AK all the way… back? With Chandler Withington

This week, we’re joined by Chandler Withington, former Head Golf Professional at Hazeltine National Golf Club and Founder of Archive 22. Chandler is a licensed artist for the PGA, USGA, and Royal and Ancient. 🎨⛳

Chandler takes us behind the scenes of the 2016 Ryder Cup, sharing unreal moments from the Team Meetings led by Captain Davis Love III. 🏆

But that’s not all – we dive into the return of Anthony Kim to the golf scene, congratulate Chris Gotterup’s first made cut of the 2024 Season, and tease some exciting announcements on the horizon. 🚀

Don’t miss out on this episode packed with golf insights, captivating stories, and thrilling updates.

Tune in now and join the conversation! 🎧⛳

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What’s up drop pod listeners you can check out all new episodes of the drop podcast every Wednesday wherever you listen to podcast you can find all of our content on YouTube at the drop golf podcast and on our socials that’s Instagram and Twitter at thedrop corod no matter how you consume us like

Subscribe rate review all that good stuff follow and listen along this episode is brought to you by all count exteriors discover the excellent of all County exteriors a third generation leader in Premier exterior Home Remodeling is proudly celebrating over 40 years of success While most remodeling companies last

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Online.com that’s 732 370 2780 for All County exteriors for all your remodeling needs this is the drop podcast where we talk golfing in the Garden State I’m Mike poro and this is Ryan kulot what’s going on drop pod people how we doing this week uh Mike and I got an exciting

Exciting uh do I want to go third exciting yeah I do we have a really exciting guest coming on this week uh Mike we had a lot of fun with them I really I think it was great um we had Cher Chandler withington come on uh he

Is a licensed artist for the USGA the PGA and the RNA um you’ve probably seen his stuff coming around uh was it 2021 did that one blow up the the US Open one was that it he he drew all the logos for all the us opens it it’s incredible incredible work

But I know it went around like hotti uh even before I recognized and put his name to his to his work I had remembered seeing the the artwork um but he’s got he’s got that for the US Open he’s got the Ridder cup he’s got the pgaas um he

Mentioned being in work with the NHL and and some Stanley Cup stuff so he’s got such a cool story uh and how he got to where he is now um doing this doing this artwork for these for these golf courses it’s really it’s really exceptional work and it was

Really cool to hear his story um the former pro at Hazel te when the Ridder cup was there so he’s he’s kind of bounced around all over and again we talk about like the path you take and you don’t know when a when a door closes another window opens and just the the

Doors and windows he’s been through in his life is really um quite a tapestry so really cool interview so make sure you stick around um for our interview with Chandler it was it was really it was really a good one um I know we say it all the time it’s this was an

Exceptional one really enjoyed it yeah I mean listen born and bred here in New Jersey and and I know some people may say well how does a guy like that who is at Hazel teen in Minnesota end up on a jersey podcast but you’ll hear in his

Story how he was born and bred here yeah worked here caddied here um talked so many golf courses here in New Jersey um and then finding ways that you know It All Leads back to golfing in the Garden State and somehow some way that somebody has a connection here and Chandler is

Just another example so I mean to to your point Ry go give his website a check archive2 2.com some amazing things there yeah absolutely um little uh little check for this week uh today’s Wednesday the 30th I’m getting all messed up now yeah no you’re right yeah 31st 31st actually

Take that 31st yeah sorry about that 31st um and obviously we record before you know the day we put it out but uh or in the days before we put it out so trying to figure out the day sometimes a little tough but yeah last day of uh of

January so for those uh those going strong on dry January keep the fight going I can’t say the same I I had a reason to celebrate so I had I had a cocktail so uh I’m gonna I’m gonna someone told me about this Mike someone told me to borrow days

From to borrow days from February and uh and I don’t like the idea of borrowing a day that seems silly to me but I will I will extend it a little bit I’ll I’ll hold off on drinking a little bit in uh in February but it has been a been good

Um so for those that are that are listening to this uh party hard tomorrow Thursday take Friday off you have my permission uh so today’s episode 69 69 straight episodes we’ve been we’ve been doing this and it’s it’s been again as I as we get clo I don’t

Know it’s just I said it at 67 episode 69 here just seems like we’re getting you know 70 is going to be next week we’re just you know getting closer and closer chipping away to getting the number 100 and uh seems pretty crazy Mike really does uh we’ve put out the YouTube stuff

So go check us out Mike and I are are uh our videos of this are on YouTube we started putting you we’ve had the podcast up there but that was just like with a blank sticker but if you want to see see what Mike and I are are doing

You know you can always check us out on YouTube or you get the the full video of the podcast um up there so if you’re if you’re listening to this on on Spotify apple or wherever you’re listening it’s going to be the same thing just you know

The the video version is over on YouTube yesterday uh episode six seven episode seven of TPI Tuesday uh came out um Dr Mike and I are are working hard at that so uh you know make sure you go check that out that’s over on YouTube as well uh Instagram’s got a quick little

You know if if you need to go there it’s got the it’s got the link uh but again a YouTube vehicle so so go check it out um episode seven of uh of TPI Tuesday is over there and then this week we skipped last week but we do have

A a Ryan’s verse this Thursday um I’m taking on the sixth hole at Tidewater this week uh back from my trip um over Christmas so this is the is going to be the six hole so I don’t have really anything to tease too much this time but

Uh but certainly worth checking out so make sure you you keep an eye out for that tomorrow nothing forit I don’t I don’t have good tease I’m envious because you know you get you got to play a little bit and I think as the weather I can’t even say it’s really

Changing because it’s still terrible here in the Northeast but like as I forecast things ahead I I’m I want to get out there and send the golf club a little bit Yeah and and you get to do that yeah I mean I got to do it it’s now

A month ago that that these were pretty much recorded you got to tickle your fancy a little bit I’m still I’m still the golf clubs are still deep deep in the closet um so for those that uh for those that are are new to following along or

What ever we put out my videos on Thursday um so I got a couple couple in the coffers um and then we’re going to do a three with me at Tidewater and that should kind of lead us into March uh and where we kind of get rolling and we

Should have some more stuff out there that we should be um we should be rolling with a little more so again stay tuned for for those um we’ll tell you as they as they’re coming out all right Mike we got a a lot of stuff to talk about a lot of I’d say

This week’s a lot more little things we got some like like quick hitters where do you want to start so let’s start with the first thing okay I got I got on here the first things first on the realist the NJ sgaa schedule um you know I’ve had a lot of

Good conversations with their tournament director Brad Bon about you know what’s coming up and and signups and registration because just like everything in life everything kind of sneaks up on us and before you know like bam it’s in your face um it’s looking like that mid-February that they’re

Going to open registration for not only the four ball but also the mid a so if you are going to sign up for the four ball you and your partner you’re going to have to make sure you have your partner’s gin number um but you’re going

To have to make sure you lock in a spot because you know these teams these things kind of get filled quicker than most people think like oh I can wait on it wait on it and then the date or the site that you’re looking to play is now

Filled so if you are playing the four balll make sure you and your partner are ready to rock and roll you got the date you got the course you got each other’s G number so that when you go to put all that on there it’s there and then

Obviously for the midm you’re riding solo there so you’ll just have to make sure that you got you know your qualifier picked out um ahead of time because you don’t want to miss the spot where you want to play to get in the actual tournament and and not for

Nothing but the championship sites for both those tournaments the fourball being at Hollywood the midm being at our at our place down here Union League National like what better two spots to kick off their championships in terms of locations than those two yeah and and I’m glad to hear that

You and Austin are running it back uh we’re gonna have to find breaking news uh didn’t you just say it or did I just break it you broke it I broke it I didn’t say anything oh okay is it okay that I broke it well I guess we don’t have a choice now

[Laughter] uh yeah um I’m glad you guys decided ry’s a guy Ryan’s a guy you tell a secret to they hey don’t tell anybody but you still want that secret to get out so you say Hey listen don’t tell anybody but you know eventually it’s going to circulate to the

Masses um uh yeah sorry Mike I’m gonna break that I’m glad you guys are running it back again we had an iconic interview last year while you guys were doing it and um I know you and Austin are so close and and uh again just it’s nice

For it’s you know when we go play um it’s usually you carry and me it’s nice to to take the load off your shoulders and you jump on Austin’s back and let him play phenomenal golf uh so that’s that’s uh that’s good I’m glad you glad

You guys are doing that yeah thanks for breaking that breaking do you want me to cut all of this no no I think it’s great I think it’s great um but I wasn’t really gonna I didn’t know how I was going to say or if I was going to tease it yet but

Forget the teas you just open the curtain here we are yeah yeah so Austin and I will run it back you know we’re still finalizing all the details about which venue that we’ll have to go qualify for it was unfortunate that you know had we won that last match on I

Guess in the semi or the quarterfinals whatever ends up being we would have been exempt into the straight to the championship because if you made it to the final four um you didn’t have to go through qualifying so we kind of just missed out out there so you know we’ll

Have to go through the grind just like everybody else but we’re excited we had a great time and um yeah we’ll run it back this year so make sure that if you do have your partner that you guys are all ready to rock and roll because for my understanding it looks like

Mid-February is going to be the sign up um for that so that was that was number one on my uh hold on hold on Mike don’t oh oh easy easy I’m gonna put out a little a little announcement as well Jesus here we go any any plus handicap that’s looking for

A partner you let me know right I’m interested to play as well so so in case you don’t know there are obviously like handicap limits to the tournament you can’t be a 25 and play with another 25 to get it okay just it’s not feasible it’s not manageable so the

Rule is for the for ball that a team total index cannot exceed 12.0 so to Ryan’s point he’s a 10.9 index he needs a 1.0 or lower to get into a qualifier 1.1 but you know who’s cting okay yeah okay here we go so if you are that

Person and you’re looking for a partner so is the big fellow I I could be I could be persuaded uh [Laughter] so I can guarantee a couple things we’re gonna have a terrific time and we’re probably not gonna win so there you go unless you know what can can we team up

With um Hey listen if youy like if you had a guy like Troy vucci and Troy’s ball could count for 18 holes yeah and you just got to chip in maybe you get lucky one time but I mean we’ve seen Troy I don’t know if we we would even

Chip in I’ll tell you he’s he’s short but he’s stocky he I’m gonna jump on his shoulders he’s gonna carry me and he’s gonna do just fine with it yeah I don’t know listen those are those are Brad might break him you might break him and then your your

Scores are gonna start to count but nonetheless Troy you want to play question mark I I’ll jump on with Troy but that’s a type of that’s you know but nonetheless that schedule’s going to start you know filling up registrations coming out so make sure that you know you guys head over to NJ

Sj.org make sure you get your stuff ready to go and Mike I did see that one of those uh I think it was a qualifier is at Howell Park um this year like a qualifier and I know that Howell Park’s been going through a rather big um

Renovation I want to say not on like the whole but they they basically blew up the 12th green there um anyone that’s played it knows there’s like a a three-foot circle that you could put the pin in that seems to be a fair location so they I know that they blew up that

That green complex and um and actually last time I played there they had bulldozers like over on the side getting ready for like the next day they were starting so um so it’ be kind of cool to see to see what that holds I wonder if they did any other smaller work out

There I would think they did like if they’re gonna hey we got the trucks out there this is what else we want to fix I wonder if they did so um that’s just one specific specifically it’s a little little closer to home for me that I know

Um is is obviously looking to Showcase what they’ve done so yeah that one of the public links qualifiers is at how Park okay so yeah to your to your point so yeah um but again go take go take a look at their schedule so that was

Number one on my on my hit list of of items I need to talk about number two I gotta kind of tease this a little bit because I think as the podcast continues to grow and the word continues to get out there about you know the type of people we are

And all about our you know purpose here with the podcast you know we’ve been approached by different networks or community of podcasts to to join them and and I think there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes that it’s not going to change anything about what you

And I do it’s not going to change anything about how we sound it is just going to expand our reach to find more people that want to listen that want to interact that want to talk golfing in the Garden State so you know keep an eye

Out for some things within the next two or three weeks um about some special things happening here with with the drop podcast and areas that you can find us because um just like anything you know you’re you’re trying to evolve and take the next step and this is just an

Unbelievable opportunity that we just not pass up that I’m excited for it’s a journey getting in on the ground level of something and finding areas that we can join that is a community of podcasts that are are all about talking golf um to reach your broader audiences is kind

Of where we’re heading and it’s exciting it truly is yeah exciting is a a great way to put it like when you and I started this we were we were too Schmo not really knowing what we’re doing and and now 69 episodes later we’re two Schmo and still don’t know what we’re

Doing but uh it seems like some people like you know like to listen so it’s it is cool to to have this opportunity and um excited to see what what the future holds for it yeah so just keep an eye out for that my next housekeeping item

Is listen golf season is sneaking up on us behind the scenes again we got some things brewing for the second edition of the drop podcast Polo I’m not going to tease what they look like I’m not going to tease how good they are I’m not going to

Tease how much you’re going to want to have the second edition because last year they flew off the racks way quicker than I thought they were and listen were there some stumbling blocks in terms of sizes sure but like anything you learn you evolve and you make the second time

Around even better and that’s what I’m going to guarantee and promise moving forward that when these things get showcased you’re going to want to make sure that you jump on them early and often because the designs the colors the material are ones you are not going to

Want to miss so yes the second edition drop podcast polos are are getting worked on um and I know people have asked me do you have any winter gear do you have any apparel any merch for the winter and quite frankly we don’t we don’t there’s no particular reason as

To the why but I will say this the polos are going to be fire get ready hot hot hot lava fire yep get ready get ready so those are two little things behind the scenes in terms of the network the polos like I know that sometimes the season can be a

Little dry in terms of golfing but you know there is a business to this and that’s what’s getting worked on behind the scenes to to make this even bigger to make it even better to make it even more exciting so um I just can’t wait

For that stuff to to begin yeah I I think Mike to your point of like winter gear it’s not really something that we were um I don’t want say not prepared for it but anticipating like you know again we’re we’re we’re still fairly new there’s there’s a lot of a lot of golf

Balls up in the air for us and it’s just not one that we decided to pick up for this winter but again to to your point like people have d and asked and it’s it’s obviously got to be something we got to be ready for next winter um but

But yeah we’re we’re the polos are coming out uh for my for my uh for my bigger fellas for my brethren um I’m advocating for uh for for same material different cut um again the material is excellent uh if we’re going off last year it’s like I really liked it but but

Everybody said it’s like suctioning right and I and I know uh I know for me it didn’t look yeah like uh you know and and uh sausage and brw taste great but you know they’re they’re rolled up and you know they’re not always the most appealing looking so

Um when they’re in their casing so uh so I am advocating for for you guys you know we we do have you out there so again stay tuned for uh for more updates on the polos but bigger fellas we’re in the works there yep and to your point

That is and a detail that I’ve been working on behind the scenes to iron out to ensure that for the larger sizes that it is a little more comfortable it’s a little less fitting um like loose fitting yeah yeah so so that is getting worked on so yeah that was one thing

That like when we did them last year that we like everybody loved them even the people that that didn’t like them or or com I should say that like made comments that they were too tight like the bigger guys again like my brethren they they liked the material they liked

Everything about the polo the logo the design the it was it was silky it was comfortable it was all that stuff it was just it was just too tight and that was that’s something that like we don’t want to have you buy something that you’re

Not going to wear and and not going to fully 100% enjoy and that’s something that for us that that matters again not just for me personally because obviously I’m there with you but but for everybody that’s buying something we want like we want you to love it and that’s great

That you love the material the design the look The feel but if it’s not something you’re going to be comfortable in playing golf we we don’t want to yeah we’re not we’re not frankly we’re not trying to push something on you that you’re not going to love so yep so keep

An eye out for that um I think we got to give a little shout out here to Chris goddo yes out there in California you know playing a course that I know you speak very high of that you’ve been out there that your putterhead cover is all

About and I’m sure it comes up in conversation quite often um but Chris made his first cut of the 2024 season out there at Tory pins um and you know unfortunately Max you know did not make the cut this week uh Ryan is is 0 for

Two in terms of making the cup but it’s probably a matter of time before you know he knocks down the door there but you know Chris is going to collect his first PGA Tour check of the 2024 season and yes um hopefully it’s a catalyst moving forward because you know they got

Another great event next week with with the AT&T out there at Pebble Beach so you know those it’s exciting times you know from a New Jersey perspective to see our guys you know M first off playing you know getting on the PGA tour is a huge accomplishment and then not

Only are they playing but they’re making cuts and now they get to the weekend they’re making some extra dough um and we all know that the money right now on the PGA tour is absolutely insane so kudos to them repping New Jersey and finding ways to to just frankly get it

Done yeah I I Mike as as you’ve said I’ve said it 100 times on this podcast I absolutely love I got to play Tory South and it was it was a special special place it was I it was literally Indescribable I I mean I played it at a

Time I wanted to as well um I played it a little little more afternoon because it’s on the cliffs the Pacific’s right there so I’m having I finished my around my my you know the sun setting I’m having a cocktail on the patio and it’s again just it was just stunningly

Beautiful and and then you talk about how good the course is and they got the the Tory Pines out there and the the architecture the the whole thing was just just tremendous I I cannot speak highly enough about about how much I love that course and and if you know

That my as Mike said my putter cover I I take my I take my my hutter uh driver and woods covers no I don’t have iron covers uh very very seriously I will I will put this out there for PSA if Ryan had iron head covers this podcast would never have

Begun so uh so I try to I try to pick and choose you know it’s not like I get to go to awesome places all the time but uh Tori was one that I was like this place deserves uh one of my covers and

Um and so it was it it’s yeah it’s my putter cover I absolutely love it um that place is is magical to say the least so for Chris um to make the cut there Jersey guy I was super super super happy for him so yeah um I can’t I can’t

Confirm or deny if I gave him some tips on the on the course but um I’ll take I’ll take I’ll take the ladder but nonetheless you I did wish him good luck and and uh we we damn quick quickly back and forth but yeah it was uh it’s great

It’s you know again making making it is great but you look at like we just talked about what’s next for what’s the next thing like he made the PGA Tour awesome good for him Chris like legitimately couldn’t be happier for you now the next thing is he’s going to

Collect a check and and is that’s got to be like a really true pro golfer feeling right like you got your card you get the the physical like we saw all that right but until you collect that first check I I’d imagine it’s got to be that’s got to

Be something for it you know it’s got to be another step it’s a first check of this season because if you if you remember in the past before last season he had played quite a few events on the PJ tour through sponsors exemptions and

He did make a big time run at the John Deere yeah he made a big time run out at the in Bermuda I think in at that tournament as well so like he’s collected a check before but I think in terms of having his card yeah that’s

What I mean having that feeling has got to be a little it’s got to be a little different yeah no doubt totally agree so so shout out to Chris I had to make sure we got that in there um and I got one little tidbit to to go on before I get

Your take on this one because it’s been the talk of golf Twitter the last you know probably 2440 hours about we did talk about Nick Dunlap last week and we kind of hinted towards the idea it had to be a no-brainer for Nick Dunlap the

Go proo um after what he did at the American Express and I’m not going to say we called it because I think it was clear as day but Nick dun does decide to foro his college experience he’s jumping on the PGA tour I knew there was some

Rumors circulating like does he jump to the Liv and go play over there because his stock may not be higher and it’s it’s a perfect kind of live type thing to take the young hot talked about item right now and bring them over there but

Nick has said he’s going to play on a PGA Tour so I’m sure he’ll be out in Pebble Beach next week as well so you know we called it not really sure if it was a a a good call or an obvious one but we made it yeah uh yeah again

Nothing to add there yeah it was a no-brainer decision the only thing that I thought like I said last week was the hold up of how loyal is he to like his teammates does he wait until this the Spring Golf season ends and then enter it that was the only thing yeah but

Nonetheless he’s off there so here’s my here’s my question for you today because I feel like I live on my phone and I’m constantly reading things and I’m constantly checking things go ahead make your comment go ahead you don’t to feel like that you actually are okay so there you

Go you got that jab in it’s good back back a little bit real quick now now that I’m picking myself up off the ground here I can run you over again if you want just breaking news right now Anthony Kim is making a comeback a AK is coming

Back and there hasn’t there wasn’t a Larger than Life figure at the time than Anthony Kim whether it was the belt buckles whether it was him with tiger at a clinic him talking about how tiger hits his sand wage 118 and then Anthony Kim being like well I don’t know some

Days I hit it 100 some days I hit 125 I just don’t know until I go to the range that day that dude was electric I think to say the least and then if we all know he kind of disappeared and he became like the yeti you just didn’t know what

Anthony Kim was doing is he alive is he not alive what’s what’s going on with Anthony Kim but he got injured he ended up getting a you know workers compensation injury settlement type thing worth worth about 10 million bucks now with that settlement he’s not allowed to come back on the tour and

Play unless he pays that back and everybody kind of hinted towards the idea like Anthony Kim’s done but Anthony Kim resurfaces and he’s in talks with the PGA Tour and live golf about returning to professional golf he’s 38 now so he’s in he’s in our

Neck of the woods yeah but I saw a video on nuclear golf just yesterday of a recent video of Anthony Kim swinging the golf club it still looks pretty damn pure to me what is your take on Anthony Kim returning to the game of golf well

Mike if I’m not mistaken he’s been doing like that whole um that whole uh injury settlement whatever like it with the insurance whatever whatever it was like that whole thing he’s been doing like clinics or like long drive things in Vegas if I’m not mistaken I remember there was like a

Like a couple years ago and and it’s more than a couple because I feel like it was pre Co they had like a what’s Anthony Kim doing and he was like I don’t want to say teaching but like he was he was doing like funky competitions

And and like people would pay to watch him like hit a golf ball at like a Target and hit the target and there was like you know I feel like that was something he was doing but I I I mean he’s been an iconic figure for a long

Time I mean from from not really I mean you say he’s 38 born in 85 would when I just looked it up he doesn’t have a birthday Wikipedia which I think we can all agree is is a pretty reliable source for a lot of things Wikipedia doesn’t have his birthday on there just

Says 1985 so brother proves my point he’s the yeti yeah he’s mysterious man uh the white pants the belt buckles the the mystery yeah he’s I think it’s good for golf I think a character like him is is good for golf it draws eyes it you

Know I I think that’s good in what capacity you know if he’s in talks with the PGA Tour and with Liv I’m not exactly sure I’m not exactly sure that’s great for golf because so okay he can’t play on the PGA tour because he has the

Settlement why didn’t he go to live when that first opened then he can’t play period the insurance policy states he’s not allowed to play professional golf oh okay so Liv has offered him a one-year contract to pay for the settlement along with paying him along Jord yeah yeah

Whatever like everybody so he’s he can’t play professional golf unless this settlement is paid back so somehow some way he would need to work out the holdups of this $10 million insurance policy um what’s the injury do you know what the injury is again there’s just so

Much mystery around this like what kind of what kind of who agreed to this $10 million like insurance thing well it just seems crazy to me he had he had gone he had Achilles surgery in 2012 um that was kind of like expected to he was supposed to like recover from

That right and then from there he ended up having I don’t know if it was like wrist problems or what what ended up happening but it was like a a combination of things that kind of just like made him constantly start withdrawing from from tournaments um so whatever the case

Was you know I you I don’t know really the the the Fallout of terms what actually was it um but nonetheless listen I would love to see that dude back out there yeah I mean think about him when he when he romped Sergio at the Ridder cup five and

Four he was like at the top of the world yeah he was at like the top of it was all Anthony Kim Anthony Kim Anthony Kim now he didn’t win a a kazillion tournaments but he was that fiery electric guy that we all love to root for yeah like again like a character

Yeah that’s just as good for golf so listen I don’t know what comes about but clearly the yeti is resurfacing the belt buckle may be making a return and it’s hard to argue like this live golf PGA Tour thing because I think at the end of the day

Somehow some way they’re all just going to merge anyway so it’s kind of like yeah do you get your money and eventually just hope it just falls into place butn ROM did right that’s what we yeah and I I think that’s kind of what your

Boy turl hatton’s about to do too to go jump on his team but not my boy I I think the idea that Anthony Kim is GNA make a return I’m super stoked I loved him his energy he’s like he like that fireball that just is like I don’t know

He just I feel like he’s one of us right I go to the range today I hit at 100 I hit it sometimes 125 I don’t know I just hit the damn thing how I feel and something I say like that’s that’s not professional golf professional golfers

Are dialed in they know what dimple they’re hitting on the golf ball I don’t I’m not exactly sure if I’m hitting the ball or the ground first right and I think that’s great that he just kind of can relate to us um so I don’t know really what this 2024 season will entail

Clearly he does have some exemptions as being a past Champion um so he’ll have some status on some lesser events um he’s obviously not going to get into the Signature Events because he doesn’t have those um requirements per se but there’s no doubt no doubt that some sponsor

Exemptions would be tossed his way because why not get Anthony Kim in your event are you able to buy stock in belt buckles because that Stock’s about to rise rapidly yeah except we don’t know what belt Buckle specifically that brand that’s what I’m saying the whole can you

Is that is that like gold where you can buy and sell gold the whole just the whole thing well that’s something we’ll have to figure out so but nonetheless listen it’s exciting things going on right now in the PGA Tour Anthony Kim returning you know listen it’s an

Exciting time in golf I I know we’ve said it over and over again the PGA Tour season’s heating up the golf season here in New Jersey is about to start unfolding with signups and and the MGA events it’s it’s listen at the end of

The day I know it may be January 3 31st and it’s the last day of January but Hey listen I know we’re all itching to get out there and play I just can’t wait for that to actually begin absolutely all right Mike you got you got any more of these uh quick hitters

Here no listen that wraps it up for me I know I had my little my little index card of sheet here that I wrote down some things um but that touches on them all yeah and I listen I think again to top off the episode put the icing on the cake

Chandler withington is is a phenomenal listen the stories he told Ry about the Ridder cup his Idol about Davis Love about being in the meetings yeah in the meetings and the tigerwood story that he shares dude epic epic yeah and I’m not saying anymore because you just got to

Just keep listening just keep listening it’s gonna come at you here but uh when Mike says in the meetings I I hope you know in the rider me he he found something at Hazel teen and shares it with Davis Love and he’s like hey I think this is something that we can use

At his home cour like they talk about home course Advantage like that the Europeans set up the Ridder cup that suits them and the US does it here when they come he’s the one that did that at Hazel te he’s the one that’s like notices something so that story again

The whole thing super super awesome uh I do want to give a shout out as well to his his website one more time uh archive 22 is uh archive 22.com I guess I should say uh go check out his stuff it’s uh again it’s incredible that it’s that

It’s handrawn stuff by him so so go check that out but uh now we’re going to send you to our interview with Chandler enjoy comto Yacht Sales has been the Jersey Shore’s number one boat dealer since 1973 did you know that comto now has two onw Sales locations to better serve the

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Into one of their two locations today they can be found at Comstock marina.com that’s Comstock marina.com or for immediate sales assistance text them now at 732 6041 1237 that’s 73264 1 237 so today’s guest is another one that I think the stories could be endless in

Terms of what he’s able to share with us he’s a proud PGA member he’s a licensed artist for the USGA the RNA um and like his his Twitter bio says he brings a history of golf to your wall in a handdrawn way today’s guest is Chandler withington Chandler thank you so much

For coming on today’s show well thank you guys great to be on with you yeah good to have you Chandler yeah listen like like I said to you in the pre-show like connecting with people on social media has been an unreal adventure for me and talking to people introducing

Myself to who we are and kind of what we do being able to cross paths with someone like you and the stories that you have I think are going to be right up the audience’s alley because I know people may say to me like well Mike how how does what’s

The connection with Chandler and golfing in the Garden State um but I think before I spoil that aspect you know knowing that you grew up here in New Jersey you caded at a top five golf course as a kid just like so many of all

Of us why don’t you give the audience a little bit of background about you because I know not only are the roots here in New Jersey but they far extend outside as well yeah thanks well I think you know to to start with uh New Jersey and where

I’m from and when people always ask you like where are you from I’ll always come back to saying I’m from Basking Ridge New Jersey uh right in the middle of the state um you know I grew up uh in a family where my dad worked in New York

City for fizer uh for over 25 years uh so we grew up in the shadow of the city um getting in the city and and growing up as a New York Sports Fan um but you know if I had to kind of give you like where did this all start

For me and I I didn’t grow up in a golfing family meaning like you know my dad didn’t play golf he wasn’t the one who taught me how to play golf I I didn’t have any friends that played golf um as a kid who grew up in you know the

Mid mid to late 80s early 90s um you know golf was not anything that was on anybody’s radar um I grew up playing little league and started getting into hockey later as a kid um but I think you know where it really started for me Mike

Was um we went down to Hilton Head Island spring break of 19 1992 and um we were staying on a house on harbort toown uh the week of the MCI Heritage um you know PJ tour maybe I knew it was something but it certainly wasn’t anything I gave any thought to but all

My cousins were you know the tour was going on in the back yard that week and they’re like come on let’s go watch golf let’s go watch golf and I was like you guys have fun um but you know eventually they got me to go out there and uh they

Got me to go out there and we sat behind a par 5T and watch the guys had drivers and this was right in the early 90s when you know Pimon was still around um but metal was starting to come into the game and for you know you guys remember the

First time you saw professional golf like it it grabs you and um you watch a ball you know fly you know three football fields away and I was like what was that and uh a younger player back then you know young back then was late 20s you know wasn’t what it is today

With Nick Dunlap Etc um but a younger player came around and hit bimon driver out of sight and I thought it was the coolest thing that i’ had ever seen and he was young so we kind of followed him around that week and uh you know sure

Enough he went on to win the tournament so immediately became my favorite player and you know the conversation driving back to New Jersey from that spring break was yeah I want to figure this out I want to learn how to play and you know how do I get started I don’t know

Anybody who plays the game but um my education as a kid was I I was would get home in VCR that player uh whenever he was on TV if you can remember the three letters VCR um know kind of I’m dating myself here um no I got it I remember that

Vividly yeah but I would just kind of uh watch that player rewind and go out in the backyard and try to imitate what I was seeing on TV um so that’s where it started for me going back to that answer about golf it it is kind of unique

Because when you think about how people get into the game it’s always a a a father a grandfather a relative someone that kind of drives them to the game and knowing that like your experience with getting in the game was is just unique in a sense because we’ve heard the

Stories one way or another but for you to fall in love with the game while watching it live at a PGA Tour stop at a beautiful spot you know I think that just encompasses really what golf is it once you get addicted to it you become obsessed and I think that’s sounds like

A little bit of about your story as well about how you got hooked on the game you I think I was about uh five years before tiger you know when tiger came along and took everyone and captivated everyone with the 97 Masters and everything he

Did after U we we have kind of a saying um in all the years I’ve been doing this like the golf ball doesn’t know uh where you came from how you got into the game what inspired it just knows who’s hitting it um you know if you learn how

To square the club face up you know the ball’s going to go as straight as it does for everyone else so U but those moments uh I’m a I’m a big believer in moments uh one of my favorite books is the power of moments um and all these different moments come along whether

It’s you know somebody introduced you to the game um or what inspired you or captivated you or caught you you know for me it was the 1992 MCI at harbort toown who was the golfer Davis Love yeah another SE Island Georgia guy can’t you know listen that’s it’s a it’s

A great gu and no offense he dominated that tournament yeah I I think if I remember correctly I felt like as a kid growing up he was always the one putting the red coat on all all the time all the time so listen it’s it’s a great person

To fall in love with the game because of yeah that that that tournament was his baby but it was it was the golf swing um he made it look so easy and effortless and he was still hitting a Pimon driver which you know what sounded like a

Gunshot when it went off and the ball went a mile um and again he was he was young he was Jordan spe back then right um he was the young upstart so you know he made golf look cool for me want to pay attention and then like so as as you’ve

Gotten older you know and and not to date you here but like you go through college and explain the background and the story about how you end up at Hazel te because I think when the audience or anybody hears hazeline I you know you got to

Think that the 2016 rder cup is the first thing that pops into probably the majority of our minds because we all know that the Ridder cup is mainly that one golf event maybe outside Sunday at Augusta that we all are glued to the TV regardless of where it is but knowing

That event was at your golf course with you leading the way at that Golf Course like how does that happen uh trying to ask myself that same question you how does a a guy from uh how does a guy from Baskin Ridge who didn’t start playing golf at 14 end up

In this position um I think there’s two Journeys that kind of go uh side to side here that we’ll talk about both of them but you know from the golf Journey um I would say I don’t know if you guys can remember back to when you were in high

School I went to Ridge High School in Basking Ridge and you know your guidance counselor you know kind of sits you down and we have to have that talk about who we’re going to become and get serious about the next step um so the answer

That I had to that question of you know what are you going to be when you grow up for years for me was that I want to be an architect that was the goal uh and the dream for me my dad kind of took me around to to different stadiums as a kid

Of course I got to grow up to great places like Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden but it took me to like you know Fenway and old Tiger Stadium and Wrigley and kamsky park and Candlestick and you know how does that Stadium have a you know stanions that come out for a

Football game and go back for a baseball game I was so captivated by all that that that was what I wanted to be and I remember telling my guidance counselor well I’m going to be an architect and you know she kind of smil she goes

That’s great um what else do you like to do and it was uh it was her nice way of saying like that’d be great if you had the grades I I did um I was a a C+ student at best um so I thought that was

Her polite way of saying like just tell me more about yourself and you know this was two years after I found Golf and I was really starting to to fall in love with it and I said well I’m starting to like Golf and she goes you know golf is

There a a future or a career that you could have in golf and I just started to to learn about these PGM schools professional golf management schools that you could go to and study the business of golf and um the next thing I knew she kind of bait and switched me

And I was like yeah I could go play golf and be a golf bro and um I never looked back you know I just kind of shelf the architecture thing and went full board towards golf um I think if you talk to enough people in industry and I’ve

Listened to your podcast and you guys have um everyone eventually has you know I listen to the podcast with Dave rezner just talking about just randomly dropping his resume off at Ridgewood and look what it’s become now 25 years later uh for me I got a break um canra Country

Club in Summit um I’d played there once in high school and they have two nice golf courses that um I just thought about look when I’m off the clock I’ll have two golf courses to to play from and I went in and put him same as day

Put in my resume for an internship and I met the golf professional his name was Greg lecker and um I didn’t know much about Greg um I didn’t know that Greg came from Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh I didn’t know that he worked for Bob for um who’s really you know such The

Godfather of golf professionals right now in the PGA and I didn’t know how this all worked uh but I got a break and I got an opportunity to do three internships at can Brook for Greg and that came back to to paid off later for me you know about five or six years

Later when um he set me down to seal in the winners uh in West Palm Beach and I got to spend some winners with Bob and uh another door open for me uh to go to Marian golf club in Philadelphia as the lead assistant uh in 2007 and and then

You kind of get to that it’s like it’s like a triangle like most Industries you know you’re getting towards the top and the opportunities are getting to be fewer and the the competition is getting to be harder uh to get these these rare opportunities um and I had interviewed

For three years um when I was at Marian for head jobs and was getting really close to a lot of them and uh I learned a lot in not getting those jobs for three years of interview I learned how this all works and how to communicate

Who I am and what I do and how I can help um in learning you know what was valuable to hazeline and uh I was just able to get the Stars to line up at hazeline at the end of 2012 and they hire you and you know

You’re so thrilled to just be a head head golf professional I was going to be thrilled to be a head pro anywhere if you knew the list of places that I interviewed I just I wanted to lead and now I’m ending up going halfway across the country and the Ridder cup is coming

Four years later so that that’s a condensed version of how I got there you know you’re taking 15 years of experience and you know consolidating into like a three minute Journey but um there’s a timing to everything I think also in life um so you know that that’s

That’s a big part of it though is um I think I got there because of people who believed in me invested their time in me and then it just I got lucky with the timing of how things worked and and which doors open up at the right time

Yeah I mean those golf courses are unreal when you talk about like you know and I was doing my research and checked out some of the the the listings and the BIOS and I’m like you’re talking seminal okay you’re talk I mean even krook here

In New Jersey I think can be a little underrated at times um and and they host a lot of Big Time USGA qualifiers so it’s on the radar so it’s not like it just doesn’t maybe get talked about as other golf courses here in New Jersey but then you’re talking about seminal

Which is like the cream of the crop down there those views along the ocean are just absolutely stupid um then you’re coming back up here yeah then you’re coming back up here to Northeast with Marion nothing beats their their their um their pins like the whole thing the whole everything about it that

Just so unique and then you end up at hazeline it’s like man it’s it is like you said one unbelievable spot after another on this incredible journey but then like 2016 comes and the Ryder Cup shows up to Hazel team Mike I want to ask him before

We get into the Ryder Cup there I when you interviewed for the job at Hazel did they did you bring up the cup like they chose the r like they chose Hazel te prior to you getting there right that’s years out so how big of that do and maybe you don’t even

Remember but how big of that was in your interview like hey we have this enormous International Event coming are you able to handle it like what was that like in that interview process in getting that job yeah Ryan I think two things um one they they like the fact that I’ve been

In part of preparing for championships at Maran we had the US Open coming the next year after an interview at Hazel teine so having that experience and in what Mike kind of referenced with canu Brook um another place that I’ve been I’d worked for the Masters a little bit

I I had a little bit of background in preparing for these things so that helped but to put the rder cup in perspective I remember uh one of the people on the search committee saying to me he goes look the rder Cup’s important you know for not just uh what it means

For us but for a lot of reasons but try to remember like that’s one week out of you know if you if you end up working here for 30 years that’s one week out of 30 years the other weeks aside from that are all serving our membership and

Making the experience great for them so just to put it in perspective like it’s important but how we serve the members here every day is what our focal point is yeah interesting yeah very cool yeah so now going into the rider cup yeah I mean because I think I think this is and

I’m sure their stories could be endless in terms of what that whole experience is like and then I’m sure you know because the follow-up question people I’m sure would ask me that I’m going to ask you is like you’re at Hazel te the Ridder cup comes and then you move on

From that like wow that’s crazy but let’s let’s go first step first so the Ryder Cup comes to your golf course like you’ve been there now for a few years you’re established like but now these cream of the crop biggest event in golf comes to your

Place tell us a little bit about that experience if you go back to um when I was interviewing for Hazel um it was in the fall of 2012 actually did my first interview in early September 2012 got invited back for a second interview um in late September and then

The Ryder Cup was played at Madina and this was a team that was captained by my childhood hero Davis Love and we know how that one ended um 10 six lead on Sunday they lose um not knowing if I was even going to be at Hazel team that one

Just sucked for me personally um then I get there um the next home one’s going to be there so we go to Scotland in 2014 uh this was the F cup where Tom Watson was the captain um again didn’t go very well in a different way and uh we’re

Sitting in front of the stage um in Scotland in 14 I’m wondering like what kind of team is going to show up on our doorstep here in two years um go a few months later February 15 I’m sitting in my office uh snowing outside like it

Always is here everyone had kind of gone home I was I was s sitting in my office working on something and I got a text from the late Tim Roosa for um who I knew from West Palm Beach and Rosie text me he said look I I remember you from

Your time down here I remember your story um you need to know they’re going to name Davis Love as Captain on Monday and uh I mean Mike I I sat and stared at that text for 15 minutes and it’s a mix of um excitement um you know we’re going

To get a second chance to get him you know through this one mix of fear uh you know what if this doesn’t go well you know what if we lose I mean he’ll probably never talk to me again and I know your your listeners won’t see it but

It’s a picture of uh when I CAD for him at seminal in 06 and wow oh cool I had the same I had the same fear and excitement I know a lot of people who who gotten to meet their Heroes um and it didn’t didn’t turn out great you know

We hold them on such a pedestal and we finally get to meet him and if it doesn’t go well it crushes your soul right um when I met Davis like he could not have been nicer to me more encouraging of the path that I was on as

Becoming a PG professional like his dad um so I you know I had a relationship with him uh coming into 2015 when he showed up and um I think you know mik my mindset shifted when they named Davis as Captain as like I obviously I’m going to

Care about the success of this event but now it just went up about 10 levels um so my mindset shifted into um how can I help in what kind of questions is he going to ask me and when you get to host the Ridder cup and you’re the home team

You get to set up the golf course however you want to so so um I really want to be prepared you know for the questions he was going to ask about the golf course but um my family had just given me the last 20 years of DVDs on

The Ryder Cup and uh so for about the next three months as we finished out winter in 2015 I kept watching the old Ryder cups and you know specifically the losses you know why do we keep losing this is it just as simple as that they’re better um can we learn anything

From especially how they play at home and some things started jumping out uh I started catching some Trends and I started putting numbers to the trends and I had my homework ready and I talk to enough people in my circles to be like look if if Davis starts talking

About some of this stuff should I bring this up and they’re like if if you have something that you think can help the team and you don’t speak up you’ll regret it um so I you know again thankfully I had a relationship with him

To where I felt like I could U but yeah when he showed up in the summer 15 and we started playing the golf course together you know he started going near the things that I felt like he should know and um to to give him a lot of

Credit when I started throwing some of the numbers at him him doing this the second time and having lost he was willing to think about things differently and he was willing to accept other perspectives um and how people view things and he used them you know in his

Strategy but um yeah Mike to your point I mean I’ve done presentations on the rder cup for three hours and I could talk about it for 10 um you kind of hinted out you know how do you move on from it um you don’t really have to you know

Because it went our way you know everything that could have gone away my experience was a 15 out of 10 um and we just get to kind of live in that um but you also have to come back to like you know back to what we just talked about

Is you know okay rder Cup’s over back to to serving the membership um and uh and that’s what I continue to do until the until the day I left yeah that that team too I know I know tiger wasn’t on that team specifically but still the names on

There you know you’re talking Phil you’re talking Ricky you’re talking still you know Jordan Speed Dustin you start Brooks you’re talking bigname guys nonetheless that are coming into your place like I I can only imagine being a little kid in the candy store seeing these guys come in there and then you’re

Talking about like your hero being Davis Love Mine mine’s tiger and I rant and Rave about tiger non stop like I can only imagine if my experience like yours yeah would be a 15 out of 10 so and on top of that the USA dominates but the Ryder Cup

Ends obviously you now like said you move on to like now I’m going back to my day-to-day job really which is serving the membership because that’s really what I was hired to do but then art gets involved here okay and you know me being the golf nerd that

I am and and I start seeing things and and there are times where I look at people like you and I’m like I can’t believe I’m actually dming with these guys and they actually respond because I never thought that I look at you guys and and you’re on a whole other level

Than someone like Ryan or myself self but at the end of the day you are just a normal human being that loves the game of golf that wants to talk the game of golf the same way we are how does art get involved here let me do a few things and how I

Answer that um one because you’re you’re a tiger fan um people ask me all the time if you could share one story from the Ridder cup what would you share um and it’s a story that involves tiger uh we have to remember that he was an

Assistant Captain here in 16 um I I meant like actually teeing it up yeah but yes to your point you’re right sure he was really involved um you know this was a time where he had the back fusion surgery um so he wasn’t playing golf

This was at a time when um his game almost hit Ground Zero um he needed to be around people you know when Davis made him an assistant Captain um he was so involved with the course setup the course um to the pairings but he was

Great with the guys um so I’m going to talk about the artworks stuff here in a second but where it really starts and why I share this story is we have to have proper perspective about what’s most important you know and why things matter so um fast forward to the end of

Ryder Cup USA wins uh they go to the the stage they do the closing ceremony closing press conference and we’re back in the locker room and you know I had access to the team because of my relationship with Davis um if it was anybody else I probably on the outside

Looking in um but the players are cleaning out their lockers and we’re getting ready to go back to the hotel um in Eden Prairie for which is really where the real party is going back to the hotel and the team room in the hotel and as the guys are packing up their

Locker tiger says Hey guys come here I want to talk to everyone for a second guys kind of gather around I’m kind of standing behind tiger and he says Hey tonight when we go back to the hotel let’s really stay up late and enjoy this

One and I kind of watched you know Phil was in the the Forefront uh Jordan um and uh they’re all kind of like you gathered us around to tell us that and they’re all kind of laughing and Tiger’s not laughing they finally stopped laughing and tiger says you know guys

The reason I say that is you know you go back to 1999 at Brooklyn you know with the comeback when we go back to the hotel we have dinner uh we have you know drinks party but you know it’s like this week takes it out of you so about 10 o’clock

I went back up to my room and I got in bed I just kind of exited stage left and let you guys keep going about an hour later somebody’s pounding on my door and every Ridder cup it’s always players only on the same floor FL so it could

Only be one of his teammates and for 15 minutes whoever it is is not going away so I finally get out of bed and I answer the door and it’s pain Stewart and Payne’s got this big smile on his face he goes what are you doing he goes dude

I I’ve got nothing left I’m already in bed he goes yeah so what none of us do come on get back downstairs he goes no you guys go ahead without me I’m good he goes well I’m not leaving without you tiger says pay what’s the big deal pay

Stewart says tiger the big deal is you never never know if you ever get this moment again so you make it last as long as you can you know Tiger’s mindset in 99 he goes pay we’re going to do this every two years pay Stewart says you don’t know that get

Downstairs tiger said I’m so glad that Payne came back to get me and I went downstairs and stayed up late and we always remember that night and you know what pain St was right um that was the only winning team I ever played on and

We lost him three weeks later and uh I got to watch insane yeah got bumps oh my God I get to watch the facial expression guys change Phil Mickelson was the first guy to walk up and be like thanks tiger like it was a it was a perspective

Moment you can even watch like um you know I love Dustin Johnson he’s not the sharpest pencil in the Box um but you know Dustin Dustin had that like pay Stewart died are you kidding me you know when did that happen that’s great we land on the

Moon but um the guys got the message and I think you were looking at where tiger was in his life having gone from the top to the bottom he understood what was important um and the guys got the message I would tell you I left the

Hotel at like 2 am that morning and you know they were all still down there so um so I think the perspective of that Mike and and how that maybe goes into to what I’m doing now with artwork and and where this came from try tell the story

This Way um 2018 my wife Morin and I are having our our third kid I mean Technically she’s having it I’m just kind of there supporting her but uh we have our third kid and everything goes smooth we had a little bit of a hiccup with our middle uh daughter um

Everything’s fine but our third everything goes smooth you know we’re driving home from the hospital and my wife kind of says to me you know my chest feels kind of tight and it just something feels off here and I’m thinking it’s just overexertion of you know delivery and getting back on your

Feet and we get home she’s like something’s off I’m going to call my doctor and they said you know why you just go down to the local ER they’ll run some tests and you’ll have peace of mind and and you’ll go home so we go to the

The local ER they run some tests some blood work things like that take some some scans and uh they found a a blood clot in her lungs which is known as a pulmonary embolism and uh I never heard of those two words before my life I’m

Like is this bad they’re like oh yeah um it’s it’s ambulance time so you know we I’ve got the three-day old in the car seat we thought we were just going in for some tests and we’ll go home and you I’ve got to take the threey old three-day old and we’re going downtown

To the hospital and you know there’s a moment I talk about moments a lot where I’m driving on the highway and you know you hear an ambulance com up behind you and um it splits the highway and you know your whole world goes driving past you and you know I’m looking at a

Three-day old in the back wondering if I’m doing this alone um thankfully everything’s fine they caught it when they did um she’s still with us and and we got to keep moving forward um there’s a video that I watched uh in the hospital this was three weeks after the rder Cup in

2018 uh they surfaced the video uh from Team Europe in 2018 Thomas pjorn had a uh a motivational video um shows team and it’s three past players talking to the team it’s Brian hugot who played for Great Britain back in the 60s uh Sam Torrance and Jose Maria olab and at the

End you know Brian Hu talked about he goes don’t leave with any regrets you know come Sunday make sure you left it all out there and I was already starting to look at my life as you know being a golf professional is one of the great

Honors that I’ve ever had um and Mike you just mentioned a few minutes ago about you know am I really talking to these people look you know we’re we’re all brought together by this game you know that’s but what I loved most about being a golf professional is I get to

Meet so many people like you on a daily basis you know and I was so curious about other people and where are you from and tell me about you and how did you get into the game you know I’m having to answer your questions but I’m just as curious about all of you

Um and where have you been and where are you going so uh 2018 uh that That Shook us up and my wife you know kind of asked she goes you know usually you’re traveling around with members this time of year and going to warm places and

Playing golf you know can you just kind of stay close to home because even though they put her on blood thinners we didn’t know if she was going to wake up tomorrow that was just the reality um and it probably took her close to a year

To to accept that like if I’m on this medication that can’t happen again so in the fall of 2018 um staying home in Minnesota winners and they’re long and they’re dark and not much to do and I’m not much of a TV guy I got the drawing

Board out and I just started uh I was drawing the course map for Maran and um I was doing it for me I was just you know let’s see if I can recreate it and then I had this white space because the the golf the golf course is kind of like

This L and I had this white space I started doodling the the trophies and all the the championship history they’ve had there I got like halfway through it and I I sent a picture of it to uh the pro at Pebble Beach his name is John swin uh

He was a member at Marian and I said John what do you think of what I’m doing here can you even recognize what this is and he’s like yeah that’s cool um you know we’ve got the US Open next year why you draw something for me so I I kind of

Went out and got a better drawing board and better pencils and better stuff and I came home my wife’s like what are you doing I’m like I can do this better than I’m than what I’m doing now and did this piece for John and you know at the

Bottom it had the old logos from the opens at Pebble like you know from 72 and 82 and 92 and the winners and the winners and what they shot and I saw I saw the whole thing how many under they were I listen I said Tiger’s on there

Yep yeah I saw I saw it yeah I N Out about that stuff I saw that thing yeah so you know I got done with that and there was still some winner left and um I become friendly with Tom coin who’s an author in Philadelphia you know kind of

Goes on these Journeys around the globe and in uh in 2019 he was going to do this this trip across America and really discover what golf looks like in America I told Tom said look I’ve I’ve had this vision for something that I want to draw

With the US Open when you find yourself at Hazel te in these places and maryan I’m talking about the history of golf all the time and I constantly found myself being like well you know that was that happened in 1962 you know when Jack won here you know and and over here and

And I just I wanted to have a reference on my wall instead of pulling it up on Wikipedia so drawing the logos was fun for me it was it was timec consuming paying attention to the detail so I just kind of Drew the history of the US Open

With all the logos of the clubs that had hosted it um all the scores of the players that had won it and again I was doing it for me um but Tom coin loved it um he took some copies with him as he went across the country in 2019 he was

Going to play all US Open courses and he started giving it away and I think when we started getting interest in people being like this is cool where do I buy it I’m like I’m really glad you like it I can send you one but I I can’t sell this um

I don’t know what how that works but I was still the pro at Hazel teen it was it was just a hobby um so I think longwinded answer to kind of tell you is like I think going back to the tiger story it’s my perspective on like what

Was most important in life was shifting from that moment in 2018 with my wife and her healthare and picking back up the pencil again um not with any plan to become an artist but that’s just what kind of happened um those two worlds just kind of intersected at that

Time a as you said before it’s it’s just having the right opportunity and and having like like this path that you’re on that you don’t even know you’re on you know you go back to like all the interviews you did while at Maran that you didn’t

Get to get you to Hazel tee to get you to that point to be up in Minnesota those cold Winters to get you it’s it’s just a path that it’s it’s crazy to get on there and I will say I know Mike said he saw they’re amazing I I when I first

When we talked about having you on and I first Googled it and looked at the images I legitimately I thought on the on the image search I thought there were pictures like computer done pictures but they’re they’re really intricate you do great work there I you know what I love

About I love about them is just being like the golf nerd that I am and obviously we all love the majors when they come around that it’s not just geared towards you know like the United States open like yes you have one that has all those logos but then you know as

I’ve continued to just like look and look around and just dig and dig you got the Masters you got the Walker cup you know you got the British Open and and I know Ryan’s a history nerd too it’s like just being able to go back and like

Because at times people bring up this major that major like that artwork is just so unique and so rare that I can see it being a hot commodity if I have a room in my house that I want to hang some golf memorabilia up like what better way to do it than something

That’s cool like that because the logos are sweet I think the logos are really cool they really are who doesn’t love a good golf logo well I think that’s you know what kind of happened accidentally Mike is I was drawing it because I was want to talk about the history but inevitably

What happened CU I had him up in my office at hazeline was you know so many people walk in my office and they come from all over the place and um it allowed people you know if you were to walk in my office and we got connected

On this because Ryan commented on a post I made about balol and um I was like well you know where’s where’s Ryan from you know where’s Mike from like look you guys are you’re from New Jersey you know so we immediately have a conversation starter um logos allow people to have

The opportunity to do that you know when I see people at events and you know if I see you we in a New York Rangers logo I’m probably going to say something to you you know because I’m a Rangers Fan you might be a devil’s fan or something

Else right but it’s it’s that unspoken way of saying like we’re all part of the same tribe and when you have all these different logos on the same piece of artwork inevitably somebody’s like oh I’m from there there’s my favorite course there’s my favorite player here’s where I’m from here’s where I’m going

Here’s where I haven’t played it just kept the conversation going um so I think that’s what we kind of learned about this artwork is like it just creates a conversation for people um it allows you to talk about a sport that you’re passionate about and you know

What’s your connection with a game and how did you get into it the things that we’re talking about today you you talked about moments and that’s another one you could put on there like I’m from there I’m from there I had this moment there

Or you know I talk about Tor and the and the moments that I had there when I got to play it it was just again when you talk about all those things it’s it’s really remarkable I mean and I I think and I guess like the coolest one to me and I

Don’t know if you want to say quote it’s your most popular one but the Ridder cup one to kind of bring the whole conversation full circle is like so cool because I think what gets lost a lot of times is is you know who won where was

It again can you remind me what was the score you know like oh yeah yeah there and and that one specific art piece that has or artwork that has the logos the results how it’s all boxed in right around the rider Cup itself like talk a

Little bit about that one is is that your like Masterpiece in a sense at this point well it’s definitely the one that’s most personal to me uh because of the relationship that I had with it um but I think when I’m I’m a Storyteller at heart I try to remind people like I’m

A Storyteller first I draw second what is the story of the rider cup and I done so many presentations on the history of the rer cup to get people specifically in the Minnesota area prepared for like what is this tournament why should you care why does it matter and if you go

Back to the history of try to condense this in 90 seconds but you know the Ryder Cup was born of Walter Hagen in the late you know 1910s early 1920s taking a a quote unquote team of Americans over to try and win the Open Championship he’s like look you know

They won ours we haven’t won theirs uh Jo Hutchinson won the first Open champ ship I think in 1920 but it was when the Americans were over there playing the Open Championship that the Brits were saying let’s just have some little side matches on this and you know was when

Samuel Ryder kind of picked up on it he’s like I’ll donate the trophy and they played one you know really at uh oh uh they played one at Wentworth I think in 25 and I think they kind of said like we should do this again and you know the first official was at

Woster and mass in 1927 but that’s what started it was just the camaraderie and and getting these people together it it wasn’t really so competitive as much as camaraderie um we lost the Ryder Cup for 10 years because of the war from 37 to 47 you want the artwork to we know World

War II in there um and if people know the story about uh Robert Hudson who was a farmer in Portland you know he was the one who self-funded the Ryder Cup in 47 to bring it back you know some people would think it should be named The

Hudson cup because of that um but we take it through the evolution of you know as USA versus Great Britain where did Europe come into the mix uh where did Tony jacn come into the mix in 1981 83 um and how did Europe start to assert themselves as a team through the late

80s you know and how it’s become the Rivalry that it is today I think a lot of people think the Ryder Cup just started in 91 at Kiwa I’m like what you know goes back farther than that um so I try to help people understand like how

Did we get here and where are we and where are we going and you know where where professional golf is going is unknown um but all I can try to do is help people understand like like you when we talk about players getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup we have to

Understand that for almost 100 years now these people have made it become what it is you know people like Jack Nicholas and Tony jacquin and Robert Hudson like those people should be getting a paycheck long before any player today gets it yeah I mean that’s a that’s so

Good yeah you’re you’re telling a story of by painting it and by drawing it and doing all the the artwork and like you said you got World War II stuff on there what on the flip side that Tom’s do and his stuff with his right his art is done

By words and yours is done but you’re both telling a story uh in both kind of ways it’s really interesting do you and Tom work together a lot or is there just like as a relationship are you guys like friends that’s blossomed from that or yeah we’ve been friends yeah we’ve been

Friends for a long time you know going back to his Ireland book uh there was a a late author named Jim finegan in in Philly that I’d always ask Jim like hey Jim any any books I got to read and he’s like yes uh this book about a man who walked

Around Ireland played every course around the coast of Ireland and to find out that Tom lip and Philly you know I immediately reached out to and we’ve been friends ever since so that was all just a an accident you know Ryan with just me giving him the US Open artwork

And him taking it around the the part of this journey that I think your listeners would be interested to know is you know if I try to to summarize you know what the last two years of my life would look like um I think by the summer of 21 you

Know I recognized that just all the hours and the things that I put into the job the sacrifice of Hosting majors and the hours that go into the job I I was missing watching my kids grow up and I felt like I had to make a choice between

The two that they two couldn’t coexist I kind of got to a place of Peace of I’ve gotten to do so much in golf that I never thought I would have a chance to do um the Last Frontier for me is to be a husband and father you know I need to

Be there while I have my girls and while I can watch them grow up so we left Hazel Team without really really a plan of what we’re going to do is just we’ll figure it out and the artwork wasn’t really even the top 50 of the conversation um there was a gentleman

Named Shane Ryan uh who writes for a number of different Publications Golf Digest being one of them and I’d sent Shane the Ryder cut piece and he he’s like what is this and I when I explained it to him he put out a story on us uh

Christmas Eve of 21 and that was maybe a push in the direction uh that we’re in now um I kind of went back to the USGA I mean look I grew up in BAS Ridge in the shadow of Far Hills and I know all these

People and um I went back and I said look We’ve joked about this before let’s have a serious conversation what is this look like if I were to ever pursue this and um with the logo piece specifically you know they said look we love it um we

Hope we were hoping you would come back to this but um when it comes to the club logos we don’t own those you’re going to have to go to Every club and get permission to use the logo on the artwork um and we didn’t understand what

That Journey was going to be like or is it even possible um and Ryan you kind of hinted that earlier in the call like I’ve had all these relationships you know in the position that I was in at Hazel team with all these other club Pros that it had a chance because I

Could get the call back um but there are two roads there was the we don’t ask for permission we open up a online shop and we sell as many of these we can until somebody says stop U but look how is the game of golf played and we play the game

Without a referee around we call the penalties on ourselves it’s a game of Honor like that was never in play for us um so we did it the hard way and uh you we started in July of 2022 with the US Open pieace 51 yeses we

Have to get 51 not 48 not 45 you know we have to get them all and if somebody says no pack it up and go home um it took us eight months and I think when I look at that Journey the unknown every day of like is this going to fall apart

Tomorrow the reason it succeeded is because of people helping people um I think the list of people that got involved by the end was somewhere between 3 to 400 people um people part of my life in different ways that believed in what we were doing um so

When I look at the artwork now and I hope you know people ever put it in their home or their office they’re not just reminded of the history of the game which is great um but they see a community of people and that’s why I’m

On these calls is like we’re all in this together we all love the same game we’re coming at it from different places um but the the minute that I stop talking to people like you or you know it’s I missed that part you know being a pro is is these interactions and understanding

You know what is it that makes you love the game you know what’s your story and uh if the artwork starts these conversations uh then I think that’s the real Beauty that’s coming it it’s so it’s so spot on with what Mike and I say all the time that it’s just it’s amazing

How you know Mike and I don’t have like we’re not we didn’t go to journalism school or anything like that we just we kind of start this as as two guys that just like Golf and it’s amazing how open people have been and it’s a testament to

The Golf Community to like you said everyone’s just been like open to to help or or someone hey I know this guy I can help you with this just like with your you got 300 people 52 logo 51 logos you’re looking at four people a lo you four or five

People a logo the maths adds up that you’re going to have people helping people for for those so that’s it’s an incredible community the Golf Community uh and Mike and I say it all the time yeah because we can attest to it I mean think about it you know we’ve been

Fortunate in in really of 18 months of being in this operation to get connected with like doy pepper to connect us with Dan Hicks who then got us Jim Nance to then get Stuart hagat to sit down in person with Michelle we West like it’s crazy that two guys like us that

Stumbled upon this journey 18 months ago with legit no idea what to do but then just to meet people to network with people and let them know like listen we’re here just to showcase the good that golfing is here in the Garden State and if there’s a way to expand that like let’s

Do it and to your point it just speaks volumes that it is amazing but I do want to also before I know I don’t know what your time is and if you got to get going but I do want to talk about archive 22 um because I I kind of have seen you

Know as we’ve discussed your journey from like the beginning here New Jersey to now to today like I’ve scrolled through archive 22 and and and again like I guess I’m flabbergasted that you got to go to every single damn golf club to get their approval to put on there

Because that didn’t even cross my mind um but they’re all there and when you see like the PGA Championship you see the US Open you see the rer cup like the fact that you had to you still probably to this day have to call them for that

Is mindboggling and and I love the concept of archive 22 looking to kind of like expand now to not only just be like yours but in a sense have a network of people a community that all have the same process the same mindset the same

Goal really at the end of the day tell me a little bit about archive 22 Yeah I think uh I remember when you were trying to figure out what the next step is after Hazeltine and you know my wife’s like look I know we’re making the right decision here but help me

Understand what’s next because I’m kind of freaking out about where the next paycheck’s gonna come from I get it um and as we’re weighing things out and you know what is something that would allow me to stay home with my family and be a bigger role

In my kidss life um it seemed like all signals kept coming back to to the artwork and I remember kind of pitching it to her and I was like I think this is it I remember she kind of was like and what else because this can’t all be it

And um I’ll say this like I want to give her a lot of credit um if people watch uh there’s a real I made on my my Instagram on uh small business Saturday which now I think about completely different than than I have before um you

Know I talk about perspective a lot um the movie feel of dreams you know I’ve watched for years it’s one of my favorite movies um and I used to think that movie was about a man and his convictions and following his gut and um or it was about you know um the other

You know Terrence man and you know James R Jones playing that that role was like it’s about a dream that he never told anyone about or it was about Moonlight Graham coming so close to a dream then getting it back and then having to surrender it all again and what I missed

In that movie was like that was all made possible because the wife supported it right um so I think our journey that we’ve been on you know one my wife saved money for us for all the years that was a Hazel team that allowed us to go

Basically a year without income to to get to a place where we could start launching some of these um I said look if we can just get one of these pieces across the Finish Line then this and then this and then this and then you

Know I had a business plan to go into other other leagues which we’re starting to do now with the NHL but um I said I want to I want to lead with the artwork um and then I want to storytelling to write um I want to start getting in

Front of audiences and sharing my perspective on and not just history and why it matters but on life um I think I have a message for people you know it’s why I left my job um and I think what I’ve I’ve kind of stumbled upon here is

In leaving hazeline I had so many people reach out to me and be like you know why why’d you leave and when I explain it men specifically you know have kind of said like I’m having the same struggle of you know what am I chasing you know is it the accomplishments or the

Accolades or the money or the title and am I going to miss what’s most important and I keep going back to uh again that video that I watched from Ridder cup Europe in 2018 saying like don’t leave with any regrets and um I’m not and I

Don’t want others to to as well so archive 22 you know we’re going to talk about what we learned from history um but we want to have perspective and I’m just trying to share that perspective whether it’s through social media coming on podcast like yours again I want to

Start to write um but I want to encourage other people um I did it for so long through Golf and people play better golf but at the end of the day I was just more of a friend to everyone um and I still want to wear that hat it

Just looks a little different now that’s all yeah it’s listen I know I know the behind the scenes with with the wife and and the I got two little girls myself that are that are 12 and n and the sacrifices they make like listen I I say

To Ryan all the time you know part of this job doing this is like you’re playing Tetris with your life and prioritizing things sometimes is is very hard and and time in 24 hours um finding the time to do things um the important things you know truly truly do matter

But um I listen I I probably could keep talking to you forever but I do before we end you know I know that we’ve recently had Dave reasner on the show and I know you got a great story about Dave and and the PGA show

And I and I’d be oriss if I didn’t have you share that story to this audience here in New Jersey that again when they listened to that episode Dave it was like one of the most DMD received shows I we had gotten because he’s like a mystery to some people and getting a

Hold of Dave was not easy but when I finally did and we got him on it was like all right let’s let’s talk so let’s Spill the Beans a little bit here what a preface I think what people got from they listen to that show or they’re

Familiar with David all he has a a great reputation as a golf professional and the preface for this story is you know he’s able to acquire a lot of talent around him because he’s helped so many people go on to further success so you know like Bob Ford who I worked for you

Know you knew if you were just going to get close to working with Bob you’re G to have a chance to succeed and and Dave has made that reputation for himself I look at he became a golf professional what 24 25 right um so this was at the

PGA show I want to say five six seven years ago which is actually going on this week today uh I’m not there this year but um we were at the peab hotel which is right across from the convention center and uh they had built this new bar and become the kind of the

Hangout for golf professionals at the end of the day and I think I was getting ready to leave and you know Dave was talking with the staff they they had interned or they had interviewed a bunch of interns you know all the PGM University’s bring their interns down

And all these kids are you know it’s like Rush week they’re they’re trying to figure out where they’re going to spend so all right guys who are we going to hire they said you know this guy and um said get him on theone phone and Dave

Gets this young man on the phone he goes hey is you know so and so this is Dave reasner from Ridgewood you know you want to come work for me this summer well where are you okay he goes I’m going to give you 15 minutes to get to the

Peabody uh bar right 15 minutes and welcome to Ridgewood Ready set go hangs up the phone he’s like you know start the timer and and I was getting ready to like go back up to my room and I was like I kind of need to stick around to see if this come up

So get drink and you know some some time’s gone by and I think 20 minutes gone by and I was kind of staying close to Dave and this kid comes running in a suit and he’s Mr Reaser Mr Reaser it’s you know it’s it’s I’m the guy and he

Goes sorry kid you know your time’s up yeah he missed it and he goes no no no you I ran through like five red lights I illegally parked my car outside you know and Dave goes you really want to work in Ridgewood don’t you he goes you you have no idea they

You know along with this new bar I think they just built this new outdoor pool and it’s got this big water slide going down into it Dave kind of like looks outside he goes down that water slide and welcome to Ridgewood you know kid’s like you know giving this phone to

People he’s like I’ll do it and uh the whole bar now started to like push outside to to the Terrace you know in the dark the kid goes out full suit down the slide you know swims out Dave kind of like raises raises his hand Like A Champion he’s like what’s your name

Again yeah you know he’s like everyone you know it’s Evan welcome to ridgwood and you know it has a little bit of that old school feel to it like you’re like you’re rushing a frat I think what Dave has done so well is like he’s very

Serious about his business but he has a lot of fun doing it and his staff would run through a wall for him and it’s because of moments like that you know at and the kids got a story you know same as me and same as Dave just dropping off

His resume it’s like there are these moments that either send you down a path that you wouldn’t have otherwise been on and um but yeah when you mention Dave that’s one of the stories that immedately comes to mind that’s such a great story and and you’re right to a

Testament to Dave is passionate about what he does and he’s he’s uh what’s the word you said um like convicted in how he’s going to run it and he’s going to run it professionally but he’s gonna have fun doing it and that’s that’s exactly it that has that like Rush frat

Kind of twist on it but it it’s not in like a a hazing kind of way it’s more of a like a you know having fun with it and that’s exactly that’s the vibe I got when when I interviewed Dave and that’s definitely the reputation he has and

That’s that’s among like I you know yeah like you said he’s I don’t work for him and I’d run through a wall for him so Mike and I have heard dozens of stories about Dave and that’s up there as one of the better ones that’s a good one yeah

But Chandler listen I can’t thank you enough for for giving us some time today um you know I I knew and I know that the audience is going to love these stories and I’m sure my phone will be jacked up after this comes out um but again I I

Want to thank you for for giving us some of your time today no you’re welcome and uh keep up the great work you guys do look you give people like me a platform to come on and tell my story and we’re in this awareness building phase so I

Have to tell my story a lot so thanks for giving me an opportunity to do that but again we all love the same game you know for for various different reasons you guys are great storytellers uh continue to do and I think the last thing I came across just when I listen

To some of your stuff is uh the gratitude that you guys feel for what the game has given you and uh and that’s what we all share in common it’s like we’ll never be able to give back to golf to what it’s given us so keep up the

Great job what you’re doing and I hope our our path will cross when I come back home absolutely for sure thank you Chandler take care you got it guys name a better feeling than buying something you know you can take and wear anywhere money spent on quality products

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