You are moving from Official Commissioner to Non-Playing
Captain. How do you feel about that?
I feel really good about it. In the commissioner role, I usually make
about one ruling a year. It’s a fun opportunity
for more involvement. Also, my rulings
have to be completely objective – that’s only fair. With this, I get to have a little more skin
in the game.
This is your first time you’re playing for points in a
number of years.
Yeah – at least
six or seven years.
Didn’t any of your rounds as a substitute player count for points?
Well, I’ve been on tap to play, but never actually had
to. Remember, the trip to St. George
where Brandon was sick, was probably the closest I’ve had to get. But he had the miraculous return in front of
Gov. Herbert.
Are you nervous, then?
Well yeah. My
hands aren’t that great and I don’t have a ton of stamina. The last time I played 18 holes (edit: with
Brandon at his club last week), the last few holes were pretty ragged.
But I heard the front nine holes were totally on point
Yes. My driving
was great. I’m hoping that with five or
six more rounds, I’ll be getting more stamina and ready.
How are you preparing for the Desert Cup?
Well, I’m getting really good at driving the golf
cart. I’m also trying to get in 10,000
steps each day!
In addition to mastering your cart driving, how are you
preparing?
Just trying to get in more 18-hole rounds
Moving on to your captaincy, how did you approach
choosing your team?
Kerry and I broke the pool of players into low, medium, and
high handicap golfers. We took turns –
and while you don’t get everyone you want, I had a feel for who I thought had a
good chance of scoring. I also tried to
think about people who could ham-and-egg together. But the fact is this – someone on Thursday
could be red hot and then not even be able to find the fairway on Saturday.
Both you and Kerry are original members of the Cup. Looking back over the years, what stands out
the most?
I think that there are two things. First is the growth. If you think about it, we’ve grown from 4-man teams to 10-man teams. 72 holes to 96. It seems to me that the courses over the past few years have also gotten more difficult. A lot big carries off the tee.
But more importantly is the camaraderie. Once
someone has played in the Desert Cup, no one wants to give it up. There’s great camaraderie, it’s a great time,
and everyone wants to do it. Some of the guys want to know during the Desert Cup when it will
be next year so they can get it on the calendar. I'm one of those guys.
