Curtis Strange and Adam Betz-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. Welcome into Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. That's Jay Delsing.

We're presented by Doherty Business Solutions. This edition of Golf with Jay Delsing, it's a master's recap and there's a ton to look back on as Jon Rahm captured the green jacket. Also in studio, our guest coming up will be Adam Betts, the owner and proprietor of Family Golf and Learning Center in Kirkwood. As we always do, I say hello to my partner, Jay Delsing. Jay Bird, the 87th Masters, has come and gone. Jon Rahm wins it.

Your initial takeaways from the Masters. First of all, is there a better Sunday? No. No.

Better back nine? In the last two hours, I'm just locked and loaded. I got food.

I got my butt securely, you know, entrenched into my couch. It was just fantastic. And, you know, I knew Jon Rahm would be a Masters champion one time or another, but to see Brooks kind of fade and it's really had nothing, his last 36 holes. And then to see Phil Mickelson, I mean, let me ask you this. Bigger story that Rahm won or Phil shoots 31 on the closing nine, eight under par, solo second at 52 years old? I think it is because you look at it, Rahm's 28 and Phil is 50 plus. So to me, it's Phil and it shows that he still, after all this time, after all the controversy, he still moves the needle.

Period. Craig, you did so much talent, Danny. So much talent. So he's dropped 25 pounds.

He looks different. And he said Augusta is a, quote, spiritual experience. If you love golf, you love the Masters. That sums it all up. So to me, when I was watching some of the live players, but in particular, Phil Mickelson, I just thought he got a charge from being at Augusta and looking at what the crowds brought to that event.

I mean, those guys were charged up. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it goes back to our Gary McCord interview that we did on Beyond the Fairways a couple of weeks ago and talking about how no one's seen him in Scottsdale area. Nobody, you know, and then to see him handle his interviews so differently, Danny, it's like he's a shell of his old self.

And I'm wondering, was the old self bad? And this is good. You know, I don't know where we are with that, but what I love is the game and what you post can do all the talking for you. And my hat's off to him. Listen, what a great pack nine and it added so much drama. So I thought, Jon Rahm, let's go back to him and some of the individuals steady through tough conditions all weekend.

They were very, very tough outside of the first round. But he shows that he has another gear to me. And when he gets it going, you better watch out. He does. He's so strong, Danny. He is. Besides that, he is a huge man. His quads, his back, his rear end, just he is solid through the middle. He's got a very short, very powerful swing. But to your point, he had different gears and you could see him almost leaving Brooks Koepke in the dust, which is really odd. I was going to ask you that because Koepke leads the Masters for the better part of four days.

And it's rare when we don't see him close out of major. So what did you see with him, especially down the stretch in day number four on that Sunday? Couple of things. First of all, Brooks got a huge benefit from the tee times.

He had a massive benefit and our buddy and poor Tiger Woods got the worst end of it. We'll get into that in a moment. Right. So that was one thing. But secondly, it makes you wonder, you know, here's a guy that's been battling both knees, which came to light this week at Augusta, which I thought was really interesting.

And so you look at going to live the less amount of golf, maybe more time to to to rehab and take care of your body. And I think that helped. But Danny, I still think playing three rounds with live with live and no real pressure and no real depth of field.

I think that matters. Koepke to me, I was trying to think of a cop in sports with him. You know who it is for me? It's John McEnroe because he plays with a chip on his shoulder. He's kind of chippy with the media.

And unfortunately for him, it just didn't work out in day number four on that Sunday. But he plays and talks with a little chip on his shoulder. Danny, that's such a great observation. He figures Brooks Koepke figures out a way to twist or turn whatever he needs to put that chip on his shoulder and to help him play with that edge. And that's what John McEnroe now John McEnroe is aged and he said that he deliberately did that because it was disruptive and it helped him with an edge. But you can tell you're so right. And that's a great analogy.

I love that. So a couple of tough Masters appearances for Tiger Woods and Rory McEnroe. But let's start with McEnroe. He misses the cut again at the Masters.

Remember, he missed the cut at the players too. So recently, when the stakes have been at the highest, he really hasn't come through. He hasn't, Danny. And here's the other thing. His game is good. His game is good.

He walked into the Masters saying everything is in line. This tells you what a mental game this is. And there are ghosts and scars that Rory is dealing with from 2014. I mean, it's been a long time ago that are not healed. And the thing is, it's very tough, obviously, to win a major or a Masters. But to go almost 10 years without winning a major, it's very rarely done.

No, and Danny, I was reading because Rory was my pick. Yeah. And then obviously, we're down the road. But he said, for him to win another major, it's almost going to be like he's winning his first all over again. He knows he can win. He's experienced that before.

But to your point, it's been so long. And so few people do that in their careers that he's up against it, especially at Augusta. You mentioned the great conditions in day one and Tiger shoots a 74. Then eventually his body breaks down at the Masters with the undulations the big hills of Augusta. I don't know about you, Jay, after watching, and I thought he might win another major.

But after watching this week, and I wonder if he can compete at a high level with any course that has hills, but certainly even a major, I just don't know if it's, it's finally over. This did not look good. No, and it breaks my heart. It really does. But Danny, he had a hard time putting any weight on that right foot. And it didn't help that the temperatures dip down into the high 30s, low 40s, pouring down rain, all that stuff, just making your muscles even more and more tight and constricted and restrictive. It was brutal. It was it was sad. It was sad to watch. However, he did got it out. He did make the cut right extending tying the longest streak in the history of 2023. Yeah, 23 years in a row. I mean, the guy doesn't know how to let go.

No, it's pretty amazing. I want to get into the live LIV players coming up in our final segment. But coming up next we'll visit with Adam Betts from Family Golf and Learning Center. And that means it's time for the tip of the cap.

Danny, thanks. The tip of the cap is brought to you by the dean team Volkswagen of Kirkwood 314-966-0303. We were just over there saying hello to Colin and we appreciate the support. We were talking about this off air, the maintenance crew, the ground crew, the superintendents, the guys at Augusta, there's trees, 70, 80 foot pine trees falling down and two hours later, it doesn't look like anything's happened. And and you know, that's happening right now at our local clubs all around the country. We got guys working, men and women working long hours to get the golf course in shape so that you and I can roll out and just have a great time. So we're tipping our cap to those guys that are long hours, countless and thankless hours and time and job that they do. And we really appreciate that.

And I also appreciate the dean team Volkswagen of Kirkwood for sponsoring the tip of the cap 314-966-0303. You can send me an email Jay at jdelsongolf.com. I'll introduce you to Colin.

He'll get you hooked up. That's our tip. That's Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. That was On The Range.

This is brought to you by Doherty Business Solutions. And up next, Adam Betts as we go to the front nine. 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 jdelsongolf.com.

Coming up, it's the front nine on golf with Jay Delsing. I love having Doherty Business Solutions as the title sponsor of the Golf with Jay Delsing show. You already know that they're the number one largest IT consulting firm and the largest software developer in the St. Louis region. You also know that there are over 2500 Doherty teammates in 30 states and three countries around the world. But what you may not be aware of is what Doherty Business Solutions does right here in our own community.

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And that training begins in high school. Doherty Business Solutions believes talent is equally distributed, but access to that opportunity is not. Ron Doherty, our founder at Doherty Business Solutions is the chair of the 2023 Heart Ball supporting the local American Heart Association Foundation.

These are just a few examples of the positive things Doherty Business Solutions is doing right now in our community. The legends of golf return to St. Louis in 2023. You won't want to miss one of the strongest fields in golf. Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Bernard Longer, John Daly and many more when they compete for the 2023 Ascension charity classic title September 5th 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.

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Find out more at AscensionCharityClassic.com. Golf with Jay Delson rolls on and we are pleased to be joined by Adam Betts from Family Golf and Learning Center in Kirkwood and as always the Golf with Jay Delson show presented by Darty Business Solutions. Adam, thanks for hopping in in studio. Great to see you. Absolutely guys, great to be here. So you're busy man right now. Summer is here, spring is here, the warm temperatures, you guys are busy.

Yeah this is the best week of the year, yes me. So we're all systems go down at Family Golf and Learning Center having a great time watching all these golfers get primed and ready for the season. You know Adam, one of the things that I think our listeners need to know is how inclusive your programs are down there. So you have junior golf and we've had some of your guys on, we've had JR and Blake and they're doing great and leading the area in some of their numbers. The range itself, the grasses, the balls, we talk about all this.

Tell the listeners a little bit. I mean we connect all the dots and give all the resources a golfer might need to reach their goals and their potential. It doesn't matter if you're a golfer interested in trying the game or you're a competitive player looking to play in college or play at a higher competitive level.

We connect the dots for all of them. You know in my experience as a professional playing down in Florida and seeking out places to improve my own game, you know I've frequented a lot of really nice first class facilities that had all these resources for me to reach my potential. And as I was down there I always in the back of my head thought St. Louis doesn't have a place like this. No doubt. You know I never thought I'd be the one doing it but here we are today and you know that's the whole goal of Family Golf is just to connect the dots for any golfer or potential golfer. Anybody that shows up will see how big the range is. Your driving range is absolutely huge and a double decker.

Yep, absolutely. Double decker. We've got the mats on the top deck exposed. A lot of kids like to hit off that top deck, see the ball fly a little farther.

The bottom deck is heated and we got it cooled during the hotter days as well. And then grass tees we just built last year on both sides of the double decker. We'll open those soon. They're coming out of dormancy and starting to grow so that's nice. The new short game area was super popular to start the season off and we had it open all winter long. So it's a 20,000 square foot green. It's huge.

You've got zoysia surrounding it, bunkers so you can practice there for a small fee. And I love the hat you've got on. You've got some great merch down there too.

The post shop is fully staffed and fully serviced. It's awesome. Yeah, it's quite the experience. You can come down and hang out with the family, play nine holes in an hour and a half and sit down and have a burger and a brat and out on the patio overlooking a practice hole. It's just a fun environment for any and all golfers. Adam, for those folks that don't really know what we're talking about, it's kind of down in the bottoms in Kirkwood and what you guys have done, they'll pull up and they're going to think they've gone to the wrong spot.

Yeah, it's brand new. I mean the new building is probably the biggest change obviously. We tore down the old building that Sorcus Webby built way back in the day.

I think it started in 1992 and I'm the fifth owner. I grew up practicing there so it's kind of got a soft spot for me because I took my first golf lesson there with Todd Meyer. So it's a home to me just like a lot of golfers in town. So it's taken a lot of changes but that building is our pride and joy. We've got, like you said, that gym for golfers. We've got an indoor green to practice at.

Three simulators powered by Trackman. Your golf shot with those sweet hats that you like so much, Jay. I noticed you didn't bring any for us.

Where is it? Where's the merch? Yeah, I know. I should have brought you some hats.

Alright, next time. I guess it's kind of emotional to an extent because it resonates with you that you grew up out there and all of a sudden here you are, you know, you've got the junior program, you've redone the entire facility. I would imagine that's got to be emotional to an extent.

Yeah, it is crazy. I'm living my passion. I'm living my dream and I'm bringing golf to so many people. Golf is what gave me every opportunity in my life.

It gave me an opportunity to go to school, gave me an opportunity to create so many great relationships. This is me giving back to the game and trying to show any and all people in our area and region that golf is such a great game that can connect so many things in life. You know what's cool, Adam, is that we have kind of lagged.

The St. Louis area has lagged in turning out really good players in the last few years. Your facility goes from top to bottom. We're talking short game. I love your tagline, if you want to get better at golf. You know, and it's really true because you can take every aspect of it. Just because it's wintertime, the scoring lab is a blast. I love that place in there. Yeah, being able to practice all year round was one of our goals. We needed to make sure that St. Louis had that opportunity. I would come home from Florida, like I said when I was playing, I was down in Florida.

I would come back and, you know, be here with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was cold and I'd go down there and hit balls and the balls would, you know, do the old hook slice, you know, where it starts hooking and it ends up slicing because there's no dimples on the golf ball. And, you know, you'd hit off of a mat where you see more rubber than turf and, you know, it just wasn't a quality practice session.

And, you know, so that was another thing that I knew St. Louis lacked is a good quality practice facility with good turf, good balls. You get to see how your ball is actually flying, you know, so, you know, we're making it as realistic and helpful for the golfer to, you know, get the feedback they need to help improve their game. Now, part of that, though, is having the proper yardage markers. So I know what I'm hitting and it's truly supposed to go that amount of distance. And I know that's something you've worked on. We've absolutely added a million targets. We've got different barrels and different things to aim at.

We're actually working on even improving that more. So we replace these turf on mats a lot, right? So we have all these extra mats sitting around. So if anybody needs a mat, you let me know. I've got a million of them, but we are going to start laying those out on the greens.

So we'll have kind of a synthetic green out there to aim at, which will be a nicer look. And you can kind of see if you've hit a quality shot if it's landed on that turf. So, yeah, we we know how important distance control and and having good solid targets and good solid feedback on your distances for sure. I want to know if the McLaughlin kids have their own personal bay down there because I know your kids wearing it out.

I got to thank Adam for that. Yeah, we got to do like a weekly hour check to see if they're spending more time down there than I am, because it's got to be damn close. They're out there nonstop.

So thank you very much. I absolutely love having them. And they're they're both great players, beautiful golf swings. And it's always fun showing it off with the kiddos.

Believe me, it's been fun for them. And they love it because in the winter, as you guys were just talking about the heated bays, if you don't have a heated bay, that's pretty it's a huge deal. And the fact is, and I knew this before I bought it, actually, that it faced south, you know, and I think I knew it more because I practiced there a lot. But facing south, you know, in the winter, the winds are coming from them from the north. We just closed those garage doors. You don't feel a gust.

That's right. I mean, it's calm as ever deal. Even with heat, if that wind was blowing in your face, absolutely be able to hang when that Yeah, when that when it's cold out and you see that the south winds are coming up, I'm gonna be a busy day today.

You know, we're we're gonna have some trouble getting people here. But of all the things that you've done well, and all of the problems that prior owners have facing the range of that direction was by far the best thing they made. They made some good decisions with that for sure. Absolutely. Are you putting on charity events? Because last year I hosted the john j of course charity event and Albert by the way, put it closest to the pen. Of course you did. Of course he did. I mean, what else you hit 700 plus home runs and put it close to the pen. He's just good at whatever he does. Yeah, I know you're doing though some of that stuff.

Right? Yeah, we are we we have a very unique event space. And we're allowing, you know, anybody and everybody to come in and host their event office parties, birthday parties, your nonprofit, you want to have, you know, any sort of event, we can kind of customize it and it doesn't even need to be a golf specific event. Now we hit we do have that tee box right off of the terrace and the green that you can hit shots that have a fun contest with your party.

But and that's what we did for john j. But we've done a lot of different things with a lot of different organizations and groups. So yeah, if anybody's interested in an event, come on by. You've got to talk to you. You got food.

I mean, people don't know. So yeah, it's catering. Well, like for the events, we will.

Okay. I wasn't sure if you're doing like, no, no takeout food, no grub hub coming through. We may never go home if we went there, man.

Go home. Food is really good. Patrick O'Neill does a great job in the bar and restaurant. And yeah, it's nice to have that. We'll wrap it up.

At least segment one here with Adam Betts. And again, he is the proprietor and owner of Family Golf and Learning Center in Kirkwood. We'll get into the junior programs because that is so important. But I know, generally speaking, your idea is if you just want to pick up a golf club, if you're a young kid, or you're that 60 year old that wants to, you know, all of a sudden, they retire and they say, I got time on my hand, I want to play some golf. You guys have levels for everyone to be taught the game of golf. Yeah, every every skill level every age, you know, junior golf, it starts, you know, at the fundamental level, and we kind of, you know, graduate you up the ladder and within our academy. And we also have adult clinics and classes that you can do as a group or individual. So yeah, we have 10 instructors now that's how busy we are with golf instruction and player development. And we've got a million different programs. And we even got playing pro, you know, programs out there where we have couples nights and we have, you know, a lot of fun with the parent child each month and we have a ladies league on Wednesday.

So there's just there's something for everybody out there. Adam Betts from Family Golf and Learning Center is our guest. This is golf with Jay Delsing presented by Doherty Business Solutions.

Back with more in just a moment. That was the front nine presented by the Ascension Charity Classic. Coming up, it's the back nine and more of golf with Jay Delsing. Hey, this is Jay Delsing 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 K vest 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.com.

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That's powersinsurance.com. This is Paul Leisinger and you're listening to golf with Jay Delsinger. This is Jay Delsinger. Did you know that Marcona is the largest authorized appliance parts distributor in the world? That's right, the largest in the world. Did you know that Marcona is based right here in our backyard of St. Louis, Missouri?

Well, that's pretty impressive. What's more impressive is the way that they give back to the St. Louis community and our region. CEO Jim Sowers has donated service dogs to the wounded service men and women of our armed forces.

Sweets at St. Louis Blues games have been donated and auctioned off in which all proceeds were given to the backstoppers. Then there was the Marcona Police and Firefighters viewing deck at the Ascension Charity Classic this past year. It was a huge success, so much so that it's being implemented on other tour stops around on the PGA Tour.

To Jim Sowers and his incredible team at Marcona, we want to say thank you. Thank you, Marcona, a proud sponsor of the Golf with Jay Delsing Show. This is the Back Nine on Golf with Jay Delsing. The Back Nine is presented by Pro-Am Golf, located in Brentwood. See what Pro-Am Golf can do for you. Golf with Jay Delsing Show, presented by Doherty Business Solutions.

Rolls on. That's Jay Delsing. I'm Dan McLaughlin. That is Adam Betts, the owner and proprietor of Family Golf and Learning Center in Kirkwood. I want to go back to the junior golf program because that is so important to start kids at a young age. And if you're a parent out there, you're trying to get your kid involved in golf, take it step by step.

How does it work? Absolutely. We start them at a skill level or an age. So we have two different age groups, young and old.

Young and older, I guess I should say. Yeah, make sure you get older. On our first three levels. So our first level is fundamentals. If you're new to the game, you've never touched a club, you need to learn how to grip it.

You need to learn the stance and the posture and all the basics. You're going to be in our fundamentals class and then based off of skill and our teachers and instructors, they graduate you to the next level, which is the learn to play or level two. And then you're advancing your learning and then you go to now level three, which we're excited to announce this and we're going to be doing so shortly.

So this is kind of the first unveil. We're going to have a class called on course learning, which is we take all the kids out on the par three. The par three golf course is perfect for learning. It's not hard. There's not, you know, it's not super challenging.

There's no bonkers. There's one place where you got to hit it over water, but you know, it's a great learning ground. And we just marked the golf course. I was actually on my hands and knees putting in the yardage plates yesterday morning. And it was sure about that. Yeah, it looks you were on the hands.

I swear to God, man, you can see that they're scabbing up, man. So put the boots to the ground yesterday morning. But now the golf course is fully marked. And the coolest part is that we have twenty five fifty seventy five, one hundred yards on every single hole. So we're going to start the kids at on course learning at twenty five yards and we're going to make every hole par four. So they have to shoot thirty six on nine holes and then they graduate back to fifty and then they graduate back to seventy five and they go all the way back to the blue tees.

And if they can make four on every hole, then they'll go to twenty five yards and start as par threes. So it's a very trackable way for us and the parents to see that their kids skill is developing. And, you know, that's something that the parents can take the kids out and, you know, hey, the kids are going to get excited and want to go try that fifty again. Let's go out there tonight, play the course, you know. So it's just a great way to learn. And, you know, we are driving range, but we're also a golf course and we're trying to get people to play their best golf on the course. So we need them on the golf course. So we're excited to get the juniors out there this year. Absolutely.

That's a phenomenal way to do it. Adam, the fact that you have done what you've done, taken an old place, thousand percent redo of everything, but provided the area with a place where you can go at any level. There's nothing like that. And it's safe to say a five hundred mile radius around St. Louis. And that expands up to Chicago and everything. I know there just is not in the Midwest. You're absolutely right. I mean, like I was talking about earlier, there was a void in a quality practice facility, but there's a void in opportunity for families to expose their kids to golf.

I mean, in our town particularly, if you're not a member at a golf club with a junior golf program, there's not very many options for, you know, you know, and that's what we kind of fill that void. And and I knew there was that void and that there was that need for families to be able to expose their kids. Well, the name is so perfect. I mean, the name says a lot.

I mean, it's it really does. And I think when you can take away some of that anxiety from the newbies, you know, where the even forget it. If you're if you're 10 years old, you may not care. But if you're 30 years old, but you're and say you're a female and you really want to play to be able to go on the short course like that, it's a game changer.

100 percent. Yeah, it's it's an intimidating game for a lot of people that are just getting introduced to it, especially if you're an adult. Mostly ladies are very intimidated by it. You know, we do a lot of ladies clinics. We do a lot of, you know, office wide clinics where ladies come out and they come out with their coworkers and they learn how to play because they want to get into that company scramble. You know, we have opportunities for ladies and kids to get into the game. And we love that we have an environment and an atmosphere that is unintimidating.

You know, we're encouraging and we're trying to be there for those that very well might be intimidated. So you've got simulators there, but also you have the lab. And I think that's cool, too. So if you're in the winter months, that's great. But if it's raining in the summer, you've got opportunities to go inside. Yeah, we don't cancel junior golf. You know, a lot of places will because they don't have an indoor option. So if it's raining, you know, our junior golf isn't being canceled. We're going to go inside and hit some balls into the net, get the kids on the simulator and putt and ship around on that on the scoring labs indoor green.

So you're absolutely right. It it serves a purpose in the winter and it serves a purpose during the season also. So it's kind of a good thing that during the season it's not that busy because when we need to move the kiddos in there, we do. That's awesome.

And also, I love it, too. I've been in there so many times when I see office parties and they're just they're kind of having a party, but also hitting a bunch of balls into into the simulator. Those are fun. I mean, if anybody's not done that, that's a fun time.

Yeah. Without a doubt, we do add the simulators and that onto a lot of the events that people do. They'll do contests and try to you know, if it's a fundraiser, they're going to try to raise funds doing a close to the pin contest or we get creative with our events.

It's it wasn't ever really a part of the vision of, hey, we're going to do events, but it's a great space for it. And there's been the demand for it. So we'll make it happen.

We'll do whatever we can. There's never a time when you're going to pull into the parking lot and you're not going to see a wild age range where you're going to see some seven, eight year old guys and gals out there learning the game, swinging like their body doesn't hurt, which makes us all a little jealous. And then you'll see you always have a bunch of the older generation up there talking golf, having a sandwich, you know, working on their game, talking about putting. Mr. Zuniga hits his bucket of balls and has a cigar on the terrace every single day. And we just love seeing them every day. The best is the little kid where the clubs are falling out of the bag and they're dragging on the ground and mom and dad are behind them trying to pick them out. Yeah, it's pretty funny. I think one of the great things you've done too, is you've gotten some of the top teachers.

I don't know how you did this. You must be paying well over there at Family Golf and Learning Center, but you've got you got some of the top teachers, though, they've been for renowned and have that reputation without a doubt. We're really lucky. Rob Sidorsik heads are our instructors as our director of golf and programming. And Rob's a former K-State coach, a very accomplished player, a very accomplished teacher. You know, he he taught some of the better players that came out of St. Louis in the past 10, 15 years.

And he specialized in the development of highly competitive juniors. He's a good player himself, which makes a big difference. There's nobody I've ever played with that has it straighter than him.

You know, it's it's a matter of if he if he gets a pin high, if he's hitting a pin high, he's made a lot of birdies. But yeah, he he heads our team of 10. You know, we've got, as you said, Blake Sharmatero, our director of golf. He heads our junior league golf, which is a fantastic league.

It's one of the largest in the country that starts in May. So if your kids are interested in junior league golf, go online and get them registered soon. He's just a phenomenal teacher as well. Good player. He and I played at Parkway South together here locally. We won state together in 01.

And so we've got a pass. We used to practice on a family golf together. So it really is a family environment down there.

I mean, we were all friends and we're all close. We're all wanting the best for all of our players. You know, so J.R., another great teacher. We've got Bob Gaus, who's a legend.

Bobby G. He's a legend. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. He's told me some stories, man. You guys have had some battles.

We did. He's he's he's been a he's been a legend in St. Louis, kind of down in the south side of town. Yeah.

Without a doubt. Always a Tower T. And you know, when the when that was changing over, he he just approached me and asked if he could teach. So it's worked out great. We've got Rick Ewing down there teaching, doing a great job with his students. Rick was formerly at Old Doug. It was a teaching pro over there. Yeah, he's awesome.

He's Rick. He's a good guy. Great teacher. You know, we all have our strengths as teachers. You know, we you know, I might teach the sequencing of the body while while Rob's really going to hone in on the plane of the swing, you know, and there's just strengths of every guy and gal that are teaching out there. And you know, that's the cool part is like we place you with the teacher that's going to best fit your needs. So having 10 teachers with different strengths is a really big selling point on why it's in your best interest to come take lessons at Family Golf. So what's the best way to get a hold of you or a teacher or the website or just go out and hit? What's the best way you can come by, you know, and we'll fill out a questionnaire which gives us a little bit of information to go off of.

And then Rob Sedorsic calls you and sets up that lesson. So you could do it online easily. Also on the website, you go under learn and then you can see meet the pros. There's also a lesson inquiry form which that's a questionnaire. So the name of the website. Yeah, www.familygolfonline.com familygolfonline.com.

That's it. Adam, thanks so much for what you do for golf. You know, one of my things is I get older want to grow the game so important to get back and it's you're doing it and you're and you're just starting. So it's the future this looks bright for the young families and the beginners as well as the expert. Yeah, we'll very much appreciate that.

We're excited to be a part of the community and we're excited for all you do and thanks for all your support both of you guys and thanks for having me. You got it. That's Adam Betts Family Golf and Learning Center. This is Golf with Jay Delsing presented by Doherty Business Solutions. We move to the 19th hole 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. I love having Doherty Business Solutions as the title sponsor of the Golf with Jay Delsing show. You already know that they're the number one largest IT consulting firm and the largest software developer in the St. Louis region. You also know that there are over 2,500 Doherty teammates in 30 states and three countries around the world. But what you may not be aware of is what Doherty Business Solutions does right here in our own community. They were the sponsor for the first Advocate PGA event at Glen Echo this past September. Doherty Business Solutions was also a presenting sponsor of the Ascension Charity Classic. They have created Access Point which builds diversity in the IT workforce. This is a game changer in our community.

Literally hundreds of mostly young African American women are getting $50,000 to $60,000 per year jobs right out of high school and that training begins in high school. Doherty Business Solutions believes talent is equally distributed but access to that opportunity is not. Ron Doherty, our founder at Doherty Business Solutions is the chair of the 2023 Heart Ball supporting the local American Heart Association Foundation.

These are just a few examples of the positive things Doherty Business Solutions is doing right now in our community. The legends of golf return 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 5th 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 AscensionCharityClassic.com. You're listening to golf with Jay Delsing. To connect with Jay, log on to JayDelsingGolf.com. You'll see the latest in equipment, find the latest innovations in golf and get tips from a PGA professional.

That's JayDelsingGolf.com. Hey, this is Jay Delsing 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 has 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, et cetera, 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 SSMPhysicalTherapy.com.

Your therapy, our passion. This is Jay Delsing and if you're like me, you're always looking for the best ways to improve your game. That means getting the best, most up-to-date equipment you can find in golf. You can find that equipment at Pro-Am Golf. Pro-Am Golf is located in Brentwood and since Pro-Am Golf opened in 1975, they have been more than just selling golf equipment. Pro-Am Golf is dedicated to helping build your game inside and out. Pro-Am Golf can custom fit all your clubs specifically to your build. They offer private one-on-one lessons and they carry golf gear for every part of your game.

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That's ProAmGolfUSA.com. Hi, this is Peter Jacobson and you're listening to Golf with Jay Delsing. This is Golf with Jay Delsing and let's head to the 19th hole. The 19th hole on golf with Jay Delsing. That's Jay Delsing.

I'm Dan McLaughlin. Our thanks to Adam Betts and this is brought to you by the Gateway section of the PGA. You know, Danny, it's great to have Ali Wells and her team supporting the show. They've been with us all year.

Just this great folks. They're growing the game. They're taking care of PGA Reach, which is, I know you're involved in that and Ozzie Smith is the president. They just do some great stuff in the community. It's awesome to have them involved with the show. Our thanks to Adam Betts and the takeaway I have with that is how many people he is helping to grow the game. I hear you say grow the game, grow the game. Well, his facility certainly is doing that for all ages. I love that.

I love the stuff that he talked about the different levels. I mean, that's a game changer, right? Because this is such an intimidating game getting not only from a skill level because you're not going to pick this up no matter how good an athlete you are. You're not going to pick this up and be very proficient at it at the beginning. But there's an intimidation factor about knowing the flow of the game, knowing whose turn it is, how to what's the etiquette and all those things because that's a big part of the flow of the game. And when you can go down to family golf and learning centers and go to their short course in a relaxed environment, learn that big deal buddy.

That's a big deal. Looking back at the Masters, we mentioned we're going to talk about this, but LIV players competing again at a major few takeaways for me. Number one, the guys miss the competition of a four day event. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And they miss the bright lights of the prestigious events that a Masters brings. I just thought they had their competitive juices kind of refueled again.

Oh, Danny, no, no question about it. So take a look at the top. Let's do the top 10. You've got Brooks Koepke, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed in the top 10.

That's wonderful. But they only had five players in the top 30. You know, and that means Cameron Smith, where'd he where's he Dustin Johnson. So walking Neiman, I think was what was my dark horse he finished, I think 17th or 18th somewhere in there. And not a bad finish at all.

But to your point, you can't flip that switch. There's that that depth of the field and that that's it's something that we're watching the great maybe the greatest of all time Tiger Woods struggle with in some of his putting and just some of the finer points of the game that will get missed in the other in the other direction. I find it interesting, Greg Norman, who runs LIV not invited to come out to Augusta.

And the other thing I don't know if you agree with me on this. I thought with all the media that was going to be around, I thought this could get nasty. And it really didn't. I thought the showing by LIV players how they were in the media, it kind of calm the waters a little bit between the two tours.

I think it did. And I mean, I can remember, you know, hell, I watched as many hours of that thing as I could. And I can remember Gary Woodland.

Again, I think it was Brooks, a big hug. I mean, you know, these guys have known each other, Danny, when you start thinking about it, they've known each other. If let's say they're 30 years old, they've known each other for half of their life. They've been playing junior golf against one another in these national events. I mean, it's guys in my generation like the Brad Faxons, the Brando Chambliss, the Fred couples. I've been playing golf with those guys since I've been 15.

Same for these guys, except probably even more so because there's more events. And so at the end of the day, take your money. Don't sue the tour.

Yeah, just do your thing and be happy. So we had Curtis Strange on Beyond the Fairways, which by the way, wherever you get your podcast, download it. We've had some great guests, Lee Trevino, David Farity, Gary McCord. This past week we had Curtis Strange and he said that exactly what you're talking about. So you know what? Take the money.

That's fine. The other aspect that we got into in terms of golf with Curtis Strange was winning the U.S. Open and how important that was for him. It's special because it's our national championship and that's first and foremost. It's the biggest tournament that I or Jay could win. I think any of these elevated events with the top 50 players in the world would be pretty special because you are beating the best in the world. Whenever you win a tournament and it's a good field, there's a little bit on the play rod hole, there's a little bit of extra satisfaction there.

At first beer goes down a little bit smoother. They're all special. The tour is so good and so many talented guys are all special. But to win the U.S. Open, being anybody can qualify, it's nice but it's special because it's our national championship and it is one of the best fields. Curtis, when I was a little boy, there wasn't a day that didn't go along where I didn't have a putt to win our national open.

It was always the top of the list for me. You know, and me too, Jay, and the reason being for me is that it could have been very well the Masters because when I was young, my dad was a club pro and he had a little tiny black and white TV in the corner of the golf shop and we always watch a few minutes of the Masters and a little bit of the U.S. Open because it wasn't on TV a whole lot back in the day. It would be easy because you saw the Masters on TV but my dad played in six U.S. Opens and he was a good player and so I always come back with the memories and stories of seeing Trevino for the first time or Trevino or Venturi in 64, that kind of stuff and so I kind of went over to the U.S. Open as you did and every afternoon late there'd be four balls out there for the U.S. Open.

Absolutely, same story. Curtis, is there a player, you mentioned McElroy earlier and what he's done for the game and staying with the PGA Tour, being vocal about it. Is there a player now that you enjoy and you'll sit there and watch on a Saturday or a Sunday and say, yeah, I'm going to take time out of my schedule.

I'm going to watch that current player. Well, Jon Rahm is right there at the top of the list. You know, we interviewed him in Butler Cabin on Thursday and he's had a great first round and I've been around him a lot but to see him in a normal atmosphere inside and against a guy like Scott Van Pelt who's a big man, big tall man. This guy, Jon Rahm, is a mountain of a man. He has got the biggest legs and the biggest back and shoulders. There's no wonder he hits it so far but not only does he hit it far, the strength enables him to control things probably maybe a little easier but then he swings so hard. That kind of goes out the window once in a while but he's just such a big man. He'll be able to, his strength will carry him to a long career.

He won't weaken like some others might with a lesser body. He's a thoughtful guy and he's so intense that's such an advantage for somebody who's so intense naturally that doesn't affect his neck shots once in a while, probably once in a while. Did me too, probably did Jay but that's the nature of the game but the intensity and the focus will carry him on for to become really one of the greats of the game I think.

Scotty Scheffler, magician around the greens for a big man. I just love the way he plays. He really plays well.

He hits a lot of fair wings, a lot of greens and has great hands around the greens and he came back and had a great master so there's others out there. There's a lot of young kids out there I like to watch. You know as I sit here talking to you guys, I'm a fan of the game like everybody else in this world.

I don't play much anymore. I only do two events for TV so I'm back watching and want to learn, want to watch swings and Jay and I have never seen a swing that we didn't dissect on tour so we didn't recognize players by faces or hats but by swings on tour so it's still great fun for me and a joy to watch them. Curtis, one of the things to your point about Rom, I was blown away at the human that he is. He's thoughtful and intelligent. He's really managed to take care of the anger and when he was a young man, if he got off to a bad start, he could implode in the first three or four holes and he's done just a great job with trying to overcome that. Well, what helps that as you know is good play and his play in the last year and a half has been phenomenal but also you know you mature, you get to a point in the state of the game to there's a lot of responsibility and he still gets upset with himself and if he didn't, he wouldn't be the player he is if he tried to be somebody who wouldn't be.

He wasn't. You know everybody goes through that as a young kid. They expect so much out of themselves, they get mad at themselves and I'd much rather see somebody get aggravated after a bad shot than hang his head. If I ever saw somebody hang their head and feel sorry for themselves, they're not going to be any problem at all.

You know, we're going to wax them you know today. It's just the way it is. It's a competitive sport and it all is on your shoulders, solely on your shoulders. So there's a huge responsibility in preparing, playing, accepting good and bad. So that part of the game hasn't changed. What are the parts of the game that you see that really stand out on how much it's changed from when you're winning back-to-back U.S.

Opens to what you see now in 2023? Well, the most obvious is the distance but they still have to get the ball in the hole and what I like to watch is their short games around the greens and the putting. I think they're so much better than we were. Conditions are obviously a little bit better in the 60 degree wedge certainly helped in the last 25 years but they chip the ball so well and they put the ball so well and the putting part of it is where they have improved because they work on it a whole lot more than we did. You know I hit balls out for every round for 30, 40, 50 minutes or an hour and they go putt for five minutes.

It's ass backwards. We should have putted for 30 or 40 minutes and hit balls for five minutes because that's where you score. If I had to do it all over again, Jay, I'd hit half as many balls and I'd putt the remaining part of the top but that's not the sexy fun part of the game so but that's where you score and that's where they are.

They look like to me they're so good around the greens. Curtis, I would have never tried to change my swing like I did and lower my hands and all this other stuff because I you know I was so homemade and never had any lessons and I would have just worked on my short game like you said figured out how to use the bounce of the wedge you know in my first two years on tour instead of taking me 15 and all this other stupid stuff that I spent time on. But we didn't know and like I said if no one would I know now I would have done that but that's you don't know that and we didn't we didn't take putting as a real science like our swings back in the day. Dave Peltz was the one that brought it to light years ago.

The short game guru, engineer, scientist, smart guy. Now they have the machines at home. They have the track man for putting. They have all the gadgets out there on the putting green you saw this past week at the Masters and that's all a good thing. I wasn't a gimmick guy with my swing too much but on the putting green I think it's a great thing to check your alignment every single day and to check your speed and check your ability to read the green. Things like that that's where I think they've taken a very very important part of the game to the next level unlike us. Yeah Curtis and I don't know I guess it's just because a tiger and all the attention and all the money. You look back at a putting green back in our day and you know you might have three or four people putting on it.

You look at a tour event now and there's it looks like families are camping out out there. I know you know you're right but it's just that was the next that was the next step and I think the next step might be more mental because it is a game 80% mental really when you think about it you have so much time to think but you know the guys have the sports psychologist I think it's fantastic if somebody's telling you how damn good you are every time you turn around where does it go from here that you know what they're just gonna be bigger and better athletes I'm waiting for the next guy today who's a little bit taller than you not a lot but he's gonna be about 6'10 his hands gonna be at the top of the roof and he's gonna have a great ability to play the game and just think how far that ball is gonna go and it's not gonna be equipment or ball it's gonna be his ability to swing the club much faster than most everybody else. You mentioned television earlier Curtis did you enjoy that run and you still do a little bit and you're pretty blunt in your assessment you're one of the great analysts the game has seen did you really enjoy that was that something that you looked at and said yeah this is this is something I really enjoy and I want to get better and better and you did is it something though that you enjoyed? Yes I do it's a it's a team game over there in the compound it's a you get very close you work together you try to make each other look good and I had great great help initially in 97 with Mike Torrico and worked eight years with him you know I learned when I was when I went in the booth at 42 years old it was a big decision but I could play and do TV that's why I did it but I learned and it now it's a challenge to get better and I'm still very average you're very nice in your words but I still try to get better and the reason I'm not very good because my vocabulary is not as big as some okay so I kind of get into the meat and potatoes of the game gymnasts I'm not but I can tell you how to play the game and how to play the golf course but what I see for this player I really really enjoyed it and then I really got to love it when I was 53 and went back to ESPN and we had seven or eight terms a year did the open championship you know do the early golf masters PGA it's a challenge to learn how to say something more concise and clear every day timing is such a big thing in golf silence is the greatest sound in golf silence let's set it up and let it play set Jason delsing up second shot 15 from 153 went out of the right and shut up and and letting play and that's that's the the the attitude I take and so I really do enjoy it the Masters kind of beats me up we have such long hours I'm not a morning person okay you know I had a 7 a.m. Sports Center hit Sunday morning I went wow how can I even function at that time but anyway it's good stuff it's fun and you know you try to bring the game closer to the viewer so in doing that and the Masters did show it and other events have shown it do you like the idea of being able to visit with a player in the middle of the round do you think that's a good thing for the sport I think it what I just said it brings the game closer it brings the game closer to the viewer yeah I think it's been wonderful if you get the right personality and that you know it's all done beforehand so that when the guy does it he's already agreed and he's gonna be he's gonna be on point I would never do it never because I think it's it's disruptive a little bit and Max home is that personality that loves to do it he's done it he's fantastic at it I was taken aback a little bit on Friday or Saturday when Rory McElroy did it Friday I think and on the ninth hole and they were talking to him when he was pulling his club out of the bag and then he talked to him as soon as he hit the shot I get walking down the fairway but not when you get close to your ball okay thanks so much for all you know have a good day but anyway that's their call and they do what they want to do and it's pretty good because we always in any sport we want to just see the guy speak to the camera and it just it's fun to hear what they have to say Curtis one of the things that jumps out at me is the better athletes that are playing the game to your point a few minutes ago about a taller guy a stronger guy we are getting athletes that are playing the game and it's taking it to a different spot I think yeah absolutely I used to get offended by by saying they're better athletes because you know you and I played high school ball and and and some intramural stuff in college possibly and and I thought we we had some really damn good athletes in our day some were better than others put it that way but you know we all were good athletes now they truly are and athletes are getting better their hand-eye coordination is better their their training is better their their body is bigger and stronger and faster and jumps higher and it's the way it should be but they really are they have this ability to play the game with the strength and size that's what I wonder what this new ball is going to do it's you know just the game is the game and bigger guys are going to hit a golf ball farther than a small guy so trying to rein in a golf ball it because it brings in more questions than it answers but anyway we want to go there but yeah they're good they're big I mean Jon Ron, Scottie Scheffler 6'4 hell if you're not 6'3 or 6'4 anymore I don't know if you can be a top 10 player in the world. So that's Curtis Strange on Beyond the Fairways and I found it interesting where he talked about the U.S. Open hell if I wanted to play I could try to qualify it's not going to happen but by winning the Open it even meant a little bit more to him an Open championship even more so than a Masters. Well yeah because you're an American it's the red white and blue you're our national champion there wasn't it wasn't that the Masters wasn't big and he said that as well but there's something about being American that you want to be the United States Open champion you're the best golfer in the United States that that week that's a wow it's amazing crazy so what is your one takeaway as we wrap it up from the Masters that you said man this is the storyline for me. I would say that at the end of the day Danny golf wins you know we got all this disruption we've got live we've got you know who's going to do what we've got Greg Norman acting like a child half the time golf wins Phil Mickelson put on a show I loved it I loved it too. Golf wins I like that our thanks to Adam Betts for stopping by in studio and Jay Burt always fun we'll do it next week.

Let's do it right now I'm ready let's keep talking. That's Jay Delsing I'm Dan McLaughlin and you always finish it with hit them straight St. Louis I love having Daugherty Business Solutions as the title sponsor of the golf with Jay Delsing show you already know that they're the number one largest IT consulting firm and the largest software developer in the St. Louis region. You also know that there are over 2,500 Daugherty teammates in 30 states and three countries around the world. But what you may not be aware of is what Daugherty Business Solutions does right here in our own community. They were the sponsor for the first advocate PGA event at Glen Echo this past September. Daugherty Business Solutions was also a presenting sponsor of the Ascension Charity Classic. They have created Access Point which builds diversity in the IT workforce. This is a game changer in our community. Literally hundreds of mostly young African-American women are getting 50 to 60 thousand dollar per year jobs right out of high school and that training begins in high school Daugherty Business Solutions believes talent is equally distributed but access to that opportunity is not. Ron Daugherty our founder at Daugherty Business Solutions is the chair of the 2023 Heart Ball supporting local the local American Heart Association Foundation.

These are just a few examples of the positive things Daugherty Business Solutions is doing right now in our community. You're listening to golf with Jay Delsing. To connect with Jay log on to jaydelsinggolf.com. You'll see the latest in equipment, find the latest innovations in golf and get tips from a PGA professional. That's jaydelsinggolf.com.