Charles Coody - Part 2 (The Rest of the Story)

Mike Gonzalez 0:16

If you had a chance to have your grandson's catty for you at the par three tournament, I can remember in the 90s I I probably saw you uh just about every year because I went with my father and my two brothers and uh and we would just we just come from the practice rounds and we'd finished up with the par three. We'd sit behind that little short number two hole, so we probably saw you.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Oh my uh well my grandsons uh Parker and Pearson uh they uh they were born in uh January of 2000 and they started caddy for me when they were six in the par three when they were six years old. And they caddied uh six, oh eight, oh in uh two thousand ten, and then uh they cadded maybe about the last three years uh before they uh got into high school where they couldn't couldn't miss uh couldn't miss school.

Mike Gonzalez 1:04

So they had they had to get new caddy suits every year, then the way they were probably growing.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you the best the best the best memory I have of them cattying for me though is uh I I got to where I would tee off on the first hole and then and then I would put on the first green, and then uh each each green after that I would alternate. I would tee off and then I would let them putt. And one would hit with putting on number two, four, six, eight, and the other one would put uh with uh putt on three, five, seven, and nine. And so we get over on the uh uh fifth hole, and Parker is putting the uh the odd holes, and I've got a putt from about 15 or 20 feet from the left side of the hole, straight down the hill. And uh it's his turn to putt. And so I set the ball down and I I touched the green about a foot in front of the uh of the ball where I said, Parker, I said, if you hit it too hard, you'll knock it right off the green. I said, uh I want you to knock it. They call me pro. I said, I want you to knock it where pro has his finger right here. That's that's as far as I want you to hit the ball. And anyway he hit it. And fortunately it was a straight putt, and it rolled right down the green perfectly and rolled right in the hole. And so everybody's excited. And now we come around to number nine, and one twin has done something, and the other twin has not. And I hit my T shot on that hole about 25 feet behind the hole up on the on the hill. And and I I thought, okay, if if if I can get Pearson just to hit a decent putting here, that would be good. And it was the same type of situation. I I I touched the uh uh ground, the green about a foot, a foot and a half in front of the ball. I said, now Pearson, this is as far as I want you to hit the uh hit the putt. Uh so he hit it and darted, it rolled and rolled and rolled off the hill. And Lucas Glover, who had won the U.S. Open the year before, is holding the holding the flag for him. And my son Kyle has this on film. Anyway, and the ball rolled up right off perfectly off that hill and rolled down there and went in the hole. And so now both of them have sunk a putt. And we're this is the part that I like. We're walking back to the clubhouse. And Lynette and I are walking along there, and Pearson comes along just skipping. Then you know how little kids will just skip along. And they the grandkids have called uh uh uh uh Lynette Diddy, which is a nickname that we have for. Anyway, and and he's skipping along there, and she said, Pearson, that sure was a nice putt on number nine. And without missing a beat, he just kept skipping and turned around and grinned at her. He he said, Talent, diddy, just talent.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

That's a great story.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

And and the thing that I enjoy about that, he's still got that same confidence today. I mean, it and uh I told Kyle and my son, I said, if he's cocky, just let him be cocky. Don't don't try to knock it out of him because that's confidence. Just let him let him feel good about himself.

Mike Gonzalez 4:20

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I will tell you a story that uh, and I don't think the people at Augusta would mind me telling it because they know uh they know that it happened. Uh uh after the first round that uh first day when I shot 66, uh Bruce would uh would know this individual, uh Charles Yates.

Bruce Devlin 4:41

Sure do.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

You know, I would Charles Yates drove me to the press room. And after the second round, uh because I was still right there at the lead, even though I wasn't leading, uh he drove me to the press room. And then at the end of the third round, the same thing. And then after I've uh um uh uh after I've won the tournament, then he drives uh in the cart, he drives me and my wife Lynette to Butler Cabin. So uh every year when I would go back, you know, I would at some point in the week I would see Mr. Yates and uh you know, we would kind of reminisce about that a little bit. And I'm not sure exactly when he passed away, but about oh, five or six years before he passed away, he he came up to me, he said, Charles, he said, you remember uh because we've talked about it, my driving you to the press room and to Butler Cabin all those times in the year that you won. I said, Yes, sir, Mr. Yates, I certainly do remember. It was quite an honor to have someone someone like you uh driving me in to those places. He says, Well, you know, he said, uh, I've had this particular jacket ever since I became a member. And he said, I think I'm gonna get me a new one. And he said, I'd like to give you this jacket if you'd like to have it. And so I'm I'm I might be the only uh only uh former champion that uh was allowed to take a green jacket out of there that they knew about.

Bruce Devlin 6:20

That's nice.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

And I've I've got that jacket here at home. And then it's uh it's it's it's a it's a fond memory of mine because uh Mr. Yates and uh and Mr. Jones were boyhood friends growing up, and I'm not sure I I did know at one time, but I've forgotten what year uh Charlie Yates won the uh British amateur, so he was quite an accomplished golfer himself.

Bruce Devlin 6:45

He was a very good player. Charlie, there's there's one thing, there's a tradition at the Masters, as I understand it, for the champion's dinner. And uh everybody uh everybody puts together a menu for the for all the participants that are that there that year. And uh I understand that you changed things up a little bit uh for your dinner.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Uh no, it wasn't me because when when the when I uh when I you know the the the privilege that the defending champion has, which is uh back then it was quite expensive, you know. I think the uh the defending champion gets to host the dinner. And and I think the uh uh the dinner that uh that evening uh in 1972, I think it cost me about$2,500 or$3,000 or something like that, which was a pretty hefty expense.

Mike Gonzalez 7:46

And uh I I didn't know the defending champ had to pay for it.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Oh yeah, he pays for the dinner. And uh anyway, at least I assume they do, I assume they still do that. I don't know. But anyway, in 19, uh, you know, Sandy Sandy Lyle won uh won Augusta in uh in seven, what was it, 77? No, 87, I'm sorry. 87. Yeah, and anyway, we come back and and uh it's uh it's announced that uh uh Sandy Lyell has decided that he wants to have a special dinner. Prior to that, it was you ordered off the menu. Uh you ordered a steak, either a chicken of some sort or fish of some sort. And then you had all the uh hors d'oeuvres and cocktails beforehand, and then the drinks and et cetera, and so forth. And but he had announced that he wanted to uh have a specialty from Scotland, which he was gonna have was, and what he was gonna have was Haggett's. I mean, Bruce, I know you know what Haggett's is. You certainly do. You might know when I when I found out what Haggett's uh was, I said, there's no way that I'm I'm eating Haggett's, I'm having a steak. And so whenever whenever somebody brings a specialty in, that uh it's like when Tiger Woods won in uh in 90 seven, then he uh coming back in '98. He he had gotten a little bit of publicity about loving cheeseburgers. And so he was going to serve cheeseburgers. And I told Tiger, I said, Tiger, you're you're not getting out with the cheeseburger on me. You're getting I I'm ordering the best steak I can get. So whatever, we're saying whatever side in fact this next year, not that it gets sushi, but I will not eat sushi. I will probably have a steak.

Mike Gonzalez 9:44

Well put us put us in that room. I mean, for for our listeners who are uh listening to you recount uh your experiences at the Masters, Judge. You mentioned uh next year will be your 50th champion's dinner over that time. And and uh there's certain traditions at the dinner, there's certain cheating patterns and cheating arrangements, there's certain guys that speak and certain guys that don't. Why don't you just kind of put us in that room?

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Well, it's uh it's a wonderful evening. In fact, it's uh, you know, to somebody like myself being uh totally retired from uh any type of competitive golf now, it's uh it's really the the highlight uh of the year from a golf standpoint, or uh definitely a highlight of going back to uh Augusta each year for the tournament. And uh uh for years Byron Nelson was the uh master of ceremonies, and then uh Byron uh a few years before he died, he he kind of decided that he was going to turn over the reins of that. Uh and I don't know if he handpicked uh uh Ben Crenshaw or not, but Ben is now the Master of Ceremonies and does a nice job. And what you will have at the head table, you will have uh uh Ben as the Master of Ceremonies, the uh defending champion and the chairman, and then probably unless they have uh more than that, sit at the head table, they'll have maybe uh a golf professional or former champion that the uh defending champion has picked that will sit on either either end of the table. And then everybody else, there's no assigned seating, you just uh you just sit with uh whoever you like. For a number of years, uh, when it was held up in the uh uh upstairs area of the clubhouse there, uh the table was kind of in a rectangular uh type of uh setup. Uh and down at the far end was the uh the master of ceremonies uh where he sat the defending champion and the chairman and etc. And on the very far end of the table was where I call sometimes I call the reprobates. That's where the rest of us sat. I sat down there with uh Billy Casper and Gary Flair and Fuzzy Zeller and uh you know just different players and stuff like that, and it was it it I won't say it got kind of wild, but you can imagine with Fuzzy down there, there wasn't a quiet moment. But it's it's a it's just a it's just a great evening. Uh and the guys are are pretty good, everybody is pretty good at that at that at on the cocktail hour before the dinner of signing flags for one another that uh guys take back and uh and in most cases give them to charity. Like I brought a I brought a flag back this year this year that I've given to a local organization here in Abilene, which does a great job called Meals on Wheels. They uh they have those uh organizations in other cities, I think, too. But this one here really does a fine job for the local community and uh and they're gonna auction that off and they'll probably get somewhere between three and four thousand dollars for it for the uh for the charity. And that that's what a lot of guys do is they uh uh they they take the flags back home that they get signed and uh and give them to somebody that can raise some money for their uh their their organization, whatever it might be.

Mike Gonzalez 13:23

And there's probably a few stories over those 49 years that probably just need to stay right there, huh?

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Yeah, the uh uh the one the one story that probably most of everybody remembers is uh uh R. Wall, who R. Wall was a very, very good friend of mine. He he was probably the the the first really the name player on the tour that really befriended me when I came out. He came up to me at one of the early tournaments when I was playing and introduced himself like I didn't know who he was. Of course I did. And um told me that uh, you know, if I needed any help getting any uh shoe sponsor or shirt sponsor or something like that, that uh that he would be more than happy to try to help me with the uh company that was uh sponsoring him. And Hart and I became very, very good friends and uh and uh and he was so quiet. You know, uh Art uh I think he would have ye uh if I don't I don't think he would argue with anybody hardly at least it it just seemed that way. Anyway, and uh and one year they had uh they had brought uh I forgot who it was that came in and uh and did some redesign of uh you remember how the 13th green used to be, Bruce, and they uh uh they they widened it over to the left there and dropped it off to where now when you miss the green to the left you're down that little valley.

Bruce Devlin 14:55

Right, which is a tough little spot down there.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

And and stuff. And anyway, and some and some players were kind of complaining about that. And anyway, uh, and that's when Hard Harden was the uh chairman of of the tournament. And and art, like I said, he he you know, a few a few players would get up and and and tell stories or say something through the years, but Art never had. And we had no more than finished the uh uh what you might call the program of presenting the locket to the uh uh for the player's wife, to whoever it was that had won the that year that was defending champion that year. And Art stuck his stuck up his hand and he stood up and he said, uh uh Chairman Harden, I would like to ask a question. And and uh Mr. Harden said, uh, what is it, Art? He said, I always want to know what the hell it is you people are trying to do with this golf course. And and and for Art to stand up and say that, you know, he must have had a very, very strong feeling about some of the changes that have been made. So uh uh and not been not many people probably remember that, but I remember it very well because Art was such a good friend of mine.

Mike Gonzalez 16:19

Let's turn the attention quickly to uh other major championships uh that you participate in. And and one thing that jumped out, and I noticed you'd only played one open championship. And I know the British Open was a different deal for American players back in the day than it is today, but uh are there any regrets to just uh simply making one appearance across the pond in that tournament?

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Mike, that is a tremendous regret that I have. Uh I grew up on a little golf course in the town where I live, Stanford, that had probably more rocks than grass. Very, very small push-up greens. The greens were probably oh maybe thousand, twelve hundred feet in uh in square footage. And you learned how to to uh I was a much better uh chipper when I came on the green, uh around the greens uh when I came on the tour than I was when I left. And I think that that kind of became a little bit of a keyle's hill for me in the latter part of my my playing career. And uh but anyway, uh I went over that year and played and uh I was exempt because I'd won uh I'd won Augusta. I don't think I would have been exempt been exempt except for that reason. And anyway, I I I just I I fell in love with that kind of golf and uh and I uh uh to go over uh back then uh you know I played a lot of tournaments just to make a living and support my family. And and I knew that uh uh that uh I was I was gonna be missing some tournaments on on the regular tour, which uh so I I played four or five weeks prior. I went over the week before and uh and just to get acclimated and then wound up uh I think I tied for Phil, tied with Jack. Played played pretty good in the tournament. And uh didn't have a chance to win, but uh I played well.

Bruce Devlin 18:30

Played on a great track too.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Yeah, that was at Burgdale.

Bruce Devlin 18:35

Yeah, and uh terrific golf course.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Uh Trevino won that year. They that was his first year he won the open. And uh anyway, and so uh uh I'm flying home and I've I've I've played four or five weeks before, and I took a week off, and then I played the British Open, and quite honestly, I've I kind of would just worn myself out a little bit. And I'm flying home, and when I landed in Chicago to change planes or or to get off and go play the Western, I called uh I called the Western officials and told them I was with withdrawing and I was going home. I was just worn out. And uh and I uh in time with Jack, I won about$5,000, and I think maybe I broke even. You know.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

That's about right.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

And when it came time, uh uh what was the uh uh the head of the RA at that time was a fellow named uh McKenzie or something like that, Bruce. I don't I don't really remember. But anyway, he came up to me in Augusta. He said, Charles, we'll see you back at uh they're gonna play at Muirfield and see you back at Muirfield for the open this year. And I said, Well, I don't know, I'm trying to make a decision as whether or not to come. And I didn't go and uh and consequently I never did go again, and uh because it it took it took so much time away from uh you know the uh what uh what I was actually uh felt my calling was who was trying to make a living on the tour to to support the family. And that was a mistake. I uh I really regret that. I don't know that I don't know that I ever would have won the tournament, but it it was a kind of it was kind of golf that I played when I was a kid. And it was a lot of times it was played in the type of weather that I grew up in and cold and windy.

Mike Gonzalez 20:28

Yeah, and I think our younger listeners, they just probably don't have the uh uh an appreciation for the fact that this was not an easy trip back then. It wasn't an easy decision to make because, as you say, there are financial implications. You're generally gonna cost you a couple of weeks. You may miss some golf on the back end of the tournament. Uh it's expensive. And so unless you have a high finish, it may not pay off in the long run if you do this a lot of times. But uh uh, you know, today's fan would look at that and say, Well, wait a minute, really? That I I can't relate to that, but that's really the way it was, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Right. Well, see, it at that time the uh the the money wasn't official. In fact, it wasn't even an official win. Uh it it it I forgot what year it was, but it it uh eventually it became an official win on the tour. And and then it uh the money became official. So uh the money you would make there would uh would help as far as skipping uh tournaments on the regular tour. I don't know, Bruce, how how much did you play the British Open? You probably played a lot more than I did because it it it meant it meant so much to uh uh people from Australia and South Africa.

Bruce Devlin 21:40

Yeah, probably you know, if you look at it uh from from a uh what would be considered uh international players standpoint, uh the Open, or as it was back then, the British Open was probably the one championship that that players outside of America wanted to win. Um I think. I said on a when I was talking to Mike uh earlier that you know I that would have been a great tournament to win and I'd have loved to have won it. Uh I'm not sure if I had a choice between the British Open or the Masters which one I would rather have, except from a financial standpoint, as an international player, uh back in my day that would have been uh much war much more financially rewarding than what Augusta would have been.

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Right. Yeah, people have asked me that question, what you're answering right there, Bruce. And I said, well, to the uh to the international player, uh at that particular time, winning the British Open was probably as important, maybe even more important than winning Augusta. It definitely was more important than winning the U.S. Open or the PGA. The PGA and the U.S. Open are primarily uh important to the American-born players. And uh as far as uh you know one versus the other. But I think the Masters is is right there with uh with the British Open to all the players now. I agree.

Mike Gonzalez 23:10

Well, with the hard scrabble golf that you likely played down in Texas uh on the conditions you played in the wind, I would have suspected your game would have been well suited for that uh British Open.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Well, you know, I I played a tournament at at the uh at Turnbury in 1973. And Bruce, I don't know if you were there or not. But uh uh the second day they stopped it when the wind uh supposedly got to 77 miles an hour. And uh the the the traditional tin village that they had, it it it blew the tin village down. It had uh uh Pringle and uh uh uh some other make of uh uh sweater, cashmere sweater from uh from uh uh Britain at that time. They were scattered all over the golf course. And the last two days the wind never got below fifty. And uh and I at least that's what the report was. And I uh I won that tournament by about I think about four shots. And uh so I I could I could play in the wind halfway decently, you know, and it will say compared to my peers.

Mike Gonzalez 24:23

What what do you remember about winning the 1969 Cleveland Open over a couple of Aussies?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Uh I remember I'd I'd won, I'd been fortunate enough to win Dallas my first year. Uh the Dallas Open uh in 1964, and had had a couple of good chances to win uh prior to 69 and had not won. And uh you know, when you go uh five years before you win your second tournament or almost five years, you're beginning to wonder, okay, whether was that just a shot in the dark or what? But it was uh it was played on a very nice little traditional style golf course called Aurora, which was out uh I think it was east uh east of Cleveland.

Kathy Cornelius 25:10

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

And very very very very good condition, beautiful greens. And uh and I I that was my second victory, and I did uh I played very well. And I think Bruce Crampton finished second, if I remember correctly.

Bruce Devlin 25:26

That is correct, and then Bruce Stevlin won the year after that at Aurora.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

Was it Aurora where you won two?

Bruce Devlin 25:34

Yes, sir, it sure was. Thirty-six thirty-six holes on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Yeah. I remember see at uh uh that was the time that uh I came into uh uh to that tournament there as an opinion champion uh with uh with no golf clubs. All of our golf clubs had been stolen on the airline.

Bruce Devlin 25:56

Oh my. That makes it tough.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

And I w I wound up uh uh borrowing borrowing clubs from uh uh a set of irons from Miller Barber. And uh and that's how I got to play in the same shaft that uh Miller played and and Ben Hogan played called the uh uh True Temper NDI shaft. And uh anyway, so that's uh the uh Powerbelt made me a set of clubs that I played with for 13 years. They made me a set of clubs in a week. And that was the set of clubs that I won Augusta with and I played with for 13 years on the tour.

Mike Gonzalez 26:37

Was Colonial one of your favorite tour stops, Charles?

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Probably Colonial uh outside of winning Augusta. Uh Colonial was the tournament I wanted to win. And I I just uh I I fell in love with it as a kid, and it was it was really why I went to TCU. TCU had told uh Don Massingel and myself that we would uh that they they would get it to where we could play golf down there, the golf team could play golf. And they they neglected to tell us that Dan Jenkins had slipped book football players on and got the golf team kicked off about three years before that. And so the only time that Don and I ever got to play Colonial was when uh one of the local members would take us down there to play, which was uh you know, ever so often, but not very much. And uh and it it it just uh it's it's a golf Bruce Bruce won the tournament. And then in fact, uh uh what year did you win it, Bruce? About 65 or 6 or something like that.

Bruce Devlin 27:45

66, yeah. I won 66.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

66, yeah. It uh uh to me it's the uh it's the epitome of the old traditional uh style golf course that uh you know it's shot making, you gotta put the ball in a fair way. They used to have a lot of rough there, they don't have rough anymore. And so there's no there's no uh other unless you're uh unlucky enough to get behind a tree when you have a rough, you've got no problem. So it was just a great golf course, and I think that's uh that's one reason why Hogan won the tournament five five times. Probably would have won it more if he hadn't uh hadn't uh uh been hurting in a car accident.

Bruce Devlin 28:27

Charlie, talking about golf courses, uh you helped develop a golf course in Abilene. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

In my early sixties, uh I I'd been involved with building a golf course here in Abilene called Fairway Oaks in uh in the late seventies. In fact, we uh we had a tour tournament there for about seven or eight years. And then and then I uh I I became dissociated with that when I went on the senior tour. And and then in my early sixties when I was kind of retiring a little bit from from playing very much on the senior tour, I had a local friend come to me and say that uh there was a guy that wanted to build a public golf course. Would I be interested in in talking with him? And I said, No, not really. I've kind of had my feel of of being involved in building golf courses. And so I I told the gentleman that, and then he said, Well, will you at least just look at the at the property that he he had already picked out the property? He said, Would you at least just look at the property and tell me if we f if I picked out a good uh a good piece of land? And I went out there and immediately it was rolling terrain with uh a creek running through it and and just ideal for uh for a golf course. And uh and I I relented, I've I became involved with it and uh and there there's been uh a love hate with that ever ever since. You know, I I really love being involved with it, but uh it takes an awful lot of time. I'm at the point now where I really don't have the uh I just don't want to give that much time to doing it.

Bruce Devlin 30:12

Well, there's one other situation at that golf course, too. We nearly lost you there about three years ago, didn't we?

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Oh yeah. I now now you go tell people how stupid I am.

Bruce Devlin 30:24

Uh no, it's not gonna tell them how stupid you were. You you're lucky to be around today.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Oh gosh. I I'm I've been I'm lucky in several ways. I I just I'm just glad that none of my luck is the fact that uh no no jealous husband has ever had a reason to come holler at me. But uh but no, I uh uh we have uh that creek I was talking about, we have some low water crossings, and uh and this was the year when we had uh uh the most unusual rains that I ever remember in West Texas. Our annual rainfall is about 24 inches, and in that particular year we had about 48 inches, and so the low water crossings had uh had a constant flow of water going across them. And I was out just checking some things on the golf course one day in a cart, and there were three guys playing this one hole that uh they were going to have to go across the low water crossing. And I said before and I was that's one thing I was checking just to see how safe they were. And I said, guys, let me go across this crossing before y'all do, just to make sure it's all right. And it wasn't all right, because when I got out there in the crossing, it the water got underneath that cart and it just uh lifted it right up and just dumped me right in the creek. I was lucky that it didn't it it didn't dump the cart right on top of me because if it dumped it on top of me, I wouldn't have been able to get out the money.

Bruce Devlin 31:54

That's right. Well we heard all about that and I thought, now chuck.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Well, that that that wasn't my most uh uh shiny moment uh from an intelligence standpoint, Bruce.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

I've taken a lot of rivet about it from my uh uh all of my uh customers at the golf course. Hardly anybody doesn't know about it. In fact, we uh we finally uh remodeled all the low water crosses, so that that hopefully that problem has been eliminated. So so nobody will no nobody will have to uh be as stupid as I was.

Mike Gonzalez 32:33

So Charles, if if uh if you were able to turn the clock back uh to the time that you first turned professional, but you know then what you know now, what would you do differently?

SPEAKER_00 32:48

I'd probably play less. I'd I I played too many tournaments uh each year in my career, Mike. I would play uh thirty-two, thirty-three tournaments a year. You know, just feeling like I had to play that many to uh to make a living and uh produce the income that I needed for for my family. And I I don't I don't mean to over overstate that, but that was uh that was my objective, you know, was to be able to provide. And uh and the way I look at it now, I think I think Nicholas is one of the smartest people that I can imagine, because uh Jack would play about uh fifteen or sixteen tournaments a year in this country, and that would count the uh the majors, the uh Masters US Open and the PGA. So he uh he only played about twelve or thirteen tournaments a year outside of the majors. And uh now granted he played he played some out of the uh out of the country, but uh he didn't play many. And consequently, when he came to each tournament to play, uh he was ready to go. And uh and when you get out there and you play uh five or six weeks in a row or or maybe a little stretch a little longer than that or something like that. You know, it's it's not a physical thing as much as it is a mental thing.

Bruce Devlin 34:10

Yeah, too many. That's too many in a row, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yeah, it's way too many. If if I if I was if if I could go back to the time that I played, I would say, okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna I might have to change this to obviously uh to uh to you know depending on how I play, but I my goal would be to go out and play uh twenty-two, twenty-three tournaments a year. And uh and and just try to try to make it on that. And I and that way I would have been fresher when I went to uh some tournaments. I know I played a lot of tournaments when mainly I just shouldn't have been there. I was uh you know uh I was young. I I uh you know I had no I had no trouble from a physical standpoint, but just mainly uh I wore myself out, and that's that's the first thing that would change.

Mike Gonzalez 35:01

How'd that compare to the kind of schedule you maintained, Bruce?

Bruce Devlin 35:05

Uh well I was uh well in the early days obviously I was back and forth a lot from from Australia to the to the US and uh I think I think that's uh about what happened to me because of my uh constant traveling back and forth. I I was playing in the 15 to 18 tournaments a year, and when we moved over here, um I sort of fell into that pattern, which is uh sort of like what Charlie said. You know, it's it's very hard to go out there and play uh four or five weeks in a row, particularly if you you know if you get a chance to be in the thick of things a couple of times. Uh and it's not definitely not a physical thing, it's more a mental thing.

Mike Gonzalez 35:48

Charles, uh uh we don't want to let you go without coming back to uh what we opened with, which was the fact that we've got the Walker Cup coming up uh down at Seminole Golf Club on May 8th and 9th. Your grandson Pearson uh will be competing. Uh I think he's finishing his junior year at uh University of Texas, quite a player, quite a record. Uh I'm sure you and Lynette are heading down along with your son Kyle.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

Oh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah, we're going in on uh on Saturday, the uh 7th. I think the uh uh the the matches are on the eighth and ninth. Is that correct?

Mike Gonzalez 36:26

Uh that's right, yeah, yeah. And and uh the the the the captain of the U.S. team, Nathaniel Crosby, who uh Ruth and I will be talking to probably sometime before that event, uh, tells me that uh at least based upon the amount of rounds posted so far, the internationals may have an advantage. They've been playing a lot of golf at Seminole.

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Well, that's what I understand. That uh that uh somebody there is a member that uh is uh I don't know if he's from uh uh from the British Isles or whatever, but I think he's he's been having the team come in there for quite a f quite a few matches or for quite a few rounds of golf. So they're they're gonna be very familiar with uh with the golf course. And that I played Seminole one time, and uh and I can't really tell you uh a whole lot about it other than the fact that as I remember, uh Bruce, I don't know how many times you played it, but as I remember, the uh the bunkers are very, very deep. And uh you better you better be a good sand player if you get in them.

Bruce Devlin 37:30

Well, that and uh here a few years back, uh Crenshaw and Cor went in there and put Seminole back in the same condition that it was when it was first built. So there's a lot of uh sandy waste areas around the golf course that got grown in over the years. And uh I it's always a fabulous course to play. It's a lot of fun to play, and uh we uh we hope your grandson wins some points.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

Oh, I do too. But it's it's it's it's just such such an honor for him to uh to be selected to be on the team. He's uh you know, he's got a tw he's got a twin brother, Parker, who is a very good player in his own right. And and right now he's going through uh uh issue where he just has kind of lost confidence in himself a little bit. And uh so we're we're we're nationally very excited for Pearson and he he deserves it. He's he he's uh he's a very fine young man, wor works very hard and trains and uh you know and and it really works on his game and so it's it's uh it's paying off for him. So uh we're happy for him. And instantly uh Bruce, you may not know this, but uh and I don't understand uh I don't have any idea how these rating things work, you know, number one player in the world in professional golf and et cetera. But uh Pearson just recently attained the number one amateur in the world rating.

Bruce Devlin 39:01

How about that? What a feather in his cap. Feather in our cap too, Charlie, to have a chance to uh talk with you today. We appreciate the time you've spent with us and uh telling telling us all the stories about your golf. And uh I know Mike wants to thank you as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

Let me let me say one more thing about Pearson. When I found out that he'd he'd uh attained that ranking, I said there's no room to relax. I said every every tournament counts, every shot counts. I said, just keep working hard because it'll it's it'd be a lot harder to stay there than it was to get there.

Mike Gonzalez 39:39

Sound advice. That's sound advice from a guy that's been in the arena. So uh in in wrapping up, Charles Cootie, how would you like to be remembered as a golfer?

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Oh, a guy that uh that can conducted himself properly, that uh when he played he gave his best effort. And uh in in his own mind, he uh he f he fell a little short of what he th uh felt he could accomplish and still had a reasonably good career. Uh I'm I'm I'm pleased with it. Uh you know, it uh things could have all been always been better, but they also, as Bruce knows, they can always be worse.

Mike Gonzalez 40:23

Well, we appreciate the time you've spent. Masters champion from 1971, Charles Cootie. Thanks for being with us.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

My pleasure. My pleasure, guys. Nice talking with you.

Mike Gonzalez 40:36

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, tell your friends. Until we teat up again, for the good of the game.