350: Justin Bryant – Golf Life After the Mini-Tours, …and What’s a “Good Bogey?”

Jeff Pelizzaro: [00:00:00] The 18STRONG Podcast, episode number 350 with Justin Bryant of The Good Bogey.

What’s up guys? Welcome back to The 18STRONG Podcast, where we are here to help you build a stronger game. I’m Jeff Pelizzaro, your host, and this week we have my good buddy, Justin Bryant, on the podcast. Justin is a former professional golfer, turned amateur again, and is a very highly competitive golfer here in St.

Louis. Also works for Rap Soto, so we get to talk about the new MLM2PRO. We get to talk about how he uses it and how a lot of different golfers. are using the MLM2PRO to help their games and really what the [00:01:00] transition has been like for him going from professional to playing amateur, again, balancing, you know, working family life, having kids still being able to practice and play competitively.

And then we get into his brand, the good bogey, and where that name came from, the designs that he’s putting out and where that all started and how he’s. Growing that brand as well. And even how some people have good bogey illustrations tattooed on their arms or somewhere on their body, which is kind of crazy to hear that that’s, that’s the case.

So before we get into our conversation with Justin, just want to say a quick thanks to our sponsors over at Link Soul. Link Soul has been our partner for a long time and they are our official. Brand of apparel that we wear both on the golf course, off the golf course. I was just up in Michigan this past weekend.

And whether it be being on the beach, whether it be on the golf course with my son, we were all decked out in our Linksoul gear. We have all of our buddies in our mandatory Golf Friday crew, which was also something started by Linksoul. And now we’re really bringing that [00:02:00] brand onto the links here in St.

Louis, which is pretty cool. So go to 18strong. com slash Linksoul and you can get 20% off on anything in your cart. So again, 18STRONG. com slash link soul. Now let’s get into our conversation with Justin.

All right. So just want to kind of get an idea of going from pro to an amateur. What does that process look like? And then we’ll kind of get into, you know, how your processes as far as practice and competitions and how that’s all changing. better, worse for the game or, and all that good stuff. But just the transition of going from pro to amateur.

When did that happen?

Justin Bryant: Yeah. So in 2019, uh, I was playing professional still, um, trying to get on the corn ferry tour. It might’ve, I think it was the corn ferry, maybe web. com at the time. Um, but going through Q school there and I missed. Uh, getting to final stage, which at least gets you like status on, on the Khorne Ferry tour of some kind.

Uh, it bases off your finish, but you really want to [00:03:00] at least get to final stage. Um, and I missed that by a couple shots. Uh, can’t remember, tried to block that out of my memory. Um, but then it was kind of a moment where. My wife and I were trying to figure out kind of, you know, what’s life going to look like.

We had two kids, my game felt really good, but kind of life had progressed. Um, it was in my early thirties. I don’t know how old I was at that time, but, uh, early thirties and, um, then kind of COVID hit. Um, which shut down all the tours, they kind of said no Q School the following year, so your status was kind of frozen for, for a year, which some players that was maybe beneficial, some it was kind of, you know, not.

Um, for me, I felt like it was a good transition, so. Still didn’t know if I was going to reapply for amateur status or not, but it was kind of in my head. Uh, didn’t know what I wanted to do. Um, but I knew I wanted to stay competitive and realistically kind of looking at the landscape of events. I was a realistic way to play.

Um, I didn’t want to kind of get that PGA certification to teach. [00:04:00] Um, So I was like, I’m going to end up playing like Monday, like two Monday qualifiers and like a couple events. And I was like, that’s not going to get my juices flowing. Plus I’m going to be playing against people that are playing full time.

Uh, so I decided to reapply to be an amateur, um, and you do it through the USGA. So, um, you fill out a form essentially kind of saying like how long you’ve been playing, how much money you’ve earned, you know, when the last tournament was. And then they go through a process of kind of reviewing your application, looking at your results and things like that.

And they basically say, you know, You have this amount of time, uh, till you’re reinstated as an Amber. So I don’t know if there’s specific cutoffs of like, you know, if Tiger reapplies as an Amber, they’re gonna say, sorry buddy, no. Yeah, like is it,

Jeff Pelizzaro: you’ve made too much money, you’ve, you know, reached this point, you’ve played in this many events, not

Justin Bryant: gonna happen.

Uh, for me, uh, I got essentially like two years, uh, to be reinstated, so, um, So I had to wait for my last competitive round, so I think I got [00:05:00] it back in 21, end of 21, November of 21, uh, yeah, cause, uh, November of 19 was my last round, so yeah, they basically came back and said, um, you can be an amateur, you know, don’t fall under the pro rules for the next two years, um, and then you can get your amateur status back, so in that time you can play Um, events that are opens, so like you could play like the Metropolitan Open in town, I can play because there’s amateurs and pros playing.

Uh, and I could do like US Open qualifying because it’s the same thing. But I couldn’t play in just an amateur event, um, as you’re getting reinstated. Until you officially get

Jeff Pelizzaro: your card. Correct. Gotcha.

Justin Bryant: Um, I think they’ve changed a little bit of the rules since, since I’ve reapplied, so I think it’s actually shorter now.

So if I… Um, some guys, um, I think, um, I might’ve only gotten like a year. Um, it didn’t really matter too much because COVID, there wasn’t a ton going on. So I felt like it was a shorter sentence than, uh, in reality of two years. Yeah.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Sidebar. I remember you and your wife are the first ones [00:06:00] to alert me to COVID.

Really? Because you guys had a trip planned to

Justin Bryant: China. Yeah, we were going to go. Her brother lives in Hong Kong. Uh, so we’re going to go see them and then like do a trip, just the two of us to, uh, yeah, Thailand.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Yeah. And you’re like, uh, yeah, I don’t think, I don’t know if it’s going to happen, this whole COVID thing.

And that’s when I was like, what’s it, what, what are you talking about? And we had a big trip planned after that. And sure enough, obviously everything kind of, the world fell apart. But, uh, yeah. So you guys are the one, the first ones. I didn’t know. Tell me about the global pandemic. Yep. For sure. Uh, so professional wise, um, I know you had, uh, you played in quite a bit of different events, Monday qualifiers.

I know you have a great story about the, well, great story, but not a great, uh, situation at the John Deere. Yeah. Right. So tell me a little bit about, uh, that and, and what other events you played in like corn fairy or whatever it was at the time, like what kind of level and how many events did you play in?

And then, uh, you know, we’ll kind of. [00:07:00] that you’ve done recently.

Justin Bryant: Yeah. So in 2012, I graduated from Wake Forest where I was on the golf team and then turned a professional that summer and played. I feel like I played in everything, at least the states you could play. Um, there’s definitely other journeymen that have played worldwide, but played European tour queue school.

Canadian Q school. I had status up in Canada, um, only ended up playing like a couple of events up there. Um, played many tours all over the place. Uh, one day stuff, two day stuff, three day stuff, four day stuff. Played in the world par three championship out in Bermuda. Um, pretty much any competitive thing you could find.

I tried to play. That was kind of the advice given to me is like, play as much as you can, play everything, play as much as you can. Um, cause that’s only gonna, I kind of look at it in two ways. One, it gives you more opportunities for good things to happen. Because in pro golf you really need to capitalize on when you’re playing well.

Um, I think there’s a super small subset of golfers, you know, um, like [00:08:00] Tiger where they play well a lot. And then there’s kind of those other players that, uh, are really good players. I’m not saying they’re not, but they really, uh, make a lot of their money throughout the year on like two or three events.

So it’s, it’s the same on the mini tours of, you know, the money’s way smaller, but whether that’s winning a mini tour event or, you know, playing your way into a Monday qualifier, things like that. So I, I tried to play as many opportunities as I can. I’m just like fortunate enough that I had the opportunities to do that.

Um, played in some corn ferry tour events. I think I played in four, but never had, you know, status full time out there. So I was kind of Monday qualifying and then you kind of had your, your one shot to make something happen. Um, and then the John Deere. So I never played any, any PGA tour events, unfortunately, still on the bucket list, so we’ll see.

But, uh. The John Deere, so if people don’t know, there’s pre qualifier at the PGA Tour events, so you kind of had to do the Thursday qualifier to get into the Monday one, so it was easy to do that here in St. Louis because the Deere, uh, I think it was in Moline, Illinois, where [00:09:00] it’s, you know, four hours away, so it was doing that and getting the Monday.

It was playing well. I think I was, um, It was Pinnacle Country Club, I think is where it was. It’s kind of quirky. It’s got some weird holes. It was playing solid. I shot five under, I think. Maybe five or six, which Mondays you have to go pretty low. There’s only four spots for the PGA Tour. Normally you’re thinking like six, six to nine.

Like six you’re kind of like, I got a chance. So when I shot five, I was like, maybe. Um, and there ended up being this huge playoff, uh, to get into it. So, I was really pumped. Uh, imagine July in Illinois. It was. so hot. I remember it was just pounding water waiting for that, uh, that playoff. And we finally get there.

And I think it was like a six or seven for one playoff. So there’s seven guys playing at once, you know, one spot. So you’re thinking first playoff, I’ll definitely have to make birdie. Somebody is going to make birdie. Uh, and it’s this downhill hole. It’s pretty short. And I hit probably this one of the better drives on there.

Kind of people would kind of sprayed it. Um, and everyone had hit their [00:10:00] shots, second shots into this par four and two, and no one was really that close. Like, I remember thinking, like, kind of surprised, like, 15 feet was maybe the closest, and these were all kind of wedge shots. Um, so I’m thinking, there’s me and one other guy left to hit.

Uh, so I’m thinking, okay, if I, if I can get birdie here, somebody’s probably going to make a 15 footer, we’re going to go to the second play hole, but I like my odds. Like, I gotta hit this close. Visualized kind of where I wanted to land it. I think I had about, like, a seven footer. It was, it was pretty close, hit it exactly where I want to ball, like goes into the cup and comes out.

And my adrenaline, my adrenaline’s pumping. I’m like, it’s going to go in and disappointed. It doesn’t go in, but at the same time, I’m like, Oh, it’s. So I’m not even really thinking about the last guy, the next guy to hit. I’m still kind of in like mode over the shot I just hit. And last guy to hit, he’s like two yards in front of me.

It’s the same shot I do and it goes right in the hole. Um, and he [00:11:00] eagled the 18th hole to get into the playoff. So he finished, he eagled 18, eagled the playoff hole. Uh, it was a cool moment. I was obviously bummed, but like, he was hometown. That’s right, I remember that. Yeah, he had a bunch of friends there, and they were drinking beer and going crazy.

So, it was a cool scene, but that’s as close as I got to kind of the big show, you can say.

Jeff Pelizzaro: I remember, I don’t know if we were watching on the app at the time, because you and I were kind of working together at that time. I, I don’t remember if it was, what the situation was, whether it was Kelly that told me or you told me afterwards what, what happened, but, uh, man, I, I’ve told that story so many times myself.

It was brutal. I still can

Justin Bryant: see it in my head. But yeah.

Jeff Pelizzaro: So crazy. So crazy. So now. Playing amateur golf, you transitioned over to, you know, coming back and playing a lot of amateur golf. Um, you are, you won the national club championship out in, was that Palm Springs? Yeah. So, what was that event? So, obviously, [00:12:00] club champion, St.

Louis Country Club. Was that 21 or 22? That was

Justin Bryant: 21, yeah. So 21, so I was able to play in the club championship while I was getting like reinstated because you can play in, in like club events. Okay. So as long as essentially the, you know, the head pro or, you know, kind of the golf committee says you can. So I said, you know, can I play in this?

My, you know, competitive juices are flowing, I’m getting my amateur status back. And they said, yeah. Um, and was fortunate enough to win the club championship there. But I don’t think I could have played in the national one yet because of like I had to be an amateur for that event Okay, but I got and that event was in like December out in Palm Springs I think I got my amateur status back like the last week in November something like cutting it really close And it was a new event.

I think they had previously done something but this is through like the PGA of America. They ran it and out in Palm Springs was working for Rapsodo and they actually had an event that we sponsored out there. So, um, one of our guys, um, was like, can you go do it? And I was like, [00:13:00] yeah, I might as well go play in the tournament.

So, uh, it worked out perfectly kind of getting to help with that event and then playing it. And, uh, yeah, was, was kind of hitting on all cylinders and was able to get the, get the

Jeff Pelizzaro: victory out there. And that was like, I just read, like, I think there are a couple different divisions, but like 300. male golfers that were in the competition.

So what, I mean, what was that competition like? I assume there were quite a few guys like you that probably, you know, were club champs but had played, played pro. So the competition level obviously is very high. So what did that do for your motivation to keep playing and get, you know, kind of back into this really competitive mode?

Yeah, I

Justin Bryant: just, I love like tournament play. I love competition. Um, and there were a bunch of similar people in terms of like played college golf and, um, things of that nature, but everyone kind of has, you know, busy lives with, with work or family or things like that. So, um, I’ve tried to keep the same mindset that I had playing pro golf and amateur golf.

[00:14:00] So, um, I don’t think of it as different competition to me, like, you know, golf and competitive golf, there’s one opponent and it’s yourself, um, whether that’s match play stroke play. So, um, you know, I kinda. I kind of will map out a course ahead of time, you know, like I’ll play it. And I used to do this way more in detail when I was playing professionally.

So I’d kind of look at historical data, how people played it, what I thought needed to win, you know, how people played certain holes, what was hard and kind of put a pretty detailed game plan together. Uh, I don’t have the luxury of time to do that as much now, but I’ll, I’ll. I kind of mark it out a little bit in my head of, okay, this is what I want to execute on.

And a lot of times, um, I don’t say it out loud to people because it’s going to sound ridiculous of like my goal is to shoot X amount under par, but my philosophy is you do the game plan. I don’t want to say perfect golf, but. Put together a game plan where you don’t think like, Hey, like, I hope I [00:15:00] play pretty well and shoot one under each round.

Like, I’m going to put together a game plan. And maybe that’s going to fit where you are in your game now, but always stretch yourself in your game plan. So like, you know, my scoring average I think right now is like Like, I’m not gonna go put a game together in my next tournament where I shoot 70 77. Now that may win a tournament, it may be great, but you need to plan for the round that’s 9 under par, if you think that’s out there.

Um, so that’s what I did that week. I think my goal was to make 18 birdies in 3 rounds. Uh, for people that don’t know, like Palm Springs, like the ball flies a little bit better. can be playing in a dome a little bit. I mean, you still got to execute, but um, that, that was my philosophy and I let the driver fly.

And so I shot six under the first round, which was a PGA West, um, was in the lead and the other two courses. I can’t remember where they were, but I think I shot three under and then the final round, I shot like seven or eight under. Um, and so I think I finished. Making 18 [00:16:00] birdies. I think I finished like 17 or 16 under.

I can’t remember, but, um, It all kind of came together in one of those moments, like yeah, that’s kind of what I was trying to do. Sometimes you put together that game plan and you go out and shoot two under for the week, and you know. That’s fine, and you may end up winning, but I’ve always kind of thought I’m going to put the game plan together of what I think is achievable if I go out and shoot well, and it’s not.

It’s that, you know, 54 birdie and 8 hole mindset with a little bit of realistic in there. So I kind of try to, I kind of try to mix that. Um, which was a big, just like, shift in how I used to play golf. Um, which was, I was very scared, I don’t want to say scared, but like, I hated bogeys. Like, still hate them.

You know, like, to me the round of like, no bogeys was like, okay, I played really well. And so, I think I played with the mindset of like, I’m not going to make bogey this hole. Um, and it’s more of shifting that mindset of like, no, I’m trying to pick birdies. And I don’t want to [00:17:00] make bogeys, so you’re still like plotting your air on the course, playing smart golf, um, you know, percentage golf, however you want to say it, but the mindset has, I won’t think about bogeys.

Jeff Pelizzaro: When did that shift? Was that in your pro or is that more recent?

Justin Bryant: Um, so I got to give credit to college. We used to laugh because there was one of my teammates, Lee Bedford, who’s a great, who was a great player, who’s an All American. He would say, and I don’t know if he got this from Coach Haas or not, but he would say, you know, if you make six birdies, you can only play so bad.

And I was like, well, yeah, Lee, but like six birdies is pretty hard to do in a round. Um, and the older I got, I was kind of like, you know, Lee was kind of on to something, um, with that. And. You’re not going to average 6 birdies, but that’s kind of the scorecard I go under a round, is I’m going to try to make 6 birdies.

And it’s not like I’m going to go out a tucked pin over water with a 3 iron to make 6 birdies. That might be, that hole I’m going to aim 40 feet to the right, and, okay, once I’m over the 40 footer, I’m trying to make it, you know, and if [00:18:00] it’s not in, I want good speed, so it’s a tap in. So, it’s not like this reckless, abandoned philosophy where I’m trying to make six birdies, but it’s that mindset of I’m trying to play the best of my ability each and every hole, each and every shot, each and every round.

And since I’ve adopted that mindset, I shoot way more really, really low scores. And then, so my best scores got way better, and then my worst scores got better. Um, and I don’t. Think about like not making bogey, you know, so, um, yeah, I, I, it took me a while to adopt that. And I think there was some skill that needed to like improve to kind of really believe that I could do that.

And then you kind of have to believe you can do it and then you’ve got to see yourself do it and then you’re kind of like, all right, let’s,

Jeff Pelizzaro: let’s do it. I mean, you’ve seen yourself go pretty low quite a few times and now you can kind of go back to that memory bank. And so practice wise now, cause I know that before.

You were very, a very stats driven. You kept spreadsheets, you kept XL [00:19:00] spreadsheets and you were a guy that went out and you practiced all day long. You had your routine, you had your regimen. Well, now you have three boys. You’ve got a beautiful wife. You’ve got a job. You’ve got all these things, but you’re still playing competitive golf.

How has the practice. How has that changed, and how has that impacted the game?

Justin Bryant: Yeah, I wish I knew what I knew now. You know, like playing. I think, I think a couple things, I think, um, When you’re in the mindset and the competitive nature of like, playing, trying to make it to PGA Tour, trying to become world number one, whatever the goal is, I had this sense of, I’m not doing enough, um, and I need to be practicing.

There’s always somebody practicing, there’s always somebody going to get better, and that’s true. But really got to look at yourself and say, what do I need to do to do well? Not what does Jeff need to do or not? What is everybody else doing? But like really focus it on your bubble and like, what do I need to do to do well?

Um, so I think one, like I don’t play as much. So [00:20:00] I think what I learned from that is like, I needed to rest more when I was playing professionally and like rest in terms of recovery, whether it’s sleep, nutrition. Anything. I think, I kind of thought I was doing that to some capacity, but like, I wasn’t really listening to my body when it like really hurt.

I was kind of like, it’s hurt for the last ten years. Um, and so, a little bit of that perspective has been helpful. Um, But I would say too now it’s like I have an hour, so like what it really matters. Um, and I think a lot of that is more of like when I practice, it’s more like very, um, performance driven practice.

Um, and I don’t care at all really what my swing looks like. Um, I say that more as an exercise, I care a lot about it, but, um, that’s more of the mindset. It looks pretty good,

Jeff Pelizzaro: so you know. But…

Justin Bryant: It’s, it’s doing, um, spending a lot more time on that kind of stuff. So like, um, doing little games on the range or if like I have an hour like really working on something specific like wedges.

[00:21:00] So a lot of times I’ve, I’ve kind of realized that at least that the courses we play now that I’m operating pro are a little shorter. So, um, what do I need to do to do well? Um, and for me, I’m not saying this is everyone, like, I, I’m a pretty good driver of the ball. Um, I’m not super long, but like I, my misses are good.

I’ve always said that’s like a strength of my game is like, I don’t hit, hit it the furthest, I don’t hit it the straightest, but when I hit it bad, it’s pretty straight. Um, so really working on like drivers and wedges. Um, and because I kind of feel like… There’s three different golf swings, not trying to confuse people, but like, as I’ve gotten better, I’ve learned, like, there’s not really one motion.

Um, there’s kind of your, your stock swing, which we all learn, and then, like, with a driver, you kind of swing slightly differently. Um, so that might be, like, hitting up on the ball a little bit more, versus all other clubs, you’re kind of hitting down on it. Um, And, uh, wedges is completely different. Um, so the last, like, year or two, I’ve really spent a lot of time working [00:22:00] on, um, wedge play.

And I’ve kind of set thought, like, if I hit, my wedge is good and I drive it well, that kind of blends the middle swing together well. Um, so, working on that, I hardly work on my putting, um, Really? Hardly. And my putting is way better than it used to be. Um, so I think that’s a big learning thing too, is like when I hit putts, um, it’s putting against, I have, you know, three boys, two of them, they’re little, they’re four and six, but I do very basic games with them.

You know, speed games, making putts, and I don’t think about technique and putting at all because I just know like I’m not going to play that much and I’m not going to focus on it. So I have like a very couple checklists of the fundamentals and to me, I try to make putting as reactive and athletic as possible.

Like, um, I’m like, I’ve just thought at this point I’ve hit so many putts. I know how to hit a putt. Um, and like when I play catch with my boys, I’m not thinking but there’s a couple things you think about. You [00:23:00] step forward, your momentum goes, you throw it. Like, you don’t think about my arm position, how far I’m taking it back because I’ve thrown a baseball at this point a ton of times.

And I think over the years with like putting, I thought about I would be that person, like that kid that’s trying to figure out how to throw a baseball. Um, even though, you know, I’ve hit a ton of putts, so, um, kind of adopted the mindset of I’ve hit, I’ve put in the work already, um, and just focus on the target and play catch with the, with the target.

Jeff Pelizzaro: That has always made so much sense to me. Not that I take that into my golf game necessarily, but, you know, I mean, coming from a soccer background and just. Speaking of baseball, like if you think about throwing a baseball in somebody’s glove could be anywhere, but you still, your body figures out how to get it to that different direction or you’re playing shortstop and you got to throw it to second or you got to throw it to first or you got to throw it home.

You just naturally instinctively do that. So that, that makes a lot of sense to me. The dry or the, uh, the wedge, you said the wedge swing is a [00:24:00] little bit different. Just explain that a little bit. What, what’s different there that. Yeah,

Justin Bryant: so I, I thought I was like a decent wedge player, um, but I used to swing it like I’d swing every other club and I’d kind of hit these like high spinny wedges and if there was no wind it was pretty good and then you’d kind of get in situations where it’s downhill, uphill.

Um, and working at RepSoda, I’ve been lucky to be able to kind of pick the brains of Mark Blackburn, who coaches Max Homa, Claude Harmon, who’s coached a bunch of major winners. And kind of like, alright, what do good wedge players do? And this, them, and universally, it’s people, the best wedge players hit low wedge shots.

Um, high, high spinning low wedge shots. So it’s the opposite of a driver. A driver, you kind of, if you’re trying to maximize distance, you want to launch it a little higher. Um, obviously, you know, not too high, but, uh, higher than I would say most people probably think, um, with low spin. That’s how you’re going to get it long, um, straight, but with wedges, you want to launch [00:25:00] them low.

So low would be like sub 30 degrees. Um, so if you think about your wedge, you kind of want it as a general rule of thumb to flight. Half of what your degree in your club is. So, you know, I use a 58, so I’m looking for under, you know, 29 degrees of launch. And if I hit before, it 35. So, um, I kind of, we’re shooting some content with Mark with RepSoto, and he was working through this, and it was 100% a content shoot.

Except for me, when I was like, this is, this is, I’m getting a nice lesson out of this. Um, and I struggled in that scenario of hitting it low with him. Um. And he gave some helpful tips and, but my takeaway is like, I got to figure out how to launch it low. Um, and so, and he was kind of telling me, you know, it’s a different swing.

You got to come in a little more shallow. The wrists aren’t quite as active. Because if you’re coming in there with a ton of angle, you can kind of get steep. The ball is going to come up high with a lot of spin. So, I don’t really know what I do, but I fiddle it around with kind of, All right, I got to launch it, you know, get a launch [00:26:00] monitor out there or Mark had like these kind of sticks with pull pull motors and he said, this is, you know, if it’s under 30 degrees, it’s going to under hit it under it.

So worked on hitting it low and kind of having a couple of yards to hit with the wedges and it’s, it’s helped tremendously. Um, cause I think the fear was when you hit them low, they’re going to not go, but, um, that they’ll stop if you hit it, if you hit it square. So,

Jeff Pelizzaro: yeah, I mean, what an opportunity to work with.

Some of those guys and just even pick their brains. Yeah, so it’s speaking of rap soda Obviously you’ve been working with them for a few years. Yeah How much of that do you utilize in your practice sessions? Obviously, you know You might have some opportunities at work to kind of dial a few points in while you’re working, right?

Um, but it goes into that focus practice too, right? So how do you utilize that? What are the things that you’re looking at in different scenarios when you have the MLM with you?

Justin Bryant: Yeah, so it’s definitely a nice perk. My game would probably be a little worse if I wasn’t at [00:27:00] Repso for the simple fact that we have like a setup in the office and you can kind of, you know, some people may go to the water or stand up and I might go to tent swing.

So, um, it’s not a ton of practice, but it helps. So, um, but yeah, we have two launch monitors. So when I started there, it was the MOM, which launched in 2019, which is a radar based unit that uses the camera on your phone. Um, so really cool device. Uh, and then earlier this year, and it’s been fun for the last two years to be working on this project, uh, product, uh, the MLM2 Pro, which has two cameras integrated into it and the radar.

So, you’re getting to see your swing from down the line, shot trace with it. Um, getting to see impact vision is what we call it. So you can see like where the ball is hitting the club on the, on the… Oh, really? The ball is hitting the club. On the club face? On the club face, which is really cool from behind.

Um, which we’ve seen like a lot of funny videos too of like… Shanks, heel shots, tops. Um, so being able to use that product, um, has been huge, um, just in terms of, as I said, like, I only have, like, when my wife’s like, [00:28:00] you have an hour to go hit, I’m like, alright, um, I got an hour. So, for me, I really use it for, I would say three to four applications.

So I don’t hit like a ton of, I think there’s good things for people that are just learning like their club gapping, like hitting a bunch of your shots in there, working on your seven iron. I really use it to dial in the wedges, um, to kind of check on my driver to make sure it’s kind of launching in the window.

I want it to launch of like 12 to 15 degrees, um, with the right spin. Um, and then using, uh, our combine. Um, so people may be familiar with like a track main combine. Um, we developed a combine, um, with Dr. Sasha McKenzie who, um, is a genius, uh, in the golf space. Worked with, uh, Fitzpatrick, um, a ton of guys, um, but designed this combine to 24 shot test.

Uh, that you can take, and it’s two approach starters and driver. So, for me, it’s like, alright, I got 15 20 minutes. Uh, I can’t go play, so I’m gonna, like, play, do this combine, and it gives you a score at the end of it with a handicap associated. You can see, like, where [00:29:00] your proximity is versus pro, versus your handicap range.

And for me, it’s like, that’s kind of tests the game a little bit. Um, it’s not the same because you’re not getting the short game in putting, but, like, I know where my ball striking is. Um, if I go in there and I get a bad score on, like, a 50 yard shot, But I did really well from 180. It’s like, all right, next time I’m out here, I’m going to, I’m going to work on the 50 yards.

So, um, really actionable that way. And then a fun feature in the two pro that I’ve, that I’ve used, and I wasn’t anticipating this is we have 30, 000 courses that you can play from, uh, as well as some other partnerships with, uh, simulation, uh, partners. But I’ll kind of like scout out a course ahead of time just on the sim.

So, um, it’s, it’s auto putting on there, but like, you know, playing, playing persimmon this week, you know, look it up. Play it and it takes a very short amount of time and it gives you like a sense of like Alright, when am I going to head off one, when am I going to head off two, a little bit of like where I’m going to aim, um, especially for courses that we don’t, I don’t play, or haven’t played, haven’t played in a while, um, so [00:30:00] that’s been like a very, uh, helpful thing that I wasn’t anticipating in terms of like very practical

Jeff Pelizzaro: way to use it.

Yeah, you probably thought like, I won’t really use the simulator stuff very much, I’ll use it more for the practice, but. Whereas, you know, a lot of people just want to use it for the simulator because it’s just like playing golf, but that’s, that’s pretty cool. So how long does the combine take? And you said it’s only 24, 24

Justin Bryant: balls?

Yeah, so it’s, yeah, it gives you kind of six warm up shots, uh, and then there’s 24 shots. So you’ll hit, um, it’s a nice rotation too. So you’ll hit two to the first approach target, two to the second approach target, and then two drivers. And then you’ll go through that, uh, four times. So 24 shots. So it takes me about 15 minutes, maybe 20 if I’m like very meticulous or…

Cleaning my clubs between each shot or something like that, um, but yeah, it’s, it’s a fun way to do it. And actually in August, um, a cool thing we’re doing is if you take a combine on MLM or MM2 Pro, you are, uh, entered into a contest, or entered to win a virtual lesson with Claude Harmon III. Oh, wow. Which is pretty cool.

Okay. So, may take out a couple [00:31:00] extra this month. That’s pretty cool.

Jeff Pelizzaro: That’s awesome. So, um, as far as like, figuring out your distances on your clubs, the, you know, different gapping and stuff like that, is there a specific program that does that? Or is it something that you kind of have to piece together?

How do you, how do you do that? I’ve

Justin Bryant: never done that. Yeah, we got it. We got to document this. We got to get it because it’s, it’s shocking to me. How many people don’t that are like golfers, they just don’t know how far they hit it. Yeah. Um, and a lot of people like know how far they hit their best six iron or like their top 10% of their best six irons or they know like how far it goes in total.

Um, really understand that carry number is really important to people. Um, but yeah, I, I just recommend the first time somebody gets it, like put it down, you know, hit six shots with each one of your clubs. Um, and then we have this session inside. So post session, you can click on that and it’ll show like.

Your shortest shot with your six, your longest, and then your average, and then all your clubs. And so you can kind of see, um, you know, what distances you have between each [00:32:00] club. So, you kind of want twelve ish, ten, twelve yards, you know, between each club. Um, a lot of times what we’ll see with people is like their three or four iron or their three hybrid four iron, four or five, kind of go the same distance.

Like, if you go in there and you hit shots and you have like a four yard difference. Like, you should go get fit and fight, you know, put, or put an extra wedge in there because that’s, that’s not going to be a meaningful bump on the golf course to, to make a difference. So that’s like the first thing I always tell people, just go out, hit every club in your bag, hit six of them, um, recommend six cause that’s kind of enough as a sample size, uh, to hit.

And then you can kind of see. See how your bag looks that’s check number one

Jeff Pelizzaro: Yeah, I remember going through some of the combine stuff with you when you guys were doing all your testing Yeah, you were you were an early beta tester. I was I was and I remember it was an eye opening moment when you’re like You should always lay up to 90 yards Because like of all my clubs like that was the one club that I hit pretty consistently and you’re like whatever you do Lay up to 90 yards and that was eye opening [00:33:00] because I’d never really even, it was always just kind of like, just try to get as close as you possibly can.

You’re like, no, you’re better. You’re better back here than you are up

Justin Bryant: there. If you’re, yeah. If you’re averaging like 90 yards, your proximity is closer and you’re like twice as bad from 50 because that’s like, it’s good to know, you know, it’s like, it’s whether it’s that or like. I’d say kind of the three things are one, figuring out like where your strengths are.

So like you understanding that, um, that leads into like this guy in our office, like loves hitting his driver. And so like, when he takes a combine, his, his handicap is like a one and then his approach targets, he’s like a 25 to 30 handicap. And I’m like, Brian, like you need to practice your irons. It’s very obvious, like where you spend all your time.

Uh, and if you just want to hit drivers, it’s great. Like if you want to improve, it’s pretty obvious where you need to improve. Um, and two, it’s just like the, to be able to provide like context to people and what a good shot is. Um, because I think you watch the, you know, the PGA tour or shout out to the lid tour watching that and you see like the average distance, you know, of, uh, or you see that where they’re hitting it and it’s like, you’re seeing the best players on the planet, best [00:34:00] shots that week.

So, um, when you take the comment, it’ll show you like, yeah, your proximity, what a pros is, and then your handicaps, you’re kind of like, oh, wow, pros from, I don’t know, I’m off the top of my head, but a hundred yards, it’s. 15 feet or whatever it is. Yeah. Um, it’s not five feet. So it kind of gives you two, like a little freedom, I think, to kind of, um, you know, swing without the pressure of like a half tip is to two feet.

Cause in reality, you’re not going to do that every time.

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So, we’ve had a chance to play together a few times and we do our Friday morning mandatory golf Friday. Shout out to Link Soul for, for starting that. Um, so obviously when you’re playing in competitions, you’re playing with very high level golfers. When you’re playing in our Friday morning, we’ve, we’ve got run the gamut, right?

Yeah, we got the

Justin Bryant: range. We’ve

Jeff Pelizzaro: got a few really good guys, couple plus handicappers. We’ve got some guys up in the twenties and you know, maybe even beyond there. Um, but so when you’re out there playing with guys of more that caliber, let’s say the 10 plus handicappers, what are you seeing out there where you’re like, man, if I could just work with that person or give them a little bit of, of hints or [00:36:00] instruction on like not necessarily like their golf swing, but.

Like what they should be working on. What are some of the things that you see? And you could pick on me if you want, by all means. Um, but just a couple of like, like big rock things that many of us either get wrong or just don’t put the time in or don’t know that we should be putting the time in there.

Justin Bryant: Yeah. So I think there’s a couple of things is people want, as we kind of talked about, they don’t know how far they hit it. They may think they know how far they hit it, but they don’t. So people grab clubs and I’m like, it’s not, it’s not going to get there. Like, so, you know, and then they hit it and I can’t believe I didn’t get there.

Um, so I think one, it’s understanding your game. Uh, so one, where to hit it, and then, or how far you’re hitting it, and then two, it’s just like the course management stuff. So, whether that’s understanding what target to aim at. So, like, the thing that I love is when I’m helping a buddy out at the range, and he kind of wants a lesson, I’m like, alright.

Or my boys, I’m like, well, where are you aimed? I’m like, I don’t know, I just want to hit it straight. And I’m like, that’s like going to the gym and just taking a basketball and just shooting it around. Like, [00:37:00] and you’re just like, what are you doing? Well, I’m just, I’m just trying to, I’m shooting it. And it’s like, you need to have a target on the range.

And there’s a time on the range not to have a target if you’re working on technique and you just kind of need to grind something. But like, if you’re not working on something very specific technique wise. You need to pick a target and if you’re working on something technique wise like don’t even care where it goes because you’re trying to work on like a movement so one it’s picking a target out there and that’s like understanding that I call it like the the shot you know sniper versus the shotgun so a lot of people are aiming right at the pin.

And like, I can’t tell you how few times I aim at the pin when I’m playing. Um, and you should swing as if you’re aiming at a very specific target, but understanding you really don’t know where the ball is going to go. So like, you need to swing like you know where it’s going. So it’s that fine thing of not really understanding it.

So, you know, people need to just aim at the middle of the green and swing very aggressively at that middle target, and you’re going to hit the ball close to the pin by accident. So, like, as a general rule [00:38:00] of thumb, I think that is a good one. I think a really good exercise, too, in terms of just course management is, like, play with a half set or, like, five clubs.

Yeah. Because, uh, I do it sometimes as an exercise of course management because then you get between, like, a, you know, it’s like, oh, man, it’s a perfect 7 iron, but you only have a 6 and 8 in your bag. And then the thought is either, how do I get this? there, uh, to be a 7 iron, or where do I want the ball to leave it.

So, I think a lot of times it’s just understanding, like, 5 at Ruth Park. Like, you can’t go long there. I’ve played with so many people and they, they want to get in the back tier in the air mill, and I’m like, well you’re, now you’re dead. Now you’re legitimately dead. So, um, that’s a shot like it stinks when you hit it short and it rolls back, but it’s a way better shot than long.

So I think it’s like… Understanding some of that nuance in like club selection too. So there’s learning how far you’re going to hit it, and then there’s just kind of like understanding targets and where your misses need to be. Um, and kind of managing that. Of like, you know, there’s certain holes when I [00:39:00] play, and guys are like, they see the fairway, and so they’re like, well I’m going to aim it down the fairway.

And I’ll play a hole, there’s one at St. Louis, number 14. Um, there’s like woods right of the rough. And like, I say there’s the world to the left. So I aim down the left edge of the fairway in the rough. and understand that, like, I’m probably going to hit it in the left rough. But, like, it’s an easy wedge to the green.

Versus if I aim in the middle of the fairway, 20% of the time I’m going to hit it in the right rough and I’m dead. Right. So, I just eliminate that side completely and accept, like, the rough’s fine. So, I think it’s kind of just, like, understanding some of that. That, like, you don’t have to hit it in the fairway.

You don’t have to hit the green. Like, sometimes a little shorter the green’s better than 20 feet, you know, above the pin. So. Yeah,

Jeff Pelizzaro: Ruth, Ruth Park number five. Hardest hole in St. Louis. Maybe the hardest green in St. Louis. If you’re on the wrong tier, you’re in trouble. Uh, when you’re out either just playing by yourself or even competitive rounds, what are you tracking now as opposed to what you used to track back in the day or if it’s the same maybe.[00:40:00]

Just as far as your stats and how do you use them then to say, alright I need to go practice this or that.

Justin Bryant: Yeah, so I still do it a little bit. I’m not as intense as I used to so I don’t do my practice stats. Uh, every once in a while, I’ll use, um, a couple different systems in terms of like, uh, I said I don’t practice my putting, but like they’re basically simulated putting is what I’ll do.

So like decade app has one stack, I think has one where they’ll basically be like, all right, hit a 15 footer left to right. And I’ll kind of like do that and it’ll kind of say like what strokes gained you are. So to me, that’s like a valuable tool. Um, I don’t chart my practice stuff anymore outside of that.

Um, but in terms of tournaments, I’ll still write the result of every shot down. So I’ll track my tournament rounds, and I use, uh, the Golf Metrics app, which is Mark Brody’s Strokes Gained app. Oh, yeah. Um, cause to me, it’s super easy to kind of plug them in. I’ve used it over the years. Is that something you have to do after

Jeff Pelizzaro: your

Justin Bryant: round, or?

Yeah, so I do it after the round. So essentially, like, I’ll get a scorecard, or I’ll use the pin sheet, and it’s [00:41:00] like, you basically write the distance you have to the hole. And then, like, I don’t write the Y down there just because I put it in after the round and I remember where I hit it. That’s because you don’t have a hundred strokes.

But it’ll be like, you know, the first hole, uh, was in the fairway and I was 86 yards to the pin. Hit 20 feet, put it to 2 feet in. And so you put that in there and then over the course of 18 holes, it uses the PGA Tour average. So you can use, like, uh, the amateur, um, or the, the pro stroke scan. I, I just use the pro.

Um, but it’ll give you context of what the average is. So it’s not perfect system because on the tour, they’re using that data from that week on that whole, but I kind of look at it as like throughout the year, it’s going to kind of all even out with that. And it gives me context of like how, how, how I’m playing.

So if I’m positive strokes gain on something, I did it well. If I’m negative, I don’t put a ton of thought into it. If it’s one round. Unless I was like, man, I, something funky was going on. Um, but if I like see over the course of a tournament or like a month, [00:42:00] there’s a trend going on, then I’ll kind of think about how I need to fix it, but I don’t try to make one off, one round.

You’re gonna, you’re gonna put bad one round or hit a driver bad one round. So, it is what it

Jeff Pelizzaro: is. What do you do, um, Are you, do you work with an instructor at all? I know you, you obviously know the golf swing very well. You, and you, you know, practice a lot or practice quite a bit. But, um, as far as like your swing in itself, when you find that maybe there’s something a little bit off, how do you go about kind of diagnosing and fixing that?

What do you do to work on it? Do you have somebody that you lean on to look at your stuff or you just kind of

Justin Bryant: work on your own? Yeah, at this point, I kind of work on my own. Uh, I would definitely recommend people find somebody though. So… Was very fortunate to, to grow up and take lessons from and learn from people like Mike Tucker, Brian Fote, St.

Louis guys. Um, but also Jack Lumpkin taught me for like the majority I would say of like high school, college pro, at least 15 years. So, and he really instilled in me, [00:43:00] um, he was, he was always there if I needed him, but he was like, listen, like Jack Nicholas got like two lessons from his coach a year. I forget what it was, but basically trying to say like, you need to own your swing.

Um, so I, I really think that that was like 15 years. We didn’t, like, learn everything to know about, like, golf swing, so I’m not, wouldn’t say, like, I’m really smart there, but I feel like I have a Ph. D. in my swing. Um, my tendency is what I need to do to get better, so I don’t work with anyone, um, now. I kind of, the, the values and lessons he taught me there, so I keep it really simple of, To me, normally, posture, grip, alignment is where you start, so PGA is pretty easy to remember.

So if I’m hitting it funky, that’s the first three things I check. If that kind of goes off the, the, um, that seems fine, I kind of just keep it simple. So like, I, uh, I kind of think about the area between both, like my backswing for my hips on both sides. And if that area is good, [00:44:00] You’re going to hit it good, so like, I don’t have a ton of time now to like work on my backswing and where it’s going to be, so I kind of try to think about there, think about where I need to be at impact, um, think about the shot shapes I need to hit, so he always told me like, if you’re hooking it, just go on the range and hit a bunch of cuts.

If you’re cutting it, you need too much, go on the range and add a bunch of draws. So, keeping it super simple is how I try to do it. And some days you feel so lost. And then Kelly, my wife, kids, I’ll come home and be like, I figured it out. And she’s like, yeah, I’ve heard that before.

Jeff Pelizzaro: That’s, maybe that’s the next.

Next, uh, good bogey shirt you need to make is, I figured it out. I was just thinking about that the end of day. I figured it out. That was a good one. Yeah. I mean, the, the words you hear most in the world of golf, that is like, oh, you just, you just cursed yourself. Right. It’s like figured it out. Oh, it’s, it feels so

Justin Bryant: easy though.

Yeah. It feels so easy. Then you go out the next day and you’re like, I, it’s not working. Nope.

Jeff Pelizzaro: So speaking of, of coaches, you had the, the pleasure of, of playing for Coach Haas. Yeah. At Wake Forest you played with Web Simpson. [00:45:00] Any good Coach Haas stories for us? Oh

Justin Bryant: man, Coach Hostor is, he’s just the best. I mean, he’s like a big kid, um, in some sense.

Um, I love that man to death. Still text him and talk to him all the time. You know, we talk about, he’s from St. Louis, an area of Belleville. Um, so I always text him about the Blues and Cardinals and Nelly’s songs. And his son’s gonna be on the Wake team next year, which is awesome. Oh, no way. Yeah, he just won that Eastern AM, I think.

Wow. So, uh, excited to follow, uh, follow Kyle’s career. Man. I don’t, I don’t know about like, I’m probably blanking on like a couple of gems, but like the one story that sticks out to me in college was, um, I didn’t make, so in college you got about like 12 guys on the team, only like 5 travel. I, I didn’t make this tournament, but early in the morning I get a knock on my door at like 4am.

And I was like, some drunk kids here, like, so I kind of like went down to like a golf club. Because I was like, it was our house, and I was like, you just don’t know what you’re going to get before you get up in the morning. [00:46:00] Um, and it was this freshman on our team, he was like, you need to, you need to go to the tournament in Tampa.

I was like, Brendan, what are you talking about? He’s like, you know, so and so’s sick, like you need to go down there. They’ve been trying to call you. Whatever. So, like, I pack, like, I think my flight was in, like, an hour and a half, had to drive to Charlotte, get down there, like, warm up, and have them play the course, jet late, they drive me to the course, um, and I’m, like, on the, hit a couple balls when we’re not with Coach Howes, and he’s kind of catted me away around, and he always jokes that I hit, I, he’s like, you were striping on the range, and then we tee it up, and you look like you hit a wiffle ball, because I hit this, like, big balloon slice, like, I’m sure I was nervous.

I don’t remember. It was ugly. But hit it way out to the right, chip out, and I have like 90 yards to the green. And I look in my bag and I’m like, I have two 58 degrees in my bag. So I’m freaking out because I’m like, I just got penalized. But then I realized I have no sandwich. Um, but I [00:47:00] didn’t want to tell Coach Haas, and I like chunked the chip from the bunker.

I made like double, triple in the first hole. Like, I didn’t want to tell Coach, like, I don’t, I don’t have a sandwich. Until we get to like the seventh hole, and we’re like in the rough, and I don’t remember, it was like 107 yards, and he’s like, we got 107, the wind’s doing this, you gotta land it here. He’s like, what do you, what do you like?

And I was like, well, I was like, I could use the new 58 with fresh grooves or you can go the old 58 with worn out grooves. I was like, and he kind of paused and looks at me like, I don’t have a sandwich. And I don’t remember what he said, but he just very calmly was like, no grooves. Um, and I hit it and like we laughed just about that whole day because it was a bizarre day like flying in, I had two lob wedges, hit it, whiff a ball off the first hole, just terrible shot and ended up, I think, shooting like even or something.

I had a good round, but, uh, that’s like the memory I have of coach the mouse there.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Yeah. We had him on the show a long time ago. He’s still, he has texted me a couple of times to get extra 18STRONG t shirts. Oh, he’s texting me too. He loves that shirt. He loves that shirt. [00:48:00] Uh, but no, he’s just such a, such a.

Yeah. It’s a fun guy to just interact with. Obviously I’ve only had a couple of interactions with him, but that, that’s cool that his son’s going to be there and we’ll have to follow him as well. Um, all right. So obviously I’m sporting my, my good bogey shirt. Um, good bogey is your Instagram handle and, and, uh, tell us a little bit about, uh, Um, what the good bogey is, where it started.

Obviously you’ve got some design background and, and, uh, you’re putting out some merch, but also the swing traces and all kinds of

Justin Bryant: stuff. Yeah. So not a short elevator pitch answer on the good bogey, but essentially the short as I can make it was, um, during COVID, um, you know, finding other outlets, things to do, and I’ve always, my family has a huge, like art background.

My sister has a, as a company that has a lot of art infused into it. Art history majors. It just kind of was always around me. Kelly’s, uh, my wife’s grandpa, uh, it’s a really good graphic designer. That’s done a lot of really cool, uh, famous logos. And so I feel like I’ve always kind of been [00:49:00] around that like design art kind of thing.

And, and so there was like some specific things I was, I wrote like a kid’s book for, for Jack’s, um, my oldest son, um, during COVID. And I was like, I kind of don’t want any pictures or kind of some art stuff. And I was like, I kind of want, this is kind of the look I wanted, but like, It didn’t exist out there.

So started kind of making some of my own things. Um, and then it was just like a really good exercise for me because one, like kind of have, I fall in the spectrum of like trying to be a perfectionist person, not caring about anything. So that’s like plays its way on the golf course. It plays its way throughout life.

So I was like, all right, this is a good exercise for me of like, It doesn’t have to be perfect, but like, let’s get stuff done. Let’s put it out there. Like, let’s just kind of create. Um, and so that’s where the good bogey came from is like people, you know, are bogeys good or bad?

Jeff Pelizzaro: I mean, they’re, they’re bad, but for many golfers, they’ll take bogey, bogey.

Yeah. But that’s the,

Justin Bryant: that’s the thing is like, it’s all relative, right? So like [00:50:00] some players, uh, bogey is good. Yeah. Like some players, bogey is really bad. They’re situationals. Like, you know, do you remember what Tiger did in 2019? Like, well, he won. Oh, yeah, he won. He won. Do you remember what he did on the first hole?

No. Remember what he did on the last hole? No. So, I don’t remember he won. Yeah, but he bogeyed the last hole. Yeah. And he won by one. So, like, to me, like, if you isolate that one hole, like, did Tiger play that hole well, it’s like, I mean, no, but situationally he did. So it was, it was a good bogey in that sense.

Yeah. Hitting your ball out of bounds and then making a bogey is a good bogey. So I think for me, it was more of like an exercise of just like that, you know, like, like if, in order to like for us to change as humans and like, whether that’s culturally beliefs, like you have to like have these rituals in your lives of like actually doing that.

So for me, it was just like. I want to shed this like perfectionism and like do stuff and so the ritual was was creating stuff and just posting So like I had no expectation. It was an exercise purely for me. [00:51:00] It was purely fun Um, and it kind of morphed into what it is continuing to be, you know Now there’s kind of things I want to do with it, but it’s kind of golf art graphic design thing.

So I’ve been fortunate enough to create some, some, um, designs for some people, um, and some of it for myself that I, that I sell, whether it’s t shirts or, you know, pieces of art, people have turned them into tattoos, which like still blows me away. Yeah. So like one of the, one of our logos is, is like a kid caddy.

Um, is

Jeff Pelizzaro: it on the back?

Justin Bryant: It’s not on that one. It’s not on that one. It might, it’s on your fridge over there. Okay. Bye. It’s a kid caddy kind of like walking, um, walking with his bag and there’s kind of like an Augusta theme one. And there’s, you know, kind of like a Pinehurst theme one. Um, and there’s a couple other ones in the works, but that was kind of modeled off my middle kid, Lad.

Um, I love Lad, which Lad’s awesome. All three of my kids and Lad just kind of has this like. [00:52:00] Love sports, love action, but like kind of doesn’t care. Um, so kind of embodying his energy a little bit into that character and lads tattooed on some people. So, uh, it’s pretty, it’s pretty wild. So thanks. So, uh, yeah, we’ve done some design and kind of the biggest thing that took off was, uh, the, um, signature sing, uh, swing signature, signature swing.

Uh, swing signature is what it really is, but I kind of just flipped the word because the good bogey and gonna put it out of order. Um, but it’s essentially these traces of people’s paths on the downswing, uh, the backswing and I was really doing it completely for myself of like. During COVID, I was thinking about my golf swing a lot.

Um, and, um, I used to look at my swing a ton on video. And as I said, like the more I understood golf, my game, the more problems I saw with it. So like I wanted to isolate it and not see it and actually just look at the pattern of what the club [00:53:00] was doing and then look like. What was Sne doing? What was Hogan doing?

Like, what do their patterns look like? Um, cause I really, my, Jack Lumpkin, my golf coach, growing up, I’ll never forget when he said this to me when we were getting a lesson, and he said, you know, fairways are full of good players, or good looking swings. Um, and I was like, Oh gosh, yeah, you’re right. That doesn’t really matter what your swing looks like.

Um, but really wanted to study these like movements. So I’m starting doing it and I, I post them on there and that kind of was kind of cool art forms. And, um, now it kind of people really hang them in their house. Um, I’ll do it. People have gotten them tattooed on themselves. Um, they get, they’re really popular gifts for people or like kind of wedding gifts for Uh, bachelors and stuff.

And so it’s been like a really fun project that like had no intention that it would happen. It was just an exercise for myself. So where’s

Jeff Pelizzaro: the, where’s the best place for people to go find that? Is it [00:54:00] Instagram

Justin Bryant: or Instagram? Yeah. Working, working on a website right now, Instagram is the best. So it’s at the good bogey.

Um, and you can kind of see, um, all the stuff, uh, created on there, uh, as well as kind of links to the stuff. If you fancy fancy to a printer shirt or something. So I

Jeff Pelizzaro: think it’s interesting. Um, Before we were talking about your golf game and you said, I hate bogeys, hate them. And then your explanation of the good bogey, it’s like, it’s such a mental process of kind of getting over that.

Like things don’t have to be perfect. Just kind of put it out there and get it out there. Same with the golf, with the golf game, right? Like put a swing on it, see where it goes, put another swing on it. I think that’s, that’s pretty cool. Um, so just golf wise for yourself now. Moving into end of 23, you’ve actually got a pretty big event coming up in the next couple of days here in St.

Louis, um, which this episode will be out quite a bit after that event’s done. But what are some of the goals for 23, 24? I know you’ve got some, some things [00:55:00] that you’re kind of shooting for. And is it something that you kind of write down? I want to make this tournament or, you know, what does that look like for you?

Justin Bryant: Yeah, I got it in my phone. Um, there’s definitely goals that I’ll have each year and then there’s kind of like things that I’m like, I want to accomplish. So, kind of the same mindset of putting the game plan together for tournament. Um, it’s the same for this. So, shooting, shooting big, you know, like I, I, um, I don’t know if I’m going to get into the exact ones but, I, you know, end of the day it’s kind of balancing of like, I have a job, I have a wife.

Uh, and three kids, and I love, and I love spending, you know, time with them. So like, as my boys love the game, sometimes I’m, we’ll go to the range for three hours, and I’m like, I hit two balls, but to me, it’s like way more enjoyable to be with them, and interact with them, and help them if they, one kid likes the help, the other doesn’t.

Um, and that’s completely fine. Um, so I try to kind of balance. That a little bit, but at the same time, it’s [00:56:00] like I’m signing up to the tournament to play the best I can. Um, and so, for me, that’s what it is. I’m just going to work.

and family and golf. So, um, we’ll see what happens and fitness. There we go. No, I mean, that’s, that’s a huge part. That’s the foundation of playing good golf, especially at this age.

Jeff Pelizzaro: So what does it look like? Kind of giving you a little trouble there, but you know, what does it look like right now? As far as like, what’s Kelly Kelly might be based on a little bet that we had that.

You know, we had to institute exercise for her on because of something, but, uh, no, I mean, as far as what kind of a routine do you have? I know that you’ve always been, uh, you know, you’ve had your routines that you get up in the morning and do some different things. What does that look like for you now?

Are there different things that you want to implement or, you know, what has worked for you in the past or

Justin Bryant: whatnot? Yeah, so I’ve had [00:57:00] some back and neck stuff over the years, which, um, it’s gotten better, um, but then it’s like now working, sitting at a desk on a computer, it’s like that presents its own challenges, you know, and everyone else knows, uh, very well.

So I think there’s really small stuff like standing at work, make sure I’m moving around. Um, I would say. Honestly gotten pretty lazy in the last year. Uh, let’s just call it what it is. Um, uh, my wife wakes up and gets after it. And, um, so it’s, it’s really cool to see that and kind of see the benefits of that.

But, um, for me, it’s, it’s, it’s that too. So like right now. Like, understanding, like, if your body isn’t feeling good, like, forget golf, like, life just stinks, you know? Like, playing with the kids, feeling good. So, I think just understanding, um, that first and foremost, and then, like, I want to play good golf too.

So, um, for me, it’s, it’s, um, a lot of [00:58:00] movements, you can say stretching, but kind of getting in positions of things that are gonna, um, help me feel good. So, things that you’ve taught me in terms of certain stretches. Um, you know, the basics of pushing and pulling, so, um, whether it’s push ups or things like that, and, um, you need to get into the gym more to do that, but, um, yeah.

Making sure you’re feeling right so you can play right. Otherwise you’re compensating and you’re not feeling good. That’s

Jeff Pelizzaro: tough for sure. All right. I got a couple questions to finish up with many people Probably don’t even know that you’ve been on the 18STRONG podcast. That’s right I mean one of the early early stages, so I don’t have this nice studio No, this wasn’t this wasn’t a thing back then.

It was me in my back little room office or whatever But I I’m sure I asked you these questions, but we’re gonna ask them again. They may have been Change and some of the questions are different. First of all, Caddyshack or Happy

Justin Bryant: Gilmore? Caddyshack. I mean, I love Happy Gilmore, too. But Caddyshack’s just a classic.

I mean, [00:59:00] it’s it’s tough to beat. What’s what do you have like the actual like breakdown? I don’t I

Jeff Pelizzaro: don’t have the numbers. I’ve said you need to hire somebody to go back and listen to each of them. I

Justin Bryant: just feel like the found, like it, Happy Gilmore wouldn’t exist without Caddyshack. You know what I mean? I think you’re right.

That humor. I bet Adam Sandler would say that too. Yeah, and it’s And I like Adam Sandler, and I love Happy Gilmore, but I mean, Caddyshack, I mean, I quote Caddyshack Whittemore and I quote Happy Gilmore, so I feel like that is the answer. Same.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Alright, walk up song. If you could pick one to the first tee, what are you picking?

Justin Bryant: You know, I did this actually in a Corner Fairy event, we did, I don’t remember picks. What I would pick now, man. What, wait, what do you, what would you pick? While I’m thinking about this?

Jeff Pelizzaro: I’ve always said, uh, Beastie Boys, Sabotage. Yeah? Kind of depends on the mood though, I think. So, you know, Is this like a part three, part five walk up?

I don’t know. Let’s say First Tee at St. Louis Country Club.[01:00:00]

That’s a different vibe than I would probably go for. Let’s do that and then First Tee

Justin Bryant: at Phoenix Open. Yeah, First Tee at Phoenix Open, man. That’s got to have some juice to it. Yeah. Um, first tea at Phoenix open, I’d probably do, uh, I’m going to say coming in hot by Andy Mineo. I’m going to cry. That’s the boy we play with.

I play with the boys in the car a lot. It’s a very viral sound. So I’m going to go with that. St. Louis, we maybe go with like, you know, Mozart, Beethoven, something a little more classy. No, I probably, no, in all seriousness, probably go like the who. Um, Bob O’Reilly, you know, kind of good build up.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Mellow. Yeah.

Is there a book that you have read that’s influenced you, whether that be golf, that be, you know, just your overall philosophy that you have either recommended or would like to recommend to?

Justin Bryant: Yeah, a good book. Outside of your book? Outside of my book, yes. He didn’t prompt me for that. Yeah. Um, man, I don’t read as much as I should, to be [01:01:00] honest.

I read a ton before kids, and I don’t as much now. So for me, the Bible, I read. I read, um, and… Really that foundation of relationship with God and and understanding that so I would start with the Gospels If I would recommend to someone to check those out I think people have heard of them, but still it’s still good.

It’s still good other books I mean in terms of like golf like Bob Rotel stuff’s really good I get in like some random books of like no one wants to read these

Jeff Pelizzaro: Like, mindset, history, like what mindset

Justin Bryant: I’m not a big like fiction person. So I like, yeah, understanding, you know, whether it’s numbers stuff or, um, just kind of how different people think.

Um, so, but that’s kind of, I go to, I like to understand, like, uh, I was, I was an econ major in college and religion. So like, I like kind of the psychology or kind of [01:02:00] like understanding human behaviors, how people. Do things well or not well. So, anything that falls into that category, I just find really interesting.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Who would be in your dream foursome? If you could go play golf with anybody, past, present. Who, who are you playing to pick, or who are you picking to play? Four or five hours with you can pick their brain. You can,

Justin Bryant: um, I mean, I can give you two answers. Can I give you two? You can give me two. Okay. So answer number one is definitely my kids.

I do it now and it’s just the best. It’s so fun. And they fight and there’s moments where you’re like, why are we doing this? But it’s the best. Um, if I was doing like the other foursome, I’m going to, I’m going to mix it up. I’m going to say, uh, so me, I’m going to go Adam Sandler. Um, we’ll get the, he has to hit his happy go more.

We’ll get in there. Um, we’re going to go Bill Murray in there from Caddyshack. And then the last one to round out the four, who would be, uh, I’ll go Larry [01:03:00] David.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Look at you. You’re going straight comedy.

Justin Bryant: I just feel like that’d be like probably not high quality golf, but, and I don’t know if those people like each other.

Maybe that’s like a disaster pairing, but I feel like there’d be a lot of, uh, a lot of, you know, entertainment value in that. That’d be a very,

Jeff Pelizzaro: very entertaining round for sure. What’s a bucket list course that you would want to play? Like we said. Justin, we got the jet fueled up, we’re going tomorrow, where are you

Justin Bryant: picking?

There’s a lot. So, I, I played, um, our mutual, mutual friend, uh, Wheeler Frost, uh, went over for his graduation when he graduated from St. Andrews, but the old course was closed, so. Cause I think the Open was coming there in two weeks. I think that’s when Zach Johnson won. But we played like the New, we played Kings Barn, Carnoustie.

And that was awesome. And I just love that. So I mean, to me, I know it’s cliche, but the old course, you want to play it. It’s like you’ve played it on video games and all stuff, but, uh, be that. But there’s, I mean, there’s so much good golf. Like I want to play Painted Dunes and stuff, uh, stateside. So. There’s a long list.

Yeah. Long list. Like

Jeff Pelizzaro: [01:04:00] most of us. What’s the best golf advice you’ve ever been given?

Justin Bryant: Best golf advice I’ve ever been given? Um, um, care less about it. Like, care less. Like, think less. I think the more, I think there’s that fine line between every round. of like, you know, if you’re scaled from 0 to 10 on where you care, where your energy level is for that round, you kind of have to figure out where you play your best.

So some people play best if they’re at a 10, best if they’re super mellowed out. I’m kind of in this like in between, I would say like a six or seven where like I’m, I really care, but I gotta pretend like I don’t. So, um, so for me kind of just like, Hey, just don’t care as much for me has been. Yeah. Really beneficial.

Yeah. We’re,

Jeff Pelizzaro: we’re starting to. So my son is 15 getting into golf. You, you met Sam before and I’m, I’m really finding that like when he’s not playing well, you can see he’s [01:05:00] just not enjoying being out there. Right. And, and so just trying to kind of get in, I mean, we all kind of, or I have struggled with this too, but it’s like, man, you have to realize that like, this is pretty good that we’re out here just playing.

It’s just me, you, grandpa, you know, uncle Dino. We, you can’t let a couple of bad shots like ruin your whole day here. So, um, trying to work our way through that and where he doesn’t come home and be grumpy and

Justin Bryant: the best exercise I’ve ever done for that. And it’s under this is. Like, just write down on a piece of paper, so I wrote it down on my phone, of like, when I play well, I do blank, and write a couple, and then like, when I play poorly, I do blank.

And real quick, you’ll understand what you need to do. And I’ll read those, I don’t know, 50 times throughout the year. Like, if I’m not feeling well, like, before, like, I had a bad rating session on the way to the tee, I’ll just read that, and it’s like, alright, I’m just gonna do, I’m gonna do what I do when I play well, and see what happens, and like, you’ll be surprised how much that helps.

That’s cool. It’ll just change your mind. And you may still play bad, but you’ll be in the [01:06:00] right mindset,

Jeff Pelizzaro: which is at least the start. Alright, last one. What’s a social media account that you follow that you think would be fun for the 18STRONG crew to follow as well?

Justin Bryant: Social media account? There’s like so many good ones that I feel like have popped up and are just really good.

So obviously the Good Bodhi I’ve heard is like phenomenal content. A good social media account I’m thinking of ones I’ve seen recently that aren’t necessarily the best. Um, but I, I try to find stuff that, um, people that are putting out stuff that like will inspire you and you can kind of rip off of. So whatever that is.

So like I’m in marketing at Repsoto and like, I saw there’s, there’s one account that basically is like, these are the top, I don’t know what it is, so sorry, I’m not giving them credit, but like these are the top ads I saw this week. And so for me, that’s the kind of stuff I like love is like, okay. That person did it.

I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I can like [01:07:00] reiterate off that. And it’s the same thing I do with like the good bogey designs. It’s like, no thoughts really original. It’s like, oh, I like a little bit of what Jeff’s doing over here. I like a little bit of what’s going on over here. And merging that together.

So, there’s a ton of good creators in the golf space. I really like Radrey Golf. I think that, uh, R A D R Y on Instagram. I think his stuff’s really creative. It’s, it’s, it’s, and it’s good. Um, so way better than mine. Um, but it’s a cool brand of fouls, so people should check it out.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Check it out. All right.

Best place to follow you and even your golf journey. Would that be the good bogey? Do you post stuff about, you know, what’s going on in your

Justin Bryant: golf life? Yeah, I do a little bit. Um, so yeah, at the good bogey is the best Instagram. Um, if you want to see what, see what pictures of me and my family, I’m at Justin D.

Bryan on Instagram, but that’s not going to be as exciting majority of people. Uh, so I would check out at the good bogey and yeah, that’s. I’ll update, um, if I’m doing more kind of like national stuff, I’ll kind of have people [01:08:00] follow a little bit along, uh, on their kind of behind the scenes stuff. So cool.

Jeff Pelizzaro: And then hopefully soon, uh, you’re going to be giving me some tutorials on the, uh, wrap soda and we post a little content on, you know, you could. Rib on me a little bit. Yeah, we gotta, we gotta, we

Justin Bryant: gotta see, we’re gonna, we’re gonna say like, we’ll get you the 7 iron out and you got to call your distance on there.

We’re gonna see how well you know your numbers.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Okay, that’ll be an exercise. All right, man, really appreciate your time coming in and, uh, look forward to watching you over the next, you know, year or so and see what’s, what’s happened with these goals and where you’re going.

Justin Bryant: Yeah, thanks, Jeff. All right, brother.

Jeff Pelizzaro: Thanks for joining us this week on the 18STRONG Podcast with our good friend, Justin Bryant. We wish Justin all the luck in his upcoming future events. In his amateur journeys on the golf course, if you want any more information on Justin, the good bogey, or anything we talked about in this episode, just go to 18strong.

com. This is episode number 350. We’ll talk to you again in the upcoming weeks with some great guests. [01:09:00] Train hard, practice smart, and play better golf.