FORE the Good of the Game - Introductory Episode

Intro music playing

Hello and welcome to this initial episode of for the good of the game. I'm Mike Gonzalez. And along with my co host, Bruce Devlin, we intend to take you on a storytelling journey through the good old days of the PGA Tour. When woods were really woods. We'll also take you around the world to some of the great venues for golf, beginning at the "Home of Golf" in the United Kingdom. So without further ado, welcome to FORE the Good of the Game. Bruce I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

I do too Mike.We've got lots and lots of things to talk about,particularly some of my old buddies that I played with many,many years ago and the technology that's affected this game of golf. How many episodes do we need?

I think we'll have a few. So let me just tell our listeners a little bit about what this podcast is going to be all about. Fore the Good of the Game it's called and it's going to be a golf-focused podcast that emphasizes the positive aspects of the game of golf. And we hope to provide useful,engaging and timeless content for our listeners with two initial themes. The first theme will be entitled "Tales from the Tour." And that's going to be co-hosted by yours truly and Bruce Devlin PGA Tour star Australian born and it will feature storytelling, as Bruce said from former PGA standouts of yesterday, and I'm really looking forward to some of the initial episodes because we've got some great folks already lined up, don't we, Bruce?

We certainly do.We've got three major champions.I think between them they've won well over 100 golf tournaments and nine majors. We prompt them a little bit. Lanny Wadkins, and David Graham. And of course, the Merry Mexican Lee Trevino will join us at some point in time.

You know, I did sum it up and between the four of you, you throw yours in you four guys have 192 worldwide professional victories amongst the four of you. Well, that's a lot. I didn't realize that many,so you guys could play. So anyway, that's Tales from the Tour. And then we'll do another series we'll call Golf Travels Around the World and that's going to feature useful information for planning your golf travel to the United Kingdom, with interviews with prominent golf clubs, regional golf associations, golf travel leaders. I think as time goes on, we'll venture off to Australia and other points on the globe. But we'll start with the UK, which is kind of where the game got started. And as we talk to some of your friends,Bruce, you've all had major experience playing in the Open Championship in the UK and we'll bring some of those bits in because I think our listeners would like to hear you guys reminisce about your days playing the Muirfields,Carnousties and the Royal St.George's of the world.

And the Old Course in Scotland.

Absolutely. So those will be the two themes. We don't pretend to be a golf news podcast. Most of the current events type things have a fairly short shelf life and we expect to have a little longer shelf life with some of our content.But we will occasionally offer some timely topics and notable guests who are having an impact on the game of golf. So anyway,let's just talk a little bit more about season one Tales from the Tour. As you mentioned,we've got some some really the three guys you mentioned Bruce,all world World Golf Hall of Famers, aren't they

correct they all,every one of them. You know,they've got a lot of great stories, particularly from if you think about the kids today,they're all you know, all out of college and they, you know, they got coaches and fitness people.All these guys came up with a very, very different way. Lanny I suppose probably spent more time in a college environment than certainly David Graham and Lee Trevino. But I think some of the background stories about how they started in the game of golf will be very interesting to our listeners.

Well, I certainly look forward to the conversations were assumed to have with some of these great players about their careers, we really going to want to talk about all aspects of their games. Talk about their memories of other greats of the game, how the game has changed, as you mentioned, Bruce from when they played on the tour, there's a whole lot there, isn't there. I mean, there are so many aspects of change from the time you guys played in the 60s and 70s.

Well, you know,watching golf on television today, it's quite remarkable for players of my age to think that,you know, we used to hit five irons about 175 180. They're hitting them to 230 today. So that's a significant difference.And I don't know whether it's for better or for worse, I'm not sure, but it's certainly certainly a great subject to talk about.

Sure. And a little bit about our World Golf travels series. What we plan to do is offer episodes that would help you plan your next or perhaps first visit. As a golf trip buddy trip perhaps to the UK. We want to talk with many of the great clubs of Scotland,England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we'll talk to club captain secretaries, golf professionals and club historians, at Open rota venues.And here our PGA Tour guests reflect on their Open Championship experiences and some of these famous venues,we'll talk to golf tour operators and regional golf promoters to give you all the information you need to ensure a memorable golf experience. And Bruce, I know you've made that trip several times, not only as a competitor in major championships, but also as a golf architect.

Yeah, and I've even done a little bit of the international television for ESPN back in the 80s and 90s.And it's been an interesting trip, actually.

Let's tell the listeners a little bit of ourselves. Certainly, you're the one that's known of the two of us. But just a little bit about your career and background,Bruce getting into the game of golf.

Well, unusual way to get into it. I was a field hockey player. When I was a young man in Australia, we lived in a little town where we had three Olympians that played in the Australian hockey team. So all of us young kids love to play hockey. And then unfortunately for my dad and myself, he lost his arm in an automobile accident, was a 20handicap golfer who wanted to continue to continue to play golf. And he was he said he was looking for somebody to play golf with him and I was the one he was looking for. So that's how I got into golf. And one thing led from there was fortunate enough to grab hold of the game with the help of an old Scottish Pro, who was the head pro at the golf course where my dad was a member. And I guess the the details of what's happened since since that time,as is all on record. And it's been a been a long and wonderful trip.

And I look forward to getting together with you soon we're going to do a deep dive into your life and career. It could perhaps span much more than one episode as there's a lot to cover. You've had a great career professionally around the world.And I look forward to that visit. As for me, I've been around the game since age eight,I was introduced to the game by my father, as Bruce and many others were, retired business guy with a respectable golf game. But I've really been blessed to have been able to travel the world playing this game, and I have a passion for it. And I thought it might be fun to get together with Bruce,who's been a friend for a long time and really do some storytelling particularly about as we talked about the the old time tour back as I say when woods were really wood. And so we're looking forward to bringing this series to you.Bruce, we hadn't really rehearsed this, but just to give our listeners a flavor for what we mean when we talk about storytelling. I'll prompt you for one story that I've heard you tell and perhaps we'll get into with one of our guests later but something happened back in the 70's at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's playing in the Open Championship and apparently you and one of our future guests had not played particularly well. So you found yourself paired on the final Sunday and on the range together before you around.

Oh yeah, that's a story that not too many people believe actually including the secretary of the R&A. Trevino was the name and we were standing on a practice tee Sunday morning, neither of us were going to make much money.And I was complaining to him about how, how bad I was driving the golf ball and he said, "hit my driver." I said, Lee, come on, you know, you're, you're five foot seven, I'm 6 foot 2.You stand, you know, five inches further away from the ball than I do. How can I hit your driver?And he said, "Well, why don't you just shut up and try?" So I hit two or three drives, and they all went dead straight. And he said, "Well, that's the end of it. We'll use the driver together." He said, "the R&A guy that will walk with us, well,we'll watch whoever hits their tee shot first. And while he's watching the golf ball, we'll exchange clubs." And we did that the entire round. And I guess 10to 12 years later, Lee was sitting with Secretary to the R&A, and he asked him should Bruce Devlin and he give back the money we made that particular year. And then he told him the story and the Secretary of the R&A said, "Lee,I'm sorry, but I'm not believing that."

And I believe as the story goes, that was Peter Dawson, perhaps at some point, refused to believe and obviously, with television coverage in the way tournaments are covered these days, it seems impossible to believe that could ever happen again. Yeah, I don't think it could. Well, anyway. So as we've mentioned, we're going to do some storytelling and we're looking forward to, I would just say if you're a golfer, if you're passionate about the game, if you enjoy great storytelling, then give us a listen on Fore the Good of the Game. And if you like what you've heard, you can help us spread the word by subscribing to our podcast, where you listen to your podcast on Spotify on Apple on other platforms. You can follow us on Twitter. Our handle is @FOREtheGame. And you can also like us on Facebook,we've got a Facebook page called FORE the Good of the Game.Finally, just tell your friends about us. More listeners, the better as we kick off season one of FORE the Good of the Game. So Bruce, I look forward to traveling with you on this journey. And we look forward to sharing our initial season one episode soon. Until then, play fast, have fun and stay positive FORE the Good of the Game. So long everybody.