Iss. #287 | Of COURSE Bryson Wasn't an iPhone Guy

“I went pretty fancy this year. It’s always on the Tuesday night, so I was thinking that I could just do a Taco Tuesday or something. We’ll see.” - Rory on his plans for the year two Masters menu. And cheers to whoever first coined the idea of Taco Tuesday—the internet seems to say it was either the chain Taco John's or a place called Tortilla Flats in Long Beach. Fun fact: Taco Bell challenged the trademark in 2023 which allowed it to be free for all to use. What a brand.

The dreaded group chain green box

OF COURSE BRYSON WASN'T AN IPHONE GUY

In a recent Foreplay podcast, the newest Foreplay cast member Kevin "Kiz" Kisner revealed a story from the latest Ryder Cup involving Bryson.

The story starts with a group chat among the team and, in true Bryson fashion, he was the only team member without an iPhone. Meaning, beyond the dreaded group chat green box, the team couldn't share videos with one another. So they forced him to go out and buy an iPhone specifically for the group chat.

Bryson shared his new number and the group chain started firing. Only to discover, after Bryson remained silent, that they actually were not speaking to Bryson at all. Bryson gave the wrong number so for a nine hour window, some random in the country was getting the lowdown with the entire US Ryder Cup team.

A mistake that could only really be topped by someone mistakenly getting added to the SB2K16 Crew aka Jordan Spieth, Ricky Fowler, Justin Thomas and Smylie Kaufman. The group made legendary from their 2016 spring break trip to the Bahamas.

But where's the driver drills...

WE TALKIN' 'BOUT PRACTICE???

Caught a fascinating video from IG (reposted on X) from UTSA golfer Jack Wehman about a typical 2-hour practice. A practice that shines a Broadway-level spotlight on the fact that I have no clue how to properly practice golf. Here's what they do:

DRILL #1 - 60-80 YARD WEDGE SHOTS

5 cones were positioned between 60 and 80 yards from a pin. The goal was to land a ball within 15 feet of the pin and, if so, you can move back a cone. Don't land it, you move forward.

DRILL #2 - 135-155 YARD IRON SHOTS

4 cones positioned between 135 and 155 yards. The goal was to land 4 out of 5 balls from each station between the pin and the side of the green.

DRILL #3 - FAIRWAY BUNKER

Hit 5 good shots in a row out of a fairway bunker with PW, 9i, 8i, and 7i.

DRILL #4 - LAG PUTTING

Hit 30-35 foot putts within 2 feet of the hole 4 out of 5 times.

DRILL #5 - CHIPPING

Pick five spots around a green and you have to hole (or within a flag stick) three chips in a row to move on.

DRILL #6 - SHORT PUTTING

Create two rings around a hole of 5 tees. The closer ring of tees are par tees and the outer ring are birdie tees. Hit a putt from each and try to shoot -2 or better.

FWIW - Drill 6 is right up my alley and I would never the leave course if I did any of the other drills.

Talk about a GRIND

PAID THE COST TO BE—PARTICIPATING

Fredrik Lindblom on X posted the above final standings and payouts from the SoCal Open, an mini tour event featuring absolute GRINDERS. And while we live in a world of the LIV payouts and elevated event purses, it's easy to forget the actual prize purses for most all other golf tournaments. See also: $10k to the winner.

Fredrik's post caught my eye because he also broke down the actual cost of winning money at this event. The entry fee was $800 per player and thanks to his T9 finish, Fredrik netted a cool $43.75 profit.

HOWEVER, he also had to account for the actual expenses of attending said event detailed here:

-Airbnb: $500
-Food: $140
-Gas: $120
-Practice round: $150
-Yardage book: $35
Total: $945.

Winnings ($43) - Expenses ($945) = -$902. 

This is true love for the game right here. A top 10 finish still cost this man over $900. It's all giving casino poker room to me honestly. You can buy in, but just know that you're walking into a shark tank and likely walking out with nothing.

Feel Good Friday

IF THIS DOESN'T BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE

Throwing a feel-good story in this week with the account @isaacstylesgolf on IG. It features a Ugandan golf content creator and grassroots golf ambassador Sekulima Isaac whose built a big following with his mission of expanding access to golf for kids in Uganda.

The videos often feature him teaching kids or putting clinics on for kids across the country, playing on dirt patches, jungles, and really anywhere. My favorites are those like the screenshot above where he's hitting for kids only to watch them explode with excitement after every hit. 

He founded the Styles Foundation which focuses on youth development through community support, education, and—of course—golf. And I honestly don't know how much I could build on this other than give his videos a watch if you want to smile a bit and see the potential for golf to go way beyond the gates of country clubs.