Off the Deck
Golf is so much more than the scorecard and those birdies that are rarely made. It's about the people you meet along the way. From lifelong bonds to unexpected fast friends, Off the Deck highlights the lives and stories built through the game of golf.
Off the Deck
Salty Golfer
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Join us as we explore the inspiring journey of the Salty Golfer, a social media personality and golf community builder. Discover how passion, community, and creativity have transformed his life and brand, and get insights into the vibrant Myrtle Beach golf scene, merchandise, and upcoming partnerships.
https://www.instagram.com/thesaltygolfer/
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SPEAKER_01Welcome back to another episode of Off the Deck. Got Wes Lohman, better known as the Salty Golfer, joining us today. How are you, Salty? Is it is it okay to call you Salty? Is that what you prefer to go by?
SPEAKER_02Just you can call me anything you want. Just don't call me late for dinner because that never happens. So um, yeah, Salty's great, Wes. It doesn't matter. Um, thanks for having me, man. Uh, I've been watching you guys, fan of you guys from afar. Thanks for the invite to uh to hop on the pod and uh excited to get dialed in tonight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Well well, thanks. You you you sent me uh we exchanged some DMs and you had some kind words to say. And one of the things I'm trying to do as I grow this is as soon as I see someone uh of your stature follow my account, I'm like, hey, thanks for the follow. Like, because this is it's in its infancy, we're still growing, having a lot of fun with it, as we were saying before we started recording. But um, one of the things that's been fascinating about this journey is when you allow people just to talk about something they love so dearly, uh, which for all of us is the game of golf, you uh uncover all kinds of cool stories, and people are fascinating on so many different levels. So I'm excited to hear your story, uh, how you became the salty golfer. Um but but first, uh, we were talking about it at the outset. Where are you located uh and and what's life like for you right now?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I am literally sitting in my little warehouse shop, whatever you want, HQ in uh Myrtle Zenlet, South Carolina. And um, I live in the surfside area, which is about five miles north of Myrtle Zenlet. We're another 10 miles north, you're right in the heart of Myrtle Beach. So uh we're in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We rep it, the 843. Love being here and um love telling people about it and how good it is. I mean, I have I have 70 plus golf courses in a 60-mile stretch in my backyard, which is fascinating. And we call it the Grand Strand. And um, so yeah, it's it's very cool to be a part of the Myrtle Beach golf scene. Um thank you for the introduction. I don't consider myself I consider myself a very small tadpole in this Instagram social media, I hate the word influencer, whatever you want to call it, uh what whatever we're doing, but um thanks for having me on. I I I love to give back any way I can and and I love to tell the story of the salty golfer. And um yeah, just thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, of course. Well, and let's start there, because that was one of the things that I had is on my list of of questions. And just so you're aware, I do have my own salty seven. Um I have prepared a salty seven for you. I love that. But how did the salty golfer come to be?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so um I am originally uh I lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Jamestown area where they play the Wyndham uh up there in Sedgefield, um, and uh lived there for a good long while. I was in the medical business uh for uh for 20 plus years. And um Katie and I, my wife, we had a side hustle. It was called Old North State Clothing Company, and we created hats, t-shirts, uh stickers, we had our own embroidery machine, we had heat seal machines, like heat presses, everything. And one night we were getting ready for a festival and we kind of looked at each other and we're like, man, I don't want to do this no more. I just don't want to do it. Like we both had day jobs, and like I said, I was in the medical pri uh medical field, and and uh we just like, why are we working till two o'clock in the morning to go sell a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff at a festival the next day? Like what are we doing? And we and and we have five children, and uh they were all under the age of twelve at the time. Oh my word. Yeah, we have five daughters, all from the same woman. I like to I like to preface it that like we the the plan was five from day one, and uh so but we just look at each other and we're like, let's we're putting way too much pressure on ourselves.
SPEAKER_01So is that just a passion project that y'all just Yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_02We were like, man, just like let's create some nautical themed, really cool, fun stuff, and let's so see if we can sell it. And uh it started out really good, and then it just got too busy, like it became too successful, I guess, and then it turned more into like a passion project to like another 40-hour a week job. And um we just we looked at each other and more like like I won't do it anymore. I'm like, I'm glad you said that because I don't want to do it anymore either. And um, so we sold the business. We sold it to a gentleman in Virginia, and uh he bought all of our fabrics, he bought all our hats, he bought all our machines, and uh we met him in we actually met him in Virginia. I can't actually remember where he was from, but the middle point was Virginia. And we got a trailer, brought all our stuff, he bought everything that we had, and uh I had this little Instagram page left over that was called uh Old North State Clothing Co. And only had like 1,500 followers at the time, maybe even a thousand. And uh I didn't know what to do with that. I even offered him the the Instagram page, and um he says, No, I don't do social media and this was 2018, right? So like I'm not really sure how popular Instagram was at the time. And um so just didn't even worry about it, and then you know, I had that I was like getting ready to turn off the uh like just delete the page. And Katie was like, Well, don't don't do that just yet. And I was like, Okay. She said, Well, you you love playing golf and you love the ocean and you love to photograph both of those. Why don't you just call yourself the salty golfer and just start posting pictures of all of this? All right, let's do that. And uh so I started doing that and like go out with my friends locally in in North Carolina and snap some pictures and post it, and then my day job, I had an opportunity to uh take a promotion, and my territory became Fayetteville, North Carolina to Savannah, Georgia. So I needed to be central, I needed to be where I could get to and Myrtle Beach was like the perfect, it was three hour and a half, three and a half hours one way, three and a half hours the other way. So I could cover my territory. And COVID happened, just slapped everyone in the face. And um South Carolina was one of the few states that never really shut down for golf. I think we shut down for ten days, maybe, and uh because uh for those that don't know, that's the number one industry in South Carolina is golf. Is golf. Wow, okay, yeah, it's the number one industry. And um so we opened back up pretty quick, and what I was doing for my day job, uh, that stopped. Like everything became a Zoom call. And I hate that. Like I like to be out amongst it and in with the people, shaking hands, giving hugs, you know, rubbing elbows. And um, so I just kind of started like going out to these golf courses by myself or with friends, but you know, separated, you know. Right, right. Social distancing. Yeah, social distancing. And I would turn on my Instagram page, I'd start alive, and people started living through my Instagram page vicariously, because everywhere else across the world, no one could play golf. Right. So they were watching me play golf, and you know, like, oh, this is awesome. Like, you get to play golf. Like, yeah, it's pretty cool. And and um, so it got me thinking, and I was like, well, then kind of the world kind of started to open back up, and um and I but I'd made all these relationships with the golf courses down here, the head pros, the GMs, the superintendents. Hey, let me come out, photograph the golf course, I'll tag you guys, da da da da da da all this. And um, so it got me thinking, like, how can how can I monetize this or how can I like make this community even bigger? So uh if you've ever been to Myrtle Beach, um if you're a single, if you're a double, if you're a threesome, they're they're gonna do their best to to feel that foursome, right? They're they're gonna if you're a single, you're gonna be put with three other cats. Just the way it is, because there's just that much play being played down here. So I was like, well, I'll make myself available, okay? So like if you're a single, Josh, and you're coming down on vacation with your family, you want to go play golf somewhere, but like, you know, for the first four or five holes, it's weird. You're with a threesome and they didn't really want to be with somebody else. So it's you know, 95% of the time it always works out. But then there's that sometimes it just they're mad because you're with them and it's uncomfortable for you. So it's like, all right, I'll start making myself available to be that fourth, or I'll be that second guy. So then it's like two people that kind of know each other because you know me through Instagram, da-da-da. So that's what I stick, that's what I started doing. And then then that turned into like, all right, well, let's document the day. Let's help this person or this group help create, help them create a memory. I know where all the right places are to take the pictures. I know the the right holes to video. Like, you put your phone away, I'll take care of all of that, I'll edit the picture, send it back to you, and then the cr the memory's created. So it's incredible. Yeah, so long story short, I know this has been kind of a long story, but um at the end of all of these hosting gigs, people would like, hey, like this has been so great. Like, I had a massive pirate flag that said the salty golfer on it. And uh at the time I had a a rum sponsor. I'm a big rum guy. I love coconut rum. I'll I like all the rums. And uh I had a big pirate flag. And if you come played golf with me, you got to sign the pirate flag. We do a shot of rum together. And I've got three or four flags now with all these signatures on it. And um, and that's what people wanted to do. They wanted to be a part of this community, this salty golfer community. But at the end of all these host gigs, people would be like, hey, is there like a a t-shirt or a hat? Or like, do you have something? I was like, no, I don't have anything. So that got me thinking, like, kind of like back to the grassroots of how we did with the old North State. I'm like, why don't we create something? Why don't we do like these like special drops? We do like 75 hats or 100 t-shirts, and when they're gone, they're gone. And you know this, like during COVID, like the only thing people could do was spend money. Right. They were at their laptops, yeah. And so we would drop these things, yeah, and they'd be gone in 48 hours. Like, and then that just like grew into like what it has grown into, grown into now. Like now we have our own beer. We're wholesaling in in in pro shops and surf shops and boutiques, and we have this massive tournament every year that we throw called The Plunder on Polly's Island. And um, it's been really cool. Like, we did it backwards. I didn't have like a million dollars, and we like built this brand and from the ground up, we built the community first, right? And the community continues to support the brand. And it's just I've always wanted to create something that people wanted to feel a part of. So like I just feel like there's a little salty golfer in everybody. And um whether you like a picture on Instagram or you buy $200 worth of merchandise on the website, it's all the same to me. Like that that like is just as important as you buying merchandise from the salty golfer. And um, I hope I answered your question, but that's that's how it all got rolling. And and it's just been like I quit my day job. I'm no longer in the medical business. And uh and to be able to get up, wake up, and create like I don't have an apparel background, like we're creating head covers or visors, needlepoint belts, uh to be able to do that and just like learn on the fly, it is the the most scariest rewarding thing I've ever done in my life. And um, but one one night I was laying in bed and and and Katie looked at me and she said, Hey, do you do you do you want to be 85 years old on your deathbed and wonder what if? And that just kind of gave me the like the extra push out the door that I needed to to like, all right, let's go. Like, if we're gonna fail, let's freaking fail big. Right, right at 100 miles an hour. Yeah, let's do it. And I tell people all the time, if you got a dream, chase it. But if you don't have 150% backing of the loved ones around you, don't even try it. Like they've got to be all in too. And if they're not, then it's gonna be tough. But like, let's fail big. Like, no means are we out of the woods. Like we're trending, as the kids say, but like there's a lot of things that have to happen every day for us to be successful. And that's what I love about it. It's it's a lot like golf. Like, you show up and you have a swing that you were not prepared to swing that day, and you got to figure out how to make that work. And there's there's tons of pivoting. I never planned on being uh an apparel brand that was never in the works. I wanted to be like an influencer, like like mayor of Myrtle Beach, ambassador, show people how good the golf was. But you know, we still do that to some extent, but now we have this apparel brand that people have gotten behind and they love, and yeah, it's been really cool to see it all take place.
SPEAKER_01So at what point did you did it click with you that this could be a thing?
SPEAKER_02I I think like so the very first thing I ever did is I created like 300 stickers and I put them up on I didn't didn't have a website or anything, I just it was like strictly Venmo and DMs. Okay. And I they said these are three dollars. There's three hundred of them, and they were gone in 72, 48 hours. I was like crazy. But that's that was also I think a product of COVID too. Like people had nothing better to do. Yeah. Like I'm not sure I'm not sure the salty golfer gets gets traction if COVID doesn't happen. Exactly. Yeah, like I I I a lot of small businesses started because a lot of things like the salty golfer happened because of COVID. But if you look back, like we're one of the few handfuls that are left, like that are still doing it and and have made something from it. Um, so I take a lot of pride in that. But yeah, that was kind of the first thing, like, man, people really like like this. They like this community of of being a part of something. And that's that's just really what I want to do. When you when you put on a salty golfer t-shirt or or you wear a hat, or like I just want to take you to a different place. Like, there's a good chance you're probably stuck in a cubicle somewhere in Kansas City. But like if I can put you on a beach somewhere for you know a little while and you close your eyes and you're there and you're playing golf and you can smell the ocean, or you know, you're at a dockside bar, like that's where I want to put you for that little bit of time. And and I think that's what people have and they they like they're coming to Myrtle Beach because not because this is where I live, but like, hey, they can experience that. It's relatable. Yeah, and that's what I've always wanted to be. I wanted to be relatable. Like, go find a beach somewhere, like go have some fun. Like, this is life is way too short, man. Like, amen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So golf is interesting because there's the salty golfer, there's uh sugarloaf social. I don't know that other sports have the brands and followings that are strictly apparel related and more I I hate, I think the term vibe is overused, but a a vibe that is like I I love the play fast the ice is melting. I have that t-shirt. I love that t-shirt. I don't know where that t-shirt is right now because like I said, we're in the process of moving, so it's either at this house or the new house. There's no telling. Well, if you can't find it, let me know. I know I need to get a new one anyway. Um, but what is it about golf that allows these communities to grow and become cult-like followings that I don't think exists in other sports?
SPEAKER_02I I don't think it exists in other sports because in other sports you have to be good at it. Like if you're gonna have a if you're gonna have a baseball brand or football brand or a bat, you better be good at it. You're like you like golf, I can shoot a 75 one day and a 92 the next day. Right. And people can accept that because that's relatable to most people. I can't relate to to what um Godderup can do on the golf course or you know what Tiger Woods can do or Batia. Like that golf game is not relatable to me, but someone can relate to the salty golfer, like, oh man, yeah, I can chili dip a golf. I I can do that. No problem at all. But I but you know, you you said play fast, the ice is melting. Like we love the game of golf so much, but there's other things about being on the golf course besides swinging the club that we love. Like I would I get more out of hanging out with people on the golf course than I do necessarily chasing a score. Um like, but when it comes to competitive golf, like I still love that too. And I think that's another cool thing about golf, is like I can go out with you and we cannot keep score and have a blast. But yet you and I can go play in a two-man golf tournament where we're trying to win, and that's fun too. Right, right. Like I I love that about golf is I can casually play and I can also get really, really into it and competitive too. But I I I think that it's just it's a game you don't have to be really good at to enjoy. But it's also a game that you can play for the rest of your life too, which is also fascinating me. Like I play in a group on Fridays where I'm one of the younger cats, but we've got some dudes that shoot their age and they're 85 years old. Whoa. So like it's it's it's fun to play. Like I love playing with the old heads, like the guys that played Persimmons and and you know, and talking to them about how the game was when they played and like how it's changed now. And I I I love how golf transcends generations. It is so cool. And I I love how golf now is like it's acceptable for me to rock a beard, have tattoos all over my body, wear a hoodie, and go play golf, but yet if I need to tuck it in, wear a nice collared shirt, go play at a country club, I can do that too. But yet here in Myrtle Beach, the Aero Club, I can go play barefoot, play the short course with music blasting and have a blast. I love that there's all these different like little pockets of golf. Like he can be super casual and he can be super competitive. I that's what I find attractive to the game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and and that's I could not echo that sentiment anymore. The one of the beauties of it is the wide variety to your point. Uh, and I like what you said at the outset there of there's the let's go hang and screw around, maybe play it as a in a scramble, and then if we need to dial in, we can dial in. The exhaustion levels are gonna be different after both those rounds, right? But and and if you're mentally exhausted, exhausted or uh dramatically dehydrated, um but yeah, it's it's something special down here. Yeah, I bet it does. Um and yeah, it's just it's really special, and that's it's fun because I've got I play with my brothers, I play with my dad. Uh my dad's in his mid-sixties, so it's it's great to and we've done that before. We've gone and played scrambles. We spent some time at Sweetens together last week for my daughter's birthday, and we were playing 4v2, and then we were doing a scramble, and then we did a best ball, and it's just yeah, the the variety that golf creates is unmatched in sports. And uh I'm still fascinated. Something you said at the very beginning. Did you say you have 70 golf courses within how many miles?
SPEAKER_02It's actually so it's called the Grand Strand, which is like Chalote, North Carolina down to Georgetown County, which is just below Pauli's uh island down here. So it's a 60-mile stretch. And at one time there was over 105 golf courses in that 60 mile stretch. Now, some of them have cannibalized themselves and just uh other is like so Orie County where Myrtle Beach is, is the number it's the fastest growing county in America right now. Wow. So they've had to get rid of some of those golf courses and make housing. And um, so I think the la I I know that it's it's maybe still over 80. I say over 70 just to be safe. Yeah, but it's pretty close to 80. Yeah, correct. And there's a lot of really good golf courses, like you know, I I can set you up a golf trip that could cost you and your boys six six hundred bucks for three nights, uh including breakfast. Or I can, you know, set you up a banger for fifteen hundred dollars, you know, for three or four nights and you're playing, you know, top 100 golf courses. That's what's so cool about Myrtle Beach like there's just so much golf and different types of golf to play here. Like if you're coming down here on a bachelor trip and you just want to have a good time, like there's golf courses for that. If you're coming down with seven other dudes and you got a rider cup type thing going on and this is serious and there's serious money on the line, like we have co courses for that too. Like it it's just it's just so cool to see what all we have here. And like I said before we were talking, like if you're the only if you're here on family vacation, you're the only guy playing golf, you know, everyone else in the family, there's stuff for them to do too, which is so i it's really kind of the only play, like don't get me wrong, Bandon Dunes, phenomenal. But when you go to Bandon, there's only one thing you can do there. Right. You can only play golf. That's it. And that it that's it. But if you want to go on vacation with your family and you want to you're going somewhere from Saturday to Saturday and you want to sneak in a couple of rounds, but not have to worry about what your family's gonna do, Myrtle Beach is it, man. It is it.
SPEAKER_01I need to add it to the list. So uh I'm embarrassed. I've never been to Myrtle Beach. Um I need yeah, I need to get that on the on the agenda and bring my girls and they can go do fun stuff while I sneak out with you and tee it up. But yeah, I'm I'm embarrassed to say I've never been. Um back to the the play fast, the ice is melting. Uh uh you come up with some incredible designs. Uh, I'm really looking forward to the Chichi Rodriguez drop because that's um I've grown up watching him at a major here in Birmingham, and I will be purchasing that shirt as soon as it's available. What's the inspiration for most of these, especially the play fast the ice is melting? Like there have to be stories behind these or things that you've experienced on the course that lead to these.
SPEAKER_02The the the play fast thing was I I think we were hosting a uh a group one time, and one of the guys just kind of said, I need to hurry up because my ice is melting. And in his and I was like, God dog, that's like I'm always thinking, like, what can I put on a t-shirt? Right? Like I think that's where it came from, and then I just turned it into play fast. And play fast is not, and and it just kind of like some things just happen at the right time. And when we dropped that, there was this whole like thing in the PGA tour about slow play and like people need to speed it up. It was never like a knock on the tour or anything like that, but then I was like, Dad God, we could kind of make this look like the PGA Tour logo, right? And uh I I'm surprised we haven't received some kind of letter yet, to be honest with you. Like I checked the mailbox every day expecting to see a letter from the case.
SPEAKER_01I was about to ask if you've gotten a cease and assist yet for anything.
SPEAKER_02Not yet, not yet. And and I love the PGA Tour. I I love what it takes to play on the PGA Tour. I love the stories, and but yeah, it's just I I think that's where that story came from. Uh I wish I had a better story, but I think someone just shouted it out on the course one day, like, I need to get back to my cart, the ice is melting. I was like, whoa, okay. That's good on a shirt. Right. We could we can figure it out. Like I was playing with a a buddy of mine the other day, and he told me like he was playing with a guy, and a guy set told him, he goes, Um, I don't look for my ball long, and I don't look for yours at all. And I was like, okay, well, there's there's something there too. I don't know, I don't know what's there, but we we can figure that. But like the Chi Chi Rodriguez thing, like I see that picture around the masters every time. It's always popping up. And like I did research, like I couldn't find that anyone else did anything. You know, being a 90s kid and growing up, I remember Chi Chi and like the whole sword thing, and like that picture is just just it is just like so like vibey. Like, that is such a cool picture. It's just it's sexy. Like, I love that picture.
SPEAKER_01So for the listeners, describe the picture because as soon as you start talking about it, anybody that follows golf or or is is familiar with Chi Chi is gonna know it instantly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you've got Chi Chi, and he's got this like he's the penguin sweater on, and his fedora, and this like salmon-colored, I think, pair of pants, and he's he's looking at something, and he's got his master's caddy next to him, who's obviously got this righteous afro underneath that hat. They've got these glasses on, and and I fell in love with the caddy before I fell in love with the Chi Chi. Like but I I was like, and for the years now I've been like, I need to figure out how to get that on a t-shirt. And like, so we have this mascot that we call Grimm, and he's uh he he's a he's a skeleton, uh, he's a happy skeleton, and uh we put him on a lot of things. I was like, well, what if we just remove Chi Chi and we put Grimm in Chi Chi's body, and then we give uh Grimm a caddy that looks a lot like you know, the caddy in the picture, and instead of Northwestern on the golf bag, we put Sand Trap because we put like on a lot of our tagline says sand trap since 2019. And um let's just make it super salty golfer, and uh we try to do that something like out of the box every year for our masters drop. This is a banger, I think. I think this is gonna do very well. I think they'll be gone very quickly. Um, but yeah, I just I love the history of the game too. Like, um, you know, my first recollection of golf was the 86 Masters, the Jack one, being 46 years old. Like that whole time period and seeing like those retro clothes and like even like a lot of clothing now is kind of coming back to that a little bit, which is this is very exciting to me because like I'm a big dude, I'm six foot eight, two hundred and eighty-five pounds, played college ball. Like, I'm done with this like spandex world that we live in and clothing. All the sled stuff. Yeah, like it's it's a body condom on me. Like, I just there's nowhere to I can't breathe. Like, I need space. I need one space. I'm not your average looking golfer. I played college basketball, and like I need to breathe. I need to breathe. I can't wear this tight stuff anymore. So I I just I I I've always loved that picture. I'm surprised nothing's been done with it before, at least that I could find. So that's what we decided on this year. And and, you know, we love the Grateful Dead too here. There's always music being played in the shop. So we throw our nods to those. Now we have received some assist, I mean, um, some cease and assist letters from some of the dead stuff we've done. Okay. Which means you're doing it right. That's right. That means we did a good job and people notice it. And um, so yeah, you we have to be very careful. We mean no disrespect, but like it's more of like a it's more of like respect for what they've done. Like we want people to, you know, we like there's uh like this little bear back here on this head cover. Yeah, we can't do him anymore. We're not allowed to do him anymore without like licensing. But um, we just like to get creative, but we also have that you if you go on our website and you see what we have merchandise-wise, we also have your classic polo, stripe polo. Like we we're trying to find this like area of of just meshing both. You know, we have a 1972 VW bus that we travel around in and do we do pop-up shops. That's so cool. And and it's you know, it's it's a it's a flagship staple on a lot of our our merchandise is our bus. And um, but yeah, I I I love that's kind of where I get to be creative on these different drops and our t-shirts and stuff like that. Is it's whereby I come up with all of the the designs and I can get them to a a certain point and then I'll commission the rest of the artwork and stuff like that. But I hope I answered your question.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So, what was the inspiration for Grimm?
SPEAKER_02I've always loved skull and crossbones. I I I think in a a past life I would have been a pirate. I mean, I just I just I love everything about the ocean. If I could have been a pirate, that's what I would have done. I love that. And and uh my my um my favorite song is A Pirate Looks at 40 by Jimmy Buffett. And I I'm all about those kind of vibes. Like being on a golf course or or sitting by the ocean, I don't like one more than the other. They are both very important to me. Um that is and that's another thing with the play fast, like we want to play the best golf we can, and but we understand like there's other things we want to do too. Like, let's play as fast and as good like as we can. Preach on, yeah. Yeah, we want to have a really righteous time doing it, and um, so yeah, that's that's where we are. Like, I I wish I could have been a pirate. I I think I'd have been a I think I'd have been a dang good one.
SPEAKER_01Uh uh That's incredible. Yeah, uh I did not know about your basketball career. Um, but when were you introduced to the game of golf? What did that look like, especially for someone who's six's eight? You you didn't have a lot of options for clubs.
SPEAKER_02No, no, it's uh it's funny though, but my length of arms, even though I'm six foot eight, I still play standard. Okay. Because my arms are loud. That's crazy. Yeah. Um I I've I can be an inch longer if I want, but I feel like I hit the ball a little bit better at standard. Okay. Um so I'm uh and I'm a degree flat for all those club junkies out there that want to know. Um, so golf has always been in the family. Uh my grandfather on my dad's side was a phenomenal amateur golfer. Uh, he was also a minister. So his Bible and his golf clubs went with him everywhere. Like everywhere. Like you could lose his suit, you could lose his suitcase or whatever, but you're not gonna lose his Bible and you're not gonna lose his golf clubs. They they traveled everywhere with him. Um, and my dad had brothers, uh, three brothers and a sister, and they all played golf. So growing up, every other year we would take a family vacation, and it was all centered around a resort somewhere. So we had our own family golf tournament. We had our own trophy. That's cool. You had to be 13 years old to be allowed to play in it. You had to be either married in or blood to play in it as well. Wow. Um, so if you won, you got your name embroider um put on the trophy. You got to keep that trophy bragging rights for the year, and then the following year you'd bring it back. And I think we made it through three or four different trophies. My dad, um, I was 12 years old. The only time he ever won, I was 12. I got to ride along with him. I was not allowed to play because I was not 13 yet. And um, but the year he finally won one, I was I was there uh with him, so that was a lot of fun. And that was at um that was down in Lichfield, actually, okay, when he won uh here in Myrtle Beach. Just gross or net. Oh, it was all handicapped. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm like, man, you you you could come from a a strict family if y'all are all playing straight up for yeah, it no, it was all handicapped.
SPEAKER_02It was it my Uncle Larry headed all that up, and he was um he was very good at all of that. We don't have any more, like Uncle Larry's passed away, and my my granddad has passed away, and my dad is pushing to 80, so he doesn't play a whole lot anymore. So, but yeah, a lot of good times. That's uh but I played basketball, baseball, and football growing up. Golf was just kind of for fun, and then I got done playing college ball and then you know played in some college uh you know, has been leagues basketball. But then I golf was kind of like the last thing I could do competitively, and um and I really got into it, tried to really get good at it, and um I'm uh 6.5, I think, right now. Okay, which is you know, six point five you could you could shoot a ninety-two one day and a seventy-five the next day, you know. Right, right. Uh the whole handicap system is all based on what you could do. Right, right, which is yeah, that's what you're gonna do. You can talk about that for two hours. Yeah, for sure. But I love it. And and we have that tournament every year down here called the Plunder, and it's it's it's super competitive and a lot of fun. But that's how I got into it. Um I we had a we had a family vacation every other year, and golf was heavily involved in those vacations. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_01That's that's one of the more fascinating and unique stories I've heard about someone's introduction to the game. Most of the time it's oh yeah, dad drug me to the range with him every day. Or but yeah, it's cool that it was centered around a family vacation, and then especially that everyone had the golf bug. How many people were typically playing in that tournament?
SPEAKER_02So I can remember like when I was young, and like so like when my dad was in his late 30s, early 40s, and you know, I was uh 10, 11, 12, somewhere in there, whatever I was. Like, I can remember there being 15 to 20 guys playing in it. That's crazy. You know, or women like yeah, Aunt Donna, she was like the first girl to play in it, and like uh she's married to Uncle Leslie. And um, but like, yeah, I I can remember like and then like the cousins when we got old enough to play, you had that second generation of like now there's another 15 to 20 guys playing in it. Um it sucks that we don't do it anymore, but like when when when Pawpaw uh my granddad died, it kind of like it stopped, which is kind of sad. And uh we tried to do it a couple other times, but you know, it just is it it was never the same when Pawpaw passed away. Like it just because he loved the game so much, like, and even like the last year I remember him playing, all he could do was putt. So each hole he was a designated putter for someone, and that's the only way he could contribute because he couldn't hit the ball anymore, but he could still putt.
SPEAKER_01But he was still out there doing it. That's that's cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's some of my fondest memories on these golf courses here in Myrtle Beach are are being a child and seeing my uncles play alongside my granddad and my dad, and a lot of like um before it shut down, there was a golf course here called Indian Wells, which was the first golf course I ever played in Myrtle Beach with my granddad and my father. And then my youngest daughter, Olivia, I actually got to play that course with her before they closed down. So that was kind of like yeah, a really cool moment there. Yeah, full circle. Absolutely. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing the history on uh kind of your your background because that was uh a little more involved than most of those stories are. So thank you for diving in on that. Um pleasure. You recently announced a partnership with Sub 70 golf clubs.
SPEAKER_02I did.
SPEAKER_01What what is what's in the works with them? Tell me about that partnership and what that looks like for the Salty Golfer.
SPEAKER_02Well, um, Jason, the owner, the guy that started it, and then you have Jay over there that handles all of their social media and um marketing and stuff like that. They've been great. So I I've been a fan of Sub 70 for a long, long time. I think they're the number one direct to consumer still. Okay. Um I know you know, you got you got some other guys that are that do very well, but like the thing that attracted me to Sub-70 is it's very grassroots built from a garage, just like the Salty Golfer was. Um they believe in their products like I believe in my products. Uh I was I was tied to another brand uh for several years and and um no longer with that brand. I won't say who that was, uh but if you follow me, you probably know who that was. But um I just wanted somewhere I wanted to be attached to a brand that wanted to grow with me and I could grow with them. And I love that whole direct to consumer vibe that they they give off. Um because what what we do here at the Salty Golfer is like you're never gonna pay $150 for a polo from the Salty Golfer. Will never happen. And direct-to-consumer golf is obviously a lot cheaper, but you don't lose the performance. Right. And that's what I'm so excited about being able to create content for sub-70 with Jason and Jay, and just like I fanboyed those guys for a while, like a long time. And they got some really cool people that they make clubs for. Like um, who's the big like Morgan Wallen? Like, he plays sub 70. Well, that's cool. Yeah, like John Daly plays sub 70. Like, I mean Will Wilcox, I think.
SPEAKER_01Does he still play sub-70?
SPEAKER_02I I I'm I haven't dove into a ton, like they've got a couple of guys that are on the Corn Ferry, and but what's cool to me is like I mean, is it more on brand for the salty golfer to play the same clubs that that John Daly plays? Like, I don't think it's could it be even more on brand.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that checks out boxes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it checks all the boxes. And and uh when I when my contract finished up with the other company, I they were the one of the first people I reached out to. And uh, and Jay was like, Yeah, we would love to work with you. And um, I don't know, it's gonna be cool to see. Like, I I I I don't know where it's gonna go. I think I can bring a lot of people to their brand and uh through what we do here at the Salty Golfer and and what we do through our socials. And um, yeah, I I'm super stoked. Like, we'll have to get on another pod and talk about you know where it's going. And I would just another thing is they make it easy to try their stuff too. They they have this program where you know it's super cheap, I don't want to say cheap, affordable, to like test some of their clubs. Wow. If it works, you know, I I think you either that money goes to your set or you know, they refund you or whatever you want to do. But like you know, when you can get you can get irons that perform with the big dogs like Tideless and Taylor Made and and the numbers are there and you get them for half the price. Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's that's a no-brainer. I need to check them out.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like Yeah, I'm I'm not I'm never gonna be a pr PGA professional. I'm never gonna play on tour. So why would I not want to save money but still have the performance and the forgivability? I don't even know what that's a word. Um, but we made it one.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Yeah. From from henceforth, it is a word, forgivability. Yeah. Forgivability.
SPEAKER_02That that those guys can offer me. And it's just real, I I I hope I'm answering your question. But like they're they're they're a garage band. And and they're they're a garage band that just practiced and practiced and practiced, and then they went on tour. And people have a cult following of sub-70. And I think that's kind of what happened with the salty golfer. Like, we just like we're in the garage, we're we're doing it, we're doing it, we're doing it, we're doing it. And then here we are. Like, let's go on a world tour together.
SPEAKER_01That is a killer analogy. Uh, that is yeah, that's so well said. Um before we hopped on, you teased that there might be another partnership in the works. Is that something you can share or no?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I got the word. Um, Bridgestone Golf has asked us for them to be the golf ball of the salty golfer. That's incredible. Congratulations. Thank you. We're we're we're very stoked about it. You and Tiger Woods play the same golf ball. How about that? On the same team. But I I have to give credit where credit is due. Aaron, uh uh, one of the figureheads for Saint Andre golf. I don't know if you guys follow them. So me and him have become kind of friends through uh the Myrtle Beach World Am here because they hosted it last year. And then we've met and um just have become friends through Instagram. And we we saw each other at the um the PJ show in Orlando, and of course when he comes to he does stuff here on Myrtle Beach with um golf tourism solutions and stuff like that. So he kind of put in the word for me and um and you know, it all kind of fell into place after that. So not sure that would have happened without without Aaron kind of like saying, Hey, Salty's kind of kind of a big deal in his little market Myrtle Beach. It might be a cool thing to have Bridgestone be his golf ball. So stoked about that. Like, that's cool. Like I'm on the same as Jason Day and Tiger Woods, and you know.
SPEAKER_01Be looking for you in the Bridgestone ads soon.
SPEAKER_02Wouldn't that be fun? That'd be awesome. Yeah, I'll be there. You tell me where to sign, I'll I will be there.
SPEAKER_01So is that gonna be something where you're gonna have uh your logo on Bridgetones, or is that they're just providing you golf balls and you're you're promoting their brand? Do you know yet?
SPEAKER_02We'll we'll we'll see. I know that it it could lead to more I think it's we're kind of more in like the um filling out stage of what's gonna work the best. Okay and what kind of route we're gonna go. Um like I said, like I am a I am a tadpole in this pond. Um I am like I have no idea. I'm just happy to be on the team. I I guess you know, if I I'll if you send if you accidentally send me E6 ladies' golf balls, I'll play them. Like I just you know, I'm just happy to be on the squad. So it it I'll I'll make the best, you know. If you if you send me balls you never meant to put in play, I'll play them.
SPEAKER_01If they're square, you're playing them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll play them. Like, this is the best ball ever. Like, I'm I'm in. I'm in.
SPEAKER_01So uh so uh you've you mentioned it a couple times the plunder that's coming up. I unfortunately already have uh an event scheduled that weekend because I was like, oh, I'm gonna sign up and go play in this. For the listeners, if they if they're interested in that event, because just the social media content I've seen around it the past few years looks absolutely incredible. It looks like a great time, great golf. Um do a quick commercial, if you will, for the plunder at Pauli's Island and what people can expect.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it is a two-man event. I I'm not a massive fan of four-man scrambles, never have been, because I have been on so many four-man scramble teams where I should have won, and you get you get just get penciled. You get people write in whatever they want. Like golf is Oh, and a two-man prevents that. Two-man prevents that because you have to exchange scorecards and you know, all that. So I've been pencil whipped too many times on four-man scrambles, and just no more, no more. Not in not on my tournament. Uh so we're going at our sixth year. It's highly competitive, but it's a lot of fun. So you have to have a real handicap. Um, and I do all of this to protect the field. So um you and your partner will get 70% of your handicap. You're pre-flighted before the tournament starts. Um, last year we had 19 different states represented in the tournament. We cap out at 120 players, so 60 teams. Um it's cash. It's a cash pot. Uh we pay out first, second, and third for all the flights. And then there's an additional pot of money that goes to the shootout winner. Shout out fourth flight. That's who won it last year. Won the overall shootout. The shootout is an alternate shot. Um this is not an easy golf tournament. We do not there's no there's no mulligan packages. There's no here's twenty dollars, can I go set my ball by the hole? Yeah. Tap your throw. Yeah. There's none of that. This is real competitive golf. Um, this year we are at Paulie's plantation, which is on the there's there's several holes that are out on the marshwalk. It's beautiful. Um there's a hole out there, a hole 13, it's called the shortest par five on earth. Uh, it can it can play as short as 85 yards and it can tip out to about 130. But you get the wind coming off the ocean, and you from 130 yards, I've hit five iron before. What? There's just so much wind. Yeah, it can be brutal. That's gnarly. Yeah, it's gnarly. Like you'll you'll see some social media stuff on that hole coming up soon. The golf tournament is July 10th and 11th. It's a Friday, Saturday. There's a pre-party that Thursday night. Um your entry fee, that um you'll get a $300 merch package when you arrive. Uh that includes all of the uh complimentary beer, coke, water. If you want hard liquor, you're on your own. Um, but anything else is covered in all of that. Um it's just a really good time. It's it's like some people are there to drink as much beer as they possibly can. Right. And other people are there to win. Like we had some Cornferry Tour Caddies that played in the um the gross division. And uh, but it is it is ton I'll show you. This is what people are this is what people are trying to win. When the you would think it's the cash, but it's not. Let me show you.
SPEAKER_01I cannot wait to see what he's about to bring back to the to the screen.
SPEAKER_02So this is what each flight winner gets. We give out real pirate sword.
SPEAKER_01Oh my god, that's a sword.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's what you get if you win. Uh each of you will get one, and of course, it's you know, it's logoed with the date and the tournament and all that. And yeah, flight winners each get one of those. And that's what that's what everyone wants. Everyone is dying to win the sword.
SPEAKER_01That is so cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and um, yeah, they could care less about the cash, which I find absolutely hysterical because blunt, just to be blunt, I'm tired of the money going out of town, so I'm gonna try to win this year. Okay. I'm tired of seeing the money go out of town. Uh, but no, it is it is a blast. We share that turn. Oh, we have a partner called the Traveling Country Club that helps out with that, and um it sells out. It it is it's um it's 600 bucks a man. I know that's not all. Well, it depends on who you talk to, but I promise you this kind of golf course with that much at stake is a blast. And uh we have people that they they come back year after year after year, and it's cool because where we have it, and we have it on a Friday and Saturday, so we leave that travel day for Sunday for people to get back to where they need to go. But people are starting to bring their families and they're they're planning their vacations around. That's so cool. And uh July 10th and 11th. Um if you want to sign up, the links in our there's a link on our website, the saltygolfer.com or Instagram, you can find it there too. But um, yeah, it is super fair. It is, you know, if you're a 25 handicap, there's a flight for you. If you're a plus three, there's a flight for you. Um, yeah, I it's I like those are pinch me moments when we get to do that every year, and I see all the people that come out to play in this thing, and and I've seen like like I said, this is our sixth year. There's already guys that said, hey, back for year six. Like, wow, that's crazy. So uh yeah, it's a lot of fun. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. Well, hopefully I can make it next year. I hate I can't be there this year. Um so when when prepping for our conversation, I saw where you have done a salty seven, and that is seven questions that you would throw out at someone. Uh so I have prepared my own salty seven for you. Um and we're gonna hop right into those. Uh what's your favorite golf course? Like just Myrtle Beach wise?
SPEAKER_02Anywhere. Okay. Well, I'm I'm gonna stay on Myrtle Beach, and my my favorite golf course down here is Caledonia Golf and Fish Club.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Is that a strant? It is a strant.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I've heard I need to experience it. And yeah.
SPEAKER_02Just I want to be with you when you do it. Okay. So I'll take care of that. When you're ready to come, just And I love strants courses.
SPEAKER_01I I love Todd Hill, I love Tobacco Road, so I'm I'm not one of those that is anti-Strant. I'm a huge strants fan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I fell in love with him. So I played so I lived in North Carolina, I played Todd Hill the day it opened. Oh, cool. And it's pretty you know, a roller coaster, but now it seems to be back in a really good place.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I played August, and it was in I mean it got dumped on with rain the night before, but was still in fantastic shape.
SPEAKER_02I always say like you think tobacco road is tough, and so strands courses, not to get off your salty seven, but strands courses like I have found it the more you play them, the easier they get. Because he just screws with you. Oh, for sure. Sight lines are like Todd Hill Farm, he could have been tripping on acid on some of those holes. Like there, there is some, but I that's what I fell in love with about him. Like he just he was an artist, right? So he made that golf course his his palette. Yeah, and that's that's what he did. So all right, sorry.
SPEAKER_01No, you're good. Uh favorite club in the bag right now.
SPEAKER_02Transitioning to new golf clubs. Uh I I I've really like so uh it's been windy the last few times I've played, and I'm falling in love with this like sawed off pitching wedge shot from like 100 yards. Like I just love this flighted pitching wedge I'm hitting right now. And I can I can hit it 100 yards, I can hit it 85 yards, or I can hit it 110. So I'm gonna say PW right now is my favorite.
SPEAKER_01And is that thing stopping on a dime real spinny or no?
SPEAKER_02Not super spinny, but like bounced spin, kind of like a small rollout.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Yeah. Uh and as you take a sip of out of that glass, what is your beverage of choice right now? Coffee.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, coffee. Like I there's always there's coffee than that. Like I'm not drinking a lot. So I'm like, so I'm doing this like 24 hour fast. Oh so I only eat from 12 to 2 every day. So you're like fasting 24 hours every time. Right? Well, not 20, you're like 12 and 12, right? Yeah. So like, but the only thing I can drink is black coffee or water. And then I'll eat from 11 to 2 or 12 to 2. 12 to 2, excuse me. So yeah, uh, it sucks. It sucked in the beginning, it's getting easier. It's funny, like when you depend on food so much, and then you take food out of your life, and then you if you can if you can handle those first couple of days not having it, you're really like, God, why was I putting all this crap in my body anyway? Right. So anyway, uh coffee right now is the drink of choice.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Uh if you could change any rule in golf, what would it be?
SPEAKER_02Um, this is just because it happens so much down here. If your ball goes in a bunker and it is improperly raked, you ought to be able to rake it and replace your ball. I like that one. I like that a lot. Down here, your ball gets put in a footprint and gets like people that don't know how to rake bunkers properly. Like you should be if the if your ball goes in the penalty area and it's not a fried egg, but it's in something that shouldn't be there, you ought to be able to rake the bunker and place your ball.
SPEAKER_01I like that because it's it's hard enough to hit it as is. Like just at least let me like hit it uh out of the appropriate would you rather play it back uh like from the tips, tip it out, or play it all the way up and change the golf course entirely?
SPEAKER_02All the way up. Like hell yeah. I love that. Wow, wow. Why would I ever want to tip it out? That is just like we host these people and they're like, hey, I want to play 7,300 yards. I was like, why? No, thanks. Sounds like why do you put up that torture? Like, you hit at 230, bro. Why do you want to tip out at 7,300 yards? Right. Yeah, good luck. What's funny is you'll get these you'll get these guys that are like from Colorado or where the air is super thin. They're like, yeah, I hit at 320. I'm like, you don't hear. Right. I promise you, you don't hit it that far at sea level.
SPEAKER_01Uh this one I'm excited to ask. Um, what is your playlist on the course? Oh man.
SPEAKER_02So I love all types of music. Um, but on the course, I'm a big yacht rock guy. Uh I love 70s rock too. Um, but like I don't, I don't mean I can get down with some 90s hip hop as well if you want to. Okay. Like I really I I'm all over the board when it comes to music. I'm not a big fan of modern country music, and I'm not a big fan of modern rap music. I'm not a big fan of auto-tune. And everything seems like it's auto-tune now. Like me and you could be singers now. Like, and that's not I don't know. It's not that I I yeah, I love I love a good yacht rock. Uh, you know, some Steely Dan, you know, some some Jimmy Buffett, like something just super chill. Like that's that's where I it's just on brand for us for sure.
SPEAKER_01Well, and last one, do you hit driver off the deck?
SPEAKER_02I can attempt to, but it's not pretty. I would I would rather not. I'd rather be short where the three was.
SPEAKER_01That's a great that's a great answer. Um this has been a ton of fun. Uh thank you for for taking the time to come on this show, someone you'd never met before. Uh it's one of the there's so much bad out there with social media, but one of the good things of social media is conversations like we got to have tonight, um, thanks to just the conversing back and forth. So thank you for for that time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I just, you know, I'm a big believer in paying it forward. Someone had to give me a chance, right? So when these smaller brands are are not saying you're small, but like when people are just getting started and they're like, hey, can you give me some advice? Or can how did you do that? Like as aggravating as that can be sometimes, I always try to make time to do that because someone had to help me, right? And it's it's very important. Like, there's so much space in this golf world that we're that we're in. There's enough for everyone. And and helping out a podcast, like I should be no, thank you for letting me tell the story of the salty golfer. Like that is this kind of stuff means the world to me. And and if it wasn't for this, I would never have met you, right? Like it would never have happened. And uh I'm so lucky to be able to do this and hang out with you for 45 minutes, an hour, and hopefully we get to meet in person one day and tee it up and you know, drink a little cocktail maybe afterwards or during. I'm okay. I can do it during the round as well. And uh just go have a good time and and create some memories. That's what it's all about, like for me. Josh, I I dig your vibe, man. Congrats on the podcast, and I hope it just just to the moon, brother. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let's let's definitely figure out time to tee it up together. I'd love to play with you. Would love to see your your new irons uh and experience Myrtle Beach. And I think you would be the best host uh one could ask for.
SPEAKER_02So listen, don't come by yourself, bring the whole family. That that's what this place is all about.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02It is it is like we can we can go have our our fun, but there you the your your family needs to come and enjoy it too, because there's plenty for them to do too.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. We will definitely make that happen. Wes, thank you again for the time. Uh yeah, it has been a tremendous honor to speak with you. So for the Salty Golfer, I'm Josh Decker, and this has been another episode of Off the Deck.
SPEAKER_02Peace.
