TC goes to the bullpen for this chop session as Neil and D.J. step in for Big Randy for the latest mea culpas, a healthy list of items we're monitoring, and some air travel talk as well.

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324: Tron, Neil and D.J. Chop Session

Hideki can putt! Matsuyama closed with an 8-under 65 to beat Collin Morikawa by three at The Sentry. Join us as we are LIVE and in person from TC's garage. We talk Kapalua, run down the leaderboard, talk some TGL and more. Presented by High Noon.

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940: Hideki wins The Sentry, TC visits Waffle House, and TGL 

Happy New Year, NLU fam. Thanks for being here to listen to, watch, and read all the #content. Here’s to an even better 2025!

I'm kicking it off with a true GHIN tidbit. Here in Las Vegas, we post all year long, so I got a few more rounds before heading back east for New Year’s festivities. I hoped to tie my lowest-ever handicap of 16.7 at least, but I had to settle for 16.8 to end the year. Operation “Get to at least 13 by 2027” continues!

Since moving here in mid-March, I’ve played 22 different Las Vegas area courses. There are about 55 or so within a 20-mile radius of the city center, so I feel like I did a good job getting around to most of the better public courses and a few privates. I visited one other Las Vegas “public” course a few times this year, not to play but to spectate: Shadow Creek.

Shadow Creek is the USA's most expensive “public” access course at $1250 for your tee time. I use public in quotes because it’s only available for MGM Resort guests who are big-spenders/high-rollers. I live about 15 minutes from the course, and while I haven’t been able to play it, I have taken advantage of going to see the LPGA Match Play tournament in the last two years.

The course is totally insane. Tom Fazio took a flat blank slate of desert and moved all kinds of earth to build rolling hills, waterfalls, lakes, and creeks to the tune of $60 million. It weirdly makes perfect sense in Las Vegas, the city with replicas of Paris, New York, and ancient Rome on the strip. Here’s a golf course that looks plucked from a mountainside in the southeast and dropped down in this perfect rectangle in North Las Vegas, across from warehouses!

It’s fun to walk around that course and marvel at the number of trees and plants that had to be planted to make it look like it’s been there forever. So, when The Showdown was announced, I thought it would be fun to walk it again.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from an in-person viewing of one of these made-for-TV golf matches: Who would be there watching? How many people would actually be there? Would it be easy to follow around from hole to hole? What happens when it gets really dark? The practice round day had Scottie getting a bit chippy with Bryson – would there be any fireworks between them during the actual competition?

We arrived just after 2 p.m. for the 3:15 p.m. tee-off. (Important context: I had a clubhouse hospitality pass, so my experience differed slightly from the general public's.) We rode the shuttle to the clubhouse with guys wearing Bryson’s Crushers' skull-and-crossbones logos on their hats. After going through security, we entered the clubhouse to a crowd of people, arms full of Crypto.com Showdown merch. There was catering by the Bellagio in the main room before you exited through a tunnel to an outdoor viewing tent.

Hello, large Brooks, Bryson, Rory, & Scottie

The viewing tent was decked out with large screens, branded Crypto.com The Showdown everything, and a gifting station for the merch everyone had in the clubhouse. In the middle of it all, there was a circular bar. Outside, there was a viewing platform overlooking the 18th green. I joked to my husband, Jon, “Will they even get to this hole at the end?”

There is no need to discuss the Xs and Os of the actual competition. Instead, I will share a few observations from our afternoon out there.

There were way more people out there than I anticipated. Rory, Scottie, Bryson, and Brooks had already moved off the range to the putting green. The ropes around it were mobbed; you couldn’t get down to the first tee. We quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to walk along and see the match.

There was more LIV merch out there than I had ever seen in one place before, and most of it looked brand new. It made me think that a LIV street team was out there passing stuff out. There were so many SMASH hats.

Bryson’s ridiculous Lambeau Field-esque parka. It was mid-60s and full sun, which always feels warmer than the number in Vegas. As the afternoon progressed, it did get a bit cooler, but never so cold that I put on my beanie or felt chilly in my hoodie and vest, and I get cold pretty quickly! I do feel like the TV broadcast made it look colder than it was, showing their cart heaters and the guys blowing into their hands to keep warm like it was almost freezing temps. It never went below 50!

As it got darker, we realized that they wouldn’t let people walk to all parts of the course. For example, the 1st match was done after the 4th hole, when Rory buried that long eagle putt. We were almost to 5 green when that happened (we were always walking ahead after seeing tee shots or putts to get ahead of the crowd for a good spot to watch something coming up). When we realized they weren’t playing 5-6, we tried to get up to 7/8/9 but were told we had to turn around, and the next hole we could watch would be 10. Look, I get it. Shadow Creek is super hilly. When it’s dark, it’s really dark. People were drinking. I get that you don’t want people tripping, falling, etc.…

When we were allowed to walk around, it was pretty cool to wander the course in the dark. We had a great view of the last bit of the sun setting while sitting on a hill above 10 green.

After 10, the next best place to watch was 12 green and we were right up on the ropes near the hole. We followed along on our phones to make sure the match was going to actually GET to the 12th hole, which, thankfully, it did. After watching the tee shots, the group of us up near the hole speculated that Rory’s approach shot could be a bit dicey - it was a blind approach, and if he overshot the hole we could possibly get hit with the ball. We couldn’t really see when it left the club, since he was down way below and behind the bunker from our angle. All the sudden, a ball landed in the small strip of grass between the green and the ropes across from us and I laughed. It was a relief laugh like, “oh yay! No one got hit!” Immediately, Jon started getting texts from people who were like, “Are you at this match, I swear I just heard Casey’s laugh on the broadcast.”

After 12, we weren’t able to get to 13—too many people were already down at the tee—so we were directed back towards the clubhouse again. So we wandered back down the middle of the 10th fairway and peeked through the trees across a canyon to see the 13th green. It was like people just broke contain and went anywhere they could to see something.

We walked backward from 18 to catch the group at 14, then skipped 15/16 to get a good spot to watch 17, the signature hole at Shadow Creek with the Fazio waterfall and all. It was here that we struck up a conversation with a guy in a cowboy hat who had been in our orbit all afternoon. The guy ended up being a friend of Brooks who was the officiant at the Koepka’s wedding. We also laughed with the security team there, who had to keep chasing people off the actual 17 green. Once the match got to 16, they had us all move up to the tee box, but then the match literally ended, and the group never got to play 17. This seemed like a miss to me - they should have had some kind of plan to play the signature hole at the course.

Several notables were out and about at the event, including JR Smith, Dexter Fowler, Rick Shiels, and Andre Iguodala. But the person I was most excited to see was Sir Charles! After the broadcast, he went directly to the hospitality tent bar and held court for about 30 minutes.

One more GHIN-related item for this edition is the new golf entertainment venue, Swingers, which just opened in Vegas.

It’s self-described as a club that takes “crazy golf from the 1920s British seaside—Tanqueray-infused plus-fours and all——add Vegas' best street food, banging beats, and brings it to the iconic Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.” I was able to check it out during their grand opening party earlier in December.

They retrofitted this into the space that used to be occupied by Light nightclub. It is decked out like a British countryside estate, with an overwhelming amount of artificial flowers (and piped-in floral aromas as well). There are several 9-hole “crazy” golf courses to play and also a big area of traditional boardwalk/carnival games.

This night, being the grand opening, was a bit over the top. Atmosphere models were dancing, a woman in a gown playing electric violin over the DJ’d music, a bunch of Las Vegas social media influencers out and about, and free food, drink, and gameplay.

The courses all share similar layouts, and, IMO, were actually “boring” holes. Almost all were “hit the ball up this ramp into one of these channels that goes to the right. If you hit it down the gold chute, you have a good chance at a hole-in-one. Only a few holes had any kind of actual obstacle, like a Ferris wheel to hit through. They were all very pretty, but ultimately, I was not really that into it. Have I outgrown mini golf?

This location's “street food” is pizza and burgers from Brooklyn’s Emmy Squared. I didn’t realize how many locations they’ve expanded to in the eight years since opening in NY (26!!). I'm not sure why they are considered street food, but the cheesy breadsticks I grabbed from the people walking around passing them out on trays were tasty.

What I actually loved here was the Carnival area. Skee ball! Water gun race! Pop-a-shot! Even a beer pong game. Like Dave & Busters, you get a card, load it with credits, and go to town. You even earn “tickets” you can trade in for little prizes like Swingers golf towels or teddy bears. I ate cotton candy and played almost every game available.

So what does it cost to play? $30 for nine holes!! Drinks range from $10 for a Modelo to $22 for a house cocktail to $50 for a high roller drink. Of course, packages are available for a small discount, including your round and some drink tickets.

I am unsure if I need to go back and play “crazy golf” again. It’s not that crazy, and it’s expensive. In contrast, Pop Stroke, Tiger Wood’s mini golf complex that opened earlier this summer in Vegas, has two 18-hole courses and costs $40 for an entire day of play. Swingers is 1) inside and 2) a 21+ venue, so it may be better for groups planning things like bachelor/bachelorette parties.

One of my favorite things about living in Las Vegas is the outdoor activities available. Many parks and hiking areas are just a short drive from the city. When my mom visited for Thanksgiving, we took advantage of the mild weather to hike at Mt. Charleston and the Valley of Fire.

Mt. Charleston is the tallest mountain in Clark County and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. Almost 12K feet above sea level, the peak is snow-covered about half the year. It’s about 35 minutes northwest of where I live, and about 30 degrees colder than the valley.

As you climb up the road from the valley, the climate and scenery change drastically from Joshua Tree yuccas and brown sand of the desert to rocky canyons and thousands of bristlecone pine trees. The temperature drops, and you feel like a world away from the strip.

We stopped at the US Forest Service visitor center and did an easy out-and-back hike along Kyle Canyon.

A few days later, we set out northeast to the Valley of Fire State Park, about 45 minutes from the house. It’s an entirely different experience from Mt. Charleston—tons of desert and red rock and all desert vegetation.

We were a bit more ambitious that day and headed to the top of the park to do the White Domes Loop Trail. It’s only a 1-mile loop, but on soft sand with stretches of steepness. It was worth getting through the first third of the hike down the steep rocks. When you get to the narrow slot canyon, you get to walk through it. I didn’t realize how steep it was until we got to the bottom and looked back up!

GHIN & Tonic, Vol. 28 (Casey)

It's the last What's Burning at the Killhouse of 2024, but we're still keeping it just as random as always. We've slotted plenty of room in here for stick-your-neck-out worthy predictions for 2025 — but there was a variety of experiences and fun to reflect on from 2024. Time to dive in.

Let’s start with golf. What was a course you played for the first time this year that was memorable, either because it was good or because it was bad?

- I played 45 total courses this year, about half for the first time. So, needless to say, a lot of different directions we can go with this one. The obvious choice is probably the Old Course Reversed, but I’ve written and spoken a lot on that. But in terms of not being able to stop thinking about a course and continually yearning to return, it’s Royal Adelaide. I adored the layout, the atmosphere, and the entire experience. It’s the sort of course that makes you consider (even just for a brief second) moving to the opposite side of the world so I could play this golf course every single day. 

 Irvine Bogside (Weird!!! Wonderful! Affordable!), Prestwick, Dunbar, Western Gailes, Lido, Brambles, Shorty’s, and Colorado Golf Club are other notable first loops from ‘24 that I think about often.

 - Many different ways we could go with this, but I’m gonna say Ocean Dunes on King Island. I hadn’t heard the best things about the course and had low expectations going in, but had such a freaking blast playing that place. Some of the best views of any golf course I’d ever played, and it had so many high points. There was definitely an added element of being about as far away from home as physically possible, and having the course to ourselves which made it much more special. The ocean holes were ridiculous, and the inland holes were thought-provoking and inspiring. Man that place rules.

 – The one I keep thinking about is Sedge Valley, the newest course at Sand Valley Resort here in Wisconsin. Sedge is a par 68 that only played about 5,200 yards from the tees we played, but every single hole presented such a fun challenge and kept a smile of joy or frustration on your face the entire day. One funny thing about most “strategic” golf courses is that most resort players (myself included much of the time) aren’t good enough to keep their drives in play and get the full effect of dynamic second shots on every hole. At Sedge, the whole scale is shrunken down, allowing bad players to feel like they have a fighting chance on every hole, while great players can’t help but try to hit heroic shots all day (and suffer mixed results). I can’t wait to play it again.

I’m not a top 100 chaser, but I had a good year on this front: Cypress, Fishers, RM West, Cal Club, and San Francisco Golf Club. All of them were fantastic, but my most memorable round was a Friday afternoon loop with friends back in July at the recently renovated Golden Gate Par 3 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. This 9-hole course out by Ocen Beach was in AWFUL shape when I lived in San Francisco. It’s now an interesting short course with tee shots ranging from 60 yards to 180 yards in the middle of one of my favorite cities. I was blown away by the thoughtful design and routing on a small plot of land, and I’d recommend anyone visiting San Francisco make a field trip out to Golden Gate Park to see it.

 - How is it possible that Tourist Sauce was just this year? Legitimately, every single track we played for that series is memorable. I still dream of Royal Adelaide and Royal Melbourne–what a delight those were, in every sense. But it was the course I played for fun on the back end of the trip that is the most memorable for me. Tara Iti, north of Auckland, New Zealand, is my pick. I played it on an absolute bluebird day, with winds that were pretty tame. Not only is it one of (the most?) beautiful settings I’ve had the pleasure to play golf in, but the good mood carried over to my game that day too. Vibes were high as I broke 80. As for the course, I found it interesting, stimulating, and ultimately very fair–not things I say after playing each and every Tom Doak design. There’s a reason it’s one of the best courses in the world and I feel like I got to play it on a day that couldn’t have been any better.

This is always the hardest question for me to answer because I get to “see” but not “play” a bunch of really cool golf courses. We travel the world for golf and most of the time I do it behind the lens of a camera. But this year, I ventured off on my own quite a bit and experienced some once-in-a-lifetime spots. NGLA, Shinny, and Southampton are all in the running. But they are all great and I hate splitting hairs. I could nitpick North Berwick vs Dunbar, but someone else will do that. The Schuster Brothers and I got to play Cypress during a perfect weather day in February. But for me, it was The Old Course with Big. I carried great shame for a long time because I have been to St Andrews multiple times, but I have never played golf. That changed this year during the AIG Women's Open week. I walked the golf course while calling Open Radio all four days of the competition. You end up in spots most rarely do because they are just slightly off of regular target lines (mostly 45 degrees off a player and preferably downwind, so your voice doesn't travel as far). You spend a lot of time ahead of the group you are calling, so most shots are coming towards you and not away. Every course I walk, I try to do my best to look at it backward or from green to tee. But calling live radio forces you to do it. It also revealed a lot about the Old Course that most people do not understand their first time through. There is a dream list of partners that I would have loved to share the experience with, and Big is always at the top. There is no better partner to make you stay in the moment, realize how fortunate we are to be there, and take some extra moments to let it all sink in. It is an experience that I will always cherish and a memory I will never forget.

 - How can I pick just one? I was lucky to play many new-to-me courses this year, including my first overseas ones. I am going to have to go with Carne. It was the one I had been thinking about the most leading up to playing, and it lived up to the hype. The scale of that place cannot be overstated. The drive up from Westport was gorgeous. The wind was not blowing a zillion KPH. The Guinness at the end of the round was phenomenal. Just a perfect day of golf on the edge of western Ireland!

 - Colorado Golf Club. A modern (read: wide) course with parkland vibes and firm conditions is just about perfection for me. A true nature walk with intrigue on every swing. It answered the question “what would you do if you had all the money” for me. I am buying 600 acres in the foothills of the Rockies and hiring Bill and Ben to build me CGC 2.0.

 — Dunbar. It just nudges out North Berwick and Prestwick, perhaps in part because it’s a bit more off the beaten path. I got to play it on one of the nicest days of the year in East Lothian, and there was barely a breath of wind. I loved the routing, how it hugs the old wall on the way out, then weaves toward the sea and back like a figure eight. Just a delightful walk with tons of fun shots and no pretension.

A number of stars — Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Patrick Reed, Allisen Corpuz, Minjee Lee, Leona Maguire — had disappointing years in 2024. Who are you hoping, or predicting, will bounce back in 2025? (You don’t have to pick someone on this list.)

- It’s Zalatoris for me. He’s really really good, he might just lack the most important ability…availability. He’s an authentic, well-adjusted dude, and American pro golf gets more interesting if he’s involved, especially in a Ryder Cup year, even if just for making picks more difficult for Keegan. He strung together some positive results toward the end of the tour season, so hoping he can carry it forward. Obviously, my colleagues are going to go with Linksmaster Jord, which, listen, I hope so, for my sanity and for Greller’s sake.

 – My portfolio is full of so much Spieth stock that I desperately need a 2025 bounceback if I ever hope to retire.

 From the list above, Hovland is the most likely to bounce back. He has the talent, youth, and a singular focus on golf that bodes well for digging himself out of a rut. I’d highly recommend 

 to KVV’s excellent profile if you haven’t already. Though he isn’t listed, I hope JT also has a bounce-back this year. 2024 was a disappointment, but when you look at his 

, it’s hard to imagine him fading into mediocrity at 31.

- I sure am hoping Jordan Spieth gets one!

Spieth, Vik - sure. Cam Young……come on man. Looking for more from Maja and Linn.

 - I would love to see Vik turn it around. I have always enjoyed watching him, and I appreciate his whole vibe. It would be nice to see him in contention more next year, so I selfishly get to see more of him on my TV in whatever crazy outfits J.Lindeberg has him wearing.

 - Maja Stark had some flashes but nothing exceptional. I am hoping she wins a major next year.

 — This might be wishcasting, but I’m going with Spieth. I think the wrist has been causing more problems than he ever let on, and now that it’s fixed, he’ll get back his special sauce, hitting great iron shots. It’s stunning that he was 15th in Strokes Gained Off The Tee last year, but 138th in Strokes Gained Approach. Clearly he’s figured out something that works with the driver. If he can just recapture his elite iron play, he’ll be a Top 20 player again.

 - I refuse to be held hostage by nostalgia…what’s Danielle Kang up to these days? She’s kinda on the ropes with her status – she finished 144th in the CME rankings this year. I’d be very intrigued by a comeback era.

Every season from 2015 to 2024, we’ve had at least one player win their first major. Who will become a first-time major winner in 2025?

- Thomas Paul Fleetwood, likely at Portrush. TBD if the PGA is going to be a true major or just a Designated Elevated Signature© event.

 – It’s the holidays. What the hell? Tommy Fleetwood.

I’m going to go with Viktor Hovland. I’m buying the dip after everyone lost their shirts predicting he’d win one in 2024.

 - I am going to take the layup here and predict Jeeno Thitikul wins her first major this year. And it could be the first one of the year, at Chevron.

 — It feels too easy to pick Ludvig Åberg, so I’m going with Patrick Cantlay to win the U.S. Open at Oakmont.

 – The 2024 rookie of the year. I like Nick Dunlap at Oakmont!

What was your enjoyable or interesting meal of 2024? It can be a restaurant you visited, a meal you made at home, or a meal someone made for you.

 - In the midst of being with people non-stop for a few weeks straight between a family vacation and then Scotland, I had a quiet mid-afternoon meal at a place on the east side of the Isle of Arran that looks like a roadside seafood shack from the outside, but is so much more than that. I sat at the Mara Fish Bar and ate half the menu over the course of a few hours while I sat on a stool on the front porch and gazed out at the Firth of Clyde a few feet away across the street. Oysters, scallops, mussels, mackerel, local chanterelles, all leading to the crescendo of a local lobster risotto. Some of my most cherished memories are meals with others, but sometimes it’s really nice to be alone with your thoughts, world-class food and unfussy food made with love and reflective of a very specific place in the world. 

 - Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa. Had heard about it a ton, but wondered how unique could a steakhouse experience truly be. Well, the food was obviously incredible, great service, drinks, great company….but the tour of the wine cellar was truly next level. I believe they have about a half a million bottles of wine (not a joke!), including some from the mid-1800s. It’s just row after row after row after row of bottles, stacked to the ceiling. I’ve never seen anything like it. And then from dinner, you graduate to the dessert room, which is like an entire additional restaurant with private booths for after-dinner cocktails and ridiculously good sweets. Wife and I almost made a special trip down there for a babymoon in July, and can’t wait to go back.

 – There’s a place near our house called Lake Park Bistro. It’s a fancy, white table cloth, classic French restaurant that’s located inside Lake Park and overlooking Lake Michigan. It’s an institution, but it’s very tired looking from the outside – I’ve walked past it roughly 600 times since moving here and have always thought it looks like going to someone else’s Grandma’s house for dinner. But when some neighbors of ours very kindly gave us a gift card for the place, Justine and I made plans for LPB to be our first proper dinner out since having Charlie. Maybe it was the thrill of being out of the house like adults (maybe it was the Old Fashioneds), but dammit if it didn’t deliver. I had a filet au poivre that made me sincerely happy and a mushroom soup that I asked the waiter if we could buy by the quart and freeze just to have at the house. Top 2 or 3 soup I’ve ever had in my life.

I’m a massive fan of a good hotel breakfast spread. The kind where you sit down, place an order for a nice coffee with the waiter, then immediately get up with a plate and choose your own adventure at a breakfast buffet. During our trip to Portugal and Spain in September, Carson and I stayed at the Sublime Comporta resort, and they had the best breakfast spread I’ve ever seen. All three mornings, it was a 2-hour experience with 3-4 courses. I’d start with the fruit and yougurt and granola, with a little homemade and freshly squeezed “juice of the day.” Then, I would explore the meats, smoked fish, cheeses, jams, and different homemade bakery items. Finally, I would request a simple omelet with ham, green peppers, and cheese, and explore the daily offering at the hot bar before grabbing one more chocolate croissant on my way out.

 - My answer goes back to my trip to New Zealand last winter. My wife’s cousin took a group of us out on his boat to a little place called Rakino Island in the waters near Auckland. They call it ‘Pizza Island’ because on this island, which has maybe a dozen or so full-time inhabitants is a little pizzeria called Woody Bay Pizzeria. It’s a man and his son who cook made-to-order pizzas in a wood-fired oven. The pizza was excellent, as was being able to eat it in a swimsuit and flip-flops after we splashed around in the water at the beach. The most memorable meal. If you’re ever in Auckland with access to boat, check it out!

The meal we cooked as a team on King Island. From the cheese board to salads and sides, open fire cooking meat and fresh seafood. We each had our roles. But sharing that meal after a long day of work at one of the most beautiful places in the world is something I will never forget. Great food, even better people.

- I love pizza so I was so elated to have dinner at 

 the night before the NIT in Phoenix with Neil, Ben, Cody, Jordan, Lauren and John Pond, and my husband, Jon. No reservations are taken so we got there and took advantage of Bar Bianco (literally in a house next door) for a few rounds of drinks. When it was time to eat, we had a big table outside to enjoy the warm fall evening. We ordered one of every pizza on the menu and all the salads. There was not one thing to dislike about any of it. The pizza was perfect, the company even better.

 - This is an easy one. My beautiful mother turned 60 this year. We hired a local chef (and one of our friends) to develop and cook a 5-course tasting menu at our home. The food was centered around classic dishes with an Indian flare. It was an unbelievable experience watching a true pro cook in my kitchen and create extraordinary dishes - though it was humbling to realize the level of food that can be prepared with my own pots and pans far surpassed anything I have done. If you are ever in Kansas City, you have to go check out Of Course and Chef Swetha.

 — There is a restaurant in Baltimore, Magdalena, inside the Ivy Hotel, that doesn’t get nearly the attention that some of the fancier restaurants do, but my wife and I had an exceptional meal there this July for her birthday. The food, drinks, the service, the sommelier, the atmosphere — all of it was incredible. I remember oysters, beet salad, duck confit, short ribs, some incredible desserts. My city is an underrated food town, and I have no shortage of places to recommend when people reach out, but Magdalena is one of the places I send the real ones.

 – The least sophisticated answer is slotted for last. There’s a two-way tie. I’ll start with Jim’s Smokehouse BBQ in Austin, TX, which is a banger of a food truck that sells BBQ meats by the pound. Their black angus brisket is to die for…and mixed with the mac and cheese…I’ve ascended. I also have no idea how that good of a key lime pie found its way to a food truck in Texas, but it did, and the strawberry sauce is the perfect touch.

This is tied with Raising Cane’s, which has officially become my favorite fast-food chicken establishment.

We travel a lot for work. What is something that frustrates you about traveling that you would change if you were given magic powers to do so?

- I’ve built entire columns and podcast episodes around this, so there’s a lot to pull from. But often I’m talking specifics, and what gets washed away in that is how far behind the rest of the world the United States is in airport infrastructure and investment (and without reasonable alternatives like trains). There’s a lot of shitty airports in Canada and the UK, but on the whole, I’m impressed whenever I travel abroad - the terminals make more sense, they’re better staffed, and they’re actually preparing for the future and not just trying to catch up to the present. Just generally less bullshit.

 - How hard it can be to get in and out of Jax efficiently, and how isolated I can feel in the southeast. I was spoiled living in Amsterdam and being able to get to the airport in no time and hop to another country in a heartbeat. The only downside of living in Jax (aside from the summers) is the lack of ability to get to many places (especially internationally) without connecting.

 – The inefficiency (and high cost) of train travel in most of the United States. I can’t tell you how much I’m dying to travel around even just the Midwest by train and how disappointed I am every time I look into actually doing this.

What's Burning at the Killhouse: 2024 Round-Up

Self-described "Tightest Person in the World" Tron Carter steps into Dr. Greg Rose's office for a physical wake-up call.


We're always working on our games, but we could use some expert intervention. "Game Improvement," a brand-new series brought to you by SERVPro, is designed to put us on the right track.

Game Improvement

Tron Visits the Titleist Performance Institute

An update on real GHIN, as the USGA pushed out the GHIN Rewind this week and mine contained some surprises. We’ll dig deeper this week on the podcast, but I’ll get it started here. 

 I will likely end the year at a 2.1, the exact same spot I started. The 61 rounds is light.

I played at least eight rounds of alt shot that I couldn’t post (many at home) and then played another six rounds on courses that aren’t rated or postable. 

Of the scores I posted, I love seeing the variety: 43 different courses across 61 rounds. Seeing new courses is why I play golf. My “hardest round” also turned out to be the absolute best round I played all year - a 1-over par 72 at Western Gailes on a windy, grey day. It wasn’t the lowest score of the year but it was absolutely the best golf I played, and the 76 rating and 146 slope make sense. On the flip side, the “easiest” course I played according to the ratings is the Lagoon Course at my home club, Ponte Vedra Inn and Club. This could not be further from the truth. It’s a sub-6000 yard par 70 that’s rated as a 68.4 and 126 slope. This year the superintendent grew the rough up, the greens are fast, there’s water everywhere and there are six par-3s, six par-4s and six par-5s, and it’s HARD. Members and guests tend to scoff at it because of the yardage, but if I wanted to sandbag I would play there on a weekly basis and my index would shoot up. 

We’re recording our beginning of 2025 “Goals” podcast in the coming days, and I’ve already decided one of those goals is going to be 100 rounds posted.

My friend Garrett Morrison from Fried Egg Golf is down in Melbourne, Australia this week on a whirlwind tour of the Sandbelt and I am positively jealous. I cannot wait to return down under, and get to Hobart and Perth and Kangaroo Island and back to Adelaide on the next trip and then dig a level deeper in Victoria to see Yarra Yarra, Commonwealth, Woodlands, the various courses at The National, and Healesville. Balancing that and a proper New Zealand trip is going to be a tricky thing over the next 18 months.

Speaking of Australia, the Australian Open (golf, not tennis) is a disgrace in its current iteration. Pitiful purse, paltry corporate support, sparse crowds in Melbourne, a neutered golf course setup, and a contrived co-ed format that’s great in theory and a mess in practice and short-changes both genders. National opens need to be celebrated and the winners rewarded with exemptions into the majors, but that’s also a two-way street and they need to be serious competitions befitting their title. Based on conversations with nearly everyone I know in Australia, I’m close to placing a fatwa on the entire Golf Australia organization. Get it together!

I am grateful to the dozens of people who reached out and offered up dozens of the “old” version of the Cypress Point Club plastic ballmarkers and then sent them through. I mean, look at this thing!

This is how I feel after Cal Club into Sea Island into Tree Farm into a father/son trip to Boston into Thanksgiving into Ohoopee into Randy’s wedding and then back to Ohoopee and then down to West Palm for TGL Media Day (seeing “The Spear” and “The Temple” in person is going to be majestic) this week, and I think I need to detox/chill out at home for a few weeks and get my feet under me:

recent podcast conversation between Andy Johnson and Bob Crosby

. My friend/oft-collaborator Wolfie has told me repeatedly that Bob Crosby might be the smartest, most enlightened dude in golf, and this episode certainly supports that.

Speaking of Wolfie, we recorded a “Best Golf Countries” Office Hours episode that will be coming out later this week. It’s my favorite OH ep we’ve done yet - be on the lookout for it. And in the meantime, catch up on our recent episode on 

On the newsletter front, Kyle Porter’s conversation with 

Rufus Peabody last week in his Normal Sport newsletter

 was fantastic. Rufus is someone who the more I learn about him, the more fascinated I become.

I took my older son Freddie up to Boston before Thanksgiving for a Celtics game and to show him where he was born. It was great to go up and also a reminder of how much I don’t miss the weather and gray and cold. We hit Pammy’s, Modern, the Celtics facility thanks to some gracious hospitality from a friend, got to see Anthony Edwards in person, saw a Celtics win, and Freddie was a trooper as we walked a lot. Fun weekend!

Randy’s wedding weekend in Austin was a blast, too. It was a very stereotypically “Austin” long weekend, with dinner at a buzzy coastal Mexican spot called Este, brunches at Sour Duck and June’s All Day, lunch at Perla’s, and a late-night meal at Dai Due. All were fantastic. Caught a Wilco show at ATX Live. Caught up with some Austin friends I don't get to see enough. And stayed at the South Congress Hotel and drank way too much at the hotel bar with the NLU crew, Randy’s family, and college friends I hadn’t seen in over a decade. I’m still recovering. Also got to meet DJ and Justine’s new addition, Charlie, and then share some drinks with David Ruff, from Washed Media, though I have not dabbled with his Guinness + espresso combo yet, I remain intrigued.

My 24 hours in a Waffle House punishment will happen in the next two weeks. Some of my buddies told me this weekend that a fantasy league they’re in makes the loser of their league here in Jax take a Greyhound bus to Cleveland and back, so I consider myself lucky with the WaHo stakes.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this video. I watch it almost daily and it makes me laugh every single time.

I’ve got three pet peeves to harp on this week:

Bars and restaurants are not cleaning out their draught lines. This is an epidemic, and quite frankly, it needs to be regulated because it’s fucking gross and a health hazard. So many establishments rely on draught beer for their highest margins, yet they don’t want to do the work to properly service these systems and clean out all the shit that builds up in there, especially if they have a wide variety of beers. Do better! In the meantime, I’ll be extremely choosy about where I imbibe pints.

I’ve made my feelings clear on CLEAR (it’s a disgrace with OR without TSA Precheck), but I’ve got a couple of bones to pick with the Atlanta airport. Normally, on the (maddening) new “Analogic” machines the TSA is commonly using, there are three or four stations to put your bags, then you push it into the second level, then the machine automatically takes it to the bins to third level in a regimented way. In Atlanta, at least on the international side (where I tend to park), passengers are forced to push their bins all the way to the third level, which results in the people on the end of the line pushing their stuff onto the conveyor while the other 2-3 spots closer to the machine are forced to wait. I must’ve waited while 5 different people from that last spot go their stuff in before me. I witnessed several Diamond Medallions (who should know better and be more considerate) do this and was appalled. The world’s busiest airport needs to do better and fix this. Also, the parking garages at ATL don’t have a system where it recognizes your license plate and automatically knows how much you should pay. Instead, you have to put your ticket into the machine. That’s just not acceptable these days. I’m thankful for the ease of parking at JAX and the systems they have in place.

While IAH has some of my favorite airport restaurants and I generally like flying through there, the online ordering at the various “OTG” restaurants is a disgrace. I can’t talk to a human being. At the “Little Purse Dumpling Den,” we ordered dumplings, a bowl of ramen, edamame, a glass of sauvignon blanc, a Sapporo, and a bottle of San Pellegrino and it came to over a hundred bucks and took forever. Similar issues at EWR in Terminal C. OTG is a borderline-criminal organization that should lose its license to operate in these airports.

NFL/CFB Quick Hits as the #BallKnowers are on hiatus until January due to scheduling constraints and holiday break:

The Falcons continue to piss me off. The offense is so bland and uninspired, even in last night’s flaccid victory over a moribund Raiders team. I realize that Cousins can’t really move, but the scheme isn’t putting him in a position to succeed and I’m not sure it would be any different with Penix. It was interesting to watch them on a split screen with the Bears/Vikings game on at the same time. Kevin O’Connell’s on another level right now with some of their concepts and it’s really fun to watch. (Look for their QB coach Josh McCown to get some HC looks in the months ahead, too.) Same deal with Flores on the other side of the ball. It’s also really fun to watch how bad the Bears are. Awful penalties, horrible protection, and Caleb just isn’t accurate. He deserves credit for not losing his mind in the midst of this disastrous rookie season, but his footwork, rhythm, reads and ability to play on-schedule just don’t seem to be good, at all. And that’s a continuation of what we saw at USC, the only difference is the game is just faster in the NFL and he can’t get away with it. Not impressed.

On that note, I miss Coach Flus so much. His post-game pressers, pre-halftime quick interviews, and general demeanor made me so happy. The timeout fiasco at the end of the Thanksgiving game was the highlight of the NFL season. Rarely are we gifted such staggering, no-holds-barred ineptitude and hilarity, and when we get it we need to cherish it. Reminds me of Urban’s tenure with the Jags. Still can’t believe he stayed behind in Ohio and didn’t fly back with the team after the Thursday night game against the Bengals and THEN got nabbed for <redacted> at Urban’s Pour House the next night! And now he’s gainfully employed on the worst pre-game show in sports!

I can’t figure the Ravens and Texans out.

There have been a lot of Eagles fans in the DMs crowing about the current winning streak. I remain steadfast in my belief that Sirianni and Hurts are frauds, and I’d encourage everyone to wait until after the playoffs to reach out. Howie’s built a heck of a roster and he’s on another level when it comes to evaluation on DBs. It’s a very good defense, I’m a big AJ Brown fan, and they’ve got some predators up front. Time will tell.

Just wasn’t Los Niners’ season. Injury apocalypse. Not quite sure what they should do moving forward - it’s an old roster and Purdy’s about to get very expensive.

The Jaguars not firing Pederson and (especially) Baalke by now is extremely concerning.

The Bills are very good and I’m not sure how you defend them. The Packers are really good and I was very wrong about Lafleur. That performance on Sunday night in Seattle was awesome. Meanwhile, the Rams offense has been a joy to watch this season. They’ve been involved in three of the best games I’ve watched all season.

Super impressed with what Dave Canales has done over the last 6 weeks or so. Sitting Bryce Young to press pause on things and restore his confidence was a great move, and he’s working wonders. Jalen Coker is really good at WR. That team is playing hard.

It feels like we’re a year too early to judge #Baugh down in San Diego. That’s a bad skill position room made worse by injuries, and when McConkey is out there’s just not a lot they can do, no matter how good they are upfront. But if Herbert was the generational QB talent that all the dipshits like Ruiz say he is, he should be more of a weapon.

At some point, the Saints have to rip the bandaid off and just bite the bullet on the salary cap/dead money front. What a bad place to be as a franchise - absolutely rudderless, yet unwilling to embark on bottoming out. Same deal with the Titans. What a bad, vanilla-ass team.

On the college front, the progression of Billy Napier this season has been interesting, and a lesson in patience. Florida fans were trying to run him out of there after the first third of the season and then that team played hard, won some big games, played some good teams hard, has something special at QB in DJ Lagway, and the recruiting is good. He came in and wanted to recruit high schoolers and develop and build the program the right way and it’s paying off. Patience!

The Georgia Tech/Georgia game was the best thing I’ve watched all year. Neil and I were in Atlanta that night with our whole family and we all stayed up watching through all the overtime (which is gimmicky and I long for the old college OT.) I’m pretty agnostic as it relates to both programs, but I found myself captivated by GT - it was like watching the college version of my high school team, running option concepts and just generally being crafty. And then I watched Brent Key’s postgame presser and it’s clear he’s building something there and it’s about more than just football. I’d send my sons to play for that guy. Consider me a fan from here on out.

Last thing on the football front, if you don’t subscribe to Holly Anderson and Spencer Hall’s 

 you should! And here’s why - this, on the Ohio State loss is them at their best:

GHIN & Tonic, Vol. 27 (TC)

With Cody on the bag, Neil tries his chances at the Long Island Mid Amateur, hosted at The Bridge Golf Club as D.J. watches on.

NLU Film Room

Neil Plays the Long Island Mid-Am at The Bridge | NLU Film Room

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