PGA TOUR COUNTDOWN™
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PGA TOUR COUNTDOWN™
Playing The Open Championship requires a wildly different strategy than American golf.
What does it take to revive a golf career at age 55 when your body feels broken? How do you adapt to the wildly different challenge of links golf after decades playing American-style courses?
Paul Stankowski of the Champions Tour joins Golf Talk America fresh off his top-10 finish at the Dick's Championship to cover these questions and more. Stankowski candidly shares how physical pain had him ready to quit the game entirely just months ago. "I got emotional at the end of the year," he reveals. "I'm like I can't do this anymore. There's no chance I'm going to be able to play beyond this next year if I feel like this." Through specialized training focused on rebuilding his lower body stability, he's experienced a remarkable transformation that has him feeling better than he has in two decades.
As the conversation shifts to the upcoming British Open, Stankowski provides fascinating insights into the fundamentally different approach required for links golf. He explains how pros often need to land approach shots 30-40 yards short of greens to accommodate the firm conditions - something that goes against everything they practice week after week on the PGA Tour. The slower green speeds present another adjustment challenge, affecting not just the pace but completely changing break calculations. Stankowski also reveals how top players hire local caddies not to carry their bags, but to provide strategic course insights that might otherwise take five or six practice rounds to discover.
The episode concludes with touching stories about Stankowski's son serving as his caddie, creating special father-son moments as they navigate the challenges of tournament golf together. Whether you're interested in the mental challenges of adapting to different golf environments or how athletes can reinvent themselves later in their careers, this conversation offers valuable insights that extend far beyond the golf course. Listen now to gain a deeper appreciation for what makes the British Open uniquely challenging and how professional golfers continue to evolve their games and bodies throughout their careers.
Welcome to the fusion of golf music sports and entertainment.
Speaker 2:Golf Talk America with Tim Matthews and Frank Bassett. Take it away, boys.
Speaker 1:And hello once again everybody. Welcome to Golf Talk America, Tim Matthews, with you and we've got a great show for you, A great show, I promise you. It's going to be the final show of our senior season, if you will, Because we're talking well, that doesn't even make sense. Not the senior season, the major season, Because we've got the British Open right around the corner as we're doing the podcast, Just a couple of days before the boys tee it up and get ready for the final. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1:The British Open to me is always kind of an up in the air because it's such a different venue, it's such a different kind of golf and if you watched the Scottish Open last week and you saw an unknown named Chris Gutterup win over a lot of better known guys, you kind of see that it's a bit of a toss-up a lot of times at these Lynx courses. So anyway, we'll talk about that. We've got a good friend, Paul Stankowski, with a senior tour, the Champions Tour going to be joining us here in a little bit as well, and I think he's heading over into the same direction because next week they have the ISPS Honda Handa not Honda Handa Senior Open. The ISPS Honda Handa, not Honda Handa Senior Open, and they're going to be in Berkshire, England, and I think he's playing in that, but we'll find out for sure. So he'll tell us a little bit about his Lynx experience as well. So, anyway, great show headed your way. Again. Thanks for being with us, as always, Frank Bassett in the Nashville studios. How are you doing, Frank? I'm great.
Speaker 3:Well, let's see, I'm great. Well, let's see, we've got the Senior Honda Lexus Budweiser.
Speaker 2:Open what.
Speaker 3:The Senior Open. Okay, okay, grandpa, it's the Handa Senior.
Speaker 1:Open.
Speaker 3:The Handa yeah, h-a-n-d-a, h-a-n-d-a, yeah.
Speaker 1:I-S-P-S. Everybody's got to get their sponsor name in the title nowadays.
Speaker 3:You know, icon de Roca.
Speaker 1:Open and I'm calling it the British Open. I'm a little tired. I'm a little tired of the arrogance of just saying it's the Open.
Speaker 3:You're in some pain. We found out in the pre-show. Your lower back is about to kill you.
Speaker 1:I'm heavily medicated. I just took a couple of.
Speaker 2:Celebrex. So yeah, if I start to, ramble or drool.
Speaker 1:You'll know why, yeah.
Speaker 3:Celebrex a shot of scotch and then a pop of tequila, and you're ready to go?
Speaker 1:Yes, I guess.
Speaker 3:So you're getting on a plane, I understand this week, and you're heading to Greece.
Speaker 1:Yep, I'm going to Greece. Yeah, I'm coming up on Saturday, so while they're playing the final couple rounds.
Speaker 3:Bring me back a T-shirt.
Speaker 1:I'll be. I was in Greece and this is all. I got Brought back a T-shirt, and then we're going to London for a few days on the way back.
Speaker 3:Oh, good for you. It's going to be nice as well. Are you going to have a chance to play any golf on?
Speaker 1:this trip. No, we were going to plan a couple of the guys that I was going to go with. We're planning to go to Scotland, literally, and play there, and my one friend has played a number of times there I've never played over there at all, really so we had it all planned at uh, uh, well, I can't remember the one course I'll come up with here in a second, the one that he loves the most in Scotland and anyway, his schedule changed for various reasons and it kind of blew up the whole trip for all of us. So, so, no, we're, uh, we're not going to be playing any.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a little. I'm a little disappointed in that, but it's okay. It's called King's barn. Have you heard of King's Barns? I have not heard of that. Golf links no, yeah, king's Barns and I've talked to so many people that are like they'd play there versus St Andrews or anywhere else you can go. They're like King's Barn is the place I don't know, really I like RPR.
Speaker 1:It should be because it was like 500 bucks to play. So we had to deposit like a month ago and fine, you've got, like you know, until 30 days before you play or something like that. But anyway, yeah, it was like 500 bucks.
Speaker 3:A man.
Speaker 1:That'd be nice, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Per foursome Per foursome 500. I said, well, that's a deal, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Plus a caddy on top of that.
Speaker 3:Sounds like TPC. Sawgrass man, what are you saying?
Speaker 1:Golf is just getting kind of crazy.
Speaker 3:Well it is, except in Ireland it's not that bad. A lot of the courses. Well, when McElroy was growing up, of course, $300 to be a member per year $300 to be a member, not just play.
Speaker 1:Be a member.
Speaker 3:Be a member and then you just pay to play. But yeah, I like Royal Port Rush. Rpr is cool, cool, cool beans and it's going to be fun this week I can't wait to. I don't know if Stanky has played that course or not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll find out if he has.
Speaker 3:I don't know if he has either, but it's, uh, it, it's going to be different, it's going to be a lot different. We'll talk more about it later, but you know, last week at Renaissance, the Renaissance club, yeah you, he just would look at every putt and just shrug his shoulders and throw his hands up and go.
Speaker 3:I don't want to break that one. Well, they were playing the edges of the cup last week. They're not going to be playing the edges on this golf course. This golf course has some undulation on these greens, so they're going to be playing it outside of the cup. So it's going to be really, really fun to watch these big breaking, sweeping putts, trying to drop them.
Speaker 1:I'll be honest with you, and I guess this is part of the reason as I was explaining that I was going to and now haven't and will still go on I've never played in in scotland, ireland, any of those courses. I'm not that fascinated with it.
Speaker 1:To be honest with you, people are gaga about oh, you got to go and you got to go oh yeah, okay, because of the tradition, but I look at those courses and have no love for that kind of golf. Going oh that, just because it looks like there should be goats out there. There are In the middle of the field there are, they should be chomping on grass. That's exactly. You would never play that golf course in the US and you certainly wouldn't go.
Speaker 3:Well, no, wait a minute.
Speaker 1:Oh, let me pay $400 to play on that. Wait a minute.
Speaker 3:Come to Nashville, come over for a visit. I'll take you out to. It's a public course too, hermitage Hermitage Golf Links. Here in Golf Course, here two courses. They used to play the Sarah Lee Classic on the LPGA tour there every year and they did some senior LPGA stuff there. It's the General's Retreat and the President's Reserve, and on the General's Retreat and the President's Reserve and on the President's Reserve the owner went and got the black-faced sheep and houses them and they roam all over the course. It's just a really neat experience. No, it's cool. Is the course in good shape? Oh, fabulous, it is honestly one of the best golf courses of any in the state of Tennessee, either private or not private. One of the best golf courses of any in the state of Tennessee.
Speaker 1:And he's a private or not not private and it is not a private. But the wild sheep don't mess up the grasses.
Speaker 3:No, no, no. He has them roaming up and down the hills and it's really, it's pretty, it's really a cool experience, it really is yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm just saying that in the sense of I look at it and go okay, there's nothing visual, and I get that there's tradition to it, but that doesn't fascinate me as much. I would go play, and I was going to go play until my friend's schedule changed up, but it was more just to say, yeah, I'm over there. I've never made a special trip like so many people do with their buddies and everything else. Again, if somebody else set it up for me, I'm not doing it myself, though I'm never going to go.
Speaker 1:Let me schedule this and let me make sure I got the airfare and I got a hotel. I don't want to do all that crap and go play these courses that A look like goat pastures to me. B and I know I'm killing traditionalists here Goat track, town here live.
Speaker 1:The weather is always iffy at best. Let me pay all this money to go and maybe you get some sunshine, but there's a really good chance you're going to get some sideways rain and you're going to go play, no matter what. Anyway, I just I don't look at that and go boy, when can I go? So I haven't. I mean there you go, so at some point I will. Royal Port Rush I saw they did a little preview. I watched yesterday. It looked nicer than what we saw at the Scottish Open.
Speaker 3:It looked horrible to me, Frank.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying it was brown, brown and you could only tell the green because it was a little bit greener.
Speaker 3:It looked a lot like Chambers Bay for the open, the US Open. Yes, it kind of did.
Speaker 1:And I get it for a different kind of thing. Okay, if that's what you're looking for, I get that, and it's a different golf game, as we all know.
Speaker 1:once, it followed it even though you haven't played there that you can't go right at pins because it will bounce at the pin and go 70 yards over the green. So you've got to play it short of the green, let it roll up, let the greens kind of undulation on. So it's a. It's a very unique way of playing golf and Scotty and the boys that aren't used to playing over there and you're very much have to get that down, get Tom Watson. I mean they've been great Americans that have obviously figured it out. But it's a different kind of golf.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it really is. You play it on the ground over there and you play it in the air here. Yeah, basically that's what you do. So, yeah, but it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun this week.
Speaker 1:I mean they'll figure it out. It's not like it's impossible to say okay, how far to the pin? 185. How far should I hit it? 120.
Speaker 3:Okay, tell me that again You're like yeah and keep it low. And the wind's coming in, try to avoid those bunkers, the, the, the pop bunkers and things, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, that's going to be hitting something different. You might have a threesome and have one guy with a three or four iron, one guy with a driver and one guy with a hybrid, all hitting different shots, and some might even hit a six iron to just play short. Like. Remember Tiger years and years ago I can't remember which course, but he played everything so short to not even come close to those bunkers which, of course, course, are strategically positioned for a rollout to go. But he had a lot of 210-yard approach shots Was that at Carnoustie when he did that.
Speaker 1:Was that at Carnoustie I?
Speaker 3:think so, and he won. I mean, he won, yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:But he strategically would hit seven irons when guys are hitting drivers. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It'd be like, okay, let's target one here. I mean it really tests your ability to envision the shot and manufacture something.
Speaker 1:It's cool. It's a cool goal and the rollout is significant, right, so you might hit a shot, oh. God yeah, it's ridiculous, like a lot of guys you bend down and pick up your tee like, oh, that's right down the middle, that's great. And then the camera picks it up and it's rolling and it's rolling.
Speaker 3:Now they're using a really cool camera that they use on the NFL games to get some tight shots around the greens. I'm waiting to see the first person that clobbers that thing brings it in with a high shot and hits it. That's going to be fun.
Speaker 1:But it is a cool shot. It's a cool shot yeah, here's my last rip on the British Open, Frank, if I might. Is the camera work?
Speaker 3:Go ahead Get them, oh God, oh, don't even get me started you, me and my grandmother. Those guys are blind, they're drunk. I'm convinced they're all drunk. They have to be they're drunk.
Speaker 1:They have to be they take the widest shot possible. You see the curvature of the earth, it's such a wide shot. And then somewhere they go to the green and you're like and where's the ball again? You're like, I don't know, Somewhere over in that big shot I got here.
Speaker 3:We're going to break over here to Darren Clark commentating on number seven.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good shot.
Speaker 3:I mean I was watching with my wife. Sorry, Darren, Just kidding.
Speaker 1:I was wife a little bit. I said just watch, just watch this camera. So she's watching, right, doesn't really care one way or the other. And the guy hits a shot and they focus on it for about the first 50 yards off the tee. Yeah, right, and then they widen out and you can't see. They kind of zoom back towards the green trying to find it and my wife goes where's the ball? I go, nobody knows, it's just we all just sit there going. Is he putting, is he chipping?
Speaker 3:I don't have a clue.
Speaker 1:I have no idea where that ball went to. I don't understand how they haven't in this amount of time. I thought you know what. Maybe they're just not used to American TV, where you got to focus on the baseball.
Speaker 3:And they get real tight on the seat. We have sobriety tests for the cameramen before they go to work.
Speaker 1:It's just like they're all having cocktails.
Speaker 3:It's just like they're all having cocktails.
Speaker 1:They are, they do.
Speaker 3:You've not been there. Trust me, it's a Glenn Leavitt, glenn Fittich or McAllen Fest over there. Yeah, or all of the above, yeah.
Speaker 1:So again, I know I'm sounding like a grumpy old man I'm trying to do that.
Speaker 3:Oh no.
Speaker 1:I'm still going to be watching as much as I can, even though I'll be actually I won't be watching. I'll be in a different country, but I'll watch as much as I can.
Speaker 3:Well, you'll watch some of it. You'll watch it on a plane.
Speaker 1:Well, I think you know on Saturday, sunday, I'll be traveling almost all Saturdays. I'm going to miss that Sunday I'll be around You'll. So yeah, you will.
Speaker 3:Check it out, contact the airline or whatever. Check that out, get you set up before you go, because once you get there.
Speaker 1:you get it Because they're so cooperative with you as a flyer.
Speaker 3:They're wonderful.
Speaker 1:Get in your seat and shut up.
Speaker 3:That's what I get. Well, not even that. It's like the power's going whoops. That was an air miss week.
Speaker 1:I mean two almost collided on the damn runway. It's like they're so restrictive of what they will let you do. I actually have a laptop. I also have an iPad. Right, somehow, frank, you tell me iPads you can keep that going from takeoff on takeoff and no problem. If you have a laptop, somehow that mysterious technology that's from the ancient gods will ruin their takeoff so you have to close your laptop. Ipad you can keep open, but your laptop. You know what she said to me the last trip I went to Chicago for my grandson's christening, I had my iPad out, thinking, well, I got it so I can watch my little movie here. I'm already going. She goes, sir. Yeah, I go. No, it's an iPad.
Speaker 3:She goes, yeah, but you have a keyboard, you have to get rid of the keyboard. I had to disconnect my keyboard. Oh, it was the Bluetooth connectivity. Oh my God, that's what it was the Bluetooth connectivity. Maybe that's it. We don't know, maybe we'll get a technical person on here.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, I don't care, I'm like what else do too, but I mean it's like I would fly on cowboy charters right years ago, going back in the 90s you're talking about the dallas cowboys, the football team right, okay, I'm sorry, sorry. Yeah, rodeo guys oh, you're flying with them, yeah yes, we're flying with them on a regular american airlines. It's a charter, but it's a big 737, whatever it was right. And they never said one thing about any technology before takeoff.
Speaker 1:It was like put both hands on your beers while we take off. That was about the only rule they had. People were standing in the aisles, guys were talking playing poker, people were on iPads, writers for the newspapers and stuff were writing articles. Everybody's doing everything. Not a word. Nobody said it and I'm kind of thinking that might be a big deal if it was literally going to cause a plane to have issues. The Dallas Cowboys going down would be the last thing American Airlines wants. Right, they don't want any plane to go down, but they certainly don't want America's team to go down and all the bad people.
Speaker 3:On America's airline.
Speaker 1:On American Airlines and airline American airline, and yet not a word. Somehow you get on a plane from Dallas to Chicago and there's 73 different warnings they have to give you this? I'll turn this, I do this and you're like, okay, really, do we need to do it, or did you so?
Speaker 3:Sorry, we have a commentator in the background. I apologize.
Speaker 1:I'm babysitting the dog today, so Well, go ahead, you do that, cause we're going to take a break anyway. Paul Stankowski is going to be joining us. He's on his way to physical therapy, so we'll be joining somewhere on the highway in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. So let's take a quick break. And a guy who played really, really well last week.
Speaker 3:Another top 10. Yeah, did it had a great tournament at Dix Championship.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, and Paul Stankowski will be joining us, so stick around. You're listening to Golf Talk, america, frank and I and Paul will be back right after this.
Speaker 3:I'm here to get a fitting with my new PXG driver. You've got to have the club fitted to your style. It's important for your swing Dead straight.
Speaker 2:So what do you say? I'm going to add 20 grams in the heel.
Speaker 3:Give me a little bit more hook.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go to the 12 and a half gram, which will allow it to be more draw biased.
Speaker 3:Oh yes, Definitely more draw. That's the beauty that PXG can do for you. We will adjust your clubs to suit you. Book your fitting now at PXGcom.
Speaker 1:PXG. You've never played like this before. Welcome back to Golf Talk America. Tim Matthews and Frank Bassett and, as we had promised, our Mr Golf, mr PGA Tour champions, a top 10 finish tied for ninth at Dick's Championship last week and joining us now, paul Stankowski with us on his way to physical therapy. Stanky, how you doing, haven't talked to you in a while. You doing good.
Speaker 2:Hey, fellas, I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Great to be home, great to sleep in my own bed. Wake up, do my yard. Now back to my Cairo and to my trainer and to the golf course. I had my day off Time to get back to work and shot 10 under par and got your as I said, tie for ninth and a couple of 68s and a 70 thrown in there.
Speaker 1:You moved up in the Schwab Cup and everything else. So overall, season-wise, you happy with where you're at, where your game's at.
Speaker 2:I am. I am very encouraged. You know, the year started off great with I think I finished fourth my first event of the year, and and uh. And then it just kind of petered out and uh, I had just a lot of mediocre golf and and uh. But you know, all the while encouraged, you know I spent the off season making some changes equipment changes, swing changes, shot shape changes, hired a trainer, so body changes, and so I knew it was going to be a process and I'm still not there yet.
Speaker 2:Statistically, ball striking this year has been down a little bit from the normal. But I do like the things that I've been doing to, you know, hopefully bring more consistency. But in the meantime it hasn't been as consistent. But the last two weeks at the Open and the US Open and the Dix Open, I putt it better. Obviously you guys know that guys who putt the best usually are the ones who have a chance to win.
Speaker 2:I'm normally a middle-of-the-road to below-average statistical putter. We don't have all the fancy stats on our tour, we just have putts per green and regulation. You know there's no, I don't. I still don't understand strokes gained, but I thought when you made a putt you gained a stroke but the, the. So our, our stats are just, basically, if you hit a green and regulation and they count them up and and you know I'm usually in the forties and fifties, uh, during the week. So the last couple of weeks I was in the top 10, I think I was fifth last week in that category and and, um, you know it never hurts I all the years I've played golf, it never hurts when you make putts, you know, never does.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it makes up a lot of mistakes too. Yeah, it makes up a lot of mistakes too, doesn't it? Speaking of that, uh, last week at the Scottish everybody, scotty Scheffler was a little frustrated. He was playing left, left, lip, right lip, back lip. I mean, he couldn't make a putt and he was going crazy, have you?
Speaker 2:played. I saw one, one of those clips and my son showed it to me. He was kind of looking at it hands up. But you know, you play golf over there and you know that type of golf. The greens are like pool tables for the most part, and you go across the pond and it's just not the same and they're usually you remember, you know all those years Tiger always complaining Well, not really complaining, just stating the fact that I couldn't get my speed down right Because the greens are slower and there's a little more wiggle to them.
Speaker 2:It's you, you know, mostly seaside, poana, and uh, or whatever type of grass, and so anyway, yeah it, it could be a little bit confusing and frustrating and, uh, it seemed like it got the best of scotty. But you know what boy like we're talking about how I had a good week and I finished ninth, and then he hasn't. He finished his ninth and it's like the end of the world. You know the way we talk about it. So it's like I would love to have his crappy weeks well, I don't know if you played rpr or not.
Speaker 3:Royal port rush, I should say, uh, have you played that course later I have. I have never played there okay I've played it once in my life and it was incredibly difficult. Uh, the greens, because it's not like last week, you're not going to be playing it on the right edge or the left edge. You're going to be playing it a foot out or two feet out to the right or the left.
Speaker 2:Oh, there's that much slope.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a lot of slope on those puppies, so I'm anxious to see Scotty in a couple of practice rounds. It's going to be great.
Speaker 1:Well, everybody says that the only way the rest of the field can come close to Scottie as well as he's been playing literally for two or three years now is if he's not putting great. If his putting is so-so like at the Masters or anywhere else, then everybody else has a chance. If his putting is even good to great, nobody stands a chance, so we'll see if that holds up.
Speaker 1:That holds up for for this week. Now. You have played over there at different tournaments, british Opens and things you're playing. Are you going to play at the the Handa Senior Open? That's your next event on the Champions Tour in Berkshire, england. Are you going over for that?
Speaker 2:We are. Yes, fortunately we played there at 21. And my son went over that year and caddied for me and, and it was a blast, I missed the cut. I had a horrendous. I shot nine over on my my, uh, my third nine. I was kind of in the mix, I'd say I was probably four or five shots maybe back after 27 holes and I literally shot nine over um and I don't know if I made a par. It was terrible. And so he says, yeah, we have unfinished business. I was kind of on the fence as to whether or not I was going to go a month ago and I had already booked tickets just past the middle of our our season and, and you know, after the british we have a week off and then we have 10 out of 12 weeks um, and that's a lot of golf uh yeah for this old, for this old guy.
Speaker 2:And I did it last year and I went over to carnoustie and that was an amazing experience. That golf course is so hard and so good, but at the end of the year I was so gassed that my body hurt Physically. It was the worst I'd felt since playing professional golf and my game suffered. I didn't play well at all at the end of the year. So this year I was thinking I hadn't had a very good season up till the last few weeks and um, you know, I was almost 50th in Schwab cup points and you know top 36 is the goal. So I was really finding myself well behind uh, where I needed to be. And so I was starting to think about the end of the year and thought, well, maybe I'll just take the, I'll take the open off and uh, have three weeks at home, um, to kind of rest up for this. This, uh, the home stretch, and uh, but you know, playing well, the last two weeks, top tens at the open, and last week it's it's put me now inside the number in a much better position. And and uh, so I, I, uh and it's the open. You know I didn't play a couple years ago but we played at um in wales. I didn't know anything about the golf course, I just heard that the weather could be terrible. So I thought, yeah, I'm not going to go. And and lo and behold, when I turn the tv on thursday morning and I'm watching the tournament and I see the logo and the open championship, senior open and I'm like what a knucklehead. You know, like you, I've grinded so hard to. You know, I'm not an exempt player. I don't have enough career money or career wins, uh, to be exempt and play whenever I choose. So I um, I've had to, I've had to grind and I'm fortunate enough to have played well enough to get myself in a great position to get in most weeks. And that year I was exempt and I didn't go and I just felt dirty. I literally felt like what are you doing? You've grinded and now you're in and it's a major and you're like man, I want to go, it's going to be bad weather. I was like that's so dumb, man, I want to go, it's going to be bad weather. You know, I was like that's so dumb. So I um. So I was considered there again, considering, not because of the weather, but just because of the end of the year, I was looking at the big scope of things and um, but that all changed a couple of weeks ago. And and uh, so we're going over my son and I. He's back on the bag, he's on the bag all year and and uh, and so we're leaving saturday night and I'm really looking forward to it. It's, sunningdale is an amazing golf course, so good it's. It's not linksy, it's, it's a traditional golf course. Um, and it's beautiful. It's hard, uh, it's demanding off the t that it's not like it's super narrow, but the there seems to be two bunkers on every hole, one right, one left, and they're six feet deep. It's like auto pitch out kind of deal. So it's good. I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2:There again, the greens are slower and, on that note, you know it's putting slow greens, or greens slower than we're used to putting.
Speaker 2:It's not just about, oh, I can't get it to the hole, it's finding the right lines, right, because we're so ingrained Most of the weeks out there we're putting on greens at between 11 and a half and 12 and a half, so 12 on the stint meter and it's pretty consistent.
Speaker 2:And so if you have a 15-foot putt that you're like this is two cups out. You know the speed it's breaking, you know the fall. Uh, then you're putting on greens that are slower and you don't have to play as much break, and and so it's. It's hard to adjust at such a short amount of time when you're used to. For the last two, four, 10, 15, 20, 30 years you're putting fast greens and all of a sudden you pump the brakes and slow. So it is difficult, but it's difficult for all and I think the advantage goes maybe to in an open championship you may have a little more advantage to that player who maybe is on the DP tour or, in our case, on the Legends tour, or somebody who plays more abroad. On slower surfaces may have a little bit of an edge because they're used to putting slower, slower greens. And I don't know, that's just my take, but I don't care, slow, fast, just put me in coach.
Speaker 1:We're talking with Paul Stankowski, the pj tour champions, and uh. So I'm curious. We, frank and I were talking, before you joined us, about the difference in playing lynx courses over there versus where you play here. You just mentioned one of the big differences, which is the speed of the greens and the condition of the greens. Would the other difference be like approach shots when you're hitting an approach shot into these greens at a lynx course, that you're not flying it at the pin because they'll never hold right at those pins, that you have to play it even short of the green sometimes, which could be 30 or 40 yards short of where you normally would hit it? To me it seems like it would be difficult to get that down about really playing it short all the time and playing the ball to run and to run out. Is that the other big difference you think when you play over there at the Lynx courses?
Speaker 2:100%. It can be right, but here's the thing Guys are so good at landing or hitting the ball where they want it to land, right, even on the PGA tour. You're not always firing at him.
Speaker 2:So you're not trying to land it. If it's one 47, you're not trying to hit it. One 47 depends on the firmness of the greens or the softness of the greens. These guys are so dialed in with their track bands and their GC quads and all their flight scopes. It's really a strategy If you've got two green players that show up to a link-style golf course and they show up on tuesday thinking they'll play one practice round and figure it out. Caddy doesn't know, player doesn't know they're gonna have a hard time, right. Like you really need to know.
Speaker 2:Like a carnusi blew my mind, I had a local caddy and he was great. He would tell me hey, you got to land this thing, you know 32 yards short of the green. And I'm like what planet are you on? Like I can't do that, right. He's like trust me, just hit it. It's, we got 168 front. You want to hit this thing 136. And I'm like, wow, and it's hard to think. And I'm looking at the book and I see where I gotta land it. I'm like, okay, but sure enough. I'm like now I'm like, nah, I'm going to land on the front. Yeah, I'm 10 yards over the green, right.
Speaker 2:So it's a, it's a strategy and, honestly, the guys who really uh, you've got to go over early, some players will actually hire a local caddy to go along with them, like not to carry the bag, but they'll pay him whatever they want to pay. It's invaluable, right. So I don't know if Ted and Scotty did this, but here's this scenario. They could say, hey, we need one of your good caddies and we're going to pay him five grand. Whatever, we'll pay him $100, $500. Come out and he'll just kind of work you on lines. This is is the line here and that way it helps because they'll figure it out eventually.
Speaker 2:But sometimes you might need to play five or six rounds of golf to really kind of understand the course. And one day the wind's blowing out of the south, the next day it's out of the north, the next day it's out of the west, out of the east, and it plays completely different in any direction. Usually golf, golf courses, unless you get a ton of rain, will dry up as the week goes on, and so they play different. So it's not as easy as it is playing here in the US where, like you said, you fly it up onto the putting surface and the ball takes one hop and stops. It makes them look like like geniuses.
Speaker 2:But out there, you know, the ball. You land a 10 yard short of the green because you have to, but there's a little freaking knob the size of a basketball right there in the middle and it hits that and kicks it right into the rough and and now you're. I mean, you know, that's the, that's what you get with links golf. So you got to have mental fortitude. Amazing amount of patience. You can't. You know, if you lose your cool early you're going to shoot 80. So it's really a battle of attrition and I love turning on the TV Thursday morning early, getting a cup of coffee and watching those boys, especially when those flags are standing straight out. I know.
Speaker 1:That's so much fun to see those guys struggling. Again. We're talking with Paul Stankowski, pga Tour champions, and going to get physically fit in his workout this morning and coming off a very good tournament at Dick's and looking forward to his next tournament coming up the hand senior open in Berkshire, england. That should be an awful lot of fun. I don't know You're you got things going on so we're not going to try to keep you too much.
Speaker 3:Are you going to see Dr Freeze today? Is that what you're going for?
Speaker 2:The tank, dr Freeze. Who's that, dr Freeze?
Speaker 3:No, the cryo tank.
Speaker 2:Oh cryo, yeah, oh cryotherapy. You know I don't do cryotherapy, I've done it. It's just cold yeah it is.
Speaker 1:Take your clothes off.
Speaker 2:It goes bad you know, the fire is really hot.
Speaker 3:If I take my clothes off, I want something warm next to me. Okay, that's it.
Speaker 2:I know I jump in a hot tub.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no you know I've done it and it's great. My wife bought me an bath, a portable ice bath, uh, for Christmas and and, uh, I'll bring it out occasionally and and, uh, I used it a couple of times last week and, uh, it is great, it is great. But now I, I, uh, I'm seeing Corey, my Cairo at at Van Beeson's place here in Dallas, cairo sports specialist. I work with Corey mostly and then, uh, he'll work on me for 40 minutes. Then I've got Shannon, my trainer. I'll tell you what guys I've had trainers in the past. My body I never recovered very well from a workout. I paid a lot of money to get really sore and never feel good. That really sucked.
Speaker 2:Um but this time around, it's, it's amazing. Well, I got a great marriage.
Speaker 3:Yeah, me too, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding, sorry.
Speaker 2:And as far as my trainer goes, she is. She like I am so excited I, I I went into this in November. My hips and low back were awful. I mean I felt like literally like my 80 year old dad would at the end of his life, getting up out of a chair and watching him walk, and that's how I felt and literally I hurt and I told my wife. I got emotional at the end of the year. I'm like I can't do this anymore. I can't do this. There's no chance I'm going to be able to play beyond this next year If I feel like this. I don't want to. And so she's like well, get some help. And so I did.
Speaker 2:Shannon at ChiroSport has like the stuff we did, guys, it wasn't fancy, it was a lot of just not even really weights, just isolating, trying to work it on my not stretching, just trying well, a little bit of movements, but really working on my lower body stability, getting my glutes and my just my legs underneath me again. Body stability, getting my glutes and my just my legs underneath me again, and so a lot of. I can't explain it, but I was. I did that with the workout and I'm like, seriously, that's all we're doing. You know, in my head, um, because it just felt, it felt like we were doing nothing. Um, but after a month I was like, wait a minute, my body's starting to feel good. Then, another month, I'm thinking, oh, my word, like after two months I thought I had felt this good in 20 years and, and so you know, now we're what is this?
Speaker 2:June, july, we're seven months into this thing and but like I get up out of a chair and I'm instantly upright, uh, I, I'm, I'm super excited. If you know, I don't hit it any farther. I still have some of the aches that I've always had in my mid-back, but that's just. I think arthritic and whatnot, but my hips and my low back haven't felt this good. This isn't a commercial for Kairosport Corey and Shannon, but my team. I am so happy and thankful that I did this. Now, as I sit here, if my game will hold up, I'm not worried about my body anymore. I was totally convinced that my body was going to be over really soon, because I felt like I was 80.
Speaker 1:You think you're like you're burning out longer now, like you'll be playing 10 years.
Speaker 2:No, no no, no, I, I don't, I don't. Well, I don't want to play 10 more years. You know I'm 50. I'll be 56 in december. Um, I've said it, I'd love to get through the 26th season, if I can. At the end of this year. I could be either exempt or like I was last year, which I'm gonna get in everything but one one event.
Speaker 2:Um, I would. I'm already guys, I'm already on on. Uh, I'm beyond grateful that I get to do this. I'm 55 I still get to hit a ball for a living. Um, it is the craziest, coolest thing I could ever. I could have ever imagined, and so if it ended tomorrow, I'm grateful. But if I can play, I'd love to play next year. I'd love to compete against tiger again, even if it's just one time. Um, that was so cool. You know, I'm so thankful I got to. I got to play against the goat, um, and I got to play against both goats, you know yeah obviously jack once or twice, but but that was cool, and I didn't.
Speaker 2:I didn't beat him very often. So it's not about winning, it's just about competing, and I'd love to, I'd love to see that again, right, and so that's my hope. I can, you know, be I can play next year and then beyond that, you know, my wife and I'll keep discussing it at the end of the years, and I don't. I don't particularly like being on the road. I don't. I love the travel aspect. I hate being gone, if that makes any sense, and I love being home, but I don't want to sit on my couch the whole time. So I've got to find something to do when I retire or when I'm forced out of the game, whichever comes first. And so I don't know. But right now I am grateful that you know I've gotten to do this for so long and it's pretty darn cool man.
Speaker 1:Well, that beats it all. I'm telling you, that's what it's all about, and I'm glad you found the team to put it together to make you feel that way Because you're right, the physical part takes it out of you. But it also takes it out of you mentally, right, Because you're always worried and thinking about how much my back hurts, right. So it kind of emotionally gets you down too. You know, it's not just the physical part that can bring you down.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, you're absolutely right, and I know there's a lot of listeners out there that that feel the way I felt right and that hurts, and they think, wow, golf, golf's tough on your body, like, yeah, it is tough on your body, and especially if you're not doing anything, which is what I, I did, I, I, in my life and even in golf, I've grinded a lot since I turned 50, but early in my career I wasn't a grinder. I loved to play but I didn't like to practice. And now I. It's like I, when I'm home I don't play much, I just hit a lot of balls and I.
Speaker 2:But I'm working specifically on a few things and, um, you know it's, but the physical part, the, the back, the hips, aside from having injuries, um, if you're just sore, you're probably underdeveloped, you know you're probably not strong, and so that was me. You know, and I'm not saying I've got, I'm a specimen. Now my legs are just stronger, my glutes actually work, you know, they're activated and there's a support mechanism below my waist that I didn't have for so long, probably even early in my career, which took its toll on my mid-back. I'm hoping that, as I continue to do these workouts and continue to move, that maybe the mid-back will continue to get better. You know, like we're starting with the ground up and we really haven't gotten too much uh above the belly button.
Speaker 2:So, um, I'm uh, but it's fun at 55, like I I know I've said it already, but I, it's, it's the coolest thing and and, um, I feel like I've got new life. As a quote, unquote athlete, golfer, whatever but even beyond playing, you know, I'm just, I'm going to have to keep doing these things because I want to be able to move Hopefully someday God blesses us with grandkids and want to be an active granddad and not, you know, bound to a chair. So, anyway, it's cool and I love talking with you guys. I love your show. Thanks, well, thank you.
Speaker 2:You guys have been good friends for a long time.
Speaker 3:And we appreciate that.
Speaker 2:Thanks for letting me be on.
Speaker 3:You know you can hear the excitement in your voice, paul, I really can. I'm sitting here listening to you and I was being very quiet, which is not normal for me, and I was just listening to the excitement in your voice and that gets me excited to go out and maybe find somebody to work with again. I used to do that too, but I've gotten way away from it. And I need to do that because at my age which I'm a little older than you I really need that because I need to work on my balance and keep that lower body in position Because of ball striking. The older you get, I don't want to hit in front or behind. I'd really like to hit the ball first for a change. I think it would make a big difference in my enjoyment of the game.
Speaker 2:You know what I would encourage you to do. Then You're in Nashville, I'd encourage you to find a. You're in Nashville, I'd encourage you to find a trainer there that's TPI certified what Greg Rose, greg Rose and David at TPI. I've known Greg since he was in chiropractic school. I used to stay with his family at the Kemper and Greg and his brother, mark, would come home from college and they'd bring their buddies. They had a huge house there at TPC Avanale and I stayed at their house and it was fun, played poker all night. Uh, anyway, he would bring his Cairo friends and and uh, so I've known him for a long time.
Speaker 2:Super smart, way ahead of the game and what they've done there at tpi, um, they're again, not a plug. I've never been to tpi, but I know greg and I know what they've done through their training programs and and you find someone tpi certified. Uh, you know they're going to be working with you on the right things, uh, the way the body's supposed to move, and uh, and that's pretty cool. Uh, it doesn't doesn't necessarily have to be golf specific. There's a lot of these tpis. It's athletic movements, right, um, but if you don't have lower body stability or or and uh, upper body mobility. You're gonna have a hard time rotating and swinging the golf club with any power, uh and consistency. So, anyway, that's. That's my two cents there, but you know, you know it's. I know we're rambling, I'm a rambler. I should write a song about it.
Speaker 3:Say, somebody already has.
Speaker 2:I have my son oh, that's right, dang it, but my son's caddying for me, right. So it's been a lot of fun. As a dad, I feel like I'm a mentor to my son a little bit that's cool, to my son a little bit that's cool, that's bad, cool. We're working together. You know he keeps me accountable with trying not to be an idiot out there. And so last week, you know Josh is a sports fan. You guys will love this, right, love sports, huge Rangers, bigger Stars fan Cowboys fan Mavs, right. And when the teams are going good, man, he is on fire, he's got a pep in his step. Cowboys, fan Mavs, right. And when the teams are going good, man, he is on fire, he's got a pep in his step. And when they're not, he gets really down, right, really down, really kind of quiet. So same thing goes when he's caddying for dad. When dad's playing, well, there's a pep in his step, he's like, hey, can I get you a water, can I, you know, know, whatever. And then when I'm not, it's, it's just kind of quiet and I can see the look on his face. So, uh, it happened at the open. We're playing with miguel on sunday and miguel's he's playing great. He's five or six under par and I was like I think I was one over, two over or something and not making any birdies. I look over my top, he's like I'd to make a birdie Right and I have like I've got like a 50 foot putt down, 10 feet of break and I'm like I'd really like to just two putt this. And I said, josh, let's keep controlling the control Right, let's just keep focusing on one at a time. He's like, but Miguel's doing it, he's putting on a master class over here on how to make and I'm like I get it, I get it, he's the best player out here, let's just stick to our guns, right. So that was the deal and we ended up making a two pothead, made some pars, birdied 17 and and you know had a good finish right wasn't. We didn't win, um, but it was a good finish and he got a good payday. So last week, same thing. We're on Sunday.
Speaker 2:You know, the first two days I birdied the first three holes right out the gate on Friday and Saturday and I think I turned it four under one day and three under one day. And the last day I par the first three holes, bogey the fifth holes. Now I'm one over early and he has that same look on his face and I'm like, come on, man, let's just keep plugging, let's keep plugging. So then we get to about 14. He's like, all right, let's run the table. And I said, joshua, let's just keep hitting quality golf shots and give ourselves some chances Again, let's control the control. So he's like I get it. So we get to.
Speaker 2:I make a couple bars, I make a birdie at 15. Um, 16 is drivable, right, it's a drivable par four. And uh, I've got to hit a really good one to get there. I go, all right, I go that'd be good. We could, we could knock it on, make an ace here. And he looked at me. He goes dad, how about we just hit a good shot? And I'm like I love it. So like this is what I get to do, man. And that that made me so proud of him, that that he didn't get sucked up into my thinking ahead like he doesn't think it ahead. He's like let's just hit a good shot. I'm like I love it, buddy. And he's had big smiles. So that's what I get to experience it. It's so much fun. He's 25. There's still some wisdom that he's gleaning toward me and we're a good team and I love having him out there. I thought you guys would like that story.
Speaker 3:It's fun.
Speaker 1:More than just going.
Speaker 3:Hey, buddy, safe travels across the pond and we will be watching you and saying a prayer or two for you, so take care of yourself.
Speaker 1:Have fun. Thanks, guys, appreciate you, enjoy it, and I just want to make sure that people know that the philosophies of Paul Stankowski when you listen to him, he has a lot of wisdom that he'll throw at us, as you just heard, and that's the beauty of having Paul on here. I think I'm going to leave you with probably his most wisdom that he's ever spouted, which is when, talking about cryo, he said you know what it's cold?
Speaker 3:That's all you need to know about cryo.
Speaker 1:It's really cold. Take care, Frank. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:See you, fellas.
Speaker 3:Thanks, buddy See you. It's really cold, it's really cold, it's really cold.
Speaker 1:That cryo thing is really cold. How good is that.
Speaker 3:He's getting very introspective In his age.
Speaker 1:I really like that you kind of hit that midlife. He's always been a good guy.
Speaker 3:He's always been one of the good guys too. Talking about his family and all that. I love that great stories.
Speaker 1:You just get the feeling he was raised right right.
Speaker 3:You think?
Speaker 1:Yeah, good parenting and stuff like that Absolutely. Made him realize he's blessed to do what he's doing and to be able to play golf and have a family and all those things and yeah.
Speaker 3:And you and I are pretty blessed to get to do what we've done in life too, to be honest, I mean to have this award-winning podcast. And then doing this award-winning podcast yeah, it's fun, can't beat it.
Speaker 1:I just got to go get somebody to work on my back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you need to do that. Why don't you just make a quick phone call when we go Take a break? I'm just going to be right behind him. Yeah, just next. Can you just do that for me Can you fix my back, but I meant that to get back in it.
Speaker 1:You know my wife is doing it, yeah it's probably not a bad idea, but you got to put time aside, like everything else, right, and say okay, I'm going to go twice a week or whatever and go have somebody work on you for an hour, and it would probably.
Speaker 1:It's a small little thing at times, right. It doesn't like the next day you're not miraculously back to being 25 years old, but over time, like you said, it took a month, two months, three months and you're like wow, I really feel and that's kind of the key, right, Because none of us want to be I mean, I don't mean this in a bad way, but none of us want to be our grandfather who, as he said, had a hard time, or his dad getting out of a chair. You don't want to be that, right. You kind of want to be that young forever he jumps out of a chair and does all the things you want to do. It's probably not a bad idea. Stay in shape, I think so Okay.
Speaker 3:We're going to spend some time watching the Open. You're going to hop a flight to Greece. Check it out first before you get to the airport to see what you need to do so you can watch it.
Speaker 1:I should be able to watch on uh. You know every, every, almost every uh flight now has. You know the monitors and the headrest in front of you used to be. That was kind of a rarity, or only bigger flights and stuff like that, but it's kind of usb usb charger in the arm and all that I'm pretty sure that. I'm pretty sure I should be able to have it and watch it on my laptop or whatever. So, yeah, that's that's I don. Let's see the time difference. I take off there.
Speaker 3:Three, seven hours ahead of us, right, yeah, seven, no, but I'm saying the British Open like on Saturday. Yeah, seven.
Speaker 1:I take off at noon, they'll already be finished almost.
Speaker 3:So I could probably watch the first round before I even take off, right? Oh, you can probably watch, you never know. But don't forget, go out and get you one of those little battery packs and hide it in your pocket. Carry that with you, keep it going anyway.
Speaker 1:Alright, that was fun it was a good show, by the way. News here I mean people have noticed here in Texas. People have noticed that a lot of golfers have Veritex Bank on their bags. Scotty Scheffler does, yeah, a lot of different guys do, jordan Spieth does, paul Stankowski does too. Veritex Bank just was announced we're sold to another bank. I don't know if that's going to affect the sponsorship or not, but we'll see. Next time we talk to Paul we'll see if Veritex is still going to stick around.
Speaker 3:I guess they will. Hey, and a quick statement For the loved ones, everybody that is dealing with the situation we have on the Guadalupe all the way up and down the Guadalupe, all the flooding, terrible God bless them Terrible terrible, terrible.
Speaker 1:All right, check out PXGcom. Also, check out InvitedClubscom. They're great sponsors. We love them both. And get your golf clubs and a club to play them with your golf clubs at InvitedClubscom dot com. Thanks again for listening for Frank Bassett and Paul Stankowski. I'm Tim Matthews. Thanks for being with us. Remember to join us next time right here for Golf Talk America.