Nick Taylor - RBC Canadian Open Champion

Canada, their love of this game runs very, very deep. We have over 2,000 golf courses from coast to coast and golf as an industry supports over 300,000 jobs. This is an industry that matters to Canada. We gotta pull you off Rory McIlroy, which never happens. You don't pull guys off Rory. You don't pull guys off Tiger. You know, this is golf's like any other sport. It's it's star driven. He goes, you gotta go find Nick

Taylor. When Tommy had birdie 17 to tie, it was one of those, like, you know, this might not be it. 18 was a pretty birdie birdie beholder week. And when he didn't, it felt like I got a boost of like, 'k let's go do that. Like Key got another opportunity and not have, you know, the doubt come into my mind. That is just as hard for Tommy as this is for you. Remember that, and let's try to finish him off here. So He's an icon now in this country. I'm a big fan of the human journey.

Overcoming circumstances, reclaiming or chasing dreams, and when they do, changing their world, and often ours for the better. Sometimes those circumstances are a single moment in time. I was watching the documentary on Friends on the airplane, and, you know, these out of work actors living on fumes, and they get a that to read for a television show that turns out to be Friends. Life changing. How about July 6, 1957, at a church festival? Paul

McCartney meets up with John Lennon for the first time. Think of what that moment meant to music for decades, possibly centuries to come. Today I wanna talk about sports. We're on a rare occasion, a single moment is so incredible, iconic, and important that it transcends beyond the home team and even sports that, and it captures the attention of a

country or even the world. Michael Jordan's legendary buzzer beater against Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989, known simply as The That, or Kawhi Leonard, when I was in the stands, and he did the same for the Raptors to move us past Philadelphia, and ultimately, would take home the World Championship. Bobby Oher's iconic flying gold in the 1970 Stanley Cup final.

Sydney Crosby winning gold that gave Canada Olympic gold, and speaking of Olympic gold, Marie Philippe Pounod's dramatic overtime goal in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Today's show is about one of those unforgettable moments, A moment that ended a 69 year drought for Canadian golfers at the RBC Canadian Open. A moment that involved an incredible 72 foot putt and the audio call that was heard around the world. Swing of the Chatter, comes up with some speed, now

up the rise. For the eagle, for the win, to the cap. Taken. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The crowd is over. The crowd is over. History. History. To your exemption, he's an icon now in this country. This is Chatter That Matters with Tony Chapman presented by RBC. Yes. My guest today is none other than Nick Taylor. And we'll learn about his journey to becoming the top amateur golfer in the world to compete against the best in the PGA Tour.

We'll explore what it took to achieve his historic victory, and what it means to not only him, but to Canada. And then we'll talk about why Nick and wife, Andi Taylor, have created a foundation to support community efforts in their hometown of Abbotsford, British Columbia. And adding to the flavour, we have Mark Zucchino, one of golf's best broadcasters, who called Taylor's iconic putt, and Mark Soder from RBC. And Mark will share what RBC is doing to

discover the next Nick Taylor. This promises to be a great show, so let's begin. Nick Taylor, welcome to Chatter That Matters. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm looking forward to it. Listen. I'm a big fan, and we're gonna talk about the RBC Canadian Open win, arguably the greatest back 9 holes I've watched. I mean, I just loved every moment of it. But before we get to it, I just wanna talk a little bit about

what got you there. So you were born in Winnipeg, moved to Abbotsford, British Columbia, and I understand it was around age 10 your dad first took you out to the course. Yeah. So I was, you know, today's junior golfers. I was a late bloomer. But, my brother, 3 years older than I am, he played a bunch of sports growing up as well. So whenever he picked up something, I tagged along. He picked up golf definitely a little later than than most at about 13 or 14 and and

got a membership at the local club here at Ledger Golf and Country Club. And, I was soon to follow. Probably, later that year is when I was able to get a membership as well. And so, that's how it all started. And I was still playing high school sports. I was playing hockey at that time. But he was able to kinda pave the way for me in a sense where my parents learned

a lot about, kind of, what tournaments that would be helpful. Say, we wanted to to pursue a scholarship in the US or that tournaments to plan to fulfill our potential. By the time I was probably 13, 14 is when my dad. We sat down. He said, If you wanna give a full run at this and give it everything you have, then you're gonna have to choose a sport. We just won't have the time or the or the financial goalie to to be able to, you know, divide

our time. One of the things that RBC does is this community junior golf where they're going into areas that might not think about golf as a sport, and they're bringing free programming, and they're dramatically reducing tees. I always see myself as that young kid going on the golf course for the first time. Mine was a Dorvala golf club. And I'd love to get you to just talk about your earliest memories, what it was like because you got this sort of, you know, quiver sort of saddled on you or

the holes look big when you're 10 10 years old. Just give me a sense of your your first days on there. You know, I I was really fortunate in a sense where I had 3 or 4 really good buddies in my high school or locally that were really starting to take the game seriously as well. And so, at the time, we called the house phones. But it was you got home. You called your friend in the house phone. When are we meeting up there, Three, 4 o'clock after school. And then, we were there till dark.

And that was our routine every summer when we really started getting going that 12:13 was our parents would drop us off at 10 o'clock in the morning. And when dark hit, we knew to go to the parking lot, get picked up, and go home. And we just put that on repeat. So, those are some of my fondest memories of just and you're bonding with your friends and you're doing games, you're competing. It doesn't seem like practice, but it's funny now with over the years that when it

becomes a job, in a sense, you're very structured. You're doing all these different things. But I would love to go back and do all these competitions you know, with with buddies again because it it does make you Chatter, and you're just having so much fun doing it at the time. So it's it's fun to look back on those times. I understand you also spent a lot of time working at that course. You did everything from back office and back of the shop

to, taking care of the, the greens. Yeah. I've I've seen every every inch of that, that place. I've, Backdrop was kind of the thing I feel like when we were 12 to 15 getting into getting a job. It was after school. We'd clean the carts. We'd you know, put the golf clubs away, you know, kind of lock up the coach up and stuff like that. And then my 1st summer after college, I did the green screw. So I did everything from, raking bunkers in the morning to cutting

greens at some point. I'm shocked that Tony trust me to do that. But, that was a whole summer. So, it definitely got you in a pretty good structure. I was getting up at 4 in the morning to work for 7 or 8 hours. And then, from there, I had to practice and try to prepare and get ready for tournaments that summer. So, that was definitely an eye opening experience where I was like, That harder I work, the less I'm going to have to get up at 4

in the morning to work at a at a job. So, that was always a good summer of experience. Did you ever notice, like, the members Three? Even at a young age, did you start saying Three people carry themselves a certain way and I kinda like that versus other people that might not have, or was it just you were just there to work in golf? Yeah. I think it was a bit of both. I think, being a a semi private, there was definitely enough members that, I've known for 20, 30

years. That follow your Chatter, teachers to lawyers to whoever. So it's, it was fun to get to know those people and their journey of of golf in general. But, you know, having the experience of going to the US to play college golf and, kind of, having high aspirations to to make it a career was was a good thing. It, you know, got me back there working hard

from the summers and and prepping for school when I went back. How important is it for young people to see their entire surroundings that around them versus maybe just focusing on the moment that there's a lot to be gained just by, you know, paying attention, looking around, seeing how one person behaves versus another, how, you know, some of the wins the

championship carries himself even if it's just at at the at the local club. It's so unique about golf with with the pro ams that we play, with the charity events we're able to go to, you know, the network of people that we're able to meet, the vast array of different professions and and backgrounds is really unique. So you get to meet people and how do they carry themselves. How do they get to those positions? What do they do? How do they

start off? And so, you can learn you can learn something from everybody, and apply it to your life. And I feel like I've done a pretty good job of that, again, of trying to take the best of everyone I've met. And, you know, hopefully, I do as good as I can to carry myself out there. But like you said, it's it's if you're as humble and defeat as you are in

victory, that's definitely a a good good place to start. Well, Marcus Aquino is gonna be joining you on the show later on, and he holds you in the highest regard because he just says you are you represent Canada like Canadians like to be represented. You have great integrity and humility. So I want you to Key you teased it. You went to University of Washington, full full ride scholarship. Did you go down there and suddenly realize that you were playing with people

that got to play 12 months a year? That they might have been maybe it started much younger. Was it any intimidation, or did you say I'm relishing this opportunity to to see if I can not make it here? Yeah. It's a good question. Yeah. With college golf, you know, I I went to Seattle. So there was very similar climate, but we had people kind of from all over. So I think, of course, the 1st year, there was definitely some some anxiety,

some nervousness of, you know, am I good enough? You know, I came from playing golf in Canada. No one's really highly recruited out of Canada. Yeah. I think I eased my way into things and realizing that you know, we we can get by with even with our climate in Seattle and what I grew up on. I think it it made a lot of us, at least on our team, I can experience a little more gritty when we got to tournaments and and Chatter was bad. You know, we kind of embraced that aspect instead

of, you know, being negative about it or or really. And I felt like that was probably a really good thing. Since then, I've moved to Arizona. And it's sunny every day. And I'm probably getting soft since those days. But, yeah, it was definitely a learning curve. When I went to school, people talk about golf is definitely not a linear improvement scale. There's a lot of ups and downs. That felt that first

year, I learned a lot of you know, yeah. I was good enough at certain times, but I was in and out of the lineup and and really had had to focus on the right things to get better. And I felt like as my career went on, I I improve each year. You know, I look at your trajectory again for somebody that just really started golf at 10. By 2,007,

you're Canadian amateur champion. 2009, low amateur at the US Open and 2nd round 65 against Rory I mean, several weeks you were ranked number 1 amateur in the world. How did that happen? Because you talk about the ups and downs, but you must have taken a you must have leaped over a few staircases to, to get to that point that quickly. Yeah. It was you know, I think it was a couple year kinda culmination of a lot of hard work at school, but, you know, letting

the process and letting good results kind of add up. And that that was that summer where I worked that Leju on the grounds crew and was truly kind of finding myself in my golf game and had won the Canadian Amateur later that summer and then played, actually, well, the next week in the US Amateur. It kind of gave me a lot of confidence going into my 2nd year university. And, you know, that year played pretty nicely at the end of the year, which gave me a

little more confidence. And then that's where I felt like I really took off. And, you know, it felt like it was a 2 year process. And it might've looked like that, you know, 3, 4 months was a great stretch. But it was 2 years of developing my game, but the confidence lagging behind and following that to Key able to prove to myself. And, yeah, it's a pretty cool accolade.

It's been so long since then. But to kinda be able to say that I was number 1 in the world, it's at some point, it's something is, it's pretty Three neat. You know, you talk about ups and downs. To me, that's a lot a metaphor for life. And a lot of people are feeling pushed in their back feet that they're going, I can't even climb to the next rung because there's just so much going on in the world that's negative or I'm just overpowered

by it. What advice can you give to people when things aren't going right to just keep going at it till they do? I feel like the saying now, everyone's always going through something and it's never never judge a book by its cover. It's, but I like, in my experience, having really probably turned my career around that last year and a half, 2 years, a lot of my focus becomes kind of daily process goals of of what can I do better today to make myself better for the next day?

And, Starting small from a 15 minute walk to maybe eating a little bit healthier that day. But really, it was very minor, but lifestyle changes that I've implemented and really tried to stick to. That that's probably my my best advice. Like I said, everyone's going through something. But if you can really bring it down to doing Three simple things, and you think those things are making your life better and being consistent

with it, that's, I think it'd pay dividends because it certainly has for me. Is there a mentor involved with you? Or is it just really started to read your own how you think, how you feel, and how you act, and starting to put together your own game plan? Oh, definitely a team around me. You know, a good buddy, Dave Markle, has carried for me for the last year and a half, 2 years. You know, it's no surprise to me. My elevation of play has come with him being on my bag. You know, I've seen more

than one kind of sports sites over the years. A couple years ago was doctor Bob Ratella. I kinda saw him for a couple days, and he really kinda put me in the right direction. And from there, I kinda started seeing Chris Bertram and more talking to him on a regular basis. But he's more I think it it brought me into the the daily process goals. K. What what can we do more than not? That's been our our kind of mantras. If you can do it 4 days out of the week, that's more it's

doing more than you're not. So I think that's been a good kind of thing for us. And know, just working at the right things. There's been, you know, coaches, short game coaches that I've I've brought in as well. So it's it's been a team thing. You turned pro in 2010. I've had hockey players in my show that talk about they came out of the American League with great swagger. They stepped on in the NHL, and Key said it was, like, 10 times faster, 10 times bigger, and 10 times more intimidating.

Did you notice that when you went into the PGA that this was a Three different game? I think every level that you go up in golf, you know, from college to to even mini tours when I came out to Chatter Tour Canada, Korn Ferry Tour PGA, it's it's that best of the best on each level. Each level, there's there's more depth. There's just a lot of really good players. And, you know, I feel like each level, I've had an adjustment period where, all flashes of where I really have

confidence and feel like I belong. And there's times like anybody in golf, you're not sure if you're ever gonna make a cut again. But, this is my 10th year on tour now, and it's it's funny to look back to where, you know, probably that last couple years is where I really had the confidence where I really belong in that top tier of top 50 in the world and have had pretty consistent results. Like I said, it's never linear. It's always up and down. When you get that

self belief to a certain level, I think a lot of the results follow. It's very tough, I think, in anything. But if you're Three singular focused on the results, it's so easy to be frustrated and, you know, you're not meeting your expectations. So I've really tried to rewire

where if I can do what I plan to do on a particular day, finish that day and feel like I kinda had a that, it's kinda helped me get out of that results side and and just try to focus on me being the best I can. Your first win 2014, that must have been you know, it's almost like breaking the 4 minute mile that when you finally bring it home, it has to be something of just tremendous pride because there's millions of golfers that Three the PGA and

never get inside the ropes, and here you are winning one of those tournaments. It was a pretty wild 7 or 8 months. You know, I I think early early that year, my wife and I got married, had some struggles in the Korn Ferry tour, and then really started to play well, and and then got my PGA Tour card kind of the tail end of that summer. And then with within 2 months, I won that Sanderson Farms. And, you know, it felt like at least a year. But a 7 or 8 month span, our life definitely changed

in the golf world. Like I told, when we're back as kids, you know, you're you're yelling all those putts to win the Matters, those putts to win a golf tournament, and to actually become that realization is obviously, you know, a victory that I'll cherish every single one of them. But your first is obviously kinda in a special spot. So that definitely kinda catapulted my career into a spot where high job security, which, you know, in golf is few and far between a lot of the times.

So, that was a huge step in my career. No doubt. When you talked about you know, it's funny you're saying mine was underneath the street lights, you know, scoring the winning goal for the Habs. I was from Montreal, but I was never gonna make the NHL. Is there something about an athlete that when they're dreaming of that winning putt, they see it differently? Yeah. I think it's probably a a combination of a lot of things. You know?

I think dreams are great, and I think they're essential, but also making a plan to to try to reach those dreams, having the people around you and the resources is a huge factor. You know? Some people aren't as fortunate to be able to have people lift them up when they're down or or have have people around them to help support them get to that level. And there's

certainly people that don't have that and still succeed. But it, you know, I I I've I'm certain in my scenario where family, friends, you know, my wife, kids, all of that. I certainly couldn't have reached the levels I have without their support. So Let's talk about Andy because, high school sweetheart. I've seen interviews together. You guys are just a Hollywood scripted couple. I mean, just looking at each other. It's not you're not looking around

to see who's taking cameras. You're you're clearly in the moment with each other, and you you're blessed with 2 children. Charlie, I guess, is your eldest, and Harper May, your daughter. What how does family, even getting married, change because there's different priorities that come with it? You're no longer your own, you know, master of your own domain. I mean, you've got a a lot of people you're responsible for. No doubt. You know, I think, you know,

Andy would would agree with me. I think once once Charlie was born, you know, perspectives change. You know? And I think there's no no doubt in my mind if you even look at if I kinda Chatter courses to my career and, you know, mirroring when I've had children, there's no doubt a

lot of my successes come after because of perspective Chatter. Key more focused maybe on the the the less time I have maybe to to practice and Three, but also when I'm not golfing on the course, you know, I'm trying to be in the moment with my kids and and embrace all that time with them. And perspective change is the biggest that, you know, they're the most important things in my life, and golf is great. I love playing well.

I love kinda competing and trying to do my best, but, it's definitely made that off the golf course stuff where good or bad on the golf course, they're still just excited to see me, which is, is a great feeling. I mean, you're talking about they're the most important thing, but you're also in this crazy world where when you take a break, other people are still competing, and they're moving up and down leaderboards and

FedEx points and such. How hard is it to take time off knowing that, you know, there's another rung to be climbed out Three? And it seems like every week, 52 weeks a year now almost. You know, I've had difficulties on and off trying to, I guess, separate when I'm in off weeks. You know? Rest is super important with our lifestyles, you know, of of the travel that we have, you know, living essentially

out of a suitcase week to week and not being away from home. I think living on a suitcase is not probably the end of the world if you talk to at least a lot of players that I know. But For example, the last 2 weeks, I was on the road by myself. So not being with my kids, with Andy can get difficult the longer that you're away. Charlie's in an age now where he misses me. He knows I'm gone. He knows when I'm coming back.

He's sad when I leave and excited when I come back. That's probably the harder part is not sleeping in your own bed, missing your kids, missing your family, missing your wife. So, that an adjustment period there. But, so, yeah. When you're home, I try to try to separate in a sense where I'm I'm I chose this week to take off. I'm here to, hey, practice a bit when I can, but embrace the time that I have

with family. And that, when I go to a tournament, you know, I feel more rested because of that week off and and try to compete as well as I can. So it's it is a fine line. I'm sure in the past, I've been looking at at leaderboards and weeks off, maybe wishing I was there or seeing that I'm falling. It is what it is, I think. As I've gotten older, I've I've come to realize that just being home and kinda recharging that Chatter is is

definitely Three important thing to to to kinda mix in your schedule. It's a good piece of advice because I think when you're I'm not saying addicted to something, but you're in involved with something, there's a game, there's excitement, there's you're not

sure what the outcome is. I think if you spend a lot of time putting things in the cloud and not seeing the result, but whether you're a sculptor or a carpenter, in your case, an athlete that has some physicality to it, it's gotta be tough at times to say they're out there doing what I love to do. So you just mentioned 2 weeks on the road, your wife's not there, your kids aren't Three. Who's in your inner circle? You mentioned your you have this team that you go, you know, I trust that person

like family. That person has my back. That person's gonna tell me when, you know, I'm not doing enough of what I should be doing. Yeah. That's kinda everyone on my team in a sense that I mentioned I mentioned earlier. But Dave Markle, you know, he's been a a really good friend since, essentially, college. So he's on my bag. He's someone, obviously, we can, you know, if my family is not there, bounce things off of that about anything under the sun, you know, my coaches.

But even the players among us, you know, I've, we we try to split houses with a lot of the Canyon guys, Corey Conners and his wife, Mallory, and their Key. Three, daughter, she's saying. And then, Adam Howlin, we pair paired together, and we've stayed together. Mackenzie Hughes. Now that we all have at least 2 kids, I'm speaking of Mac. That really not houses that are probably big enough to rent. But, we play proact rounds together,

dinners, etcetera. So, we're definitely spending a lot of time with each

other. It feels like that tight knit family when we're out there. So, that's definitely a positive when any of the kids aren't out with me. But it's great when they are out with me and they will be for the majority of the rest of the season, which is really nice. And not not that traveling with kids around the world is is an easy thing, but when we're all together, it definitely makes it makes it great. So let's talk about the 2023 Canadian Open. The person that wasn't surprised,

at least said so after the interview, was Dave Markle. He said he's been building up to this all year. I'm the least surprised if anyone to see this happen. Was that just looking in the rearview mirror because you won, or did he really see that everything you've been talking about, you know, more than not and such, were really starting to pay dividends in your game? That whole season, honestly, leading up to it, I had, you know, I think, 2 second place finishes, a lot

of great finishes. So my, I guess, pallet, you say, for that year, I had a I had a really nice season and results coming up in the Caine Open. And I'm sure nobody could have expected maybe the the fashion that the result ended up happening, making the long putt in the playoff or,

you know, having a poor first round and and coming back. But, that keeps me in line in a sense where if I'm, you know, Key, reverting back into old habits of being negative or this or that, like, that was a perfect week of that to encapsulate that in the sense where I had a really poor first round. We kinda reset, and we came out and just tried to be as loose as possible. And what what makes, I think, our relationship great, but

Dave especially, is great sense of humor. It can keep things light. And we've kinda found a formula where if I can be as loose as possible and not so into result of the shots and having better acceptance, there's no guarantee of success, but it's gonna give me my best best opportunity. And that's what he's been so great for. Mindfulness experts would, would say that's Flo. Yeah. Definitely. There's so much more to come on this special, celebrating Nick Taylor's

historic win. After the break, we're gonna be joined by the man who made the passionate call, who lost his voice, a call that's been heard around the world. He's a golf catalyst. He's a world class commentator. He's a personal friend of mine. His name is Mark Zucchino. It started to feel very real, and there was an energy on the golf course that was different than excitement. He could actually win

this. We'll bring Nick Taylor back to talk about that 4th round, and how he found a way to stay in the zone, knowing that each step up each fairway, he was also carrying the fact that a Canadian hadn't won the championship in almost 7 decades. I don't have a doubt that the energy of all the fans pulling in one direction, obviously a Canadian, I definitely think it helped in my scenario. So And then Mark Soter is gonna join us, who's part of the

RBC team responsible for golf. And I think you're gonna be blown away when you learn how big the game of golf is to Canada, how important it is to our economy. And then I hope you fall in love with a program I've fallen in love with, RBC Community Junior Golf. RBC goes into equity deserving neighborhoods with programming that is it's engaging, and kids learn about the integrity of the game with sportsmanship, and then RBC provides deeply discounted rates, so those kids can play.

What a way to open up the game of golf to every Canadian. Hi. It's Tony Chapman. RBC has been a long standing supporter of golf in both Canada and the United States Three their title sponsorship of the PGA Tours RBC Canadian Open and RBC's Heritage Tournament, as well as key partnerships with the Heritage Classic Foundation Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada. Combined, RBC Golf Tournaments have raised over $35,000,000 to help communities thrive. But did you know about RBC Community Junior

Golf? This is an initiative led by RBC in partnership with Golf Canada that's building greater diversity and equity in golf by providing affordable access for youth from equity deserving communities across Canada. To date, RBC Community Junior Golf has engaged more than 20,000 youth participants by providing first tee programming at no cost and subsidizing green fees through youth on course. Who knows? One of those kids might be the next Nick Taylor. For the eagle,

Supporting Canadian youth? Well, that matters to you, to me, and to RBC. You're listening to You're listening to That That Matters with Tony Chapman presented by RBC. Joining me now is Mark Zucchino. He's one of Canada's top broadcasters with an absolute passion for golf. He's not only a course record holder and ambassador for tailor made that adidas. He's been integral to the Matters broadcast in Canada for 11 years. And in 2010, launched Canada's only national golf program called Golf Talk

Canada. And if that's not enough in his resume, he's also the only Canadian member of the PGA Tour Radio Live play by play team. Mark, welcome to Chatter That Matters. Thanks for having me. I'd love your take on Nick Taylor, but before we get to his golf acumen, just talk to me about his character and, you know, how he represents Canada in general. Well, it's really

hard to go anywhere and have anybody say anything negative about Nick Taylor. Even my American counterparts who, you know, colleagues who work for PJ Tour Entertainment, PJ Tour Radio, and have a lot of encounters with kind of all of our Canadian that. You hear nothing but good things from all that our team Canada, and certainly Nick kinda RBC in the face of that right now would suggest more than ever

before. And he's always carried himself so well. You know, when Nick first came out, you know, he was the number one amateur player in the world back in 2010. And there was a lot of expectations on Nick Taylor's shoulders. Right? I mean, everybody was waiting. Who's gonna be the next Mike Weir? You know, we were 7, 8 years removed from Mike Weir's green jacket that threw you at Augusta. And a lot of attention, a lot of people looking at Nick to kinda be

the guy to to say, okay. I I'm gonna take the torch from here and carry Three. And it and it just didn't happen. At least it didn't happen right away for Nick. Let's fast forward now, you know, several years later, and he's a veteran on the PGA tour. And now all of a sudden, he's kinda reaching the potential where we all knew he would get. So in order to hang in there that long and work the way he's worked at it, kinda tune out all the noise and stuff,

I think that kinda speaks to his character as well. So, yeah, we're all seeing the performance now to your point, Tony. Anybody who tunes and watches golf gets used to seeing Nick Taylor on leaderboards and winning golf tournaments. But he's a great person, tons tons of friends out here. And in terms of, like, you know, having that gut check, that real kinda

champion's character, it's certainly there. We we know it's been there for a while. You know, you talked about that 10 years of, you know, him really working hard. What what lessons in life can you provide my listeners in terms of when you have a dream, even if it doesn't unfold as quickly as you want, it's imperative that you just stay with it, that you just never lose sight of it. I think it's really easy to use focus and hear all the noise and take your eye off the ball.

And I also think sometimes it the disappointments, you can carry them around with you a long time. You know? And I look at a guy like Nick Taylor, and and then you try to relate it to things we do in our own lives. And we we sometimes, I think Key lose track of the progress we have made and the things that we are achieving in our careers and our goals that we do accomplish, and and we just always fixated on. But but I wanted to be here, or I thought I'd be here by now, and

and and maybe it hasn't happened yet, and maybe it won't happen. And and

that's you never know. But, I mean, you better love the process. You better love the work ethic. And at the end of the day, if you love the process and you love putting in the work, then the result is kind of a bonus at the end. You know what I mean? And celebrate those little wins along the way. So I think that's what I've personally taken from it. I'm talking to you now, Mark, from the PGA. You're at the Matters. You're

everywhere. How's their RBC Canadian Open stack up? I would say since 20 18, 2019, our national championship got really elevated to a place it used to be held. You know? In the seventies, if you were to go around and, you know, talk to Jack Nicklaus and talk to Lee Trevino, and the big players in the game outside of the 4 majors in the world of golf, The Canadian Open was right there. And in in recent years, under new leadership at Golf Canada

obviously, it starts with Lawrence Applebaum. You know, he's top of food chain executive director, CEO of of Golf Canada, but his entire team that he's assembled there from the top down starting with that that buy in from them, buy in from RBC, as a sponsor who just didn't get behind the Canyon Open, but got behind golf. Three look at their ambassador program, the fact that they're also a sponsor of another event on the

PGA Tour and the RBC heritage. You know, when Rory went out there and got it done in Hamilton, and then Rory goes out there and wins again at St. George's, and, obviously, what happened last year with Nick, I think our championship's

on everybody's radar. And I think this year at Hamilton, going back to Hamilton, which I believe is the best golf course we have in our Canadian open rotation, I think we're in for another amazing treat, especially when you consider what that that miracle, and I'll use air quotations on miracle that we have happened last year. I mean, we got 6 guys this week in the PGA championship, all of them capable of winning. That ties a

PGA championship record for most Canadians in the field, 6 guys. There's a a real possibility that what happened last year at Ogale could happen again at Hamilton with another Canadian this year. That's that's a lot. So take me back to Oakdale because I've watched, I've listened to you. I'm such a fan of what you're doing. But going into the tournament, 1st couple of rounds, I mean, Nick puts up a score that he puts him in contention, but it seems like everything's on DJ and Rory. I mean, that

that's the spotlight. That's the energy. Saturday comes along, it's moving day, and this guy decides to take a move. All of a sudden on Saturday, he starts making moves. So the producer in my head says, you know, we we gotta get out there and get somebody of Nick Taylor and call some of the Taylor golf shots. So we did. We got it out Three, and it's like, okay. You know, he might be part of this story on Sunday. So we get out there,

start calling some golf shots. And although he kinda got into the movie, so to speak, on what we might cover, it was only like, okay. We're because he's Canadian, because he's had a decent, you know, finish here, we're gonna you know, we'll we'll we'll chat with him a little bit, but he's not gonna be part of our Sunday plan still. So Sunday morning rolls around. Okay, Mark. You're starting with Rory McIlroy, and you're you know, this tee time off, you

don't. And we get to about 4 or 5 holes in with Rory McIlroy. My producer says, get your butt as quick as you can to the it was either, like, that 8th or 9th green. Nick Taylor's off to a good start, and my my producer just says to me, he's gotta play a hunch. Right? That's his job as a producer. Where's the story gonna come from? Where are the importance? You know, we got guys in the studio for radio, but they can only cover so much off monitors and stuff. You need your eyes

and ears on the ground. We gotta pull you off Rory McIlroy, which never happens. You don't pull guys off Rory. You don't pull guys off Tiger. You know? This is golf like any other sport. It's it's star driven. He goes, you gotta go find Nick Taylor. It was crazy. It was like at first, it was like, oh, he's gonna he's gonna have a great Sunday and post that number and kinda put it in the clubhouse, and he's gonna have a really good finish. He might even, you know, he might even top 5 here.

A couple birdies go down. Then he starts he made, you know, making some huge putts down the stretch. The putt on 17 was crazy. You could feel that like, once we got through 13, it started to feel very real. And there was an energy on the golf course that was different than excitement. He could actually win this. What kind of pressure is going through him? I mean, you've covered so many golfers. I mean, first time in 69 years

that a Canadian is gonna always just cut. How how do you compartmentalize that? That? How do you deal with that? Well, that's what I find so amazing because, you know, for any of us who's ever played the game, I that you know, I used to play the game at a decent level, many moons ago. But, I mean, even for players out there now that play the game at a great level, that that's the real difference. I mean, how do you do it

Carrying all that around under those conditions. You know, Tiger's the best we've seen in in this generation in the last, you know, probably 40, 50 years. And just for some reason, the more important it gets, the better he plays. And that's been the knock against Rory for the last decade. It's been 10 years since Rory's, won a major championship. And and a lot of the against Rory has been he plays his best golf when it doesn't matter.

So to see what Nick did, carrying that around makes it so exceptional and makes it, I think, like, one of the greatest sporting moments in our country's history because of what he was carrying around with him to do it. You know, when we got to the 72nd hole, I couldn't give him the championship. And people always ask me, like, did you do you know what you're going to say? That 99.9% of the time, I never know what I'm gonna say in a call. I just react to what I see,

and I try to call it. Couple of, I guess, holes in advance, I'm I'm I'm I was thinking to myself, okay. You know, we're gonna put him in the clubhouse, and we can't call him a champion because we have no idea what's gonna happen behind him. Him. But we've gotta kinda put a bow on this and leave it open because nothing's official. So I just I said I actually prepared something. Maybe for the first time in my entire career doing play by play for golf, I actually prepared what I was gonna say. And

I just was truthful. And what I thought was and what I said was, you know, is the drought over? Have we ended this this drought? I can't tell you yes or no, but what I can tell you is there's 30,000 people here right now and 35,000,000 people at home that that hopes and told me. We had no idea that really the tournament was just starting. I mean, it was literally just starting because the playoffs itself feels like an outer body experience. That's gotta be the longest four holes you've

covered. I've never felt 20, 30000 people invested with every swing, every putt, every moment. It was so overwhelming from a personal standpoint, looking around that green, at the 18th hole and seeing, you know, the people I've grown up with, in the golf business, the colleagues, the dignitaries from Golf Canada, all the players, whether the Canadian contingent of players, Mike Weir's obviously standing there. It was quite a scene. So take me to

when he's lining up. That putt was heard around the world and so much to do with the way you announced and how that was shared around the world because people said that is one of the great moments of broadcasting that you did, and it came from your heart, came from your soul. But just

take the audience to that 4th wall of play. Yeah. What's so amazing about that is if you listen to the first 30 seconds or so of that call, the the part that didn't go viral, the part that, you know, that didn't kinda hit, you know, every media outlet on the planet. There's a conversation that's going on between myself and Dennis Paulson. Now Dennis Paulson, former winner on the PGA Tour, he was our analyst that week. And Dennis finished second, multiple times at the

Canadian Open. I had a real soft spot for the Canadian Open that he did so well there over the years and was upset that he never got got it done. You know? And Dennis was our analyst. And I and what the weirdest thing, no one in a 1000000 years thought he was ever gonna make that putt for 72 feet. That was really on nobody's radar. The discussion was more around, you know, this is

a tough 2 putt. But I happen to bring up to to Dennis, because we were just there in regulation, that Nick Taylor had about an 18 foot putt on the final hole on an identical line of his 72 footer. So the last 20 feet of those 72 feet, an hour ago, he had this putt. So I just casually brought up to Dennis before he set in to to get over the putt to to pull the trigger. I said, you know what's kinda interesting about this, Dennis, is if you can

figure out the first fifty feet. I'm not suggesting he's gonna make it, but, you know, because of that knowledge, maybe maybe this is an easier 2 putt. And I'm also you know, maybe some of my Homer was coming out of me trying to will this 2 2 putt because I know, you know, if he doesn't 2 putt that, it's it's likely over. Right? And that it is what it

is, the call. And you can hear it in my voice. When it's starting to track in those last 20 feet, you can hear this this kind of octave in my voice where it goes up a bit like there's this part of me goes, oh my god. This has a chance. Like, there's that little voice in my head that goes, I think this coulda and that and that was it. And literally, you know, 1 thousandth of a second later, the everything in on the planet is exploding. So it was so cool. So much fun.

Eagle, the 2023 RBC Canadian. My guest today is someone who dreamed as a child of sinking the winning putt to become a winner on the PGA Tour. Will he accomplish that? But little did he know that he would also one day sink a 72 foot eagle putt to become the 1st Canadian champion in 69 years, a win that will immortalize Nick Taylor in the narrative of Canadian golf. So Key comes on, and he sort of gave me the play by play of the tournaments.

And after the 1st round, people were wondering if you were gonna make the cut. So take me through it if you can. Just, like, give the audience a sense of what it's like to be a Canadian going to the RBC Canadian Open and hoping you're gonna be the one that breaks the 69 year old, drought. Yeah, you know, that week is always, you know, busy in a sense. We're we're more in the media getting interviews because it's in Canada because we're

Canadian. And, you know, at that point, obviously, it'd been 69 years and myself and every other Canadian in that field is is trying to be the one to to kind of break that curse. And Canadian golf at the pro level, I don't think that ever been as good that it has, especially with the depth. And, you know, the 1st 2 days I played with Corey Conners, I think he was either tied for the lead or near the lead after the 1st day and

really up there through 2 days. And, you Like Mark said, I made a couple putts at the tail end of that first round, I think, to shoot 75 just to keep myself within arm's reach, honestly, of the cut. That night, obviously, I was disappointed. And it was coming out the next day with not much to lose. But I had a good chat with my wife, Andi, and Dave. Kinda tagged in there a little bit. But it was just like, let's just try to go have fun. You know? You really have nothing to

lose tomorrow. And, you know, Really played a great round that Friday to make the cut and just Three the momentum really the rest of the weekend but into Saturday. And that's when I had the great round of Three Chatter to put myself back in the tournament, which I didn't probably expect starting the day. But again, when I was making birdies and got momentum on my side, I just wanted to Key in that zone as

much as possible and was able to finish the round off. Starting Sunday, I think I was one back of a bunch of players in second and Three back, maybe, of the leader. So I knew it still needed a great round. Sometimes, it is hard to back up a good round. But also, I felt like I had this momentum with the crowds there. Just felt like the right energy was in my corner. And if I could just stay out of my own way, essentially, and just try to keep riding that and just see what

happens. And, again, got off to a great start that day and really did a good job of, like I said, going get getting in that flow state as much as I could, staying out of my own way. And, yeah, it's amazing how how I've been turned out. And as Zikito said, you know, he was the producer made a call about, I think, the 5th hole. Something is happening here.

Kind of Chatter Vance, get the hell over. Yeah. And he thought he was leaving the leaders and he's running over and he just said it was the most electric. He said you'll never experience another live event. It must have been amazing for you to the crowds. I it really was. Like, I've I've I've touched on it before, but it felt like every time I walked up to a Key and a green, there's remnants of the national anthem being sung. The ring hole was definitely notorious that week and it

will be probably going forward. It definitely sing it on that hole. But, you know, just the ovation is getting to the tees, getting to the Three. Something I've never experienced of having that much energy kinda towards me trying to push me towards that finish line and and try to win this golf tournament. Why do you think you could channel that where so many others have talked about even playing with Tiger, for example, that it's just such an

overpowering noise. But to you, it's almost like a hockey player saying my home home fans are the 6th player on the ice. Yeah. You know, I'm I'm sure in the past playing with Tiger, which I wasn't obviously that day, would would be a completely different experience in a sense of maybe the intimidation factor. But, again, I felt like the year of confidence of playing well, it definitely helped me get there. And I'd been in situations trying to win a tournament and and handled it well.

Didn't win necessarily, but, again, felt like, you know, the moment I was gonna be ready for. And, you know, you can chalk that up to to work with Chris Bertram or the different mental psychologists or sports psychologists. You could chalk it up to having confidence and being those moments. I think it was a combination of things. But I think I tried to remind myself constantly that I just wasn't gonna be afraid of the moment. Doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna

turn out the way I want it to. But I tried to just make it a golf tournament. It's easier said than done. You know? I'm trying to win a a tournament that I've loved would have loved to win since I've essentially started playing golf. But I love when you said in an interview and that even as a junior golfer, or we circle that Chatter, but round 2, you have nothing to lose and you shoot a great round. The 4th round, you have everything to

lose. The motions must be so different because, you know, one time you're just joking around and having fun. Now you're realizing I'm starting off. And what point in that tournament did you say, I could actually win this? There was more to lose on Sunday, like you said, but I think I was still in that same mindset of of chasing. I still have something ahead of me that I'm trying to chase towards. And so, I did a good job of keeping

that mindset. I had a feeling of the crowds, the energy. I was either leading or right there when I made the turn and getting to that back 9. And so, I had a general idea of where I was until 17 when I first looked. I had BOBE 16 and wanted to know. It just felt like the energy shifted of like, Key, I have BOBE there. Where am I? So on that tee, I knew I was one back of

of Terrell Chatter that finished. Again, I did a good job of just facing towards what I wanna try to get to and just trying to focus on what I was like, at least what I could could control. Now you're in a playoff. Yeah. You've had the adrenaline of getting to that where you are. I always think about Tom Watson when he it was the playoff in the British Open late in his life and and, you know, Chile dipped that Chapman I'm going, how do you center yourself?

This is Canada. This is a 69 year old drought. This is a playoff. Like, how do you get shut all that out and just stay in the moment? I think for me, honestly, it was when when Tommy had birdied 17 to tie, it was one of those like, This might not be it. 18 was a pretty birdie hole all week. When he didn't, it felt like I almost got a boost of, Key. Let's go do this. We got another opportunity. 18, I remember specifically on the green. I was about 6 feet for birdie. Tommy

was maybe 20. And really reminded myself before he hit it, like, he's gonna make this. Like, have that mindset where I'm gonna have to make that. Don't be surprised if he makes this. So it was kind of that match play scenario and which is a good good thing to have because he obviously did make it. And I knew, I didn't have that nervous surprise energy if you wanna call it that before, I hit the pot. And, you know, it's one of those things I felt like the last couple years when I've been

in those scenarios, I've been playoffs or pressure situations. I've been able to just focus on what I need to do and what I want to do and and not have the doubt come into my mind. Which, at times, when you're struggling a little bit, you see the water hazard. You see the putt lipping out instead of lipping in type thing. So, I got in the right mindset there. I was able to make that putt which is obviously one of many critical putts that day. But, obviously, that one was

6 in the playoffs. So it it was needed. And I also, you know, Tommy had a couple Chatter to to finish it and felt fortunate that he didn't. And then, Dave, as a reminder, walking off that 4th tee box sorry, the 4th playoff off Three box. He was just reminding me, This is just as hard for Tommy as this is for you. You know, let let's remember that, and let's try to finish him off here. So It's great advice. Just absolutely world class advice to tell you that at that

moment. Yeah. I mean, I played the putt earlier and and Mark's, growing horse describing it. But 72 feet, eagle putt. As you said in every interview I listen to it, I've listened to many. Few people got it to the hole. I knew what the last 15 feet were because I had a similar putt in the playoff, but you're still a long way away. There's a lot of high school kids that can't kick a field goal that

far. So you know? I've caught myself even talking with Andy. Kind of one of those things like, man, it would have been nice if Tommy just just missed that putt in the first playoff hole and I made that to win type of thing. And, like, well, then the 72 footer wouldn't have happened. There's certain things where maybe looking back, I don't have a doubt that the energy of all the fans pulling in one direction

obviously, a Canadian. It didn't matter if you put any Canadian in that scenario. But having that length of putt, the energy for that whole week, I definitely think it helped in my scenario. So, it's cool to look at it because when people have said Hollywood script or you couldn't even write that because people wouldn't believe it. I think that it's very cool when people say that. And I think even with my reaction, when you see it, it is probably utter disbelief of that putt actually dropping.

And and maybe that's because, you know, I did a you know, I'm in the I'm in the present. I'm trying to hit that putt as much as I can. And then when something like that happens, maybe you're not exactly expecting, that's when it's it's pretty neat. So I'd love to hear you and Mark will talk 25 years from now about that because they and, you know, because I I first of all, the putter flip, immortal. You're in a you're now in the Canadian

Open logo. Come on. That is pretty that pretty exciting. And that's pretty Yeah. Innovative on, you know, Golf Canada and and RBC for doing that. I thought that was brilliant. It's been so special in the sense of of the, like, Three creative minds doing that. Some of these videos, they've come out. I've I've said it to some of the guys that RBC put out with them talking about their experience. Like, they've been very Chatter. And it's been really

nice to kind of just hear their perspective. You know, I've obviously been around them for the past year and and talked a bunch. But to see that different kind of vantage point of them just speaking about it is really neat. Yeah. Marco, it's it's it's fun to experience, obviously, something like that with with who I'd call one of

my best friends. And, you know, I've touched on this the past. I think, forever treating golf as a job, I didn't want to get someone too close potentially as a caddy to maybe make it awkward if things weren't working out. But I think it's something that I really needed and finally kinda found the right person in Dave. Is it hard to stay best friends when you're also, at times, have to be the boss? I think that's what I was afraid of going into it.

You know, I made it clear. I'm like, our friendship's first. So, obviously, there'll be times where we're out there and we're trying to compete and can be frustrated, but our communication is very good. You know? Anybody with their player and caddy, doesn't matter if it's a best friend or, you know, someone they first met, I mean, you know, It's essentially marriage. You know, we're spending more time with them sometimes than our our significant others. So it's it's important to have that

open line of communication, trying to get better. You know, we we've been very open of where we're trying to get to and what's the best way to get there. And so it's definitely important to keep that communication open, and and we've done a good job of that. The hug. You and Marco come together. I mean Yeah. You know, usually, you Key a lot of high fives and you know? But that was just 2 friends going, we did

it. We got pictures framed with that. We Andy and I kind of thought for a bit, but we ended up getting the flag and a really cool picture of us together with for Dave. And to experience something like that with, like I said, one of my best friends is, you know it it is Hollywood script type stuff. So it's and like I said, golf has become I think the narrative has changed. It's there's really no eye in golf anymore. It's it's we the motions there were so raw in a sense of, like, you know, we

did it. Like, this is this is us thing. And it was pretty neat. So, you know, I talked about 25 years from now. I'd love to hear you guys talk that moment. I would also love to wind back the clock 8 years when you were at a bar talking about what it would be like to win the Canadian Open. Exactly. And you must have got back and forth. What course would it be? Yeah. You know, who would I be playing and stuff? So it's you know,

it it there is a intervention or not. There's a Cinderella story on it. I just wanna ask you a bit about your foundation. I I thought it was really yours and Andy, like, to combine, you've created this family foundation with a real focus on your community. I applaud you for that because I think there's a lot of communities hurting out there right now. So tell me a bit that what you're doing. Yeah. So speaking of of Chris Bertram, he he was the former coach at the UFV, local university of the of

the men's golf team there. And they had had a fundraiser for their team for a number of years and had approached us about 7 years ago now and and said, hey. Would you have any interest of kinda coming together? We kind of already have this this base of a golf tournament. I think if we came together, we kinda elevated it. And, you know, you and Andy can start thinking about things that you wanna do in the community. And it was it was such a good idea. 1st, we didn't know how we really

know where to start how to how to start a fundraiser. So having having the bones already there and and Chris has been phenomenal. And we've he brought in Phil Algrove who's been a huge sponsor. And so that kinda already had the framework of this event, and it's just grown from Three. And it's been phenomenal. So we've the events you know, this is a Key our 7th year, I

believe. And, you know, we've we've kind of that to help out a few different foundations and charity networks just around Abbotsford and Chilliwack in our community. And we haven't stuck with single one. More more of a strategy of, like, let's let's help out who kinda needs needs something this particular year, you know, talking with the leaders of those programs. And Andy being a social worker in the hospital here, she's obviously seen a lot

of things that most people don't. And so has that experience to to kinda know where things need to go. I'm sure it's gonna be for, Charlie and Harper May as they grow up to sort of see that even though they're gonna be surrounded with very different wealth than you had starting on your golf career, that there's a

real world out there and and a lot of reality. So No doubt. You know, you're mentioning all these people from RBC. Wear the RBC shield. What does it mean for a golfer to wear a sponsor shield? Is it just the fact that they're, you know, they're just basking in my attention, or

do you think that there's something more with with the partnership? I think in our case, the Canadians' case especially, you know, I think RBC, Royal Bank of Canada, is is definitely a symbol for a lot of things, but it's just kind of, it's been with me, I think, since essentially day 1 of of when I turned pro. You know, they've they've had faith in me and my ability and and really helped, early on especially ease some of those financial strains with, with pro golf, which can be

hard. You know? If you're if you're stressed about trying to play pay the next entry fee, it's gonna be tough to focus on what you gotta do to to try to to move on to the next level. So, yeah, I'm I'm very proud to to be an ambassador for RBC, to be able to win. The RBC can't open is just a cherry on top and Another Cinderella story. This time, they can do the movie. Yeah. Exactly. You know, you you're talking about wearing the RBC shield and winning the

RBC Canadian Open. It It was kind of like when Tiger chipped in in the Matters and the Nike logo just sat on the edge for about 4 seconds and that dropped in. Yeah. Exactly. I always end my show with my Three lessons learned, that things I'm gonna take away and hope others do as well. And first one is more than not. I just think that this piece of advice for people to say, what can I do more of

each day? Little things, little steps, and how fast you can turn things around from impossibility to possibility just by doing that. I think that's wonderful. The second is how important balance is to you. And I'm really interesting that the way you balance your day, the way you're trying to balance your life in terms of being there with Andy and the kids, and in golf,

compartmentalizing and prioritizing. It's really interesting to be that centered. And I wonder if that's something that only happens after a while on the tour or a while in business, or is that something we can adopt at an earlier age? Because I think balance lets you rest for the big moments, and balance gives you perspective. And as you said in one

of your interviews, yeah, I went home and changed diapers. You know, like that's but that's I think that's all important thing about life and the fact that you're building

a life for your kids. It's a great reminder. And then the other one that I think is so powerful is when you change from focusing with such great intent on outcome and results, which made you negative and angry and, you know, wondering if you're ever gonna succeed to really now just focusing on moments and focusing on where you are and and how exciting it is to play, but at the same time, you got another life besides golf.

I think those are Three really powerful lessons in in life, and I I I just appreciate your time on, Chatter That Matters. I love that mantra of, you know, more days than not. It kinda puts things in perspective a sense you don't have to be perfect. You don't have to do that workout every single day. You don't have to do x, y, and z every single day. But if you just try to do it more days than not, you're

gonna be Chatter off. So I I love what I do I don't really feel like it's a job a large majority of the time playing golf for a living but there's also times where putting that away and spending time with families is, is the best thing I can do. And I know I've taken too much of your time, but what do you how do you feel about coming into 2024 Canadian Open? I'm excited. You know, it's it's hard to imagine. It's been a year. You know, I expect the crowds to be, beat full force out there. So

I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna really try to embrace it all because, it was a tournament you dream of winning. And so having

a full year to soak that up and then defend, do my best to kinda embrace it all. As I mentioned earlier in the show, I'm inviting Mark Soder to join me. He's works at RBC. He carries golf in his title. You gotta have have one of the greatest jobs in the world, Mark, because you're involved in prestigious events like the, you know, RBC Canadian Open, that heritage classic, but you're also very involved in harnessing what golf means and matters and bringing it to communities

across Canada. And that's really what I wanna focus on today is not what you do that's big, but the little things that you do that in many ways are bigger. And so let's talk about RBC Community Junior Golf. What is it, and why would a brand like RBC invest in that? Oh, first, thank you very much for having me. And I and I I do I feel very blessed and fortunate, to be working with with RBC. We have an unbelievable that.

And as you know, it takes a village. There's a there's a great team that brings those big tournaments, the RBC Canadian Open and Heritage to life. Not to mention that we're gonna talk about today, some of the other shoulder programming important things that that we do do and RBC Community Junior Golf is definitely one of those where we all have a lot of heart for. But I think if we take maybe even a step higher when we look at golf, golf as a sport, particularly in Canada is thriving.

We see some encouraging numbers, when you look at, who knew golfers, new entrants to the game were. It was 57% of new golfers were female, 48% of new golfers were identified as BIPOC. The interest in the game, was was growing. Those are all great indicators. However, the number one barrier to to golf

was cost, was affordability. So, it was important to us to, you know, we as you know, Tony, it's important for us to give back into communities where we do business. It's all about, helping communities thrive. And this was a program where we sat down to say, how can we inspire and how can we enhance and bring golf to underrepresented communities across Canada? How can we introduce the game to youth, put clubs in hands for the first time, and get them into the game in a really meaningful

way. So we're very proud to be working with with Golf Canada and First Tee and Youth on Course and have brought this program, to fruition. So talk to me about this program because when I imagine it, I'm seeing these kids for the first time going on a golf course and all that that represents. I mean, there's there's sand and there's, you know, a flag and there's, you know, tees and there's a stick in my hand, and all of that comes together as truly something quite

memorable. I have to I remember my first time going on a golf course, and I have to believe that you're not just introducing them to a game. You could be introducing them to a passion that they're gonna take the rest of their life. Well said. There's a few pieces to touch on there Chatter it was just your your family, your mother, your father who introduced you to the game and what those special moments meant as

a youth growing up. But I think Three RBC Community Junior Golf Programming actually doesn't start on the course with with First Tee Programming, working with counselors and community, centers across Canada. It really touches on more than just golf at the introductory level. We're talking about different aspects from understanding and managing emotions, from resolving conflict, setting up step by step goals. There's a whole

program that's rich with First Three. That's an ascending program that you graduate to, to then make it out onto a golf course. So when it is that first time, what is special and you hold that golf course for the first time, you've been coached and you've been through already an immersive program that's helped you get there. And then I think that's where our sub subsidized youth on course programs and $5 rounds really help kids stay inspired and start to play more. Mark, what are you most

proud of? When you look at your time at RBC and the work that you're doing with their golf program, what do you think you're gonna talk about in 20 years and say I was part of that? I'm very proud to be working on this team with leaders like Three DePauly and it starts at the top and coming all the way down. We have a very passionate, hardworking team that is just feeling very

grateful to be a part of. I think what we've done at RBC, through our golf platform from our RBC Community Junior Golf platform to our RBC PGA Scramble initiative, which is a fantastic coast to coast initiative that, inspires play that the grassroots level. But most importantly, we've in the last Three years have brought golf to almost 30,000 youth across Canada with being introduced to the

game, staying with the game, and becoming fans. And maybe one of them will become the next Nick Taylor, but more so it is learning those life skills and having those those moments, on the golf course and learning about the game, that sort of inspires us to keep doing what we're doing. Mark, if you're if you read my post on LinkedIn, you know that I am so passionate about growth in Canada. We have to find a way to grow. And you make a compelling case on why golf matters more than a

sport. Oh, I think Canada, their love of this game runs very, very deep. We have over 2 1,000 golf courses from coast to coast in this country, second only to, to the US. And golf as an industry in this Canada supports over 300,000 jobs. This is an industry that matters to Canada, and supporting the next generation and supporting where this goes, affects a lot of Canadians. And what about charities? Because I I you know, very often, I I I look at there's a golf tournament

attached to a charity. Is that just an excuse to play golf, or is it actually delivering some real value? It could be both, but you bring up a a great point. You know, in Canada, golf helps raise over $300,000,000 to local charities and foundations from coast to coast. So whether whatever your, your initiative is, whatever your special cause is, you, you tend to go to a golf course to raise, to host your event and raise your money. And that's what the golf as a vehicle does for so many great

causes in this country. Mark, I always land my podcast with my Three takeaways with the guests. I've never done it with my 3 takeaways from RBC, but here's the first. 1, you've shown me today that golf is a Trojan horse. It's beyond making birdies and getting on the course. It's life lessons. And if we can get to youth and use a game as our vehicle to get them to open their minds to integrity Three resolving conflicts and and

competition with a smile. I think that's extraordinary. Second thing that I had no idea is how important golf is and how fast it's growing. And when you start throwing numbers around, like, we're second to the United

States in golf courses and the number of Three people we employ. But the third thing is, yeah, it might be an excuse to get out and play golf, but the fact that we're raising $300,000,000 at a time when charities are desperate for cash flow by using golf as the, as the vehicle to get people to come out and not just play, but give more for all those 3 and for everything RBC's doing. I so appreciate you joining me in Chatter that matters. I enjoyed it.

Thanks so much, Tony. Chatter that matters has been a presentation of RBC. It's Tony Chapman. Thanks for listening. Let's chat soon.