Meredith Gorman sits down with 2023 Travelers Championship Champion Keegan Bradley, plus more during this half-hour show previewing the annual tour stop in Connecticut. #golf #golftravels #golfdestination #pgatour #keegan #travelers #thetour #pga #connecticut #newengland #professional #golflife
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today on golf destination we take an in-depth look at one of the most popular PGA Tour events The Travelers championship at TPC River Highlands we’ll learn everything you need to know about one of the tour’s longest running events and most popular stops and we’ll even sit down with a 2023 Champion New England native Keegan Bradley all of that and more next [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to golf destination I’m your host Meredith Corman and today we are at the TPC River Highlands Golf Course in Cromwell Connecticut as we preview The Travelers Championship the tournament was founded in 195 2 and today it ranks as one of the most popular events both for the players and with the fans and is usually the second most attended event on tour media day featured a press conference with legendary broadcaster Chris Burman and the 2023 Travelers Champion Keegan Bradley how are you welcome I’m doing great I’m so I was saying earlier I did a few interviews just coming home to New England just even for a little bit bit is so fun just going in the airport and seeing the the local sports and I just it’s just so special I just love it up here so the trophy you have and the trophy the kids have that we got on the 18th green are they all still in good shape at your house or what they definitely have seen some better days but they’re uh I I can’t tell you I I in my house I I have no golf stuff displayed I have an office and I put my trophies up there but The Travelers troph trophy with the kids trophies we have right in our living room and uh just the other night two nights ago uh I caught my wife she was staring at the trophy and and I sort of uh I sort of we I looked at her and and she just said it just I just can’t believe that happened and like we it’s was so surreal for us that like even now it seems like a dream and uh it’s just such a special thing for me to come back here as the champion and U remarkable last group I have it I have it in my hands just play your game yet you said you you didn’t sleep well I was very nervous um I slept okay but I when you’re in the final group of a tournament uh at anything but especially a big tournament signature event but then especially this tournament me your signature right you wake up as soon as you open your eyes it’s like you have electricity going through you it’s it’s a it’s a different it’s just something’s just different and I remember waking up and being a little bit scared of how nervous I was it it was different and then this is why I always call my family my secret weapon is my two boys have no clue about you know they know I going to come out and here do this but they don’t really care they want to do their normal boy stuff and uh I was renting a house at the basketball hoop and my son had me out and I was shooting Hoops with him playing our you know Pig and people are driving by honking their horns sticking their head heads out waving to me and I remember thinking about how calming it was to this is like a normal morning in my life and what I’m about to go do is the opposite of normal and it helped a lot does it get heavier to carry that that Crown a little bit or does your chest go out more knowing that around here this is it all year it got heavier on the weekend for sure I uh and what’s it’s interesting about my life is I went to school at St John’s in New York New York city so I actually get such extreme support in New York as well so when I’m in New York I’m from St John’s when I’m in New England and Boston I I don’t I don’t yeah hardford is normally the cuto off anything south of harford’s New York fans and so uh you know when I when I come here it’s I feel a lot of pressure I really do I I feel I think of the New England kid out here watching and looking at me and thinking this kid knows what I’m going through I I didn’t couldn’t play golf in the winter where I grew up this is this was the South down here this was like you could play here in the winter not not where I was and I felt like that Sunday and that weekend I I wanted to do that for the New England kids to watch and think like they can do this and I remember watching Brad Faxon and Billy andreid and the you know those those guys play and thinking like okay they they did this and and that means I can too Andy betet from Travelers joins us now to tell us about The Travelers championship to now how much has this tour stop meant for the Greater Hartford area and the state of Connecticut over the years you know it’s it’s uh we’ve been at this this is our this be our 18th year now and um it’s about all about charity and Community which is terrific and and what we’ve done over that period of time is tried to elevate this event to a much higher level from year one in 2007 till now uh and bring in more and more world class players so that the fans have something really special to come out and watch and see and in the end so there is no profitable wealthy owner there is the Charities that benefit and last year we raised over $3 million for 180 Charities and over the 17 years we’ve raised over $30 million for 900 Charities so that’s what it’s done and and I got to tell you there’s a sense of Pride about this event in the community even 17 years later we came in and basically saved the event and when we saved it people were on the street saying thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you and they still 17 years later people are Thanking us for saving this event what is the traveler footprint like in the state of Connecticut in terms of the tournament itself and the people that work there our ethos of our company is always to take care of our communities our employees and our customers and so this is this fits in right into who we are as a company and what this is as a golf tournament The Travelers continues to be ranked by players as one of the best stops on the tour what makes this event special they do I mean it’s the players it’s the caddies it’s their wives and their families and you know every year after our event Nathan and I sit down with as many players as we can get to say what can we make it better how can we make it better what can we do to make it better and we ask their caddies and we ask their wives well we even ask their kids I mean it’s a family event because we always say this is a HomeTown tournament for HomeTown Charities and for our communities and that just plays right into it that we make it feel like their Hometown as well now this tournament has a rich history what do you think has been the key to its success I think never accepting the status quo that’s our call out that we use every week never accept the status quo always try to get better and I think every year we’ve tried really hard to get a better player field I mean this is like if you’re going to go to a world class golf tournament the PGA tour right it’s like going to the Red Sox and watching David Ortiz right it’s like going to the Yankees and watching Jeter it’s like you want to go see world’s best players on the field and I think the unique part of PGA T golf is that we get to have like every David Ortiz and every Jeter from every team all together at one time this is the only place in sports where I know that all of the best players in the world in that Sport come together to compete against each other thanks for joining us Andy and we wish you another successful Travelers championship don’t miss out on all of the action as the world’s best visit The Travelers Championship June 19th to June 23rd at TPC River Highlands for tickets and information visit Travelers championship. comom next we meet Nathan Gro the tournament director of The Travelers championship and later I sit down with defending Champion Keegan Bradley when golf destination returns golf destination is brought to you in part by goslings of Bermuda dare to be happy welcome back to golf destination as we preview The Travelers championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell Connecticut Nathan gr is the tournament director of The Travelers championship and oversees the whole operation we are now joined by tournament director Nathan Gro Nathan thanks for joining us now The Travelers Championship is more than 4 days of play tell us what does the week look like here really when it comes down to tournament week it’s about the competition right I mean these guys are coming in they’re playing for $20 million it is a uh very very serious time for them so we want to be careful you know how much we um impose on them getting ready so we try very hard to make sure they have the facilities that they need the practice area but then also take care of the fans you know with the celebrity prr on Wednesday say um how we build up the golf course for the fans really comes to life with a lot of free venues that we have on property so um it’s the the fans are coming to see the best players in the world compete and they love the competition and so we try to make sure when they when they get here they feel like we’ve prepared them for that the region really comes out and supports this event how does being the only tour stop in the entire region of New England help benefit this tournament I would say from a uh from a standpoint first of all right I mean I think you have to start within Connecticut that this is the biggest sporting event in the state of Connecticut and so there’s a pride there when then when you expand on that and you start pulling people in from Boston New York New Hampshire Vermont you know it’s less about pride and more about this is the top event in men’s professional golf that’s why we’re coming here now what are some of the ticketing and Hospitality options that are available so we try to really give something for everyone we start with kids free admission we thought that was very important to keep that 15 and under for free and then our general admission ticket we wanted that fan to be able to experience really everything they possibly could um and and feel like a VIP so we built five venues around the property that are free for fans and then we go into the high-end Hospitality where we know we’re competing against Boston and New York when it comes to you know a sports fan expecting a high-end experience you mentioned the Travelers Championship has a lot of great activities for families what can families expect to find there that week so I I kind of laugh at this and I feel like I have I have a bias because as we were building out this tournament I had two small kids at the time I mean Andy Basset and I with Travelers we’ve been doing this for close to 20 years but when we started it was how do we make sure this event is for everyone and I remember thinking how am I going to get my kids to come to this tournament I was like we need face painting rock walls Inflatables like we need all this fun stuff to do and sure enough this whole fan Zone came to life and you can literally spend hours in the middle of this fan Zone with your family with your kids that in for free and come out with arts and crafts faces painted all kinds of stuff and your kids are going wait we’re at a golf tournament you know so I mean it’s we really you can spend the whole day out here too I mean there is golf from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. so you kind of are we feel responsible for providing an entertainment experience for that that whole time so the fan Zone the free admission um something we’re doing new on the driving range this year um with trackman and video boards and fans being able to watch the pros practice I’m really excited about that that’s going to be new this year as well what do you like most about this course and what are some of your favorite holes so here’s the best compliment that I’ve gotten about our golf course they say it punishes you for bad shots and rewards you for good shots and that’s what I think the players want if I hit a good shot I want to be able to make birdie if I’m off I want it to punish me and I want to make I don’t want to hit a bad shot and then just all of a sudden have some weird kick and then I’m okay so from a golf standpoint when you have the best players in the world say it’s a fun golf course it’s fair and it rewards me for good and punishes me for bad I’m all about that golf course so really you look at the type of player that has won here doesn’t favor any type of player it’s one of those golf courses that stays true to its original design like we’re not trying to be somebody else you know it’s not the longest golf course on tour um but again it makes the guys think their way around the golf course and when you see the best do something that they’re really good at and they’re thinking their way through a golf course I love it but I think my favorite hole is 15 it’s a drivable car for the fans get totally engaged in it and you I mean you see guys get nervous you know you see guys it’s it’s a 300 yard shot that these guys can do every single day on the Range and like you just kind of see them wait and pause and they’re thinking through it and to see them try to drive the green and I mean the fans get totally engaged I think 15 is probably my favorite hole because it starts the circle of the last four holes 15 16 17 and 18 all play around a lake and so you can literally see the tournament unfold right in front of you from literally one spot and the players um families that come and watch are like we can stand here and literally watch 15 16 17 and 18 and that’s completely unique to us what are the dates that fans can come out to this tournament this year sure Wednesday through Sunday so the 19th through the 23rd um is when they can come out we open up Wednesday for the proam it’s really much more casual you see the guys kind of with their hair down a little bit they’re wearing shorts they you know they they play in the proam but then the competition is Thursday through Sunday and what I love about it this year uh is as a signature event there’s no cut and so in the past the fans have had to say okay am I going to come out and see my favorite player Thursday Friday because if they miss the cut then I won’t see him Saturday Sunday so there was some you know you don’t know who’s going to be there on the weekend so it was a signature event the tour changed their format to where all the top guys are here all four days so uh that is something that I think is really exciting that you’re going to see them all four days thanks for joining me Nathan and we’re looking forward to this year’s Travelers Championship you can view golf destination content from the past as well as original programming on our YouTube channel at golf destination next I interview Keegan Bradley on his hometown win at The Travelers Championship Club benchmarking your partner on the path to datadriven leadership welcome back to golf destination as we’re here at TPC River Highlands previewing The Travelers Championship I sat down with the 2023 Champion Keegan Bradley and talk to him about his emotional win at TPC River Highlands thanks for joining us Keegan now going into the 2023 Travelers Championship what was your mindset and how are you feeling about the state of your game going into it well the week before uh The Travelers last year I missed the cut at the US Open and I really had played like one of my worst weeks of golf of the year and I called my coach and we had an emergency get I had to get him down here we worked on Monday which I don’t normally do and we had a great Monday Tuesday Wednesday and sort of found some stuff and then and ended up playing great was there ever a point during the weekend and before Sunday that you thought to yourself hey I can really win this thing yeah I thought um Midway through Saturday I was playing really really well and felt really comfortable out there and I thought everything’s it’s probably the first time in my career that everything in my game was the best I’d ever felt it and it it stayed with me and that was about the time I was thinking about I got a real good shot at this now being from New England was there any extra pressure on you other than the fact that this tournament brings exemptions yeah I mean the the pressure was extreme I mean I I really felt an obligation to New England really to to win this tournament and to show and to you know it’s a very rare that you get golfers from up here so I always feel the the need to help the New England people in in the golf world and I meant a lot to do that here what are your thoughts on the TPC River Highlands golf course I think TPC River Highlands is is a amazing place to play a golf tournament there’s a lot that can happen between the back nine you can birdie every hole but you can also bogey every hole and I think that’s what makes it for such an exciting tournament what are your favorite holes on the course um I really like uh 15 1617 I think that those holes sort of decide the tournament most years and uh a lot can happen you’re a New England native how do you think growing up here helped shape your golf game well I think that growing up in New England I always sort of had a chip on my shoulder against you know some of the guys that were from down south that could play year round and I really felt that I needed to work harder than them because I had way less time and I think as my career went on it ended up helping me that with that Keegan thanks so much for spending time with us and we wish you all the best as you look to defend your title at this year’s Travelers championship thank you don’t miss out on all of the action as the world’s best visit The Travelers Championship June 19th to June 23rd at TPC River Highlands for tickets and information visit Travelers championship. comom you can view golf destination content from the past as well as original programming on our YouTube channel at golf destination still ahead The Travelers Championship unveils a unique gift for their champion and a funny story told by Keegan over a cup of coffee when golf destination returns golf destination is brought to you in part by goslings of Bermuda dare to be happy welcome back to golf destination as we preview The Travelers championship at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell Connecticut defending champions of tournaments are rarely able to make it to Media days because of their busy schedule but this is Keegan’s second appearance having attended the one in Boston as well The Travelers Championship appreciated that and knew the perfect gift for him based upon a certain Boston team that Keegan once threw the first pitch out for this is something very special for you holy are you kidding me it is it’s from Fenway Park oh my God and it says on it travels Championship Keegan Bradley 2023 champ champion and it’s actually that came out of Fenway Park and are you kidding me Keegan also told a funny story with his son when they visited a local coffee shop I was in the coffee shop in the town that I have a house in and I just won here and I’m a pretty shy to myself guy I don’t uh I’m not looking for attention put it that way and I could I went into the coffee shop I could feel people sort of looking at me and uh I was just trying to mind my own business get my coffee and leave I was in there with my six-year-old son and you know Starbucks and they said all right Keegan and then as we’re walking out Logan yell my yell youngest son loud yelled out Keegan Bradley traveler champion and I’m like Logan like I was pissed I was and as I walked out everyone started claing well thanks for joining us as we preview The Travelers Championship which is played here at TPC River Highland from June 19th to June 23rd visit their website Travelers championship. for the latest information on the field tickets and their social media channels I’m Meredith Gorman and I hope to see you tournament week of The Travelers championship [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] golf destination is brought to you by goslings of Bermuda dare to be happy Dua Delma Italian golf evolution puka be original Club benchmarking your partner on the path to data driven leadership
