[speaker001:] They tell you what our topic was?
[speaker002:] I think golf, isn't it?
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] How much of a golfer are you?
[speaker002:] Are you a hacker?
[speaker001:] You bet.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] I'm fifty years old, I've been a hacker, I think, I think I played better golf when I was fifteen, John, than
[speaker002:] I know I,
[speaker001:] I play right now.
[speaker002:] Oh, I know I did, I know I did.
[speaker001:] And, uh,
[speaker002:] Course, I know I watch my thirteen year old play now, you know, and it's like they don't have a muscle in their body.
[speaker001:] Oh, I know, it's just unreal. I, you know, I'm a guy that plays, if I play a lot of golf, I play six to eight times a year and that's [LAUGHTER] about it. I figure that's my retirement game. I really, I come from a family of golfers.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I mean, I was raised by a man, my stepfather who, with a two handicap, I mean, he, he, he, he could get down on his knees and hit the ball, I mean, further than most people could hit it.
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] And my mother who is now, he's, my stepfather is dead, but my mother who is now seventy-one [breathing], I can remember her being, I believe a sixteen or a fourteen handicap,
[speaker002:] [Breathing].
[speaker001:] but, but, uh, all they did every day in their life was to play golf every, they'd leave work and go to a golf course, or a little country club they belonged to back in Richmond, Virginia and just, uh, play nine holes of golf.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] That was their deal, they,
[speaker002:] That's what it takes, you, you need to play that often
[speaker001:] But, uh
[speaker002:] to get a really good handicap.
[speaker001:] I just, I just never could do it. I have a brother-in-law who is, uh, an ex-college coach and like a pro and he has a very good handicap and plays good golf [LAUGHTER] sort of like the non golfer golfer of the family.
[speaker002:] Well, I went to, I decided this past year that I was going to get out and start playing a lot more and I, I went after it and did, and I really didn't find much improvement. Fact, ever time I'd start trying to correct something, it seemed like the score would *listen
[speaker001:] Oh, really?
[speaker002:] go, go back up, yeah, I, I
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] think I need to, uh, I probably need to take some, some more lessons, uh, more current
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh, and practice more often. Spend more time on the,
[speaker001:] I think I'm probably the same way. Lessons do help. I know ever year we buy, I go to this Ducks Unlimited dinner, it's a hunter's type affair
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and I buy in, in Austin, Texas, I go down to Austin, I live in the Dallas area, but I go down to Austin and go with my good customer and friend of mine
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and we always buy this weekend at a, at a country club in the hill country.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] You know, at, uh, Horseshoe Bay.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, I'm familiar with it.
[speaker001:] And we just have a ball, and we play three days in a row, three different courses and, course, believe it or not by the end of the third day and the end of the, uh, third course, my score has gone from, you know, a hundred and twenty down to about a hundred and five. So,
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, if you play regular, I think it makes a big difference.
[speaker001:] You bet, so it, that makes a lot of difference to me.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah, I, well, I've also found, too, I, I try to work out regularly and when I am doing that, uh, and feeling loose and, that I swing better, I, I, I get through the ball better. Uh, and I also, if I, I found as I've gotten a little older here, I worry less about my distance.
[speaker001:] You bet.
[speaker002:] And I, my control is a little bit better there.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, so,
[speaker001:] That's super. I haven't learned to hit the ball easy and I just sort of,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] I'm always wanting to hit it hard and, that's something my stepfather never could teach me, you know, just to relax and hit the ball, and, you know, so, subsequently when I do tire out from playing like twelve, fourteen holes, my, you know, a lot of my energy's gone, when I do swing it's an easier swing
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and I do, actually, hit the ball better.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Have you ever, have you ever tried a one iron?
[speaker001:] No, I have a [breathing] two through, you know, two through wedge. I hit a two iron awful lot. Off, now, off the tee.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I don't hit a driver off the tee. That, that's why I need my driving lessons.
[speaker002:] Well, you know, I put mine back in my bag this year, too, and I, I used a three wood rather than a driver.
[speaker001:] That helps.
[speaker002:] Uh, I had a lot more control on it, uh, I sacrificed distance, but I wasn't in trouble every time I got down the fairway.
[speaker001:] Well, that's, that's a good idea. I think this next year, I'm going to, I'm going to attempt to play more and I'm going to do the same thing. I, I laid off my woods about three years ago and I just use a two wood off the fairway and I'm a fairly strong person so I get a pretty good little drive
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and I, and I guess control my irons, better, you know, if you'll take lessons, the first thing they put in your hand is an iron.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah, absolutely.
[speaker001:] And, uh, I still remember that watching myself and my son so, but I think the key is you just need to, you need to play more often than I play.
[speaker002:] Yeah, well, I, I read recently here, they say, if you're playing, if you're scoring well, you should play more. If you're scoring poorly, you should spend more time on the practice g-,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] uh, range. Uh, I think there is less flus-, frustration factor there, too, uh,
[speaker001:] Makes good, makes good sense.
[speaker002:] So, but I, I, the one iron is something I've been thinking because my driver's gone so badly lately that I, I should pick one up and try to start. Apparently they're very difficult to play with, but with practice, I would imagine you could groove that swing, too. And I play with a fellow that can knock a one iron, it's incredible.
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] And, but, and his accuracy is what's so startling with it. And I, and it, but it's an iron that he's really practiced with. He has used a lot, and, uh, it would be fun to get that good at a
[speaker001:] You bet.
[speaker002:] with an iron. Uh, distance iron.
[speaker001:] My cha-, my challenge of the game is just, if I can get off the first tee when everyone's standing around watching you, I'd be [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] great after that [LAUGHTER]. That, boy, I just, if I get off the tee box and I, and I've, you know, you know, anything from a hundred fifty to two hundred yard drive through a straight, I just want to get down and kiss the ground, you know [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] And get away without embarrassing yourself, right [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Because,