Golf With Jay Delsing - - Jim Holtgrieve

Jay Delsing spent 25 years on the PGA Tour and is a lifetime member of the PGA Tour and PGA of America. Now he provides his unique perspective as a golfer and network broadcaster. It's time to go On The Range with Jay Delsing.

On The Range is brought to you by ProAm Golf. Hey, good morning. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm your host, Jay Perley. Good morning. What's going on? I'm ready to go, Jay. We got a lot to talk about. What are you pointing over here? You got something going on, buddy? I thought you had your headset messed up and the wire was wrapped around something.

Oh, man. Who needs a headset, man? Pearl, we've been doing somewhere between 42 and 120 shows. No life jackets here.

No seat belts in this show. Well, we formatted the show like around the golf and the first segment is called the On The Range segment. It's brought to you by our friends at ProAm Golf. You need anything. Go see Tom DeGrand over at ProAm Golf.

They are terrific. Our social media outlets. Twitter is at Jay Delsing. Facebook is Golf with Jay Delsing and Jay Delsing Golf.

LinkedIn is Jay Delsing and Instagram is way out there. Okay, let's just jump right in. The high-level look at our show today is when we, I detest recaps, but we got to talk about PGA Championship.

Yeah, but we talk about recaps differently. We're not going to sit there and go shot by shot and analyze how many fairways and greens they hit. Let me thank Bob and Kathy Donahue for their painting and refinishing company. Guys, 314-805-2132. Call Bob and Kathy.

They will hook you up and make your home beautiful. So there's a new star on the PGA Tour, Pearl. Colin Morikawa. Remember that name. But that's not his first showing by any stretch, although it was awesome, but he's been showing himself very well as of the last year.

Well, how about this? Since the restart at Colonial, loses in a playoff there, wins a couple weeks later down at the Workday Charity Open, and now wins his first major championship. How's this company that he's in? Four people have won a PGA Championship by the time they're 23. Jack, Tiger, Rory, and Colin.

Is he going to be known by a first-name basis over there like that? Plus, he's been in these situations, not just the PGA, before the PGA. Who did he take on head-to-head when he won at Jack's? Oh, he knocked off Justin Thomas after Thomas makes a 50-footer on the first playoff hole. Morikawa holds one from 28 feet to keep it going. Unbelievable.

One player in the world. He faces him down. The guy is absolutely nails.

It was awesome. How about too cold for Tiger? I'm saying too cold. Weather's too cold for Tiger up there. Well, it's not going to be conducive for his back and his body. I can attest to that.

Actually, you can attest to that. I kind of like the cold. Yeah, I'm out for the cold. How about the way Morikawa played on the weekend? 65-64, lowest 36-hole weekend in the history of the PGA Championship. But that's par 70.

Let's go over something for a second. That's par 70. So if it's par 72, they're still saying the lowest rounds and that kind of stuff. It's not the most under, right?

It's the lowest number. They just said, yeah, I did not actually check under pars because they'll have courses that are par 71, par 72. That's what I'm saying.

It was spectacular. Let's just put it that way. By the way, you and I talked about this. How many times did we pass that golf course and never even think to go drive in it and take a look at that kind of stuff?

No, we talked about it and we're like, keep on going. It was very much public, which is absolutely fine. But they've changed it so much since we were around that area. Cut so many trees down, cleaned it up. I'm sure moved a couple of tees around and that kind of thing. It's been a classic golf course in the area and had unbelievable amateur events for many, many years.

And I suppose a couple pro tournaments once in a while. But man, did it ever look good on TV. Oh, beautiful. They cut a lot of trees out, Pearl, from the times we were plowing around through there and just gorgeous. And just a hat off to Kerry Haag and the setup staff at the PGA Championship for the way they set the course up on the weekend. Just a terrific way to finish a tournament. They made it fun. And you had called me or texted me that morning going like, wait till you see how this thing's driving par fours, all of a sudden a short par three instead of a killer par three. Making the guys cut corners if they really want to.

Yeah, I thought they said, hey, let's have this be a lot of fun and let's see some fireworks. And they pretty much pulled it off. Yeah, absolutely. So Morakawa is one of the few guys on tour that got his card without going through the qualifying school. He came out last year and got his card in five events. That's tough.

That's really tough. And he also has the longest made cut streak of any first-year player. He made 22 cuts in a row, only to be outdone by... Deacon Ray. Yes, sir. Deacon Ray. Yep. What's one or the other? You want to stick on Morakawa or can we go to another subject?

No, we can do just one other thing. J.J. Jackarek, his cat, he's a really great dude, won the NCAA Championship not once but twice Division II Chico State. Just a little fun fact to know and tell. Remember when we were hanging out? Let me tell you about this once in a while. There's so many caddies out there that are great players, not just like pretty good. They can play around the club. These are guys that kind of on a national stage showed themselves very well.

Yep. The thing I want to talk about is the game or the attempted gamesmanship of our buddies out there thinking that they were going to play with Dustin Johnson's head. Of all players.

I think Brooks, I think Brooks, there's so much I like about him but I wish, I wish this about all sports by the way, just play your sport. Don't need to get into politics or other things or business things or just go play. The beautiful thing about golf is if you shoot slower than everybody else... You need to say one thing. You get to win.

Right. So here's what happened. Koepka says after grinding out a one under par, two shots off the lead after Saturday's round. Which was awesome, which is awesome. He played his ass off. Great birdie on the last one. Played his ass off.

So to his defense, he was pretty jacked up at that point because he's thinking that's the birdie that's going to stem the tide. Right. So he's two back of DJ and he gets in there and he starts, he tosses out this grenade that says, I'm the one to beat.

I'm in a perfect position. None of these guys have won something like that except of course DJ, like a time or two. But he's only won once, meaning one major, which is just so interesting. Plus they're good buddies. Of all the players, DJ? Like anything's going to get into that head? No.

No. He is just there to play. And what's interesting, what I loved is that Rory came to his defense and was like, man, I just don't see it. We just don't do that in golf. We just don't play that kind of game in golf, which I would much prefer he didn't say anything like that. But it's sad it can't be taken back. But there's gamesmanship out there.

Oh wait, it's on while you're playing, but it's not played out through the media. Okay. I don't think. Gotcha. Anyway, so Roy says, and it's so weird because you're trying to do that to a guy who, oh yes, he's only won one major, but he's also won three times as many tournaments as you have, Brooks.

DJ's got 21, you got seven. Anyway, I thought it was mediocre to perform, as they say, and I don't think it's good for him. I think he's awesome, and I wish he would just play golf and stop with some of the semantics. Yep. Yep.

Well, you know what, guys, that's going to wrap up the On the Range segment, but here's what we've got coming for the rest of the show. Great interview with Jim Holcrief, a Walker Cup star player. He got to captain the team twice. He played on the Champions Tour a little bit.

He's a St. Louis Hall of Famer. We also have to talk about the fact, and we're going to talk about this in the Ultra 19th hole, the ACC tournament, the Ascension Charity Classic tournament was postponed for 2020. Yeah, really sucks. That's a bummer. All right, but don't go. Don't go anywhere. Blah.

Don't go anywhere. We got Jim Holcrief coming up on the front nine. This is Golf with Jay Delson. Are your workouts more fun than this? Well, if they are, then I want to sign you to an endorsement deal with Michelob Ultra. I'm looking for anyone and everyone who makes working out a blast. If that's you, hit teamultra.com for chances to score awesome perks like Team Ultra gear and more.

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Welcome back. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm your host, Jay.

I'm Curly with me and we are in the ESPN Studios and Brad Barnes. How does he do it, John? I don't know, but he does it every day.

Yeah, he does. Way to go meet. Thank you for doing this. We are headed to the front nine sponsored by the Ascension Charity Classic. We're going to get to that in our Ultra 19th hole and talk about the fact that it was postponed. Not before, though, we talk and thank Whitmore Country Club for sponsoring the show again. Folks, if you're looking for a cool place to hang out, maybe you don't even want to play golf all the time. You got tennis, a great pool facility. They've got a workout gym, 24-hour fitness. Go check out Whitmore Country Club. They are fantastic. Things are going really well at Whitmore. They're safely going about their business.

There's no food or beverage minimums at Whitmore. They have a family-friendly atmosphere. The golf shop where Bummer and our buddy Bummer is hanging out. They run golf league skins games, members tournaments, couples events all year round. There's a kids club in the main clubhouse you can drop to your children off and go have a cocktail or go play golf or tennis. And with the membership, you have access to 90 holes. So you have the 36 at Whitmore, you have Missouri Bluffs, Lynx of Dardin, and the Golf Club of Wentzville.

No cart fees, no nothing. Call Bill Brungart, 636-926-9622. All right, John, let's just go right to the Jim Holdgrieve interview. Is it his time? Yes! There it is!

Can you believe it? Jim Holdgrieve is brought to you by Golden Tee. You've had just a phenomenal, phenomenal career.

Mostly this stuff on the amateur side, and I know that is really near and dear to your heart. But you also turned pro and played the Champions Tour and had some really great finishes. Almost won an event on the Champions Tour.

But one of the things, there's clearly things that stick out. 1981, you won the inaugural U.S. Mid-Am event at Bell Reef. In 83, you were runner up in the British amateur. In 1980, you made it to the semi-finals of the U.S. amateur. But what I want, what often gets overlooked, and you had a phenomenal Walker Cup career. You played on three winning teams, 79, 81, 83. Then you got to captain these young guys in 2011. And then right back at them again in 2013, which is such an honor. Such an honor.

People don't even know about this. But one of the things that I want to start our conversation off with is, you spent time and served our country in the Air Force. Which, thank you for your service. But you know what, that has affected you in how you see the game and how you'd like to make additional influences on some of the young kids, doesn't it?

Well, Jay, you're very, very kind. There's no question that golf has been really, really good to me. And I'm glad I made a decision back when I had to in high school that you could only play one spring sport. And I decided to play golf versus baseball or tennis.

And it's been such a great game. I've been able to do such great things. And to play to serve my country and play for my country and represent my country, it's been very, very special for me. And so that's why I've gotten really passionate about Walker Cup and the young men that I had a chance to be a captain for, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas and Max Homer.

They've gone on to be, obviously, be successful. Jordan Spieth was the most mature young man I ever met back in that day. And I'm just hopeful that when, as I went out and talked at amateur tournaments, trying to talk to players and tell them the importance of trying to play on a Walker Cup team and have an opportunity to play for their country, it is their responsibility to go do that. And I always told them, I said, if you're that good, if you are that good a player, you can go play for your country and then you can turn pro and go do what you want to do. But it's your obligation. It's your responsibility. I always said there's no greater honor. There's no greater honor in any sport than to play for your country.

If you've got that chance to do that, you need to do that. I get worried along with the other living captains. We get worried with what's going on with the money. Obviously, these young guys see what Jordan Spieth has done and what Justin Thomas has done, that perhaps the money is going to overshadow playing for their country. And so I get worried about it. And so we're trying to talk with the USGA and trying to have communication with the PGA and trying to have more conversation with the amateurs and the amateur events and the college's coaches and just trying to make sure that they understand and we'll see how we get along with it.

But I have a concern. I have a concern that Walker Cup, it was my greatest honor. And if somebody, if you're one of the top 10 players, well, I say top 10. I was fortunate because I wasn't a top 10, but I made the team because a couple of the guys turned pro. And I think the second and third team I made, I did earn my way on.

So I just hope that these young guys, along with their parents, understand an obligation to their country. Boy, Jim, you know, I look at that, how times have changed, right? Because I always wanted to play on the PGA Tour, but I always wanted to play on a Walker Cup team. And had I played well enough to earn my way onto a Walker Cup team, there's no way in hell I would have missed that opportunity. But we also, the PGA Tour was alluring, but we didn't play for the money back then.

Well, it's ironic you say it because I went on a senior tour when I was 52 years old. And that's because things in my business had changed. I was in the steel business and foundry business and molded rubber business.

And the manufacturers and the customers that I called on were starting to buy in China and things were changing. And I didn't have a college degree. I mean, I went in the Air Force after about a year of college, actually two years, and my draft number was pretty low. So I would have ended up going to Vietnam and I probably would have never made it home or I would have lost a limb.

I would never have been able to play golf again. So I kind of took the coward way out and I went in the Air Force, which people say, well, that's not being a coward. I say, well, you know, but going in the Air Force is the greatest thing I did because I learned about respect and humility because I was a punk kid back in the day. So I learned good things and came back, went to work for my dad. But as things changed, I didn't know what I was going to do. So I said, well, I'll just go play golf because when I played golf with Fred Couples and Scott Hulk and Davis Love, all those guys back then, I said, I go play golf every day. I'll win a bunch of money, too. So I thought that that's what I would do.

Well, the good Lord said that's not the way it's going to be, Jim. And I learned more humility. Hey, no question. Playing golf every day is pretty cool. Getting money, getting some money to do that is pretty cool. Getting a chance to play. Meet Mr. Palmer and Mr. Nicholas and meet other great players and meet fans around the country and volunteers who make it possible for the tours to even exist.

Meeting new people or making new friends around the country. That that was special, but only going out there for the money was my big mistake. And after about four and a half years, I learned my lesson and I said, I'm coming back. And thank goodness I did, because that gave me the opportunity to be a captain. I would have never been a captain.

So I made the right decision. So, Jim, when you made that decision to go on the Champions Tour and you just talked about the money, how did it change you and how did it change the game that you played? Well, Jay, I practiced a lot. I hit a lot of balls when I grew up at Westbrook Country Club. We had a small range, big range, but I practiced an awful lot. And when I was on tour, I practiced even more.

I probably had no kite. He had a lot. He had a lot of balls, but I had as many as he did.

But and I think I kind of wore myself out. I would always I mean, I got 36 sponsor exemptions. Jay had 121 events I played in and of those sponsor exemptions, I was so grateful, but I volunteered. I volunteered for the Monday outing that we did. I volunteered to play in both programs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I asked the tournament director, what else can I do? I would go to the sometimes they would have volunteer parties on Friday night. Or Saturday, and I would go to those just to say thank you to the volunteers who made it possible for me to be there. So I think if I was going to do something differently, I would have probably first of all, I probably would have tried to have more fun instead of having it so serious because it was all about the money.

And instead of going out there and trying to relax. You know, I just wish that maybe I had taken a little different approach to it. The approach of thanking the volunteers and volunteering and to try to help the tournament directors. I would always do that.

I mean, I was in sales all my life. And I wanted to thank it. I wanted to thank the people who made it possible for me to be there.

So I would always do that. But when I got on a golf course, I would have tried to have more fun. And hey, you know what? I'm very fortunate and while I'm jealous still of people winning golf tournaments and I'm not playing that well anymore. Golf has been so good to me. I mean, I would have never I would have never met.

And he actually called me a friend, the president of the United States, President Bush. I mean, it's just, you know, our game is just it's just unbelievable. And, you know, all the all these major athletes who played all these other sports, they all come, they all come to our game. They love playing our game.

So it's been special for sure. Well, you know, Jim, excuse me, recently I had Kay Cockrell on and Kay is a UCLA Bruin and does a great job on the Golf Channel. And she talked about the difference when she turned pro where all of a sudden the fun was sucked out of the building. It was like there was all this pressure and she lost that ability to relate to the game the way she used to when she was more successful. And I think I can definitely relate to that when times were tough and I was putting pressure on myself to make cuts. It sounds like that's similar to what you're saying here.

No, that's exactly. I mean, Jay, you know, I went to six Q schools and I gained in two of them, I gained secondary exemption. I mean, back then, if you made the top 16, you got second, you know, you got conditional exemption. If you're in the top eight, you got full exemption. I never made top eight. And so all that pressure and then, you know, you get in the top when you go play, obviously at the senior, we didn't have a cut. But, you know, you had to get in the top 48 for your retirement and all these other things. And so, you know, my caddie would tell me, let's go for this green and two. Come on, let's go for this.

You know, let's if we hit the water, you can't do that. You got to go. And I just put too much pressure on myself about the money. And, you know, it's funny you say I came in second that one time. And yeah, it was ironic because my mother passed away the day before. And I called my dad to say mom passed away last night. How do you know that? I said, well, then I don't know.

I just did. She said, yeah, I said, I'm coming home. He said, no, you're doing well in this tournament. She'd want you to finish. So I thought about her the whole way around.

And when I walked from 17, 17 green to 18 P, I looked at the leaderboard and I was like tied for seconds. And all I thought about what I've been thinking about her. Well, now I get on the AT&T and a good table. But now I think I got to make birdie.

You know, I could win and then, you know, get a win a bunch of money and then I get exempt status. You know, I kept thinking about everything. Well, I was lucky it was a par five. I was lucky to make a five. I made up about 25 footer par.

And Bruce Fleischer bird 17, 18 to beat me by a shot. But see when you see how when you think about other things and then all of a sudden you put that pressure back on you. So, you know, you've been there. I'm not saying to you, Pards, you know it. That's going to wrap up the front nine and the first half of the Jim Holcreeve interview.

Don't go anywhere. We've got the rest of that interview on the back nine. This is golf with Jay Delson. Are your workouts more fun than this? Well, if they are, then I want to sign you to an endorsement deal with Michelob Ultra.

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Joe Scissor has closed over $500 million in loans in nearly 30 years in the business and over $2 million alone to Delsings. Okay, so you and your family are looking to join a country club. Well, I need to recommend to you Whitmore Country Club. They've got 90 holes of golf in the membership out there. You have access to the Missouri Bluffs, the links to Dardeen, the golf club of Wentzville and all the cart fees are already included in your membership.

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If you're looking for a family friendly safe place to hang out, you've got to check out Whitmore Country Club. Call them at 636-926-9622. We're halfway there. It's time for the back nine on Golf with Jay Delsing. The back nine is brought to you by Fogelbach Agency with Farmers Insurance. Welcome back to the back nine. This is Golf with Jay Delsing. I'm Jay.

I got Pearly sitting next to me and the back nine is brought to you by the Fogelbach Agency with Farmers. Let's go right into the second half of the Jim Holcreve interview. Arnold Palmer is the Masters champion of 1960. There it is. A win for the ages. Oh, Jack. That was a great putt.

Jack finishing off and what a day it's been for him. A round of 65. Jim Holcreve is brought to you by Golden Tee. I look at your record.

42 USGA championships? Really? But that is what an accomplishment that is. Just in itself.

And you also got to throw this in there too. Because you're a humble guy and you underscore all this stuff. You played in five Masters tournaments and made the cut three times as an amateur. You had some success there.

So we got to hear about some Masters stories too. Well, I was very fortunate. Obviously, playing in those USGA events as a Walker-Copper and as a semifinalist like you said in the USM. You get some exemptions. So it's not like I qualified for all 42 USGA events. I qualified for a lot of them. No question. But playing in 42, I always get jealous a little bit by Marucci because he's played over 50.

Jay Sigel, I can't imagine how many he's played in. It's certainly a nice carrot to have. I guess one of the greatest stories I have about Augusta and playing the Masters. I got a chance to play in the 80 Masters. When you get your invitation at Christmas time, you get to go down to Augusta anytime you want until the tournament time.

You can play every day if you want. I didn't do that, but when you get a chance to go to Augusta, I went one weekend in January, two weekends in February, two weekends in March. I played with a friend of mine, Doug Fisher. We played and got a chance to know all the guys down there. We just had a lot of fun and I made the cut my first year.

The main guys there said, look forward to having you come back. The reason I got into the 80 Masters was because I made the 79 Walker Cup team. Mr. Jones, it was his dream to have an amateur win the Masters.

That's why he invited the United States Walker Cup team and the World Amateur teams to play in the Masters. That's how I made my first Masters in the 80. He was going to play the 79 Walker Cup and then I made the 80 World team. I got to play in the 81 Walker Cup and then 82.

I went on that way for five years. My second year, I get asked on Tuesday, would you like to play with Mr. Palmer on Thursday? I said, you've got to be kidding me.

I said, no. We've watched you. We know who you are.

You respect the game. You're a gentleman and we're going to put you with Mr. Palmer. Back then, we only played two-sons. I get paired with Mr. Palmer on Thursday, the Masters in 1981. It was just an unbelievable day for me.

He was so kind to me. The stories I have would probably take too long here, Jaybird, but one of the stories is back then, I don't know what you knew, but back then, I hit a one-iron and I could hit a one-iron a long time. Forever.

Forever. You could smash it. Hell, yes, I knew. It was legendary around town. I could hit it a long way and I had the confidence in it. Thank goodness I had that club because I wouldn't have beat anybody. We get to the 18th tee and I'm two under par. I'm playing with Arnold Palmer, my golf idol.

The king. Obviously, my father was my idol, but he's my golf idol, so we get on 18th tee and I hit a one-iron about 280 yards right down the middle of the fairway. As we're walking off the tee, he pulls that thing out of my bag and he says, Jim, what the heck is this thing? I said, Mr. Palmer, I'm playing with my golf idol. I said, I'm two under par. I'm playing the Masters. I'm a steel salesman. My adrenaline's flowing.

I'm sorry, sir, but you just got me pumped up. He was so kind to me. Let me just finish this story because when we're walking up, obviously, up 18, you leave Mr. Palmer, let him walk ahead because the crowd just, you know, obviously, just love Mr. Palmer. So we walk out of the scoring tent or we're in the scoring tent and I said, Mr. Palmer, would you mind meeting my parents?

My parents would love to meet you. He said, absolutely, Jim. Well, I walk out of the scoring tent and the police from the media grab me and take me to the media tent and I'm in there for an hour and a half. And I'm talking about, you know, who are you, Jim? And, you know, you're an amateur and you just play with Mr. Palmer. You know, you're tied for second in the Masters. You know, I was I was two and a part.

I think the leader was four under five and I don't know, but I was close. And so I come out of the media tent. I come back in the locker room.

Mr. Palmer's coming down from the champions locker room upstairs. And he said, Jim, I thought you wanted me to meet your parents. I said, well, Mr. Palmer, I certainly did. I said, I'm sorry. The media took me and I was in the media tent for an hour and a half talking about playing with you.

Jim, Jim, Jim, calm down. I know I've been there before. So so he said, I'll meet your parents. I'll meet your parents tomorrow morning. I'll meet your parents tomorrow morning. And sure enough, I pulled in the next morning, Friday morning.

And there's Mr. Palmer to meet my parents. I mean, the man was just unbelievable. And it's probably one of the greatest rounds I've ever had in my life. So, you know. Jim, what did he shoot that day? He said 76 76. Okay.

I've had the opportunity to play with him three times. It just. Oh, my gosh. I felt like I was amongst royalty.

I walked to that first tee and I almost felt like I needed a genuflector bow. Well, you were with royalty. And if you if you I. In 2016, 2016, 2016, when I went to the Masters, he was sitting in the umbrella area outside the clubhouse and I went up to him and he got he started to get up. I said, please, Mr. Palmer, don't get up.

I'm not down. And I said, Mr. Palmer, it's such an honor. How are you doing? Well, when I walked away, I introduced him to a friend of mine, Bob Barrett. When I walked away, I said, well, we won't see him anymore. And of course, he passed that September. But I, I had a chance to go to his office in Latrobe. And if you ever have a chance still there, from what I know, you have a chance to go see that you, you need to go see that facility because you talk about royalty, you should see the world to the people he and his life that he met, he saw. And he had he had time with it's on real, you know, Jim, one of the pleasures, you mentioned how the people that we've met playing this great game.

It's ridiculous. I mean, everybody knows where I grew up and how I grew up and the fact that I'm almost 60 years old and don't have to work for a living. It's all due to this great game. But I had an opportunity when Mr. Palmer came into town to receive the first annual Sam usual award, I wrote him a letter and asked if I could interview him. And of course, he was gracious and said he could. Jimmy looking at his bio in his list of accomplishments was staggering, man. I mean, all the folks that I get on my show, I talked about your resume 42 USGA championships, five masters visits, Missouri State Hall of Fame, St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, all that Arnold Palmer's was like nothing I'd ever seen before. No, it's, it's, it's simply. Well, it's simply unbelievable. And let me tell you what he's done.

I just got I got to give you this one more story because this is this is really important to me too. In regards to what our game is. And so when I was captain for 11. Back then the Palmer Cup was being played up at sandwich up in Connecticut, and Jim Nance is a member there. And I got invited up as being a captain to go watch, you know, the eight guys from the United States playing against the eight guys from Europe, even though it's eight guys from Europe, probably going to college here. So there's 16 guys there, and before that right to the opening ceremonies. Nance and Palmer get up on the stage, and the right in front of them. And Nance is getting ready Mr. Palmer me and Mr. Palmer says Jim hold on hold on a second. And he says the 16 guys you guys down there right in front of me.

I'm talking to you. You turn around, look at all those people back there and there were family, and there were friends, and there was staff and there was volunteers. And there was members. There was probably a couple hundred people back in the back of this tent.

And he said, gentlemen, he said, whatever you do in life, when you become a professional golfer. But when you become a doctor insurance or whatever whatever you do when you turn around, you see all those people back there. You need to thank those people. And you need to be very thankful in your life. Because if it wasn't for those people back there.

You wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be up on this stage. You need to be remembering how all these things become possible. And so he always told me, and we had conversations about it.

He said, Jim. Don't ever forget where you came from. If you get wealthy, or you get famous or whatever you do. Just keep grounded and don't forget where you came from and I've shared that with a lot of people and believe me, you and I both know. I won't mention any names today, but you and I both know a number of people who have forgotten where they came from.

And that's something young men, young women, everybody needs to be remembering about. You know, Jim, that's a perfect transition to your work with the Missouri Golf Foundation. Let's talk about this great organization that you helped found. Well, Jay, thank you for saying I helped found.

But I got on the board a number of years ago for sure. But Paul Wunderlich and Gene Dan and Charlie Rollo and Dick Shapier are the guys that founded that started it. Gene Dan was up in, I think, Wisconsin and happened to witness what some guys were doing to try to help inner city youth and do it through the game of golf.

You know, first he has been a very successful organization. What these guys are trying to do is make sure that the Missouri Golf Foundation, that we would make sure that the money that we were able to raise was to try to make sure that these kids in the city or around St. Louis would have a chance to get them a meal. But we teach them about the game of golf, which obviously, you know, is what the game teaches us, respect, humility, integrity, you know, all those life skills that need to be taught.

We tried to do that. We have a camp during the summer that we have down at the Highlands and then we make sure that we feed the kids. And then we have a kind of a year ending time and we get some awards out, we get some clubs out. We try to give every one of the participants a backpack or something that they can use. And unfortunately, because of COVID-19, we're having to cancel our camp this year, but we tried to be a little bit proactive and starting last Monday. Every week for the next six weeks, we're going to probably give out 16,000 lunches to kids around the city who, you know, it's hard to understand, but they don't have food to eat.

So we're going to be able to do that. And we have we have some great people who help our organization trying to our money is we don't have a lot of money. But my gosh, Gary Slay and his group, they have helped us so much.

And there have been so many other contributors to try to help youth. And Andrew Belsky, who's our executive director, he works. He's got a team where we get people from his.

He's a head golf coach at Webster University. He tries to get or he gets his team. They come out and help. And we see our young people helping young people. It's just all good.

And Dick Shaper and those guys, Paul Warner, like a teen, Dan and Charlie Rallo, I know are are happy about it. And we're just trying to try to do the right thing. Just trying to do the right thing. Well, Jim, thanks so much for your time. Really appreciate you jumping on and staying on this long.

These stories, I could just sit here and listen to them all the time, especially when we talk about the King Arnold Palmer. But thanks so much for being on. Jay, I can't thank you. You've been a good friend and I'm hoping we could see it sometime in the near future. And I wish you all the very best. You're doing a great thing for the game. And I as a golfer am sincerely thankful for people like you who promote our game and we try to help people. So thank you, sir. OK, that's going to do it for the back nine and the Jim Holcreeve interview.

But don't go anywhere. John and I are going to talk about the Ascension charity classic being canceled for this year. We'll talk about the whole crew interview a little bit and a lot more.

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They also have the latest fashion trends from Puma Golf. Whatever your needs, Pro-Am Golf will meet them and have the best customer service in the industry. Call us at 314-781-7775 or find us at ProAmGolfUSA.com. Welcome back. This is golf with Jay Delsing. I'm your host, Jay.

Jon Perlis is with me, and we are at the ultra 19th hole. Grab a cold ultra. That sounds pretty damn good right about now. Absolutely.

Always sounds good. Yeah. All right, Perli. Jim Holcrief. I thought it was a good interview.

I heard the name years ago, obviously. Heck of a player. Other than his awesome one-iron, you said it was awesome, too. Oh, man. What was his game?

You guys didn't really get to too much then. Oh, man, he was long. Was he? No, Grever is just a competitor, man. He's tough. He's just a tough-as-nails sort of guy.

You can tell that by the way the guy talks. So I have one question for you. What's the story about him beating you two down? Was that the state open? Was that the state end? What was that?

Oh, man. And Grever, you need to call me because we were, I forget where we were not probably a year or so ago, and he's like, yeah, I remember when I beat you two and one, and I said, we never played. And he goes, yeah, we did. We played in the state end, and I beat you two and one.

I'm like, what year? Well, I don't know. I can't remember with you.

I go, look it up. Look, I'm not saying he wouldn't have beat me. I don't want to. Because you're saying he didn't. I know he didn't.

Because he didn't play. I got my ass kicked by a lot of people that are standing on that line. And you remember. And I do remember every one of them, but he wasn't in that line.

But that's the type of competitor you could tell just from the interview that this guy was. Oh, yeah. He was just a grinder, and he'd just walk right over the top of you.

Oh, yeah. And I thought his story playing with Palmer at the Masters was just, he caught me pumped listening to it. Because he was so respectful. He was so jacked up. And knocking it uphill with a one iron 200 yards.

That's pretty pumped up, too. He just carries the banner for golf so well. That's all there is to it, and he does it throughout his life.

You know, and he's done it for a long time. I have to laugh, too, about the one iron. You and I were joking not too long ago about one irons. Remember when they were like the thing you had to have one?

It was like a 60 degree wedge. Nobody did not have a one iron. You got a one iron now? I didn't even keep one iron in the house.

You're dangerous. You got a two iron? No.

You got a three iron? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I don't. Not for long.

Yeah, I shouldn't. Not for long. Yeah, so it was great of Jimmy to come on the show. All right, so we've got to talk about the Ascension charity class. Yeah. Such a damn bummer.

And I know, you know what, Pearl? You and I talk about this in our lives and some of the other discussions that we have of doing the right thing for the highest number of good. And that is definitely the right thing here, but damn that sucks.

I feel for you because you were part of it and that kind of stuff, but there's also had to be a lot of people that you probably know behind the scenes that were really putting some time, effort, and of course money in this thing to make it go. This is a real kick in the back of the head. Yeah, or lower. Yeah.

It's a tough one. It is, you know, but here's another thought. Here's Ascension coming to the table, bringing all this money, doing it for North County, all for the right reasons, but they're a health care organization. They're hospitals. They can't possibly not, there's no way they could continue. It just doesn't make any sense for them.

Not that any sponsorship, you know, wouldn't be thinking of the community and things like that, but these guys give away $2 billion a year to folks that can't afford care. And, you know, they're not going to go and get anybody sick on their watch, you know, and it's the right thing to do. Yeah, it's a bummer, but one thing I want to make sure doesn't go by the wayside, I still hope you got the Grudge Match 2.0 with a bummer, so that needs to happen. Let's get a date on that and we'll start advertising that in place of the Ascension. In place of the Ascension, for Christ's sake. Absolutely. Crying out loud.

For whatever. Yeah, that's very good. Yeah, so the other cool thing that speaks about who Ascension is, is we don't lose a year in the commitment.

They put one on the back end of this thing. So 21 is the inaugural year. It goes 21, 22, 23. I'm still counting for the next four or five years. Oh, no, I don't know.

They said, listen, Delsing, you're like a rash. We'll let you win the first year. Are you going to get it next year, though, or did you just lose your year? Oh, I hope I didn't. I hate to bring that up. You didn't even think about that, did you? No, I didn't. Holy, oh, man. I can tell by the look of it. Hang on a minute.

Let me make a phone call. Yeah, no. No, I think I'll be fine.

I think I'll be fine, but you don't know. I don't know. I didn't ask that question.

You got to go. Well, let's do it this way. Let's just assume, and I'll be there, and we're going to be there, and we'll just start walking around. And if they don't, we'll just irritate everybody, like, please let us play.

All right, I'm going to ask you one other thing. We talked about the PGA Championship at the beginning of the show. How is it that they can say, because we've said a lot of great things, and it was a terrific tournament. Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Champ were so fun to watch. Bryson DeChambeau hits the ball like his hair's on fire, like he's absolutely grunting every ounce of energy out of him to hit these monster smashes, right? Cameron Champ looks like he's in a rocking chair and hits the thing.

And he is smoking it. And I'm just going to tell you, Cameron Champ is longer than DeChambeau. You know, and if you remember back to show four or something, when I was picking Cameron Champ for, like, ever, just because he's just... I just like the young guy. I just like him. But you're right, Jay.

He's back there. Okay, Cameron Champ, 179, going to hit a little nine iron, and it looked like a little nine iron, and it got there. Jimmie him, yeah. You and I played it the last couple days ago, and twice I said, look at this par four, and it was 386 or something like that, but a little bit of dog. Like I said, I said, these guys are driving it, and you and I... I'm a pounding driver, I've still got eight iron left, you're hitting a wedge or something.

They're knocking it on these greens. My brain doesn't even go there. Maybe that's the problem. No, that is. That's one of the problems.

That and the body doesn't go there either. Right, right. It's brutal. So let me ask you this.

So Suze Whaley, who's the president of the PGA of America, says, the winner of the strongest field in golf. Come on. Yeah, I don't like doing this. Come on.

Everybody knows it's not. Come on. How many spots did they give up to the PGA? 20.

Okay, so- Guess how many of the 20? And listen- They don't need to say that. They don't need to say anything. It's so wrong. The fact that the club pros get to play in this- That's great. That's wonderful. That's great. And I totally support it.

And by the way, all the tour players love it because they know they're going to beat all those guys even if they have a bad week. 20 got in the field and 20 missed the cut. Uh-huh. Okay. But don't say- And 20 didn't feel normally 19 or 18 missed the cut.

Yeah, they haven't had one make the cut in I think the last four years or something like that. Okay, so there you go. But no, but- It's okay. Right.

That's not the point. But don't say that. When she said that, it just made me- Oh, man. She's done a lot of fantastic things and she knows that's not the case.

So I thought, I don't get why she went there. It's just disingenuous. It's just like, why say it?

It's like, you know what? Nah. Well, it's just like the Masters isn't the strongest. No.

No. Look, Koepka, who's had his foot inserted in his mouth by the way he played and some of the dumb things that he said, is right though, in my opinion, where he says the majors are the easiest events to win because the fields are the weakest. In the US Open and in the Open Championship, they're true Opens. People are qualifying.

So half of those fielders are filled through qualifications and you get guys that don't play the tour and have no chance of winning the event get in there. Yeah. So anyway, I just had to say that. I think that's good.

I think that's something that most people aren't going to necessarily plug into. I think that was a heck of a good point. Yeah. Meat, give him a gold star on that one. I think that was a good one.

Can you take on me? You know, anyway, I thought it was great tournament. I thought Morikawa was just the drive that he hit on, I told you today, the drive that he hit on 16. I don't know if I've hit a putt that straight.

It was absolutely amazing and all he had to do is hit it or else the drive may have gone in. We talk about it a couple of times, but you and I both love the, quote, drivable par fours and the things the guys do. I don't know if you saw earlier in the day, and if it was 16 and one of the other par fours, Bubba went like the whole other way around the trees, he went like the other way around the forest.

Yes. And this thing came down and the announcers are all but laughing and go like, well, I'm not sure how it got around all those trees, but it came down like a wedge because these guys couldn't get hardly get wedges close to the hole, especially because the shorter hole there hit like three quarter stuff and Bubba hits this screw ball over and around everything and it comes down like a butterfly. Pearl, I got Bubba at the open at Oakmont. We get to number eight, 313 yards. I'm inside the ropes.

You know how we are. About 120 yards off the tee and Bubba pulls out the pink shafted driver and this ball is headed right at my head and it starts low and it starts rising up. By the time it gets to me, it's 20 feet over my head. It's curving 25 to 30 yards from right to left.

Just trickles. What ball is he using? Is he using something that moves more or is it? No, he's using the Titleist now, but do you remember last year or the year before he had used the Volvac? Oh yeah, that was a bad decision. That was not a good decision. Bad decision. Yep.

The coin got him. Someday we're going to talk about that. I can remember you calling me with golf balls saying, hey, Tour Edition is going to give me this or this company is going to give me this. We need to have part of a show on that one because I was busting your chops and then you're, yeah, whatever. That's why the show is good. It's always a good show and we can pick on you a little bit.

Yeah, I just love that. Well, man, that's going to wrap up on the show. Before we sign off, I want to say thank you to Bob and Kathy Donahue for supporting the show.

Folks, you need anything done to your home, call Bob and Kathy at 314-805-2132 and they will hook you up. Probably. Thanks for being with me. Glad to be here, Jay. Meet. Thanks for doing what you do and we appreciate it. This is Golf with Jay Delsing.

Hit them straight, St. Louis. That was Golf with Jay Delsing brought to you by Whitmore Country Club. Tune in next Sunday for more from Jay John and the other pros and experts from the golf world. In the meantime, you can find all of Jay's shows at 101espn.com, as well as at jdelsinggolf.com.