Tales from the first tee
Stories about my life experiences and others as I work at one of the premier golf clubs in Charleston, SC. Interviews with golfers around the world that have one thing in common...the pursuit of excellence on a golf course and everything else that happens along the way.
Tales from the first tee
Handcuffs, Home Runs, and Hollywood: A Week of Surprises
Rich Easton returns with unexpected tales from the golf world following Scottie Scheffler's shocking arrest outside Valhalla during the PGA Championship. What seemed like a misunderstanding between golf's golden boy and local law enforcement may have altered the tournament's outcome entirely, creating a butterfly effect that helped Xander Schauffele secure his first major championship.
• Scottie Scheffler's arrest outside Valhalla occurred after a misunderstanding with traffic police on a rainy morning
• How the butterfly effect of Scheffler's arrest likely changed the entire tournament dynamic
• Xander Schauffele's clutch performance on the 18th hole showed incredible mental fortitude
• Bryson DeChambeau's transformation into an entertaining fan favorite is making him more appealing
• Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech advising women to prioritize homemaking over careers
• The "Big Titty Cookies" billboard controversy and how negative publicity often creates better exposure
• Behind the scenes look at movie production hierarchies and status games as a background actor
• The varied motivations people have for working as extras in film and television
Spotify
Apple podcasts
Amazon Music
all other streaming services
you're tuned in to another episode of tales from the first tee. I'm rich easton telling tales from beautiful charleston, south carolina. Typically I like to wait a few weeks between episodes, sometimes a few months. I just want to make sure there's enough good topics to talk about and so I get done with my last episode and not but an hour later I'm on this practice putting area. A good golf friend of mine walks up to me, asked me about when the next podcast is coming, and I said, well, I just, I just put it in the can, it's, I just produced it. It's coming out tonight. He goes well, there are all these new topics that you just got to talk about. And so I think about it for a while and after the weekend I'm like, yeah, this stuff can't go unsaid. A few days later, back at that same practice going. You know, all this talk of practice, you'd think I'd be better.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I play in this Saturday morning game. It's run by a character I call Billy the Kid who I have talked about quite often. He's a septuagenarian that still plays like it's his 30th birthday. The only thing that prevents him from playing 366 days a year is not every year is a leap year, but fortunately 2024 is a leap year, so that makes the kid one day happier and one day more experienced. So I'm walking around the green trying to find a putting stroke that'll work for the day, and I don't usually make a habit of eavesdropping, but I couldn't help overhearing a story about an arrest earlier in the morning. Now I wouldn't normally insert myself in the conversation but I couldn't help it. I mean, just looking at how surprised all of the other golfers were when this one guy was telling the story, I just had a pipe in. I'm like. Who got arrested? Scotty Scheffler, what the freak. This guy is the poster child for well-manicured, well-mannered, respectful, religious family man with a one-week-old infant. I mean, I ruled out a drug bust, sex trafficking, spousal abuse and firearms dealing. Now, if it were P Diddy, I would have guessed all those things, but not the golden child, the number one golfer in the world recently bearded, I think, to hide his baby face. Image to this modern day Metro lumberjack look. Image to this modern day metro lumberjack look. Now I hear this story and immediately pull out my iPhone to check out like I got to get the facts on this. Is this true or is this just a rumor. So here's what I learned and here's some conjecture.
Speaker 1:It's dark in the early AM outside Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, kentucky. Most PGA pros, particularly the ones that really compete for the title, have a routine to best prepare for the tournament. Some get into the mobile fitness center to stretch out before hitting the practice area. I would suspect that that's where Scotty was heading. It's my understanding that PGA pros that are not rooming on-site and there are some events where there's housing on-site or really nice hotel rooms the ones that aren't rooming on-site get preferential treatment when they drive into the course. Typically they have courtesy cars or if they don't, they just come up to the guard, roll down the windows, show their credentials to security and then somehow get to move around wherever the traffic is. They get preferential treatment.
Speaker 1:And, as unluck would have it, there was a fatal accident with a bus and a pedestrian earlier that morning that set the tone for law enforcement for the rest of the morning. There are a lot of fuzzy details around the infraction, but rumor has it that traffic impeded Scotty's journey to the course to start his three-hour preparation. So, according to different sources, another police officer had told Scotty to move around traffic and go to the front gate but this other officer was not letting him yield and when Scotty kept going he held onto Scotty's car and this guy probably not in his high school track fitness mode lost his footing and got dragged until he fell and suffered some injuries, cuffed him and told all the looky-loos and media to back off because this suspect was going to jail and there's nothing you can do about it. Scotty's mugshot hit social media shortly after his arrest and when I saw it it looked fake to me, well faker than Tiger's mugshot. The whole McGillis seemed surreal, but it was confirmed in so many news feeds it couldn't be fake news. Now I think Scotty handled it like a true professional no drama. He actually addresses the media to assuage any rumors or embellishments. His POV that it was a big misunderstanding.
Speaker 1:Over the course of the weekend I think we learned a few things about the incident. Scotty's actions weren't done out of malice. They weren't done out of outright disrespect of the law, you know. That being said, is it possible that Scotty's rise to the top of the golf food chain, with all the adulation and attention, made him feel like this one particular officer of the law didn't know who he was. So he took matters into hand and did what he had to do to prepare to win another tournament. Did he think that he might have earned enough status to operate above the law? Maybe not. Maybe the image that his team is well-crafted is true to core, and it was dark and it was rainy. But you know, if it were me and I was the number one golfer in the world, I might have done the same thing Scotty did. Nothing would have gotten in my way to prepare for that tournament. I would have been like Trump at the Paris Accords when he pushed the president of Montenegro out of the way so that he could be front and center for the cameras. What an ego. I don't think law enforcement was trying to make a point. You know like it's dark and rainy.
Speaker 1:Someone just got killed crossing the road and as an officer of the law, I've got to work traffic control. I'd rather be home sleeping and no prima donna. Or these privileged media type people are going to usurp my authority, particularly this millennial motherfucker. Or these privileged media-type people are going to usurp my authority, particularly this millennial motherfucker? Now I said on my last episode that I don't like to gamble on anybody but myself in sports. Now, if you bet on Scotty this past weekend, you'd be apoplectic when you learned about the arrest.
Speaker 1:As early as Sunday, news was buzzing about the Louisville police dropping all charges. Now I honestly believe the buzz. It seemed like if this was just a misunderstanding. I'm sure once they realized who they captured they would realize it was just a misunderstanding. But I watched this clip of the courtroom the other day where Scotty's lawyers were asking for a continuance of the arraignment. I think it's so. Scotty could play in the colonial golf tournament this weekend. But from the sound of the tone in the courthouse it doesn't look like the case is being dropped anytime soon.
Speaker 1:This was a felony, not a misdemeanor, and the DA, or whoever was talking to the judge, was suggesting that, no matter who this is, this is a violation of the law. This is a violation of the law. Now, my point of view is this Nothing is certain in life. This is just another example of the butterfly effect, and that is the world is deeply interconnected such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger complex system. If Scotty doesn't get arrested, there's a good likelihood he wins the tournament. But it sets things in motion and Zander now doesn't have to deal with the best of Scottie. Zander didn't have to deal with Scottie in the final pairing and listen to the crowds of people yelling for Scottie. He had a deal with Colin Morikawa, a two-time major champion but not the crowd favorite.
Speaker 1:I think crowds have a tremendous effect on the outcome of most any sporting event. In golf, when you hear people calling your name and they're cheering you on, it has to be an adrenaline rush. It has to be. And when you hear golfers interviewed after they'll talk to home crowds. This past weekend Justin Thomas was the hometown favorite and you could see how emotional he was playing in front of the Louisville fans. I mean to him he said it was one of the greatest weekends of his life. So the fans have an effect and I think as Xander was playing through the weekend he was gaining more traction with the fans Because the prior week at the Wells Fargo Championship he was actually leading the tournament coming into Sunday with Rory one stroke behind playing against him, and that weekend Rory had the crowd. He won it. Now his fourth time and the crowd just loves him and I think that had an effect on Xander. So this weekend Scottie's not playing with alongside him. He's starting to get the crowd with him and he becomes a different golfer. If he's making mistakes, they're small mistakes and he is becoming Houdini out of the last hole when he hits his second shot.
Speaker 1:With a very awkward stance, he almost had to stand inside of a bunker to hit this shot. He was able to advance the ball up towards the green, make an incredible chip shot and then he had to make the putt of his life Six and a half feet putt of his life Six and a half feet, a fairly straight putt with a slight turn at the end. And I got to be honest with you, I thought he was going to miss it and I didn't know what was going on in his head. I couldn't tell. I wasn't walking the fairways with him so I couldn't tell how the crowd was revving him up, but his confidence was sky high. So I've got to believe. When he went up to make that putt, he knew that putt was going to go in. So I had my doubt. So as he makes the putt and the putt is veering towards the edge of the hole the ball does a rim job around the outside and I am waiting to watch the ball come out of the hole. Some of my buddies call that a monica all lip and no hole. But it goes in. And all of a sudden I'm like that's what he thought it was going to do, maybe not in rim job fashion, but he believed that putt was going to go in and it did.
Speaker 1:And there's a saying in golf you're no better than you think you are. If you've ever seen anybody manifest their outcome. I think you saw it this weekend and you know, because of his past performances, particularly in majors, I thought he was going to succumb to some other golfer's destiny, like Bryson DeChambeau, who caught both the local crowd and the viewing public's eye with his swashbuckling performance. If you're interested in watching the trajectory of a superstar, follow Bryson. His story is like no other. His story is like no other. I mean a mad scientist with a brain like a supercomputer who requires mass input prior to every shot he makes. But on the other end of the spectrum, he shows this emotion on the course, like Tiger, Sergio, spieth, rom after most every shot. I used to always say he's the golfer I'd never want to play behind, just because of his methodical slow play. I also said the guy might be great on the course, but I'd never want to have a beer with him. He's just got so much going on in his head. But you know what I think he's changing. He is now becoming an entertainer that happens to play really good golf. I am the entertainer and I know just where I stand. Another serenader and another long-haired band, free speech and women back in the kitchen. These are a few of my favorite things. These are a few of my favorite things. These are a few of my favorite things.
Speaker 1:Last week, harrison Butker, the kicker for the world champion Chiefs, made a commencement speech at Benedictine University. I'm not certain that his speech was vetted by university faculty or whether it had to be, but regardless, his theme for college graduates was like nothing ever broached. I'll paraphrase In this progressive world of equal pay, equal opportunity and underscoring a let's all get along mantra, harrison reminded women that, like his wife, a woman married to a man making probably four million dollars a year, your most prized goal in life is to be defined by your husband, while your role as a homemaker should satisfy your every dream in life. That's suspicious, that's weird and whatever his interpretation of the Bible was, that's how all of you college graduates should conduct your lives. So all of you, all of you fornicating female financiers, don't be misguided into a life of unfulfilled blasphemy. Don't be misguided into a life of unfulfilled blasphemy. So I actually have mixed feelings about his speech. I could see both sides. First of all, I'm a free speech advocate, which should surprise no one who listens to this podcast. If Harrison feels strongly about a woman's role in the world and believes we should all be ruled by biblical interpretation, so be it. Look, by doing what he did, he leaves himself open to harsh criticism, which has swelled into demands for his firing. Now I think that would be a mistake for the Kansas City GM to give him his walking papers. He has the right to express his viewpoints of the world. I'm just looking forward to all the signs in the stands, particularly when he plays away games.
Speaker 1:For every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. If the noise level gets too loud, opposite reaction. If the noise level gets too loud, the Hunt family will be forced to act. But right now they don't have to. I think let's just enjoy the response. If nothing else, it's personal entertainment for me. Big titty cookies. Just add milk. That's add with a double D Makes your bone grow. We're talking lactation infatuation. Molly Baz, pumping out one cookie at a time.
Speaker 1:An electronic billboard was taken down. It was a billboard featuring a bare-breasted pregnant woman with two cookies covering her nipples with the headlines just add milk. The product she was featuring was big titty cookies. She's selling lactation cookies baked to help promote healthy lactation Milk boosters. At first I thought they were cookies made with mother's milk, but after my teenage giggles subsided I realized they were lactation initiation. I would venture to guess that most of us men don't realize or know this, but lactation can be challenging for some women for different reasons Hormones, medication, radiation therapy, drug, alcohol use. There are a bunch of others. It's a serious issue, particularly for those suffering the challenge, for those suffering the challenge. As a result, companies that can provide a healthy solution should be eagerly accepted and applauded if their products make a difference, if they actually work. And thus, if not for the big titties title, the ad probably wouldn't have been dropped the ad probably wouldn't have been dropped, and I don't know what drove the cancellation. I mean, I could just imagine.
Speaker 1:Imagine there's this church group traveling to New York City for the first time with elementary school kids. They're going to see the play Book of Mormon. They decide to kill an hour or so in Times Square, maybe treat the kids to a slice at Sparrow's. Some get selfies with Elmo, spider-man, captain America, iron man. But the day doesn't go exactly as planned. First they encounter the naked cowboy, at which time the schoolgirls start giggling and asking why a man wearing only a bulge-filled tighty-whities is singing in the square. Then a bunch of dads get bamboozled into a game of three-card Monty and the shell game, where they have to follow the red ball. Now they're down 300 bucks. To top it off, a few of the boys are staring up at this billboard saying big titties. At which point some of the Karens begin to scold them for yelling big titties, big titties. Then one of the observant moms look up at the billboard and gasp big titty cookies. That's blasphemy, said one of the tightly wound Karens. Something must be done. At which point all of the moms pull out their phones looking for contact information for outdoor advertising companies, connect with the manager in charge and threaten a lawsuit. Now, for all of you patient listeners, that was my imagination and fake news. But having the ad removed wasn't Quite. Frankly, I don't think that Molly Baz could have gotten better exposure and search queries if the ad was just left alone and nobody took it down. Sometimes the report of a potential lawsuit or a forced cancellation provides more illumination than the original and plan.
Speaker 1:And what is it about titties that gets everybody's attention? Well, I researched it on Reddit just for my own adolescent amusement. Here were some of the answers. Number one they're aesthetically pleasing. Two they're the only thing you could honk if you don't have a driver's license. That was pretty funny. Number three it reminds us of the comfort and joy of breastfeeding. Then there was this chain of back and forth between these people that I would imagine were basement dwellers. But the creme de la creme was this quote there's something about them that is non-verbally begging for all of the sperm you'll ever create to just erupt and cover them. That post was from the handle Buttfucker, spelled with three K's, probably one of the chaperones on the New York City field trip. Molly Baz, you're a marketing genius, genius, genius, genius, extra, extra, read all about it. Extra, extra, read all about it. Jesus is coming back again. Extra, extra, read all about it. This is some news that you gotta take in.
Speaker 1:A few months ago, my crush signed up to participate as an extra in one of the local production crews, charleston has become an attractive destination for several film companies. Her experience was so good that I signed up and actually got picked this week to be on a production. Now, because of confidentiality agreements, I'm legally bound to leave out the name of the production company and show. That's perfectly okay, because the observations I have have little to do with the specific production and more to do with how people behave in this environment. I recently finished reading a book by author Will Storr about the status game of human life. It encapsulates the game of life and how increasingly our status provides meaning greater influence, access to a wider choice of mates, more security and resources for us and our families. After spending several days on the production set, it became abundantly clear that the status game was dynamic and in full view.
Speaker 1:The role of extras actually have a professional title on the production set we are basically called background. We are basically called background. It's a non-offensive way of saying. We are human props. The role of background is to add human color to a scene. The talent or celebrity actors create the focal points and the background adds realism to the scene. And I would tell you this once you work as background, every future movie or series you watch, you're going to gaze at the extras to see how real and natural they behave.
Speaker 1:One of the funniest mockeries of the wrong way to act as an extra is the final scene of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, where Pee-wee Herman plays the hotel clerk in the movie about himself Paging Mr Herman. Mr Herman, you have a telephone call at the front desk. I mean he does everything wrong, like looking at the camera, looking awkward while the other actor is speaking. He's mouthing the words of the other actor. It couldn't have been any funnier of the wrong way to act as an extra. I made sure in my role as background I didn't do any of that. So a few things become perfectly clear to me at the end of day one shooting. Number one is most of the girls and some of the younger guys came to the set with hopes of being discovered. Those same hopeful positives had their dreams crushed when they had a standstill a hundred yards away from the camera and were not even picked for any of the close-up scenes. Next to the talent, the real job of background is this Show up on time when you get to the set, don't be a douche up and then get on the shuttle buses when directed. That's it.
Speaker 1:Before I share my thoughts on observations of the status game, I have to point out the high level of expertise and precision exemplified by the director on down to the grunts. I haven't had the opportunity to serve in the military, but I would venture a guess that a film production company, particularly a really good one like this, operates with similar precision. Every chance I got to watch the director, film and sound crew in action was like a gift to me. They speak a different language that transforms the set and the talent into specific actions that in turn satisfies the director's vision. And if it doesn't, they cut and do it again. A hundred iterations of the same thing until the director is satisfied. Same thing until the director is satisfied. Look, the status game was in full view.
Speaker 1:Number one is top of the chain was the talent, and even within that there was a range of power within the talent. The more recognized the talents were, the more they seem to get what they want. And they knew where they stood on the picking order. I mean they had their own PAs on beck and call to provide them nourishment, clothing, shelter and, most importantly, ass kissing. Like that was a great scene. Oh, you did so well in that scene. You looked so good. You did great.
Speaker 1:The second rung on the power pyramid was the director. Look, all the shit flows downhill from the director. He or she calls the shots on where to shoot, when to shoot, where to reshoot, who gets to go where and when. All of the other gaggle of support teams march to the director's orders. They are in charge. Now the sound and film directors were seemingly at the same level as the production director, with all of their support staff at attention at all times. Between the production director, film director and sound director, it was the trifecta of power. Below them you seem to have the production assistants and prop masters basically one step that are above the grunts, the camera and sound crew. All that follow the lead of the assistant director, who basically speaks for the director. The director comes up with the ideas and then the AD turns around and barks the specific orders to each of the groups.
Speaker 1:When I first got on set, I actually thought the AD was the director because he was giving all the orders to everybody, until I saw the director in action Below all of the grunts, the cameramen, everybody that's carrying everything. There's the food crew and the first aid and then other miscellaneous jobs that plug any holes in the dike. For most people. I had no idea what their roles were unless I asked them and, trust me, I pretty much asked everybody what they did. Below that there is the background, the extras, and the extras were the most eclectic group of humans with the most diverse backgrounds that all applied for the job with a mix of different intent. So here are some of the things that they said to me as to why they wanted to be there. Of course, number one is being discovered. I already call that. Everybody who goes on the set thinks that a camera is going to capture them and the director is going to see it and said who was that person? We need that person front and center. We got to have that person on more shots.
Speaker 1:Some people just want to be on camera. Some just said they look, they liked the series and they wanted to be part of it. Some just wanted to be as close as they could to the talent in hopes that they'd connect. Some, like me, were very curious about the industry. I wanted to see how the sausage was made. Some wanted to participate in the industry anything in the industry. Others want to climb the ladder in the industry. So they want to start at the bottom, somehow work their way up and see where it takes them. Some people were just bored at home, wanted something different. And then others wanted, needed or just enjoyed getting that $88 check for eight hours of work and maybe there's an opportunity for overtime. And then others wanted that elevated status amongst their friends and family, basically to say, hey, I just worked on this set. You know it's kind of an aphrodisiac.
Speaker 1:Here's an observational newsflash. Background extras should be like children. They should be seen and not heard In the status game. There's little to no interaction, two levels above or below the sediments of status separation. The talent doesn't talk to anybody but other talent or the directors. They don't want the background to speak with anybody else besides other background, pa's, first aid or the protein selector on the chow line. There is no interaction between background and talent or background and the director. We are props, even though we were warned by the PA not to interact with the talent. Don't get in the way.
Speaker 1:I often see these young status-seeking extras trying to make the connection anyway. I mean, the laws of smoking hot apply to most everything Attractive. People know that they have a superpower of leaping over status lines to get what they want. I think a good part of the industry is built on good looks rising to higher levels than their peers. At some point, real talent and when I say talent I mean someone's ability to really act find themselves getting bigger roles, more complex roles, and are more sought after. You don't have to be smoking hot to rise to the level of top talent, but I'll tell you it doesn't hurt If, given the chance, I'd probably do it again. You know. You just never know where it's going to lead. For me it's most likely going to lead to the chow line, but that's nothing to shake a stick at, because craft services can be the highlight of a tough day on the set. I'm your host, rich Easton, telling tales from beautiful Charleston, south Carolina. Talk to you soon, thank you.