Psychadelic Okinawa !

The boys return as a full squad, getting straight in with a listener Monday: Ollie in Ohio asks: what resorts would you recommend in Okinawa? The boys talk about Atta Terrace, Kanucha and Miyako Jima, Okinawa’s colorful history gets explained by Ryan, and we learn of a psychedelic snake drink called ‘Habu’. 

Listener Questions: Seik from Singapore asks: Do you need a handicap to play Japanese golf courses? And what’s happens if there is bad weather? 

Tour news: Rory McElroy wins the Race to Dubai and sheds a few tears reflecting on a season of close calls, Ryo Ishikawa wins in Japan Taiheiyo masters and Max McGreevy wins at the Dunlop Phoenix in Miyazaki, Campos wins in Puerto Rico for the most emotional win of the year. 

Titleist give us next year’s PRO V1s, and the boys rave about the -Pro V1X (left dash)

KC and Damon play golf with influencer power-couple Derek and Alison, check their profiles for lots of Japan Golf and Travel content below:

Today’s Podcast is in association with Titleist:
https://golf-in-japan.com/titleist-fitting-experience

Featured: Yamagata prefecture:
https://golf-in-japan.com/courses/okinawa

Check out Derek and Alison:
Monterey_golf_guy (https://www.instagram.com/monterey_golf_guy/) .  &  Suginofilter  (https://www.instagram.com/suginofilter?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==)

Questions for the boys: info@golf-in-japan.com (mailto:info@golf-in-japan.com)

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who who just unzipped their zipper that was me sorry you wrecked my intro bro um there is a toilet Joe we’re back with the we’re back with the full crew so um welcome back Joe who’s on my left hello Jo back H Ryan who I can’t see because of the computer screens that are in front of me lucky you and of course uh Damon hello hello how’s it going very good it’s been a while very well it’s been a while it’s been a few weeks hasn’t it yeah we’ve been super busy and you know we just everything’s gone it’s busy it’s a crazy season so we’re we’re just uh winding down a little bit from our as it as the weather cools down so does the the the workload hopefully um yeah we we we’re almost we kind of did a full cycle on all all of our uh prefectures of the week so we’re going to go back around uh to Okinawa but this time it’s going to be a little bit different because we have uh um we have a question here from oi in Ohio and he said I’m heading to OK this December where do you recommend to stay and play and what good AE golf is there um and I’m also interested in historical sites Ryan oh I’m I’m jealous of of OI there like would love to be going to Oka right now just out walking around on Tokyo streets like I need to get some new socks or something cuz my my my toes are going to fall off it feels like it’s it’s getting chilly so it was super cold last two day days though wasn’t it absolutely good time to go to Okinawa so Dam what do you record for oi where’s where’s good to head to I mean there’s so many great courses in Okinawa obviously it’s absolutely peak season at the moment so the prices are a little bit higher yep but um is does he want to stay and play or just play I think it’s a stay in play right CU it’s a it’s a trip so he’s he’s obviously going to go and stay and play yep okay so let’s cover both yeah well the stay in play courses there’s probably only a couple there um the ones that really stand out is the utter Terrace that’s on the west coast of about the middle of Oka and then on the East Coast pretty much similar area but on the opposite side is the Kucha Golf Resort which is another great place Top I’ve actually stayed in both of them and fantastic places to stay and to golf I’ve said in the at the Terrace that’s where the G4 was that’s where oh was it really yeah if you well I mean this is a good few years ago but the G4 was there one one time yeah so it’s a very it’s a very nice uh Hotel so it’s definitely got a luxury resort Vibe I actually went there during um co under under the um what was it called that discount go to yeah go to travel or whatever yeah we spent Christmas down there it was fantastic Christmas I actually did Christmas in okoa I met the uh the the Kucha they have a hotel they have a I met kanucha and they have a the the people doing Kucha and they have an office in Tokyo and it’s funny CU they’re all wearing the Okinawa shirts like like Hawaiian style shirts and things like that just up in that’s right they go for that they give you a little welcome drink which is always like mango something mango iced tea okay cool and what’s the story with Kucha does that have 27 holes 36 holes uh it’s just 18 okay 18 there but um the amount of accommodation there it is just amazing they have accommodation really all over the golf course and in their main area near the the the main building there but um they’ve got like house style accommodation U Villa Apartment some of the um devillas they have like uh outdoor spas on the Verandas looking over the golf course it is really good lot of restaurants on side as well that’s cool okay I yeah definitely like to go to Kucha that’s the one that they have a it’s it’s like a flare as the logo yeah okay cool and what about makako Jima cuz I know uh shout out to Miguel he went there last year and I think he while he was there there was a typhoon blew through but I think he was staying in makaku Jima and there was a couple of golf courses there nice resort do you know anything about that one I I do I was actually there about a month ago oh were yeah I went there for three four days unfortunately I didn’t get to play any golf but what a what a place I mean it’s very famous for its uh its beaches and its Clear Water um so we stayed in the resort I can’t remember the resort Joe how did you get there did you go directly or yeah directly it’s about 3 hours okay from Tokyo um from Tokyo it’s from Hana so yeah pretty simple and it’s obviously the airports you know it’s not a very big place and we hide a car and it’s really easy to get around yeah beautiful place reminded me a little bit of Guam yeah that type of that type of feeling and even like it was obviously it was cooling down here but still really quite warm there I just check it out tral Emerald Coast Golf Links yep I think there’s three golf courses I checked them out um and from the pictures amazing sorry four I’ve been told four so four golf courses there we’re just receiving word from me mate Damon over there but uh they look they looked really really good very all Coastal golf courses too I think so I’m just checking out the price is is it right that you can get there by ferry as well from the mainland of Oka I don’t I don’t know I think so yeah yeah yeah yeah and maybe even from kagoshima oh okay yeah I think so I’m just looking at the prices here for for demal Golf Links um 27,000 Yen on the weekend and 24 midweek now this is peak season which is from December through to March end mhm cuz OK being a southernly island it’s it’s just a nice temperature right now yeah yeah beautiful fantastic all right cool well that was ok now wait a didn’t Ollie ask about like kind of like uh things to do or historical stuff or yeah but I don’t think anybody’s interested to hear what you have to say let us is Ryan special here we go so yeah like did you know that Okinawa is the newest addition to Japan so it’s actually the did the most recent volcanically well like maybe that too but just it that uh it’s uh up until about 1879 it was the kingdom of Ruku so kind of like similar to Hawaii in a lot of ways it has a lot of you know commonalities with Hawaii and that the but it’s it’s like a new it was annexed by the uh by the Magi during the Magi restoration actually but they have a history going back there of people living in Okinawa going back 30,000 years at least and uh you know it has its own like language and ethnicity and things like that but uh so was it like a sovereign state in a way back in the day that’s right the kingdom of Ruku Ruku okay and uh but it you know it’s so situated between China and uh Korea and Japan to some degree so there was like during the 1400s it was like the Golden Age of trade there and then uh during the me mag during the Magi restoration which is where uh you know the the emperor kind of took back control of of Japan from the Shoguns then uh that was through more like political maneuverings They seized uh Ryu to make it part to make turn it into Okinawa and uh then uh you know which was uh kind of through political pressure also with China as well and things like this but then uh um there was a suppression of ryuku culture so that’s kind of an ongoing thing even today that the the natives there you know it’s mostly it’s it’s absorbed now it’s just part of Japan but but there is still sort of under of the natives there it’s a weird place because obviously it’s heavily influenced by the us as well there huge huge US base there and a lot of apparently a lot of people in Okinawa especially during the 50s and 60s postwar um had to learn English right because it was under it was direct control by the by the bases there right so it wasn’t under the Japanese governmental control is that correct that’s correct yeah even like it didn’t become part of Japan again so the US seized it until 1972 so 1972 yeah yeah yeah so a lot of the older folks speak English there yeah and and that kind of thing okay actually it’s funny cuz like has like 1% of Japan’s population but 70% of of America’s military in Japan is in Okinawa so there a huge presence in terms of that well it’s a strategic location isn’t it part of the Pacific Rim Yeah MH totally but um but you know despite like you know what I was saying in terms of like some of the native population being suppressed or whatever of course the culture is still strong and uh the castle there of the of the former King is is a UNESCO site um it’s the birthplace of karate that’s right karate W Kate kid came sh out to Shan karate foshi that’s where he came Mr Miyagi lived that’s where he came from really that’s right hang on hang on the real Mr Miyagi is from kosi sense so he was the one who invented modern day Kate so that’s aita sh karate really yep shun sh shotgun karate shotgun karate I did coing oh there you go so anyway so what what about the food of oko cuz um all I’m going to be brutally H yeah it’s it is what what’s that stuff called champ champion champion champon champon that’s I think that’s like aren’t you think of Goya Goya that’s the one the vegetable I don’t mind pork dishes sticky yeah yeah everyone’s eating the pork champ on and stuff like that average what about Orion beer it’s not bad Good’s beer I bought a couple of t-shirts when we were there yeah they got that uh you know with the alcohol they have that uh um AI you guys have that where it’s it’s sake but it’s it’s with a long grain kind of like a Thai style rice so it’s got bit more nutty maybe flavor but it’s a different distinct flavor but the real good stuff down there is the they have a venomous snake called Habu and they do Habu where you know you can imagine like you know different cultures have like you know Scorpion or whatever in in their like put the cobra in yeah so they do that with this venomous snake called Habu and and it’s actually becomes like semi pelic oh no really yeah I’ve had it too and and uh I I know legal it’s legal it’s you know what it is really is like I had it in a bar you know and and uh you’re just like all the colors are just popping out a little bit a little bit more like when somebody tells you you’re like yeah okay I know what yeah maybe this is psychedelic but it’s not like gonna you know knock you off your pants except for the alcohol content can can you buy on Amazon I think so you can buy it you probably uh you go down to Habu it’s around okay yeah or you can yeah I’m sure this Habu I’ve heard of that snake before yeah so that’s a poisonous snake but it it’s black and it has a red on it I’m I thinking of maushi that’s mamushi mamushi mamushi anyway sounds awesome let’s go down to okino and drink some of that stuff play golf They they’ve got Echo Villages down there too where it’s all like uh you know pesticide free organic lifestyle all that kind of hippie Island life you can get that up the uh in those places too all right cool all right well as always we have our our guide to Okinawa and then we have all the golf courses listed on the golf and Japan website so please check that out got another question here which is probably more aimed at you uh Damon uh Sea from Singapore is asking do uh golfers need a registered handicap to play in Japan great question it is a great question I suppose it’s a it’s a question we get asked quite a lot um the simple answer is no so most golf courses I would say 99.9% of golf courses in Japan that we can book certainly don’t need any registered handicap I think we did talk about why handicaps don’t work in Japan before don’t we didn’t we you know when you go to a competition you never the handicaps never work because Japanese people are so modest they always say oh I’m a really bad player I’m just terrible and you say okay well what would you normally say 100 100 and then they’ll go out and dust you with a 74 right so that’s why they invented chimp peria and everything like that so the handicap system is not really they do have one they have a JGA handicap um but it’s not really prevalent here you don’t need it to play anywhere I suppose maybe like some of the more exclusive courses Joe what do you reckon you know like I’m guessing Kasumi or something to become a member maybe you have to have a handicap or yeah you know I think members are only going to take people out there who are you know who know how to play anyway so I don’t think it’s it’s super important it’s interesting coming from somebody from Singapore because they have they have what’s called a PC card which is a proficiency certificate which allows you to just gain access to to some golf courses in Singapore and then they’re really really strict with handicap so anytime you want to book a golf course in Singapore you have to have your handicap um so yeah prob probably yeah the reason so that’s why it’s always going to come from people from Singapore that’s probably always going to be their first question but I would say here no I mean we don’t ask for a for a handicap for any of our golf courses we just hope that the people that are playing our courses are seasoned golfers and they’re they’re going to keep up with a group in front and things like and I sort of screen people a little bit and ask them and um and most people come back and say they’ve got a handicap but if they don’t we don’t preclude them from from not playing they still welcome at our golf courses but we just sort of ask them to keep up geez that sounds like profiling why why would a handicap be so squishy because it seems like it’s data driven right so it’s like you it’s not something that you can like I mean you can lie about it or or make stuff up but so there’s a bit of that but at the same time it’s just whatever it is like you you count The Strokes you count the you count it up is that am I is that not right no it’s more about golf courses wanting people that like Joe said that can actually go around in a in the you’ll know yourself time golf course you know um when you when you it’s a form of purgatory to be actually waiting on every shot because the guys in front can’t play golf right so it you know I’m not saying everybody’s likeed that you know a lot of guys will they make they very you know they’re they’re very uh how do you say cognizant that they want to keep up with the group in front and if they’re going slow they’ll pick up or they’ll you know they’ll move faster but there are guys out there who just don’t know the eate because they’re brand new to golf and they’ll just slap it around and you’re standing behind them saying like well I want to me Miss I don’t want I don’t want to get stuck in the traffic on the way back to Tokyo right and it’s adding an extra hour or two onto the round just to watch them you know I mean some of the the golf courses golf courses the golf carts now actually have they they’re monitoring the time of your play and if you’re too slow it gives you a graph like fast or slow whatever but if you’re really really slow the alarm starts going off on the golf cart really yeah and it’s sounds like one of those earthquake alarms you know it’s quite scares of but Jesus out of you but um yeah that’s why I quite like that actually you know cuz you feel quite accomplished when it says you go into the red if you’re slow and then you go into the blue yep it says like you’re going perfect speed good for you gamification yeah yeah that’s good okay um that was a good question we got another one here this this happens we get this question all the time what happens if it rains good one yep play keep swinging play golf it’s an sport get out there I think the question though it could be a little bit too prong there it’s like um can I cancel if it rains or is the golf course still going to be open if it rains or what happens if there’s a typhoon Yeah so basically the golf course isn’t going to close unless it’s really really torrential rain rivers that type of thing yeah unplay unplayable unplayable that’s right but um so golf will go go on but um you can’t just also oh it’s raining I’m going to cancel yeah so if you book a course you book a tea time um it’s raining tough it out you’ll have a great time yeah agree I guess to follow up on that wonder what conditions would the golf course cancel I mean what does it take to for for them to say like you can’t play today it’s it’s ex exactly the same as back home it’s if the if the greens I think is the good indication if they’re flooded and you can’t put on them then you’re going to damage the golf course with you know trying to slap it around so that’s it you you stop playing basically if you need a wedge on the grain stop playable yeah unplayable greens but also if there’s lightning in the area which I don’t think we get a lot of lightning here but in Singapore as soon as there was lightning get off the golf course in the spring we get a fair bit of lightning actually cuz it’s the hot and cold there clashing with each other but um they’ll they’ll sound the siron in that case and there’s usually places on the course where you can take shelter for a while then they’ll hit it again to to to start playing but actually these new carts with the with the iPad and stuff messages saying come back will pop up or lightning in area stop playing that kind of thing which is cool go to the cover house whatever they called okay cool well that’s that’s it for the questions but just to if anybody is uh listening or watching this and wants to ask us anything about Golf and Japan please hit us up on social media just DM us one of us will will check it out or you can email us at info@ golfen inyen japan.com cool all right Rory maroy Joe let’s talk about Rory for the next 20 minutes at least ah he won finally so he won the yeah race to Dubai yeah he had uh one of the Hoy guard twins you know yeah it’s I think it’s his sixth European tour like what do they call it it’s score the race to to buy now but it used to be called something else I think Montgomery is the leader order of Mer with order of Merit yeah so Monty won at eight times which is unheard of and R’s at six so he he’s going to get it done at 35 for sure yeah and what was interesting is he he only played I think it was 10 or 12 of events whereas some of the other players below him um had played you know 25 events so he’s won it you know easily but it was great to see him finally win after a lot of close calls and he was quite emotional about the whole thing too did you see his intervie he start crying a little bit yeah he did I think he’s had a pretty pretty tough time with you know losing the US Open um to to Bryson and then missing that putt yep yep so now like maybe he can be known for Tears of Joy instead right and the open yeah and then there was the one at the Rish open where he where he lost that he three puted 17 and you know shot there so obviously it’s um you know building up and it’s nice to see him you know be a little bit emotional like that you know he’s he’s a he’s a champion he’s a superstar it’s good to see him win before he goes to live I think so actually interestingly seeing all of the Live players um back on the the DP World Tour and it’s very sneakily they’re all back in there yeah they need the world ranking points don’t they I’ve got to say it was a pretty good lineup at that t hton was he was leading wasn’t he after two days I believe I thought Ro was leading this B every day t t play Maybe was second they were playing in the group together two guys weren’t they yeah when he broke his Club I can’t remember what round round that was and you see that when I mean I think he often breaks breaks a club yeah snapped a club just sort of Lent on it he’s awesome he is actually one of the commentators is having a little bit of a go at him he was getting a little bit tired of his of his Antics and said it’s you know it’s not it’s not a good thing for to to be doing that sort of thing when there’s young you know aspiring golfers watching this on television and they sort of think that’s the norm and it’s okay to do so he he just does it to too often although I really like him clubs you know they’re his clubs to break yeah they are he’s a great golfer if you break if you break a club you can’t you one Club down for the rest of the round yeah if you’re breaking an anger yeah yeah you can replace it if it just breaks a normal sort of play but yeah he’s he’s broken a few over his time so yeah but I’m happy for ory good on him yeah a champion what else did we have do you want to talk about some golf I love to talk about some golf okay so couple of weeks ago I think I might have mentioned it maybe in the last podcast we had the Taho Masters on two weeks ago which is probably I would say behind the Japan open and maybe the dun lot Phoenix probably third in the rankings in terms of prestige and we had Rio shikwa won his fourth well it’s the fourth time he’s won it which is great for golf we found that I was there on the Thursday and I was also there on the Sunday and because Rio was up in the at the leader board coming into the last round the crowds were as big as I’ve seen them so I’ve been in a row and it was easily and I I walked in and I thought wow God what’s what’s happened maybe there was free entry or something like that but it wasn’t it was just because Rio was there uh and he W I think he’s won it I should know this so he’s won it four times it might have been twice as a as an Amer and twice as a professional or if it’s not it was once as an amateur and then three times as a professional but it’s always good for gol here which I’m sure you’ll all agree every time Rio wins it’s because he’s it’s a shame he never really I think he was Chas a distance wasn’t he when he was young man on the tour on the PGA tour and it never really never really pned there for him yeah he played for three years over there and didn’t quite work out for him and then he came back and he’s he’s only 33 I’ve actually sorry I’m going to have to look a little bit sideways at my iPad because I’ve got some stats here which i’ which I found quite interesting so he’s 33 years old he’s won at four times he’s already had 20 wins uh which is now he’s tied ninth on the alltime uh Japan uh for wins um so if a look at the top who’s at the top guys who jumbo jumb Jumbo’s number one uh 94 wins actually I think somewhere there’s there’s more that’s official win so I think he won a whole bunch of other smaller events as well so it’s up over 100 which is just you know he was winning every other week so that was 1973 to 2002 his winning streak went from I say is number two Tommy neima is number three at 48 wins Joe oaki so Jumbo’s little brother he got 32 wins shingo kyama most of you remember with he’s still out there actually he’s playing on the senior tour but he also plays on the regular tour still a really really good player he played at the too Masters as well so he’s uh fifth at 31 wins Massi kuramoto who’s still out there on the on the seniors too he’s a little bit older Massi had 30 wins sugihara Teru sugihara has 28 wins Big Sugi who you probably wouldn’t know but he’s he’s a old man now if that’s if he’s still alive UT ietta who’s still out there is 21 and then there’s Rio who’s in with gram Marsh uh toru Nakajima and toru kuchi all on 20 wins so he’s he’s in pretty good company there and I you know he’s only 33 so he’s going to get well up the order I think it’s going to be tough for him to beat or to get above third which is Tommy neimer at 48 wins but he’s a winner and he’s still young and fit and good I really like rodo so do I if Matti was playing on the Japan tour exclusively how many wins you reckon he’d knock up yeah he would he would up yeah he’s a completely different level you um and that’s actually moving on to the next event which is the the event last week which I have always watched but for some reason I I didn’t watch it it was the Dunlop Phoenix at Phoenix Country Club in in Miyazaki and did any of you watch it guys I they just had that silly just the first hole thing yeah so I watched on Saturday just the first hole so I got to see everyone te off and then and then that’s it then it went and it was showing a Bermuda Championship from seven years ago that’s the golf Network in Japan I’m sorry if anyone from the golf network is uh is is watching or listening to this fired yeah just everybody rubbish man rubbish TV I think they just don’t have enough cameras or something like that but it looked like it was dreary weather it was you know difficult conditions yeah and look not unfortunately but the winner was an american guy called Max McGreevy who’s a good player he plays in the PGA Tour but I’m sure none of you have have ever heard of him before have you Max McGreevy exactly can’t say I have um so he finished at 22 under he won by four from Sha Norris who’s a South African who who plays on the tour here who’s having a really good year I think he was fourth or fifth on the on the order of Merit um the human one a baa came third oh well he was he was here has he put on any weight no he’s trying to apparently um yeah I heard that as well yeah and now going on what you saying before Kieran that Hideki came tied second at 18 under so there was three of them there was there was sha Norris btia and hiiki came tied second at 18 under and then Scott Vinson from he’s a South African from the Liv tour was over here playing as well so other than that I think there was only one or two other Americans who are over here it usually attracts a really really good field from from overseas but I just don’t think they can afford them these days is a bit of a shame but Hideki I think it’s the only of any plays on the Japan tour for the whole year oh sorry and and Zoo zo yeah so it’s only two events which is a real shame because he used to come and play the tah Masters every year CU he’s won it a few times but that’s obviously below him yeah I I yeah I don’t like that golf course I’ve played it twice now I’m I’m not not a big fan it’s um it’s just all trees all the holes are confusing look the same yeah yeah it he very it’s it’s a killer Clubhouse it’s nice it’s beautiful nice club how different is it from the Tom Watson of course that’s part of the establishment there so Tom Watson of course is is right by the the sea so it’s it’s got a lot more wind and feels a bit more exposed so it’s more of a it’s a shorter course but I I think it’s a good course and then that one is just it’s inside a forest so there trees all around on every Hall like what like narino or something or different typ trees yeah so they’re sort of um lynxy trees quite short and there’s just there’s a lot of them there’s not really too many trees so if you go get in sideways it’s hard to and there’s no or anything like that so you just you’re just just chopping a around yeah it’s hard to get through them and in I played in the summer and it was baking hot down there I mean and there wasn’t any wind coming in over those trees I just couldn’t get anything so yeah it’s not a big I’m not a big fan of it saying that though they do have night Golf and do they yeah they do and the which is better you can go with aluminous balls and play nine holes twice if you want uh the same nine holes is lit up and then also the sea hotel next door is absolutely brilliant it’s killer it’s great place for kids it’s great place for for everybody it’s cool yeah very very popular with our clients as well what area of Japan was that again right on the water so they’ve actually just been um bought out haven’t they group that’s what we were talking about at du today wasn’t it Accord guys bought them the The Fortress Fortress privity but not on nothing to do with accordia though nothing to do accordia yet yes but it might be cool yeah um sorry got we’ll talk a little bit about the the ladies tour as well because we have to because I don’t know if we talked about the last time but the Toto classic which is the co- sanction event between the Japan ladies and the and the girls from the US come over and play so the Toto classic has been held at our minori course a few times and this time it was held at seta Golf Club the North Course oh nice down in um Sha Sha pre picture right next to Kyoto there you go and it was won by a girl Rio teada so that’s her eighth win we we did talk about this last time and at the time Nelly only had six wins and we were comparing to now Nell’s at seven and she’s at eight yeah and she’s got her card now yeah yeah and she’s she’s the only player who’s won this year Rio who’s not going to be in the ladies Championship she’s not going over to play in the like the GE Championship I don’t I don’t know why you maybe she’s just a little bit worn out from from winning um anyway she won in a playoff sorry we did talk about that um couple of weeks ago was the it and ladies tournament at Great isand Golf Club in Chiba hinako Yamaguchi uh beat yukar Yuda by by a couple of shots Rio deor actually played in that event and she missed the cut so she’s actually missed a c couple of cuts this year I mean she’s still leading the money list by by forever um and then last week was the here’s one of these tournaments again the Dario paper ladies open at ELO a golf club in Matsuyama how do you pronounce this guys I’m sorry sorry I should have done my homework e h i mimim okay inim um Mi Yamashita won over I Suzuki which are both great players and Rio teada came third so she’s she’s always up she yeah she’s back um should we talk a little bit about the PGA Tour just quickly I thought that was a really really good story um did you did you see it guys F Campos one he’s Puerto Rican it was over in Puerto Rico the Butterfield ber muda very emal Royal Golf Club he was emotional but it was really really nice to watch he’s had a really rough time he’s missed 12 or 14 cuts um plays in that event every year obviously gets a gets a start because he’s Puerto Rican and he’s a good player and he seems like a good guy and he’s I think he had his first child on Monday and he’s been missing obviously all the cuts and then goes out there and and wins and I watched it really carefully you know he missed a coup did you see a couple of the parts he missed towards the missed a couple putts that there was one put that maybe the shortest putt that anybody’s ever missed on the on the TJ T he missed that and he made a great up and down on the last to win he won by I think he won by four four shots three or four shots in the end but it was um it was good to see he’s a you know he’s a titless guy as well so a full line titless guy and has been for a long time so sounds like his prayers were answered you know oh Ryan it was you know it’s almost worthwhile if anybody’s listening to this and they want to watch it Go just jump on YouTube and go and watch the highlights and watch his interview at the end it’s a very very heartfelt you know interview and he he seems like a really good guy and just them talking about the upside of his win of getting a an invite to the Masters and invite to all these different events and it was sort of blowing him away a little bit so it was nice to it was nice to see they also had the um the course record broken didn’t they yeah 61 by one of the Bri Wy Brian yeah that pretty impressive that’s the YouTube YouTube Star so I think he unfortunately was near the lead after three rounds and he had three over in the last round when everybody was shooting lights out so he fell down the leaderboard but it’s nice to see him back in form because I think for him to being on the PG tour is is important because he think doing seriously though is he well I think he’s almost he he said the other day in an interview that he actually prefers the YouTube thing compared to being on tour but I think he needs both of them and he’s he’s been a winner before he’s won a he’s won a tournament before so I like having him out there because it’s uh he him and his brother are interesting cats yeah George both really good players fantastic so I hope he hopefully does well sort of kicksart starts him for the for the rest of the year the only player that played in uh Puerto Rico was Rio satz who uh was from the European tour who finished tied 29th at minus8 hino’s actually just going back to uh yeah DP worldour DP War tour he got through he got his card through the DP World Tour for the PGA Tour so he finished 16th on the race to Dubai and it’s the top 10 getting to the PGA Tour but there’s obviously a lot of the guys in the top in between 1 and 16 where already exempt for the for the PJ for the PJ tour and that’s that’s why he gets in I mean that’s massive he hasn’t had a lot of great finish but he’s consistent it makes all the cuts finishes Midfield he’s had a few good finishes what a what a great story you know on the PGA tour so be interesting to watch watch his form next year because he’s a really good player I followed him a couple of times during the Taho Masters and he’s uh he’s he’s good he’s really good and kayen akajima finished uh 38 so he just uh maintains his card for on the DP world serour for next year and one last thing before I comes you probably y Ono my student is playing he’s actually playing right now so he’s playing in the CIO World open down in coochi and COI he uh actually I’m not going to go and fight he was a couple over after nine holes so pulling for you hope hopefully does okay because the leader Ricky car Coto was like he was seven or eight or nine under half through 16 so so the golf course is not playing too hard but hope you hopefully you do well cool um I was I was going to ask you um are we allowed to talk about the new titles B yeah I think so yeah cuz e eia who won at the Toto classic yes he he actually won it with with a 20 2025 ball so it’s it’s out there so we have been given yeah shout out to titless shout out to titless who have given us uh the white yeah the white box so it’s like a I don’t know if you call it a prototype Ball but it’s the ball that they’re going to be using for next year um I don’t know any information about it other than I was given a couple of dozen prov1 and prov1x uh and handed out to the guy to try so I guess we will report back after they’ve been sliced into the woods yeah don’t don’t expect them back mate talking how they perform yeah wouldn’t it be wild if they’re like yeah please don’t use them because uh we can’t let them into the wild be found by by other people I like the Box very cool yeah yeah yeah it’s like the whole prototype thing yeah so there you go and that’s that’s pretty much it in terms of the the golf side of things okay cool I want to talk keep talking about titless balls because sure I recently discovered left Dash even though it’s been going since last year sometime maybe Y and uh they go forever and they’re straight they are yeah I didn’t even realize I was like these balls are different and like left Dash that’s how I discovered them yeah so it’s amazing I’ve been banging on about it for a while because a little bit of a humble brag here about a year ago I played it in an event at our yeter golf course and it was the first time I used it had a in one and I’ve been uh I’ve been using it ever since um but I like it I think it definitely goes further when I hit it off the middle I’ve played with it a few times around gber and I’ve ended up in some spots when I’ve hit it properly that I’ve never been before it feels a little bit more clicky around the green so chipping and pitching and putting it feels harder which I don’t mind too much uh because of the performance otherwise because it goes straighter because it spins less So for anybody out there it looks very similar it’s got the red number on it but you know it’s got the left Dash on the box so if anybody’s out there and they’re wanting to try something a little bit different give it a give it a wh because I highly recommend it and I’m I’m I’m not sure how many pro1x left Dash correct yeah so it’s it’s it’s really cool goes much straighter longer it does more penetrating it’s it’s it’s noticeably different yeah cuz like if you have like a couple of different balls in your pocket and I always have proview ones but they sneak in there it’s amazing it’s totally different from the others you know the differ is different anyway enough about that is this might be a dumb question this might be a dumb question but do these like work well with like a simulator Golf and stuff like that like somehow like a no it’s not a dumb question it’s a good that’s a good question yeah a lot of the times sorry Kieran you go I’ve talked talking too much no no you know more to me though that’s the that’s the I all I would say is a lot of the time in simulators and driving ranges you’re using range balls uh which like I would say like a low compression like an 80% ball doesn’t go as far and they can do funny things through the air because the dimple patterns and the and the compression of the ball is not great so using proper golf balls in simulators especially if using launch monitors is is an absolute must do have the RCT balls which basically get picked up by the the radar better yeah give you better spin rights yeah so titless developed that technology it two years ago I think would probably with you know with all of the uh the manufacturers flight scope and trackman in mind so that’s it that’s a ball that goes like performs like a proview one but it’s it’s set up for the you only use it on the Range on the simulator yeah Ryan that’s a good question because I think if anybody’s ever serious about well a good they should be using proper golf balls the only downside of course is it becomes expensive how is Wall Street over there but doesn’t he look sharp the the yen is still down compared to the dollar so it’s looking good for tourism coming to Japan I tell you that so oh yeah the the the tourism numbers are signing at the moment aren’t they over tourism lots lots of Damon lots of people coming in now or they get set up for next year or that’s what he was saying we’ve got so many inquiries for 2025 unbelievable y can’t answer them all yet though unfortunately a lot of the um Golf Course is not releasing their tea times till about you know 3 4 months in advance yeah yeah we’re three months and then we’re 5 months in K zawa yep but don’t worry we’ll get you a tea time 100% yeah yeah kind of uh getting an interesting balance going with the the the tea time bookings in combination with like getting a custom fitting for clubs or even just like Club demo so like all the major CL all the club manufacturers that we’re working with are getting a lot of inquiries of people saying hey I’m coming in I’m going to play this course can I go over here and and you know whack some balls at the at the S at the at the at the the shop and uh that seems like that’s going really well too yeah good cool all right well I think we got to wind it down because we’re short in time people yeah so we we look forward to uh to to starting up a new season so we’re in season two of golf of Japan podcast and just want to say thanks boys so far it’s been great and thanks to all the listeners out there who’ve been supporting us and and sending in questions and we love that and that’s the direction we want to go in so uh please let us know if you uh if you have any questions email us or DM us on social media and we we’ll get to that and uh we look forward to serving you um both on our podcast and in in person hopefully when you come to Japan thank you yep and just before we go a big shout out to uh Derek and Allison who Ken and I went with just the other day and check out his channel Monteray golf guy ah was that the one the you put on Instagram that was really good thank you that was done by them wow okay so yeah okay Mak so we just went and played golf with them what’s called Fuji we went to Fuji kagos Saka kosaka which is a great course in one of our partner coures yeah we went played and they were just so inconspicuous throughout our filming they just like one we take a shot to film and they made all this content it was come out well inst very talented yeah and um I believe um Derek is uh his his golf brand is called Twilight golf Twilight golf that’s right so check that out too oh okay what TW what is Twilight golf what do they do so it’s a community okay so they’re trying to get a community together in Monteray events so yep um to play literally Twilight golf oh nice yeah and they’ve um marketed that with with uh apparel and hats and okay awesome very good go check that out check it out thank you all right guys well without further Ado we’ll beid you sayara see you later cheers