Lance Ringler

I miss the green, for example, I'm already upset. When I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset.

And when I find my ball in a brid Egg Friday Egg, the dreaded Frida Egg, Fridagrida bride Egg, Lie, I'm about ready.

To run off the golf course.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another edition of the Frida Egg Podcast. We are here live at rich Harvis Farms for the National Championships, and we are joined by Lance Wrangler of Golf Week. Lance is, you know, kind of the head honto when it comes to college golf reporting and news.

So Lance, welcome on.

Thanks for having me.

Eddie So first said, you know, I think give the listeners a little bit about yourself and how you got into the college golf world and the golf world in general.

Well, wow, it's been a shoot. It's been maybe twenty years now. I think I've been doing this. I think this is my eighteenth national championship. Basically, I coached college golf for two years at the University Idaho, then spent a year at Iowa State University. All after I spent two years out catting on the PGA Tour. Or season a half or so on the PGA Tour. So I

Yeah, yeah, I bet you got all you got if you went to a tour event, you'd be like a celebrity.

Well, I see.

The thing is, I've been to a few and I and it's interesting to see how they have changed. Some of the guys are very cordial and open and go out of their way and and and talk to you, and the other guys just kind of nod their head, you know. So it's a because it's been a lot of them, you know, going all the way back to

Now we should we really need to be doing that again.

But uh and I was doing a show every day all during the spring and fall season, so I got to.

Went to a lot of events. So yeah, there'd be a few out there for sure.

Who who's your favorite guy, whether they're in college golf now or out on tour that you or not on tour, you know, they could be on uh yeah, on the web or on Canadians.

You just mean of guys who were court you know.

Like you know a few favorite guys.

I would say Brian Harmon was one of the guys that was, you know, he was real good in college, real down to earth. And then yeah, and then when when I when I've seen him a few times when I've been to like the Greenbriarn such, he's just super guy. I'd say he's right at the top of the list. You know, Ricky was always good. Even I haven't seen Ricky in a few years now, but he was super

You can go by one day, but not Ricky Barnes.

No, not Ricky Barnes.

But I don't I don't really have a problem Ricky Barnes. Just you know, just when we say Ricky, you know, we know when we're when we're talking basketball, when we say Michael, we know we're talking about But yeah, so it's it's fun. I'd like to get out to a few more pro events here and there, but you know, I like to.

Uh huh, that's great. So you mentioned you were on a bag for a year and a half. Yeah, who do you look?

Mainly Craig Bowden.

Craig Bowden was I think he had his tour card maybe off and on about four times.

Is he Is he a college coach?

Now?

No, no, No, he works for He's a a KBS KBS Shafts tour rep.

He just a short hitter.

But you know, Craig people always marveled at Craig how he made so much money or was able to stay out there. I think he won two or three times on the Nike Tour, web dot com, whatever you want to call it.

He just didn't hit it very far.

You know, you bring up distance being out here this week, I mean all these kids, Yeah, just bombit. Have you seen like a seismic change in the last say five years, Like when when was there just a flip that?

That's a great question.

I actually wrote a story last year, a little column at Eugene about the type of kids were seen.

Yeah, it changed definitely for my time. When I was falling in college golf in the late eighties.

To probably the right around two thousand, you started to see kids that didn't look like golfers. I always say that there was a year, and I think it might have been the year Texas A and M won the national championship at Inverness. That team, a few of those players look like middle linebackers. And then you know they they had a knack for having you know, three four kids that just if they were standing in the weight room, you wouldn't have thought they were golfers. And that goes

That don't look athletic. They're athletic looking kids, and they do they hit it, they hit.

It, they pound it, and then they just go get it. They don't there's not a point a point B game.

Really.

I mean I shouldn't say that.

There's still you know, there's course management stuff, but they ain't afraid to just rip it.

Yeah.

I think that's you know, one of my big takeaways from this week is how these kids are. But then also, like he talked to these kids, in their schedule, I mean, they're their daily schedules. These kids, you know, there are professional golfers who go to a couple hours of class a day, and you know, they.

Work and they are working their tails.

Off because they obviously are you know, they're going to class, their studying, and but the you know, listening to them talk about how they do. You know, they have body work. You know, they get they're always making sure that their.

Body is right.

They're working out, and then they're spending four or five hours a day practicing. I mean, I imagine that this this whole aspect of the game has changed dramatically.

We can thank Tiger Woods for that, I mean because seriously, I mean, I'm not sure if we would have saw that movement. We probably would have eventually, but he changed that. He you know, he was a game changer. He's like Wilt Chamberlain, you know, in basketball. I mean, he changed the way people approach the way they play golf, the way they prepare for golf.

And that's that's what these kids do now.

I mean back in the day, I mean, you know, college teams maybe in the eighties, I don't know if all of them had the strength the strength programs, the you know, the water workouts, the yoga, the stretching. The stuff that they do now is very much part and it used to be just kind of an elective thing. Now it's very much part of their daily routine. And it carries over into the pro pro tours.

Yeah, so it's just a launching pad.

And obviously we're seeing with like John Rahm and a lot of more young guys making an impact quicker on tour, and I think a lot of it has to do with the development and the way these kids prepare out here, you know, getting ready with the programs.

You know, these kids are hitting the ground running. They they kind of.

Know what to, you know, how to you know, their lives are now a lot on the road. They're traveling there, they're starting to learn how to balance life on the road. Obviously they're in a team setting, but you know that it's it's these kids treat this game like professionals due to a certain extent. So you know, for the people that are a little bit maybe less uh in the weeds, like uh me and not so much me compared to you, Like who are you know, maybe uh three or four names that everybody.

Should know on the college golf circuit.

Well, obviously it starts with Maverickmeally. You know, he's the one kid who's been around a while, you know, senior now at Stanford. He's the kid who you know, followed in the footsteps of Patrick Rodgers and and and the kid that you know you expect to be out there at some point whether or not.

You know, there's always been a lot of Tobacca.

If he's even gonna turn pro just because he's I guess he's just so smart. He could just jump into the real world and and change people's lives. But uh, he's he's the one kid. Obviously, Sam Burns is a tremendous, tremendous talent. Uh, if you've had a chance to watch him play, he's one that we're expecting to announce he's gonna be turning pro after the championship or at least sometime this summer.

He's he's one.

The other thing, I'm not sure that we we're gonna see a lot of the this this class jump right out there. There's there's a few more players in the Wyndham Clark obviously he's been up there that had a good, tremendous year. There's there's some kids that I that haven't played as well as I thought they might have. But I'm not sure how deep this class is really, you know. But but there's always going to be a few names. And then there's always the names. I mean, you know,

So you know, JT.

Post is one of my favorite stories of the rookies on tour just because he you know, he went under recruited. He ended up winning the state championships. Then he got recruited, but he'd already signed with with Western Carolina, and you know, he became the first kid in Western Carolina history to make it to the NCAA's right, So, who would you say is kind of of these players, like maybe a guy that goes to a smaller school that you wouldn't be surprised to see make it out on tour.

That's a tough one because that's so hard to predict. I remember I used to. I used to every year at the end of the year, I'd come up with a list of names of like, you know, five or six guys that I thought we can't miss kids. And I remember looking back, I haven't done it in a while, but I remember looking back at that list and I was like, huh, and none of those kids have made it. I mean, so it's really really hard to predict. I mean,

He kind of fits that bill. He fits that bill of the.

Of those kids, you know, like a JT post, And so that would probably be.

The one kid everyone would kind of look at it. Who's who's playing college golf?

Now, Yeah, Dawson Armstrong. So he plays at lipscumb You know, what's the story?

Why did he You.

Know, I think it was the same thing. I think he was a little bit underrecruited.

And I'm not exactly sure on why he ended up at Lipscomb, but I mean I'm assuming it was underrecruited. And and you know, and a lot of kids they hit their peaks different times. I mean, a lot of kids end up get getting to college and they don't pan out either.

Yeah, I grew three inches in college and now a sudden hit the ball for forty yards further as a different player, exactly.

So you know, in today's today's a pivotal day.

They were cutting to top fifteen, and then tomorrow we cut to the top eight. You know, a lot of the big favorites have moved up and into position. A few you know, like you know, Stanford is probably the biggest surprise out outside the top fifteen.

You know, what are your big takeaways from the tournament so far?

I think if we just talk about the biggest headline right now, I think is the fact that these kids are are scoring so well.

Yeah, that's probably the best.

Sometimes in golf, unlike other sports, the golf course becomes the story, and it happens all the time in the Major, especially early on in the week, until we get to the day when they actually crown the champion.

I think so far, I think the story has really been the golf course.

I mean, because it was so so difficult during the women's event. And I still don't think that they they failed on the setup on the women, even though they've probably played the par threes collectively too long. They probably could have done some few things with some te location. There's some t spots and some whole locations to make it easier.

I still will say that.

I think that the conditions were the biggest reason for the high scoring for the women. But for the men, I think what happened, and I could be a little bit off on this, they could have had a lot of this set prior to coming here because they were afraid it was going to be so difficult. I mean, that's what all we talked about. The rough's going to be high, the greens are going to be fast. They're small greens for some of the clubs.

That you have in your hand.

I think the NCAA committee wisely aired on let's see some red numbers.

I mean, look at these scores. I mean, I mean you just look at you know. I wouldn't have I.

Honestly, Andy, I would have thought that there might only been one or two teams under par at this point in time in the tournament. And that is probably the biggest story right now, is that there their place. Well, I would have thought that today they would have tightened the screws a little bit, done some things to make it a little more difficult.

But I mean the flags were in tough positions today. I was out there, and I mean like it was really impressive. I mean, Rico Joe he had at seven under through eleven, he almost was eight. I mean he just missed the eagle butt. But you know, I think the biggest thing, and we see it week in week out on the PGA Tour, is that when the golf course is soft, you know this place has taken a lot of rain, which you know, it makes the fairways soft,

It's the seventeenth hole. I mean, I I mean.

I coached for three years, I caddied for a couple. I could be crazy and I say this, but I wouldn't. I'd play this hole. I would not hit driver.

Off the tee. I'd put in the fairway.

I would literally wedge it to another spot, and then from that spot I would wedge it back onto the green and try to make four that way. If not, I'm walking out of there with a five. Yeah, I just I mean going going at it from two hundred, from one eighty to two ten.

There's there's little room for air on that hole.

Yeah.

So, and I I think, you know, in match play, that's seventeen eighteen is going to be a heck of.

A finish because you have well, he's starting the sixteen.

Even fifteen fifteen is not playing. When we actually played the other fifteen, I thought was going to be a much more difficult hole for them. What it is, it's yeah, it's and there's enough room.

From the water to the green.

So really starting sixteen seventeen eighteen, that could be that could be an electric finish in match play.

Getting through that stretch one or two under pars is just unbelievable playing.

It's it's interesting. You know, I was watching Nick Hardy today.

He birdied, made a great birdie on sixteen, and then he he powered seventeen, and then he gets to eighteen and sure enough he gets caught on the downslope and he makes an eight.

You know, it's like.

That you thought he got through the tough part one under. Oh, he's going to finish two under. It's going to be a heck of a finish, ends up making an eight. I think that's one of the things with this golf course is that as soon as you lose your focus or get out of position and make a you know, an aggressive play from out of position, you bring in double triple, quadruple bogie, even on almost any hole out here,

That's a tough question.

I just wrote my column today two years ago at the Concession No teams from the top eight went into the top for no teams from nine to fifteen went into the top eight.

But last year we had three teams.

The difference last year from ninth place to fifteenth place was just nine shots. We're gonna see a little bit wider gap this year, probably more like fifteen shots from all the way down. But you know wherever, you know, if pepperdine and you see f for those final two teams, there's that's gonna be a tough task for them tomorrow.

So it's in terms of kind of who your favorite teams out here, like you know, like what which teams are you know, would you say you know if you.

Were gonna I know you don't like to make any.

Preditions on the match play stuff, but like who's your who's your team that you you look at and say, you know, this is the team I think is gonna put it to put it all together.

Well, you're still it's tough, Andy. I mean, Vanderbilt is really good. They're really good one to five. They I think that they play a little bit. They're gonna be a little tight, honestly, do They've they've not had a lot of success in match play. I think that they're a tight but I just don't know how they'll perform. I like Oklahoma. They're a loose bunch.

You know.

Last year was the first year they made it into match play. They got in in the eighth spot after a heck of a round last year in the final round at Eugene, they shot I believe the lowest round of the next to lowest round of the day to get in.

I like Oklahoma. You know, v has been a quiet team all year, bit sneaky, so I actually I actually picked the.

UNLB and Oklahoma to make it into my top eight. So those two teams don't surprise me. Uh, USC is good. I mean, they they're the one team that if they do have an advantage coming into match play this year, just with what they've went through the last two year, they should have won a title in one of those last two years.

Probably should have won a title. So you know, they're gonna be tough.

And in Illinois, I mean, I honestly I didn't expect this out of Illinois this week, you know, and.

People can talk all along. I mean, let's talk about it.

If I have somebody out there following me around, Andy Cherny for me, might go playing better?

I mean probably not. Yeah, I mean you know, so sure can it lift you? Can you give you some confidence? Absolutely?

Their elite players, they've got people cheering for them. I don't put a lot of stock into home crowds in golf. Yeah, we put Northwestern. We talked about that last week. Look, they didn't have big crowds out here. That the first couple of days, they didn't have anybody watching.

There was nobody out here. It was forty degrees.

They played well because They're a good team and they were familiar with the environment. And that's why Illinois the same thing. They're a good team, they're playing well. They've caught a high right now. I don't think that to this point that the crowd has really given them that much of an edge now in match. I think it could because we've seen it in Ryder Cup situations when you get a crowd going. I'll tell you what, I'm really impressed with the Illinois crowd because of the way

Were very nice.

Like when when Texas and Illinois hit shots that were good, they didn't clap.

There wasn't a lot of like.

But today I've seen the Illinois fans really cheer on the other teams.

I think.

I mean, it has a lot to do with the Illinois and Chicago being one of the great golf city.

True, you know, obviously like Chicago.

The game kind of started in Chicago for in America, so I think you're you're in one of the golf because of the of the states the.

Real quickly, just looking at the leader board, Oklahoma State and Baylor and the sixth and who who the heck would want to play those guys.

Oklahoma State, I mean.

They're they've got the best.

I mean, there's six shots out of lead and they're unbelievable.

And they were the best five started five rank wise.

And Baylor they I mean, they're I would not want to be I would not want to be the three or four or either two or three and have to play Oklahoma.

State or Baylor.

Just you know, Virginia Jimmy Stanger or Stangers, He's I've watched him play some poles.

He's really impressed me.

I don't know, he's got to be one of the best ten players in college.

Jimmy said, yeah, he had a phenomenal fall. Derek Bard too.

They have two and they have a third. They have a couple that they could they could get some things done too.

So you know, they're they're they're a little light at the back end.

I feel like that that's really where and obviously, you know, like it's where the kind of separates the truly elite teams like the Oklahoma States, the Southern Cols, the you know, Vandy's are kind of almost like a clear echelon of they've got five.

Really, there's no question marks in those lineups.

No, And then that's the thing.

I mean, you go, you keep going down and he got Texas is good, they'll be good.

Four to State can play Oregon.

I mean there are It's like we've said all season long, you can go about fourteen to fifteen deep, and we're seeing we're seeing it this week, and there's gonna be a couple of really good golf teams left out of match play tomorrow. And I think this year's match play could be if you get any one of those eight teams, just like the last couple years, any one of those eight teams can win, maybe even more so than what we've seen in the past.

So in terms of kind of surprises, is there is there anybody that's surprising you on this list?

Out side? I know you said Illinois, but outside of that.

Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not. It's not like Illinois is a big seek. I mean, I just didn't expect them to play as well as I thought they would be fighting more to get into that top eight, and they still got a round to go. But I mean, the biggest surprise to me, really is probably Can't State. I thought Kn't State would not and I didn't. I did pick them to make it into the top eight.

It's not a use. I just thought they'd be a little bit more in Yeah. But other than that, no, I mean there's there's not a lot of surprises.

I'll tell you what I mean. Kent State.

I picked them as one of my sleepers too, and I you know, I getting to see that team. You know, you think Ken State and most people are probably going to say, oh, it's small school, right, this is a legitimate school, like in those kids when you talk about seeing kids that don't look like golfers. I don't know if there's a school a team that typifies them more and they all those kids just smash it.

Yeah.

And the thing about Kent State is this is one of her pages better teams that he's had. Maybe I don't want to say ever, I'd have to go to do some research on that, but this is definitely one of his better teams. So I'm a little surprised on that a lot of people are going to talk about Stanford missing. But I'll tell you what, Andy, you go look at the results. Stanford's not like they've been real good in the postseason here, you know, they so you know,

It seems like all year long kind of and it goes this whole storyline is like the back half of that lineup all year was when they were on, they were good when they weren't, you know, And that's where you know, the interesting thing about you know, college golf, and you know, when we look at like a bigger landscape view is like you know, putting together team championships, like it's really hard to get five.

Four guys playing well all at once.

And I think, you know, in terms of this for the Olympics, like why didn't this happen for the Olympics?

That's major, major, colossal with In fact, when I first heard about the format for the Olympics, I I didn't believe it. I mean, I'm like and I yeah, I don't know. The format for the Olympics was bad. I mean team golf is yeah, I don't even know, it's just bad. I don't even know what else to say about that. I can't believe that they they didn't go more of that route, honestly. Yeah, And it's not like they didn't have any knowledge of it. I mean they

Do you think there could be ever potential and for an alumni like event for professionals like this.

I think.

There's been a lot of tinkering around with with some things, trying.

To make something happen with.

Professionals and current players. But you know, a few years ago, Eric Sodastruman myself, Eric was worked at Golf Week. He's

So that would be cool. Yeah. Do I think it'll maybe one off of it? I don't see it. Honestly, it's just too you can't get there's too much money involved.

There's these guys and their agents and their teams and you know, their their schedules. Probably not unless it's like a hashtag spring Break twenty nineteen and six guys just go goof around.

I don't ever see any official I think it would be cool to see, I you know, being this format I think is really great because you know, what you see is is that you know, like you can have an individual lighting it up, but like if if one of his teammates who was a counting score makes an eight, all So's, it completely changes the landscape of the team. It's a very very cool event. So so coverage is on tomorrow. You know, Sam, my first time college golf viewer,

Well, just just I mean what you're watching for. What's exciting about is what you just hit on. It's just a team.

Aspect of college.

You know, so many people view golf as an individual sport, and in this setting you'll see a lot of kids looking back at the teammates, fist pumping, coaches, you know, running back and forth, you know, helping, giving information on bas based on what they saw from the previous player that played the whole just just.

Just the team aspects.

Probably what would be the most different if you're used to watching a PJ Tour event, it's it's the it's the way that they'll interact and the way they're playing for their team. And you don't see that in an individual golf when you're watching a PJ Tour event.

Yeah, yeah, I think that's a that's a good one. I mean, it's it's infectious. I think if if your school is anywhere near the hunt, you got it. It's a must tune in. I think that's that's the cool thing and brings a lot of casual into it.

So tell me, if if you.

Could make one change to to college golf in general, what would it be.

That's a good question. There's a lot.

I mean that question was probably really easier, uh several years ago.

Before we started tinkering with the formats and doing things.

But if there if I was commissioner for a day, I would The thing I would change immediately was I would I would? I would come up with some sort of format. There has to be. We have to standardize college golf.

We can't.

Allow all these different formats. I mean, when you watch a college football game, you know what it's gonna be. It's gonna be four quarters, fifteen minute, four quarters, that's what it's gonna be. When you watch a college basketball game, you know it's gonna be two twenty minute halfs. I'm sure when there's a baseball our softball game seven innies, nine innings, there there is, there's standardized formats to it,

You'd have some different winners. Both you would have, you would have some different winners.

So college golf, it's when you think about it, it's crazy, and it's crazy that you'll count an eighteen hole event when that would that's like playing a quarter and a half in football. It's just it's ludicrous that it counts and it goes into the system because we all know that in eighteen holes, I might. I might one day, in eighteen holes be able to beat you Andy.

Doubtful, but I might.

You could get squarely and I could go out there and see I can shoot a seventy eight maybe, and you could give squarely and I could beat you. But we know that if you and I played fifty four holes, I'm not beating you. I'm just not doing it. That's just and that's what needs it. That's that's a big issue.

What about play, well, I don't they shouldn't count.

Actually, I mean this is fun and exciting and everything and whatever, but we all know the number one team, number one seed, whoever's won the stroke play has never won and in all the time since two thousand and nine, and now the women again, it didn't happen.

North Northwestern was number one seed. They didn't win.

That being said, Arizona State was the number one team in the country in the Golf League rankings. They weren't golf staff, but they weren't golf weak and they did win. And we have seen the number one team win in men's golf and Texas once I think Alabama did it once, but they didn't win the stroke play that year.

So do you think there should be a stroke play champions Yeah, because.

There is, there is what happens tomorrow, It really is. I mean I think there's no you know, there's no trophy.

Yeah, because like I'm an aline I fan. I mean I went to Illinois.

Yeah, and you know we've won the individual, but we haven't won the team. And to me, it's like you we we won the stroke. Yeah, like that is every shot count. Yeah, that is the real championship to a certain extent.

Yeah, I mean, yeah it should. I mean i'd also, I mean I liked I like watching the match play. I like the headhead. I mean i'd like, I'd like, why not make all of college golf match play? Just do away with stroke play? It never happened.

That's the way they do it in England.

Yeah, just do away with it completely. Had think about the schedules, it'd be so cool.

You know you're gonna I've already got to figured out I need to write this column this summer. But you know, instead of having you know, say, say you got a tournament like Southern Highlands out in Vegas. So instead of inviting fifteen teams and you only invite six and you play each team plays two matches a day. Within the last day, they play one match. So at the end of the tournament, you've played five head to heads. So and it's a round robin deal. So if you go

I mean, now you you know, it's the great equalizer. It'd be cool. It'd be really cool.

It would like basketball.

Yeah, he's absolutely.

And then think about a sixty four team tournament, you know, he bring you know, you have your regionals, if you have four teams go to I mean we've tinkered around with it before, but you know, basically have four regional side sixteen teams there and say the top four from the regional advances to the National Championship where now you have sixteen teams, so it's sweet sixteen instead of just bringing four teams in.

And it'd be cool, it'd be really neat, it'd be interesting. It's a that's an interesting idea. I love mash play and it would actually change the dynamic though of how these kids would play. Yes, because you'd get a lot more aggressive play.

And what it would do is I honestly think it would broaden the fan base. It would broaden it would make the sport more popular on the campus. Yeah, because when when you know, Auburn goes and plays at the Carpet Capital. I'm just using this hypothetically, and they go down there and it's fifteen good teams and.

They finish eighth.

Yeah, they played all right, they've had a good finish it beat they might have beat a couple of top ten teams.

They come home. Nobody cares. Yeah, oh you guys, finish eighth doesn't mean thing. Nobody talks about it.

It's not like, hey, we beat the top team in the country.

Now they go in there and they play match play and they beat Georgia Tech or Georgia or whoever you know, U c l A.

They come home, you just had a great weekend.

Yeah, I mean you'd beat U C.

L A. And they were you know, wow, you beat you. You know, it's different. So there's the common fan can identify with it better.

Yeah, that's it. I never thought of that. I'm not the common fan that I don't think about these things.

Yeah, because because you follow it anywhere exactly.

So one idea I had, you know, something that I always wonder about is like, you know these regionals, like you get teams, you got teams that are some of the best teams in the country that aren't here this

I don't think with college With the NCAA basketball tournament, if you're the one seed, you have to play the sixteen seed in the first round. And even though the number one seeds never lost in basketball, they still have to win to get here. But the two have fifteen as and they've lost to the eight nine team in the next round.

So I don't think this.

Once the tournament starts, it's the tournament. So no, I don't think you should. I mean, I don't think Aby should get a free pass out of regional to hear No, I wouldn't agree with. I wouldn't want to see that.

So to switch gears a little bit, I'm curious with you know, who's been your the most surprising guy that you've covered that hasn't made it to tour yet.

That we we actually talked about that this week with someone. So the biggest, the biggest name and I actually get answer to this. The biggest name player that I'm surprised that we never saw get out on tour and win is Matt Giles from southern California. I know, if you remember Matt, he's actually from New Zealand. The kid was really good amateur player in college play. I don't even know what he's doing now. I don't even if he's

See that's another thing.

I just said that, right, two thousand and nine team that lost to Michigan Inverness.

I wouldn't have remembered anything if it was match stroke play. But match play. I went to the championship from two thousand to two thousand and eight. H I remember.

Oklahoma State winning at sun River. I don't remember anything about it except them standing there for the picture, honestly. Jonathan Moore, I remember Clemson winning at still Water.

Yeah.

Yeah, but I don't remember things about the tournament. Now that match play is going on, I remember all kinds of things, shots, people running to seem mean you remembers, and that's that's the thing. So I go back to my thing again, match play all year long.

It's yeah, I mean it would It would make just the week to week thing way more exciting.

Yeah.

Is so you'd have just eighteen hole matches. So over a weekend, you'd play three eighteen hole matches.

Actually you could play, you could you could play, you could maybe play six. You can maybe play six. It would be two eighty very tiring, it would be.

But what look at this week? Yeah, you know, but you could.

But you could do under the current format, you could play eighteen. You could play thirty six, thirty six, eighteen.

But you can do it. I mean it could, It could be done.

So you know, we got a couple.

We'll do one more question and we'll get We'll get gay here on overrated underrated. First first question, last question is you know what's your favorite whether it be amateur or college event of the year.

What's your favorite one.

Favorite event?

Well, obviously this this is probably the favorite event because this is the super Bowl. Yeah, I let's see, I probably I really enjoy going to the All American Classic and I'll pass.

So that was always so fun. Yeah, the Sunball All American Classic.

That that's always a fun when they go to just because, uh, it's just the laid back atmosphere of it. The kids are there without their team. It's kind of ironic because it's a team game, but it's just it's just a fun event for me. Uh. The food's fantastic. I based a lot of my events andy on the food. Where I'm going it's a big.

Just good steaks, good good, good Mexican food down there.

Just yeah, it's just that's a good event. That's probably it's probably one of my favorites. But a lot of them are good. A lot of them are the you know, the hospitality and you know, it's the thing about those events and there once a year, so usually they roll it out.

When they do it, I'll pass. So that's a big deal coming down there. It is so our Friday tradition is overrated, underrated. So I'm just going to give you a series a couple couple of things here. And you say overrated, underrated? What you think ball striking?

Just ball striking?

Is it overrated?

I think it's totally underrated. I mean overrated, a totally overrate.

I mean I Jakoff and my good friend at the Golf Channel used to be a boss at Golf Week whenever they you know, Chad Campbell, what a great ball striker?

What the hell does that mean? Aren't they all good ball strikers?

Sure, some guys hit a squirrely No, So when you took ball striking, uh, overrated.

I think it's just become a commodity watching all these It's.

Easy to say it's his ball striking or whatever, and it's like the kids that really get it done are the ones that get it done on and around the greens. Like you know, that's the difference between Sam Burns and uh you know the number three guy on.

On uh On, You aren't you if you're on the PGA Tour, aren't you probably a pretty.

Good ball striker. How about Illinois's three man Eduardo.

He's probably underrated, super yeah, super underrated. I mean Dylan Byer, Nick Hardy. The thing about Illinois golf I will for every year I always said there this is they're they're rebuilding. They're rebuilding, They're rebuilding. No, no, they've just been reloading. They've been reloading, and he's part of a reloading structure.

I like, have been blown away by this because game this week. I think.

Did he win earlier this year as an individual? I think so Olympic somewhere in the fall. I thought he played his individual one.

I honestly think he could have the most I like, I'm a huge Nick Hardy and Dylan Meyer fan. I think he might have the most talent of any kid on that roster.

If he if Illinois wins this week. I bet he's a big he might go have to go three and Ozero.

Yes, it's it's interesting.

And year over year Mike Small, what amazes me is how much he develops his players and like that, no kid gets worse.

No. And the other thing about Mike Small, how many years has he been there now? Is it like eighteen seventeen?

Isn't like okay?

And I might be off on my numbers, But the first six or seven years he didn't there, didn't do much. He was developing the program. Now that he developed the program into what it is now he's doing, you know, So it goes to show you a lot of It took him a while to build what he wanted to build.

And I was a critic when they hired Mike Small. I thought it was a joke. I'll say it.

I mean I really did, and that that was more of the who you know, why would a guy because it doesn't It's never worked in other sports. You know, you think about all the great players that have been that have gotten head coaching jobs in football or basketball. It hasn't always worked, and most times it's failed more than not. And golf, I always thought that that was going to be a bad move, and and boy was I wrong. There's been Chris Sambry, Conrad Ray, He's you

And have done well.

That Naylan Chris Nalen is now at Arizona. That's that's amazing that that program is well.

Jim and Arizona. Yeah, oh thought Jim Anderson's Texan and am assistant.

I'm I'm.

So.

Anyways, Lance, thanks for coming on and uh we'll be excited about a busy day tomorrow.

Follow Lance on Twitter? Are you on Instagram?

Golf Week? Wringler on Twitter than Instagram, We just golf Week.

Mag, Golf Week Mag, your company.

Man, everything everything is all I just do all through on Twitter. But we have a good good Instagram with goflic.

Mag, Golf Week Mag.

So yeah, we'll be out here and uh, if are any questions you have at one of us and we'll answer them away.

But thanks again.

Thanks Andy,