Hal Sutton - "Gold Rolex" SHORT TRACK

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle. Then it's not a good idea.

Mike Gonzalez 0:14

I saved the best for last, which is the 1980 U.S. Am win. Tell us a little bit about that experience.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Pinehurst was good to me that year. I won the North South there. I won the U.S. Amateur there, and then turned around and won the Eisenhower Cup. So 1980 in the Pinehurst area was a really good area for me. You know, we played part of the metal round at Pine Hurst number two, and then the U.S. Amateur was played at Country Club in North Carolina. And I was playing really good. You know, this is a story I'm I'm almost ashamed to share now at this particular point. But, you know, I I became really everything Jack Nicholas did, I loved. I watched him, you know, my dad would take me to a tournament and I watched everything that he did. And one of the things that I used to watch him do was he'd take his glove off when he finished the round and he'd put his solid goal Rolex on. And back in those days, you know, it was uh that was Bruce understands what I'm talking about. That was a big deal. That was a that was almost like, you know, your fraternity pen or something of that nature where you had really arrived at professional golf if you had a solid goal Rolex. So my dad knew I was pretty, you know, keen on that. And my dad said to me before I ever went to the U.S. Amateur, he said, let me ask you a question, Hal. He said, you know, you you you watch Nicholas put that Rolex on all the time and you always mention it. He said, if you win a U.S. amateur, he said, I tell you what I'll do, I'll buy you a gold Rolex.

Mike Gonzalez 1:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

And I said, I tell you, I said, I tell you what, Dad, I said, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna hold you to that. And this is the kind of dad I had. He said, Well, then let's go get it right now because that's how much I believe in you. Oh boy, what a statement, huh?

Mike Gonzalez 2:14

That's great.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

And he took me that night and bought me a solid gold Rolex. And I said, Well, I'm not even gonna wear it until I win it. And he said, No, I want you to wear it because I want you to remember the commitment that you've made. And my dad taught me about commitment at that point, right there. We hope you've enjoyed this short track of for the good of the game.

Mike Gonzalez 2:36

And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 2:53

Whack down the fairway. It went smack down a fairway. When it started it's like just smitched off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My candidates, as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay.