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
The Pinehurst6
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Join us as Greg Galvin shares the inspiring story of the Pinehurst Six, a decade-long golf trip tradition that evolved into a vibrant social media community. Discover the origins, memorable moments, and tips for planning your own epic golf adventure.
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Driver off the deck for coin colours is driver off the deck. They're happy. The driver off the deck.
SPEAKER_01You have to put your foot on the gas, you pull out the driver off the deck and you put it on the drain all the way up the hill.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back to another episode of Off the Deck. Before we get into our guest Greg with the Pinehurst 6, I'm thrilled to announce uh that we have a new title sponsor, Ideka Golf. I'm rocking their Capri polo tonight. Telling you it's the perfect mix of clean style and performance on and off the course. Love this stuff. Steve Peering and his team have built an incredible brand. Head over to Ideca.gov and use code OTD25 for 25% off your order. That code is no joke. That's Ideca Golf. Look good, play better. And once again, that code is OTD25 at ideca.gov. Greg, welcome to the show. What's going on, man? How are you doing? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Uh I've started something recently where I allow people to introduce themselves before we jump right into the conversation. So why don't you why don't you do that for our guests?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Uh I'm Greg Galvin. I'm with the Pinehurst Six. Uh we are just a buddies golf trip. We go down to Pinehurst every year. Uh this will be year 12 of the trip. Um so yeah, we started right out of college and we're just keeping it going. Um it started out as, you know, six of us. I named the the group chat the Pinehurst Six, and uh we kind of joked around that it sounded like a 30 for 30. It's like, oh, the Pinehurst Six. And so you're telling me there's a chance. So uh the name kind of stuck. We got 12 guys now, but I think we'll always just be the Pinehurst six in our heads. Um, but the Big Ten has like 18 teams now, so we can do whatever we want.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Where where is everybody from? Where are you from specifically, and then everybody else? You don't have to go through all of 12 individually, but where are you most of you guys from, or where'd you all go to college?
SPEAKER_02Uh so yeah, we're we're all from Ohio. Um we've got one guy who lives in Chicago and one guy who lives in South Carolina now, but we're all from Chicago from uh Ohio originally. Uh and we all kind of most of us went to high school together, um, and just kind of you know got back together after college. A couple of us went to college together. Um, so I went to Ohio State, a couple people went to to Wright State, um, a local college here in Dayton. And um yeah, we kind of we grew about three friend groups together for this trip, and uh now we're we're all one big friend group.
SPEAKER_03So that's cool. So what was the origin? Uh there there are tons of places to go on golf trips. I mean, 12 years ago, I don't know that Bandon, I mean, Bandon has been around for I guess 25 years now, they just celebrated that anniversary, but how did you guys decide on Pinehurst and what was the genesis for that first trip?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we all we always like to joke around. It started with a game of Madden. Um, so our guys uh Brandon and TK were living together in college and uh they were just playing Madden, and TK was like, hey, we should go on a golf trip. So he started doing some research and he found this company called um the Sand Hills of the Carolinas, and he was like, Hey, this is a great deal. We can go down to Pinehurst, we can play uh these three courses around the Pinehurst area. Um, it'll be you know a two-day trip, not very expensive. They're back, we can get it done. So that was the first year of the trip. It was just TK and Brandon. They went down there, they had such a good time. They were like, you know what, we need to continue this, we need to invite more people. And then the next year we had five of the original Pinehurst six go. Um, and it was a great time. Well uh we had a lady who booked our trip for us, her name was Mink Powell. Um, she booked our trip for us for the first five years, and it was like she became this mythical creature to us. Like we just we would get together in December and be like, all right, we gotta fire off an email to Mink and tell her what courses we gotta play this year, and she would get back to us like perfect, got you booked, you know, these tea times, let's get it going. Um, and so year six came around, we fired off that email to Mink, and we instead got an email back from her husband Larry saying that Mink had passed away from cancer. So we had just decided, you know, we are a competitive bunch. Um, and every year we'd be driving home from the trip and say, I wonder who played the best, though. Like we didn't really calculate that, so we decided, all right, we're gonna start a net tournament, just take everyone's course handicaps, add them all up. Um, so our buddy Chris, who's about an 18 handicap, he starts for the five rounds that we play, he starts at around a hundred under par for the week. And then we've got our buddy Brandon, who's a four handicap, and he starts at about 20 under par. So, you know, Brandon, we always joke, Chris sleeps on the lead on Tuesday night, and then Wednesday we start playing golf. Um so we started that tournament and we decided to make our trophy, the Mink Pow Memorial Tournament. Um, so we play everything for the Mink. Um, if you follow us on social media, you see that every post is hashtag for the mink. Everything we do um goes towards that. And yeah, we're just trying to keep her memory alive um because she, you know, she provided a lot of happy times for our group. Um, and we were really sad to uh to see her go. So Larry booked our trip for one year, and then the year after that, we got an email from Larry's daughter, Kelly, um, saying that Larry had also passed away. So then we added the Larry Green Jacket. Yeah. So we've got the Mink trophy, the Larry Green Jacket. Those both go to our winner every year, and um Kelly booked our trip for a couple more years, and I think she finally gave up the business. Um, but it was really special. We actually had Kelly come out to Tobacco Road two years in a row to present the the trophy and the jacket to our winner. Um so yeah, that was great. Uh loved those moments. But yeah, um, always gotta start with that because you know, just like everything we do, it's it's for the Mink.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely. So did did you ever meet her and then Larry also, or no?
SPEAKER_02We never met Mink, we never met Larry, uh, just met Kelly a couple times.
SPEAKER_03Okay, but uh but conversed with her, I'm sure, a ton over the years of trying to get the trips planned. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, wow.
SPEAKER_02She was she was the go-to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. That that's very thoughtful in you guys uh of you guys, and and something that this day and age, uh a lot of that kind of gets overlooked, I think. And people just oh, okay, let's move on to the next person. But the fact that you guys have have honored her and then honored Larry, that's that's really cool. That's first class. I did not know that.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you. Yeah. Uh anything we can do. I mean, she was she was special to us, even if uh we never met her. We were yeah, we were big fans.
SPEAKER_03So So the you guys were you got some guys playing Madden and decide, hey, let's go on a golf trip. What did the evolution of this look like? I mean, because it goes from just two guys playing Madden and talking about going on a golf trip to now a full-blown Instagram account with nearly 8,000 followers. Um tell me about that, because that's uh some of your videos are great and love keeping up with your content because you guys just started off as a golf trip and it evolved over time. But how did that whole thing transpire and and you guys create this kind of niche following?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, so I think it started with uh the group chat being named the Pinehurst Six and us joking about it sounding like a 30 for 30. Um, and then I kind of ran with that uh during COVID. I got bored and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna start a golf page for our group. And we started out doing like challenges while we were locked up during COVID. Like, everyone record yourself juggling a ball, see how many times you can juggle a ball, and then you know, we'll we'll post them all, and whoever, you know, wins wins kind of thing. And uh started with with uh little funny challenges like that, and then um I started you know just getting more into the to the content of it and trying to relate everything back to to golf trips and and what we do in Pinehurst and and how much fun we have. So yeah, uh started just being bored during COVID and uh it's kind of evolved from there into something I don't think any of us saw it being. But really, you know, I'm just trying to to make our trip as cool as I possibly can uh with the page. Um so yeah, anything I can do to be additive, then I'm gonna try to do it.
SPEAKER_03So you mentioned that you you guys would email Mink in December. So what is the timeline of the trip? Because that's one of the things I wanted to kind of pick your brain on, because I've been on a handful of golf trip golf trips. Uh, I'm sure a lot of our listeners have too, but you guys probably have this down to a science. What was the timeline like? December is the initial email. When when do y'all typically go?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so uh our trips are normally in like June or July. Um, June 20th, I think is when we head out this year. Uh 56 days from today, whenever that is.
SPEAKER_03Um not counting down or anything.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no one's counting. Yeah. Um, but yeah, we normally, you know, we get in a text in the group chat around November and tell people, hey, uh vote for what course you want to play this year. Um, so we we play five courses, and something we started last year is we have a champions round. So whoever won the Mink last year gets to pick a course that doesn't have to be voted on. They can send us anywhere they want. Um, so we're voting on our top four. Okay. And all in the Pinehurst area, though, correct? All in the Pinehurst area, yes, sir. So yeah, so we uh our guy Chris racks and stacks the votes, um, gets a a list, and then in December we have what we call a meeting of the minds, where we head out to a brewery somewhere and you know, have a couple beers and get the calendar books out and say, all right, when when are we uh going on this trip? What week works best for everybody. And as you can expect, you know, 12 guys, it's gotten harder and harder as the years have gone on. You know, we uh as kids come along and wives come along and all that good stuff, uh things have uh gotten a little bit more busy for us, but we still find a week every year to to get out there. Um yeah, what so but you gotta do it early. You gotta do it in November, December, or it's just not gonna get done. So we, you know, that's something we look forward to every winter, is to getting together and getting that on the calendar.
SPEAKER_03And are you guys so it's always Pinehurst? Are are there are you guys staying on property? Are you only playing? I mean, you mentioned Tobacco Road, so that's not a Pinehurst resort course. What what does that look like in terms of accommodations, hotels? What are you guys typically doing there?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we are big proponents of like the Pinehurst area is just a golf mecca. Like you don't have to stay on, yeah, you don't have to stay on property to play insane courses. Um, so we have actually never stayed on property. Okay. Um this year we have Pinehurst number one on the docket. Um, and that's our first Pinehurst resort course that we've played. Um, time will tell, because the last time we had actually still Pinehurst number one on the docket, um, I forget which hurricane it was, but that blew through that day, and we ended up spending like six hours in Mid-South's clubhouse waiting on the rain to blow over, and then had to cancel. We were supposed to play 36 that day. We're supposed to play mid-south starting at like 8 a.m. and then uh Pinars number two or Pinars number one um at like one o'clock, and had to cancel the the Piners number one trip and just stay at Mid-South all day, and then we ended up getting out. I think we played around two o'clock at mid-south instead of eight o'clock. Um, so if it gets rained out again, it's just bad luck, and we gotta stay off property. But we do get out on the cradle every year. Um, this will be I think the third or fourth year in a row that we've done the cradle, and that's always a fun time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the cradle's great. So so now I'm fascinating that this is not was not part of my the questioning or or thoughts that I wanted to hear from you. Um, because I was expecting that you guys would spend most of your time actually on the Pinehurst Resort playing those courses. So now I want to hear, because I've only I've played um three and ten and the cradle, and I've played uh Tobacco Road and Tot Hill. Um, but where where got where all have you played? What what are your favorite spots in and around Pinehurst that people don't know about because they're too busy on the resort courses?
SPEAKER_02Oh man, it's uh it's chock full, man. So this year, let's see if I can run through this from memory. This year we have Mid South. Um that's our champions course. That's uh that's where TK is sending us this year. TK won the Mink last year, so shout out him. Uh that's an Arnold Palmer design course, they call it the King's course out there. Um it's different than any course that you'll play out there, it's more resorty um than than like Sand Hills golf, uh, but it's still got some Sand Hills qualities to it. Um we're playing at Pine Needles, which is hosted to LPGA US Women's Opens. A fantastic course. Um, so recommend that to anybody. It's a Donald Ross. Um so yeah, you'll get you know the false fronts and balls, you know, you hit a ball out of a bunker and it rolls right back into the bunker, even though you think it's on the green, all that frustrating stuff that I just love so much for some reason because I I hate myself, I guess. Um let's see, okay. So we got Mid South, Pine Needles, Tobacco Road. Um I'm just gonna go through my favorites because and it'll come to me what courses we're playing this year. Sorry. Uh Talamor is one of my favorites. Um, it's another kind of resort out there.
SPEAKER_03I have played Talamor, and that so I I'm embarrassed that I didn't mention that because the Llama logo is incredible. Um they got a cease and desist from Augusta National for that logo and apparently framed it and put it in the clubhouse.
SPEAKER_02It doesn't surprise me.
SPEAKER_03Incredible. Sorry, okay, but go through yeah, go through your favorites.
SPEAKER_02No, yeah. Uh Talamor is my favorite. Um, that's like I've heard from people who have played the resort courses multiple times and have said that Talamore's greens are the purest in the area. Um, so love that place. Um let's see, there is a place called um oh man, okay. Now I'm gonna forget all of the courses. Um let's see. All right. Pine Wild is another good one. They've got 36 holes. Pine Wild.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I've never even heard of Pine Wild.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um Mid Pines is another good one. Um, we've only played that once. Uh we actually like got a torrential downpour in the middle of the round, drove back to the clubhouse, and they're like, Yeah, it's supposed to stop raining in 10 minutes. You should be good to go. And I mean, in Ohio, if it rains like it was raining, you're done playing for the day. But yeah, in in the sand hills, it's like, yeah, it's it's all based on sand. So it'll, you know, it'll drain real well and you can go back out there. And and we did, we finished. It was a it was a great night. Uh actually had to our approach shots into 18. There was a wedding reception happening like 20 yards off the green. Oh boy. So it was probably the most nervy approach shot I've ever had. Because I'm like, I might blade this into a wedding cake if I'm not careful here. So um so yeah, so mid-pines, another great one. Um actually give me one second, I'm gonna find the list of what we're playing this year. All right, here we go. Yeah, okay. Now I feel like an idiot here. All right, so we're playing Southern Pines. Um Southern Pines is probably one of our favorites out there. Yeah, um it went through a renovation a couple years back. Uh, we played it before the reno and now after the reno a couple times. The layout is one of the things that we fell in love with. It just it flows so well, and then after the the reno, it's like, oh man, this is this is beautiful. Um it's another old old Donald Ross, and actually during the renovation, they rediscovered a like a secret hidden hole that Donald Ross had put in. It's like in between the fifth or s and sixth hole or something like that, and it's just a little like par three onto a sand green. What? And yeah, and you know, it's just kind of like, hey, if if you're waiting on the group ahead of you, just hit a shot into this little sand green and play closest to the pin with your buddies and then then hit your t-shots on the sixth hole. That's cool. It's uh it's very cool. Yeah, they've they've got a plaque by it and everything. Um, so yeah, it that is a course that I recommend to anybody that's in the area, is is Southern Pines. Um so we're playing Southern Pines, Pine Needles, Pine Hurst Number One, Mid South, and Tobacco Road. So those are our five this year. Um there is a course that is um the home of US kids golf that I forget the name of right now. Um and it's it is one of my favorites. So I need to look this up.
SPEAKER_03And that's when you are playing as well, or one you're just hoping to get to?
SPEAKER_02No. No, I'm just naming my favorites now. Okay.
SPEAKER_03And of course the cradle. So we all do the trying to do the cradle uh every afternoon, or or what does that look like? Uh so we do the cradle just one night.
SPEAKER_02Um we actually started last year. We um turned it into like a mini Ryder Cup format. Uh what a middle of our Yeah, exactly. Yeah. In the middle of our Mink tournament. So we do um this year's champion and last year's champion as the captains. Um pick teams and just and go with it. Uh and so yeah, I mean, since you've been there, you know, the great thing about the cradle is you, you know, you pay one time and you can go around as many times as you want. You just need Ed to tell you if uh if you need to wait on a group or whatever once you get back to the clubhouse. Uh we actually had uh two guys get holes in one last year at the cradle. Um, so that was a really crazy night. That's cool. Yeah, both of them on on number three. Uh just kind of threw it up by the cradle crossing and let gravity do the work. Um and yeah, it was it was really fun. Both time neither time I was in the group. I was uh on the second T-box both times, so I didn't get to celebrate with either one of them.
SPEAKER_03But you I'm sure you heard it.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, heard it, ran over, hugged them both. Yeah, it was that's cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, a lot of fun. Uh yeah, I mean go ahead. No, no, yeah. So when when did this become uh and I kind of mentioned it earlier when we golf Rails talking about golf courses? Did you decide like, okay, this is a thing, and let's uh make this an Instagram account and start posting these and making videos and and cataloging the trip. Was that crazy?
SPEAKER_02I mean, yeah, that's yeah, that was COVID. That was just me getting bored during COVID and then and then running with it from there.
SPEAKER_03And so now there you said there's 12 people, right? Total. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yeah, I I do think the Instagram account did uh did a good job of growing the group because you know, our friends would see all of the clips of the trip and be like, hey, what do I have to do to get invited on this trip? And you know, we're kind of like, well, we didn't even know you wanted to go, but yeah, absolutely. Right. Say less. You know, you're in. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Um, so yeah, we just started uh adding people. I think 12 is a good number to have. Um there's still a couple guys that I would love to get down there. Um, but yeah, you know, we've we've had people kind of kind of rotate in and out the past couple years. Um, so we still might be we still might end up with 14 or 15. Yeah. But you know, the the more you add, the more the harder it gets to uh to schedule. Right.
SPEAKER_03So what's the biggest biggest challenge that you have experienced? Experienced or have learned from in booking a trip over the past 12 years.
SPEAKER_02Oh gosh. Um I would say the biggest challenge is just getting everyone on the same page. Um like communication is key, and as a bunch of dudes, uh communication sometimes varies. Right. Um yeah, exactly. So, you know, I mean, we we've got guys that answer the group chat every time someone asks a question, and then we've got guys that uh we have to text separately and say, hey, look in the group chat and answer all these questions, you know? Um so just getting everyone on the same page um is probably the biggest challenge, but since you know this is year 12, we've been doing this for over a decade. Um people are normally you know keen to to stay up on things and and fall in line, kind of. Yeah. So we we've worked through those.
SPEAKER_03Is I mean, other than the mink and Larry's green jacket, is there something that you guys do or somewhere you eat, something that is a tradition of every one of these trips?
SPEAKER_02We I mean we're creatures of habit for sure. Okay um we we go to the Pinehurst Brewery every year, um at least once. We go to Dugan's pub every year. Um, and it's just if you haven't been, it's just the little uh like the top is actually, you know, a fairly nice restaurant, and then you go into the basement of Dugan's pub and it's just a little dive bar uh that has karaoke on Wednesday nights. And we actually started a tradition a couple years ago where whoever finishes in last place of the mink standings, uh, we get to pick the song that they have to sing in karaoke. That's strong. So that's really strong. It it is uh we've had guys, you know, drive to the course the last day and say, I just I just gotta not finish last. Right. Like I can't sing karaoke last next year.
SPEAKER_03And it's I mean, just singing karaoke is one thing, but then the fact that you get to pick the song, I mean, you could put somebody in a bind in a hurry.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we've we've got we had guys singing um the I'm a Barbie girl song, uh, you know, It's Rainin' Men, which It's Rainin' Men is one of those songs where you think you know it and then you play it and it's like six minutes long and no one knows anything. Yes, I had no idea. So our guy Fogue was in a bind bad. Like I mean, he was we were all ready for that song to be done. Um but yeah, you know, it's it's never a song that you want to sing, and that's part of the fun of it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. So are y'all typically booking in a big Airbnb or what what does the lodging normally look like?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we we're typically in an Airbnb now. Um we started out with uh rooms at the best western, and then we moved yeah, then we moved to condos. Um and when it was six of us, that was perfect size for the condos um around the area. And then we moved to 12 and we we broke out well, we moved to eight, and then we broke out into two condos, and we hated that. We hated not being all together after being in one condo for however many years. Uh so that was when we, you know, we made the decision, you know, we're just uh booking a con booking a uh Airbnb kind of outside of uh the accommodations because we would we would book everything together, uh the the condo and the golf through the same company. And then uh we're like, you know what, we're just gonna book the golf, we're gonna book an Airbnb by ourselves because we want uh some a central point for us to all come together and and just you know be friends at the end of the day after competing against each other. Yeah. So yeah, the the Airbnb has been a a big addition. I would recommend it to anyone uh planning a trip. I know the the resort calls a lot of people's names, and you know, that's got it its perks as well. But if if you're not going that route, just just do an Airbnb and have a couple family dinners and you know, yeah, get together.
SPEAKER_03What company, if you want to give them a shout-out, have you used to book your tea time? Because you're playing some awesome tracks, and I know those places have a ton of play. Who are you using to to set those up for you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think we've booked through Talamore the past few years. Um yeah, um, you know, before that it was uh uh golf sand hills of the Carolinas. Um that was uh Mink and Larry and Kelly. Um, and I'm pretty sure that that uh company no longer exists. Uh so we'll yeah, we'll shout out Talamore because Talamore books all of our golf. Um and yeah, they they do a great job.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome. It's and it's what the only golf course, to my knowledge, Talamore, is the only golf course in the Pinehurst area with pot bunkers.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yeah, it got a little Scotland feel with those pot bunkers with the the sod faces, and yeah, you don't want to be in them, man.
SPEAKER_03I I ended up in one, it was up against the face and had to hit a wedge backwards around the face and out the front of the bunker to then try and split it on the green. And there's video of it somewhere. It was it was awesome. Um, but that's the kind of stuff you love, right? Like having to hit that silly shot. I mean, if you if that frustrates you when you hit it in there, don't hit it in there, right? Like um, yeah, exactly. So uh you've got these 12 or so guys that you go on these trips with, and I don't want you to do anything to uh endanger any friendships, but I've got a couple questions for you about the group. Um who is always late to a tea time? Me.
SPEAKER_02I I am the worst at that, honestly. I uh we joke around that I play out of my trunk because I'll you know, I'll show up and everyone else will be at the range. And especially around here, I do a great job of you know being on time during the trip, but around here I, you know, I pull up to the course on two wheels and and run to the first tee. A lot of times somebody has to go in and pay for me and I Venmo them. I just I don't know what it is, man, but I I run late to tea time. So I never miss a tea time, but I'm I'll I am on time. So okay. Uh who is the biggest sandbagger in the group? Oh gosh. All right, I gotta go with our guy 2.0. Uh he got that nickname because he's the second TK of our group. We got Tyler Curlin and Tyler Knoll. Um, and both of them go by TK. So Tyler Knoll is 2.0. Uh he actually he won the Mink two years ago. And we so we all record our handicaps on 18 birdies. That's uh just you know the app we use. And he is known for like not recording a single score on 18 birdies until three weeks before the trip.
SPEAKER_03And then they'll play handicap.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then he'll play like every day, and it'll be like 97, 96, and then you know, a week before the trip will be an 84. It's like, oh come on, dude, what are you doing here? Um, so yeah, shout out 2.0. He won't be surprised that I called him the biggest handbag.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome. Um, I would imagine someone kind of holds the bill for all this, or at least puts their credit card down. Who is always the last to Venmo for their part of the trip? Oh, that's a that is a good question.
SPEAKER_02Um I would say that is a tie uh between three of us just because I've gotten this text. So um it it is myself, 2.0, and Chris, or not Chris, our guy Mark. Chris puts the the money down normally. Okay and we'll normally get the text like, hey, everyone else is paid. Come on, guys. And it's honestly because it just slips our minds, and we're like, ah crap, yeah, you're right. And then and then it's then it gets done. So it's a tie between the three of us, but yeah, it's it's mainly just because you know we're busy with other stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I get that. It's I I've had to be that guy because I've got a trip coming up in July, and it's 16 of us, and it's a bit it was a big number that I had to put on my card, and I was like, hey, like I I would really like for my wife to know that I have your payment. Um is is there anybody in the group that complains?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I think I think we do a good job not complaining. Um I'm trying to think. No, not really. I I don't think we have any complainers.
SPEAKER_01We're all in a group.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we're all pretty happy to be there once we get down there. You know, it's uh it's golf heaven and we're all on vacation. So it's yeah.
SPEAKER_03Have y'all considered uh taking the trip somewhere else other than Pinehurst?
SPEAKER_02We have considered it. We've uh been talking about it. Um but you know, so two years ago when the US Open was in Pinehurst, um we uh we stayed in Raleigh and played courses around Raleigh and then you know drove to to Pinehurst for Thursday of the US Open.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02And uh it was really fun uh getting to play different courses, um, even though it's in technically the same area. But at the end of the trip, we were all kind of like, man, we can't wait to get back to our courses next year that we always play. You know, um, so we've we've discussed possibly if we can get this past the wives, a uh a winter trip where we go somewhere else and then a s the summer trip in Pinehurst. Uh because yeah, we would love to to branch out, but we also know that we'll we'll miss Pinehurst if we ever go anywhere else.
SPEAKER_03So if you if you get the approval from the wives, what what other locations are on that short list?
SPEAKER_02Oh man. Um Bandon is a big one. Um there's a couple courses up in Michigan that uh we've liked to go to. Um a couple of our guys went and played um is it Arcadia Bluffs up there? Yeah. Uh and they, you know, highly recommended that we all go do that. Um we end the trip every year um on either Tobacco Road or Tot Hill. Okay.
SPEAKER_03Um you like getting strant at the end of the trip? Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it it's a good, you know, soul cleansing for our forever drive back.
SPEAKER_03For the listeners that aren't aware with aware of Mike Strance. Uh he uh uh someone on the show said that he probably built the golf courses while he was on acid. Um and that's they are they there are t shots where you can hit driver, but the right play is hitting six iron to the middle of the fairway. But driver, it's it's there for you, but you better hit it right. And if you don't hit it right, you've lost your golf ball. But changes in elevation, blind t-shots, blind approach shots, gnarly shapes of greens, I mean, they are a blast. I I love them. I know there are people that despise them. I love them. I think they're a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. We're the same way. Um I've talked to people in the clubhouse that have called it gimmicky before, and I I don't know, that's just not me. Like I, you know, you can have that opinion, but I am a I like to think creatively on the golf course, and a strants course gives me every right to do that. You know, you've got you've got hills and and backboards and all sorts of stuff that you can, you know, throw your ball 30 yards left and just watch it funnel to the hole if you want to. Right. Um, so yeah, it's it's a lot of fun. Uh, but Mike Strants has another course out in Myrtle Beach, I think, called True Blue. Um, so that's another one that we discussed uh going out there uh and giving that a run.
SPEAKER_03Well, if you need someone done through golf down there, the salty golfer who was on the show just a week or so ago, he is a a wealth of knowledge when it comes to golf and Myrtle Beach. Um we talked about that course for a little while. Um, but yeah, that strands is awesome. So so why do y'all finish the trip at either Tot Hill or Tobacco? What's what's the reasoning behind that?
SPEAKER_02Uh I don't think there's a huge reason. I think it just became a tradition. Um I think we you know did it two or three years in a row and we're like, this is a perfect closing, closing round. Uh part of it is that it's about 45 minutes to an hour north of where we stay in Pinehurst. So it's kind of on the way home. Uh so you're flying out of Raleigh. We're driving, man. Oh, you know what? Midwest boys, we drive. Oh my gosh. So what's what's the drive from Dayton to Pinehurst? It's like eight hours. It's not too bad. Okay. It's, you know, it's a work day, but it's it's not too bad. Um yeah, we have our you know, our little traditions on the way down. We stop at Sheets and get lunch, and it's uh, you know, we call each other out when uh when when when we pass certain uh certain uh milestones on the highway. There's uh there's a sign, it you know, it's just a a gap in the mountains and it's called Fancy Gap. And uh our guy two uh our guy TK said uh Fonse gap one time, so that's the joke every time we pass it. Yeah, yeah. Every time we pass it, we send a video to each other. Fonse gap. So uh yeah, it's uh you know, just that's part of the trip for us. We you know, we we uh just talk golf. Um I am a known hater of Bryson de Shambeau. Um so our guy James bought me like a booster pack of of live golf uh trading cards the other uh last year and made me rip them in the car. And he was like, I hope you get like a you know a an auto Bryson de Shambo refractor one of one that's worth you know five hundred dollars and you can't even be happy about it because it's Bryson. Um but yeah, just little stuff like that where we just rib each other on the way down, um, it's it's a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_03Which in light of recent news, if you've held on to those cards, they might become worth something one day.
SPEAKER_02I know. I think I ended up giving them all to James because I don't think I had any hits and I didn't really want them. So I was like, hey, you bought these.
SPEAKER_03So I I love that you guys have kept this going for so for so long. If if someone's on the fence about planning a golf trip with friends, what would your advice be?
SPEAKER_02I I mean, if you're on the fence, you you gotta do it. Like this is something that we look forward to all year round. Um, it's like we talk about it constantly. It takes up way too much of my brain. I can tell you that much. Um but yeah, I mean, if you're on the fence, do it, rip the band-aid off uh and start early, start planning early. Because if you're just talking about it right now, it's not happening this year. Um, you gotta you gotta get it on the books early, you gotta start talking in November, December, and get everybody on board and get it booked. Um so yeah, start early, get it booked, and just do it. That's that those are the tips.
SPEAKER_03And i if you had a perfect four you'll go what four days to Pinehurst?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh four days, five rounds. Um so yeah, we have one day where we play 36.
SPEAKER_03Okay, and what what is the perfect itinerary for a four-day trip to Pinehurst look like for you?
SPEAKER_02Oh man, okay. For me, let's see. I would go so drive in on Tuesday, wake up on Wednesday, play Southern Pines, play Talamore in the afternoon, um go to Southern Pines or go to Pinehurst Brewery, go to bed, wake up, take it easy that day, only play 18 holes, go to Mid South. Um maybe take a round around the cradle that night. Go to Dugan, sings my karaoke. Yeah um then the next day we will do um let's see, we'll we will do Mid Pines and then just kinda hang out, have a family dinner. Um that's the second to last day of the trip, so just kinda rest. You're gonna be tired. Um wake up, drive to Tobacco Road, play Tobacco Road, and and go home. Yeah. Another another great thing that kind of put it on the short list of the last uh of the last you know rounds of the trip is Tobacco Road has a really great shower in their clubhouse. Do they so you can oh yeah, dude. So you can shower off all the sand and grime and everything and get you know a nice change of clothes and then be ready for a seven-hour car ride home. So you don't have you know five smelly guys. Right all the smelly guys. Oh, god, that would be brutal.
SPEAKER_03Driving all the way back to Ohio.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think that would be enough for me to buy a plane ticket if we were to do that. Right, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, drop me to Raleigh. I'm I'm flying home.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03Uh well, I got a couple quick questions and then we'll get you out of here. I appreciate you taking the time to talk about your guys' trip and just how it's evolved over the years. Um what's your what's your single favorite course in Pinehurst? Mine is Talamore. Okay, you said you said that already. What is it about Talamore? Just the layout or the greens? What is it?
SPEAKER_02It it's a combination of a lot of things. Yeah, it's the layout, it's um it's like we talked about with the pot bunkers, it's a a little bit of that Scottish like link style feel. Um it's it's the llamas. Um you know, the logo, the clubhouse, um everything. They've got a a uh a track man uh bay for their driving range, so you can like get your numbers dialed before the the the round. The greens are the most pure greens I've ever put it on. Um yeah, it's it's everything. I love that course.
SPEAKER_03Nice. What is your favorite club in the bag right now?
SPEAKER_02My favorite club, I probably will have to go my 56th degree. I yeah, I love that club. I I'm not the longest hitter, uh, but when I get around the greens, I'm I'm usually pretty good.
SPEAKER_03So uh dream foresome, dead or alive. Who would who would be in that foresome with you?
SPEAKER_02Oh gosh. Yeah, I've I've thought about this and I still have no idea. Um I'm gonna go um man. Bryson.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So Bryson, Patrick Reed, and Sergio. Those that's it.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, that's that's three. No. Um I'll go. I mean, just to make it easy, I'll go Arnold, Jack, and Tiger. That's strong. Um, just yeah, just play with, you know, a couple of the uh the goats. Okay, and lastly, do you hit it off the deck? I do, man. I I try as much as I can. Um our guy Mark will, you know, just see a random tea box and be like, oh, this is a perfect dod hole. And I'm like, I I don't know what a perfect dod hole looks like. Right, me either. I love the confidence, yeah. So he'll, you know, hit a normal one and then he'll just throw one down and and dodge one. Um but yeah, I I do try to uh as much as I can because I I just think it's fun.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it is, it's fun. And you don't you never know what's gonna happen with it. It it can go anywhere. But it's also the the easiest club in the bag to hit, even though it's on the ground. Somehow. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't make any sense, but it is. Greg, thanks for taking time to uh to share the story of the Pinehurst Six. I look forward to keeping up with you guys and and your future trips, especially if the wives give the okay to to branch out and you guys have another trip somewhere else. That'll be fun to uh to keep up with.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. I've I've uh really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_03Thanks so much. Well, for Greg, I'm Josh Decker, and this has been another episode of Off the Deck.
