MountainKing

I haven't been there in years, but if I remember the place correctly, that's one heck of an impressive slice to get one into the lake. If they're worried about re-tee' and pace of play, might be time to throw a drop area up in the fairway 120 out. You hit in the water - next step is to go drop up there. Why put that on the starter if it's a constant issue? Some of these courses need to do a better job helping themselves out.

If you're thinking about it this much without spending a dime, then you probably should move on and look at something else. My approach - I don't buy anything that I haven't been fit into.

Coyote Run did the same thing last time I was there. I did ask the starter what the point was since the damage was already done, and I got looked at like I'm the crazy one.

I fell in love with the MG gloves, and since they were cheap as could be over the years I've stocked up on them like they're going out of business. Given how many I have, and how cheap they were, I'll just toss the glove and pull out a new one if it gets in too bad of shape. I usually only keep the glove on to hit a full shot so even in the worst conditions I normally can get a few rounds out of a glove before sweat kills it.

I like the guys at Prairie Bluff. They don't put up with nonsense.

Not that I want to make assumptions based on looks, but I'd be willing to risk my life savings these 4 were not friends with any of the rangers. Arrowhead is another place, like Prairie Landing, where the staff leaves a lot to be desired. Pro shop gave us a lashing earlier this year for showing up to early to a 6:20 tee time cause he wasn't ready to go. Feel like the starter is always yelling into his radio on 1 when teeing it up. Had some ranger messing with the dang water jugs making a ton of noise while we were hitting... which doesn't bother us but I could see others really getting annoyed with it.

They had the greens running at almost 13 at that time. No public course that gets as much play as Arrow does should be running that fast for weeks on end. Most private courses don't even do that, and when they do it's for days at a time, not weeks. They got a new super this year, have a feeling some of this is rookie error with trying to see what his new toy can do.

Back out to Arrowhead yesterday, and there's a lot to take in. As I predicted, they pushed it to much in early on and now it's showing some pretty good wear. A few of the greens have dead patches and will probably need to be sodded. Others have disease or signs of stress. With all the moisture and lack of mowing they were probably running at a cool 9. It was a bit odd to see downhill putts hit firm still come up short. Very different course now than it was two months back. With the weather we've been having, it is what it is. Pace of play was another story. We started on the west 9 and the group in front of us fell behind pretty quick. We come off of 9 and the group is still getting drinks, food etc. We tried to jump but the starter said no. He then tells us they're fine, they played in 2:15.... we have some back and forth about how they're not keeping up, but the starter made it clear that doesn't matter. By the time we were able to tee off, the 4 ball behind us, and the group behind them were all on waiting. Starter was getting it from them as well, glad they all spoke up. Back 9 was another 2:15, but add in 15 minutes for the stop at that turn and 4:45 is what you got. If you're going to say 2:15 is okay, at least make it so you need be on hole 10 teeing off within 2:15. Most of the back we had 3 groups on every hole. Why is a golf course allowing one group to ruin things for the rest? Lots of rangers out, what's the point? They're just being paid to drive around and wave, take em off the payroll and lower the greens fees. 1 birdie, 2 bogies, 73. After yesterday's experience, we probably will pop this one out of the rotation for the rest of the year. I'm sure they'll miss us.

The two pro's were in there, so at least it wasn't just a kid or older guy running the register when they came in. They don't really put up with a ton, especially guys like this. Also 100% agree on the lightning. If they don't sound the siren for it - then you are leaving the course on your own doing, no rain check should be issued, and more if you go wait it out, you don't get your spot back on the course.

If you aren't going to abide by the pace rules they have in place - then I 100% agree with this! What I don't understand is if there's rain on the radar, how you don't ask what the rain check policy is BEFORE you go play. They did have it out there, but we know that people like this can't really read to begin with.

It was the slow group who I think dropped after 17. So even more amusing. They felt like they were owed at least 9 holes since they didn't finish. Pro-rate that out it would have been less than $5, I can't believe anybody would think taking 10 minutes go get $5 is worth their time. Back 9 pace was going to be pushing 2:30, that alone should disqualify anybody for a rain check when they would have easily made it if they were moving at a reasonable pace. It's amazingly obvious how easy these covid golfers are to identify. For the sanity of us, and course employees, I'm really hoping we're nearing the burst of that bubble. Growing the game is fine, but these guys IMO are not growth, they are destroying it.

Sunday we went out to Prairie Bluff for a morning round. Weather was looking iffy and there was some debate if we should just stick to the range and hit some balls or give it a go. We gave it a go. Course was saturated as expected from all the rain, but it was in fantastic shape despite that. Greens were on the slower slide, but rolled great, and the bunkers held the water really well. Pace was great on the front, we got through in an hour and 20. On the back we hit a wall with pace, and looking at the sky the weather clearly was going to take a turn, but the three groups in front of us were just out there like nothing was going on. The group in front of us would all sit in their carts and wait until until the group were well beyond range until they actually got out and started their pre shot nonsense. The heavens opened up on us on hole 16, luckily all the slow pokes abandoned ship. We were on foot so we just stuck it out and it was a wet wet finish. If these dang covid golfers would have all worked with a bit of urgency, they easily could have finished, along with the two groups behind us prior to the weather. Instead they found themselves inside arguing about rain checks, unreal. I chirped to the pro I know behind the counter they deserve nothing cause their slow play is what caused them to end up in the rain. Anyway, 2 birdies, 2 bogies for a solid even par round. Yesterday was back out to Fyre Lake. I say it every time, but I enjoy the place more and more with every round. Scenic, challenging, a perfect mix between risk/reward, target golf and everything in between. Much like our area, they were hit hard with rain in the last week seeing several inches, so it was a bit softer than usual, but greens were still great and rolled at about a 10. The place holds water well, even in the low areas. Once tho required amenities get put that will get the big guys to finally rank the place, you're going to probably see it in the top 3. $120 weekday rate for all day play, $30 in gas, you can't beat it for the value either. Morning 18 had a tough start going 4 over in the first 5 holes, from there one birdie and one more bogey for a 75. Afternoon 18 tossed in an eagle on 2, birdie on 10 and 15, but balanced that out with a couple doubles and a couple bogies for a 72. Since the course was empty after our second round and we went back out and played I think 7 more, just jumping around to some of our favorite holes. Fyre really is just an incredible golf experience.

All good points - I guess the way I look at it, is just this one event alone doesn't offer anything to either side, it's more getting into what potentially could be the future. What does Grant get out of it if he can't do his thing with it? At that point he's just another guy who will be south of the cut line.

That's a whole other conversation - and much like I wouldn't work for a company that required me to be in the office. I would be real hesitant to go to a US based company that followed this practice. Crazy enough tho, it seems like the companies that are "return to office", are also the same companies that rely heavy on outsourcing to other countries.

I don't know his entire ledger - you look up his company details since it's all public record in FL, and he's the owner of his company, on top of being part owner of For Welness and Takomo. I'm sure he pays a salary out to his production crew, and with taxes and all that I'm guessing he's still raking in well into the low millions. Much less stressful way to make millions compared to the average tour guy you pointed out who is grinding away at it...and if he misses the cut this weekend he makes $0 - where Grant is probably still raking in thousands from doing nothing because his business has a lot of passive income built into it. You just seem to be against all of it, which is fine, ignore it, but to think it's not something that's taking off, taking off fast, and will be a pretty big thing for the foreseeable future, is foolish.

I look at as more of an opportunity for them to figure out how to get in the space with these guys, and figure out how to make it work for them. Like anything in business, there's an opportunity to figure out how to make it work for both sides. Maybe there was some negotiations on it and one side didn't like the offer. Who knows. The problem with the tour is it seems like they're looking to how it adds value today, vs what the value potentially could be. With Bryson - I'm a bit shocked LIV hasn't taken more steps to get into that world, outside of letting it's guys do their thing.

Work from home is still a thing for companies that aren't stuck in old ways, with the exception of jobs that you just 100% cannot do from home. Those that reverted, are stuck in archaic old ways that will eventually cost them with finding good talent and paying insane operating costs with the overhead. Both my wife and I work from home, along with many of our friends. I personally would never work for a company that required me to be in an office for any significant periods. When I'm looking for talent for my teams, I am grateful to be able to look at individuals from all 50 states, as opposed to a pool of people that are local mixed in with a handful who would be willing to move. But anyway - this really has nothing to do with the topic.

Did somebody force you to click on this thread and spend time in here?

You said numbers are your thing - all the numbers are there across the various platforms, and it's easy to find out how many views/followers he has across various platforms he's on. There's some variables in there so it's possible it's less than 4, and possible it's more than 5. Even with that, it's still millions. Excluding Grant specifically and golf, Youtube alone pays out to creators $10's of billions a year - it's an enormous space/industry with a ton of money floating out there. And that's just YT, don't forget about all the other social media platforms out there as well, nobody is on just one.

As somebody who tried to make money in golf, and has been an investor in content creation (not in the golf world but I am kicking myself at missing a few opportunities there), my golf earnings is in the red, my investment in content on the other hand has been some of the best returns I've seen on the dollar. It is absolutely a wild world we live in right now.

The pandemic accelerated a lot of things. You can be in denial about it, but golf content is here and it's not a trend. As you pointed out, it's had a slow uptick for many years and now we're seeing the results of how compounding numbers over time works. Even if it dies off with a generation that still isn't born, it's not going to be an overnight drop, just like it wasn't an overnight success. Youtube golf is here and it's going to be a thing for many years, and based on how the younger folks operate, it's probably going to eventually be THE thing. If you were running the PGA Tour - why you wouldn't want to get in on that is beyond me, but it seems like a foolish business decision to turn it away.

Never said it was easy money, or if I did I probably didn't spell out that it's a much easier living than trying to play - these influencers work harder than most imagine, and like anything at some point it's a job for them. With that, if you're coming out of college and wanting to make money playing golf, and you're staring down grinding away on mini tours, Monday qualifiers and q school vs trying out the Youtube thing...... There's more ways than ever to make money from golf without having to beat yourself up on the range and tournament after tournament.

Grants making $4-5 million a year just in content alone, nevermind sponsor money. If that's not cleaning up, I don't know what is. A lot of the lesser known guys are still making well into the 6 figures, traveling free of charge and playing golf for a living. Even if the end result is a desk job in 10 years - who cares? The PGA tour average of 1.7 million is not a lot of money when you break down how expensive it is to play on tour as a nobody, and it's not anything they can live off of if they lose their card, so yeah end result there would also be a desk job.

I'm not 100% sure that first question has a great answer today - I don't think they really gain anything immediately other than showing they're a partner into that world. Who knows what the future holds, youtube golf world could die tomorrow, or it could become the way all golf is consumed by the future fan, and where all the sponsors go with their money, or something in between each extreme.. If it is the later, they could look at moments like this to where they had a chance to get in on it, and they elected not to. Refusing to be forward thinking until it's too late has been the death of many companies..... Blockbuster?

If you're in the top 100 - you're not in that low level. $1.7 in earnings on tour also isn't that much when you start taking in what it costs to survive on tour with travel, taxes and the expense of having a team around you. The guys I'm talking about tho are guys who are struggling year after year going broke to try and keep a card. Re-read that quote - I'll break it down better in case you struggle with english. Youtube has been around for 20 years. Content creators have been around for 20+ years in other aspects of life that are not golf related Content creation in the golf world hasn't really taken off until the last 5 years As far as golf specific, just because you weren't aware of them, doesn't mean there weren't guys out there doing it and making a name. Everything starts somewhere. Golf was probably 10 years late to the party. Some of the early guys tho: Rick Sheils and Mark Crossfield I think both started back in 2010. Me and My Golf I think started not long after those two. TXG has been putting content out there for probably 10 years now. Garret, who eventually ended up on Good Good, has been on youtube for many years prior to Good Good.