my son. I've got the privilege to play comedy club. We'll get into that a little bit. I don't want to leave where your grandparents-- fact-- but let me finish this. I get pretty excited, but Claire Brown and the Brown family, they would host my daughter when she got into golf at Heartful Country Club. And it was always a lot of fun to go over and visit the Brown family, see Randy at the time. And actually, I guess, so Claire-- she went to Georgia, Keith Mitchell's a Georgia grad. And now they're married. I saw Claire out. Last time I saw her, I guess, would be at the John Deere. But Keith always three-putted the last hole this past week in Mississippi. And he handled it beautifully. He took an interview right after the three-putts, which reminds me of Dustin Johnson's interview at Chambers Bay when he three-putts in the US Open a few years back to let Jordan speak when clean. And Dustin handled it beautifully. I just made a comment. Matt Atkins, and incidentally, congratulations on Matt Atkins. He gets full Cornfury status next year for his finish two weeks ago on the Cornfury finish second alone. So he locked up privilege for next year. But I was playing with he and G4, my oldest son, who is getting ready for Cornfury Qualifier at Palmetta. When we got on the conversation about handling the setbacks in golf. And that struck me different with Dustin the way he handled. Just took the interview face on, and it truly did not bother. Yeah, he was heard a little bit, but Dustin gets over quick. Over stuff quick, and Keith Mitchell, watch out. There's a prediction. There's a forecast. I predict big things for him in the coming in the future. Because of just that one little comment, how he handled a three putt, straight three putt. Not a very hard, just one of those things, little era, giggled about it, moved on. And now, your grandparents at Heartful Country Club, did your grandma play? Yes, she did. And she actually was a pretty accomplished player. I mean, she played not LPGA tour level, but she was a very good amateur player. And one of the great stories I have playing with my uncle, who I always wished I was anywhere close to the level of golf he could play when he was in his heyday. They would always play, you know, not the scrambles, but the dog fights, where you'd have eight or nine guys that would come out after work, and they'd get on the golf course. And they'd, you know, size up the little bets on the side. I think at one time, we got out there late afternoon. And there must have been 10 of us on the same hole. And so you'd hit your drive, and you'd race up to the ball. And as soon as you were ready to go, you hit again. It was one of the better nine hole rounds I had ever played. If memory serves, I shot a 38. I mean, because first off, I was trying to keep up with all these guys who are considerably better than me. But secondly, you had no time to think about it. You drove up to the ball, you hit it, you drove up to the ball again, you chip it on the green, you go putt, and, you know, two or three guys almost puttting at the same time. And we moved through, and what would take a typical round, you know, that many people to play, probably three hours, just nine holes. I think we probably finished in like two. That's the speed golf was fun. That's a beautiful thing. That's a beautiful thing about these, what I call the Country Country Club, and Donald Roth. Even though I don't think "Heartful" is a Donald Roth layout. It's very, very similar to those that he built the Country Country Club, is where I first got eyes on. What lured me into golf, and technically it was the Charleston Municipal Golf Course that first got my attention. I was dropped off, where I became part as an 18-year-old, almost 18-year-old, it was right before my birthday. And this man gave me a set of clubs and took me to the golf course paid by Greenfield and my entry into the Saturday morning game. I had never played golf with anybody other than my age. I'd only played a few times a little bit with folks my age. But at 18, there was nobody under. At that time, people really did wait till they were retirement age. Back in that day, it was close to 70. So I was the only one under 70-year-old playing. Everybody's walking. And I absolutely was the worst player in our group. And the highest score in the whole Saturday morning game, they used to call it the dogfight. It got different. Call it the blitz, the dogfight. I was the absolute worst player at 18 years old. And all these 70-year-old guys beat me. I can deal with that. And they played fast. They had fun. So influential went to the beaches. Went to the beach at Isle of Palm and started playing, smacking the ball around on the beach. And that's what it did for me. And I don't know if you can hear it. But I've got a loud mouth cat named Charlie, who is right outside the window. And he can tell when I get excited, now he's hollering at me. So Charlie, I'm going to move. I don't know if you can hear that. We can't hear Charlie, but that would add to I've told people for years when the business of sound, George. So if you've got additional sound in the background, that's always fun. George, Brian, the third with us tonight is he always is for birdies, bogeys, and biceps across South Carolina on this football Friday night. Don't forget the high school scoreboard show. Gonna go up just after 10 o'clock tonight as a busy weekend of football is underway. It started last night with Coastal at James Madison. And don't forget our coverage of South Carolina, Alabama, and also Clemson. And wait for us tomorrow. At SportsTalkSC.com. Hey, well, while you take that minute, I'd like to segue in and go ahead and honor the sponsors of this segment, which is tsunami bar sports. And we've got a scramble course, which is a six-hole chip in putt. The longest hole is about 35 yards, maybe 40 yards. But it's what I would call putt putt on turbo. And I think I've played pitching putts before, which those pitching putts are a little longer. You usually go into the 80, 90, 100-yard range for a pitching putt. But this is technically more in the chipping putt. And the cool thing about it, first of all, it's artificial turf. And it glistens, glows green. And the putting surface is perfect. The grass, the artificial turf, simulates beautifully. You can play six holes in less than 10 minutes with a group of three or four. And the game we play, the game typically that we play is just with one club, and that's a wedge. We putt with a wedge, too. That speeds it up. And I've had tour players out, as well as brand new players. And so Sonari Bar Sports delving into golf, we have the only technology in my opinion. It will prove out two, three, four years from now with a bendable bar product. It's live. It's a rubber thermal that it moves. It's live weight. It does pose a little bit of just an optical challenge. But it offers the variable of rhythm and tempo when you use the product. And you can go to the website right there on the website. You can see demos of how the product's being used. And I say the website, that would be not just Sonari Bar Sport like the Wave, TSU, likethewave.com, SonariBarSports.com, but also right there, the South Carolina Radio Network. They've got sports. Hang it up there, dude. Yep, sports.com, in.com. But it's got the same properties as the golf shaft. So it bends, it twists, and it's really cool. Dr. Vince Desmar, he's a cardiologist that has been using the technology now for quite a while. And in short, he goes, "Hey, George, don't talk about anything else because the best part about it is, number one, it causes cardio output to increase." So that heart squeezes with a very little bit of effort. You invest a little and get a lot in return. And what I call a lot is rhythm and tempo. And so rhythm and tempo in golf is what I call one of the core principles of having success. And so with this technology, it is a constant. It works off of rhythm and tempo. You can utilize the smaller products for what I call the short and the quick. Or you can go to the longer, larger, heavier products. It slows it down a little bit. And then there's everything in between. So anatomybarsports.com for a preview. And I'll tell you what, nothing like it. And triple B5, as you check out to try your product, triple B5 gets you 5% off. There you have it. So I was talking to Matt Atkins yesterday. And Matt went to USC Aiken, plays for Coach Michael Carlisle. And I was on the telephone a couple weeks ago with Coach Carlisle. And he was talking about his USC Aiken golf team. And they're really strong one through four. And he's searching for a fifth guy. By now, he's already played in a couple of events. And hopefully he's found that fifth guy. But USC Aiken's at Vision 2, he's got-- I think they have won three national championships since we've been keeping up with them on sports talk and birdies and bogeys. And but Matt Atkins played for Coach Carlisle. Matt Atkins has got his golf ball on a string. And some of the best ball striking I have ever witnessed in line-- in line, for me, I've watched him for about a year now. And last October, I began to predict this guy's heading for cool things. And he then qualified for the RSM, made a cut and was off. And this year, he's literally had the Monday in. And that's a tough way to go. But he's got clean, full status next year on the Corn Ferry, making another prediction. He might not go to tour school. He might end up with full status this year. And this is why. He's got his putter, Litta on fire now. And at Palmetta yesterday, I had a privilege of playing Palmetta Golf Club. I made a rookie mistake. [LAUGHTER] Did not-- did not call in advance. And I got invited by G4, my oldest, to play golf with he and Matt. Well, it's-- it's known the golf pros need to call and talk to the golf pro at the club. And anyway, Brooks Blackburn led me off. I showed up. He welcomed me, and even though I didn't call in advance, I go way back with Brooks, he also played for Coach Carlisle. And anyhow, Palmetta is an old golf course, old style, a little bit like Hartsville, where you can play a lot of golf in a short period of time. But the greens are absolutely perfect. And Matt Atkins had his golf ball rolling directly into the cup. I don't know how many under he and George shot together. But I'm playing the same golf course, playing very difficult. And those guys were all together. They had to be 6, 8 under par. And that's not easy. Yeah, they just-- very few bogeys, everything's on a string. But Matt Atkins, I don't think I've seen anybody play in line for about a year as well as he has from T to green. And now he's got his putter. So he's-- he's a local. He says, right here in Aiken, went to USC Aiken. His family is there. So predicting wonderful things from the fall out of him with what's left. And next year, in particular, I already made a comment about Keith Mitchell, who does have Hartsville roots now connected to the Brown family. And I kind of recognize, Mark Swierd is the agronomy lead out of Palmetta. Mark, former Clemson standout, who won the 1994 state amateur. He's now the superintendent there at Palmetta. And had the privilege of spending a little time with him. And going back in the day a little bit, he was talking a little bit about Charlie Prentice, at Columbia Country Club, all pros who are no longer with us. Grant Bennett, Grant Bennett, knows Charlie Prentice. Very influential, not just in his upbringing, but also my entry into the game. And so we got on a conversation about your grandparents bringing you into the game if it weren't for seeing 293. And I made it a point to ask him at Camden Country Club back in 1979. And I just couldn't get over at these-- a 93 and a 94-year-old couple playing together. One was walking, one was in a cart to play the front nine. Both jumped in the cart on the back nine. And they were finished by the time I finished nine. [LAUGHTER] And I had to go over and ask him. I said, do you mind me asking? I'm like, how old are you? And they looked at me. They looked at each other. You know, they looked at me and they laughed just like you did. They said, yes. And I think the guy said, I married an older woman. She's 94. [LAUGHTER] At that point, I was hooked. I was all in this 93 and 94-year-old walking and riding. One was riding. One was walking on the front and the back nine. Both of them rode. And they finished 18 in about two hours. I was all in. And I don't mind telling you. The way I was treated by folks like Charlie Prentice, who-- Columbia Country Club, Head Pro, Grant Bennett. Norman Flynn's not quite in their age, but Norman Flynn, Bobby Howard, even Jimmy Cutha, Dick Avery. These guys, I looked at how they-- what they did and how they handled themselves. And I was all in getting in the business. These folks had tremendous influence on me. Camden Country Club, Palmetto Club. I know those out there listening. I know exactly what I'm talking about. Nothing like the old treasures the golf courses built 100 years ago that just still are a lot of fun. And a lot of people enjoy the game without them-- without the forced carries and the deep bunkers and the 8,000 yards of golf. Yeah. You know, and especially for amateur's, George, you get the golf course so difficult that we want to enjoy playing. It's, in my opinion, in the last 30 seconds or so we have-- it's steers people away from golf, whether rather than gravitating to the game, if it's so hard to play, I don't think you enjoy it. You know, and that's part of it. That's what I love about the Scramble courses. You know, I mean, especially the brand new players. You've got to get Josh into the game. Josh, you've got to think about it. Come on in and, Chris, since we had this conversation, we'll definitely tee it up on the Scramble. You feel Josh and I-- hey, I hear that music. Until next week, enjoy it thoroughly. Thank you for the stroll, P.M. High, but shoot 'em low. All right, George, you do the same. Have fun this weekend. And thanks for the time, folks. We appreciate you joining us on this football Friday. Don't forget, high school scoreboard show. We'll talk back to you in about two hours at 10.05.