Is this massive wave. And that's golf at the minute this huge wave of what's going to happen to golf. And i'm ready i'm just about to jump on the board and everybody on the beach is i'm branching out golf is my life it's my passion it's my job. But my hobby is i'm doing a bit of fitness work i'm doing some triathlons. And one of the phrases i'm even attempting an ironman foolishly but one of the phrases keep moving forward and that's really important when you're competing in those kind of events you've just got to keep moving forward and i think that is pretty much what you you've both done i'm certainly doing the guys here are doing it if you don't if you do stand still you're dead aren't you. So yeah i've keep i've kept pushing i want to can i just describe what i think go where i think golf is at the minute that's right let's almost set this up because this would be a great second channel clip you know what dan tell us where golf is right now go this is this is going to be a bit this is going to come across hard. But let's just just go with the flow okay. So for the last 12 years i'd say i've been i've got my surfboard here okay i'm on the beach because his waves crashing at me. So i've gone out it's going to be hard to do this while some holes in the microphone guys look at that where are you um. So yeah i've gone out. And i'm i'm i'm swimming out with me surf but i'm on the surfboard these waves are just smashing me back no got through that one got through another one smashed me back 12 years i've been doing that. For and it's been hard work and i've i've gone through a lot of trials and tribulations but i'm now i'm that guy out at sea sun shining i'm sat on the surfboard now just like dazzling probably having a little beer or a hydration drink now and there's a load of people on the beach looking at me going what is he doing out there what's webster out there. For and and behind me is this massive wave. And that's golf at the minute this huge wave of what's going to happen to golf. And i'm ready i'm just about to jump on the board again and everybody on the beach is going we need to get out there. And they've got the balls and they're smashing it and they're trying to get out they're trying to get as fast as they can. Or they're still in the middle of the waves so the last 12 years for me and i think this is a big one. For golf and a big one for for all of us in the golf industry it's about to hit it you know with what's gone on the world unfortunately in the last 12 months you you you adapt you make the most of any situation make the most of a bad situation and come out the other side unfortunately there will be a lot of businesses that don't come out of this side a lot of people that have not adapted that get washed up on the beach they're going to be driftwood. And i'm surfing by them in maybe moody shorts and that's and i think golf isn't a great place. And what we've done if you don't mind me mentioning i've done a few things within my business to to get ready for that and i think where golf is as good as we have got a traditional golf club. And the membership there is full we're going to have eight nine year waiting list to join sometimes. And a lot of golf clubs are gonna be in that boat certainly the uh high demand clubs. But every club will have people clambering to join. And has had driving ranges obviously we've got the driving range now i've modernized that so we've got a traditional golf club the driving range we've we've put top tracer in we've got it in every bay now we've got a parity in every bay we're attracting golfers that wouldn't have generally joined a golf club but they want to play the game and when they're there they're hitting the ball down the range they're playing they're playing a round of golf at pebble beach on the screen they're enjoying themselves the ball pops the film the ball popping up on the team these families those families wouldn't maybe at some clubs might not be that welcome or want to be part of that but they're getting a golf experience and some of them at some point will transition across to membership which is great. But i'm seeing this two demographics thankfully for me we've we've got both places covered where you can come have a family day out hit some balls last week i did my level two award. For serving alcohol we're applying for a license to do that because that's what a good driver range facility now is becoming isn't it it's the olden day bowling alley yeah i think what's interesting with that as well you're also having a bit of a kind of a two-prong attack at your retail business because a lot of people i mean if i was a non-golfer as great as you. And your staff are at zintan's i'd feel quite um nervous walking in there knowing nothing about golf when to pick up a set of vines. Or something um but if you walk into the driving range it's a totally different environment isn't it it's a different kind of feel to it you wouldn't feel nervous i wouldn't imagine going in there. And asking for some advice of somebody we rarely see we see it's a different mindset we see people coming in laughing and yes no dress code no captains no waiting lists no you know just politeness. And obviously that's expected but yeah well that was something that's going to come on too. But you've kind of done it well there but about the driving range so what cause we alluded to you know you were a pro at this amazing golf club. And you were kind of obsessed if you like with driving forward um. And now you've got lyrium golf academy which is a really kind of well-known driving range up here in the northwest we had we had a couple of boys there a couple years ago they're not bad. And done well since yeah there was a guy called rick shields i don't know what he's doing with himself now there was a much more famous guy called finchy thank you i remember the first time i met you do you remember the first time you met me oh that's horrible i remember i've had a busy weekend the reason being is it well i think that the proper first time i met you i probably met you before this loosely maybe coming up to play sometimes. Or links but do you ever remember i came. And did a photo shoot at your place. So going back a long long you'll remember it in a minute when i tell you a long long time ago when i was still at trafford swimwear was it. So this was probably about 2012. Or maybe even 2011. there was a new golf magazine setting up. And um this golf magazine had this idea of of having a young instructor on there because i've told this story before it was really hard. For me to try and break out into golf magazines because that was the only way i could see me getting um exposure being in a today's golf. Or a golf monthly or a golf digest or something and i could never do that because obviously there was. So much established um she thinking now what the hell am i gonna say i know there's a new golf magazine that came out and it was actually um it was what's the right word published no uh produced produced by a friend of mine who i went to my school college with. And he wanted me to be the the pinup instructor boy right he um so we ended up coming doing a photo shoot at uh in lython and one of the shots i did was i was stood on top of the light. Or not on top of the lighthouse but i was i was stood on the the plateau around the lighthouse at 6 30 in the morning one time teeing a ball up. And whacking balls out into the ocean it was you was it about that they've been looking. For him for ages um but then.
After that we the the guy who made it is a lad called steve nicholson that if this still rings a bell out yeah. And he contacted dan saying can we come. And do some photo shoots at your place. And dan went yeah i'm not a problem then.
We said we've got a mad idea i want to try. And do a flop shot instructional video slash piece of content. But i want to try and make it a little bit different can i do a flop shot over my car do you remember this at all. So um it's coming back to me vegas i said i said to uh i said to steve well let's see if we can do it let's even do it send them some links i thought there's no way not a chance are they going to let me take my golf cart my car which at the time was my little peugeot rcz my little sporty number with all my name tattooed on the side of it. And everything and uh we drove and steve ashu and you went yeah it's not a problem don't worry oh my god he's letting us do this yeah we literally drove it through these bollards onto the chipping green yeah near near the right outside the club what this enzo do you put in a pro v1 through your window. So off tight links lie i'm trying to do an instructional video about a flop shot hitting it over my car right that was the you know. So end up i ended up doing it a couple of times i remember the first shot i was like oh my god right inside right in front of the clubhouse big bay window there my car which was my baby at the time i'm hitting a flop shot. For tight lie first time i've ever really been on video or photos and i'm trying and the first one i caught a little bit thin but luckily it cleared the car just and then.
And then.
I felt a bit more confident about five or six times now but um yeah i'm a little bit gutted you didn't break your car. Or one of the clubhouse windows you let me do that i'm happy i don't even remember it i do i can't it's coming back was that potentially could have been around the time i was still in brannigan's i don't know that would have been um i can't remember the magazine it didn't last long unfortunately the magazine i think it was called i can't remember. But yeah that was one of the i remember that the first time. And then.
I remember um when i was looking at potentially exiting uh traffic golf center. So kind of felt like my time had done that and i was starting to look. For places i remember you having a gc quad and i remember thinking i bet dan's you know when i thought of pros in the area that were forward thinking enough to allow something to take place at their place i remember thinking dan was like top of the list i remember having a few chats that's good suddenly before we know it we're up there. And we built the golf academy which is james robinson um. But like i said the range has developed enormously from what i've seen on i meant you know what i actually remember um following it in ten when did you open the driving range. So we took it in 2013 january 2013 yeah. So i remember following it like so much on social media because you were posting loads. And creating dirty doors before we'd even took it on i created the brand and yeah it was a bit of a story i remember because it was quite like derelict one at the time it was pretty run down. And and i remember what you've done to the cafe and the base i remember you painting it and all sorts of watching thinking wow this is quite cool yeah. But like it was really interesting it was a buzz it was something exciting you know what we did it we took it on. And i had these visions again of this is going to be phenomenal just i think it's very similar to that first day at the old links was in my bright orange i didn't where i wasn't wearing a pringle this time. But i could see us being this this phenomenal facility and i painted this picture at nike are on board. And i painted this picture it's almost like webster's world and there was going to be like a theme park. And a bar and you know this this tatty driving range that had been run down and never been never succeeded really and the first two years was phenomenal i was like this is great we can we're going to start. And that now we're going to do this. And then.
It just it just started to get worse and worse and i think around the time you were there you could probably see the frustration in my face i remember the field was just a swamp the outfield was bad we were hand picking balls i remember one it won april it was a masters we've been on the telly masters saturday. And i've been at the golf club all morning and i spent my take most my day there and i came down to the academy afternoon the lads have run me up we're out of balls middle of an afternoon on a saturday we're at balls and we weren't at our balls because we're that busy we're at bus because all the bulls stuck in the mud and we had to shut the range at three o'clock on masters saturday there's queues of cars coming in and i went out with the team and we're hand-picking balls out of the mud to try and stay open for another hour it was just such a bad place. And and that literally that monday when i met my landlords and sat in a coffee shop as a there's the keys we've just had a little boy i'm not seeing him i'll give it a go here's the keys i'm out and all my energy for the previous three years had pretty much been washed up on that part of me was thinking well i've got a good job i'm the head press let's just crack on. And the landlords were very understanding. And they said well have you ever thought about doing something else drone. And a good pal of mine at the time.
