Superintendent Series: Jeff Stone on Kiawah and the PGA Championship

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Fridagg Podcast. Today's episode is brought to you by Toro. For more than a century, with cutting edge turf equipment and irrigation solutions, Toro has had your front nine covered and your back nine two. In fact, Toro's always had your back period. Toro is as committed to your long term success as tour pros are committed to their shot. That's down to top notch customer support from Toro and its dedicated local distributors, both of whom are passionate about delivering turf equipment and irrigation solutions that solve real world problems. Follow at Toro Golf on Twitter and reach out to your local Toro distributor today Today, I'm excited about our latest edition of the Superintendent series. I was lucky enough to be afforded a little time with Jeff Stone, the head golf course superintendent at the Ocean Course, this week's PGA Championship venue. So I talked to Jeff for a quick thirty minutes last week on the lead in. He's really excited, the weather spent great and uh, it should be a really fun championship to watch with it being this mad date. So we talk about the prep, leading in how the course has evolved since he's been there since two thousand and three, and a little bit about his past and living in Charleston. So, without further ado, here is Jeff Stone. I miss a green, for example, I'm already upset when I find my ball in the bunker, I'm really upset. And when I find my ball in arid.

00:01:30
Speaker 2: Egg Frida egg the dreaded Friday Friday Frida Frida egg bride egg Lie, I'm about ready to run off of the hump course.

00:02:00
Speaker 1: I'm assuming people are coming in from all over.

00:02:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.

00:02:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, We've got guys coming in from like Balta, srawl Sea Pines, Briars Cree, local golf courses you know, we've got we've kind of got them, got guys coming in from Florida, so we're really looking forward to it. We've got about sixty volunteers coming in to assist us. On top of the guys that work here at the resort, we got another four golf courses that we'll be pulling guys from for morning and evening detail work and stuff like that. So all in all, we'll probably have about one hundred and fifteen guys on the site.

00:02:38
Speaker 1: What and how many how many take care of the ocean course usually year in and year.

00:02:44
Speaker 2: Out, including myself, We'll probably range thirteen to seventeen.

00:02:51
Speaker 3: Guys including me. How how's the weather, bed weather's been fantastic. I won't be able to use it as an.

00:02:59
Speaker 2: Excuse use it's you know, us farmers will always complain about the weather. But the weather's been great. It's been Uh, We've had cool nights, low humidity during the day. I mean it's been fantastic. The temperatures have been ranging you know, for you know, in the mid sixties to upper seventies, low eighties, but we've always had a good constant breeze, so I mean it's it's been perfect.

00:03:23
Speaker 1: What uh, what's the resort do in terms of does has play tapered off? Or are you guys shut down now a week out? How does that look with you know, in terms of getting the court you know, as you as you get closer to the championship. How does you know play on the course vary?

00:03:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, basically from about gosh, I would say about March on, we limited play at the golf course. We shut the golf course down, at one pm Monday through Thursday, really limited play in the afternoons to give the golf course a break all the way up until we shut the golf course down completely, which which was a week ago last Friday. So basically May first, we shut the golf course down completely and we've had the golf course to ourselves to get it.

00:04:13
Speaker 3: Ready for the tournament.

00:04:15
Speaker 1: How nice is that?

00:04:17
Speaker 3: That's great, That's fantastic.

00:04:18
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, without that that extra time, it's pretty it's pretty challenging to get it ready, and and the resort has been really mindful of what they want to produce, so what they want to show the world, and you know, really have the best conditioned golf course that we can for the tournament.

00:04:35
Speaker 1: What so, what are you guys doing in those you know, the month lead up? I know, obviously, you know there's there's limited amount of stuff that you can do that has like an impact because there's almost like a lag behind you. You know, you do this and then that shows up a couple of months later all that work. But what kind of you know, is it is it mostly detail work? What does that look like with your guys? You know, these two weeks leading in.

00:05:02
Speaker 2: Two weeks leading. It is basically the golf course. You know, you've already got the golf course pretty much the foundation where you want it, and now it's just repetition, repetition, repetition, going through the detail work, you know, looking at the you know, the waste areas or the sandy areas, looking at you know, some areas that need improvement as far as we might have had a little bit of wear, getting those areas healed up, and it's just gonna be repetition. That's really about it as far as getting it ready for the tournament, and it's just managing the greens and the plane surfaces daily, really walking, you know, walking every square into the golf course, making sure it's where we want it in preparation for the tournament.

00:05:45
Speaker 1: That's so with Obviously everybody remembers twenty twelve. Obviously the weather, you know, it was it was an interesting week of weather between the rain, then you had the one windy day and then you had the you know to the cal mist days out there. How would you how do you know being out there since two thousand and three, right right right? How how would you say that conditions it generally are different in May versus August.

00:06:15
Speaker 2: I think we're in much better shape tournament wise. I think May is a great time to have the tournament because of the weather, you know, and you still have some of your overseating hanging, you know, holding in there. You have some more options that you don't really have in August. August is a pretty tough time to host a major. I mean it's you know, it's it gets the temperatures get really hot, You're dealing with afternoon thunderstorms. You know, eighty percent of the times. You know, May the weather's a little bit more. It's clear, you have fronts going through. You know, in August you're not going to get a cool front coming through, and May you have the potential of getting cool fronts coming through and getting different winds where August it's going to be pretty much a southwest wind every day, you know. But in May you've got the opportunity to have east, northeast winds, southeast winds, so it can be pretty unpredictable.

00:07:11
Speaker 3: So I really like having the tournament in May much better than I do in August. Yeah.

00:07:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the variable winds is such a dynamic factor out there because you know, the golf course is just so much different if the wind blows a different way, So hopefully we'll get a couple of different winds out there next week.

00:07:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's you know, Steven the golf professional and I we were talking about that yesterday. It's like, you know, May, really this past May, it's been as windy as you know, consistently windy as we can recall, and it's been a constant, you know, twelve to fifteen mile an hour wind, and it's been shifting southwest northeast, and it's it's been really good. So we're kind of hoping the same thing that you know holds true for the next two weeks. And you know, looking at the forecast for the next few days, you know it's calling for a high in the sixties I believe here on Thursday. So you know, the weather's really going to be unpredictable, which I think is going to leave leave, you know, lead to having you know, keeping those golf bros, you know, guessing, because they're not going to hopefully not be staring at the golf course with the same to win wind direction for four days and make them think about it a little bit.

00:08:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we might see a little bit more golf played in practice rounds. You know, these guys notoriously have cut down to you know, basically playing nine holes each day of practice rounds. And if if you want to see the golf course in different wins, you get you know, those holes play so much, so drastically different when the wind's blowing, you know, northeast versus southwest right right.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: We had one of the tour guys in last week and and he had a.

00:08:52
Speaker 2: A northeast wind, which you know, you had nine holes playing down win and you know, and the golf course plays a little bit easier, you know, with that that wind direction. He came in the next day and he's like, wow, this is uh, this is you know, the wind changed on him. You know, those there's a stretch of holes that now we're into the wind, and it was a totally different golf course. And that middle stretch of holes six through thirteen, those are some pretty tough holes and if you're having to beat balls into the wind through that stretch, it can be tough. And so that you know, we're really hoping that's going to be the case where those those winds are going to change on them through the week.

00:09:28
Speaker 3: During the tournament.

00:09:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it gives you if when there's that southwest wind, it gives you right, that's the southwest wind when those holes play into it. Yeah yeah, And it's like the start is like it kind of eases you in on the start and then you got you got six through fourteen or thirteen or just a bear. It's just like it's going. It's like going through ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer, right right.

00:09:56
Speaker 3: You know, so you look at it.

00:09:57
Speaker 2: I mean you're like, you say, your first three rounds holes, you know, one through one through four, I mean fours are pretty challenging par four, but you know those those holes being into the wind. But you get into that middle stretch, those middle rounds, and you take those body blows, you know, from six through thirteen. You know, you just know you want to see how the guys when they get to fourteen they got a few, you know, some coming home down wind. You know how many body blows they take and how beat up are they after that stretch of holes. You know, so that kind of makes those holes play a little bit different.

00:10:28
Speaker 1: Everything I've read about the Ocean course heard, you know, it talks about how it's and obviously with the setting right on the ocean, it's one of the golf courses that moves the most of any golf course in America because the wind blows sand and you know, just things evolve because of just the natural setting of the golf course. You've been there for almost twenty years. Now, how's the golf how's the golf course evolved?

00:10:52
Speaker 3: You know, I was sitting there thinking about that this morning on the way into work.

00:10:55
Speaker 2: I was like, Wow, I've I've had the ocean course, been with the ocean course for two of its life.

00:11:01
Speaker 3: So it's how's it evolved? It's evolved.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: It started evolving day one, you know, even during the Ryder Cup. Because the sand constantly moves, constantly shifts. You get dune started, you get areas where you know, sand blows up and creates dunes, and we you know, we kind of go in and try to work on that. So it's it does evolve, but the it evolves around the edges, so that you know, that's kind of what we see happening out here. So it's it's always it's always on the move, and we just try to hang on and keep up with it.

00:11:32
Speaker 1: That's uh. In terms of the changes. I know Scott Sherman and has been working with your team there. How do you anticipate You've got some new tea boxes and from what I understand, some new you know, spectator patterns so that you can use some bacties. How do you how do you see the you know setup flexibility being you know different from twenty twelve this year, well, we.

00:11:58
Speaker 2: Added a little bit of yardage on holes number six and number eighteen, and basically on holes number twelve we were unable to use the back teas because of patron you know, where the gallery was going. So we we as a team looked at moving those teas to the north side of number eleven green or the you know, to the right of eleven green as you stare at it, so it plays you know, they will he'll be able to use utilize that hole.

00:12:26
Speaker 3: The yardage on hole number twelve, So we linked it in a little bit on a couple of holes.

00:12:30
Speaker 2: In one hole, we kind of left the yardage the same, but just repositioned the t so, you know, as far as wholesale changes, really didn't change much other than just having a little bit of yardage on sixty ease.

00:12:41
Speaker 1: Is that why they had twelve play as a short part four during twenty twelve.

00:12:45
Speaker 2: No, I think that Carrie was Carrie was looking at doing, you know, playing you know, a short par four on a couple hole.

00:12:55
Speaker 3: Number twelve was.

00:12:55
Speaker 2: An option, but we played number three as the driveable par four, but number twelve was kind of a backup plane, just in case you had the wind direction.

00:13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. They go different directions. Uh, that's uh. How did you end up at the Ocean Course? What were where were you at before two thousand and three?

00:13:15
Speaker 3: I got strong armed? In't coming down?

00:13:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, you got. You got strong armed working on the working on the Atlantic Ocean every day.

00:13:23
Speaker 3: That's oh, No, I got, I got. I was down at Turtle Point.

00:13:27
Speaker 2: And honestly, the Ocean Course has always been a dream job of mine, and it's been something that you know, it's a it's a golf course that I would think any golf course superintendent would want to, you know, be a part of.

00:13:39
Speaker 3: And but I was.

00:13:40
Speaker 2: I was a golf course superintendent at Turtle Point and the opportunity arose in two thousand and three, and I was fortunate enough to be given the job to come here and it's been a it's been a pleasure ever since. And it's like I've told some other guys, it's I've taken from Kio one much more than you know I've given ke. I mean, it's it's been a it's been a true enjoyment to work here.

00:14:03
Speaker 1: How long were you at Turtle Point before you moved over?

00:14:06
Speaker 2: I was at Turtle Point. Well, I got on the island in nineteen ninety and I was an assistant at Cougar Point, became the superintendent there at Cougar Point in UH ninety two, and then I was moved to Turtle Point in ninety three and stayed at Turtle Point from ninety three to three, and then was moved over.

00:14:27
Speaker 3: To Ocean Course in three. So then you are thirty.

00:14:32
Speaker 1: We got down there right after Hugo.

00:14:34
Speaker 3: That's correct, That's right. Yeah.

00:14:36
Speaker 1: Well what was that like when you got to tur Cougar Point, had you know, had a lot of the cleanup and done or were you still amidst the cleanup?

00:14:45
Speaker 3: What you know?

00:14:46
Speaker 1: And how often did you visit down the road at the at the Ocean Course?

00:14:51
Speaker 2: Well, I was, I was in I was in an intern in nineteen eighty nineteen eighty nine, So I was here prior to Hugo went finished up and graduated in nineteen ninety and I came back. I mean, ultimately, the island was a completely different island when I got got back. I mean in eighty nine, there was tall pines over the whole island and it was pretty encased in pines and oaks. When I came back, well there's no more pines anymore. All the pines were pretty much decimated about it, probably lost ninety percent of the pines. And then, you know, I came down here quite often when Pete was building the golf course, and you know, it was basically a sandbar with sand dunes on it. And they started putting some grass down and shaping dunes out and grasping the center lines. And I told George Fry, was then the director of golf maintenance. I said, but you know, you're my hero if you could grasp this thing. And because the amount of sand blowing everywhere, it was a it was a true challenge. But they did get it grown in and I was fortunate to be a part of that process, coming down and working with George and their team. And you know, so I really around since the golf course came into existence.

00:16:04
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00:17:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, and it's one of those things that you you better not twell on the pressure because it'll consume you. You just you have to go out and you have to do your best every day and just live with that. And like I told George, I said, you know, it's amazing you guys did what you did and growing that thing in. I'm glad at the time, I was only only twenty four and sometimes ignorance is bliss, so I was.

00:17:36
Speaker 3: I had no pressure. He had all the pressure, and I got to watch him pull his hair out.

00:17:40
Speaker 1: With the ocean course being obviously a resort, you get a lot of one time players, first time players. I think you maintained and obviously the way it's evolved it looks different than it did originally. Would your approach to maintenance And obviously you know I was there in January, the conditioning was absolutely phenomenal. But I'm interested in to hear do you think the maintenance in the you know, presentation would be different if it was say a private club that did ten thousand rounds a year instead of a highly trafficked resort.

00:18:13
Speaker 2: You know, that's a That's a good question, and it really you know, we've you know, I can only you know, answer that as far as you know, looking at it from you know, as a resort, bucket list kind of thing.

00:18:24
Speaker 3: And you know, we really maintained the golf course to a very high standard.

00:18:29
Speaker 2: And you know, of course, if you limit play on any golf course, I think the conditioning is going to be better just because of less wear and tear on it. But I you know, I don't see, you know, being a private golf course, that the conditioning would be any different than what you see today.

00:18:46
Speaker 1: You guys converted from you were you were a part of the you were the head superintendent when you guys converted from Bermuda Grass to pass Palam. Can you talk about that process, the decision to go to pass Palam And I believe that you guys didn't do it without ever closing for renovation.

00:19:03
Speaker 3: Correct, No, we did close.

00:19:06
Speaker 2: And it's kind of funny because when when I came down here in three we were in a process. The greens were really struggling, and you know, Pete had said, hey, we're gonna we want to grass and with past ballum, Well, I'll be quite honest, with you. I'd never heard of pass ballum and went and looked at some where. Pete said that we were gonna get this pass ballum from went to the sod farm and honestly, I walked out on this side farm and the grower says, well, the pass ballun's right over there, and it was like I was walking out into a middle of a field of clumps of grass and looked like the lunar surface. I'm like, Okay, this is what we're gonna plant, and the Pete's like, yeah, we're planting that grass everywhere. So we we put the pass ballum in, and really the decision was because of our water quality and Pete was, you know, had used some pass ballum down in a couple other golf courses and was, you know, really was strong on it. We put it in and the growing process was pretty much the same as what we did with Bermuda grass, and we planted it July first and August eighteenth, we opened the golf course up for play, and in November of that year we had the World Cup and we haven't looked back since.

00:20:20
Speaker 1: How's the How did it change the way the golf course played? When you guys switched to that grass.

00:20:26
Speaker 2: You know, past ballum is a little bit the texture is different, of course than what you're going to find ultra dwarfs of bermuda. The ball sits up a lot better on the pass ballum on your tea's, your fairways, your greens. The greens are a little bit different managing the greens. Ultra dwarf bermuda grass is are a little bit finer, and they're honestly, they're easier to make quicker, where past ballum you got to put a little bit more effort into it and just the knowledge of the grass. So you know, you want to manage these succulents in past ballum to get the same kind of green speed that you get on ultra dwarf. So you know, with that being said, it's you know, the pass ballum around your approaches and stuff. You can mow it a lot lower than what you can mow regular four nineteen. I mean, you can mow it's nothing. And it's one of the funny things is out here at this golf course or we're playing a pass ballum on the greens, our greens are actually growing in size. The guys you're starting to mow outside of sprinkler heads and stuff. We have to keep bringing them in so that you know, it's kind of testament to that grass how durable it is.

00:21:29
Speaker 1: That's interesting. So say you wanted to change with it being rough and fairway, Say you wanted to change a fairway line for for the PGA, and you're you bring a fairway line in when you go back to resort play and say you want to bring that fairway line out, is it as simple as just mowing it back down?

00:21:47
Speaker 3: Pretty much?

00:21:47
Speaker 2: Pretty much, You'll you'll take a little bit of time and you'll, you know, you'll just gradually bring those hikes back down to wherever you want those fairway lines to go back, and you know the it's gonna be's it's a pretty easy transition from you know, the fairway lines that you have for a major championship back over to resort So we've got past ballum. We've kind of have a mutual fund of grass out here in the fairways and roughs. We have some pass ballum in four nineteen where you know, it's it's easy to make those changes like that.

00:22:18
Speaker 1: What did you guys make any fairway line adjustments for the championship?

00:22:22
Speaker 3: We did.

00:22:23
Speaker 2: We tweaked a few fairway lines, moving them closer to the sandy areas, tightened those areas up and created some more rough in some areas.

00:22:33
Speaker 3: So yeah, we did tweak some fairway lines with.

00:22:36
Speaker 1: The with the changes that you guys made. Obviously, the new t's everything a new date. Is there anything that you're excited to watch a particular whole particular you know, we talked a little bit about the stretch of holes from six to thirteen, But is there a particular thing that you're really eager to see the pros play and how the tournament works around something.

00:23:00
Speaker 2: The thing that I'm most excited about is that the timing of when the tournament is and and the timing of it being in May kind of reminds me of a lot like when we had the ninety one Ryder Cup in September that time of year, because you you have that the chance of variable winds, a good wind. So, you know, as far as watching a particular hole, I really don't have a particular hole.

00:23:25
Speaker 3: I think all the holes are going to be.

00:23:26
Speaker 2: Fantastic because of the opportunity of the wind directions and the changes and stuff like that. So I'm really excited to see how the golf the golf course plays and you know.

00:23:38
Speaker 3: What kind of tournament we're going to have.

00:23:39
Speaker 1: Could you talk a little bit about your experience working with Pete Dye and what that was like as as a superintendent, and you know, just if you have any great stories about about your time with him, I'd love to hear them.

00:23:53
Speaker 2: You know, Pete, he was always fantastic to work with and it was I was always you know, I'd go pick up Pete from the executive airport here on John's Island at eight o'clock in the morning and we would get to the golf course at you know, eight thirty and Pete was on the go until dark. He was twice my age, almost twice my age, and he was pretty much wearing me out. And you know, just getting getting Pete walking the golf course, you know, just hearing what he was thinking as far as you know, how he wanted a particular hole or an area shaped out. You know, you know that'll play, you know, that'll play one way for you know, the high handicapper, and then how it's going to play for the tour guy. And it was always interesting to listen, you know, how he would, you know, even if it was just cutting you know grass, you know, changing the heights of turf in certain areas. So you know, it was always fun to work with Pete.

00:24:51
Speaker 3: You know.

00:24:52
Speaker 2: I remember we were shaping out number eight green and had a smith go and and Pete, you know, get off and told me get off that smith go and you know, watching him just get out there and shape the green. And you know how he would you know, work the work the ground. I mean, he was a he was a man's man.

00:25:07
Speaker 3: I mean he was one of the guys that he was just one of the guys.

00:25:10
Speaker 2: You know, he would jump in and start doing the things, you know, you know, shaping it out of himself and kind of working with you on what he envisioned. So you know, he was he was a true ambassador to golf. You know, he would be the guy that at five o'clock in the afternoon when you're kind of winding down, he says, I'm going for a walk and he would come up and you know, the people be playing golf and he would walk up out of the dune on whole number eleven and you know, here's here's Pete Die coming up talking to you know, these guys that are there's a bucket list golf course and here comes the architect walking out of the dude. So it was always amazing to watch him interact with golfers and how you know, you know, how open he was just going to talk to people and talking about the golf course, and he just truly loved the game of golf, and it was it was.

00:25:55
Speaker 3: Fun to be around.

00:25:57
Speaker 1: Obviously, to work until he did, you have to be really love what you do. And I think that's the thing with golf architects. I feel like they never retire because you know that this doesn't feel like a job. Ever.

00:26:09
Speaker 2: I don't think it ever was a job for Pete, and it was just he truly loved it, and you know, just you know, being around somebody that enjoys what they do that much is infectious to everybody around them. So it was always you know, he was one of those guys that just picked everybody up and it was fun to be around.

00:26:27
Speaker 1: Any good stories in particular like wildlife encounters or you know, any anything that jumps to mind of what do you know something you think back and remember about Pete?

00:26:38
Speaker 2: I wish I could find it, but I recall that Pete was walking into a meeting and I took a picture and Pete had a pet raccoon, and I remember and this raccoon, he's walking into this meeting and this raccoon he stopped there and baby raccoon was trying to climb up his pantlet, like you know, only Pete. But I mean, Pete was Cassie. There's you know stories about Pete. It's just Pete was just Pete. I mean he was always out, you know, out and about and just you know, he was always in the dirt. And I think the biggest thing about Pete, Pete set of plans were drawn in the dirt.

00:27:19
Speaker 3: Wants the wind blew. Those set of plans were gone forever.

00:27:24
Speaker 1: That's why you had to carry a notebook around, right.

00:27:26
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right.

00:27:28
Speaker 2: Take a yeah, because we didn't have h we didn't have cell phones with cameras back then.

00:27:34
Speaker 1: That's yeah. Drawing stuff at the sand? Was that the best place for that?

00:27:38
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:27:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it was there was. There was quite a few pictures drawn in the sand out here. I'm sure a lot of his places he's been, so.

00:27:48
Speaker 1: Do you uh, you know being down there, you've been there, forever do you You obviously you live off the island, right, Yeah.

00:27:54
Speaker 3: They haven't given me a home on the island, so I have to live off the.

00:27:59
Speaker 1: What are they going to give that home?

00:28:01
Speaker 3: Uh?

00:28:02
Speaker 2: Never, No, it's uh, Honestly, I don't think I could live at work. I split it up time out here, but no, I do. I live about thirty minutes off the island, and it's uh, it's always. I mean, I get to come to this golf course and I see the sunrise every morning. I mean it's I'm so, I'm just a fortunate person to be able to do what I do. And man, it's a it's a don't tell anybody, but it's a it's a pretty uh, it's a pretty special job.

00:28:29
Speaker 1: Has it ever snowed out there? I was wondering about that. I was down there in January. It was really cold, but a couple of days, but I was wondering if it ever snowed out there.

00:28:38
Speaker 2: It has, well, I'm trying to remember those A few couple of years ago, we've had there's probably about six inches of snow on the ground on the golf course out here. We've had it where there's been two inches of ice all over everything. So uh, sometimes we we we get hit with some winter weather like that. But uh and this old, this old golf course that comes through pretty good.

00:28:59
Speaker 1: After Yeah, I mean that has to be. I remember this year there's some snow down in South Carolina and seeing the pictures of the golf courses was just incredible, Like you see it on those uh on the Bossy Oaks and it's it's just like, well it's a it's a crazy, crazy site. So, you know, got a last question before we let you go. We know it's a busy week, but what are your for people going down to Charleston, you being a local down there, what are what are your food best food recommendations, you know, for you know out off island, you know in town. Where where should people stop?

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Best food recommendations. We got some really good Mexican restaurants downtown. You've got Whole Steakhouse, You've got great steaks downtown. But I'm gonna tell you the best steak I've had yet is here at the uh the Ocean Room at Kiowa. They they by far have the best steaks in Charleston. So uh, I'm gonna recommend, highly recommend Q and golf resort just because they got the best chefs in the area and you know as far as that, and I don't leave the island to go because the foods are good.

00:30:11
Speaker 1: Look at that company man, he's trying to I see you're trying to make the play for the house.

00:30:16
Speaker 3: You got it.

00:30:17
Speaker 1: You know, you sell enough sticks, they might give you one.

00:30:21
Speaker 3: I've got my own cows. I'll go butcher them.

00:30:24
Speaker 1: That's great. Well, Jeff, good luck next week. Can't wait to watch the championship and you know, really excited to see the golf course in May, and hopefully we get a little bit of a little variable weather, you know, a little bit different each day. That's what we'll be rooting for. And if we get a cool Thursday, they'll probably be a good sign.

00:30:45
Speaker 2: Right, that's sure. Well, make sure you stick your head into Stone Village.

00:30:49
Speaker 3: And say hello.

00:30:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, thanks so much, Jeff, all righty, thank you, thanks, thanks for listening.

00:31:04
Speaker 1: To another edition of the Friday Podcast and our Superintendent series. Big thanks to Toro for making that possible. They're a great partner. This episode was edited by Meg Atkins and Garrett Morrison and a quick reminder check out our pro shop. It's a major championship week, We're gonna be pumping out content. Our newsletter is going out daily. That's free. Sign up on our website. You also get to the Pro Shop via the website, so go to the website, sign up for the newsletter, check out the Pro Shop. If you need a new hat, new polo, we've got those and all kinds of other stuff in the Pro Shop. So thanks again for tuning in, and we hope you enjoy this PGA Championship