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. Good morning, this is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm your host Jay and I've got Perley with me. Perley, good morning. How are you doing this morning? I'm doing great Jay, happy new year.
Happy new year to you and your family. Guys, we formatted the show like around the golf, the first segment is called the On the Range segment. We are also wanting to thank our buddy Jeff Thornhill at TaylorMade Golf. Guys, send me an email, jatjdelsingolf.com and you'll be entered to win a free dozen TP5 golf balls. Just put the word balls in the subject line somewhere along the line and we will put your name in the drawing and it'll be a kind of a cool gift to start your out with some golf balls that are guaranteed to not fly straight up early. And I think you got some of those already, don't you? Actually no Jay, somehow I'm still off the list. Even right after Christmas, I'm still without golf balls, but I appreciate the thought. Yeah, no worries.
I just wanted to make sure. All right, so John, let's just jump in. You know, first we got to give a shout out, a rest in peace to Kathy Whitworth. Kathy passed away just recently. And how would you like to have the moniker of the winningest golfer of all time as Kathy Whitworth, 88 LPGA events. It's unbelievable what she accomplished, Jay. Just kind of digging in and learning a little bit more and more about her.
Also toured or tutored by Harvey Pinik. I mean, just, just involved with the who's who and very much led the pack herself. Absolutely.
You know, I was remiss. I want to thank Darty business solutions for being the title sponsor of the show. We appreciate Ron and his team. Ron is the chairman of the heart ball in St. Louis in 2023. And so we appreciate everything that Ron has done and, and helped us here. Jen, I I'm looking at some of the topics and we're really in my kind of estimation, we're kind of kicking off the start of the golf season now.
There's a bunch of stuff out there that I wanted to talk about. I'd really love to see Rory, you know, I feel like it's almost like Rory's tour. I'd really love to see Rory get the career grant grand slam and join Saracen and Hogan and jack and tiger and Gary player.
Do you have any thoughts on that? John? I know that's kind of not what we typically do on the golf with Jay dalston show, but I just, I have just become a huge Rory McIlroy fan. Well, I think he's the closest to it. I think you've got basically Jordan speeds and Rory and supposedly Phil who I don't think that's close. Those are the three guys that have the three wins at this point and need the one more leg to get the career slam. And Rory's clearly the closest. I think we would both agree to that by a long shot, but we have to remember Jay, it's the masters that he needs to close it out. So it's not too far away.
Last we saw of him, he's playing fantastic. But remember he had to collapse there and can he get past that collapse? Cause that's really what the masters has become the last somewhere in there. The guys collapsed and if he can mentally get past it, it would be something.
No, I totally agree. And in continuing the Rory thought, John, and I think this is kind of a natural, uh, topic for us to talk about. There's a writer cup being played this year.
We talked about it last week. It's being played in Italy for the first time ever. John, how about this stat? The U S has not won a writer cup on foreign soil in 30 years, 30 years. And I can't for the life of me, probably name half of the players that are going to be on that European side. It's amazing that they haven't won for all those years.
You know, I went to the one in Europe at the Valderrama in Spain and got to see firsthand them getting their, their bus kicked. It's, it's a, it's a heck of a staff, but you're right. It's going to be such a strange team for the Europeans this year, but who knows, maybe they can keep it going. Yeah, there, there will be, um, way, way more of that to talk about as we get closer, but that, that just kinda, you know, I still have that vision, John, of Rory in the interview at whistling straights when the U S just routed the euros and how emotional he was and how deeply he cares about it. And John, I don't know if there's a better interview in golf than Roy McElroy. He's definitely good. There's no doubt about it. He's a lot of fun to listen to. And I think it's that type of passion and that type of interview and it w and how he handles himself in interviews is, is why he's trying to lead the pack.
Like you and I talked about as far as the spokesman really for professional golf. Yeah, absolutely. Um, I'm going to have one more topic before we do the tip of the cap. I really love the tip of the cap that we have this week.
Um, are you a fan of the wraparound? I mean, we're starting the, the, the, the season. It just seems right to start it in Hawaii. I don't know if it's just because I'm old and that's the way the calendar used to work, but it just seems like the tour season really begins in January in Maui at the beautiful plantation golf course in Kapalua and the guy we're talking about so far this morning, Rory will not be playing there because of some scheduling issues, but that's kind of the way I see it. That's what I kind of kind of look to as the jumping off part of the year. Well, that's how you and I grew up watching it. And I don't personally think most people could care less when they officially call the start of the, of the tour. I don't know how, what you feel about that, but I think it's just fun in January and February to watch the guys playing and Hawaii and Southern California and all the warm spots when the rest of us are kind of bathing in, uh, in snowflakes.
That's a horrible thought, but that is really true. We're going to do the tip of the cap segment. The tip of the cap is brought to you by the Dean team. Volkswagen of Kirkwood, our friend Colin burnt, Pearly's got a column burnt and a Dean team of Volkswagen vehicle.
So does my family three one four nine six six zero three zero three. I am tipping my cap to Gary Koch and Roger Mopey. Both guys had got the opportunity to compete with probably played 10, 15 rounds of golf each with them. Those guys have kind of semi ceremoniously signed off their golf career with NBC sports. They'd both been with them for, Oh gosh, at least 30 years. Some memorable calls.
You think of the Gary Koch better than most with tiger woods and the putt at the players that went in from the back of the green on 17 to Roger Mopey plowing down the fairways with so many of the tiger woods victories and things like that really became staples and voices that were so familiar and comfortable in the world of golf. And they are no longer going to be there. They're going to be replaced. I think smiley Kaufman's now going to be doing some, some work on the ground.
Kurt Byron's going to take over some spot in the booth along with, um, Brad facts. And so it'll be interesting to see how that goes, but I wanted to thank Gary. I wanted to thank Roger for all of their time, for all their love and growing of the game. And I want to thank Colin burn at the Dean team, Volkswagen of Kirkwood for the sponsoring the tip of the cap. That's three one four nine six six zero three zero three. And that's going to wrap up the on the range segment.
Don't go anywhere. I've got an interview with the chief marketing and communications officer, Nick Ragon. He's with Ascension and he'll be coming up on the front night. This is golf with Jay Delson that was on the range with Jay Delson for news on the latest golf equipment tips and to ask Jay a question, log on to J Delson golf.com. Coming up, it's the front nine on golf with Jay Delson. The official vehicle provider of the golf with Jay Delson 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.
It was more than just simply selling us a vehicle. The Dean team made our car buying experience seamless and enjoyable throughout that entire process. The Dean team has the complete car buying steps done before you head into their showroom. They're ready to answer all your questions and set your mind at ease when buying a vehicle at the Dean team. They offer new pre owned and all the services included with your Dean team purchase.
When you're with the Dean team, they become lifelong friends. The Dean team Volkswagen of Kirkwood located on Manchester Road in Kirkwood, the Dean team. 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 title is performance Institute trained physical therapist that can perform the TPI screening on you, as well as use a cave s 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. Your therapy, our passion. Hello friends, this is Jim Nance and you are listening to golf with my friend Jay delsing. I love having dirty 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 dirty teammates in 30 states and three countries around the world. What you may not be aware of is what dirty 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 dirty business solutions was also a presenting sponsor of the Ascension charity class. 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 $60,000 per year jobs right out of high school.
And that training begins in high school. dirty business solutions believes talent is equally distributed, but access to that opportunity is not Ron Daugherty our founder at dirty 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 dirty business solutions is doing right now in our community. This is the front nine on golf with Jay Delson. 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. Good morning.
This is golf with Jay delsing. I'm your host Jay and I am sitting down with the chief marketing and communications officer with Ascension our buddy Nick Ragon Nick. Happy New Year and thanks for joining me, Jay. It's always great to start the year with you.
Oh my gosh, Nick. So let's first talk a little bit about 2022. We had a record year for us at Ascension blew the numbers away when I was hoping personally to get to a million dollars we got to a million three.
I mean, it just feels so good. You know, it's the line I always use is to steal from Bubba Watson that my dreams never went this far, you know, to when we held the press conference, October 8 2019, which you were at. And I said this, you know, hopefully within five years will be the most charitable tournament on PGA Tour champions. I didn't think that would happen in year two, which it is now the most charitable tournament on PGA Tour champions and to go from 250,000 in our first year without playing to 800,000 to now 1.3 million. It speaks volumes of the tournament and the way we put it together, but more importantly about St. Louis, that the community loves live sporting events. They love supporting St. Louis, and more than anything, they love giving back.
And it was kind of a confluence of those three things. And, you know, if this tournament, if for nothing else, it's now become kind of I think one of those I call them a tentpole event where hopefully other charities, other organizations see what we're doing and try to do the same because I think we want to have a multiplier effect and not just do it every year and keep growing it but have other organizations do similarly. You know, Nick, I've heard you mention this many times, but the sport fan in St. Louis is unique as hell. But the corporate support and the citizenship that we've experienced here, it's like none other. There really isn't any community quite like St. Louis when it comes to, again, supporting local driven events, supporting the community, growing the region. And if you think about all the great companies that are headquartered here or do business here and we're blessed that, you know, we have Emerson as our presenting sponsor, Worldwide Technologies, one of our founding partners, the state of Missouri, Missouri Tourism and virtually every other company in the area. But St. Louis is really blessed to have so many corporate citizens that truly think that, you know, feel that giving back is part of their corporate DNA and identity. And we saw that from day one. You know, we were able to give away a quarter of a million dollars our first year without playing because we had Emerson and Worldwide as title sponsors and presenting sponsors.
And this is at the height of Covid. I mean, I remember starting those conversations with Worldwide and Emerson during Covid trying to sell this idea of bringing professional golf to North St. Louis County and both immediately signed up. And that's pretty amazing. It speaks to their commitment. It speaks to our community. And I think St. Louis is a region.
There are no there's no better region in the country for companies that truly want to give back than St. Louis. Yeah. Amazing start that we had. I mean, you guys giving a quarter of a million dollars without a shot being played.
It's never happened in the in the history of the PGA Tour or the PGA Tour champions. And then you said and look at what we've done after year two and become the top of the heap. It's it's really impressive. So when we look to year three, I know there's a lot of what I'd love to do is like, how do you come up with these ideas? You have a great team, Steve Spratt, the guys at H&S. They're terrific partners, but you're kind of the driving force behind the event.
Do you? How do you come? How do you how do you move forward and try to push the envelope? Well, you know, we try to make it bigger and better every year. It can't just be about more money and more golf. I mean, the money takes care of itself. The charity takes care of itself. But, you know, in year two, we added our APG event, which was a huge success.
The Advocates Professional Golf Association, which is a developmental tour really dedicated to giving African-American golfers more access at the elite level. And we held that at Glen Echo and that was a huge success. And so in year two, we did that. And then year three, we're looking at, you know, how do we continue to grow the sphere of influence of the event? And we're looking at some stuff. I will say that we've been looking at maybe adding a concert series as part of it, something that can engage fans beyond just golf. And I think other events do that and they do it really well. We're looking at moving our APG event up till July so they give it more space from the charity classics so that we could really focus on that, focus on fan attendance and growing it. We've been, you know, looking at our investment in Normandy and the redevelopment there. And again, it's about sphere of influence, right? And shaping North St. Louis County and having Normandy and Glen Echo and obviously Norwood Hills, three great courses, historic courses in North St. Louis County, trying to create a center of gravity of golf in North St. Louis County, which I think five years ago, nobody thought that was possible.
Now it's becoming a reality. And so we look to keep adding kind of our entertainment value, our sphere of influence, bringing in more corporate partners. And ultimately, the number that I always look at is that charitable number. Like every year we have to grow that.
That to me is what success looks like. And so we're going to continue to add things, more cabanas, more build out. I think this year we added two more holes.
Next year we're going to build out probably the whole back nine, maybe even a little bit of the front nine so that and to make it more fan-friendly and make sure that people have a great time, great experience. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm visiting with the chief marketing and communications officer with Ascension, Nick Ragon. And Nick, you know, we talk about the Advocate PGA event and we got to talk a little bit about Tim O'Neill. He got a sponsor exemption right when he turned 50 in the Classic in 2022. Had a nice event.
He really did. He had a nice event finished in the top half of the field. Now he's actually made his way through the qualifying school tournament for the championship, which is without question the hardest tournament you could ever play in. And so because of the opportunity he got with us in St. Louis, he's now got his card for 2023.
You know, it's interesting. The sponsor exemption decision, as you know, Jay personally, is the toughest that a sponsor makes. And we felt like Tim had just turned 50. He's been a stalwart on the APGA for years. They're, they're most winningest champion and a great ambassador for the game. And to see him here, I think he finished 33rd, I think, and to see, and then he got in the next week at Pebble and to see him build that momentum and qualify. And you're right.
The Champions Tour qualifier is the toughest gig in golf. I mean, I think it's 80 for five and to now have full exempt status next year and probably going to be hopefully an Ascension brand ambassador. I just, you know, that's everything we wanted to do to help him and help grow the game, help the APGA. And he's going to continue to give back on that front. And it's really cool.
Some of the success stories. And I think he's going to be a great player next year, somebody to watch. He's got an amazing swing. He's in great shape. And I even think about our other, you know, we had Paul Stankowski was one of our sponsors exemption.
I think he'll be mostly exempt next year and Harrison Frazier and an ability to give guys a chance who are great players, but great role models, great community players or community citizens that give back. And that's part of the platform on the Champions Tour. I mean, these guys, you know, you've been out there so long.
They get it. You know, the Champions Tour is the ultimate mulligan in life. And to be able to get out there, these guys that have been grinding their whole life and now they're on the Champions Tour and they really want to engage fans who want to engage sponsors, don't engage the community, want to give back and do well.
And I think it's just a great story. I think the fans, when we brought the first event here, I think they were surprised at how much interaction there is between the Champions Tour players compared to a PGA Tour event. You know, you're not getting anywhere close to the players at a PGA Tour event, but at the Champions event, I mean, you know, I remember as we were going down doing our celebrity shootout, which was so much fun. And I can remember watching the last group. I think we had an all-star cast in the last group.
I think we had Padraig and we had Strick and I think we had Bernard. And you watch him and, you know, I watch, I'll never forget watching Bernard Langer come to the ropes and sign an autograph as he's walking up to 17th tee. And I see Stricker sitting back by the tee, talking to a family over there. You know, the kids were in soccer uniforms and you know, that just doesn't happen out on the other tour.
Yeah. I mean, one of the things that people are surprised about is the access and even guys that historically, you know, Vijay Singh, for instance, had so many people say, man, I got his autograph at Pro-Am Partners. He was so, so ingratiating and these guys that were grinding their whole careers and great winners. I mean, people like Vijay and Bernard and others, Ernie Els, Jurek Stricker, and they get out there and they really do understand that for us, the sponsors, it's all about, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, the Pro-Am's and make sure people have a good time. And then also about make sure fans have a great experience because they're only there because of the community, the sponsors and the fans.
I think they get it. You know, Nick, one of the things that I think would be so I don't really think people really understand the Pro-Am experience. You know, I think that one, when you have the opportunity to play with a, with a world-class player, it's, it's, it's just an, it's hard for, it's hard for me to explain.
It's hard for me to explain how that works. But, but, but let's say you get to play with Steve Stricker and you're basically going to spend five plus hours with this guy who is a Midwestern guy down to earth. It's the questions and the experience that you take away from it.
There's no other, there's nothing like it. I mean, can you imagine in any other sport, you know, during the week of the Superbowl playing touch football with, with players. And I will tell you, having played in a lot of Pro-Am's on the champions tour, now you get to meet these people.
I mean, you, you know, you trade information in some cases, you stay in touch with them. I mean, you get to know them five hours on a golf course, you get to know people and, and they get it because they, they want, you know, they, they also understand they're playing in Pro-Am's with people who are successful and they want to pick their brain. And it's a truly unique, I mean, it's one of the things that golf does that no other sport on the planet really does is the Pro-Am the day before an event to play inside the ropes on the course with the best of the world for five hours. There's absolutely nothing like it. And I think, and the champions tour Pro-Am is the best product in all sport.
There's nothing for the price point and the experience. I'll put it up against anything in any sport, anywhere in the world. You know, Nick, there's something about the champions tour, you know, the aging process, the fact that you've gone through the PGA tour already, you've kind of, I don't want to say major mark, but you've done what you're going to do in your career.
And this is almost like a second chance. And so the most of the attitudes from the players is entirely different than what they had on the champ, on the regular tour. And you were out on both and you, you were probably grinding when you were 25, 30, trying to keep your card, trying to make a living, trying to make your mark of the game. And then you get out there and you're still competitive, but you get that, you know, it's a privilege to be out there. I mean, it's the ultimate, what other league when you turn 50, you get a second lease on life.
I mean, in football, baseball, hockey, you're, you're, you know, you're not doing that. And so they get it. And I, I'm amazed because I've been following these guys my whole life. And, and, you know, I remember going to the 84 open at wing foot and watching the Westchester classic every year. And it was hard to get autographs or talk to guys or, I mean, they were busy doing their job. And now I see those same players and they're spending time inside the ropes, talking to people outside the ropes. And, and I had more people come up to me and fans and say, I had no idea these guys were that accessible because even the PGA at Bell Reeve, you know, that was so crowded and so big, and they're playing a major, they're not doing pro amps, totally different experience. The president's couple be a different experience. Those are world class events, but there's nothing like being inside the ropes at a champions tour event.
No, absolutely. That's going to wrap up the first part of our interview, but come back and we'll have more with Nick Ragon and the Ascension charity classic. This is golf with Jay Delsing.
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. This is Jay Delsing and I've spent a lifetime in golf and what comes to playing the game of golf, the dining experience of a club, the amenities a club has to offer or a family atmosphere. There's no place in Missouri like Whitmore country club at Whitmore country club. There are two 18 hole championship golf courses. The membership there also provides access to 90 holes of golf in total.
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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. This is Jay Delson. 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 get 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 Delson show. You're listening to Golf with Jay Delson. To connect with Jay, log on to jaydelsongolf.com. You'll see the latest in equipment, find the latest innovations in golf, and get tips from a PGA professional.
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Hey, welcome back. This is Golf with Jay Delson. I'm your host, Jay, and I'm visiting with Nick Ragon, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer with Ascension. Nick, one of the perks with what you've done with kind of creating this event in North St. Louis is some of the interaction with our commissioner and getting to know more about, and you're an accomplished businessman yourself, but getting to know more about the business side of golf. Talk a little bit about some of the trips to Jacksonville. I know you've got to hang out with Tiger and Rory a little bit.
Who gets to do that? You know, it's been an interesting year for the PGA Tour. Obviously, this is in the history of the tour.
I think it was formed in 71 when Jack and Arnold broke off from the PGA of America. People don't realize and created a tour separately with the live golf and other things going on in the world. It's been a really interesting year, and I'm fortunate that as one of the sponsors and doing something interesting in St. Louis, and Jay Monahan, the commissioner, has been an extraordinary leader during all this, and he gets that the value prop of the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions is the idea of giving back.
It's in the DNA. It's not just the golf. It's the giving back. That's something that other tours... There's no other league in all sports that does what the PGA Tour does, and I think in my conversations with Jay and other sponsors, I'm sure, have said the same thing, which is this is why companies get involved. The golf takes care of itself, but our ability to transform our communities, doing something that's recreational, that's good for the community, that obviously creates great sporting event and live theater, but most importantly, gives back.
I've had that conversation with the tour, and they were very complimentary. They've seen what we've done in North St. Louis County being very intentional about putting the event up at Norwood, and also with the APGA, and co-branding our Champions Tour event and the APG event to have a celebratory week for golf and really golf in North St. Louis County. They saw all the media that we've done around that, and they were very complimentary, saying, you guys are really selling a vision for the rest of our sponsors to look at that model and say, we want to have a PGA Tour event with an APG event.
We want to put it in an area of the community that can use investment and development. We want to do it and make sure that the charity is front and center, and so I feel great that our event in just year two now is helping role model it for other events, and I also say, you know, I did have the chance to see some of the leadership, Jay and I had a chance to talk with Rory several times, and told them, express my appreciation for speaking out. I mean, Rory in particular, I think he's really, in the last year, become the voice of golf, the conscience of golf for the PGA Tour, and in a very powerful way, at the same time playing the best golf of his career, not an easy thing to do, number one in the world again, and him taking on the leadership mantle and saying, no, this is important. It's about legacy golf. It's about the community. It's about giving back. It's more than just throwing dollars at athletes, and we're going to stand by this, and him rallying the other players to say, this is worth fighting for. This is really important, because it, you know, and Rory does a lot of charitable work. He works with a lot of companies, and he talks about it a lot. These dollars aren't abstract. The money that we raised, $1.3 million, I talked to the Urban League, Mike McMillan.
I talked to Dr. Fowler at the Boys and Girls Club. I talked to Mary Grove, and they share examples of how this money actually impacts people, real people, and that's something that the PGA Tour does better than anybody. I think they've raised $3 billion over the course of their 50 years, and that's why people like myself and others who have the ability to kind of create an event, brand it for the title sponsor, but make it about giving back, and I really appreciate the tour's leadership on that. You know, Nick, the intention that you came out of the shoot with and North County was, for me, obviously, crazy personal and so fantastic, but when word broke around town that there was going to be a champions event, I got calls.
I had no influence whatsoever. I had calls saying, oh, we want to have it at Meadowbrook. Oh, we want to have it. You know, all of these courses suddenly wanted to throw their hat in the ring, and it's like, guys, this is done already.
This is staying in North County. Yeah, you know, it was one of the big selling points when myself and Steve Spratt, right before the PGA at Bell Reave, and then shortly thereafter said, okay, this is the time for us as Ascension. You know, we were rebranding our whole system. We wanted a signature event. Live sports is great for that, but wanted to do it our own way and really make it about giving back, and when I started discussing with the tour, I said Norwood's the only option.
There's no other option, and they were saying, well, why don't you think about these other courses? And I said, no, it's got to be there, and it's got to be intentional, and all the money has to stay in the area, and, you know, the rest of the country still has, you know, a view of St. Louis. They don't quite understand how special this region is, how special our area is, and I wanted to make sure that we also created, you know, a platform for St. Louis, and Missouri Tourism's done an amazing job. You know, our event's live on the Golf Channel all three days, and then they do a rebroadcast, but, you know, anybody that's watched the Golf Channel, it's like a love letter to our region, and it kind of helps rebrand our region that we're a great place to live, we're a great place to work, to play, to have a career, to raise a family, and that, you know, as a region, and I feel strongly about this, we're only going to be as successful as all the communities within our region are successful, and it's incumbent on all corporate citizens, not just Emerson, not just Worldwide, not just Ascension, all of us, to make sure that we're doing our part to make sure the entire region is strong, and that's the only way to succeed, kind of, especially in this new economy, a new world, and that really is important, I think that's hugely important, and so to the extent that I have the ability to remind the tour, not remind them, but to keep encouraging them, you know, make it about, not just giving back, but find tournaments in underserved parts of the community, like they do at Eastlake, and you know that model works out well, like we're doing now, encourage other title sponsors to do the same, to have an APG event, to put it, you know, in, maybe not in the, you know, the country club part of town, but in other areas that need investment, and I think that's going to be the future of the game. Gosh, Nick, I so appreciate the time, I so appreciate getting a look behind the curtain, but before we wrap this up, give us, I know you got a chance to play with Rory, I know you got a chance to go to a dinner party with Rory and Teger, give us a story or two about some of the fun that you got on the golf course, I've seen some picks, and so not only did you get to stand there and watch Roy smash his driver, he got a chance to watch you rip a few out there too. Yeah, well I'll tell you, I saw, we had a, the tour partners meeting, and Jay Monahan had two special guests, and we didn't know who they were, and so we're, about 20 of us are milling around in Walks Tiger and Rory, and I instinctively introduced myself to Tiger, and we had a pleasant, really nice five minute conversation, and he was very interested in our event, he knew a little about it, and I reminded him, he turns 50 in three and a half years, this was a couple months ago, and he said no, actually 3.2 years, and then he said get my cart ready, and I said we will absolutely have your cart ready, and if you've seen Tiger, even at the Hero, and then at the P&C, he has talked openly that he could hit the ball, I mean he is, you know, I think he got up to 180 mile per hour ball speed, but he just can't really walk anymore, and so he's looking forward, I'm telling you right now, like he will be competitive on the Champions Tour, he's gonna play, he's already said that, we're gonna work hard to remind him of his commitment to play in St. Louis, that's the charity classic, and I think, you know, he is gonna be a game changer, and the thing with Rory that's so impressive is, he's an amazing golfer, you've seen his swing up close, I don't think there's, in the history of the game, if I had to rank the greatest drivers of the ball, you know, Hogan for accuracy, I think, you know, Jack during his day was as long as anybody, Arnold was too, but I'm not sure there's been a greater driver of the ball than Rory, the fluidity, the distance, the balance of his swing, the consistency, and to see, it's like poetry in motion, it's just the most beautiful thing, but to see him play golf, and then to see what a leader he is, the thing that impresses me is how thoughtful he is, in my own conversations with him, he doesn't give you perfunctory answers, he's that same thoughtful guy you see on TV, there's no interview in sports like Rory, there's nobody as candid and honest, as transparent, as thoughtful, as smart, as committed, as caring to his sport, and I just, I've become the biggest Rory fan, because I see how much he does, not just on the course, that's obvious, but off the course, his leadership, it's truly special.
Nick, it reminds me of the uber personal interview that he gave when the US just whipped the Euro's ass at whistling straights, he broke down, I mean, he's crying, to your point, Liv came in, Rory has stepped up, and it's almost like it's Rory's tour right now. It is, it's the Rory tour, he gave a great interview at whistling straights, and then he talked about it, after Bay Hill, he missed a cut, and he talked about chasing Bryson DeChambeau in speed, he was very candid about that, he said it was a mistake, and I love how he is very introspective, which is not something great athletes do, right, they don't look backwards, they don't look inside themselves, they're always looking forward, and I don't think I'll be rooting, I couldn't root harder for him to win the Masters now, if you're a golf fan, there's gonna be no better storyline than when Rory wins at Augusta, he should be in that pantheon of Nicholas, of Hogan, of Gene Sarazen, Tiger, obviously, Gary Player, and Rory, Rory belongs in that pantheon, and you know, a couple years ago, people would have said, man, we'd love to see Phil on that, and you know, he still could win the Open in theory, but it's interesting, you don't really hear that conversation much anymore, but I just, I couldn't be more impressed with the type of person Rory is. Nick, one, as we wrap this up, I was doing, I was on the ground for Fox, we were at Oakmont for the US Open in 2016, and I had Rory's group, the DJ Open, this is the DJ Open, and he stood out on the par five, fifth hole, I think it is, and, or fourth hole, and he had, I'll never forget this, he had 292 yards to the front of the green, and like 317 to the flag stick, and I'm standing about 100 yards out in front of him, and they're asking me if he's gonna go for it, and I'm thinking, I have no idea, because I wanna say he can't. Well, as soon as he pulled the three wood out of the bag, I said he's going for it, he hit this missile, it went over my head by 50 yards, and he flew it into the middle of the green, and the balls wound up on the back edge, and that's where I knew I should've retired probably 25 years earlier, I, the height and the distance and the speed that he launches the ball at, I've never seen anything like it. It's so beautiful, and you know, I've, you've seen many golf pros, I've had a chance to see a few now, Champions Tour, but I had a chance to see Rory up close, and he, in tennis sneakers and shorts without warming up, take out his driver and just fly some 360, 370, without missing a beat, without, I mean, the stuff that you can only dream about, and again, I think when you look at the greatest drivers of all, I mean, you gotta say Norman in his prime was one of the great drivers of the ball, there's no doubt about it, Arnold was very long in his day and pretty accurate, you know, he sprayed it a little bit, but I don't know that there's been a greater driver of the ball, and I think if, you know, the next couple years, Rory, you know, he's right in his prime now, he's 32, 33, I think he's gonna win a handful of majors, I think he's gonna have a second wind. I'll be rooting for him, and speaking of not great drivers of the ball, I get to play in the Ascension Charity Classic this year, and I wanna thank you for the exemption, and I gotta, I'll never forget the first tee shot, the inaugural event, one of the hardest shots I've ever hit in my life, and probably I put my top five shots that I've ever hit. You know, it's the only thing I remember from that week, you piped it, I was choking at watching you, I know you were nervous, and it set the tournament off to a great start, and I think having you in the field next year is gonna be a big deal, I think the fans love you, you belong in the field, it's gonna be a special event, and you know, we've had two great years so far, the weather's been spectacular, I don't know how I keep that going, but we're gonna certainly try for it. The event this year is, I think, September 4th through 10th, so it's still that same week right after Labor Day, and we're already excited, you know, we're already working on big things, I mean, golf season in the region doesn't really kick off till the Masters, but we're really, really excited about what's gonna be ahead for 2023.
Nick, thanks so much for joining me on the show, thanks so much for what you do for the region, keep going, we appreciate all the help and support. Get your game in shape, Jack. This has been The Back Nine, presented by ProAm Golf. We'll make the turn into the clubhouse, and head into the 19th hole. That's next, on Golf with Jay Delsing.
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 ProAm Golf. ProAm Golf is located in Brentwood, and since ProAm Golf opened in 1975, they have been more than just selling golf equipment. ProAm Golf is dedicated to helping build your game inside and out. ProAm 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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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. Hi, this is Peter Jacobson, and you're listening to Golf with Jay Delsing. 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 $50,000 to $60,000 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 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. I want to just answer a couple of questions that I've received in the mailbag. Folks, keep these questions coming.
They're fantastic. They're available today at jdelsongolf.com, and I'll get to them. The first one says, what should I do in cold weather to improve my putting? This is a real challenge because we can't get outdoors, and we can't get outside, but here's what I'm going to tell you to do. Get yourself in front of a mirror, a face-fronting mirror, so your face, as you look up from your putting stance, you're going to be right in front of the mirror. I want you to watch in the mirror, and I want you to make different lengths of stroke where your backstroke and your throughstroke are relatively the same distance. Folks, when I see people screw their putting up, they get their backstroke and their throughstroke really mismatched.
If anything is going to be slightly longer, you can have your backstroke slightly longer than your throughstroke, but try to mirror both sides of the ball. That will absolutely help your putting. Here's the next question from Josh. Josh says, simply put, what's the best strength exercise a golfer can do? Josh, great question.
We've talked about this before. Any sort of stretching, and I know this is kind of a pain in the ass, and it's not exciting, but folks, especially as you age, if you can stay flexible, you can stay strong. In golf, flexibility is probably the biggest key, so keep your hamstring stretched. Get a club, get a band, and put it behind your back and stretch your shoulders out. You'll know your body. Wherever you are not very flexible, try to get that way.
I would say for most men, especially, it's in their hamstrings, so if it's getting your butt on the ground and getting a towel on the back end of your foot and stretching those hamstrings out, that can really, really, really come in handy. The next question is from Sarah from Wentzville. I realize you were in competition with a group of guys on the PGA Tour, but was there a player that you enjoyed playing with the most?
You know what, Sarah? I really enjoyed my time playing with Fuzzy Zeller. He was a super relaxed, fun guy to play with, told a lot of jokes.
We played fast. I also enjoyed Joey Sindelar quite a bit, and my good buddy, Olin Brown. We seemed to get paired a lot, and it was really, really fun. Guys, I didn't like to play with that much, Scott Hoek would come to the top of the list. Hey, Scott, I love you, but sorry you were a complete pain in the ass to play with.
Great question, Sarah. Jay, I love your show, and this is from Pete. Thanks, Pete. What was your favorite event that you ever played in? Pete, my favorite place to go play golf is the Monterey Peninsula and playing at Pebble Beach.
So I got to play in the AT&T National Pebble Beach Pro-Am 26 years in a row, and that was an absolute treat. Here more locally, Pete, I love the John Deere Classic that was in Quad Cities. Great people, great Midwestern flavor, and you were in a small town, and it really felt like you were making a difference in their community, so I loved playing there. And then in terms of a golf course, man, I loved, always loved going to Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, outside of Columbus. It was a great venue. Jack Nicklaus knew how to run a tournament and put on an event, and that golf course was spectacular. In terms of where I played my best, no question about it.
Memphis, Tennessee, baby. Four hours down the road, loved my drive down Highway 55, and I probably should have won that tournament a couple of times. Folks, thanks for all the great emails. Keep them coming.
Please. Jay at JayDelsonGolf.com, and we have the 19th hole coming up. 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 has the title as 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. You're listening to golf with Jay Delson. To connect with Jay, log on to JayDelsonGolf.com. You'll see the latest in equipment, find the latest innovations in golf, and get tips from a PGA professional. That's JayDelsonGolf.com. 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. Hey, do you like wine? Have you heard about the hottest new wine bar in St. Louis? It's called Wild Crush Wine Bar and it's located in town and country on Clayton Road just behind the strops. Have you ever experienced self-dispensing wine machines?
Well, they are here. The only place in St. Louis and most of Missouri that you'll find them and it's at Wild Crush. You can choose your size of pour and Wild Crush will pour the freshest wine in the area for you.
The organic argon gas system used at Wild Crush keeps this wine pristinely fresh for up to 60 days, so if you're tired of drinking wine that's been open for a few days, come into Wild Crush for the best and freshest wine selection in the area. Go to WildCrushSTL.com and come have one with us. This is golf with Jay Delsing and let's head to the 19th hole. Hey, welcome back. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm Jay, Pearly's with me and we are headed to the 19th hole. Folks, thanks for joining us and we are going to talk a little bit about, you know, John, we talked a little bit about some players to watch last week. I wanted to touch base a little bit about the fact that I have been, gosh, gratefully given a sponsor exemption to the 2023 version of the Ascension Charity Classic. So appreciate Nick and Steve for doing that and what I'm going to do to get ready to try to play my best in September and I thought we could kind of segue, John, with a little bit of Rickie Fowler and follow up with what we talked about him last week.
Absolutely, Jay. I'd love to talk about Rickie Fowler. He's a fan favorite for so many and he's kind of falling off the radar.
Yeah, he did. You know, John, he quit Butch Harmon, went to, gosh, I forget the coach that he went to wasn't a household name, wasn't anyone that I was actually even familiar with. He actually parted ways with Joe Scavron, who's a longtime cat.
He's a really good guy. But you know what, John, he's back working with Butch. He's had a couple of really nice events and at the beginning of, well, the fall season, which counts for his 2023 earnings. And I mean, John, it's not far fetched for me to think that he could get back in the Winter Circle. He's just one of those players, John, that is not one nearly as much as I would like and as I thought he probably could have. Well, he's done phenomenally well. He gets the rap of, you know, too much commercials and, and celebrity and not enough playing.
But he proved himself more than a couple times. You know, Jay, talk a little bit about that. Why the heck do people leave Butch? And then why would he go back? What do you know about that? Because that's been happened to a few prominent players that were with Butch and left him.
I don't know how many went back. But it always kind of surprises me that people would leave, arguably the best coach that there is. You know, john, I think what happens, I know what happens. The message gets stale, the relationship gets stale. There's tension in there. You know, here's, here's a guy that gets married, has a child, and his game falls apart. You know, and he's, he's looking, you know, we've talked about this hundreds of times on our show, life gets in the way a lot. And john, you're coaching professionals all over the business world. It oftentimes, the problems that companies run into have as much to do with issues away from the job as it is the job itself and trying to juggle that and that's a lot. It is it is an awful lot.
But it's interesting. I don't know the stats if you need to know how many people left butch and got better. I don't know any, but I'm sure there's probably some but I gotta tell you the one thing that I love about Butch Harmon is tell me the number of players that went to Butch Harmon and precipitously got worse. Like, that's my point. Tell me the number of players that got away from him and got better.
I know. And so john, we talked about this when Tiger left butch. We're like, man, what and and then he went to hanky still one. I mean, I've done an outing with Hank Haney before and he starts the outing out how impressive is this? He goes, I got to work with Tiger Woods for over five years. He won 24.6% of the tournaments in seven majors in that period of time when I worked with him.
How's that resume sound? It's tough to argue that point. But a lot of the players didn't see it that way when he worked with him.
No, that's right. A lot of the players thought that if he hadn't worked with him, Tiger to one twice as many and then 10 majors. Yeah, it's tough that that whole relationship. I like the way you described it with the coach and the player. It's it's a it's a tough one. It's it's a marriage of sorts. There's so much pressure. There's so many moving parts. It'll just be interesting to see I personally I think it's a good move that he moved back that Ricky moved back with butch and cross fingers that he really kicks it back into gear this year. It'd be a lot of fun.
Absolutely. I really think he will I agree with you. The move is going to be good for him and he's going to start playing good golf again. And speaking of playing good golf again, I got to try to figure out how to start playing some some good. My best golf ever.
And come September, the fifth through the tenth at Norwood Hills, the third rendition of the Ascension charity classic. I'm really excited for also I'm getting back in the gym, golf specific exercises, a lot of rotational stuff, got to try to figure out where the hell my glutes went because I think I've lost them somewhere along the last 10 or 15 years to like, got no butt muscles anymore. So I definitely getting back to the gym, I'm going to be in the best shape of my life come September. And and hopefully that's going to translate into some really good golf, I'm going to play a lot of would work on my short game, which I do all the time, which I really enjoy. But I'm going to work on my physical conditioning more than more than ever this year. Well, you know where I'm going to come from with this, what can you play in beforehand to get under the gun for a couple rounds of golf before you just under the gun for the first time in over two years?
Exactly. Well, last year and the year before I didn't play in in the Calgary event, but I would have got in it last year. I did the year before. It was a nightmare up there.
My buddy went down with Oh, gosh, we had all sorts of planes, trains, automobile, crazy stuff happened. But to your point, I mean, I'm going to look at the schedule, I'm going to I'm going to map something out maybe four weeks ahead of time and try to see where I can get out what I can do and how I can do it to get. You know, man, john, that tournament golf is a different animal. And being away from it as much as I have been.
It's really, really different. So there's something I'll be playing and I don't know what but to your point, I know how important that is. Well, I'm glad I'm glad you will commit to that. That's a huge piece of it because you still hit the ball really well.
You know that you're putting in shipping as well as you ever have probably putting better than you ever have in your life. So just be kind of cool. If you're going to get a little bit under the gun, get that competitive juices back flowing.
And who knows what can happen. It's your home golf course. It sets up well, you know, every inch of it, there would be a lot of fun.
And that way I can walk down the middle of fairways as well instead of left to right. It sounds like we took care of everything but the caddy. Yeah, yeah, I don't know about that, man. We got everything else.
Now. That's true. I really can't wait for that experience. And you know, john, we've had some great experiences in the 50 some odd years we've known one another but so much of the fun we've had on the golf courses is so memorable.
I appreciate you wanting to do that. And you know, this is going to wrap up another show. Fantastic. Fantastic. It was fun working with you again, Jay. All right, Pearl. Well, have a great week, folks.
We will see you next week. And if you're out on the golf course, hit them straight St. Louis. I love having authority 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 dirty teammates in 30 states and three countries around the world. But what you may not be aware of is what dirty 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 dirty business solutions was also a presenting sponsor of the ascension charity class. 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 $60,000 per year jobs right out of high school.
And that training begins in high school. dirty business solutions believes talent is equally distributed, but access to that opportunity is not Ron dirty. Our founder at dirty 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 dirty business solutions is doing right now in our community.
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