00:00:15.08 ModGolfPodcast Welcome to the ModGolf Podcast where we talk with the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the disruptors, and the influencers who are shaping the future of golf. 00:00:26.31 ModGolfPodcast I am your host, Colin Weston, and today we've got a special treat for you, a gentleman who I've been trying to get on the ModGolf Podcast for a while, but he's so darn busy, and now he's added this other little thing, not even a side hustle, it's his hustle hustle now, and that is as the president of the PGA of America, and that is Mr. Don Rea, who I had the good fortune to run into at the PGA Show. 00:00:51.23 ModGolfPodcast And his voice was shot. This was already day two, not even halfway through, his voice was shot because he had already talked to so many people, shaking hands and having authentic conversations and he walks that walk. He is someone that leads the way and I just try to keep up. He's definitely holding the torch that I hope to aspire to someday. So with that introduction Don, welcome to The ModGolf Podcast! Nice to finally to have us with with us all here. 00:01:18.04 Don Rea, PGA You're definitely holding that torch. And, you know, I think we all have to. If we love the game of golf, we're supposed to. And you're right. That is a long week. You know, to me, it's the members major, right? We've got all these major championships at the PGA of America, but the members major is that PGA show. 00:01:34.28 Don Rea, PGA It's exhausting talking to everybody, but at the same time, it's fulfilling. And it's the whole reason I got into it was to try to leave this thing better than I found it. So how do I know that and unless I yeah talk to PGA members to see how they're doing, how their jobs are, how their lives are, how their families are. So I appreciate you acknowledging that. And I'm so glad we're going to spend some time together today. 00:01:54.19 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, you definitely have that authentic curiosity that in life, as an entrepreneur, as a leader, and that you drained the batteries. I saw you at the end. I wasn't going to go talk you again but you were still had that smile on your face, but I could tell you were fried. You were done. So for four days straight there, you were definitely leaving everything on the table, which is amazing. 00:02:19.11 ModGolfPodcast I think one of the kind of the great signifiers of a true leader rather than a boss or a manager. So on that note, before we get into the PGA of America, I've got a couple of questions here. The one I always love, my icebreaker question here, I'm really intrigued because you've spent the majority, if not all of your professional career in and around golf. So I love to ask this question, Don, and that is your first connection to golf. When was that first golf experience you ever had in your life that puts a smile on your face? 00:02:48.07 ModGolfPodcast And who was that person, that power of invitation that our friend Sandy Cross with the PGA of America always talks about that power of invitation? Who was that person in your life that invited you and introduced you to golf? 00:02:58.95 ModGolfPodcast And what was that first moment that really makes you smile? 00:03:03.07 Don Rea, PGA Oh, I had to be my dad. It was definitely my dad. He wanted me in the game so bad. And I was a baseball player, but hey, I just wanted to spend time with my dad. And that's something that he did. And so, yeah, Las Vegas Municipal Golf Course. 00:03:12.82 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:03:16.34 Don Rea, PGA I think I was 12 years old. I remember being on the range with them and he had given me the book earlier in the day, the the five modern fundamentals of golf by Ben Hogan, which had all those great pictures, right? 00:03:27.38 Don Rea, PGA And you could see the grip and you could see the stance. 00:03:28.18 ModGolfPodcast yes 00:03:29.82 Don Rea, PGA And, you know, I don't know how much I enjoyed reading at that time, but I certainly liked looking at the pictures and then going out there and hitting it. And if I remember one thing is, is at first, I'll admit, I was a little frustrated by him pushing my feet in place and putting my hands in the right spot and and saying that you had to keep your left arm straight and all these things that scare the heck out of these recreational golfers or new golfers. 00:03:47.45 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:03:55.25 Don Rea, PGA But all it takes is that one. You hit it in the sweet spot one time, and you're like, okay, hold a second. What was that? And then you're digging for that next ball until you get it again. And I do remember getting that you shot euphoria we talk about. 00:04:09.58 Don Rea, PGA It was my dad. You know, I'm pretty sure we played his last round of golf together before he passed, but he certainly was there for my first golf experience. 00:04:20.16 ModGolfPodcast Love that. Love that. Well, I'm going to dig into your work as the president of the PGA of America, I believe, which you've taken that that mantle since November. Is that correct? So not quite like about five months or so now, not quite half a year. So we're going to get into that. 00:04:34.16 ModGolfPodcast But you do spin a lot of plates and to juggle a lot of balls here. You're the owner operator of Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa, Arizona, I believe. That's where you are. 00:04:45.88 ModGolfPodcast And you've also been involved quite heavily with the NGCOA, the National Golf Course Owners Association. And you're on a podcast with Jay Karen there with the Golf Business Podcast and all the other good things you're doing here. 00:04:57.91 ModGolfPodcast But I want to hear first, before we get into the PGA of America and your work there, how did you get into the golf industry? How did that first come around? Was that something intentional or you kind of fall into that? Tell us about that journey. 00:05:09.81 Don Rea, PGA I think I fell into it. Yeah, yeah definitely. Augusta Ranch is in Mesa, Arizona. You know, the little teeny par 61 golf course, that's at my heart and soul. It's everything I love about golf, to be quite honest with you. 00:05:21.48 Don Rea, PGA I played a little bit and in high school, baseball and golf were the same time. And I just love baseball. 00:05:29.47 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:05:29.86 Don Rea, PGA And then I fell into being a professional umpire. Another thing that my dad introduced me to and said, "Hey, you ever thought about being an umpire?" 00:05:37.34 Don Rea, PGA And I'm like, "no, not really." But next thing you know, I went to umpire school and I umpired for nine years and, One of the great things that happened when I did meet my wife during spring training one year and then I subsequently moved to Arizona to be closer to her, I got a job at UPS. said They always need Christmas drivers and I always needed a job during Christmas. 00:05:57.72 Don Rea, PGA And this darn route I had, which was up and down Main Street and in Mesa, my final stop of the day was always the golf course, Riverview Golf Course. And I just saw this man who ran the golf course, Jim Mooney. He just seemed to love his job. And I finally asked him, "man, what's it like to be in the golf business? It seems like you love it." 00:06:18.08 Don Rea, PGA And he goes, "it's the best!" And I said, "well, how do you do it?" And he gave me the number to the PGA of America. There weren't websites back then. And so I called him up, found out about the playing ability test. And I was on my way. My first job in the golf business was outside service at the very golf course that I own now, Augusta Ranch Golf Club. So it's been an amazing ride. Certainly caught a lot of tailwinds. 00:06:41.57 Don Rea, PGA But that little visit as a UPS driver to a golf course owner operator, Jim Mooney is what started it all. 00:06:49.04 ModGolfPodcast Well, okay, I find this really intriguing. I have to dig into this a little more. It sounds like you were on the trajectory to become a lifetime career umpire. So I'm curious, what level of umpiring were you at and what trajectory were you on? Because for you to change, pivot almost 180 degrees and then go into the golf industry and just closing your eyes and taking that step, were you that passionate about it? Why did you decide to give up umpiring and pivot and go, I'm all in on golf now? 00:07:22.42 Don Rea, PGA Well, I certainly was passionate about that part. I wanted to work in the World Series someday. I was in AAA. I had already done 1,300 professional baseball games from rookie ball all the way to AAA. 00:07:33.43 Don Rea, PGA I had done dozens of spring training major league baseball games. 00:07:33.93 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:07:37.54 Don Rea, PGA So I'd gotten a taste of what big league baseball was like. But I never did a regular season big league game. That was going to be my next step. But once you get there, you find out there aren't many who get jobs, you know, maybe one a year. 00:07:49.41 Don Rea, PGA And so you need a plan B. In addition, I had met Karen. And to be honest with you, my first marriage didn't survive baseball. I was on the road, 144-game season. 00:07:59.64 Don Rea, PGA And I had a son from that marriage, Don Jr. 00:08:04.29 Don Rea, PGA Don III, I'm Don Jr. And so when I met Karen, I was like, "listen, i don't know if i want to make it to the big leagues. If I'm not, I want to do something that I love." And that's what happened you know when I met Jim Mooney. And so, yeah, I always loved baseball, but I needed a plan B. And then once I got into the golf industry and I had that outside service job at Augusta Ranch, that's when I called the lead president of the Pacific Coast League, Branch Rickey III. He was like the great, great grandson of the Branch Rickey. 00:08:33.00 ModGolfPodcast Wow. 00:08:33.13 Don Rea, PGA And I said, "hey, I don't think I'm going to do this anymore. I think I'm going to get in into golf." And he's like, "Don, if you love it, you know then you got to do it." And i did. But that was it. It wasn't that I loved baseball any less. 00:08:45.37 Don Rea, PGA It was just that it didn't look like it was going to happen. And it's turned out I love golf more. 00:08:50.12 ModGolfPodcast Nice, nice. For context, what year was that? So we can know where things stand. 00:08:54.09 Don Rea, PGA Oh, 1998. 00:08:54.31 ModGolfPodcast 1998, okay. 00:08:55.83 Don Rea, PGA 1998. I took my playing ability test in 1999. And that's when I started in the golf business. 00:08:59.59 ModGolfPodcast All right. So we're talking 27 years now. Okay. So we're going to fast forward and move here because we have listeners on the ModGolf podcast who love golf, lots of listeners who are in the industry, others who are just recreational golfers, but I know the way we stay in our lane here, as I talked to mentioned at top of the show that we speak with entrepreneurs, innovators, disruptors, influencers, which I think you kind of sprinkle all those ingredients on your resume there. 00:09:23.17 ModGolfPodcast It's great. You were all for those hats at once. 00:09:23.88 Don Rea, PGA Good stuff. 00:09:25.09 ModGolfPodcast So, there's a lot of people that love the storytelling aspect and not necessarily into golf that much. And they don't understand the industry. So when they hear the PGA of America, they may think it's the same as the PGA Tour, which it's not. 00:09:36.81 ModGolfPodcast So why don't you start that 30,000 foot level and let everyone know, because I know it's quite a broad umbrella with the mandate and all the good things you do with the PGA of America, but sure you're able to distill that down. 00:09:47.99 ModGolfPodcast Can you tell us what the PGA of America does and why you do it? 00:09:52.49 Don Rea, PGA Well, I like to tell everybody the PGA Tour, they play for millions in the PGA of America we get millions to play. In essence, that's what we are. 00:09:59.46 ModGolfPodcast Nice. 00:10:00.99 Don Rea, PGA Some will say that they're professional golfers and we're golf professionals. And either way, I think it works. There is no doubt the mission of the PGA of America has 31,000 men and women out there every day trying to help people get it airborne. I believe we're the voice of the golfer in the game. There's 28.1 million out there playing. And who do they talk to? 00:10:22.54 Don Rea, PGA Well, they talk to our members. They talk to me. So we're their voice when it comes to any issues that might face golf. We're the first persons they come to. We're the first people they come to. We're the first responders of golf. But you know what's funny? you know When you talk about Ryder Cup ticket prices and purses and things like that, and everybody wants to talk about money, I think for us, it's not what the money is. It's what the money does. 00:10:44.28 Don Rea, PGA Don't forget that the PGA of America is a not-for-profit in every sense of the word. 00:10:44.53 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:10:49.52 Don Rea, PGA We are a zero-based budget where the money's got to go back into golf. Now, we do that through our professionals. We do that through our programs. Whether that's PGA Reach, which as the PGA Reach Foundation, is our C3. And so we've got verticals there, right? And the and the verticals are, diversifying the workforce through PGA Works. There's our PGA Works Collegiate Championship, which is the national golf championship for the HBCUs and the minority serving institutions. 00:11:16.39 Don Rea, PGA Veterans served through PGA Hope. We have a deal with the VA where a VA doctor can prescribe a lesson with a PGA golf professional who's trained in adaptive golf. 00:11:27.54 Don Rea, PGA And I've seen it not just change lives, but to save lives. And then PGA Junior League. Everybody sees the championship that happens at the end of the year, a culmination of PGA Junior League. But hey, the good stuff is happening when boys and girls, numbers on their back, we're playing golf together in a two-person scramble in the neighborhood, in their in their local communities. So very proud of those three under the C3, but really proud of the C6 because that's where the trade association the PGA stands. 00:11:54.67 Don Rea, PGA That's where the 31,000 members make sure that we do everything we can to leverage the assets of the PGA of America to tell the story of the PGA professional so that we're serving them. 00:12:05.72 Don Rea, PGA And at the end that's our mission. Serve the member and grow the game. It's just that simple. 00:12:10.09 ModGolfPodcast Nice. Nice. And I've had the pleasure over the last eight years on the ModGolf podcast of having people on talking about PGA Reach and PGA Hope and PGA Works. And some of those programs, right when you were starting them up as fledgling programs and you and the entire team at the PGA of America, you walk that walk, you support those initiatives so deeply and so passionately along with the good work you're doing with the diversity, equity and inclusion piece there that we're going to get into in a second here, Don. 00:12:44.95 ModGolfPodcast You're also a master professional now. Congratulations on getting that status. I just learned that a little while ago. 00:13:03.46 Don Rea, PGA Thank you, thank you. 00:13:04.88 ModGolfPodcast So tell us about the headquarters, which I have not had the opportunity to visit or frequent yet, in Frisco, Texas. The place looks absolutely amazing. So tell us about the headquarters. 00:13:17.53 Don Rea, PGA Yeah, it's amazing. It's our home quarters. I'm going to call it the home quarters because it's the home of the PGA of America, and we are a big family, and that's where we live. I was on the board, and we made the decision to do that, move all of our offices to Frisco, Texas. 00:13:32.00 Don Rea, PGA And back then there was nothing up there. 00:13:32.74 ModGolfPodcast Wow. 00:13:34.62 Don Rea, PGA Now, heck, there's going to be a Universal Studios up there. And we believe it's going to be kind of the Silicon Valley of golf. 00:13:38.13 ModGolfPodcast wow 00:13:40.78 Don Rea, PGA Our teaching and coaching center is going to – um try out all the new technologies out there, whether it's simulators or TrackMan or whatever the launch monitors are. And how do you gamify golf when this new generation loves to gamify everything? and But at the end of the day, you know, I think we've always had buildings to do our administrative work and to serve the 31,000, but we haven't had a campus. 00:14:02.37 Don Rea, PGA The special thing about a college campus is that when you go to college there, there's a connection to that place. It always will be. And the alumni of that tell everybody why they should go to their college. 00:14:14.17 Don Rea, PGA We never had that. And that's what that is. It's not just a building. It's our home. And it sits on 660 acres where there's two championship golf courses, ah a 10-hole lit golf course that's crazy busy every night, a two-acre putting green where little kids are running around in their bare feet with their big putters that are bigger than they are, you know, just putting around. And it's really, for us, our why. There's a lot of relationships out there and ROIs of why you invest in something or partner with somebody or build a relationship with somebody. 00:14:45.75 Don Rea, PGA But for us, it's not about that. You need to know why we exist. You can talk about a why, you can show it, you can see it, you can feel it and smell it. And that's what the home quarters of the PGA of America is. The building might sit on that corner. 00:15:00.70 Don Rea, PGA But what our members do, what why we care so much about this game is generated out of that building. And that's where every future PGA member will have to go through that building. The first floor that when you go, you're going to love it. 00:15:14.76 Don Rea, PGA There's four stories. The first story is all about education. This is where we'll train every future PGA professional. The second and third floors, that's where our people are, our PGA internal family that but served the 31,000 and make sure that our championships are the best in the business. 00:15:29.63 Don Rea, PGA Our spectator championships are telling the story about everything that we do. And then certainly all the technology pieces we have. And then our membership department. And then on the fourth floor, it's dedicated to the boardroom. Why? 00:15:41.65 Don Rea, PGA So that during breaks in a board meeting, We can stand out there in the veranda and understand once again, why are we in this room? It's because of the game of golf and it's for the PGA professionals that grow that game of golf. And, you know, if we have a new slogan and we say we love this game, but I'm pretty sure at our essence, we love the people that love this game even more. 00:15:59.75 Don Rea, PGA And all of that is exemplified right there in Frisco, Texas at our home. 00:16:03.55 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, love that. And with my architectural background, I saw when the design was happening, saw the renderings and the construction, I could feel and see that the programming that was put in place is that physical embodiment of your why. Like you talked about all these programs between the PGA Hope, PGA Reach, PGA Works, and the diversity inclusion piece that you've designed this, especially with a central gathering area, the way it's designed. You can tell me because you're there every day. 00:16:33.78 ModGolfPodcast It seems like it was intentionally designed to make sure that people had these casual collisions for conversations to happen where people that may normally may not actually even know each other. 00:16:46.50 ModGolfPodcast Because it is a large campus, but then you have this opportunity to meet and converse and share ideas and histories. And do you feel that when you're there, that you have this opportunity there to have those type of kind of like those those collisions in a good way? 00:17:02.90 Don Rea, PGA Absolutely. We have four board meetings a year there so that the board can feel it and see it. And remember, because we're instructing every PGA professional there, every week there's a level two or level three class. There's three levels to be a PGA member. 00:17:17.18 Don Rea, PGA Level two and level three are in person in that building. And then, yeah, that master staircase that you're talking about, that is the focal point. That's the living room. It's a home. 00:17:25.58 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:17:26.28 Don Rea, PGA So when you walk in, the first thing you want to do is walk into the living room. We've got a big wall where we show the pictures of every PGA professional. There's a moving digital board and it's got pictures of the 31,000 PGA members. And that's kind of like that family album when you first walk in. And our history's there. 00:17:42.46 Don Rea, PGA Those pictures of grandma and grandpa that every home has. That's what we have right there on the first floor to the right. And so, it is. It's designed for the staff to see it and understand why they work there and who we are, because sometimes they just get phone calls from PGA members. They never go to their facilities and see actually what a PGA member does. 00:18:00.56 Don Rea, PGA But that was absolutely intentional. There's windows all around that place um so that people can see what's outside, which is that golf course I was talking about, that campus I was talking about. and And then we have our own broadcast studio right there so that we can do future you know drop-ins or whatever we create to send out to the membership. 00:18:16.40 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:18:17.52 Don Rea, PGA So, yeah, I'm glad you noticed that and that you do have an appreciation for architecture because there's nothing in that building that was by accident. It was all intentional to tell our story, to tell our why. and then anybody who shows up, they won't forget that we are not the PGA Tour. We're the PGA of America. 00:18:34.16 ModGolfPodcast Yes. Yes. Once you look outside of the windows and see that golf course, I understand you have 18 holes, you have two tracks? Do you have 36 holes or 18 there at Frisco? 00:18:42.05 Don Rea, PGA 36, yeah, the East Course and the West Course. 00:18:45.07 ModGolfPodcast Okay. I know you're now going to be holding championships there, both amateur and professional. So tell us about the kind of design philosophy or desire of programming of how those courses would be used and are used. 00:19:00.92 Don Rea, PGA Well remember, that entire project is a public-private relationship. The town of Frisco was all in. 00:19:06.23 ModGolfPodcast Hmm. 00:19:07.55 Don Rea, PGA We got some subsidies to build our building there, and they made us feel at home right away. That's why we wanted to come there. And then Omni. Omni's been amazing. The Rowling family, you know, they're the ones who technically, you know, we're a public-private partnership, 00:19:23.33 Don Rea, PGA But Omni owns the golf course. They do. And they built their flagship hotel there. The Omni PGA Frisco is amazing. And it continues to win awards. And the golf course owned by them, but operated by us in a sense, because the general manager and the superintendent worked for the PGA of America, it just establishes just a really good family atmosphere and a friendship of like, how do we make this work? 00:19:47.91 Don Rea, PGA And it's working. And so, yes, the East course designed by Gil Hans, that's where the PGA Championship is going to be in 2027. That's where this year's KPMG Women's PGA Championship going to be. The PGA of America has a major on every tour. 00:20:01.87 Don Rea, PGA The Champions Tour, we had our championship there a couple of years ago. so 2027, the PGA Championship will be there. On the West course, designed by Bo Welling, that's where we have our PGA Junior League Championship right there. 00:20:14.65 Don Rea, PGA We have the National High School Championship there. 00:20:15.10 ModGolfPodcast Nice. 00:20:17.08 Don Rea, PGA High school teams of the state and upstate of Texas play there. So, it's no by by no means a municipal golf course, but we utilize it as so that the the public around that facility know that the town was involved. This isn't just the PGA and Omni. 00:20:33.35 Don Rea, PGA No, no, no. It's the PGA, it's Omni, and it's the town of Frisco. And we're just excited of the economic impact of what we've done but because we came there. And we're really excited that they're just, they're making us feel like, well, just like friendly neighbors do. They make us feel like part of the family. 00:20:48.88 ModGolfPodcast Nice. It seems like with the golf course, it's another way that you can fulfill your vision and your values around diversity and inclusion. I'm curious to hear with the boom in opportunities and accessibility for paragolfing. So especially people with physical and neurodivergent challenges, are you planning in the future have you already hosted any type of a paragolfer championship or competition? 00:21:16.54 Don Rea, PGA Haven't had the championship there yet. You know, the PGA golf club that's in Florida, we own that. And we do host the adaptive national championship there in concert with the USGA. 00:21:24.43 ModGolfPodcast Okay. All right. 00:21:26.80 Don Rea, PGA Yeah, the USGA runs that, but they hold it at our facility so that we do that together. And then certainly PGA Hope, like I told you, we deal with all kinds of disabilities with the PGA Hope program. It could be above the knee or below the knee amputation. It could be PTSD. But no doubt in the structures, in the construction of the golf course, the architecture of the golf course, we were going to make sure that it was friendly for everybody. So we do hope to host things like that in the future. There's a putting green there that's two acres and there's ah there's a nice story that the gentleman who helped us with the project, Jimmy Terry, a PGA member, would say is, "can you imagine a day when a little four-year-old girl who learned how to putt on that two-acre putting green now plays in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship? Could that happen?" 00:22:10.75 Don Rea, PGA Absolutely. And we hope it does. And that's why that campus is so nice, because it's not just about a championship golf course that'll host the best on every tour. It's about the kids at PGA Junior League playing at the on the west course, and then it's about the four- and five-year-olds running around in a putting green. 00:22:26.85 Don Rea, PGA And they don't know what golf is. They just know it's fun. 00:22:29.33 ModGolfPodcast Nice. So if my math and my history is correct, that the PGA of America was formed in 1916, which is 109 years, I believe. And I believe you are the 44th president. Did I get that right? 00:22:41.43 Don Rea, PGA Yeah, 44th. Can you imagine? Yeah. 00:22:43.29 ModGolfPodcast My memory is not failing me there. So on math, that seems like about two to three years on average. So is this a two year term that you have? So tell us on that note, answer that for us and then tell us what your day to day is, what your role and responsibilities are as the president of the PGA of America. 00:23:00.87 Don Rea, PGA Yeah, I'm glad to bring a little bit of context to it because remember, the PGA, it is of America. It's the entire United States. And so that we can better serve our members, we have sections. There's 41 sections out there. And then our board of directors, the way the board of directors comes is that we take those 41 sections and we put them into 14 districts. 00:23:17.91 Don Rea, PGA And now PGA professional from each one of those districts represents that district on the board of directors. 00:23:18.05 ModGolfPodcast Okay. Hmm. 00:23:23.42 Don Rea, PGA So it's very, I guess you could say senatorial. They are there to represent their constituents, the PGA members in their districts. Now we've got three independent directors. We've got an at-large director and then the officers. But when you're on the board, you might get tapped on the shoulder you know by another PGA member said, you should run for secretary of the PGA of America. 00:23:41.89 Don Rea, PGA Now, why this is important is because it's really the only election. When you get elected secretary in two years... you will be the vice president. And then after two years, you will be the president. Now you could still mess that up. 00:23:54.45 Don Rea, PGA There is an election, but you win it by acclamation. You win it by acclamation because nobody runs against you. 00:23:59.01 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:24:00.01 Don Rea, PGA But for secretary, there'll be three or four candidates every year that run for secretary. So you're exactly right. I've been in this officer chair, you could say the executive committee for four years, two years as vice president, two years as secretary, just began my two years as president. 00:24:14.91 Don Rea, PGA When you're done, there is a role called the honorary president. You spend two years in that. And I would call that, you know, kind of like the consigliere for the president. Yeah, you're their consultant to make sure that they can get through their two years okay. But it's very exciting. I think the brilliance behind it, is as secretary, your jobs are the committee chairs of membership, education, employment, our university committee. So you really learn what the what we do for our members. You chair the Board of Control, which is kind of like our Supreme Court. 00:24:43.77 Don Rea, PGA So after two years, you basically got this associate's degree in what we do for our members. Then as vice president, you chair the finance, you chair the budget, you chair the investment committees, anything that has to do with finance, audit committee. 00:24:55.53 Don Rea, PGA Now you get a two-year degree in the finance into the PGA. So by the time you're president, You've got a four-year degree on what the PGA of America is all about. And now you're just, you're on the road, telling the story, serving the members and making sure as you have the chair position, you've got that gavel that you leave it better than you found it. 00:25:13.91 Don Rea, PGA I mean, that's what you got to do, right? 00:25:15.96 ModGolfPodcast Love that. Okay, yourself as the owner operator of Augusta Ranch and now also at the same time as the president leading up the PGA of America, what are you learning? What do you put in place that you've learned from all the amazing people that you come in contact with, maybe all 31,000 or the leadership also, especially at the PGA America? What have you learned that now you take away and now you're infusing in your own business at Augusta Ranch that perhaps two or three years ago you did not? So how is that in informing what you're doing with your own business? 00:26:04.60 Don Rea, PGA That's a good question. One, certainly a shout out to the team. It's through a lot of delegation and trust that Augusta Ranch is operating while I'm not there. We've got an a spectacular team of five PGA professionals that that run it. I think when I was there, as the owner pre-COVID and post-COVID, I literally ran for secretary during COVID. 00:26:25.36 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:26:25.54 Don Rea, PGA And before COVID, golf was really hard. We were just trying to make it. I was doing every possible job there. And my heart was to get the community playing golf. I believe in golf. When only 8% of the population plays golf but and that really makes me sad because I think golf is the antidote for a lot of things. It brings families together. It's a mental health, family health. 00:26:49.58 Don Rea, PGA Physical health, It's so important. I wanted everybody to come to a Augusta Ranch. And so what I found is I had to be my own funnel. And whether that was a good restaurant, not just a restaurant with burgers, but could I get, you know, 100% of the people in America eat. 00:27:04.01 Don Rea, PGA I know that. And so if 100% eat, can I get someone who eats at my golf course to play golf? And I think this is where golf courses mess it up a little bit. They think the food is an amenity for the golfer. 00:27:15.71 Don Rea, PGA I guess it is. 00:27:15.81 ModGolfPodcast Right. Yes. 00:27:17.02 Don Rea, PGA But if you make that a funnel for your golf course, because you have a good restaurant, a good hang, a sports bar type attitude and an atmosphere, I think you'll get people there. And then what if you could get them to play golf? 00:27:28.53 Don Rea, PGA Certainly as a board member and officer of the PGA, as I talk to a lot of smart operators, you know, that's top tracer that we put in. I'd love to say it was my idea. It wasn't. That's Kathy Harbin, who's PGA professional and actually the president of the NGCOA right now. 00:27:42.75 ModGolfPodcast yeah 00:27:43.05 Don Rea, PGA She put in Top Tracer, told me about it, and I said, "man, I got to do that." And so I put in 21 bays, and that's become an incredible funnel for me. I thought as a par 61 golf course that I was answering the bell, and it was an introductory offering for people who wanted to play. But I wasn't as good as I thought I was because it's 21 Top Tracer base has introduced us to people I've never met before. 00:28:05.34 Don Rea, PGA And they're like, "where you been all your life?" and we're like, "we've been here for 25 years. Where have you been all your life?" So, yes, this is what happens when you get in governance and everybody says it right. Like you get more out of it than you put in. 00:28:18.89 Don Rea, PGA But it really is true because when you surround yourself, whether it's to get better at golf as a game or to get better at golf as an executive or somebody who wants dedicate their life to the industry and and send their kids to college, you've got to surround yourself with people that are better than you are. 00:28:34.77 Don Rea, PGA And that certainly has happened for me. And you know some of the NGCOA individuals like Rock Lucas and Del Ratcliffe, these are – and and and you know, the Alice and George. ah These three people really gave me a lot of ideas to do it. And then the PGA professionals like Joe Shoshinovich, my business partner, Kurt Hudek. 00:28:52.47 Don Rea, PGA I've been lucky enough to get surrounded by a lot of people that were way better than me. 00:28:56.35 Don Rea, PGA And a high tide raises all ships and it's elevated my ability to so be a good provider for my family, but also feel fulfilled in a life that's dedicated to golf because I just dig it. 00:29:07.96 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, well, I have been fortunate enough, like I said, stumbling into it 10 years ago with our first entrepreneurial venture that had a golf angle to it and haven't looked back since. And I have no desire to go back to the traditional architecture. And I like to think I'm just getting started here. And I think I know for the rest of my life, I'm probably never going to retire. 00:29:30.49 ModGolfPodcast And I'm never going to stop playing golf because I absolutely love it. Unlike I played baseball competitively also played basketball competitively. I'm six foot one, but I was able to dunk back when I was in high school. 00:29:41.03 ModGolfPodcast And now I can't even touch the rim anymore. 00:29:41.15 Don Rea, PGA ah right. 00:29:43.67 ModGolfPodcast I haven't even tried in the last 10 years, but with golf there's that promise that my best golf is still in front of me because I did pick it up at a later age. I did not grow up around golf for but my family at all. So that that excites me and getting new people involved in it also. And have the opportunity introducing people to golf through the first tee that I do some volunteer work also. And that that just excites me and it gets me going. 00:30:08.88 ModGolfPodcast And I agree with you Don. It's not a cliche of thinking that golf is therapy or this metaphor for life. it It really is. And I found that it's my medication too. And it doesn't matter if I shoot 79 or 99. 00:30:20.55 ModGolfPodcast And I've done that all within a week quite recently too, mind you. And that's not the point. 00:30:24.52 Don Rea, PGA Yeah. 00:30:25.18 ModGolfPodcast The fact of getting out there, getting those 15,000 steps in and hanging out with existing friends or meeting some new ones. And it is, ah I cannot encourage enough people or everybody to get out there and take that for swing also. 00:30:38.97 Don Rea, PGA I know, right? I mean, it's discipleship, right? I mean, that's really what we need to invite a couple people to golf. I mean, why wouldn't you? We had a golf course owner on our podcast, like you were saying, that Jay and I do. We have a great time with that. And he said, man, I think this golf course is going to kill me. 00:30:55.06 Don Rea, PGA And it's like, well, what a way to go. Why wouldn't you? I mean, golf's good and it's going to make you figure out if you really want it or not, and that's okay. 00:31:06.10 Don Rea, PGA Because those bad rounds, if you stick around, the golf gods always bless you with the birdie somewhere down the line. I mean, come on, brother. I mean, you always end the round with this great shot that brings you back. 00:31:17.55 Don Rea, PGA The golfing gods are never going to let you get too far away. But if they think that you're going to get so competitive, you're going to hate yourself, then you know maybe golf isn't for you. It's okay to be competitive. Of course, we all want to get better. 00:31:31.05 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:31:31.26 Don Rea, PGA But once you once like you said, it's if you are driving your satisfaction by simply score – And aren't you missing it? It's not swing stance and score. It's who you're with. It's the time off the grid. It's being out there and maybe every once a while taking a big, deep breath. And, you know, I tell some of our ladies and young men, when they haven't played before, I said, you know what don't even keep score, but I want you to do one thing. 00:31:54.07 Don Rea, PGA Write a big circle on every hole, just one zero. Write a zero on every hole. And then when you get done with that hole, either put two dots and a frown or two dots and a smile on every hole. and And if you've got more smiles and frowns at the end of 18 holes, well, then that's your score. 00:32:09.05 Don Rea, PGA And someday we'll start counting every shot. But right now, everyone starts with a zero, and you decide what face you're going to draw after that hole. And if we just looked at it that way, I think golf would be people to understand it a little bit more. It's not the birdies. It's the banter, right? It's hanging out there. 00:32:25.27 ModGolfPodcast I think you just named the ah the podcast episode. It's not the birdies, it's the banter. think you nailed it there, Don. I think we, think we have a title for this podcast episode and I do want to dig into your thoughts on technology, on innovation, being an entrepreneur yourself. 00:32:33.20 Don Rea, PGA All right. All right. I like it. 00:32:39.48 ModGolfPodcast You talked about simulators, and you know the numbers better than I do. So I'll let you tell our listeners here, just as far as the off course rounds, as far as entertainment, as compared to green grass experiences. 00:32:57.69 ModGolfPodcast The technology piece of this to tie into what you talked about, as far as make it more experiential rather than results or goal driven, because that'll just drive you crazy. 00:33:06.84 ModGolfPodcast If you think today you're going to go out there, me as a 16 handicap, I'm going to shoot 85 today. And if I don't, then I feel like, "is that a failure in some way?" and getting that mindset that so many golfers, sadly, especially men, whereas a lot of women I know, they just go and have a great time. 00:33:22.73 ModGolfPodcast I need to embrace that more myself. But using a technology like Arccos, which I've had on the podcast, don't they don't sponsor me, so I can just put it out there. I love what they do so I can track all my so i shots. And they've got this nice feature now called Top Shots. So every round, because some golfers always focus on the shots they left behind. You get back at the clubhouse in the 19th hole and a lot of guys just grumble about the chip they sculled across the green or the four putt. So the negative stuff rather than the positive stuff. And I love this with Arccos is with Top Shots. 00:33:55.80 ModGolfPodcast And usually with me as a 16 handicapper, I'll have two and sometimes four shots around that fit in that category. But then it compares it to what a PGA Pro on tour would have done percentage-wise, it'll say that I stuck that gap wedge from 112 yards to eight feet, and I think to myself, "oh, that's a good shot, I should do that more", but the reality is, that's a great flipping shot and it'll say that's a better shot than 92% of guys on tour, which is amazing. So I love those types of aspects of that positivity that the gamification side and the technology side brings. So I love to expand on that and hear your thoughts. I can tell you embrace the technology rather than resist it. 00:34:38.51 ModGolfPodcast Like a lot of golfers were a lot of people in the industry were even five years ago, especially 10 years ago before top golf was a thing. So I want to hear as far as how yourself personally and also the PG of America holistically is embracing technology to use that as the gateway to introduce even more people to the game of golf. 00:35:00.49 Don Rea, PGA I think anything that gets people playing the game of golf and certainly the game being a little bit easier, you know what I mean? If you've got clubs that are forgiving or balls that go a little further, isn't that what we want to do? I'm sure that when Perchaball came out, everybody's like, oh my gosh, it's going to kill golf. When the golf cart came out, they're like, we're supposed to be walking. What's a golf cart going to do? And now the golf cart's there. 00:35:23.46 Don Rea, PGA Screen golf, these simulators, why wouldn't you? If you could put one in your garage, if you've got that ability, great. Or if you can go down the street and, you know, and go in one and just hit some balls into an air conditioned environment when it's raining, what's wrong with that? I think all these tools that are allowing people to better enjoy their game or get better at their game is great. 00:35:43.13 Don Rea, PGA You mentioned Arccos. Those guys are brilliant. They've tracked a billion shots in their career. And to your point, why not be able to tell somebody how good that was, right? 00:35:53.78 Don Rea, PGA There was one time was teaching a little junior and and she hit it like 120 yards. right There's a 100-yard marker out there. 00:35:59.19 ModGolfPodcast right. 00:35:59.75 Don Rea, PGA She hit in 120 yards. She was, yeah, but everybody else sitting further. And I said, have you gone to a baseball game? and She's like, yeah. She goes, I've been to see the Diamondbacks. Do you know how far that outfield fence is? 00:36:11.59 Don Rea, PGA No, it's 330 feet. That's 110 yards. You just hit a home run at Bank One Ballpark, you know, Chase Field. I did? Yes. But, you know, we don't celebrate that for some reason. And to your point, isn't that the beauty of golf, that the same ball, the same clubs are being used? And so when Arccos says you hit it just as good as a tour player, they mean it in every form and fashion. 00:36:34.33 Don Rea, PGA It's the same size hole, same size ball, saying same type of club. We're all playing with the same stuff. It's just some are better than others, it's just like basketball. You used to dunk, you don't dunk anymore. That's all right. It's just the beauty of golf is that we can still play against each other because of a handicap and we can, and it'll still come down to the last putt. So absolutely anything, you know, Topgolf came out. 00:36:55.05 Don Rea, PGA I know there were some pros worried about it. Now, will those people become golfers or not? Is Topgolf really trying to create golfers? Listen, they don't have to try. Somebody gets out there and gets swing euphoria. Great. And if I'm a golfer and I'm discipling somebody in golf and I get into a golf course, they smell that grass. They see the birds. They drive around and and really take in what golf is, which is all your senses. 00:37:16.63 Don Rea, PGA We're going to get them. We are going to get them. That's all we got to do is plant a seed. And where that seed's planted, I don't care. Get them in front of me or one of the 30,000 PGA professionals. 00:37:27.62 Don Rea, PGA We'll water that seed till they're a plant that's going to play golf for the rest of their life. 00:37:31.80 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, love that. And talking to you and others with the PGA of America and seeing the work that you do, it is very apparent to me that you love to collaborate with other organizations, with other partners that where there is that synergy. 00:37:37.16 Don Rea, PGA Thanks. 00:37:49.97 ModGolfPodcast You have a growth mindset and rather than this one of scarcity that, no, we're going to claim all that and we're going to cut them out. You don't have that, you don't compete in that way. You collaborate and you really sincerely do that. So I'd like to hear a little bit about the work that you do with the USGA and perhaps some other, especially on the women's side whether it's with Women's Golf Day with our good friend Elisa Gaudet and others. So the growth of Women's Golf and the partnerships. 00:38:18.87 ModGolfPodcast I know I kind of threw two questions at you at once, but perhaps you can elaborate on both Women's Golf and also the partnerships that you have that that you can go forward together and build something even stronger and more robust. 00:38:27.97 Don Rea, PGA No, it's not two questions. It's one, because the ecosystem is the ecosystem. Elisa does amazing things, and the USGA does amazing things. 00:38:34.79 ModGolfPodcast Mm-hmm. 00:38:38.36 Don Rea, PGA You know, drive, chip, and putt. We do that with the USGA and Augusta National. ah The majors we have on every tour, LPGA, the PGA Tour. Of course, we have the Ryder Cup, a global competition. So we talk to our friends at the PGA, Great Britain and Ireland, and the DP Tour. So, yeah. 00:38:53.53 Don Rea, PGA You know, I think the PGA of America, if there's one association that needs to holistically think about things and and make sure that everybody stays on track of of of doing what we're doing, which is just to grow the game. 00:39:05.44 Don Rea, PGA if everybody and If everybody is working in the same direction to grow the game, we're all going to have our own different skill sets. I mean – You know, i know I wasn't in football. I was a baseball player. But at the end of the day, it's a football team. 00:39:17.71 Don Rea, PGA You know, you see a kicker walking down the street. There's no way you're going go, that guy's an NFL football player. she's just not There's no way you're goingnna see that. But he is. And everybody on a football team is different sizes. You know, it's the offensive lineman to the running backs. 00:39:31.81 Don Rea, PGA And every single one of them, offense and defense, some are trying to stop touchdowns and some are trying to score them. The industry of golf is very similar. We all have our little areas. The superintendents are here to make sure that we steward our resources and use less water and use less pesticides. 00:39:47.30 Don Rea, PGA And they do a darn good job at that. The golf course owners, you know, they their whole lot in life is they're trying to protect their 80 acres or their 100 acres or whatever it is and and make sure that the property taxes and the the legislative things, that there's no unintended consequences that would impact their course, thereby the game and the golfer and the industry in which we all sit. I mean, and we're also, it's just like an ecosystem and it's very mutualistic and it's very ah you know synergistic. of We're all together. 00:40:15.92 Don Rea, PGA And there are times that certain aspects of that ecosystem, they start to get a little proud or they start to get focused um So much on their goals, which is fine, but how is it affecting the ecosystem? This pond that we live in, um everybody's got to do their part, but the why of the pond has to be overall health and and to make sure that the 28 million that play it or, like you said, the 47.1 that play on and off the golf course, because you're right, there are more golfers or people swinging a club off a golf course than on it. 00:40:45.55 Don Rea, PGA But no, i think the PGA – someone asked me on an interview the other day, like, what's the win for the PGA when it comes to this rollback? And my answer was I'm not looking for a win for the PGA. I'm looking for a win for golf. 00:40:57.48 Don Rea, PGA If golf wins, the PGA will win. And that's all we care about. and And so with all these things that have happened in the golf, this disruption in the professional side or you know in the recreational side, whatever it is, 00:41:08.46 Don Rea, PGA Our job and Derek and I are doing it, we're leading by example right now, is to bring everybody in a room in a collaborative way and say, hey, how can we all help each other out? Whether that's legislative, whether that's the health of the game recreationally, or the health of the game at the people who play for purses. 00:41:23.80 Don Rea, PGA um all of them impact each other and i'm really proud of the pga is stepping up now like never before to say not on our watch we are going to bring this game together so that the game wins because if the game wins the 31 000 men and women will have a good life and their kids will go to college 00:41:41.91 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, yeah. You touched on sustainability there. I know that the mandate for you with the PGA of America, that's not necessarily first and foremost, although everything is interconnected, as we talked about, and then the NGCOA and the USGA. 00:41:56.17 ModGolfPodcast As far as the future proofing and the climate proofing of golf courses, whether it's water usage and now with fires and everything that's going on and 00:42:05.02 Don Rea, PGA Let's see what's on next. 00:42:05.55 ModGolfPodcast So what's your take on that? not necessarily the environmental sustainability, even though that is connected, but your 31,000 members, there is that financial and career sustainability. So what are you doing? Is there a mandate ah in a way with the PGA of America to help future-proof the careers for generations to come for the next 109 years through the PGA of America? 00:42:30.87 Don Rea, PGA Absolutely. You're right. I mean, when it comes the sustainability side and what the NGCOA does, we allow them to do all that stuff. We're glad they do all that stuff. 00:42:41.22 Don Rea, PGA We can't do that. 00:42:41.48 ModGolfPodcast Yes. Yep. 00:42:42.02 Don Rea, PGA That's not our strength. I mean, we certainly have PGA members that are superintendents. We have PGA members that are golf course owners. um But I think our job is we do have the biggest megaphone. Once again, we've got the Ryder Cup. We've got majors on every tour. 00:42:53.92 Don Rea, PGA So we have an obligation to tell the world and the legislators and everybody who's listening, non-golfers, what the industry is doing. And that's what the superintendents are doing and the and the owners are doing. um But to your point, the PGA of America, as far as our golf professionals and just have be having job as as having golf as a job, if this is your profession, you know what what are we looking at going forward? Well, certainly AI is something everybody's looking at and it's exciting and it's fun. And you can film your swing right now and AI will tell you what's wrong with it. AI will ah give you a video on how to fix it. 00:43:26.80 Don Rea, PGA and And does that scare our members? for some, it does. um But what's funny? If I can tell a quick story, I was at the PGM University Championship. PGM, there's 16 professional golf management universities out there. 00:43:40.16 Don Rea, PGA UNLV is one of them right in my backyard. 00:43:42.21 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:43:42.44 Don Rea, PGA and And these young men and women are going to get a degree basically in business, and then they become a PGA member. And I was there at their championships. And I said, you know what? I had Chad GPT write my entire speech tonight and I'm going to read it word for word. And I had Chad GPT write me a joke and it wasn't funny. So I asked it to write me a funnier joke and it gave me a funny joke. 00:44:02.87 Don Rea, PGA And then brother, I read this joke as bad as I could and nobody laughed. and I said, see, it doesn't matter what ChatGPT gives to me. How I present it will make it funny. How I present it will make it terrible. 00:44:16.74 Don Rea, PGA Whatever the tools happen with AI, it's never going to replace the tools of human connection. 00:44:22.00 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:44:22.06 Don Rea, PGA A high five, a fist bump, a hug, you know whatever it might be. If I'm on the golf course with you and I'm working you through your game, and this is why the future of the PGA professional They can run golf course. They can manage golf courses. But we've got to get on that golf course at least 10 hours a week, coaching and teaching people into the game. And isn't it amazing how many sports that when you're the instructor, you never see your student play? 00:44:44.56 Don Rea, PGA When I coached Katie's softball team, the practice was based on the last game. They didn't have the cutoff, man. They didn't lay down the bunt. And so those are the drills that we did. We need to get the PGA professional out of the office, onto the tee, onto the green, onto the fairway so that we can see how these people are playing, so that we can fix their game on the golf course and devise drills and swing tips to get them to play better based on how they play. 00:45:08.53 Don Rea, PGA not how they swing on a golf course. 00:45:09.99 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:45:10.37 Don Rea, PGA So yes, the future of this career is a work-life balance. And part of that is getting on the golf course so you can enjoy your work life a little bit more. um And then making sure that our education to the younger professionals, preparing them for a world where AI is going to be there. 00:45:24.99 Don Rea, PGA But how do we utilize a AI so that we can be in the office less? If AI can write an email for me so I can give another lesson, perfect. AI can write a budget for me so I can play a round of golf with my members, perfect. 00:45:36.07 Don Rea, PGA And that's how we're going to leverage technology to make sure the experience of golf is better. 00:45:42.03 ModGolfPodcast I agree with you that I do use AI in certain instances. I did not use it to create the series of questions for you today because I know enough about you and and also just responding to ah to all of your great answers, does this your energy, your responses, and just having a conversation, which what we've done here for the last 46 minutes. 00:46:03.75 ModGolfPodcast And AI can't replicate that. 00:46:04.83 Don Rea, PGA Time flies. 00:46:05.83 ModGolfPodcast It does great things, but they got to pick your spots. 00:46:09.18 Don Rea, PGA It can't. No, this has been great. I agree. Isn't it different when you can see somebody's face? Even though this, nobody's seeing us right now, but I'm seeing you and that helps us connect. And, and I think that's just shows you once again, even when it's in 2d and it's not 3d, it's still important to have some depth of, of seeing your facial expressions so that I know you're listening to me and you care and, 00:46:35.39 Don Rea, PGA That's the big thing that PGA professionals, the world's a pro-am. And if there's one thing pros are good at, it's a pro-am. 00:46:41.30 ModGolfPodcast Nice, nice. Well, I agree with that wholeheartedly. And that's the beauty of the PGA show going full circle to where we started the conversation today. And yeah, over 40,000 people there, maybe even more than that this year. I think the numbers were unbelievably good. The best since 2017 or 2018, I believe you can, I definitely can verify that for us here, Don. 00:47:00.21 ModGolfPodcast And just having that experience, that I just love going to the show and I've been so fortunate that I get invited as part of the PGA show. media center to set up there and, and have some people on, or even just walking around and finding those new innovators and having those stories reveal themselves or just running into some of the over 200 guests I've had on the ModGolf podcast. 00:47:21.22 ModGolfPodcast And I just love it. Yeah. COVID was hard for everybody. Death by Zoom call. I think we all did our, our fair share, even though we still use that as a tool, but Yeah, nothing beats real life. And that's the beautiful thing about golf to being on a golf course, whether it's a par 61. 00:47:33.43 Don Rea, PGA Thank you. 00:47:34.83 ModGolfPodcast I'm sure your course, probably takes three hours to play or whether it's four and a half hours. That's another beautiful part about the game, right? Those pauses and those moments in between hitting shots where you really get to know each other. 00:47:47.98 Don Rea, PGA my gosh. That's the good stuff, right? I mean, it ended up funny. Like, during after COVID, they're like, the PGA show's dead. No one's ever going again. That's not what the world's about. And, hey, you're right. Last year was our biggest one in a decade. 00:48:00.61 Don Rea, PGA And was there a tremendous amount of commerce done? Absolutely. PGA Pro's buying merchandise for the shops. For many of them the other shops are going to open in March. But what I saw was a lot of mentoring. What I saw was a lot of PGA professionals bringing their younger PGA professionals or even maybe their family members to say, hey, let's go check out the show. and And I thought that was the best part. It was the diversity of that entire group because then you can bring – there's nothing like bringing somebody like you know bring your kid to work day. 00:48:32.11 Don Rea, PGA You know, there's something you're kind of proud to bring your kid. 00:48:32.32 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:48:33.79 Don Rea, PGA And the kid's excited to see what dad or mom does every day. And in a sense, the PGA show, at the very beginning of the year in January, we're able to bring everybody that we care about to work in a sense and and see why we love it. And it's, once again, not be said because of swing, stance, and score. 00:48:49.69 Don Rea, PGA It's just because we're out there with people and we're spending time with people. And to your point, it's... You're like a hockey game. I love hockey in person, but you can't start a conversation at hockey because you might miss the shot. 00:49:00.17 ModGolfPodcast right 00:49:00.29 Don Rea, PGA But a thing with baseball and golf are very similar. 00:49:03.64 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:49:03.73 Don Rea, PGA You know, they, like you said, at a Augusta Ranch, a baseball game might be three hours and around at a Augusta Ranch might be three hours. But is it all the base hits and the steals or is it the time in between pitches that you enjoy baseball? 00:49:14.97 ModGolfPodcast right 00:49:15.63 Don Rea, PGA I would say it's in time in between the time of pitches. And golf's the same way. It's the time between shots, which is the good stuff. And people finally figured that out during COVID. I think that's why this boom has continued on even after that that was over. 00:49:29.58 ModGolfPodcast Yeah, I really agree with that. And you had mentioned there about bring your kid to work day. I did see your a LinkedIn post and you are very active on LinkedIn and Instagram and you do great stuff on there. 00:49:40.20 ModGolfPodcast And I think it may have been today. You actually took a picture at your home quarters, your headquarters there, where it was bring a kid to work day. So are you seen with a lot of those kids that they've never played golf before? Because I'm sure a lot of the people that work there, 00:49:55.70 ModGolfPodcast the skillset that are required does not have to be a so a scratch or a single digit handicap. I'm sure there's a lot of people that work at the headquarters that haven't played golf before. So, so tell me about that as far as the experience of bring a kid to work day that you just had and are, do they have a chance to swing a club or putt a ball or what to tell us about that? 00:50:15.42 Don Rea, PGA but but well, well, well, yeah, I mean, the PGA posted that on LinkedIn. So I shared it, right? I mean, we were there a couple of days ago because we had our committee meetings, but I would say, you know, one, there's about 300 employees at the PGA of for America, 330. 00:50:23.51 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:50:28.74 Don Rea, PGA A lot of them are in the field at our championships and our career services our staff and player engagement staff, right? mean, A lot of them aren't there all the time. But, um you know, of the 300 and let's say 30, 100 of them are PGA professionals. So we're very proud that you can be a PGA professional and work in the technology department, you know, creating apps or software that's going to help a PGA professional. 00:50:50.12 Don Rea, PGA There are many different jobs in the golf industry that are just related to golf. Right. And that maybe you don't swing it. 00:50:54.51 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:50:56.29 Don Rea, PGA So I would say sheer statistics, you know, at 8% of the population, of course, you know, a lot of the kids that are playing lots of different sports and probably golf isn't one of them. And that's the beauty of having a, you know, bring your kid to work day at the PGA of America, because the first floor is like a playground. Once again, 00:51:12.95 Don Rea, PGA Whether you're a 65-year-old, love golf, if you go to the first floor of the PGA home quarters, you're going to go, this is the greatest. We have a bunker. And, yes, some of those kids are rolling around in it, but there's a bunker inside. I mean, that's amazing. I could take a full bunker shot inside the home of the PGA. So – You know, it is. There's a lot of field trips that come to the PGA home quarters, and kids just get to see everything that's going on. There's simulators in the home quarters. 00:51:37.13 Don Rea, PGA There's bays that you can hit balls out onto the green grass. And then certainly all of ah the things that we do there, it's the biomechanics stuff, the little ah laboratory that we have that... re-gripping clubs and things like that, how to put a new head on a club. 00:51:50.76 Don Rea, PGA You got to know all that stuff when you're a PGA professional. So yeah, certainly maybe someone who's in accounting, who brings their kids and maybe they haven't been exposed to golf. Well, on that day or yesterday when it happened, they certainly saw that, wow, mom or dad works at basically a golf place. I thought they were just an accountant. No, they work at the PGA, which means it's about golf no matter what you do. 00:52:14.29 ModGolfPodcast Amazing. Well, now I want to get down and check out the headquarters even sooner. 00:52:17.47 Don Rea, PGA You have to roll around in it. 00:52:17.45 ModGolfPodcast Maybe I'll roll around in that bunker. Well, but maybe I won't do that being a fully grown man, but I would certainly love the opportunity to to to tee it up on the golf course. 00:52:21.18 Don Rea, PGA Why not? 00:52:25.74 ModGolfPodcast So if there's a chance in the near future, and I shoot lots of video, as you know, for the ModGolf YouTube channel. So maybe I can do something fun with you, some collaboration down the road in the future but that ties in. 00:52:37.69 ModGolfPodcast Who knows? 00:52:38.04 Don Rea, PGA i think that bigger, I know a guy, I definitely know a guy who could make that happen for us. 00:52:38.05 ModGolfPodcast That would be great. 00:52:42.24 Don Rea, PGA I'm pretty sure I can make that happen. 00:52:42.66 ModGolfPodcast All right. There we go. Okay. Last question I want to ask you here to finish up. 00:52:46.91 Don Rea, PGA Yes. 00:52:47.70 ModGolfPodcast I noticed when we're recording this, it's last week of April. The next week um when we release this, I believe you will be in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill for, ah for national golf day of which I was invited to, I think think it was 2017, 2018. So definitely before COVID and had that experience. 00:53:05.08 ModGolfPodcast So tell us about your involvement there because I believe you were going, you actually told Jay on your podcast that you're going to be attending that. So tell us our listeners a little bit about national golf day and your involvement with that. 00:53:17.69 Don Rea, PGA Yeah, you know, yeah, May is a crazy month. You know, May a crazy month for me as an officer. I mean, literally, I'll touch every aspect of the PGA of America in the month away month month of May, from PGA Works Collegiate Championship to tour our PGA Professional Championship, which I go to on on Sunday, and and then I will be at National Golf Day. 00:53:26.25 ModGolfPodcast Right. 00:53:34.97 Don Rea, PGA And, you know, when something started, We Are Golf was a while ago, and now it's called the American Golf Industry Coalition. 00:53:38.74 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:53:40.17 Don Rea, PGA But We pick a day in May where club managers, superintendents, golf course owners, PGA professionals, LPGA professionals, we all go to D.C. and we talk about golf. And we talk about, you know, what go not what golf is, but what golf does. 00:53:55.00 Don Rea, PGA You know, what we do for families, what we do for the environment, what we do for the economy. You know, you know what we what we don't do when everybody thinks we use all this water and we don't. And we talk about hope. We talk about PGA hope. 00:54:07.46 Don Rea, PGA And what it does for veterans. And so, ah yeah, it's an amazing two days where, you know, they set up appointments with our legislators so that we're the constituents of the person we're talking to. This is, you know, to me, the magic of National Golf Day. 00:54:20.37 Don Rea, PGA It's not us talking to a big group of legislators. We're talking to the legislator that represents me at Augusta Ranch. It represents me when I live in Gilbert, Arizona. So they're listening to me because I'm not a lobbyist. 00:54:33.01 Don Rea, PGA I'm a person, a real live person who pays taxes. 00:54:34.33 ModGolfPodcast You're constituent. yeah 00:54:36.35 Don Rea, PGA I'm a constituent, exactly. So it's super, you know, you when you tour around, you usually tour around with the superintendent ah as a PJ pro. Maybe you have a golf course owner, a superintendent, a club manager. Maybe it's a vendor, you know, maybe it's Rain Bird or something. 00:54:49.45 Don Rea, PGA um But we we probably visit... Eight legislators in a day. Sometimes we don't get the legislator. about Maybe we'll get their legislative director or assistant, but we tell the same story of the, of the legislation that we're worried. 00:55:01.24 Don Rea, PGA Most of the legislation that hurts golf is an unintended consequence of that. They didn't realize when they did it, that it was going to hurt the very game that once again, takes care of the environment and gets people to ah play together. 00:55:06.05 ModGolfPodcast Yes. 00:55:12.53 Don Rea, PGA So, I love it. um I think once you go, you never stop going because very American, you feel very patriotic. I mean, of course, it's because the White House and the Capitol building and the Washington Monument is, you know, you can see the shadows of them because you're right there. 00:55:25.63 Don Rea, PGA um But I love it. I never feel more fulfilled of like, hey, I did my best today. And some would say, yeah, but will it make an impact? Hey, I don't know. It's grabbing that shell and throwing it back into the sea, right? It it made a difference at that one. 00:55:37.73 Don Rea, PGA um So, yeah. 00:55:37.94 ModGolfPodcast Yep. 00:55:39.05 Don Rea, PGA I hope every PGA professional would go to DC one year for national golf day. Cause I think they truly see that this country's great. And what golf does is really cool. 00:55:49.42 ModGolfPodcast But when I had that opportunity to participate and and attend, I really saw that that it was like the top of the marketing funnel. And that's raising awareness. because I saw there were a lot of elected officials and senators and representatives that didn't know much about golf. 00:56:00.82 Don Rea, PGA All right. 00:56:03.23 ModGolfPodcast And they thought about that. It's still that elitist thing that that stigma is still out there. It's not as bad as it used to be because golf was not great of speaking outside of this echo chamber that we created for ourselves is a big one it's a hundred billion dollar a year echo chamber but it's still a big echo chamber and getting outside of that getting on the front page of the newspaper rather than the back section where everybody already knows what but all the good things that we're doing for golf so raising that awareness you know that we're not this environmental and kind of a elitist pariah that some people may still think that it truly is a game for everyone and and you're doing such a great job 00:56:38.97 ModGolfPodcast with the PGA of America and also with golf Canada up here, they're doing an amazing job also of making golf, inviting, welcoming and accessible for everyone and walking that walk. And I know you're doing a great job of that. 00:56:51.19 ModGolfPodcast And I thank you for, for the effort and the energy that you bring to that Don. So, Hey, one more question to finish up, which the fun one. 00:56:56.99 Don Rea, PGA yes yes 00:56:57.79 ModGolfPodcast I have to put you on the spot here. I've never asked this question before, but I think we're going to end every single episode with this. Now for people that play golf, cause I do have some guests on that, that actually don't play the game. but you definitely do. 00:57:09.28 ModGolfPodcast So dream foursome. So three other people, if you can play with anyone still alive or no longer with us, who would those three people in that you tee it up with tomorrow morning? 00:57:22.30 Don Rea, PGA You know, that's a good question. I think about it sometimes because I've heard people ask other people that and I've never, you think I've been asked it one time. It was a long time ago. 00:57:34.38 Don Rea, PGA And my answer was different then than that it will be right now. I travel around and you see people and and you kind of hear stories and you know Life is so short. 00:57:46.87 Don Rea, PGA you know and it's ah And like I said, playing golf with my dad, to know so I can't do that again. 00:57:52.86 ModGolfPodcast Yeah. 00:57:53.01 Don Rea, PGA You give me one more shot at that, brother, and my dad's going to be in there. 00:57:53.02 ModGolfPodcast Nice. 00:57:56.58 Don Rea, PGA And then my daughter would be there. 00:57:57.22 ModGolfPodcast nice 00:57:58.18 Don Rea, PGA My wife doesn't play golf. Otherwise, she'd make the foursome. She'll caddy. But I'd bring my son in there, too. I'd bring my son... It was from another marriage, but that's what golf does, right? 00:58:09.71 Don Rea, PGA It brings everybody together. So my son, Donnie, my daughter, Katie, my dad, my brother's not going to make the cut. I love him to death, but that would be my foursome. 00:58:21.45 Don Rea, PGA If you give me five some, I'll throw my brother in there. But if it's a foursome, that's who I'm going with. 00:58:25.21 ModGolfPodcast I love that. The fact it was so family focused that, and that's one of the, another beautiful aspect of golf that it allows you to spend quality time together, whether it's in a simulator or whether it's a green grass experience. 00:58:36.34 ModGolfPodcast And I find that too, just that creating shared memories and experiences, whether they're making a 00:58:37.13 Don Rea, PGA Amen. 00:58:44.49 ModGolfPodcast quadruple bogey or a birdie or anything in between those are those memories and those things you can talk about forever and have that connection golf is that connective tissue that helps bring us together and it's a it's a beautiful game for for that reason so that was a great answer that was a great response 00:58:59.42 Don Rea, PGA know what I was just thinking? Yeah, Noah, appreciate it. You know what just thought about? You just said, isn't it funny? Let's go have a cup of coffee. Is a cup of coffee about the coffee? It's never about the coffee. it's just i That means I want to spend time with you. 00:59:12.13 ModGolfPodcast yes 00:59:12.30 Don Rea, PGA Man, if we could get golf kind of known as that, right? Like, hey, want to play golf. And it's not that what course we're going to play or what we're going to shoot. It's just like a cup of coffee. Hey, you want to have coffee tomorrow? How about you want to play golf tomorrow? And that's all it means is that we're just going to hang out. It just happens to be the thing we're doing. 00:59:27.88 Don Rea, PGA drinking coffee or playing golf. So let's get it to that. If your podcast and me together could kick it, coffee and golf in ah in a sense, you know, thinking in those terms, man, that'd be a win. 00:59:38.95 ModGolfPodcast I love it. Well, as you said earlier, banters, not birdies. Love it. See, I remembered. It stuck. So that's happening. 00:59:45.80 Don Rea, PGA It did stick. 00:59:46.90 ModGolfPodcast Good stuff. So yes, Don, as I always do in the show notes here for our listeners, they can then find out about all the good things that you're doing that connect with you through LinkedIn, especially, and, and also with the PGA of America, ah with PGA Junior League, with PGA Reach, PGA Hope, and PGA Works, and all the good things you're doing in the diversity inclusion space. 01:00:34.60 ModGolfPodcast So it'll be easy for them to find that in the show notes. So with that, Don Rea, president of the PGA of America and doing so much more for the golf industry and just life in general. 01:00:42.82 Don Rea, PGA Thank you 01:00:47.73 ModGolfPodcast Just, I would put you up there with one of the best humans I know. 01:00:48.17 Don Rea, PGA thank you 01:00:51.05 ModGolfPodcast And I know a lot of them now. It's the beauty of community building that I've got with ModGolf. And people ask me why I do this, just like you talked about your why earlier. And that biggest one for me is I've had the opportunity to connect with amazing people like yourself that otherwise I would not... 01:01:08.18 ModGolfPodcast have anything to talk about or a reason to connect with. So I am blessed that ModGolf continues to ah to thrive and to grow. And you're one of those great people that that help kind of stir the ah stir the drink to make it all happen, my friend. 01:01:22.64 Don Rea, PGA Thank you, brother. Amen. ah appreciate you 01:01:25.26 ModGolfPodcast All right. I hope to see you in person very soon. Have a great summer with all the things you're going to be very busy doing. And once again, I appreciate your time, Don. We'll talk to you soon. 01:01:33.39 Don Rea, PGA you. See you down the road.