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945: Our guest this week is author of a very funny book ‘How to Quit Golf and Get Your Life Back’ by Danny Cahill. Danny shares his own obsession with the game, the appeal of country club life, and his humorous perspective on the contradictions of golf, as well as the personal struggles that come with it. The conversation covers topics such as the decline of physical abilities, the impact of technology on the sport, and the challenges of balancing golf with other aspects of life. We also discuss the unique communication and camaraderie that golf fosters among players, the frustrations and idiosyncrasies of the game, and the financial and time commitments involved. We also touch on the concept of consistency in golf and the compartmentalization of emotions and life issues while on the course.
Takeaways
• Golf can be a sacred and addictive sport, leading to obsessions and contradictions.
• Joining a country club can provide a sense of community and family-friendly activities.
• The decline of physical abilities in golf parallels the decline in other aspects of life.
• Technology has improved the game of golf, allowing players to hit the ball further.
• Writing a book requires discipline and trust in the creative process. Golf can be both a source of joy and frustration, with its unique challenges and idiosyncrasies.
• Playing golf can create a sense of camaraderie and intimacy among players.
• The financial and time commitments of golf can be significant.
• Consistency in golf is a myth, as every shot is different and influenced by various factors.
• Golf can serve as a form of escape and a way to compartmentalize life issues.
• The book ‘How to Quit Golf and Get Your Life Back’ by Danny Cahill is recommended for golfers and those in relationships with golfers.
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[Music]
welcome to the golf smarter podcast
Danny hey Fred how are you I’m good nice
to be here good to be here we’re on the
uh Friday of the Masters which it’s kind
of appropriate that we have a golf
holiday to be recording this
conversation it is a sacred weekend
there is no doubt it’s incredibly sacred
and like the biggest holiday of the year
now I just Le need the audience to
understand that the title of this
episode is the actual title of the book
it is not
clickbait works it works as
clickbait but it is not clickbait it’s
the actual title of Danny’s book um and
I really enjoying the book I really
am are do you do standup well I mean
it’s really
funny um yeah I’m a I’m a which you
don’t expect when you first see the
title right exactly yeah a lot of my
friends uh uh when they saw the book
emailed me they’re like are you quitting
Golf and I’m like God saved me from the
literal minded no no I would never quit
golf no it is it is fiction of course um
I think about it of course every time I
play golf
[Laughter]
but so um the other thing that I that
just came across to me while I was
reading it and it just so happened that
while uh I was reading it and a friend
of mine’s birthday was coming up my
wife’s going we got to get him a gift he
plays golf why don’t you get him
something Golf and it’s like you know
that’s a really sweet thought but golf
is so personal you know you buy somebody
a box of balls and it’s like yeah I
don’t play these yeah exactly right or
the time somebody gave me a box of balls
and I said I really appreciate you
giving me something you know I’m going
to lose
yes right they give you a box of maxfly
and you’re so
insulted how dare you how dare you Max F
noodles what are
noodles and why would they possibly put
that on the name of a ball right oh my
God but you’re clearly obsessed with
golf yeah and you know I never expected
to be um you know I didn’t until I was
44 years old um all right you beat me I
was 42 yeah I I mean I was that guy that
thought how was a sport you don’t sweat
um I don’t get it um and I was I was a
serious tennis player uh my my whole
life um and I thought tennis was a sub
cult but nothing compared to the sub
Cult of golf um yeah once you get in you
get in deep and there is it’s the minor
leagues there’s no way out yeah exactly
yeah exactly exactly um and and so what
was it that bit you so hard what at what
point did you let me go this way why at
44 did you start playing
golf
um so I got to the point where um
playing serious tennis in tennis it’s
not like golf in golf you just move up
te’s right um but in tennis you go from
a serious singles player to let’s play
doubles um and you know finally at 80
years old you’re letting the bounce the
ball bounce twice on your side of the
net and it’s very pathetic so I just
didn’t want to be the doubles player I
thought tennis was about running so I
thought oh if I stay in tennis it’s just
a question of how fast I decline I will
never get better at tennis there’s no
way I’m ever GNA again be able to return
125 M hour Serv and next year they’re
going to be 130 miles an hour and there
wasn’t enough uh bof freeze uh to to
keep me in the game so um when I started
uh golf I was like this is something
that I see people my age and older doing
and doing well and it just was so
appealing to think this is something I
could improve at it might be the only
thing I could improve at and of course
what happens is you do improve
dramatically for a little while and then
you decline just like you did in tennis
it’s just a slower less conspicuous
decline well it’s less conspicuous
because there’s other people around you
who are declining just as rapidly
correct yeah right we’re all getting old
together here yeah yeah yeah take taking
this walk we have all day to do it I I
was um I was John mad’s engineer
recording engineer for a number of years
and he used to talk about you know if I
had to start a sport right now in my
life I would choose between Golf and
Tennis and it would have to be tennis
because if you’re bad at tennis you’re
done in 45 minutes 30 minutes right but
if you’re bad at golf you’re out there
all day long
yeah right yeah no it’s a special sort
of torture you know the other thing
that’s ironic about it was um one of the
reasons why I gave up on tennis was
because um the technology had gotten out
of control and it’s true today if you
it’s hard to watch pro tennis for me and
and think I’m watching a sport I used to
be good at because you know the the
average uh professional can hit a
forehand 105 miles an hour and that was
a serve when I played um so between the
the the materials they use to make
rackets and the synthetic strings
they’ve improved so dramatically that
it’s it’s an unwatchable game now and it
certainly it’s not a game that I
recognize so I was offended at what
technology did to tennis but I love what
technology did to golf because now I can
pretend I’m a big hitter because the the
the golf clubs keep getting better and
you know I hit it further now than I did
10 years ago and it isn’t because my
swing’s any better so I’m such a
hypocrite I’m like technolog is evil
except for golf it’s awesome keep it up
you know let’s have more and for what’s
in my pocket
exact right that’s changed the world and
everything around it um so what what do
you tell yourself when you need to quit
golf how do how do you get to that
point so
um so what happened to me was I you know
I I belong to this club and you
obviously there’s some serious people at
a club a lot different than the public
of course people and let me interrupt
you right there and say what part of the
country you’re in the United States yeah
I’m in the Northeast I’m in Connecticut
um so everyone’s got to be in a club
it’s there’s the public golf is like
what’s it like yeah I mean there’s some
nicer courses but for me it was all
about uh because I run two businesses it
was all about time I joined a club
because I wanted to play in three hours
not because I wanted to be you know uh
looking for business or shmooing or all
that it was just a three-hour round was
like worth it to me I didn’t care what
it cost but
um I’m a typee a I found that a lot of
the people at the club were type A
driven people and I thought oh they’re
not just into golf like they’re
dangerously close to unhealthy into golf
um and I started to see the things that
I just found it amusing like
the uh the telling your wife or
somewhere else when you’re on the course
and um the guilt of where you were
supposed to be but you’re on the golf
course and everybody be quiet that’s my
wife calling don’t hit a ball you know
and at first I found it amusing and and
then I said well there’s really
something to this there was this uh
appeal to me
of as people go through uh middle age
they’re turning to golf and the person
that says I’m going to retire and and
then play more Golf and then that person
retires plays more Golf and gets worse
um and I started to see the parallels
between just your decline in your life
of your body of your enthusiasm of your
energies um and you try to put it into
this sport that can’t can’t save you it
can’t help you um and I just found those
ironies so funny that I said I I have to
I have to write a book about it I I I
had just come off writing a very heavy
Memoir about my personal life uh called
Aging disgracefully and I thought I
would just write a romp uh and talk
about the goofy contradictions of Gul
but the more I got into it the more it
became a serious story of me of what if
this guy is Addicted to Golf unhealthy
um lying to his wife obsessed to a point
where he’s he’s starting to lose his
value structure um and that became it
the story that I wrote about wow we’re
gonna take a time out we’ll be back
right after this
I I need to get a sense like reading the
book I’m figuring okay this guy does
stand up clearly what you just said it
doesn’t that doesn’t fit with it what do
you do or and yeah um so yeah actually
well uh I I do uh I do I guess the safe
version of standup so I own I own two
firms I own a head hunting firm which is
one of the largest head hunting firms in
the country and I developed it and once
I started uh uh doing well in head
hunting people would start to ask me to
speak at conferences and uh I found that
people found me interesting or funny and
I thought well this is a business so I
started a a motivational speaking
business um and a training and
development company so I have two
businesses one I just got back from
Houston at one o’clock in the morning
last night from a gig than you for doing
this oh yeah no worries so I speak at
conferences and then I run my head
hunting firm which is kind of like a
think tank for the things I talk about
but
yeah I try to have fun when I’m up there
I’m not that real serious speaker that’s
you know trying to motivate you by uh
you know telling you that go out you can
go out and be anything you want to be
kind of guy that that’s not me I I
basically tell people you can’t be most
things you want to be so find one thing
you can be and do that as well as you
can is my uh not so thrilling message to
people but it’s real oh my gosh so and
is this your second book or is there
something else besides
yeah this is my third book actually I’ve
had yeah I’ve had two books that were
successful uh thank goodness but before
that um I was in professional theater
for a while too and I’ve had uh plays
that I’ve written produced Off Broadway
so you know I’m used to the
entertainment side of it on the
theatrical side of it so I’m and I’m
also because of that I’m into words I
never thought I’d write books I always
wrote theater um but uh once I started
getting certain ideas they seemed more
like book ideas andless like theater
ideas did you get Wordle today by the
way I’ve never done Wordle which
people my wife was completely stump and
she needed my help and I couldn’t figure
out so I was just it’s just a complete
aside also iuck in scrable which makes
no sense but you clearly don’t sleep
very much I mean like multiple
businesses multiple books I mean the
theater it’s you need to move to the
West Coast and chill out dude I love the
West Coast no I’m a control
the people in my office say Danny so
intense he grinds your
[Laughter]
teeth um tell me about I live next to a
country club but I don’t belong to it
yeah there’s so much great golf public
golf here in Northern California that I
really don’t need to um and what is it
from your perspective your very funny
perspective what is it about golf club
uh Country Club life that is so
appealing yeah it’s it’s funny because
and by the way if I lived in Northern
California and I could play posa TMO I
would never belong to a club in my life
it’s such a great course or Harding Park
um oh my favorite yeah beautiful um so I
was raised really poor um and you know
made something on myself um so I always
had a um a bias against country clubs
like I for a long long time after I
started playing golf I wouldn’t join a
club and people would say you have the
money why don’t you join a club and I
was like I don’t want to be that guy I
don’t want to you know and I was it was
really kind of weird so once I joined um
like they gave me a locker and I didn’t
I didn’t use my locker I changed my
shoes in the in the parking lot and I
went home to shower and I didn’t hang
out and um have dinner after golf I was
like look I’m just an athlete here to
use the golf course I’m not want to use
snoody people um who’s you know seeing
this as a status symbol and and so you
being a snob among snobs exactly and I
finally figured out as I started playing
with these guys they were the nicest
guys in the world uh they weren’t at all
arrogant I’m in a kind of a weird place
because uh my club is only about 10 15
miles from ESPN’s headquarters so a lot
of the ESPN guys U belong there and
they’re just cool guys they’re nice guys
um and I thought I meeting much nicer
people to play golf with they’re not
just better golfers but the people I met
in the public course versus the country
club people I was like who was I kidding
there’s no like you know every man on
the public horse and here are these you
know white privileged arrogant people no
they were great people and I was like I
am the snob I’m the one that has all
these preconceived notions so I started
uh spending more time there and you know
uh if I was starting life over uh and I
had kids I mean they have a pool for the
kids and so I see Saturday mornings the
families bring their their kids to the
pool um and there’s all kinds of
activities for either spouse sometimes
the spouses play together you know this
this is thank God a a world where the
spouses can play at 7 o’clock in the
morning on a Saturday at my club there’s
no you know men’s club and you can’t
play till noon um so I just found it I
was I was just biased because of my
upbringing
that quote unquote wealthy people were
evil um and I had to relearn that um and
it was it was a really good experience
for me they’re they’re really good
people just because they’re wealthy
doesn’t mean they’re bad people it took
me a long time to realize that I had
that bias because of how I grew
up yeah you know I’ve played with the
people here I’ve played charity
tournaments and things and they like the
thing that keeps coming back for me is
oh we have such a great Community well
that’s good but I’m not looking for
community because my wife and I have
that so I I and I I get overwhelmed
easily and then it’s also like oh man if
you love drinking and you love gambling
and you love golf this is a place for
you and I’m like I love golf yeah and
I’m kind of not really much into the
other parts of it you know like serious
either of those I’ll I’ll dabble in both
but you know like I love having a
cocktail but I’m not g to I don’t get
you know so it’s it’s that that’s what
kind of push keeps
me isolated I guess into my own snobby
about what I do um I can relate to that
because
um I mean it was a combination of being
with um in a relationship with a person
who was an alcoholic but also I’m a bit
of a help freak so I mean I was probably
32 33 when I gave up drinking um I’m I’m
a health nut about my diet so I am a
little bit ostracized um because you
know so I was on a on a a tea um last
summer and um I got hooked up with some
people that I knew but I didn’t know
them real well and one of the guys
apparently had gained some weight and
they said hey John you know you’ve
you’ve got a little chubby and he said
I’m not chubby this is fun fat and
another guy turned to me and he said
Danny doesn’t have fun fat and he said
doesn’t have any fun either um that’s
how I’m yeah that’s my image at the gym
or at the at the golf course that Danny
like he’ll he’ll hang out after and have
a Diet Coke but he’s not gonna be here
all night he’s not gonna play cards he’s
not gonna he’s he’s really not that into
it that life but it’s also because you
know I was single most of that time I
didn’t have kids so I didn’t have a lot
to relate to other than golf or talk
about business so yeah no I I that part
has never appealed to me but you’re
right that that sort of stereotype does
exist there are guys that go there at 7
in the morning and you can drive by you
know at 10:00 at night and they haven’t
left yet um and that’s the life um and
that’s fine um but you know there’s a
there’s a dichotomy at my club there’s
the younger people that are there for
their families and those guys you know
get to the first te with an older member
and the first thing that happens is they
say to the older member you don’t mind
if I play music while we play do you and
there’s always that conversation some of
the older members are cool and some of
the older members go this is golf
there’s no music on the golf carts and
you know they’re always afraid when they
get me because they’re not sure what I’m
those are the ones that those are the
ones that cigars are okay cell phones
are not yes when they ask me I’m like
look uh with all the voices I have in my
head when I’m trying to hit the ball a
little music is not going to make much
of a
difference well you should be listening
to golf smarter and you’ll help get rid
of those voices
okay
um how were you able
to put the information together was this
just always running in your head and you
just write oh that’s a good line and
youd write it down or just when you sat
down to write this it just
flowed um yeah
so when I get an idea for for a book or
or a play um I sort of have in my head a
beginning middle and end
but then I just trust myself to let it
happen once I had the idea of this
character this sort of um uh mid manager
at a corporation character who was uh
into golf um not a very good golfer
struggling to get better all into the
culture but very very insecure once I
had that character then I just let the
story happen um but I you I’ve been
writing for so long now Fred I I I
literally just open a laptop and start
writing I’m pretty disciplined about it
I’ll do it um first thing in the morning
for a couple hours uh do it one day on
the weekend but I’m able to you know I
ride on planes with babies screaming at
me because I’ve just been on the road
for 30 years so I’m just used to it a
lot of the webinars and and speeches
that I give I’m writing on the plane so
you got to just you know you can’t wait
for the Muse to come if you’re going to
be a working writer you got to just say
hopefully the Muse will show up at some
point over the next couple hours and
just do it you know do it well maybe the
Muse will arrive during this commercial
break we’ll be right
back but I’m fascinated to know about
the book and again we’re talking to
Danny Cahill about his very funny
book called How to Quit how to quit Golf
and get your life back and I’m curious
to know what was the point what was the
line that you either wrote or popped
into your head and went oh no I’ve got a
book
here oh that’s interesting I
think so um there’s a
chapter um where um the character got a
Friday off from work um and he went and
played golf um and his uh his wife calls
him at the start of the chapter and says
where are you and he lies and says he’s
at work um and he doesn’t know that
she’s at work because she stopped in to
see him um and she catches him Stone
Cold um and uh threatens some sort of uh
response whether she’s GNA leave him or
she’s gonna uh raise hell he doesn’t
know um and in the course of that trying
to decide he doesn’t want to go home
because he knows she’s mad so he goes
into to the grill room where there’s a
guy that’s been uh divorced three times
who’s willing to give him advice on how
he should handle the situation um and
when I thought of that
scene I
thought yeah this is this is now the
book has to go from just Here’s the the
the funny sort of uh contradictions and
hypocrisies of golf and how crazy the
game is to making it a really personal
story about somebody who’s truly
grappling with um you know she says to
him you had a day off and you never
thought let me spend the day with my
family you thought oh my God I can play
golf and he has to come to terms with
the fact that yes that’s true that while
he loves his family a Friday afternoon
is about golf not about you and how do
you say that to the woman you love um
and I thought oh so this is really a
more serious book than I think so so I
spent uh that’s when I decided I got to
rethink this and I got to make it both a
book about someone who’s truly trying to
quit Golf and still have some fun with
the uh the sport itself and how crazy it
is and how obsessed we get with it I I
can imagine I can
feel my the audience right now people in
the audience maybe they’re driving their
car and they had to pull over at that
exact moment because I felt every person
in the audience go o that happened to me
yeah I’d rather sorry I’d much rather go
play golf today than be with you I’m so
sorry right it’s the ultimate sorry not
sorry oh yeah it’s like she says to me
you never make plans for us you just
when you have time off you just want to
go play golf why don’t you make plans
for us I’m like because you make all the
plans right it’s like what are we short
of plans I mean this is my time right
right you know the thing I’ve been
divorced t i so I’m uh I have some
expertise here and I remember I knew
that my last marriage was over because
at one point um she said you know we
just don’t talk as much as we used to
and I was like well everything that
happened before I met you I’ve already
told you about and everything that’s
happened since you were there so really
we have nothing to say to each other if
you think about it and and and the thing
about golf is to someone who doesn’t
play golf feel like you’re playing the
same 18 holes at the same Club every
week so isn’t the same
experience
no no it isn’t I don’t no uh even though
even though every time I hit the the the
drive on red number three at my club I
always end up within five feet of the
same spot doesn’t feel like the same
time I played it doesn’t feel the same
as the the sort of daytoday cosmic
inhumanity of being with the same people
in your house it doesn’t and that’s the
that’s the part that’s so hard to hear
if you’re you’re the person that doesn’t
play golf it feels so personal you know
oh yeah we’ we’ve been talking a lot
lately about the fact about consistency
and what a myth it is in the sense that
how can you have you’re you’re searching
for consistency and yet you never have
the same shot twice right so so it’s you
know consistent where your swing but the
swing’s got to change with every every
time you hit the ball depending on if
you’re in the bunker you’re on The
Fairway you’re Wherever You Are I heard
VJ sing say um uh a couple years ago in
one of those golf channel uh training
shows he said you know these amateurs
don’t realize uh because they’ll say
what what what am I doing wrong VJ what
you know why is my swing different today
than yesterday and he’s like your swing
isn’t different today it’s just that um
because you’re not a super athlete um
you’re actually like 28 of an
inch in a different spot than you were
yesterday because your back’s a little
sore or because you were on a plane or
whatever you’re taking the same swing
you’re just taking it a little
differently every day so you’re G to get
different results um and so you’re never
going to be consistent is the bottom
line but that’s obviously not what any
of us want to hear no no we’re looking
for the answer right answer you
mentioned a few minutes ago the
character yeah in in the book yeah so do
you not write this as
you um no no although i’ you know I did
that in my memor obviously because
that’s that’s what a memoir is yeah no
no I’m used to yeah like I said I wrote
a plays um so I was always used to look
there’s no character in the world that
isn’t to some degree reflection of an
author um but no this character is
absolutely an amalgamation of my own
insecurities about golf um and the
people that I’ve seen um at the club and
that I’ve met over the years and uh the
text that I get I you know I every time
I would write a scene I would review
text from golfers um and yeah to some
degree we’re all the same um so no he’s
not he’s not a he’s not a composite of
me or standin but sort of an
amalgamation of all the golfers I yeah
yeah yeah and and when you play with the
same people regularly right some of them
start getting on your nerves no question
about it it’s like you know and then
they call and they tell you these are
the rules of how we’re going to be
playing from now on it’s like who who
assigned you to make the rules and I
don’t like those rules yeah yeah kind of
get stuck with that and and I made a
comment once about my golf
wife right and and he I think he took
offense to
it yeah I said well we bicker the entire
time we’re
playing yeah it’s funny there’s people
that aren’t very good golfers that you
love to play with um and then there’s
people that aren’t very good golfers
that get on your nerve um and it’s not
about their their their golf game it’s
about how they play the golf or The you
know I play with one guy that is nicest
guy in the world except for when he
plays golf and every time he misses a
putt he’ll go I can’t believe that goes
left and I’m like really why is it hard
to believe it always goes left you
always miss it left I don’t it’s really
not hard to believe you know I can’t
believe you don’t any more right okay so
is he is he a right-handed golfer yes
okay tell him to not lift his head when
he hit the ball because when you L when
you turn your head to look at the ball
it goes left yeah because you’re turning
your shoulders right but see keep your
head down just I’ll tell you when the
ball goes in just keep your head face
that’s good advice yeah he does always
pull putts but point is what what is it
about him pulling puts that annoys me
but not someone else and it’s because he
goes I can’t believe it it went left you
know so where’s the break where’s the
break it’s on the next sole yeah that’s
where it is you left it on the last one
but there’s also people you like very
much who they’re playing badly you just
feel sorry for and you want to help them
and you know it’s it’s a very personal
it’s amazing to me and I talk about this
in the book to some degree
um part of the reason why I think
significant others and spouses get
jealous about your time on the golf
course is not just the golf uh time that
you’re away from the family but there’s
a there’s a they can feel that there’s a
level of intimacy among people that play
golf together that they don’t understand
and just like anybody having an intimate
relationship with your partner it’s
threatening you know there’s a certain
threatening to it right but
then you you get off the golf course you
come home how was your time today I had
a great time today oh what’ you talk
about nothing what do you mean you
didn’t talk about like how’s he doing
what’s going on in his life it’s like I
have no idea what do you mean you were
out there for five hours together like
you no no we talked about the last shot
and the next shot yes and it’s like we
we don’t you know his kids are fine I
think there’s there’s a section in the
book where uh the spouse grills the
character and I can’t believe that all
you talk about his golf for four hours
you must talk about other things and he
keeps saying no I don’t no he don’t and
it’s impossible for someone who doesn’t
play golf to believe but it’s true
that’s yeah that’s all we talk about
that’s kind of the point of it we don’t
have to talk about you know
the the politics or or the country you
know it’s where’s my ball does anybody
know where my ball is where’s my
ball take another time out we’ll be
right
back well that level of communication
that we were just discussing is why it’s
kind of perfect for men I mean you know
it’s great for women I love it it’s a
very different experience playing with a
woman versus women playing with women
but for guys I’m just going to talk
about for guys right now we don’t go
into the deep places especially not on
the golf course it allows us to stay
thing keep things on the surface be
together have that camaraderie yeah
excuse me scratch and fart you know I
mean it’s like and just be that way with
guys and it’s kind of perfect for that
yeah and what I found fascinating is
like I said I I took the sport up in my
early 40s and it continues that my son
my younger son the reason I started
playing is because he went to a golf
camp and he goes you want to learn what
I you want me to show you what I learned
today it’s like what’d you learn he goes
etiquette I’m like yeah teach me
everything so we went to the putting
green and I fell in love with the sport
and he got bored with it but now as an
adult he loves the game for all those
reasons and he loves going out with the
guys and he does it and he does it
through work which makes it even more
fun right right because then you get to
really keep things on the surface of
work
golf we’re good yes yeah yeah there’s a
certain way to
compartmentalize that is probably
foreign to people don’t play golf but
that was pretty natural for me because
you know when
you’re things happen in your life um
good or bad right but you know when I
fly in to do a keynote at a conference
um by definition you’re supposed to be
the smartest funniest happiest guy
you’re you’re a keynote speaker for
God’s sakes um and you know I mean
there’s been times when I’ve landed I
remember specifically uh Landing getting
a call uh from my sister saying that my
dad had died um and I’m being driven
down the cab to the hotel where I have
to speak and she was like well you have
to cancelled the kinoe I’m like there’s
600 people in the audience I’m not
canceling the kinoe um and I got I did
my thing um and
uh and my sister called me after and she
said are you okay and I’m like yeah I’m
okay she’s like did you get through it
I’m like it was not hard to get through
it at all like I just parked it like I
mean I I’ve been grieving my dad ever
since I love him to death but for those
90 minutes it was absolutely nobody
needed to know that and I didn’t need to
deal with it I needed to deliver right
and and and a atic way that’s what golf
is every single time it’s like I’m just
parking all the issues and the guy got a
fire on Tuesday and the tax uh bill that
I got to pay for four hours it’s can I
get this ball to go in that hole in four
strokes um 18 times uh can I do that and
the answer is no you can’t but but
there’s a certain compartmentalization
that I I think you’re right is is easier
for men than for women yeah yeah I I was
playing with one friend he belonged to a
country club he would invite me out we
had a great time and and he was like one
of the few people maybe the only one
that we like talked about stuff yeah
right you know we talked about and then
he stopped inviting
me what did I do my wife’s like why do
you think he don’t it’s like because we
talk too much I don’t I don’t know why
but oh well okay so that’s not gonna
work
well um so here’s what I have to say
about about this book and it’s it’s I
don’t I hope it comes out as a
compliment but um did I already talk
about about buying a gift for a friend I
haven’t talked about you did yeah yeah
yeah you mentioned that oh man it’s it’s
late in the life um yeah but no it’s a
it’s a perfect golf gift that’s I don’t
think I got to the the punchline about
this is that you know you what you buy
you know you buy a hat no you buy a
shirt no he’ll buy his own shirts when
he goes to golf courses you buying balls
no you buy him you buy him all the divot
tools and
no but this book every golfer will get a
kick out of so what I would recommend to
the audience and this is what I didn’t
get to what I want to recommend is buy a
couple of these for Danny’s sake clearly
he doesn’t need the work but um by a
couple books keep them stash and when
it’s time to give a friend a golf gift
this is the gift you want to give it is
so funny and it hits so deep on so many
levels that I just can’t believe that
you talk talk about the character and
that it’s not you what’s your what’s
your favorite bit in the
book
um so there’s a a bit in the book where
he’s finally gotten uh himself straight
and he’s stepped away from golf and he
has it in um in some sort of proportion
and then he goes to a miniature golf
course and he sees an old version of him
a guy playing miniature golf like serus
like the guy goes to his car and gets
his actual Scotty Cameron putter because
he doesn’t like the rubber Putters
they’re giving and he won’t let people
push the the ball six inches from the
boards and he tells somebody they made a
three when they said they made a two
and he’s keeping score and he’s asking
people to play through because they’re
playing too slow and he just sees a
version of him that he used to be and
realizes uh what an idiot he had been
for so long that’s probably my favorite
sort of laugh out loud part of the book
um but yeah I think I I think for people
who are in relationships with golfers
the book might be even more fun than it
is for the golfers but for people who
play golf yeah they’ll they’ll
definitely see themselves in a lot of
what he does for sure but clearly as I’m
reading it I I’m thinking oh no wait a
minute that’s not funny that’s true oh
that’s really funny yeah right there’s a
lot of part that it’s like you’re you’re
ragging on the game on why you need to
quit but you’re just hitting the nail on
the head as far as why we get so
obsessed and well I talk about a lot in
the book about how much time we spend
watching golf and what a waste of time
it is and how you know you you wouldn’t
watch the same movie three times but
you’re certainly GNA you’re going to
watch golf all all weekend C Shack right
exactly watch multiple times yeah and
you know later today I’m gonna watch the
master so I’ve learned absolutely
nothing by writing this book I’ve
absolutely learned nothing and so is an
intervention
required they’re actually late in the
book is an intervention for this gu so
yeah please share that the intervention
yeah he actually uh he gets in so much
trouble with his wife and he’s keeps
promising to to Quick Golf and he
doesn’t um so finally um he pulls up in
front of his house and he think and he
sees
cars of his friends and he sees his
boss’s car and a couple of his
co-workers and a couple of his friends
from the club and he goes oh I know what
this is this is an intervention where
they’re going to try to take my golf
clubs away and get get me to quit turns
out it’s not an intervention but he’s so
freaked out that it is an intervention
that it makes him realize this is how
far it’s gone that he actually thinks
people are gonna intervene and take away
his golf membership and his clubs so
that’s how far
yeah and you do give us a homework
assignment in the book yes yeah go ahead
can you can you share a little I you
know it’s not going to prevent people
from reading this I’m no no no there’s a
couple times in the book where he has
people make lists uh the one that um
freaks people out the most is he
actually makes a list of how much he
spends uh per year on Golf and there’s a
very detailed list in a chapter um and
uh I won’t freak people out with the
number let’s just say it’s a much higher
share of this person’s disposable income
than they were aware and it kind of
freaks him out that he is spending this
every single year
uh so yeah when people go through that
list I get a lot of emails from people
saying okay I did my own list oh my God
yeah oh my God yeah I I tried to avoid
it I tried to I was like okay that’s
enough information I don’t need to do
that myself this is too no you’re making
me this is embarrassing and I like it
this way exactly yeah but it is amazing
isn’t it that it’s something that is so
hard you never will Master it it takes
way too long to play and it’s super
super expensive and we’re both going to
go back out there next opportunity we
get so tomorrow that says something
about golf right yeah tomorrow and even
through pain and Agony and and allergies
and all the things that would make your
life usually yeah I can’t I can’t do
anything today I can’t do anything oh
bill just called and we got a tea time
in two hours I’ll see you later I feel
pretty good actually yeah I’m feeling
great I feel good you were depressed no
no I wasn’t depressed I was just a
little sad but no no this is gonna help
especially when you take up golf at at
in your 40s like you and I did it’s you
know the body starts to break down as
you get involved in the game and that’s
not very helpful so you either have to
play less or start doing what I did
which is start taking Advil like
Skittles um and and just keep playing
yeah the combo of Advil and Tylen all
together oh it’s a beautiful thing it’s
a beautiful thing of Champions yeah no
question oh again it’s how to quit Golf
and get your life back by Danny kahill
Danny this has really been a lot of fun
congratulations on another book um but
and you know we’ll look for the first
one too but thanks so much for sharing
the story with us today FR thanks so
much for having me
