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[upbeat music] Welcome to the Basic Golf Podcast. I have Dan Boisvert on the episode this week. [laughs] We're gonna talk Mass Open, little preview, talk about some players.

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Uh, Dan, thanks for joining. Yeah, absolutely, excited. Mass Open's, uh, kinda one of the best weeks of the year up here in Massachusetts, so. Yeah. Yeah, it's, uh, s- kinda... It, it, it sneaks up on me every year.

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It's, like, really the first, even if you look through Mass Golf's, um, like, championship, it's all chronologically ordered. It's the first individual event that they, o- on the men's side, that they host.

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There's the Stone Cup going on right now for, uh, for the women. Or it's not the Stone Cup, the, uh, the Baker, um- Yeah, the Baker... down in New Seabury. But this is, like, the first men's individual event.

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We've got the mix- the four-ball stuff out of the way. There's been some individual men's stuff, like the Norfolk County Classic, and I was at The Hornblower last week.

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But this is, this is kind of the real, another little kickoff, uh, for, for this year. So let's set the table. We're going to Oyster Harbors this year in- Yep... in Osterville. It's a par 72,

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6,800 yards, which, uh, man, it just feels real short for [laughs] a lot of these guys from the tips. Yeah, yeah.

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I don't know if they're gonna mess around with tee boxes, but the scorecard s- or make, or they make it a par 70. I don't know if it's gonna be different. Couldn't f- figure that out.

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June 9th to 11th, so Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and the cut is after, um, after 36 holes. Um, it's a 54-hole event. We've got 74 amateurs and 71 pros in the field as of

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when I filtered this out, which is, which is pretty crazy. Last amateur to win, Kevin Quinn in 1999. Your boy almost won it a few years ago, James Mai- Ugh, yeah... down at Willow Bend. Um, so it's been,

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uh, you know, 20... This will be the 27th year that amateurs tee it up and try to win. Um- Yep. So that's just the, the big, the big picture stuff as far as... Do you know anything about Oyster Harbors?

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Have you played down there? Yeah, so- I've never stepped foot on the premises... I played maybe the coldest round of golf of my life- [laughs]... at Oyster Harbor maybe six or seven years ago.

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Um, it was really early in the year. I, I wanna say it might have been opening week. It is, it's an awesome classic Ross golf course. Like, very firm, very fast greens. Just typical Ross. Don't wanna be long.

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Everything kinda runs off on the corners. Um, the rough when I played it, 'cause it was so early in the year, was kinda down, so I don't think it was as penal as we'll probably be seeing this week.

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Um, but I think it's gonna be a premium being in the fairway, 'cause then you're gonna, you're gonna be able to attack the Ross greens a little bit more and get to the right spots to make putts on those greens.

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'Cause the yardage isn't what's gonna get you. It's really the green complexes. Sounds like Aronimink. Yeah, yeah. [laughs] And it's, it's, I... It may be one of my favorite Ross' that I've played. Oh. It's really good.

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Says the wife who's going- If it wasn't... Yeah, if it wasn't 30 degrees out, I think I would've enjoyed it- [laughs]... a heck of a lot more. But, um, just, just some really good golf holes.

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Incredibly, you, you mentioned Donald Ross designed this golf course. Donald Ross won the first Mass Open. [laughs] Won the first Mass Open. Where was that? Uh, at Vesper. Ooh, nice. Um- I like that...

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him and his brother won the first eight Mass Open [laughs] between the two of them. Ross won three. I think Alex... Donald Ross won three, and Alex Ross won the other five. Wow.

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And five of those eight were at courses that have Ross, um, connections, whether he, like, designed the course, Oakley, Vesper, um, I don't have the list in front of me, but yeah. [laughs] I did, I did the, uh...

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Was looking yesterday, like, "Oh my God, Ross is winning golf tournaments on his own golf courses." Yeah. That's hilarious. Could you imagine, like, Bill Coore- [laughs] You know?

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Well, it's like, it's like, um- I mean, Beck Crenshaw's a major winner, um- Yeah... his partner, but it's just so funny to think of, like, Gil Hanse being a State Open champ. Yeah. Really.

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Well, I think you saw Michael Jordan almost try to pull that move down in Florida, built a course that just plays to all of his strengths and, you know. Yeah. It didn't quite work out that way for him, but...

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[laughs] Um, and that's just some other quick people who have won this event. Walter Hagen won this event in 1915 at the country club. Gene Sarazen, like, career, uh, Grand Slam- Unbelievable... won the Mass Open.

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So there are, you know... And then guy like Paul Harney, who's a local, won it three times in a row. Um, kind of a legend if you've ever played Paul Harney down in, in, uh, on the Cape.

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So a, like, a ton of history in this event. Um,

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and I think just the value of State Opens for, if you look through the list of guys who are playing, obviously you got amateurs who are, you know, who some of them used to be pro- Yep... and maybe play this as a pro.

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Um, some of them are aspiring pros. Some of them are just, like, lifelong amateurs who love to compete against the pros. And then you got pros who are, like, grinding and are up here to make some money, um,

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and maybe play in the, you know, the Vermont Open and, uh, play in Rhode Island or play New Hampshire, Maine, and try to, try to get some momentum heading into the- Yep... the fall season.

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Get some momentum in, heading into Q School. I mean, we played with Jared Nelson a month ago. Not we. You did. I was just hoofing the bag around. Yeah. But he was even talking about- Oh, you were part of it.

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[laughs] He was, uh, you know, he was talking about just coming up here and, and, uh, trying to just make, just make a little bit of money and keep the momentum going from whatever the Florida mini tour circuit was.

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So just the value- Yeah... of State Opens. Yeah.

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The young, the young pros, I mean, it's a-It's a good opportunity to make money, these, these small tours down in Florida, the minor league, and the tours out west like Asher and stuff like that.

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You can only make so much money doing that. And if you don't have full-time status on these tours, you're- Yeah... you kinda gotta gear up towards this time of year.

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There's a couple state tournaments around the country that you can make a pretty decent penny, you know, three to four days of, of golf, and you can walk away with,

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you know, a month's worth of pay for what a lot of these guys are doing. Yeah.

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And even just the draw, like, looking through the names, a, a lot of the guys who are, who are pros who are playing this week in the Mass Open have, like, connections to this part of the country.

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So there's also that, like- Yeah, absolutely...

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coming home a little bit, maybe just kind of resetting, getting to play some competitive golf where they grew up playing competitive golf, courses they're comfortable with, grasses they're comfortable on.

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Um, and, like, that side of things, too, is kind of charming. And you get, like... Then you just get local pros who are in. Like, Walston has two pros playing in this. Yeah.

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Between Jeff Martin and Lee Friedman, which is, like, very cool, too. Just a, a little, a little nugget of, like, what's that pro shop gonna look like on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

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With two of their, two of their guys just out playing golf down on the Cape, trying to compete. Um, and those two guys play at a pretty high level, especially Jeff Martin, playing in US Senior Open a couple years ago.

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So, yeah. Yeah. It's just, like, a very cool mix of players in all sorts of different parts of their career. Yeah, absolutely.

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And kind of what, what you brought up, like, coming back and playing for your, for your state. Like, James Amai's a perfect, perfect example of that.

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Like, James has had an extremely, extremely successful career in Mass Golf. Um, he's extremely accomplished. He won three juniors. Like, James kind of thrives in the Mass Golf environment.

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So I think for a lot of kids, it's, it's an honor to be able to, you know, have your name on a state, state board that you grew up playing and competing in. Yeah, yeah. Kinda just to- You know, it's a pretty cool honor.

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Yeah. Just the, someone's growth, um, and, and getting all the way through. And then you got, I mean, some other na- I'm just going, we're just kind of going through names right now 'cause it is, it is cool.

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But, like, James Driscoll is playing this week. [laughs] Yeah. You know? Yeah. He's 48 years old.

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He has l- he has more than 400 starts on Korn Ferry and the PGA Tour, one on the Korn Ferry Tour, lost in two playoffs on the PGA Tour. He grew up in Brookline. He's a two-time am winner. He never won the Open- Yep.

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Yep... 'cause he turned, like, he, he just turned pro and actually, you know- Yeah, right out of UVA... was able to, yeah, was able to kind of not have to maybe come back, um, and compete.

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But, like, Driscoll, Evan Harmeling- Yep... is another cool story. He won in 2013. I think Evan's still active on Korn Ferry, right? And he's got, like- Full pass on Korn Ferry?

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I think he, he's not pl- I don't know what his, like, I don't know what his situation is down there. He had a couple... He, he won, like, five years ago, so that exemption has kind of drifted away. Mm-hmm.

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Um, he played on the PGA Tour a couple weeks ago, the, the weekend before we saw him at the US Open Local. He was playing in that at, at Berkshire Hills when you played. Yeah. So he's, like, started...

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I, I think he kind of stepped away a little bit. I think he's itching to play. This is the perfect opportunity. It's close to home.

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He's got, he's got a family, and I think that is another tension for a lot of these guys who are, like, in their mid-30s, like, "What am I, am I, what am I doing?" Um- Yeah... so, but it's cool that he's back.

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Won in 2013, donated all of his winnings to, um, the, like, One Boston rel- uh, right on the heels- Mm-hmm... of, of, um, the marathon bombing. So- Yeah... that's another cool story to track this week.

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I think he's just, he's trying to play a little bit more, um, competing, so. Yeah. So you haven't played Oyster? I have not played Oyster. God, we're gonna have to get you out there.

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[laughs] Oh, you gotta play at some point, but- Yep, absolutely... complete this, uh- Absolutely... complete this, complete this quest. So before

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we hopped on, you had, you had some little nuggets of maybe some guys who have played Oyster and who know it quite well- [laughs] Yeah... who are in the field this week. Yeah, so- So give us some of those...

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Ricky Stimitz, um, obviously a very accomplished player. He had a stint playing professional golf, uh, after college. He's been back as an am for a little while now. Um, lost at Framingham in a really good battle.

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Um, Ricky has played, and his guess, around 2,000 rounds of golf at Oyster Harbor. And the club championship trophy is named after his grandfather. So there's, [laughs] that's gotta help in some sense. Um,

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I told him to try to treat it like a home game, 'cause sometimes when you're playing a place that you've played that much, you can put some expectations on yourself and, um... But Ricky's, Ricky knows what he's doing.

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So I think Ricky's at a big advantage with, with just the total rounds of golf he's had at Oyster. Um, and then the other is Aidan O'Donovan. Aidan has grown up caddying out there. He is a Cape Cod guy.

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He's gotten a lot of rounds of golf in out there as well. Um, I think if you know these Ross courses, a lot of it comes down to around the greens.

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And if he's as good of a caddy as he says he is, then he's probably got a, a pretty good sense of what's going on over there. So those are two guys that I would definitely be, uh, kind of keeping an eye on this week.

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Yeah, yeah. Um, both played in the Hornblower. Yep. I mean, Stimitz is just, like, a Cape Cod. His family, just Hyannis Port stuff. Um, he's got a long, deep history on the Cape.

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Won the Seagulls this, um, this April- Yep... as well with his, with his, uh, with his buddy, Kevin Blazer. Yeah. John Broderick is another one that I'm kind-Kind of interested to watch this whole summer Absolutely.

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Absolutely... graduated from Vanderbilt, uh, is heading to Virginia in the fall to finish off his eligibility, uh, 'cause he did a red shirt year at Vandy, and

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I guess the writing was on the wall that he was just not gonna get an opportunity at Vanderbilt, so he started looking around and Virginia came calling.

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He told me, like, "The goal of golf is to get the best education I can get, and whatever happens after that happens after that." So- Yeah... going to Vandy and Virginia is a pretty good, pretty good one-two punch.

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Um- Yeah, John's a great kid, really good player, extremely scrappy. Yeah. Easy one, easy one to root for, for sure. Y- for sure. And just, uh, I'm, I'm very interested to see how his summer goes, um,

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looking f- like, kind of just the next phase of his, of his college career and how, uh, and how he's gonna do. Yeah. Can you tell me, can you... I gotta ask about Joey. Yeah.

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The boy- Joey got home, Joey flew home last night. He's literally at Oyster Harbor right now getting a practice round in. Um, I think he played it one other time, maybe eight or nine years back, but we've been...

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This is essentially the first time in Joey's life that he's actually had time to spend working on some stuff.

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So over the years he's kind of gotten away from a couple fundamentals, and with how much tournament golf he plays, it's, it's tough to carve out time to kinda work through mechanics.

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So we've been able to do that the last month, month and a half, and he's in a really good spot, so I'm excited for, uh...

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Now that he's got the weight of school kind of off of his shoulders as well, it's, it's kind of a new phase for him as well, so I'm excited to see, uh, what he can do this week. Yeah. College grad, NC State.

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That's, um- Yeah... that's, that's awesome. So I mean, he, he, what... For him, I, I, I do love watching him play golf.

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I followed him and Ryan Downes at Great Horse last year in that semifinal that was just epic, epic stuff. That match was unbelievable. Both of them were so good. [laughs] Yeah. What- That was so stressful for me.

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[laughs] What, uh, what do you see as the, like, the strengths in his game that might match up with, with Oyster? Um, he's, his short game has gotten so good over the last few years. His, his misses have gotten smaller.

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His course management has gotten better.

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That, that's a, a lot of it when you're playing on these tough green complexes, it's just ma- making sure you're missing in the right spots, and when you are in a position to attack, it's,, "Okay, where's the easiest place to make a 15-footer from to this pin location?"

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So I think his, his mind is one of his strengths, and then obviously when, when he's hitting driver well, driver is a superpower for him. Yeah. He hits it a mile. Yeah, he can hit the driver far.

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[laughs] We've got, uh, you've got, y- and you also have a... I don't know if you work with the father as well, but we got Max and Jude McGolgan in the field. Yeah, so this blew my mind.

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[laughs] I've known Jude, I've known Jude for four years. I've known him as Finn. The dad's name's Jude as well, so I thought it was the dad that qualified, and when I was talking to Max's younger brother, Finn,

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I was like, "Dude, your dad qualified?" And he's like, "No, that's my name." And I was like... Oh, okay. "I've called you Finn for four years." Uh, so long story short, it's, it's brothers, not father, son.

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Not father, son. Okay. But still a cool story. Max just finished up his freshman year at St. John's.

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I've been helping Max with his game for about three or four years now, and then his younger brother is gonna be a junior in high school. Super scrappy kid.

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He's the kind of kid that'll go out and hit four greens and shoot even par. [laughs] Like, super frustrating to play with a kid like that. We all know those guys. Yeah, yeah. So, um, really cool.

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Anytime you see, like, siblings qualify for the same event, always a, a pretty cool thing. Yeah. So I know, I know Finn's goal will be to beat Max in one of the rounds this year, so we'll see if that pans out for him.

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[laughs] Are they, are they, uh, do they tend to be pretty competitive with each other? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] Absolutely. That's great. Yeah. Um, Jam- You mentioned James. He's another one that you know well.

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He did, uh, like, he almost won in 2024- Yeah... as an amateur- Yep... as he was finishing up his... He had just maybe finished at Northwestern, right? Yeah. He's been out a year now.

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Um, you've worked with him, you worked with him for a very long time.

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Yeah, I worked with James for probably, probably eight years or so, from, you know, middle school all the way up to, I think, his sophomore year at Northwestern. Yeah. And James is a grinder.

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I tell everyone to this day, if I had a 10-foot putt and my life was on the line and I had to pick someone to hit it, I'd give it to James. Like, that kid is... He, he's got a different gear, and he loves competition.

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Like, to- he just lives for it. I mean, and y- your description of him, he hit a 50-foot putt on 18 for a birdie after, uh, kind of scraping it around on the hole and looking like, "Well, this is- Yeah. [laughs]...

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kind of over. This, uh, the amateur kid kind of melted under pressure." Yeah. And then his, uh, I can't remember the name of the guy who won it right now.

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He made that eagle putt from, from, you know, 12 feet or whatever it was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But he, he made him have to make it. [laughs] Oh, 100%. Yeah.

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And I'm sure in James's mind, he honestly was like, "50/50 chance I make this." Yeah. And he's j- he's 60 feet away on the front edge of the green to a back pin up a slope.

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Like, he's just, he's got that self-belief in himself, which is a huge part of being a successful player. Yeah. The other, the, uh... And I feel like everything this year has, is, like, a week later.

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The US Open feels a week later. Yeah. Memori- Like, Memorial is usually the Thursday after Memorial Day Monday. Like, that's when... And Memorial is now 10 days after when it usually starts.

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And that pushed everything and condensed things a little bit because-US Open final qualifying is on Monday. I know.

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And then Tuesday is the start of the Mass Open, and there are some guys in the open field who are- [laughs]... playing 36 holes not close to Oyster Harbor at all. Um, there's a bunch of guys in New York.

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Ricky Stimets is playing in New York. But then Carson Eric is playing in DC and fly- I know. [laughs] And flying up. Like, that's also just a... Mike Califf is another one who's playing in, um, in New York.

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Just a cr- I, I can't even imagine grinding for 36 holes at a US- Yeah... Open final qualifier. And I know the mindset for these guys.

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I mean, the opportunity is really what they're playing for, is just to be in that, the man in the arena, for lack of a better phrase. Totally.

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But, like, that's a grind to then have to hop in your car at the end of a long day to then go play more competitive golf Tuesday- Yeah... and Wednesday. Yeah. Carson, I'm not as worried about.

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He's in the midst of his college career. He's got- Yeah. [laughs]... 36-hole days all the time. He's 12 years old. [laughs] But I wanna make sure we take care of the mid-ams and- [laughs]...

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keep, keep them, keep them in one piece going into the start of the tournament. Um- What, what would your- I was with Carson yesterday, though, and I told him, I'm like, "Dude, this is a g- a great problem to have.

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Would you rather, you know, would you rather not have a chance to qualify for the US Open?" And he's playing with Luke List, so he was like, "Oh my God." He's got Blades Brown in the group in front of him.

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It's him and Luke List, and then the group behind him is Thorbjorn Olesen. So I was like, "All right, let's- Oh my goodness... let's go play some good golf." Yeah. That's- Yeah... wild. Yeah.

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[laughs] That's the best part about that day, is just you get- Oh, totally. Totally... you get guys just showing up to these golf courses that, you know, have a freshman for Georgetown playing with a PGA Tour winner.

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Like, Luke List is, I believe- Yeah... has won on the PGA Tour. If he hasn't, he's- I, I believe... he's played at a ton of events and has been a- Yeah... a staple on tour. That's, uh...

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What, what advice would you give the old guys playing 36 holes on Monday and then having to get in the car and, and drive? Like, what would you wanna... What would, what would your focus be?

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[laughs] Minimizing the amount of shots that you hit. [laughs] Just try to hit as few shots as possible. Yeah, caddy. No, I mean, it's tough. There's, there's only so much that you can do.

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Like, 36 holes of tournament golf is, I think for, for, like, a guy like Ricky, and just knowing Ricky, it's more the mental side of things. Like, I think Ricky physically will, will handle it fine.

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But it's 36 holes of tournament golf trying to qualify to play in the US Open. That's gonna take a lot out of you mentally.

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So I think that night it's, a lot of it's just, like, letting your mind separate from what's going on and kind of refresh and reboot and just get ready to, get ready to get back after it. Yeah. Bring a caddy maybe.

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Oh, totally. Yes. Yes. Yeah. [laughs] Caddy or a push cart or a, or an electric one. If you're, if you're- Yeah...

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listening to this and you have any inkling or you're close to the New York border, 'cause the Purchase, New York site is, like, basically in Connecticut, go get in your car and drive the... If you got an hour drive.

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I wish I could go. I'm not in t- I'm not in town. I was planning on going. I thought it was all on June 2nd, and I got my dates mixed up, 'cause I just assumed. Just go wa- just go and walk. They don't...

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They're gonna let you walk- Yeah... the golf course. You're gonna see a bunch- PGA Tour players... of local guys. You're gonna see PGA Tour players. Um, like Shane Bacon is playing in the New York one at US- Yeah...

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Open qualifying, 'cause he's a Westport, Connecticut base now. But I went to the Springfield, Ohio one a few years ago, and it was just so cool to follow some of those guys.

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And, um, like Doc Redman just wandering- Yep... out there, who just won the Korn Ferry Tour. Um- Yeah, he's won a couple times here. Yeah.

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So that's, uh, that's not quite Mass Open stuff, but it is going to impact maybe some of... Like I, I... If I was Carson, I'd be nervous about just hoping my f- every, all, everything aligns up- Yeah...

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to get out there, and I, I'm sure, I haven't looked at the tee sheet super closely, that those guys have afternoon tee times, that they have- I'd hope, I would hope Mass Golf would recognize that and

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do something [laughs] about it. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, I would, I would think they'll have an afternoon tee time. I'm sure they- Yeah... those guys even just spoke up for themselves.

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Mike Califf told me that he had, had asked for the Ohio site, just 'cause he was like, "I knew there would be more spots in the Ohio one, 'cause there's more pros." Yep.

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And then he's like, "And then I looked at the calendar and realized I can't g- [laughs] I can't be in Ohio on Monday and get to Oyster River on Tuesday, so I'm gonna play in New York."

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[laughs] "I had to ask the USGA to help me out." So yeah. Yeah. Almost, like, this time of year is so packed. Oh, it's so condensed. Everything gets so jammed in. I mean, I feel it just trying to, like, cover stuff.

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Yeah. I don't know. Like, so these guys play so much golf. Well, most of the college kids, too, they're, like, just getting home.

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Last week, this week, you know, depending on how far their team's making it in the post-season, you know. They're, they're coming in hot. Yeah. Yeah. Any, uh, any other thoughts about just, like, Mass Open?

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You t- you tend to try to play in this every year. You're not, you didn't quali- Yeah, this was-... try to qualify this year. This was the first year I didn't try to qualify.

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Um, initially I was actually supposed to be away, but, uh, a buddy's trip of ours got rescheduled. So unfortunately now I'm just home not playing in any tournaments, so. But normally I try to play.

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Again, I, I grew up in Massachusetts, and I think it's cool to be able to, to play in your state stuff and to be able to represent the place that you came from, and, and put your name in, potentially in the record books.

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It's a, that's a cool thing to think about. So any time I have a chance to compete, especially in Mass stuff, I, I definitely like to do so.

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Yeah, and you said when we were playing out at, at, uh, at Berkshire Hills, part of your kind of qualifying mindset is you just wanna be able to feel what-... the kids- Totally...

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and the people you're working with feel so you can talk them through stuff, or they can feel like they could have a conversation with you about how they feel on the first tee or how it feels down the last four or five holes if they're, you know, close to qualifying.

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Yeah, absolutely. I think for, for me as a coach, like, the more I can relate to what they're dealing with, I think it's just gonna make it a little easier for me to help them. So that's a big...

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That's definitely the, the number one goal for me, um, is that, but I also love competing. Yeah. It's addicting. It's just, it's the best. What do you love about it? Like, what, what parts of it do you like?

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I li- It sounds crazy, but I just love how hard golf is. Like, I- you never know what part of your game is gonna have to show up. I played a few holes yesterday and, and, and played well, and it was all my putter.

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I played six holes and I probably made, like, 90 feet of putts. It was like, haven't done it all year.

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Like, you know, it's, you just never know what, what's gonna help keep you in play that day and keep the scorecard going and just hoping to stay patient long enough to have a day where, you know, two parts of the game are really good, and then you take it really deep.

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Yeah. So it's, it's, it's fun. It's fun going out there and trying to, trying to just figure that stuff out. There's, uh...

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Even, like, last week at, at the Hornblower and being there for, like, the two full days and the ebb and flow of...

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It's different than a qualifier, but, like, even with the Mass Open, like, the ebb and flow of 36 holes, and you get guys who shot, like, 72, 73 the first day, and then they shoot 65.

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And you get guys who shoot the same score both days and are- Yeah... like, riding those ups and downs over the course of an, like, a Mass Open, 54 holes gets even harder at this point. And these guys aren't just...

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I m- The Hornblower's an amateur event. Ultimately, these guys are just trying to win 'cause they wanna win, and maybe it helps them boost their rankings and gets them ready for the summer.

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But, like, a State Open, these guys are playing for [laughs] their life. Some of them are playing for money and- Yeah...

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you know, for, for enough to get them through the winter or through the fall and just feel like they have some, some buffer in their, in their bank accounts.

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But, like, that f- that rhythm of a golf tournament and, and dealing with, like, what's gonna show up today, what didn't show up yesterday, is it all gonna come together, and I might shoot, like, a 63, and then I show up the next day, and I'm like, "What's, what worked yesterday that's not gonna work today?"

152
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Is, like- Yeah... another part of that competitive grind that's- Yeah, you see it-... so interesting about the sport... you see it at the tour level. You'll see guys, like, 15-shot swings from one round to another.

153
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It's just, that's just, it's just golf. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. You know? Yep. It really is. And there's some... Do you, do you find, um, just as a coach, trying to let, get people to understand that part of,

154
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that part of things, too? Like- Yeah... people- I think having a list of-... crave consistency... h- i- it's 90% of amateurs that come in here that I f- meet for the first time, "Hey, what's going on? How's your game?"

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You know, "What do you need to work on?" "I need to be more consistent." We're always working towards trying to be more consistent, but, like, part of golf is accepting the, the variability. Like, it, there's so many...

156
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You may have to hit a shot today that you may not hit again literally the rest of your life. Hanging lie with a four iron into the wind to ab- y- y- it's just there, it's so situational. It's so day to day. It's...

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I think the more you can understand that, it just frees you up, and it just lets you understand, like, okay, you know, not every day is gonna be my best.

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But my big thing is just trying to help people have better bad shots. No matter what level you play at, if your bad shots are better, your rounds will be lower, and you will be a more consistent player. But it's hard.

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It's [laughs] it is a very hard game. That's why I have a full-time job doing this stuff. [laughs] There's always supply. Yeah, totally. Oh, my gosh. Um, all right.

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I'm gonna, I'm gonna put you on the spot as we wrap up here. Do you have a pick? Do you have someone who you think out of this massive field of amateurs [laughs] and professionals can win?

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I, uh, looking at it last night, i- it's maybe the best, deepest field we've had potentially ever. Very good. It's hard to overlook. I mean, even, like, an Ethan Whitney.

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You know, Ethan's been down in Texas grinding all winter. Like, Ethan's got a lot of game. The kid can take it deep. He grew up in Mass. He's... I- it's... I'm gonna say Ricky.

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You think Ricky's gonna win am- I think Ricky... we're gonna get an amateur? I think Ricky. That's a, that's a great call. I love that. [laughs] I want it for him.

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I told him, too, if he's in the mix on the final round, I'm gonna come out and root for him, 'cause it was, uh, it was not a home game for him at Framingham. I don't know that- Was it?... he had a single...

165
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He, no, I don't think he had a single person rooting for him that day, so I told him- You might be right... "I will be there rooting you on." So I'm, uh, I'm just hoping for an exciting Mass Open.

166
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I think that's what we, that's what we all deserve. Yeah. There's a lot of great players in the field, and I think it's gonna be super competitive. I'm gonna- There is... now I'm gonna come back at you.

167
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What do you think the score will be? Oh, man. It was, what was it last year? DeLisiio shot... I mean, DeLisiio shot five under last year at Sakonnet is where it was. Mm-hmm. I think it's gonna be- I-...

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a little lower than that. I, I think it is, too, right? Like, Sakonnet's hard, and, and, and long. Sakonnet can play pretty long, too. [laughs] Yeah. I'm gonna say...

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Yeah, what, uh, what won at TPC Bo- TPC Boston, those guys went pretty deep. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna say the s- winning score will be 14 under. Ooh.I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick Bryson, um- DeChambeau? No, [laughs] he's playing.

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He's, he's the- Oh my God. [laughs] You know, the creator. [laughs] The, the YouTube creator. Um, [laughs] No. Bryson Richards. Oh. [laughs] Oh, Bryson Richards, okay. Yes. URI guy. URI guy, uh, Vermont kid,

171
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very good player. He's been maybe a pro for a couple years now. Um, but he's a guy to watch. And then as I was scrolling through, there's a, I wrote, I wrote an article about, uh, Max Bredahl a few years ago.

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He was a Tufts lacrosse player, like one- Ooh... of the best lacrosse players in the country. Ooh. And it turned, he has turned pro. He played a... And then he transferred and went to BC for, uh, his business school.

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He did kind of what Christian Emerick did, went to BC for a year or two years and played golf at, uh, BC. And then he's got no A next to his name, so I think he's a pro. Yeah. Kind of a cool story.

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Grew up in New Jersey, came up here to play. Like, I think he, he won some, like, national lacrosse awards as a D3 lacrosse player. Holds a bunch of- I love that...

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Tufts records, um, and is, just happens to be a good golfer, too. So that's kind of a, another cool story from, uh, from this week. But I like Richards. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna pick Richards. Obviously- Love it...

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o- obviously Harmeling would be a great story if he could come back and get another one. Um, Driscoll would be awesome. Wouldn't be surprising.

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There's so many names that I just wouldn't be surprised to see atop the leaderboard going into the final round, that you could pick 30 names and I wouldn't- I know... I wouldn't be surprised at all.

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So that's where I'm just hoping it's gonna get competitive, and we'll see. Hopefully it's a very exciting finish at Oyster Harbor. Yeah.

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And, and hopefully there's a- 'Cause I think it's a really good finishing hole, too... and hopefully there's an amateur, cou- couple amateurs in the mix. That would be, that's always fun. I would love to see that.

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Yeah, that's always the best. Absolutely. All right, Dan, that's all I got for you. Appreciate you hopping in between, uh, between lessons on a, on a busy, on a busy Wednesday. Absolutely. Yeah. Good to chat, as always.

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Yeah. Thanks, man. See ya.

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