Barbara Nicklaus, the First Woman of Golf!-Sunday, -Golf With Jay Delsing

This is golf with Jay Delsing, a two-time All-American at UCLA, a participant in nearly 700 PGA Tour events, seven professional wins to his credit, over 30 years of professional golf experience, a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. This is golf with Jay Delsing. Golf with Jay Delsing presented by Doherty Business Solutions. Our guests coming up will be Barbara Nicholas, commonly referred to as the first lady of golf, the wife of Jack Nicholas, and it's going to be fun to visit with her. That's Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. Jay, good morning to you. Danny, so great to be with you and Barbara Nicholas, man.

Cannot wait. What do you want to hear from Barbara? I mean, a lot of people know different aspects of the Nicholas family, what they mean to golf, but what do you want to hear from her?

Man, I just want to really know, you know, how do they do it? I know that she couldn't have foreseen this sort of success, but, you know, Jack talks a lot about, I won probably two majors on my own in the restroom because of Barbara, and I want to know what she has to say about that. Imagine being the wife of a player that's on the PGA Tour.

You went through this nearly 30 years on the PGA Tour. Family life can be very tough. It can be. It sure can be, and, you know, I have four lovely daughters and an ex-wife to prove it, and it's difficult, Danny. Look, marriage and family life is tough in general. When you're gone all the time, you really need a special person.

You need to be, I don't know. There just needs to be a lot of communication between both partners to try to figure this thing out, and I also want to say, you know, I heard stories at the time that Jack very seldom missed stuff, and I want to ask Barbara about that as well because I would skip tournaments and things like that when the girls had recitals and different things. I did miss things.

I mean, you know, you know what that's like, but for the most part, I tried to be there as much as I possibly could, and I heard Jack did an unbelievable job of stuff like that. So we're going to ask her about that. Also, their charitable endeavors, which is hundreds of millions of dollars for hospitals, not only in Ohio where both hail from, but now in Florida where they're at, and the Play Yellow Initiative. I want to get the story behind this because we've heard different variations of it, but let's get it right from Barbara Nicholas. No kidding, and you know, Danny, I've read about this, and I'm really intrigued about this yellow shirt, and I can still hear Vern Lundquist, yes sir, you know, on 16, and Jack with the yellow shirt and raising the putter, and I didn't know that there was a story behind that yellow, and it's really cool. So people watch the memorial, which is Jack's tournament, guys are wearing the yellow ribbons, and then Jack is always there to greet the player. I'm going to ask Barbara, I don't know if there's much said in those meetings, probably not, but you know, it's cool though to see them, not with their contemporaries, but yet they've stayed somewhat contemporary because everybody has the great respect for their family. Oh for sure, and one of the things, I mean there are plenty tour players that refer to Barbara's mom or mom junior or mom the second, yeah Ricky Fowler, and you know, he just knocked off a win that has been a long time coming, and he's been through kind of this big swoon and deep valley, and now he's come out of it, and so I'd love to get our thoughts on that as well. So we are presented by Doherty Business Solutions, we're on the range, brought to you by Family Golf and Learning Center, located in Kirkwood, go over and say hello to Adam Batson, all his teachers over there for both men, women, and children, and as well, we're brought to you by the Gateway section of the PGA.

Again, Barbara Nicholas will be our guest coming up. We're going to do our tip of the cap right now, we always talk about innovations in golf, and you're involved with this, it's called clubface-golf.com, what is this? Danny, this is, imagine social media, you and I, off the air, dog social media and all of the craziness about social media, we love social media, I mean, Danny, this is a social media platform for golf only, none of this drama, none of the trash, none of the, you know, the trolling and all of this, oh I'm going to take a shot at him and hide behind my handle on Twitter. This is about guys and gals playing golf, telling golf stories, golf pictures, Paul McKeldin is a great guy, he created this thing, and they're getting a million or two hits a day, it's really something special, they're going to start putting our shows on there, and we've got a little excerpt from Paul coming up later in the show.

Well he is from England, let's do it right now, Paul McKeldin, you'll know he's from England when you hear this. If we just jump back five years or so, I was an avid social media fan, I used it for business, for marketing, but gradually as social media got a little bit more complicated I think for the end user and for marketers, but it also got to a place where quite often it wasn't a very comfortable place to be, and this was at the sort of time that I started joining golf clubs and things like that and started talking to golf club managers about their communication channels and how they were engaging with their members and their guests, and one of the questions I always asked was, how do you engage with your members and guests? And I would often be told, we send out a weekly newsletter, we have notice boards around the club, and I sort of pointed out, that's communicating at, but how do you communicate with? And I'm a big advocate for communication, I always say to golf clubs, you know, engaged members are retained members, if your members feel like they're part of the decision making process of the club in any sort of way, they're likely to stay at the club longer. So that led on to conversations about what their social media strategies were and what they were using, and nine times out of 10, Jay, I would ask people, you know, how do you go about your social media? What do you do?

And I would see their eyes roll. And, you know, certainly in the UK, but certainly in a lot of clubs across Europe as well, that the people who were making the decisions on social media were really amateur, sort of, I've got a Facebook page, so I'll manage the club's Facebook page, and there was no strategy, there was no structure behind what they were trying to do. But within the club, there'd be some people would just use LinkedIn, some people would use Facebook, some people would use Twitter, some people are using Instagram and TikTok, and this is all over the place, there's nothing centralized to offer a good communication channel. So I set about setting up clubfacegolf.com, which is a vertical social network just for golf. There are individual levels within it, so you can be just a user member, or you can be a club member. The club pages, for instance, offer things like, you can follow a club as a member or as a guest, and when the club posts content on their page, they can target it to just members or just guests, and it's a great way of bringing your guests back to the club or getting feedback on what's been happening.

Businesses can set up accounts and they can add search terms to their page, so people using the search bar, if they're looking for balls, type in balls, and all the businesses that offer balls will come up and they can then follow those pages and communicate. So really, fundamentally, Jay, I've gone a long-winded way around saying, this is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, but just for golf, and what that allows us to do is keep all of the nonsense off the platform. There's so much trash on social media, it's really, there's vitriol, there's just people spewing and they've got an opinion and they're going to take a shot at this guy or that woman or this, and there's none of that on clubface golf, and that's the thing that really got me interested.

You're absolutely right. I mean, we have a, I have a policy, whenever I was designing the platform with my developers, I have a son who's now 14 and another son who's 17, and as I was designing the platform, I kept thinking to myself, would I be happy if the boys were on here? Would I be comfortable if they were on here? And that's sort of how we've developed the platform. You know, I'd want my wives and girlfriends and what have you to feel comfortable on there. I mean, I've seen, I've worked with some of the LeT users and I've seen some of the messaging and the content they get on their social media posts and quite frankly, it's disgusting.

It is beyond reprehensible. So we have a really strict policy. We have no hate, we have no bias. We have, we want to actively encourage vigorous debate. You know, if I say to Jay, you've got that absolutely wrong and I think you're a bit of a moron for it, but the point is it's a safe platform and we focus on quality rather than quantity.

I will say if we ever got to Facebook levels with 2 billion users, we failed accordingly as a business because they simply aren't 2 billion golfers in the world. We want the users to help moderate the platform so that every post you can report the post, you can say it's got a harmful image and we're, we're really strict on what we take off. I love it. I just love it. Danny and folks check this platform out. It's really super fun. It's, it's a positive thing. There's not a bunch of junk on there and there's people telling golf stories are asking, Hey, I'm looking for a partner to play on, you know, and it's, it's worldwide.

It's really interesting. So again, go to the website, clubface-golf.com and that is our tip of the cap. And let's give our tip of the cap to the Dean team, the Dean team, Volkswagen, a Kirkwood and our buddy, Colin Byrne, three one four nine six six zero three zero three folks. You need any sort of vehicle, anything. I've got a truck that, that Collins hooked me up with.

My daughter, Joe has a VW. Colin is a great guy. And if you need a personal invitation, email me, J J Delson, golf.com. I will personally introduce you to Colin.

They're great over team team, Volkswagen and Kirkwood. That's Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. We're presented by Darty business solutions and coming up, it is the first lady of golf, Barbara Nicholas on golf with J Delsing. That was on the range with Jay Delsing for news on the latest golf equipment tips. And to ask Jay a question log on to J Delsing golf.com. Coming up, it's the front nine on golf with J Delsing. Darty business solutions.

The title sponsor of the golf with J Delsing show is a leader in our community in so many areas. Do they have over 2,500 teammates in over 30 States and three countries? Yes, they do. Are they the largest it consulting firm in our area? Yes, they are. Are they the largest software developer in the St. Louis region?

Of course they are. But here are a few other important things to know about Darty business solutions. They are the presenting sponsor of the Ascension charity classic. They are the presenting sponsor and were the first presenting sponsor of the advocate professional golfers event at Glen echo that will be held there this year as well. They are also the founders of access point.

This is a community game changer. It builds diversity in the IT workforce. Hundreds of mostly African American women are getting 50 to $60,000 a year jobs right out of high school.

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These are more examples of the many things that Darty business solutions does in our community. The legends of golf returned to St. Louis in 2023. You won't want to miss one of the strongest fields in golf, Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Bernard Langer, John Daly and many more when they compete for the 2023 Ascension charity classic title, September 5 through the 10th at historic Norwood Hills Country Club. All proceeds benefit area charities. Together, we were able to donate over $1 million to those most in need last year.

Visit Ascension charity classic.com. The official vehicle provider of the golf with Jay delsing show is the dean team, the dean team Volkswagen of Kirkwood. They provide me pearly and our families with all of our cars. The reason we went with the dean team is because we could trust them. We knew at the dean team, they were going to take care of us. And they have they made the entire car buying experience so simple.

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They become lifelong friends. The dean team Volkswagen of Kirkwood located on Manchester Road in Kirkwood, the dean team. This is Dan McLaughlin inviting you to the 21st annual Dan McLaughlin golf tournament to benefit the Special Education Foundation. This tournament has raised over $5 million and 100% of the money raised has gone to children with special needs in our community to sponsor volunteer or to play in the event on October 9 at Norwood Hills Country Club.

Please visit s e f dash st l dot org. I'll see you on October 9 at Norwood Hills Country Club. This is the front nine on golf with Jay Delsing. The front nine is presented by the Ascension Charity Classic, September 5 through the 10th at Norwood Hills Country Club. Find out more at Ascension Charity Classic.com. This is the front nine on golf with Jay Delsing.

That's Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. We're presented by Darty Business Solutions. And often in sports and in business when talking about someone's success, you hear about the support system that he or she may have. And there's none better in the game of golf than Barbara Nicklaus. And Barbara, thanks for joining us. We certainly appreciate it.

Well, it's such a nice compliment that you asked. Oh my gosh, Barbara, the first lady of golf, I think about the things that you've done. And I just couldn't, I think it'd be really, really interesting to let the listeners get a little background on you and Jack and how you met and playing the tour back in the days. I think it'd be really interesting.

Oh my gosh, that could take a week. Jack and I actually met first week of our freshman year in college. And I knew nothing about golf and he actually really wasn't playing much golf at that time.

I mean, just kind of getting into it. And my dad was a high school math teacher, so there was really no golf in our family. And so we just, we dated the first, first quarter in school and got to about the holidays and thought, oh, maybe time to, you know, to maybe see other people. So we did for almost two months and then got back together in February and we were married between our junior and senior year.

So that part kind of flew by. Well, when you are married as long as you guys have been, you have different initiatives in life, whether it's in golf or philanthropy. And that's really the main reason we wanted to talk to you about and what you've done for children. How did that all start for you? And maybe you can give our listeners that don't know the background of what you went through as a family.

And that's now been able to raise millions of dollars because of a scary incident within your family. Well, I think it all began when our daughter Nan was 11 months old and she started choking and she would choke at home and then be fine. By the time I did her to the doctor, she'd be fine. But at that time he would even run by the house and she'd be fine.

So finally he said, Barbara, there's something wrong with this child. So they did an x-ray, found a little shadow, and then they did a bronchoscopy and discovered she had inhaled about nine pieces of blue crayon. So of course, when they got in the windpipe, it was choking her. But when they moved, she was fine.

So in the process of doing the bronchoscopy, they dropped a piece of crayon in her lung, which of course went into pneumonia. And we sat by an oxygen tent for six days this spring that she was going to make it. So we looked at each other as young parents and said, you know what, if we're ever in a position to help someone, we want to be children. So we weren't in any position then, but when we were, we just started our foundation in 2004 and sort of just helped small agencies and small decisions in our area. And then it was interesting, Miami Children's Hospital, we had done some things with them and they kind of wanted to be a more global hospital. So they asked if they could use our name, which they now have changed Miami Children's Hospital to Nicholas Children's Hospital. So we've come a long way and we're so proud of what's going on and how we've been able to help children, which is, I think, one of my favorite things that a baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. So there's nothing better or more, just more wonderful than a healthy child.

Oh, Barbara, I love that saying. And you know, when I think about the PGA tour and you guys were there from, you know, pretty much the inception, if you think, think back, did you ever envision where we would be today? I mean, millions of tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, just that golf is race and then you as a family. Well, I think any and any of the golfers is so proud of what's been done. The golfers get it, Jay. I mean, they just, they want to give back. And I think this generation, now the young ones, they really, they give back so quickly. And I think it's wonderful. I know, I think golf gives more to charity than all the other national sports put together. So I think all the guys on the tour are very proud of that.

We're proud of them. We're going to get back to some of that, but I'm curious, what was it like when you're watching your husband playing the masters or playing a major and you're, you're probably biting nails over there. What was that like watching him do his thing?

Well, you know, it's kind of funny. People accuse me of looking like I'm at a tea party, which I'm really not, you know, I didn't know golf existed when I met Jack. So actually watching him play, I really didn't know I was supposed to be nervous. So I think I just loved watching him and, uh, you know, obviously got really into it and didn't ever want to miss a shot. Barbara, and you think about Gary, I got to play with Jackie in college and just, and Steve playing football at Florida state, but also a really good player that the offshoots of the game of golf, Barbara, and your, what your, your children have done and the foundations and the golf courses, the communities that people live in.

The whole thing is just exploded into this massive golf related thing. Well, you know, it's funny with all the things you just said in that last field family kind of jumped out at me and I kind of laughed because Jack would fly across country for one of the kids' baseball games. Uh, he flew between rounds of the Mexican open for the kids to play a state high school football game. And I think the kids, our kids just thought that's what dads do. Well, now that they're married and have their own, they will say to me, mom, I can't believe dad came here. I can't believe dad came there and Nan said, Nan would say to me, mom, dad came to more games than the parents that lived in town. So I think that may be what he's most proud of that.

He said, I refuse for my kids to go away to college and not know. And believe me, he knew each one of them. I'm sure too, you're so proud of the play yellow initiative. Can you dive into that for our listeners and explain, uh, Barbara, how that all transpired and what it means to you today?

Well, I'll tell you that I get so emotional when I think of that play yellow and how some tiny little thing has grown into this fabulous fundraiser. Uh, my minister's wife called me and it was in the late sixties and she said, Barbara, our son Craig has just been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma. He's a big fan of Jack's. Do you think Jack would ever call him?

Of course he would call him. Well, uh, fortunately this turned out to be a wonderful, uh, very personal friendship and, and Jack and Craig probably talk at least once a week. And one Sunday night, Jack had called Craig and it happened to be a tournament. He had won that day. And Craig said, Jack, you know why you won that tournament today? No, right.

Why? He said, because I had on my lucky yellow shirt. And so from then on, Jack said to Craig, he said, well, if you can wear a lucky yellow shirt for me, I can wear a lucky yellow shirt for you.

So we didn't say anything publicly. It was just kind of our little thing, but Jack basically wore a yellow shirt most every Sunday that he played. We lost Craig in 1971.

He was 13 years old, but his memory has stayed with us and the love that the two of them had for each other and happened to be an April day in 1986. We're at the masters and it's Sunday at the last round. And Jack's kind of rummaging through his suitcase, trying to find something to wear. He pulls out this yellow shirt and he looks over at me and he said, what do you think? I said, Jack, I have to wear it.

Not only in memory of Craig, but in honor of Craig. So when Jack won the masters in that day, the yellow shirt story kind of came public and, um, it's just, it's grown in, I mean, uh, in nine, I think it was 2019 at the players championship children's miracle network and the PGA tour and our foundation and the two of us, uh, came together as a partner and, uh, we've made a pledge to raise a hundred million in the first five years. And we are very excited that when we have our annual meeting in October, that we can actually say we are on track for about 130 million. Funds rate stay locally in the children's miracle network hospitals, which we have about 170 across the U S and Canada.

So it's just exploded. And so many groups have had, uh, well sessions or fundraisers or play yellow. And I think now when people see yellow on the golf course, they relate it play yellow. And I think we've gotten a lot of, uh, donations that way that people are just excited to be a part of something that helps children. Barbara, I can, I can, uh, say with such honor that the children's miracle network asked me to be their, their local chair for the event here. And I have learned more about this play yellow, you know, since you guys became involved and I'm, it's so dynamic and it's got so money of the community sponsors involved. It's really special. Well, I think it's just great. I mean, the, uh, the birdies for children and the birdie bash, and what do you call your swing for miracles?

Was that it? And I mean, I think it's just fabulous that a lot of local groups are catching on and at the Memorial tournament, uh, couple of years, we would give a yellow t-shirt to anyone who came in, came in the gate and donated. So it's, it's just, it's so emotional for me to think of just a wonderful, beautiful friendship between Jack and Craig has grown into such a wonderful fundraiser. What's it mean to you?

And Barbara Nicholas is our guest. When you see the players of today wearing the ribbons or wearing that yellow shirt and the pride that you must have as a family to see that, uh, transpire on those weekends and those special days, I get very emotional when I see that, but I think it's just indicative of how our golfers today feel. They're not out there for themselves. They're out there for others. And I know some of these pros on the store now they'll hear, we're having a fundraiser and they'll call.

How can I help? I mean, I just, it's just fabulous. I think how the golf world reacts to this, Barbara, I can just say this as a player to have someone like the Nicholas family, you and Jack is at the top of the heap being this example.

I it's, it's super, super special. It means a ton for us to get to learn and get to see, you know, how this is supposed to be done. You, you talk about how the golfers want to give back.

When I first got on tour, you know, you always would look to the leaders of the guys on the tour and that's where the examples are all laid down. And I know that you still have good relationships with Ricky Fowler and a lot of the younger players as well that, that, that kind of come to you for counsel. Yeah, I call Rick. Ricky calls me his other mom.

So it was very happy when my little boy won yesterday. When you're at the Memorial and the players are coming off on the 18th, I'd love to be a fly on the wall of some of those conversations. Can you pull back the curtain a little bit? What are, what are those conversations like with you, Jack and a player? Well, you know, really, there's really not much conversation. I mean, they're anxious to get off, they're anxious to sign their scorecards and they just stop and, you know, just really to be polite to Jack.

And of course, Jack's always thrilled to just they congrats and probably have more conversation later. When I think about how you and Jack started in the PGA tour started and just how I don't know a better description, but saying the world was just kind of smaller. You know, I'm not a huge social media fan and things like that. But there are there are ways to really tell, like to play yellow story through Facebook and things like that, that never existed. It's really remarkable when you think about how much these initiatives touch people touch families lives all across the world now. Well, I don't think any of us was really trying to do that. We just thought it was the right thing to do. And then all of a sudden, someone would come in from over here, someone would come in from over there. We thought, Hey, this is really something important and something that we can raise a lot of money and do a lot of good for children for their resources, or, I mean, just whatever corporate partners and the industry partners from the tour and the PGA of America. And we just feel like all of a sudden, we're reaching communities nationwide, which could be better.

It's fantastic. And one of the things that always interests me, Barbara, when Jack would talk about how many majors he won and said, you know, I was probably good for two or three of those. But Barbara was really responsible for the others.

I probably just looked over and saw me and said that he saw you walk in the room. But Barbara, talk a little bit about supporting. I mean, here's the best golfer that's ever played. I mean, just a little bit of insight into family life, because here's a guy flying across country to go to do games and to miss not miss dances and things like that. While still trying to compete at the highest level, there had to be some some down moments. Well, you know, we were married and had Jackie before jack turned pro. So I not only did not know how to travel with a child and how to travel by myself. But I think it just all started very innocently.

I just thought that was my place to be to, you know, to support him. It was like you said, it was kind of different. It was kind of like a small family back then. If someone else's husband happened to be playing better than jack, I would keep her kids that day, or vice versa.

One of the other wives would keep mine. So it kind of started out like that. And, you know, it's just grown. And I think I think the golfer's wife appreciate everything. And it's very different now. I mean, they have a lot of people traveling with them. And it's very different.

And I don't think either one was better. We just thought our realm was was the best and the greatest to be in. I guess you just you just do what you do. And I know sometimes some of the gals will ask for a little advice. And I think the main thing that I really like made of them is just because you become a mother, don't forget that you're a wife. And I think that says a lot for the gals.

It really does. And I bet some of those other wives really got to know the Nicholas children because your man played well a lot of times over. You know, one of the things I can remember when we had Andy North, I think on the show, and they talked about that, where we almost had this traveling community where your children would be friends with kids that were also parents were playing on the tour, and then they go home and have a different set of friends and my daughters even had that Barbara and it was really kind of kind of a special treat when they reunite with other friends. It is special. And I think we still have like Andy and Sue North, we still have that friendship today.

So I think those are special. And that's what you look back on and treasure. Well Barbara, we'll let you go because we know you're busy and you got a lot of money to raise.

So that's always good to talk about, but I know you do. So what's the best way for people to find out more about this, educate themselves, and then ultimately, hopefully donate time and money to what you're doing? Well, our foundation is Nicholas Children's Healthcare Foundation, which we formed in 2004. And that benefit like every penny from the Memorial Tournament goes there, but it's every penny goes through our foundation and stays in Columbus. So every penny that we raise around the country stays where it's where it's raised. So I think we're proud of that.

And then the play yellow organization is just play yellow.org. So like I said, I get so emotional just saying play yellow and I think of our precious Craig. So a lot of good things have happened and Jack and I are very blessed. Barbara, we so appreciate your time and don't stop anytime soon this country we golfers we all we all need your support. We all need your guidance. Well, you're very kind and I'm not so sure about that.

But I appreciate fun to talk to you guys. Thanks a lot. No, thank you. That's Barbara Nicholas, the First Lady of golf. This is golf with Jay delsing presented by Darty business solutions that was the front nine presented by the Ascension charity classic.

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Golf with Jay Delsing presented by Darty Business Solutions. Let's go back to Barbara Nicholas. A lot of fun to visit with her. I wish the listeners could have seen our faces when she came on the interview. I mean, she just has so, you can hear it, you can feel it. She's 80 plus years old. And she just has so much energy and so much light, love, just all of that cool stuff just makes you want to be around her. And so emotional, as she said multiple times in the interview about what they're trying to do to help children throughout the United States.

Yeah. I mean, look, the Miami Children's Hospital renamed the entire hospital, the Nicholas Children's Hospital. Now, I think, I think, Danny, they have either three or four hospitals with the Nicholas name on it. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. And let's even, let's even tap the brakes for a minute on the Play Yellow thing, because that's fantastic. And the whole thing since 2004, where their, their initiative was to raise $200 million. They've been, the Memorial Tournament's been plowing through charitable dollars, you know, for years and years. And one of the best tournaments on our schedule, David, I can't even imagine what the real number is that they've raised. Kudos to you. You're part of the Play Yellow initiative here locally with the Children's Miracle Network.

And I know that puts a smile on your face. I can't wait. I mean, we're doing an event.

It's a top golf. It's going to be, I think, in November. And it's just going to be fantastic. And this Children's Miracle Network, they do a phenomenal job. Melissa and her team, they do a great job. And I really, really appreciate them.

And I'm honored to be part of it. So then the dark side of the PGA Tour and now Live comes full circle this past week. Ron Price, COO of the PGA Tour and Jimmy Dunn. You've heard that name a lot. Member of the PGA Tour testified in front of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations.

They examined the PGA-LIV deal. Let's talk about this, Jay. Let's get into it. What's your takeaway from what you heard?

First of all, it sucks, Danny. I mean, having the government involved in too much. I mean, they struggled handling their own stuff. Now they're going to get involved in this. Anyway, we brought it on ourselves.

Okay. But what really came to light is His Excellency as he's referred to. I don't know what that's about. But anyway, this guy just wants to be involved in the PGA Tour. He wants to have Tiger Woods under an umbrella somehow of something that he's involved in. He wants a membership at Augusta National. Really?

I think that's going to happen now. And some of these other things. And it's like, you know, Danny, one of the things I was thinking, something nefarious was underfoot here. Something weird was, it's really about this guy having a Jones to be involved with the PGA Tour. And that's pretty much it.

How about Greg Norman? And it was finally brought to light in this subcommittee with the government involved. There was an email to Jay Monahan four months before they started ever put a ball in the ground, peg in the ground for LIV. And it said, quote, what's wrong with allowing players? This is Greg Norman to Jay Monahan, quote, what's wrong with allowing players to make their own decisions about where they want to play, how often they want to play, what is wrong with the player's choice? You know, players are independent contractors.

You were one. There is probably a little truth to that, but it takes away obviously from where all these guys are making their money. And that's the PGA Tour. Danny, absolutely. I mean, listen, when we signed up and we got our tour cards, Tiger Woods included, he signed away his rights.

But Danny, you know this from your phenomenal sports background. There's no league. If the players control their rights, they have to you. You can't put a television package together if you don't know which players are going to be involved. Could you imagine Michael Jordan owning his own rights and we get to game seven and he decided you can't watch me because I can't do that.

You have to do that. Well, your sponsors are relying on the names. Exactly. They're relying on Jay Delsing. They're relying on Phil Mickelson. They're relying on Tiger Woods. That's why you can't give up the individual likeness. If you're the PGA Tour, there's no way.

There's no way. And so that the whole thing with Phil and Greg, it's, it's, it's, it's stupid. Now the independent car tractor thing, Danny, you're spot on. You're spot on. Here's the deal though.

That's a two edge sword, a double edged sword. You can go where you want to go, but you don't have to be hired. So if you're going to do that, then the PGA Tour can say, you're not, you're not welcome here, which is basically what they've done. And now Greg Norman, it's also come to light. Now he is the head of LIV and part of the agreement, maybe moving forward. The talk is that he will not be a part of that. He's going to be fired. And I'm sure if you're the PGA Tour, you want nothing to do with Greg Norman right now. No, nothing to do with him.

Danny. He's had a vendetta against the PGA Tour and it's, and it's been so obvious. He started back in 93 and you know, it's interesting. And Brad facts and said this on his interview that we had him on a couple months ago. They had this interview down at the shark shootout. I mean a player meeting and there were only about 14 or 18 players and Jack and Arnold were included in that. And most of the takeaway from the meeting from the players was like, wow, interesting idea, but no way. And Greg comes out the next day and says, everybody agreed to it. I mean, Greg has got his own agenda, Danny.

He doesn't care. It's interesting because he's so willing to walk away and stab the PGA Tour in the back. And it is the same entity that created and gave him a platform for all of his wealth and all of his championships and his notoriety. And it's the PGA Tour. And the commissioner of the PGA Tour is Jay Monahan. He has been out from an undisclosed illness for weeks, but he is expected to return here shortly.

That has been the word on the PGA Tour. I'm fascinated to see how he, now he's had time to think about this. He's had time to realize that his interviews have not gone well. He's got time to prepare. He's going to be asked about this from every single angle. I'm fascinated to see how he comes out and what he has to say. Danny, he's got made, first of all, from a player standpoint, he's got major fences to mend and I don't know if it's fatal or not.

I have a feeling it might be fatal. I read what Zander Shafley said. He goes, look, I don't trust people easily.

And I gave him my trust. And now he's removed a lot of that from what he said. I mean, Danny, what would have been wrong? And Jay must have just gotten horrific advice. What would have been wrong with on that CNBC interview saying we are considering X, Y, Z, we are contemplating in here. It's a business decision. Exactly. And it's a possibility. We're rethinking our position. Don't come out and use the word merger.

Do not do that. But Rory McIlroy this past week again asked about it over in Europe, but he said there is absolutely no way under any circumstances that I will play on the live tour. He said, absolutely not done. And then one of the things that came out to your point a few moments ago was that Yasser wanted Rory and Tiger.

He wanted two big heads on the mantle and not happening. So those guys are playing right now in the Scottish Open, the British Open right around the corner. We know that a lot of people, whether you're in St. Louis, anywhere that you're listening, are making a vacation to go overseas. You're going to play in Ireland.

You're going to play in Scotland, wherever that may be. Well, it's a different style of game. So we're going to have a little teaching lesson when we come back playing in cold weather, playing in the wind, playing in those kind of conditions.

It isn't easy. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. We're presented by Darty Business Solutions, and we'll be back with the 19th hole.

And that's coming up. This has been the Back Nine presented by Pro-Am Golf. We'll make the turn into the clubhouse and head into the 19th hole. That's next on Golf with Jay Delsing.

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Hey guys, Jay Delsing here, and listen up. Remember this name, Redbird Heating and Cooling. That's Redbird Heating and Cooling 314-320-9507. This is a family-owned and operated St. Louis business. Owner and CEO Jed Dickinson leads their apprenticeship program called the Veterans Vocational. He will teach and sign off on educational and mechanical work hours while you get licensed, as you get paid working for the company. That's Redbird Heating and Cooling 314-320-9507 or redbirdhvac.com.

Start your new career as a licensed HVAC specialist with Redbird Heating and Cooling. This is Golf with Jay Delsing, and let's head to the 19th hole. Golf with Jay Delsing presented by Darty Business Solutions. It's the 19th hole, and this should be a lot of fun. The Scottish Open is wrapping up today, then all eyes in the golf world will be on the British Open. And Jay, we wanted to talk about a little playing lesson here, going over to Europe and playing. It is cold, it's windy, sometimes it's rainy. We got a lot of folks, I just had a buddy of mine over in Ireland, go play there and then go to play St. Andrews. And he texted me, he said, this is a beast, man. This isn't like playing in St. Louis.

No, this is nothing like it. First of all, you need gear. And with all this dry fit stuff that they have out now, you can get some layers on there and figure out where the point of diminishing return you can actually get. If it gets really, really cold, you can get too many layers on. But it's still summertime over there, so it shouldn't be much lower than 50. But make sure you get a t-shirt on, make sure you get something in there to keep the heat in.

That's really important because there's nothing, especially as you get older, Danny, there's nothing worse than getting cold and those muscles feel like they're not working and you got to have a good umbrella. It's got to have the gust buster function at the top where it lets air through, go throughout or else you're going to have your umbrella blow up over there. I was watching the Scottish Open over the weekend. Boy, these guys are going away from their driver and they are hitting their irons and they hit them low below the wind and let it just run on the hard fairways over in Europe. And you're Danny, you're going to see a lot of weird bounces because there's so many little humps and moguls and things like that. So the ball go left twice and right three times. And it was fascinating.

My first venture over there, I played at Carnoustie, which is a beast. And we only have 15 to 20 mile an hour winds. And they, they called that they called that a breeze. And I was like, Whoa, but it can blow so hard over there. And I mean, you want that ball close to the ground as much as you can. And we talked about this before, but you got to start thinking around the greens, a lot of chipping runs and even use your hybrid clubs to help you get the ball up in the air a little bit, just like a putting stroke, use it just like a putting stroke. And that ball will get just up in the air a little bit, but have a lot of tumble. How about the sand traps when you play over in Europe, too?

They are deep, man. They are so deep, treacherous, and there's a lot of them are circular Danny, and that ball goes on the wrong side. I remember playing in the British Open at St. Andrews, and on the 11th hole, it's a par three, and the wind was blown hard in from the left and the pin was cut right on the left side of the green. And I pulled this thing just a fraction, it landed on the green and rolled up there and fell into this bunker and wound up going to the far side in this circular bunker. So I had to play towards the 12th tee, which was exactly 180 degrees away from the pin. I was pissed. I bet you were.

What the hell kind of deal is this? Because I really hit a pretty quality shot that didn't work out. But I mean, I was watching people do this all over the place. You know, I've seen people even here in stateside use a rescue club to chip.

Now you were just talking about that a moment ago, about doing that over in Europe. Is there a way to do it? Is there a key to doing that? Well, I think the key to doing it is practice. practicing it so that you get a feel for it. Because there are a couple components you're going to realize it's it the shaft is much longer than your putter. And I just suggested using a putting motion, because that's the simplest. So the ball in the forward in your stance a little bit, and then just swing the head of that thing. But you're you need to get used to it because the weight is going to be different than your putter.

And so figuring how hard to swing that thing is really going to be crucial. But you'll love what happens to that around the surfaces of green where you have to go up these big hills Danny and try to get it to stop and where your wedge it's never going to work off that hard pan. You know what I think when I see any time that they're playing over in Europe, and this means even when the the PGA Tour is in the United States, and I'll flip through and the golf channels get something going on in Europe. I feel bad about this. I can't help but think about Jean van de Velde. And I can't help but think about Tom Watson at Turnberry and having a chance to win there. Oh, I do. I agree.

Those are some of the things that there. It's isn't it funny how those those things almost scar your brain even though it's not us that I don't want to see these guys lose at Jean van de Velde thing is almost like a horror movie for a golf for a professional golfer Danny is a guy that's been in contention many times and won a bunch of tournaments when you saw that when you watch that a former PGA Tour player and back then a contemporary how tough was that even for you just to watch it to me it was gut wrenching Oh Danny it just ripped your heart out it just absolutely ripped your heart out I mean look he's not a friend of mine I've actually been paired with him before and I played with him before he's a really nice guy got a good sense of humor speaks really good English obviously a Frenchman but to watch him make so many bad decisions in such a short period of time you know it's interesting he got also really unlucky because had you know he hit his ball into the bleachers intentionally because you get a drop I know that's not going to be ever said but he hit it over there on purpose and unfortunately instead of hitting a spectator it had a handrail yeah and popped all the way back across the berm so then if that ball would have just gone into the berm he don't want the British Open because he'd have taken that penalty stroke and dropped out and but he went from short of them to then into the bird and it just spiraled from there I think about tiger at the the first Masters that he won blown away the field at his age I think about Jack Nicklaus in 86 and what he did and you talked about it yes sir he got the the guy got the green jacket which was awesome it was so cool to see but I think about Tom Watson where would we talk about him and I think he was 59 at the time or 59 what would we be saying about that if he were I get goosebumps right now you know thinking about him winning at the age of 59 the British Open I mean when you think about that tournament I can still vividly remember watching this shot and them saying it's right online and I'm thinking Tom Watson's gonna win the British Open at 59 it's going to be the biggest thing that's to ever happened in golf I mean you're gonna there's some great feats that have been accomplished but to win a major champion chip at 59 I mean Phil Mickelson did it at 50 and was the oldest time almost a decade older would have just I mean remarkable remarkable now speaking of winning tournaments I do this every week I'm gonna ask Jay Delcey he's getting ready for the Ascension we had lunch this past week with Nick Ragon amazing what's going on with the corporate support here in St. Louis even bigger this year for the Ascension Charity Classic tickets are going well ascensioncharityclassic.com all right Jay Burt how's it going how you feeling game is good I'm really looking for it I'm pulling you with your you in your bag back to the the tips and we're playing nor with a lot and the golf course is in phenomenal shape and what about what Nick said about they had to ask for special dispensation to put more corporate skyboxes up there how I think that's so cool yeah I mean and that's a tribute to a the guys at HNS and B St. Louis I mean we we deliver these guys this community it delivers and he mentioned a couple of new names that have been added to coming to these ascension charity classics so some pretty big names in golf coming to St. Louis Stuart Sink comes to mind you know he just turned 50 no to be gay we're hoping Noda is is going to be in the field but for the first time Miguel and hell him and us is going to play in the field and he we call him the mechanic because he looked like a lot of mechanic when we first met him he plays like a world beater he's really a kid and he's a character we have a podcast that drops every Wednesday it's called beyond the fairways this past week Olin Brown was our guest so wherever you get your podcast beyond the fairways make sure that you download that podcast but this is great with Barbara Nicholas there sure was and don't forget we're giving away golf balls folks anybody wants a dozen free free dozen TP five golf balls compliments and tailor-made golf and our buddy Jeff Thornhill send me an email J at J Delson golf.com spelled J Y on both sides of that guys put the word balls in the in the subject matter somewhere and we'll we just sent out the four dozen for June and the boys sent me actually there was one female they've got a dozen I don't have the names in front of me now but I got a little emails back there they're delighted and they said nope these don't go straight either I can attest to that I could definitely attest to that this has been golf with Jay Delson we're presented by Darty business solutions for Jay Delson I'm Dan McLaughlin Jay how do we end the show. Head straight St. Louis. Hey this is Jay Delson for SSM Health Physical Therapy our golf program has the same screening techniques and technology as the pros on the PGA Tour use SSM Health Physical Therapy as the Titleist Performance Institute trained physical therapist that can perform the TPI screening on you as well as use a KVEST 3D motion capture system proper posture alignment etc can help you keep your game right down the middle we have 80 locations in the St. Louis area call 800-518-1626 or visit them on the web at SSM physical therapy dot com your therapy our passion. This is Dan McLaughlin inviting you to the 21st annual Dan McLaughlin golf tournament to benefit the special education foundation this tournament has raised over five million dollars and 100% of the money raised has gone to children with special needs in our community to sponsor volunteer or to play in the event on October 9th at Norwood Hills Country Club please visit SEF-STL.org I'll see you on October 9th at Norwood Hills Country Club. Hey Jay Delson here and I'm privileged to have Darty business solutions as the title sponsor for the golf with Jay Delson show every Sunday 9 a.m. tune in for all the latest in the world of golf and don't forget to send me an email Jay at Jay Delson golf dot com to enter to win a dozen TP 5 golf balls that we give away each week that's golf with Jay Delson Sunday mornings at night. Darty business solutions the title sponsor of the golf with Jay Delson show is a leader in our community in so many areas do they have over 2,500 teammates in over 30 states and three countries yes they do are they the largest IT consulting firm in our area yes they are are they the largest software developer in the St. Louis region of course they are but here are a few other important things to know about Darty business solutions they are the presenting sponsor of the ascension charity classic they are the presenting sponsor and we're the first presenting sponsor of the advocate professional golfers event at Glen Echo that will be held there this year as well they are also the founders of access point this is a community game changer it builds diversity in the IT workforce hundreds of mostly african-american women are getting 50 to 60 thousand dollar a year jobs right out of high school that's right right out of high school Ron Darty company founder chaired the 2023 heart ball this year it supported the local American Heart Association chapters and raised over six hundred thousand dollars in one evening these are more examples of the many things that Darty business solutions does in our community. Hey guys Jay Delsing here and listen up remember this name Redbird heating and cooling that's Redbird heating and cooling three one four three two zero nine five zero seven this is a family owned and operated St. Louis business owner and CEO Jed Dickinson leads their apprenticeship program called the veterans vocational he will teach and sign off on educational and mechanical work hours while you get licensed as you get paid working for the company that's Redbird heating and cooling three one four three two zero nine five zero seven or Redbird H V A C dot com start your new career as a licensed H V A C specialist with Redbird heating and cooling you're listening to golf with Jay Delsing to connect with Jay log on to Jay Delsing golf dot com you'll see the latest in equipment find the latest innovations in golf and get tips from a P G A professional that's Jay Delsing golf dot com