Off the Deck

Branded Golf & FireFly with Austin Peckham

• BestBall • Season 3 • Episode 13

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Austin Peckham is back for another episode of Off the Deck Podcast to talk about Branded Golf and a new course in TN called FireFly. 

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SPEAKER_04

Driver off the deck for Cory Connor. Here's driver off the deck. Victor Hoplin. The driver off the deck. I knew you would try this, right? Oh my god. You 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_00

Welcome back to another episode of Off the Deck. This is actually our 50th episode. I had planned on having like a birthday hat or like a five big five-zero and like a kazoo or some confetti or something to celebrate. But uh travels this week are crazy. And so uh I'm actually just happy to be recording today with Austin Peckham again. Uh Austin, welcome back to Off the Deck. Um, glad to have you here. Um Deck is brought to you by Ideca Golf. Uh visit Id aka.gov and make sure you use promo code OTD25 for 25% off your next purchase. Uh and that is a substantial amount of money when you think about it, because polos these days are not cheap. Uh so you can get 25% off the polos, the gloves, everything they hit to have there at Ideca Golf. Austin, welcome back to off the deck, man. How you doing? I'm good, dude. Thanks for having me. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Do what? 50 episodes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, 50 episodes. It's kind of wild. It's uh actually hard to believe.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like I was like your I had to have been your first, like one of at least 10, but maybe five or under. So you've you've done like 40 episodes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and it's it's cool. I like I think often about uh golf in general and how small of a world it is. Uh and I feel like we just kind of chatted from you taking pictures at Sweeten's Cove, and then I had this podcast uh come to life, and I was like, hey, you want to come on it? And now I feel like we kind of keep up keep up with each other's lives, um, which is a lot of fun. And your life, there's some stuff I want to talk to you about, which we'd already chatted about why you're gonna come on, but but tell me about how your world has changed in the last what seven months?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so in the last seven months, we uh welcomed our second daughter into the world, Sela. Um, so she is seven months old now. Um, and that has just been incredible. I can't would the last time we spoke was sh was this before December uh 30th of last year?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, y'all hadn't had her yet. I think I think y'all were I think you might have been like seven months pregnant or so. I mean it was it was getting close, I think.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so her due date was like December 12th or something, and she was she was 20 days late. Okay. Yeah, so she she wanted to stay in there, but yeah, she is just she's the sweetest thing, and um she's just so happy and so awesome, and we're just we're so grateful.

SPEAKER_00

That's cool. And how's big sister doing with the the new edition?

SPEAKER_01

Really good. Um Revel is she's she'll be three in November, and um she's just she's so sweet. She is like just finally getting to the point where she's like staying her name all the time and like she wants to see her or go check on her. Like the other day she was um laying on the floor just like in her face, tickling her, and she's just she's definitely in that big sister era.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, soak it all in. It's funny that we're talking about this now because Kevin Quinn, who is the director of golf at Vestavia Country Club, he just texted me this morning that they had their second, um, so also a uh little girl. Um, but yeah, it seems like all you guys, it's like maybe there's a there's a uh a pregnancy bump that that comes with being on the podcast or something. I don't know. If you if you come on the show, you might have more kids. Um uh and I would like to kind of revisit before we talk about Firefly, um everything you've got going on with Branded uh in your own organization. Uh, we talked at length about your history in uh production of music videos and just the the life that you've lived already at such a young age. What's the latest with Branded and and projects there and and success stories? What's how's how's everything going with Branded?

SPEAKER_01

Dude, it's so it's so wild. Um the last six months really has just been a whirlwind. I mean, we've grown, we've grown so much. Um, I brought on a partner and hired our first employee, um, you know, an editor that's kind of taking a lot of the the back end and helping support us. Um my partner's name is Sam. Uh he's done a lot of incredible work in the golf space. And man, it's just been like we're just so fortunate because the last time we spoke, we were, you know, working with with some really cool brands. And since then, we've shot with um McLaren. We've helped uh there's a a company named Golf Swag that uh it's a direct-to-consumer uh like personalization brand. So they're kind of like like a forein print for the golf space. Um we've helped them, you know, do some really insane revenue numbers. And um, on top of that, just working with a lot of other brands and and growing and um just continuing to have conversations and have some really cool opportunities. And right now, like I've really stepped a lot into the role of of business owner and and kind of trying to figure out the trajectory of of what is now an actual company and not just me. Um, you know, figure out our trajectory and build the the systems and the operational things that are going to allow us to to go from where we are today to you know hopefully one of the the biggest agencies in the golf space.

SPEAKER_00

So so what does Sam bring to the table? What are what are his strengths and and what is he doing to help you?

SPEAKER_01

So I'm as you know, I'm very heavy production aside. So a lot of the hands-on creative of actually going out and shooting and um also coming up with ideas and things like that. Um Sam is one of the most brilliant creatives that I've ever known. Um just the way his mind works, like he knows what what concepts are gonna work. You know, we've had so many videos go viral um on social media for clients in the last year. Um, and a lot of it has to do with with just his understanding of social and um and the way that golfers think. And he's just a really really awesome talent, and I'm grateful that that he's a part of it all.

SPEAKER_00

That's really cool. Did I guess you knew each other years ago and and finally timed out if we're gonna work together, or was this a new thing?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we met it would have been like 2017 or 18. Um, I think we both moved to Nashville at a similar time to do music. And so I don't know if you remember, I moved here to be a country artist in 2017. And Sam was more in like the Americana realm, and he still does write and release music and things like that. But we wrote together early on. Um so we've known each other for a while, and it wasn't until probably like probably about a year ago that we kind of reconducted, reconducted, and he had already been doing um he's been working in the golf space. Like he's the brain behind um golf shop. This is Chris with Hermitage Golf Course. Oh yeah, yeah. And he works for hilarious.

SPEAKER_00

Like it's yeah, they and they never get old either. Like every topic he covers and they are always so spot on. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, Sam was Sam was part of the um just the ideation of that whole concept, and and you know, it's been huge for for Hermitage, and it's just it's really kind of been like what I I would say the the concept of golf shop, this is Chris is one of the biggest like social concepts that have hap that's happened in golf.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, yeah. It's I mean you and he even has now ventured into like doing the the the baseball ones where it's like after a loss or whatever. And if you haven't seen uh I think it's at golf shop with Chris, right? Isn't that the handle on Instagram? Golf shop. Um it's just a guy that uh gets phone calls, um, and they're the worst phone calls that you can imagine of people without any common sense or completely illogical requests for a uh someone working in a golf shop, and he answers them the way that most golf pros would probably like to answer them. Um, but they have to use discretion and uh manners and and target their their uh members more politely than Chris does in these videos. Um but yeah, he uh he puts people in their places pr pretty quickly. He does.

SPEAKER_01

And I've gotten to I've gotten to know Chris pretty well um over the last year or so, and he's just he's a great dude and um just grateful to to know him. And if you go to Hermitage's Hermitage's uh social accounts, there was a video that they did with uh a local dealership where I played the role of one of the staff members sleeping in an F-150. So check that out.

SPEAKER_00

We know we might need to get Chris on the show if you've got the connection. I'd love to I'd love to chat with him.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um so you mentioned something, and this is we're I'm gonna take a separate path here. You mentioned something about making videos go viral. And I was talking to my wife about this because I'm still in the infancy of learning how this whole thing works thing works, of trying to create content, create the reels. What how do you define if something has gone viral or not? And I asked that question because it was a conversation my wife and I had less than three days ago. I think it's different for every industry.

SPEAKER_01

I think in the golf industry, um, because I mean we s the audience is still very, very big, um, but it's not as big as like the automotive, like people that follow automotive or people that follow action sports. Um so like something in the golf space, like if if if you're a brand that's not you know absolutely massive, I would I can s I consider anything over like three, four, five hundred thousand views as something that is viral uh to the point where it's reached a a pretty big audience. I mean some people might disagree with that and you might have to hit a million views for it to go viral. Um but that's kind of that's my that's kind of my standard of of whether or not something has gone viral.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Yeah, and we kind of had that conversation and and I again we're going way down a rabbit trail here. But I was I had somewhat of an opinion of like, okay, I think that's somewhat there's a ratio of like followers to view count. So like I might not have a ton of followers, but if I have something that has 10x my normal views, then for me personally, in my account, that is a viral video from my own account. I know it's not viral compared to something that has three or four hundred thousand views, but uh, how many followers do those people have? And I could be completely wrong in thinking that, but I feel like there's some kind of ratio there of what makes it viral versus not. Is that a fair statement?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I would maybe use the word like hey, like what is a successful piece of content? Maybe not a viral piece of content, but like, is this a successful piece of content? And I would think like anything in the golf industry, like if you can consistently get five or more thousand views on a piece of content, then like that's pretty awesome. Especially like for most for most people and most brands doing um you know, I'm talking more like the small side of things, but if you're able to get consistent views, then that's like really the most important thing. And the algorithm is so different than what it was five years ago, like the amount of followers you have doesn't really matter anymore. And really, yeah, I mean like you can have a thousand followers and consistently get a hundred thousand plus views because reels and like specifically speaking to Instagram, like reels are being pushed out to non-followers, and people aren't like your feed is not displayed the same way that it used to be. Like, we don't see the people that we follow necessarily. We get we get content that's suggested to us.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, it's been a while since I've managed to get to the end of my feed. Like, I remember there used to be a time when you could like scroll and it'd be like, Oh, you've reached the end, and that doesn't happen anymore because so much stuff is just getting pushed to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I remember Brandids off and running, um, and you're wearing the hat there. Uh, how did you get introduced to Firefly?

SPEAKER_01

So I I was connected to a um a community here called the Grove um many years ago, and I knew the GM at the Grove. And when he left to come over to Firefly, um my name was just kind of in the the circulation of people. And initially I had just gotten asked to uh to shoot like an event out at Firefly before they had started um construction, before they had broken ground or anything. Um so it really just all kind of started through a a personal connection.

SPEAKER_00

And that was even before so not even breaking ground. I guess it was all just based on previews of what is to come?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I I've been I've been working with Firefly on that project since before the like when the land was completely raw before anything even started.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. And for the listeners, uh tell us uh where is Firefly, what is it going to be, um, the amenities that are gonna be there because the website is truly incredible. Um I especially love that it says on here, an unlocked golf swing is like a Firefly floating within reach. You could enjoy it in the moment, or you could chase it around with a jar in hopes of keeping it forever. I thought that was a very profound quote.

SPEAKER_01

So, and I'll preface by saying, you know, I'm not a I'm not affiliated with Firefly or the development company that's building it. Um Brain of Golf is is a partner, a content partner that helps their marketing. Um so mostly like a lot of the things that I can say uh are are kind of just my interpretation of of things. But Firefly, it's it's a residential golf community, a private gated community. That's it's about 25 minutes south of Nashville, um in Spring Hill, right on the the Williamson-Murray County line. And it is, I mean, like just to start, the golf is and I I'm you might think I'm biased, but the golf is the is like one of the best, most incredible golf courses that I've I've seen in my life. The the layout, the design is insane. The condition, it's it looks like it's a five-year-old golf course and it's hasn't even opened yet. Um the conditioning is is incredible. August, the director of golf maintenance, has done an incredible job. Um but it's a residential community, you know, they're they're gonna have however many home sites. I don't think that it's gonna be like this massive home site community where it's like cookie cutter. Uh it's very, you know, it's it's it's a luxury uh community. And so there's, you know, there's space and they're not gonna be, you know, filling the entire property with homes. But there's um, you know, luxury homes, there's all kinds of amenities. They've got their their golf shop, they've got what's called the field house, which is um a really it's part of their uh like their driving range practice facility, but they've got you know food and beverage over there, top tracer range, I think is planned. Um and then they've got their like halfway house, which is called the Outpost. So that's gonna have um you know all of your mid-round snacks and food and things like that. And they've got you know multiple resort style pools, they're gonna have pickleball, racket sports, um, and thankfully this is a podcast that we can edit. But there's I'm so focused on the golf. I don't I don't have like a a really great grasp of the the amenities. Um but what I will say is that like between the amenities that they're gonna have in golf, like between the golf shop in the outposts and the field house, um, on top of the like more of like the residential family stuff between the racket sports and kids' activities and resort pools and things like that. Um it is going to be such an awesome place for families to be and to live and to really like call home. Um like I'm I'm I'm envious that that we're not gonna be able to to be in there and build a home in there because I I would love to move our family into Firefly and just have like all of the all of the things that we love and and need in one place. I think it's just I think it's gonna be an incredible place.

SPEAKER_00

Is it is it gonna require that you uh to have membership that you own a lot or own a home in inside the gate?

SPEAKER_01

So my understanding is right now, and I don't know what what the future holds with with that, but currently you do have to I believe you have to own a home site to to have membership to the golf course. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

And that was some pretty high praise for the golf course. Um how fun was it for you to watch this thing from when it was untouched earth to then becoming the golf course?

SPEAKER_01

It was so cool, man. I uh seen a lot of golf courses, I've seen golf courses under construction, I've seen golf courses undergoing renovations. Um this was the first time that that I had personally seen a golf course be built out of nothing. And I mean, going from like the first time walking the property and the first time flying over the property, and you know, you just got stakes in the ground that uh are marking where tea boxes should be and where greens should be. And you know, I think plans always change and uh you know the land ultimately ends up shaping uh how the golf course looks in the end. Um because you know, sometimes sometimes the land just doesn't give you what you what you thought it was gonna be, and then sometimes it creates things that that uh you could have never dreamt of. Uh I just think like building golf courses has to be so cool and fun for these architects uh to be able to to to be able to dream up something and then get there and then and maybe uncover things that they would have never expected. But um just to see it go from nothing to to what it is now it is like it's truly remarkable. I remember I remember walking and like when you were walking the property early on, it was it was kind of rugged, like I can't remember what the like vegetation was, but it was kind of it was like almost like stalky hard I it wouldn't, it was just kind of like hard to navigate through. And I'm thinking to myself, like, man, how is this gonna be a golf course? Right. And now it's just it's so unbelievable. And being being able to be there on a consistent basis and see it change daily and weekly and monthly, um, watch it go through winter and Bloom in the spring, like I've already seen I've been able to see those things happen already. And you know, with every season that we that Firefly has gone through, it has come out looking so much different each time. And it's just it's just really, really cool.

SPEAKER_00

So when did you I guess construction began how long ago?

SPEAKER_01

I guess it would have been I could tell you an actual answer. Like two years ago, probably? Probably about two years ago. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And is this the one this is Andrew Green's like first original? Is that correct?

SPEAKER_01

That's correct. Yeah. One of Andrew Green's first original designs. I mean he's done like the the big stuff, the big renovations. Um what does he have?

SPEAKER_02

Southern Hills. Uh right? Didn't he do Southern Hills? Something did he do something at Congressional?

SPEAKER_00

That sounds right. I I don't know. He did he did one recently because it was all rage at the majors. He did Enverness. Uh and I I'm pretty sure he's being brought in to do a course around me in Birmingham that and that may or may not be uh public knowledge yet. Uh let's see, what all has he done? I don't need to look this up or we're trying to record, but but yeah, like that's have you got to spend any time with him or meet him at all while he's been out there on a dozer?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it was funny because Andrew, like I think one of his things, and he'll probably say it too, like he loves to get he loves to get in there and and actually like shape some dirt and shape some land. Uh so early on you would you would show up on property and he would be there and he'd be in a in some piece of heavy machinery moving dirt around, um, shaping a green. And um, you know, I've gotten to know him. I've probably probably been around him six or seven times now, and uh every time we just we talk and I've gotten to know him, and he's just such a such a great dude, and um is just so humble and um he's just I mean really just like brilliant. Like I can't I can't imagine like the creativity that it takes to take the land that was there. I mean it was beautiful land, but to take the land that was there and turn it into what it is now is just so impressive.

SPEAKER_00

So describe the golf course like as it's completed now. Is it like Lynx style? Like what are we looking at if we happen to get out to Firefly um anytime in the near future? What what's the experience gonna be like for a golfer? I think I read that it's like intended to be walked.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I think Andrew's like Andrew's whole thing was was very much like golden age of golf architecture. And so what you see is you see a golf course that's set up to walk, like you said. There's not you know, you you have some some walks here and there, but for the most part, the walk from green to tea is is pretty minimal. And I've never really seen I've never really seen anything like it. Um the golf course just feels so connected, and uh there's all of these different places throughout um where you could be uh you could be finishing out a hole, you could be teeing off, and you're gonna look around you, and you're just uh encompassed by other people playing this golf course. And like one of Andrew's things that he loves to say is that as you play the golf course, you get to look around you and see and reflect on the things that you've done and the things that are ahead of you all at the same time. And there's there's places like 16 green where you're kind of at the top of the property and you you look out and you see 11 and 5 and 4 and 12 T and 16 Green and 15T, and it's just like it's so vast. Um I really I've never seen anything like it. And I feel like the golf courses I've played in my life, you kind of like play the hole, and then the hole's kind of gone.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but that's not the case at Firefly.

SPEAKER_00

That's that see, I love that because to your point, when you play a golf course and you finish that hole and you're done with it, if you've got other things going on with like multiple groups or whatever, a very disconnected golf course dramatically impacts that experience. If you can't see the people, if you can't hear the people, um, that kind of changes that whole environment. And there's something to be said uh about courses like that. That's one of the reasons Sweeten's Cove is so great, among many of them. Because if somebody makes an ace anywhere on that golf course, everyone's gonna hear about it. Um, like it, yeah, like there's Highland Park here in Birmingham, which is you need to wear a hard hat to play it, but that's the little humble brag here. The one place I've had made an ace, and because that place is so small, everyone on the golf course knew something had happened because we went just berserk. Um it's awesome. Yeah. So yeah, I I and I love hearing that. Uh especially like that you said that you can see so much of like what's coming like next, because that can be a daunting thought too, right? Like there's also some some challenge with that, I think. Um you can maybe attest to that better than I can be in quite the stick that you are, but like knowing that you have a maybe a forced carry over water coming up or something that's a little more difficult than the hole you're currently playing on, that can play some mind games.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. I think it could definitely come into play um like in any type of tournament play or match play events where you know maybe you're up or down or whatever the situation might be, and the person you're playing with, you know, say you're down, and the person you're playing with sees X shot on that hole over there, and they maybe start worrying about it. Yeah. That could be that could be interesting. But no, I think I think the golf course sets itself up. I feel like it's gonna be so social and communal. And I you already see it in like in the founding member play that that has happened out there because they've members have played uh like 12 holes, I think. Okay. And um, you know, you already see it. Like there's you know, there's there's places on the golf course like the bridge between um between three so basically four twelve. Yeah, three, four, and twelve share the same bridge, essentially. So, you know, you've got groups walking past each other on the bridge at the same time. Uh, you know, you're gonna like you're gonna see your buddies out there, and you're gonna have you might have short conversations and high fives and waves, and like people, I don't know. It's just like I feel like it's such a cool or it's going to be such a cool experience.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Well, and so something else that's kind of interesting to me as I was thinking about us chatting today about Firefly is just the golf in and around Nashville in general. And these are all gonna be exclusive members-only, like tough places to get on. And I feel like Nashville has the market to support it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, it's really crazy to see the development of of golf in the Nashville area. There's just there's there's such a demand, and there's so many people moving to this area that love the game.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, between Bounty Club and now Firefly, um there's so much golf right there. And where is Bounty Club in relation to Nashville?

SPEAKER_01

So Bounty Club is north of Nashville, um about like 10 or 15 minutes north of Nashville. Um, so almost like almost like probably a almost an hour, like 45 minutes to an hour from where Firefly is. Okay. Um, so they're kind of in different, like totally different areas of the city. But yeah, it's crazy. Like the amount of people that have moved to town um and the wealth that has moved to Nashville and like the businesses that have moved their headquarters here, like In N Out and Oracle, and uh just like some big some big brands moving headquarters here. Um you've got like I mean it's it's probably 90% of the golf is private.

SPEAKER_00

Really?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, like in our area, we have we have Franklin Bridge, we have Toei, which are public courses. Um there's like there's a handful of other public courses, and then we have some like Nashville City courses, but the majority of the golf courses in our area are private.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so and then you so you're adding Firefly and Binant Club, you've already got Troubadour, like yeah, that's that's crazy to think about, and probably not necessarily great for just the general consumer, um, which that's a whole other topic for another day. Um, I was wondering about your uh all the work that you've done for Fire Firefly. And is this something that would you will stay on as like a contract worker for them doing something like basically not maintenance for lack of a better word, but continuing to provide all the production and and videos and like the I mean the commercial that was on was incredible to see. Um what does your relationship look like with them down the road?

SPEAKER_01

I mean, uh my my hope is that they you know want to continue working with each other um in the long term. I guess that's that's really primarily up to them. I think I think the service that that we provide um you know is certainly helpful through the like the build-out phase of of the development. Um and then kind of what happens from there will be really up to them. But if it was up to me, we would we would stay on forever.

SPEAKER_00

And are you doing like if I see something social media content that is that is branded golf that is producing that that is from Firefly?

SPEAKER_01

If you see like organic like on their feed, um I would even say like anything that's actually captured on site, uh, that is us. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

How many days a week do you spend there?

SPEAKER_01

I at minimum I'm there like three times a month.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

But you know, I usually find my way out there like once a week just because I don't know, there's there's something fun about it. And I'll bring, you know, right now there's like I can't I I won't be able to do this um once it opens, but since they don't have anybody out there um, you know, in the later hours at sunset, I've brought I've brought the I brought Revel out there and just let her run around while I take pictures. And um that's just so cool. And and the relationship that we have is is really awesome. And you know, they're everyone at Firefly feels like family. And um, you know, they're just they're the development company is so family oriented too, um that you know, they're just so welcoming to to me and our family, and uh it's just they're just incredible people to work with.

SPEAKER_00

That's that's outstanding. I love hearing that. Yeah, that's that sounds fun, like letting her run around without her shoes on while you're just snapping picks and flying the drone. Um, so what's what's on the horizon for branded, for branded golf, now that you've got Sam, you've got another employee, what other projects do you have in the hopper that you can share?

SPEAKER_01

Um I kind of like I said, I can't remember if I said this when we were talking on the podcast or if this was was before, but like the big focus right now is is trying to build the internal system so that we can operate a little more efficiently. Um what do you mean by that? So that's like, you know, what does it look like to to onboard a client and and you know, who exactly are the brands that that we're a good fit to work with? Um, you know, what's the exact service that we provide? How does a like what's the process that that we take a brand through um to get to the result that they're looking for? And really just trying to be more systematized in the way that we operate. And you know, the goal for me is to not only provide efficiency for for us as an organization, but also provide better value for the people we work with. Um, because there is a there's a big difference between someone with a camera and someone that's actually there to support your your goals as a brand and as a business. Um, and we're certainly moving and are already in that that other stage where we're plugging in as as you know, really an extension of of people and their teams. Um really just trying to trying to nail that down and so that we can grow. I mean, right now I feel like there is so much work and there's a lot of people that want to work with us. Um and we're just having to be careful right now to you know to not say yes to everything because I don't feel like we are uh like I don't feel like we're systematically ready to like open the the floodgates. It's a good problem to have. I know. We're it's it's been I'm very fortunate and um we've just been so blessed with with work and and opportunities. Um I'm trying to think of like what is like big on the horizon. I mean I think like if you go to I think the coolest thing right now, there's a lot of cool things, but like the coolest one of the one of the coolest things right now is if you go to McLaren Goff's website, I mean it's like outside of the hero video at the top of their website, like a majority of the images came from my camera with me behind the lens.

SPEAKER_00

That's pretty cool. And um So I guess did you do a shoot with Rose?

SPEAKER_01

No, I didn't shoot with Rose. Um more of like a like a brand shoot as opposed to an athlete part of shoot. Um but like that was a lot of fun. Um I mean there's we've we've had the opportunity to do a lot of really cool things, and I'm excited to see you know what what's coming in the future. Um but like I said, right now I I really want to make sure that we're prepared for you know to be able to like handle the the growth.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, because they're overextending yourself doesn't do anybody any favors.

SPEAKER_01

No, and I've been I've been overextended for six months now where you know pretty much working from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. And you know, obviously there's breaks in there and you have your time where you have to go be dad and be a husband and things like that, but um it's just kind of been like nonstop for a while, and I don't want that life, and if if I'm exhausted and doing all that, then we're probably not providing a great service for people.

SPEAKER_00

So Right. Yeah. How did the McLaren thing come to be?

SPEAKER_01

The that came from um so I met I met the 8 a.m. golf people probably about two years ago. Okay. And um you know, there was there was a lot of discussion around um potentially working together on some things. And then, you know, as as things can go in the the business world, um they just kind of didn't really go anywhere for a long time and um just kind of got a call out of nowhere to help support the McLaren lawsuit.

SPEAKER_00

And don't you love that? You haven't heard for this pro heard from this prospect in months and all of a sudden they're like, hey, we gotta shoot for you. It's McLaren. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, done. And it was cool too, because we got to shoot with um we got to shoot with a uh what's it called? A McLaren GTS. Okay. And um did some like did some photos for act like McLaren, the auto company as well. Um so that was a cool little bonus too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's that's really, really cool. That's that's exciting. I I love everything you've got that you've got going on because yeah, I enjoyed our first chat and like I said, I've just kind of kept up with you, and it's cool to see the trajectory of your success. Um, and like I remember like I remember when you shared that Firefly commercial, I think didn't it air during a PGA tour event? Yeah, they've they've been like most of the majors, you'll see it on there. And did you produce that thing in its entirety? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's wild. That's so it's it's so cool. And what was crazy is there was another commercial that was airing recently at the same time. So Brandon Goff had two commercials airing at the same time.

SPEAKER_00

That's that's awesome, man. Congrats.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks, brother.

SPEAKER_00

It's gotta be fun to see that, right? Like you're sitting on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and you're like, wait a minute, that look at us. I don't know. That's wild. I know you gotta get back to dad's stuff and husband's.

SPEAKER_01

I mean I need to figure out how to claim the last spot in your landman group.

SPEAKER_00

You're you are in for 2027. I promise you that. You're in. I'm not was I was I previously like number one on the wait list. Uh you were previously number one on the wait list. That is a fair statement. All right. Yes. If if I'm being fully transparent and honest, yes, you were number one. All right. And then I had Ben Malik, who was number two. He was ready to drive five hours. He's been on the show. Um, yeah. There was I had one guy that wanted to split up. He wanted to bring two people for a spot, and he wanted to be on the wait list for that. And I was like, well, no, we're not doing that. That's not what are you gonna do? Share a bed? Like that's that's not how we're doing this. Um but yeah, that that place, uh, landman's special, so we'll definitely get you out there because it's the vastness of it. I would love to see what you could capture in that landscape because it is so stinking big. Yeah, I mean, it I words, and I this is uh overused at this point, but words don't do it justice. I mean, when you get there and you just look out as far as you can see and you see nothing but golf, um, it's kind of overwhelming. And and Rob Cons has even said that, like they had to build it, they had to build the golf course that big to match the vast layout of the property. Because if you cut just kind of a normal-sized golf hole on this landscape, it wouldn't make sense, it wouldn't look right. It looked out of place, so that's why everything is just so oversized, but it's it and it's such a fun golf course. I mean, the greens are great, uh, the fairways are 100 yards wide, so anybody can go play it. Um, but yeah, it's it's a fun trip.

SPEAKER_01

That's awesome. I'm going to Bandon this October. First time? Yeah, first time. Oh, that's fantastic. What all are you playing? Pretty much everything, I think. Okay. Um, I think we're there for five days, so it's it's like quite the trip.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That Bandon was just special. Like uh in Landman's kind of the same way, but Bandon has all the additional other amenities that you don't necessarily have there right at Landman up top.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And so the shuttles and the bunker bar and all the staff, and then like it 'cause everyone knows you're there for one thing and one thing only. And That's also what everybody else who is there is also there to do. So whether it's the employees or the other guests of the property, everybody's just there for the golf. Um, one of my coolest memories is I got rained out of Pac Dunes and I ran in and grabbed lunch and played Band and Preserve with some other guys. And some friends of mine who were on the same trip I was on were about to tee off on Pac Dunes just to try and get in 12 or 13 holes. And I ran in the shop at Pac Dunes. I was like, hey, I was like, I've got friends on the first tee. Can I can I go out and join them? And the the Pro Shop guy kind of like nudged his head, kind of like implying like go ahead and go. And I was like, Well, I I want to make sure like that's okay. And he's like, dude, just go, go, just go to the first tee. And I was like, okay, thanks. And and we're we're playing Pac Dunes, and there's a golf cart that's behind us, and it's starting to get dark, and we finally hit we what we know are gonna be our last shots into this green because it's almost pitch black dark. And this cart goes driving past us and he pulls up on the green and turns on spotlights so that we can put out. No way. Yeah, and that's the kind of thing like, man, like that was cool. Like you didn't have to do that, but he knew that we wanted to finish out and again never like rode up behind us or anything, but waited until he knew, yeah, it's this is it, and drove up and did that. And it's just I'm excited for you. You will have an absolute blast. Like the place is I hope you have great weather all but one day, and you have one day that it's just yeah, I want it to rain at least once. Um, which we've had a couple of caddies from Bandon on the show. Um, Jason Calamaro at Squid, um Ross at Roscoe Golf. Um I think Jason actually ran down and caddied for a few people not too long ago, even though he's kind of hung up his his bib. Um, but yeah, cool, cool place. You'll you'll love it. That's awesome. I'd love to hear what your favorite is after the trip.

SPEAKER_01

For sure. The thing that I'm like struggling with internally is how much to like in a perfect world, I would just go and I would experience it fully present through my own eyes. And then there's another huge part of me that wants to photograph the absolute crap out of it.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. Take all your gear. Yeah, so I don't know what to do. Yeah, that's I don't I don't know what to tell you there. Um are you playing 36 every day? Most days, but I'm sure there's gonna be some you can have some downtime.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But in the way they space out the tea times, though, you're never waiting on anybody. Like it and it's so well run. I mean, it is efficient and the golf is spectacular. Um I'd love to hear what you think about Band and Trails, because I think Band and Trails might be my favorite track out there.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Um, which is not a popular opinion. Um, how's your golf game right now with the with a seven-month old and a two-year-old?

SPEAKER_01

Um it is okay. Like I played in my dad's member guest uh the middle of June. And I think in the four days I think I was maybe even or a couple underpour. Okay. Um So you still got it. I still have it, but I'm in this weird phase where like I can't play golf casually. Like I have to like for me to play well, it has to be fit for something. Okay. Is that a mental thing? It must be. It's almost like if it doesn't matter, I can't get myself to because then I start thinking about like content and I'm I'm always so guilty of like, oh, but should I shoot this thing for this client while I like this would be a good thing for this person? Right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I know that makes sense. That makes I've got a friend that who's like that that unless there's something on the line, he's just kind of like, eh, whatever. Um and yeah, so I I I can understand that. I'm not good enough to to have a switch one way or another. Oh well, I look forward to seeing what else Branded Golf uh has in store. Uh and like I said, congrats on all the success. It's been fun keeping up, and it will continue to be fun uh to keep up with you. Uh and I know you got daddy duty uh and husband duty to get back to instead of being on here talking to me about all Nashville golf and bandon and landman and everything else. But Austin, thanks for taking time to come back on the show and be our 50th episode, which is pretty exciting. I'm grateful. I'm grateful to be number 50. Yeah, yeah, I love it. Well, for Austin Pegum, I'm Josh Stecker, and this has been another episode of Off the Deck.

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Josh Decker

Host