Colin Jost Gets in a Practice Round at Bethpage Black | Celebrity All-Star Match
[Music] I think we’re going to have to just really use those grand stands. Bank it off all day. Definitely overall it seems this way. Hi everyone. I’m Colin Jo. I’m here at Beth Page Black where they are still very much setting up for the RDER Cup. I’m being yelled at constantly by construction workers. Guys here are wearing hard hats. It’s unclear if it’s for construction or for my swing. I feel like they don’t like me. Anyway, we’re going into this important celebrity RDER Cup match. I’m here with PGA coach Eden Foster who’s been helping me gear up and are there drugs I should be taking for like performance enhancing. We’re about to do a little playing lesson on the very difficult finishing holes here uh 17 and 18. I’m used to disappointing myself, but I’d prefer not to disappoint all of America. Like what did I do wrong and let my country down. Well, it’s important to do a playing lesson and little things like routine. That’s very different when you get out on the golf course. Yes. than it is on the driving range. To in my mind, I’m trying to catch it pretty clean out of there, right? And it’s even gonna be more different when you’re playing in a match for your country. Okay. So, no pressure. No pressure at all. No pressure at all. I’m picturing having this in the actual contest. How fun that would feel. Should have saved that for the uh the tournament. For the tournament. [Music] So Colin, 17th hole, par three, 175 uphill. So anytime when you’re playing any hole, not just this hole, but you kind of want to look at where if you did miss one, should I miss that rarity that you’re going to miss? Almost inconceivable, you know, situation where I miss one, where the miss would be better. like on this situation, the big bunker that’s on the left there, not really that bad a spot to be. Things that I notice with most of my students um in teaching is that sometimes they’re never in the same spot every time, right? So, there might be a little too close, ball positions a little too far forward. That routine that you make, you want to kind of match that every single time before you hit it. You have the tendency to kind of step into it with a club above the ground. And so like for you, you want to put the club on the ground first, okay? Get the stance, get your line, and then start to waggle after that has has taken place. When you get up to the top, just kind of get a feel of that kind of firmness at the top of the wrists and then swing through with good tempo. So try to feel that basically a very that early little hinge and then nothing else. And then tied at the top. Exactly. And that really helps me feel like I can just swing and it’s connected. Good shot. Carry a little bit. Perfect on the green. Yeah, it was a pretty good swing. Yeah. Yeah. Just uh like fired up for you right there, man. Was solid. It was good. I mean, pretty good. Yeah, it was good. Just a touch closer, but that was grabbing. I feel like a good swing. So, Colin, what got you into golf? What when did you when did you start playing? So, I grew up in Staten Island and um basically my first times playing golf were my dad taking me out. I don’t know what age it was. Somewhere in the seven or eight range and I just remember going out with him and playing three holes kind of at sunset. There’s a public course called Silver Lake that’s down the street from us. M. So for juniors on Staten Island, thanks to this thing called the Louney, they subsidized junior golf. So I remember, you know, it was like $3.50 to play 18 holes, but I never had any instruction or any guy, you know, we would just play. And so I never really got any good at it. And it’s so frustrating because my one of my best friends, uh, this guy Mike Kagny in Rhode Island, he’s now he qualified for US Midam. He got really he got really into it. I really grew up playing with we grow up playing. I’m like, what did I do wrong? [Music] Clearly, it wasn’t something in the water cuz we were drinking the same strange water. I I kind of was away for it, away from golf for a while, and then I just started getting back into it and and just loved it. and traveling for standup, especially when you’re stressed at work and you’re working a lot. Golf is such a retreat to be out and you’re usually with friends going to play and you how often do you get four or five hours together to talk and to uh with no interruptions with no interruptions. When you do pick it up when you’re older, you know, the golf swing is kind of like a person’s fingerprint in a way. And you know, when we’re teaching as instructors, PGA professionals, we’re always trying to kind of just find the good stuff and work around that and build off of that rather than reinventing it. I’ve really enjoyed a walk with a putter because that’s such a power move. But let’s go make this putt. And it’s very, very doable. It’s only 100 ft. I’ll tell you what I like to do on longer putts. Try to find something on your line that you can kind of run the ball through. So, are are we thinking just to the left of that? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Once the line is there, then that’s over with. Okay. So, we’re not thinking about line anymore. Now, we just go completely into pace. And what I like to do on longer putts is kind of like set up and actually look at the hole and take a couple practice strokes and kind of get a feel for what I think the stroke would feel like. Okay. All right. Let’s see it. Looks good. Keep coming. Keep coming. Okay. Not bad. Good line. Wow. Look at that run out. Yeah. Had a little bit of hit to it. Yeah. Did you feel that at all? Like just stroke. A little bit. Yeah. A little bit of hit to it. And that’s why it kind of That’s why it jumped a little bit more than we needed it to. Didn’t feel it. Didn’t feel it. Nice long and smooth stroke. How about that, bud? Two foot par. Par on camera. A par on camera. Oh, come on. Should have saved that for the uh the tournament. For the tournament, huh? Good job, man. I love it. There you go. Wow. Wow. It’s really uh just imagining people here lining the and being in the stands and stuff. Wow. I notice a lot of bunkers is my first reaction. I think we’re going to have to just really use those grandstands. Bank it off all day. That’s exactly what I was thinking. All right, so we’ve got 18 bunkers on both sides. Trouble pretty much on both sides. What’s tough about this hole and I what I think is tough for for many players is it doesn’t it’s just kind of dead straight, right? Which is always a little bit trickier. Yeah, it is. It’s visually weirder. Visually weird. And so I mean it’s cool. That’s a cool look. Yeah, it’s an amazing look. I, you know, again, like my students to kind of, we’ve talked about this, to kind of have one ball flight, right? So, your tendency is to draw it a little bit. I’d kind of play it almost straight doing that same routine that we, you know, did on the par three after making par on 17. We’re feeling So, got moment riding the momentum. You know, think about that position at the top. Go through your routine and then, uh, let it rip. Love it. Okay, push it wind a little bit. Oh, okay. We caught the fairway bunker. Good swing though. It was a pretty good swing. Yeah, it was great. Basically just I still managed to get it a little left. A little bit too far left even with the wind, but still good golf. Is it that last fairway bunker? last fairway bunker. [Music] Have you had certain students that then had kind of a really radical either transformation or won something or got somewhere that you were really particularly impressed by what their their journey was your guys’ journey was together? Had a guy that was 86 years old that hadn’t played golf since he was in his 30s. Okay. tennis player and he always sliced the heck out of the golf ball when he was younger. Yeah. And you know, I taught him how to hit a nice little draw. And he was hitting it further when he was 86 than he did when he was like 37, you know. So there’s stories like that. Yeah. That uh that’s super cool. Really, really satisfying and fun. It just became more like this would be a a good career cuz I love being around people. I like being, you know, at golf courses and that’s what keeps me being a PGA professional today is is just the game itself, meeting people like you for the bunker shot like this. Obviously, it’s it’s also an uphill lie a little bit, right? And and it’ll usually take something off of it, right? Yep. So, if I maybe I I you know, if it’s a 120 shot, which would normally probably be the 50°, I feel like I should at least go with a wedge. I think wedge for one in a fairway bunker. I always like any student to never really go at anything really hard, you know, and even more so when it’s kind of uphill like this. You know, we’ve got a good lie. Um, that’s key. So, I want you to feel like you’re just hitting it just like you would off the grass, right? The one thing I would say is the sand is pretty soft. you know, you would want to kind of dig in a little bit just to keep your footing and maybe grip down on the club a half an inch, but otherwise, you know, if you’re on an uphill lie, you’d be trying to feel like you’re swinging up the hill. You’re going to do everything else the same. Okay. All right, let’s see you do it. Yeah, that’s a good setup there. Awesome. Sit down. I think I saw it bounce. I think we’re on the back left. Back left. Yeah. Great swing. Not bad. Yeah. Perfect. I wonder if that’s just uphill lie makes you go left a little bit. Yeah. Uphill lie makes you go. Maybe almost better to aim on the right side there cuz it’s almost like it’s a little slope this way, too, which I didn’t think about till exactly here. Okay. But hey, contact is king, right? Contact is king. Fun one. I’m picturing having this in the actual contest. How fun that would feel. Great. It’s a good shot. Yeah. You know, it’s okay. Yeah, it’s fine. If you get, you know, if you would have got a little bit more greedy or anything like that, now you actually have a chance to make four. [Music] It’s good stroke. Feel like that stroke’s long and it’s almost like deselling a little bit. That’s more like it. Say we have what is this about 6 ft. Rider cup is on the line. My thinking on a short putt is most people get too caught up in the outcome and then their technique falls apart. And you see it even with the best players in the world that happen. I think you just have to get over it and think of, okay, I just want to make a good stroke and don’t worry about the outcome. Just make a good stroke. Just make a good stroke. Just like that. Mhm. I’ll take it. Nothing to it, right? You know me. I never miss. Par boi black 17 and 18. I I will take it. Uh any any time we do this in the in the real thing. Exactly. I’ll take either I’ll probably take either of those on any hole. Right. Good job. I’m fixed. [Music]
Colin Jost is known for his Weekend Updates, but can he take on the ultimate Weekend Warrior’s test of Bethpage Black? The Saturday Night Live star got in a practice lesson with PGA Coach Eden Foster at Bethpage Black to get prepped for the 2025 Ryder Cup Celebrity All-Star Match.
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Every two years, 24 of the best players from Europe and the United States go head-to-head in match play competition. The European Team are the reigning champions after winning at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in 2023. Drama, tension, incredible golf, camaraderie and sportsmanship are served in equal measure, captivating an audience of millions around the world. It’s an event that transcends sport, yet remains true to the spirit of its founder, Samuel Ryder. The 2025 Ryder Cup is set to take place at Bethpage Black in New York.
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11 Comments
you can just see by his setup, he can play a little bit.
Would love to see Colin teach Scarlett to golf!
Shoulda known he’s a broomstick guy
I CANNOT WAIT!! C'mon!! #teamusa #bethpageblack #rydercup
Thank you so much for posting this not-geolocked<3333
Not even slightly interesting.
Use a real putter😂
Who?
Who the hell is Colin Jost?
dude gets to jackhammer ScarJo, get paid to be boring on camera, AND play the Black? damn.
Jost….my fav SNL cast member…..long smooth stroke!……that's what Scarlett said…..