You call the balls and strikes on yourself. In the game, you play the ball as it lies, just like you play the hand that you have been given in life. So I think there are fundamental things about this game that, when we embrace them, actually not only improves our golf game, but improves our lives. Put another log on the fire nobody hears give the time. Welcome back to the fire Pit.
I'm Matt Janella, and on this episode of the Fire Drill, Michael Bamberger introduces you to the next President of the U s g A, who, along with leaders like Mike One, seems to be shepherding in a new brand of blue coats. And I'm guessing the game will be better because of them and what they set out to accomplish accessibility, diversity,
and a true growth of the game. Before I turn it over to Michael and his special guests, we want to thank Dormy Workshop for making the next set of merchandise will be dropping this week on Firepit Collective dot com. We're lucky to have our logos on some of the Bishop Family's handmade leather goods such as head covers, stash bags, and glove caddies. Thanks to bag Boy for their support. Bag Boys Nitron Auto Open push Cart is the best
in the business and for me, it's not close. And thanks to part points, our friends Brandon Ebert and Kevin Quinley have created an app that changes the way you can score the game, which is especially good for beginners, kids, families, and buddy strips. Looking for an alternate format. Download the app today and go make par Hi. This is Michael Barmberger with the fire Pit Collective. I'm here with my
new buddy, Fred pur Paul. We live in Fred We live in a very politically correct age where you're not allowed to talk about how somebody looks, or how do they dress, or really anything personal. But we don't do the fire Pick Collective. So I'm just gonna tell one quick thing about sort of meeting you from afar and then actually meeting from you, and then I'm gonna turn this whole thing over to you. But here's how I saw Fred Paul November, and Fred, you correct me if
I have any part of this wrong. November of twenty they had a master's Dustin Johnson won it, but there were no spectators there because of the COVID pandemic restrictions. But Fred was there, I don't know in what capacity. And I saw this man, a very tall, elegant, dark skinned man who dressed out of the Hogan playbook, and um, I was like, who is this guy? And uh, and the Master's being the Masters in that particular years, Masters being a special one because there were so few people there.
I kept seeing Fred over and over and over again, and then we started conversation and turned out that Fred was really into golf and I'm really into golf. So we sort of hit it off that way. But I didn't know much about Fred's life. I knew he was an architect in Dallas. I am going to turn this over to Fred, I promise in a minute. Here. I knew he was an architect and a and a builder and very active in construction in design in Dallas, but
beyond that, he really didn't do anything. Then I'm into Fred at at the p h A Championship at at Southern Hills and Fred tells me he's gonna be the next president of the U s g A. And I followed golf closely, but somehow I did not know that fact.
So like I was like, wow, I really should know I should know more about Fred, and then we've had a series of great conversation that I'm going to write about Fred for the fire Pit Collective of that length, but we're gonna use this as a truncated version to introduce Fred to UH, to our readers and our listeners. So Fred, thank you so much. Fred. To get any part of that introduction wrong, Michael, that's true, and it's great to be with you today and great to be
with your listeners. Well, that's great, Fred. I'm gonna start with the most shocking thing of all. Tell the people when you begin when you began playing golf. Well, Michael, I hope we'll have a fun time today. And uh, you know, I think part of my story that I think, you know, it's pretty interesting. I've been golfing for just under ten years, and uh, I moved to Dallas in January, and I picked up golf and m mostly because I
am an addict to competition. I love sports and I love nature and my basketball career, you know, I like to say basketball had left me and I was looking for something you to challenge myself with, but also to connect. And so I've been playing golf right around ten years, and I should probably say at this point that Fred will be the first U s J president who has played on a national basketball team. I feel quite secure
in saying that. And although there have been tall U s J presidents before Sandy Tatum, I'm six one, he towered over me. Um Bill Campbell in his late eighties towered over me. Uh, but Fred really towers or me? Fred? What are you about? Six five or six six? Yeah, I'm right right around six six and a quarter. You know, I feel like I'm shrinking every day given all these responsibilities. But yeah, I think, by the way, Walter Driver is pretty tall too. So you know, you know who's hold
between you and Walter. I think I've got them just by a submission. So now, Walter is an Atlanta guy and Fred, you're an Atlantic guy. In a manner speaking, you're Behamon. You moved to Atlanta, um with with Beck the company that you worked for now and uh, and you were playing a lot of basketball in Atlanta as a as a young father. And then tell us how you got into golf when you moved to Dallas. Yeah.
You know, what's what's interesting was in Atlanta I had a very you know, um, you know, sort of defying group of friends mostly in the real estate business. We played a lot of pickup basketball. We had this wonderful club sports club that we all played at. And one of things I credit with my golf life is moving from Atlanta to Dallas to assume new, you know, business responsibilities. It really left me open for new groups and new friendships.
My family and I we wanted a club, you know, really for privacy, an intimacy, to be able to you know, connect with folks since we were sort of a replant back to Dallas, and I joined Northwood Club, which was actually the host of the nineteen u s Open. Great
group of people. Um. We connected immediately with a lot of good friends there, But I was not really golfing at the time, and I recognized, as much as I love the nineteenth old that the guys were actually having much more fun out on the golf course, and it got me really curious about golf and so, um, you know, I credit all my friends at Northwood for really attracting
me into the game, for encouraging me to play. Um, even when I was sort of brand new and really really uh you know, sort of not up to playing at that caliber. They always made room for me. And that's the thing I think we love about golf. It's you know, at our core, you know, you know, golf
is very inclusive game. And I hope, you know, I hope as we keep building and all the work we're doing in the U. S g as well as all the other leaders in golf, that we keep demonstrating the inclusive nature of golf and the availability um now more than ever. Well, Fred, that's well said, and that's that's one of the reasons I'm so excited to get to know you and to write about you and introduce you to UH to a broader golf audience. UM. And I'm going to introduce the subject here that I know is
dear to you. Here you are having only taken up golf nine years ago. Now, of course this is exceptional, and now you're gonna become the next president of the U. S. G A. But what I'd love to hear you talk about is the fact that this game seems like it's intimidating to start in and and maybe it is. And I'm wondering to what degree is it part of your agenda to make golf more welcoming to more people, And how can you actually do that. Yeah, Well, look, golf has been great to me. I mean in one way.
You know, for me, it's it's very humbling to have the opportunity to serve and to give back to the game, because it really has given me a life, you know, a quality of life that you know, I frankly didn't know existed. And from the outside, golf is very intimidating, I would tell you, you you know, particularly as an African American man, you know, I didn't see a lot of my golf you know, a lot of myself in the
elite golf environments. And you know, I think, um, in reality, what seems so intimidating from the outside was so welcoming inside. And I think making that first step is probably the challenge many people haven't, particularly in the green grass world of golf. Uh, to to get into an environment. I like to joke, golf is like our own religion. You know, We've got we've got our own Bible. You know, we've
got our own sort of dress. You know, we've got our own language and all those things, particularly for people who have not grown up around the game. Over the means to play the game, it's it's entirely intimidating from the outside um and yet I have found the experience to be the exact opposite on the inside. Some of my best friends in life are my golf buddies. I've got great mentors in the game of golf, which is
how I got to this spot. And so for for us, all of these people who have come to the game during COVID, we need to do that all that we can to let them know that there is room for this game and for them in this game, and that they are absolutely welcomed. And I love the notion of you know, top Golf and some of these you know sort of what I call virtual golf environments that are allowing people to experiment with the game, to be introduced
to the game in a less formally intimidating environment. And I think those of us in the more structured game of golf need to make sure that we fling the doors wide open, so all of these folks who have showed up in the last two years during COVID, that have experimented with the game know that there's absolutely room in this game for them, and so that you know, that's something I think we can have a lot of fun with Fred. What would you like to see the U s g A do under your leaders to make
golf more inviting to more people. Yeah, look, I think you know, today now more than ever, people are looking and wondering whether we actually want them in the game. And I think the U. S g A we have to continue to reach our arms out. I would like to see us invest more deeply in youth play at
both the elite level and the recreational level. I think we've got to make bigger investments in accessibility, you know, investing in um you know, sort of maybe refurbishing courses, Youth on courses, a program I love that actually allows young people to actually play golf for very low fee. We've got to find the programs that are growing the game, kind of like we have done with drive Chip and put along with with our other partners, and we've got to invest more deeply in these games. But we also
have to make golf less intimidating. You know. I would like to see us have more programs to explain the game, more opportunities for folks and you know, underserved community used to interact with the game to introduce it as a curriculum. Perhaps in schools um to triple down on the first team. So I think there's a it's there's not one magic button here to be pressed. But look, Michael, we know one thing that there's not an interest problem in the
game of golf. There's an accessibility problem. And that accessibility is directly related to the cost. So we need to, you know, sort of not only give our time, but we need to figure out how to give more of our treasure to reduce the barriers to entry and to
allow more people in. And I'm proud of the work we're already doing, but I hope under you know, so of the next three years, as we have our new CEO Mike Juan and a really a new capable team on the management team, that we spend more time, more dollars actually opening that accessibility out. Very good, Fred, The the U s Open is being played this week. You've been to the country club. What what do you expect
we'll see this week at the country club? Well, I think you should expect a classic US Open, you know, sort of very now fair fairways that are firm and fast, Uh, you know, greens that are challenging. Um rough that is think um, you know, we we we want to identify the best as Sandy Tatums, they to identify the best players in the game, and we want to make sure that we have an attractive environment for our fans. And
so I'm very excited. You know, in many ways, Um this uh you know, Brookline really is, you know, a trampoline for American golf. You know, Francis women winning winning the US Open there um is a story we love to tell. Obviously he would later go on to become a key figure in the U. S g A. But as a twenty year old winning the US Open as a person of regular means who caddied at Brookline to introduce golf to more regular Americans, to let them know that it was a game for them, Like Wow, what
a gift, you know. And you know, we like to say the U. S g A. You can't buy history, you can only earn it. And given where we are right now, this inflection point with more regular people coming into the game, you know, we think it's wonderful symmetry. And so we're so excited about Brookline. We're excited about next week's US Open, and uh, you know, we hope, we hope we will again identify the best player in the game. We think that's what special about a US Open. Fred.
You you mean you know so much golf history and you've picked up so much in such a short amount of time. You may know this good bit, but you may not. But I'll I'll share just for any of our listeners who haven't. So the nine US Open was at Wingfoot the previous year, Um, Johnny Millard shot a sixty three in the closing round at UH at Oakmont and all of golf and this is just when I was getting into golf, and all of golf was like, Oh, they're going to kill the guys this week, and they did.
Wingfot was it was was a monster and UH and Sandy Tatum was then your job right now, Fred, tell me the formal name of your job right now, Chairman of Competitions Committee. Well, yeah, I'm the chairman of the U s g A Championships many right now. Yeah, So I think that's what Tatum's job was then, prior to become president and UH. And in Tatum's court at the time, what Tatum's Sandy Tatum's quote at the at the time was, we're not trying to embarrass the best golfers in the world.
We're trying to identify them, and uh it's lived on. Uh. Ever since Fred you were talking about Francis we met before. Have you ever seen that photograph of we met in Eddie Lowry his ten year old caddy together. Um, how about the cocky strut of that ten year old Eddie Lowry with that little tie and that little um pork pie hat that he's wearing. Yeah, and he'd going to be a fantastic player himself, right, I mean, I think
that's the great part of this this game. You know, we've had traditions, generation after generation of Americans of regular means being integrated into the game. Now more than ever, we want to see all Americans have access to this game. And so I love to go back to the Francis we met us open because you know that, to me is a story that all Americans and by the way, it reflects the beauty of America. Right, That's why we
enjoy being American. That there is something aspirational about being American. And I always say in the game of golf, like for me, it's not about dumbing this game down. Uh. For for for regular people, it's about giving them something to aspire to, and for me, that's what golf has been. Truly, it's been aspirational and it's been inspirational, and hopefully our championships that's what we're doing. We're inspiring people to join with us in this culture and this beautiful game of golf.
You know, that's a very interesting comment, Fred, and I read a lot into it when you say that that golf is aspirational. Um, you and I love golf, and we like and we know it can improve lives. It's improved your life, it's improved my life. But it's not for everybody. And if you dumb golf down too much by trying to make it accessible to everybody or interesting to everybody, actually can lose the thing that makes golf special in the first place. It's a slow, contemplative, difficult
game like bridges and and and and other activities. Um, do you think it's important that golf continue to embrace those basic DNA facts about the game. I absolutely believe it is fundamental. I mean, you know, as a young kid growing up in a tough environment, I always went to church and I looked at, you know, the folks in business that was successful. I wanted to understand, you know, how they were achieving their success. I looked at my
parents and how hard they work. Everything in life worth having, Michael, is worth working hard for. To have a good golf game, you have to work hard at it. There's a symmetry in life. You know, a composition, your character. How does one actually practice developing character? You know? I think you know highly accomplished people love golf because it is something that is difficult to conquer, that may it may be unconquerable.
These are traits that are wonderful for young people to learn, how to interact with adults, to learn what character and integrity actually looks like up close. You call the balls and strikes on yourself in the game. You play the ball as it lies, just like you play the hand that you have been given in life. So I think there are fundamental things about this game that, when we embrace them, actually not only improves our golf game, but
improves our lives. And we should make sure that we keep telling that story so that we are not forced to dump ourselves down. I believe etiquette is an important part of golf. I love taking my sixteen year old to the course, and I don't want her to behave you know, like she's at a you know, jungle gym. I want her to learn how to conduct herself in a manner that is dignified and elegant and controlled, because those are also characteristics that will be helpful later in life.
And so and that's not saying that we shouldn't be welcoming, but somehow we've got to be yes and people. Yes, we want to be welcoming, and we want to explain people all of these values and virtues that we find so there and they're in the game. Well, Fred, amen to all of that. But what a guy shows up. He's got you know, a sleeve of tattoos, he's got his shirt tails out. Uh, you know, he's not the characteristic golfer that we think that that we think of
when we think about club golf. Um, should golf be welcoming to that person? Or should we expect that person to conform to standards? And Morey's of a different period. What what's what's you're feeling about that? Well? I think we've gotta have environments for both. Right, We've got to have environments for ungolfed people to welcome them in, right, Because before before you start sermonizing to people, they have to know that you actually are interested in them, not
just trying to be interesting to them. They got to know that you want them there. So I think there needs to be environments that are completely casual where people can have fun with the game. You know, at my home course, Trinity Force, we have this little short course where you can go over and drive scooters and have a few drinks and really listen to your music and have a good time. And and that's a way for us to you know, actually attract people into the culture
of the game and the club. And then there are gonna be formal, uh, you know, environments where golf is more structured. So I think we have to have both. But absolutely the young man who's untucked and has a very casual disposition, we need to find ways to attract and to connect. And then once we connect and we build these relationships, we need to then use the relationships to explain why one ought to go on the journey of formality. Uh. There is, uh, you know, a role
for that in your life. And I have just found, you know, with my work with young people, that golf has given me this wonderful gift to explain to young men, particularly young men of color, why it's important to have good decorum, why it's important to be properly groomed, why you want your container to match your character so that people are not judging you harshly from the outside based
on our parents. And so I think we can use this gift to kind of continue to have the kind of relationships across our communities that we want so that we can lean into each other. And Michael, as you know, like we're not going to have the country we want until we're all in with each other. That's what I
love about golf. It gives you this wonderful platform, this wonderful framework where people can spend time with each other, and you know, people that get to know each other can learn to trust each other, and people that trust each other can do well together. And certainly for me, that's being a wonderful, you know, tool in life for me, both with my mentors, people who I am learning from, and then also finding time with young men and young
women that I actually want to be mentors too. And so you know, I feel like no one should be excluded based on how they look. But that doesn't mean that we sort of dumb down and leave it right there. You know, what a gift we all have to share what has been successful for us, and what a gift we have to have this proximity so that we can learn from others. And I think, look, that's what I love about golf. That's beautifully said Fred. Um. You and I are both at Marrying right now where the Curtis
Cups being played. Across the pond, there's another tournament being played, the first of the live events. Uh, you talked about golf. Is you earn your way in golf? It's hard. It takes a lot of work to get you know, even semi competent golf. That live event is invitational, US Open
is an open championship. Everybody who's in the field has earned their way in Um, can you talk about the juxtaposition going from this live event with the taxi cabs on the golf course and the jets of flying overhead in the shotgun star fifty four holes, no cut, and what we're gonna have this week at at the country club. Michael, I'm gonna boy going into you know, all of the dramatics and professional golf right now. I'm gonna I'm gonna stay passionate and focus on this week's amateur golf that
we're putting on at the Curtis Cup. Today. You know, I got to watch our American team tee off from the patio at Marion. Uh. There's no more special place in golf than sitting on the patio at Marion having coffee and watching this wonderful American team compete. With this you know, great Britain and Ireland team. You can almost see the cultures of the two Uh, you know, countries at locales coming out. Of course. Uh, we are the United States Golf Association, so I'm a little biased here.
But our team UM is beautiful young women. UM, it's multicultural. Uh, it's athletic. You can see the way these ladies have respect for each other across the team. The women UM just playing extraordinary golf on one of the greatest environments in golf. Like That's what we want to do at the U S g A. We want to continue, you know, one, open up opportunities for everyone so that the women play
on the same caliber venues that the men do. Uh too, we want to showcase that there is beauty in our diversity and that there that you can also be proud of where you came from and be proud of where you're going. And so today you know, UM, you know, I want to give the women there do uh and and focus on the Curtis Cup next week at Brookline. You know, our job is to conduct the most open championship in golf. You earn your way in and that
is uh, that's been fundamental to who we've been. And I think you're gonna see the best uh men in golf take on one of the classic cathedrals of the game and uh and compete for a US Open Championship. It's the most difficult one to win. We we believe you've got a dirty every club in your big this you know, it's going to test every aspect of your golf game. And UH, what a gift, you know, what a gift we we get to be approximate to this
and uh and hopefully your audience has tuned into both. Um. So UH, that's I'm gonna leave it at that, relative to where we're at in the world of golf today on that basis, and I'm not even gonna ask you about Donald Trump and his in his role in golf because I think I know where that question would go. Um, who are some of the US Open winners you've met over the years, and and what kind of impression have
they made on you? You know, UM, one of the things, Michael I. You know, it's interesting because when when I was nominated as President elect, ran Jaris, who was a great friend of mine at the U s J, sent me all these facts about um, you know, my presidency and all my impending presidency, and it was very humbling. In fact, I will tell you multiple times I choked up in that first week just talking to my wife Abby.
You know, we've had this great journey together and I'm I'm so you know, appreciative of all that she's meant to support me, and not only my career but also in my passions and and it was very emotional, you know, to learn one I would be one of the youngest not we've had, you know, five or six younger than I am. Um, i'd be the first African American. I'm very proud of that because I want people of color to know that this game is beautiful and it's available
to all of us. It always has been. Actually, the first professional golfer born in the United States was African American, you know, so this has always been a game open to all of us, and we full throw it on that. But one of the things I love is Michael I will be the first gen X president of the U s g A. And I find that a wonderful bridge between these boomers who have been my mentors in the
game and these millennials coming up behind us. And uh, you know, I've I've enjoyed getting to know John rom and being able to play, uh you know, and and and watch him and and actually help hand him his trophy last year. That was very inspirational the way he brought it home. Bryson Deshambo is a Dallas guy, and uh, you know, we've gotten to know each other over the years.
I'm fascinated with, you know, the way he's approaching the game and trying to make changes and and so you know, Justin Rose, uh you know, we we have a club in common. And of course he won his championship here at Marion and you only have to take two steps in the door and see that. And of course Justin and my view has one of the most beautiful swings
and golf. So you know, I've been very fortunate, you know, to participate both in the formal game of golf and the informal But I'm also thinking about the special opportunity as a gen X or as someone straddling these two generations, to be that bridge and to connect, you know, with with my mentors who are more seasoned than I am, but also to you know, reach arms out and to be in communication with the younger elite players coming along and so that we have more relatability as well. So
what a gift and what an opportunity. Could you ever imagine a game where um, Bryce Bryson de Shambo plays with a different golf ball or equipment with that UH has different standards, UH then regular Joe golfers. Do you think that would be a good thing for the game. Could you ever imagine that happening? Well, Michael, it's a multi know, it's it's a very complicated issue. UM. We have been along with the r n A, we have not been um shy about our investigating distance and its
impact on the game overall. You can actually go onto the U s g AS website and we have a distance Insight project where you can download if you're reading buff But we also have short had to tell you what we're exploring. And we know that, um, the distance that elite players are hitting the ball is becoming an issue in terms of the sustainability, the affordability and the access to golf, and that's something that we want to address.
We're looking at this really in two forms. One we're looking at you know, the driver and it's impact on the game, and we're also studying the golf ball. And we've we've been pretty um, you know, transparent about what we're studying and why. Um. In terms of solutions, I would say suffice to say, we have to do something, and you know, we want to be collaborative in what we're doing. So we're spending time with all the equip
equipment manufacturers. I was, uh, you know, visiting with one or two uh earlier in the sorry, late last summer, and I'll be visiting with a few others along with other members of the executive committee and the management team. And really the management team is taking the lead on this, along with the R and A. But you know, there's
no question we have to address this issue. And one could argue that we've waited maybe a little too long, and so I won't talk specific solutions now, but I do think, um, the recreational player does not have an issue with how far they hit the ball. In fact, one could argue, we need a two pronged solution. We need we need a solution that makes it easier and somewhat more forgiven for the recreational player, while also, you know,
addressing how far the elite player hits the ball. Because all of us have been who love golf, have been to golf courses that have forty yards of teeing area or maybe in some cases sixty yards. A hundred yards of teeing arerors that no one other than zero point one percent of golfers used, and yet that's embedding more costs in the game, and it is completely in conflict with our desire to attract more people to the game because it's making the game more expensive, less sustainable, and
increasing that hurdle. And so you can expect that this is an issue that the U s g A, along with the RNA, our our governing bodies, are paying very close attention to. We're being very collaborative with how we work with the equipment manufacturers and all other stakeholders, and uh, you know, I think we have to keep all the solutions on the table in order to get this right.
One of the reasons I'm excited about your ascendency to the president and see is it's been a long time since the U. S g A has had a representative who can really speak to a broad population. And the person I'm speaking of his is Arnold Palmer, and Arnold and the U s A had a sort of falling out that's too complicated going to at this point, Um, but it definitely related to that too prong approach that you were speaking of. Uh. So it's interesting to hear you.
Uh you mentioned that. Uh, that too prong approach is something a lot of US J officials have been actually scared to tep and talk about. It will be interesting to see, uh where you go with that. Um, Fred, let me leave you with this, Um, your go ahead for it. Yeah. And one thing I don't you know, we haven't solved the problem yet, but I'm saying we've got to be willing to think about these two constituencies
and think about the separate needs of both. And I'm not saying that, you know, the bifurcation word is a word that we intentionally avoid and I'm not telling you that that you know, sort of we are going to bifurca, but what I'm saying is now more than ever, and
we put it, we put it in our distance. Inside report, we are thinking about these two different constituencies and so again no, no solutions, and we certainly don't don't see ourselves segmenting the game in any dramatic way, but we are thinking about solutions that might allow us to be yes and people. Yes. We want to curtail distance and we want to make the game more forgiving for the recreational player, and we're trying to find the elegant balance
between the two. So more is more develops, But I just don't want to give the impression that we've solved the issue. One of the things, Michael, I have to also add in here. We're trying to do it in a very collaborative way, and we've always had a process to do this, but I think today we're just really being more full throated about how we go about it, and hopefully all of our other stakeholders will feel that they've been heard and they've had the opportunity to weigh in.
But I uh from having played this game a long time, and having played a fair amount of public golf, I have apps loot proof that there is bifurcation in the game, and it shows up every time somebody hits the ball out of bounds, and they do what every sensible person is. They just drop it where it went out of bounds and out of shot. They have figured out the USG rules better than the US J in my humble, in my opinion. Um, all right, Fred, let me leave you
with this. I know you're a very good athlete, and we've talked about this before. A good athletes game shows up surprisingly more in short game than long game. Uh. You know, pitching and chipping and putting and bunker play was that's really where you see the I hand coordination. Uh.
But that's a preamble to the following question. Can you remember, because this relates to what a lot of people aspire to do, no matter where they dropped the ball when it went out of bounds, can you remember breaking a hundred for the first time? What was that like for you? I remember distinctly breaking a hundred. Uh, you know, the first time I actually added them all up and broke a hundred, I was actually by myself, so I know, Uh, coincidentally,
I'm counting it. Fred, I couldn't post this round. But I remember distinctly the first time I broke a hundred. It was I shot at ninety two, which I had never gotten close to that, and surprisingly, I just kept the ball in play and uh. And it actually was a new awareness that instead of you know, because look I'm six foot six and a half, I struggled with the driver. I think golf is very challenging for tall folks.
There's so much that can go wrong. Number two, I think basketball players have an instinct problem when it comes to golf, like we want to go, you know, very quick at everything, and you know, so smoothness is sometimes a challenge and that shows up in your longer clubs. Um. But I do remember the first time I broke a hundred at Northwood, and then I went back out with my buddies that weekend and again shot at ninety two, and so it was you know that to me, that
was a bantus occasion. I remember breaking ninety for the first time. Uh. And I also remember breaking eighty for the first time, and so, you know, look, I would say one thing, Michael one Um my mentors in the game, you know, really the guys that that you know, I've grown up within the game, guys like Jonas Wood since Chipman at Training Force. They've made room for me too. They are much better players, and yet they've brought me along the last six years to every golf trip, to
every four ball match. Uh. They have just made it very comfortable for me to keep improving. And while we joke and and sort of rag each other every weekend, uh, they also have made very confirmational in terms of the
improvements made. And I think if everyone can find their little tribe where they learn, spend time together, enjoy, you know, and you know, I have to give a shout out to all my buddies data South Florida, you know, like, uh, I love going down and playing you know, you know every weekend that I can during the winter, because again that's another level of golf and it's always a competition, and uh, you know, I think we all love that.
And then finally I have to say, you know, uh much credit has to be given for my you administrative you know sort of learning. You know, Stu Francis has
just been an unbelievable predecessor. I think, you know, we ought to put a statue out in front of the headquarters having to navigate and lead a transition from Mike Davis to Mike Juan having to navigate you know, covid um and you know, having the clear eyed vision in terms of you know, how my skills might translate to the U s g A. He's been everything to me and so no one rises by themselves. We all stand on the trees that we didn't plant. What a gift
this game is. You know, where in life would a friend Bopaul and Stu France has become best friends other than in the game of golf. And that's that's something that I think many of us have probably have stories like this in the game. And so thank you for your time today, and thank you for you know, you sort of interest. And I hope, I hope this is
being enjoyable. It's been great. And that's a beautiful concluding note because when he is all said and done, the friendship the game is so rich in so many different ways, but in my experience, the single greatest thing out of this game, it's their friendships that you make out of it. And uh and some of the challenges of finding your way to golf in the first place and getting halfway
competent at it. The qualities that we share in common, no matter what our background is, is kind of the very factors that let a meaningful friendship get off the ground in the first place. So that was beautifully said Fred. Uh uh. For those of you who don't know Stu Francis, he is not a six ft six inch behayman basketball player. He has a did play basket. He did play basketball. Interesting, Yeah, wow,
I wondered if he played for Pete Correll. That does say a lot with Fred and I have talked about this. I was with Curtis Strange, two times US Open winner and one of us at the country club and uh, you know, Curtis is ficedy and I said to Curtis, I said, you know, you give me someone who can who can shoot pool and make free throws, and I think that guy can become a good basketball player in Curtis City. Yeah, that's correct. I'd actually agree with that.
You know. They actually is like you finally said something that's maybe halfway insightful. Fred, Thanks so much for this. I'll look forward to seeing you here at Mary and the country Club. As well and UH for years and years to come, I hope. Thank you, Michael, thank you for everything you do for the game. Appreciate being with you today. Put another log on the fire. Nobody here is get the time.