Anthony Thomas - Model, Actor, Golf Entertainer, Host
This episode features a profound exploration of the golfing lifestyle through the lens of our esteemed guest, Anthony Thomas, a distinguished long drive professional. We delve into the nuances of his multifaceted career, which encompasses not only his prowess in golf but also his experiences in acting and charity work. The conversation illuminates the intricate balance between competition and personal fulfillment, particularly as Thomas reflects on the impact of his first child's birth on his competitive pursuits. Furthermore, we examine the significance of community and charitable efforts within the golfing world, highlighting Thomas's dedication to various philanthropic initiatives. Join us as we uncover the enriching narratives that define both Anthony's journey and the broader golfing experience.
Links referenced in this episode:
- birdieball.com
- infogrilling.net
- paintedhillsbeef.com
- snellgolf.com
- carsleygolf.com
- squares.com
- anthonyjthomas.com
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Birdie Ball
- Golf Channel
- High Fives Foundation
- Snell Golf
- Carsley Golf
- Squares
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Weston Kia
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores a golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass.
Speaker A:For the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker A:Tomorrow's gonna be better than today.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:We are very proud to be part of the Golf News Network radio lineup every week.
Speaker A:And as well as stations here in the northwest and in the central states and down in Tejas and a bunch of other places.
Speaker A:This segment, by the way, is brought to you by Birdie Ball.
Speaker A:If you need to practice, if you need to practice your short shots, your long shots, whatever, you can get a birdie ball.
Speaker A:They look like a napkin ring and they don't.
Speaker A:But they fly about 40 yards max.
Speaker A:I use them in my backyard.
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Speaker A:And then they have some great putting greens they make.
Speaker A:They can custom make them for you.
Speaker A:And just go to birdieball.com, man, they'll take good care of you.
Speaker A:Tell John Breaker back there I said hi.
Speaker A:Well, we played the golf tournament last week, one of many I do over the summer, as you hear me prattle on about, and I met a fellow, sat at our table at the end, by the way.
Speaker A:We had a very successful table, you might say, at that.
Speaker A:We did, we did.
Speaker A:Anyway, Anthony Thomas, who's a long drive pro, he's been an actor, he's a charity fundraiser, he's a podcast host, he worked in high finance, he's done all kinds of things.
Speaker A:He's just my kind of guy.
Speaker A:He's that renaissance guy, but he's hell of a lot younger than I am.
Speaker A:Anyway, Anthony.
Speaker A:Hey, how you doing, man?
Speaker B:Jt, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker B:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:And, you know, having a custom green before we get into anything, that sounds like it might be right up my alley.
Speaker B:So if they need to get a long drive pro to have, you know, a little custom green at home, I might need to stop on.
Speaker A:Yeah, talk to them.
Speaker A:It's great.
Speaker A:They made me one for.
Speaker A:We filmed some of the food stuff in my backyard.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so we have a set back there, and John made me this custom one and I lined it with bricks, made it, you know, look kind of old school type stuff.
Speaker A:Looks really cool.
Speaker A:But it's been.
Speaker A:It's been three years now, and it looks as good as the day I got it out of the box, so.
Speaker B:That's amazing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they've got some new turf, some new technology.
Speaker A:He asked me a few weeks ago he says, how's your outdoor putting green?
Speaker A:You need a new one.
Speaker A:And I said, I think I'm good.
Speaker A:I don't want to abuse the privilege, you know, but I will be hitting him up on that new turf probably come spring.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm no expert in the at home green space, but if there's, you know, hey, we could pass this one down if yours is as good as new.
Speaker B:I'm in a house that I haven't even touched the outside yet.
Speaker B:Our, our yard is horrific, but inside and you know, my studio space and all that, that was priority number one to get set up.
Speaker B:So we're just about to enter that space and putting green is happening here.
Speaker B:It's just a matter of who I'm going to go with.
Speaker A:So sent you the links.
Speaker A:Yes, please do the links to it.
Speaker A:Anyway, so I met Anthony at the Wilsonville Chamber luncheon after the, after the tournament, I must say.
Speaker A:My team came in third and the guys that won the North Valley Challenge were very good and happy you all for playing in the NVC this year.
Speaker A:We'll be back next year.
Speaker A:But I found you fascinating because like I said, you're a bit of a, a renaissance man because you've had this vast experience from, like I said, from acting to long ball to long drive, excuse me, and all that.
Speaker A:I guess we start at the beginning and talk about your golf as a young person and then we'll jump forward a bit.
Speaker B:You bet.
Speaker B:So I come from a pretty athletic family.
Speaker A:Both.
Speaker B:I'm the youngest of four kids.
Speaker B:My oldest is sister.
Speaker B:And then I have two brothers, seven and five years older than I am.
Speaker B:I grew up chasing them, trying to keep up.
Speaker B:The oldest brother, he set all the high school baseball records.
Speaker B:The middle brother, set all the track and field records.
Speaker B:At this era of my life, I'm 13 years old, I'm doing all the sports that they're doing, but I find the game of golf and the way that I found it was hanging out at my friend's house playing the original Xbox.
Speaker B:Tiger woods every week.
Speaker A:There you go, there you go.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, we play this every weekend.
Speaker B:So much so that my friend is sick of me asking to play this game.
Speaker B:And then one day I'm over there and I'm like, let's just play this again.
Speaker B:And he's like, man, I wish you didn't have a broken wrist.
Speaker B:I had a cast up to my elbow.
Speaker B:It's like, I wish you didn't have a broken Wrist.
Speaker B:We just go out and play real golf.
Speaker B:That was the eye opening thing for me.
Speaker B:Never before had I even considered playing real golf.
Speaker B:I knew who Tiger woods was.
Speaker B:I knew that there was golf, but I was so removed from it.
Speaker B:I didn't find the cast to be a problem.
Speaker B:I was like, let's go out and play.
Speaker B:It's wintertime in the northwest.
Speaker B:One of the really cold ones.
Speaker B:Frozen ground, all that.
Speaker B:We get out on the course anyway.
Speaker B:And that was when I was 13 years old.
Speaker B:Instantly hooked.
Speaker B:I hit one good shot that day, and it wasn't even for my round.
Speaker B:I just wanted to see if I could hit his really tough.
Speaker B:If you remember those tailor made bubble three woods.
Speaker B:The bubble.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's.
Speaker B:He's like, this thing's so hard to hit.
Speaker B:Tiny sweet spot, all that.
Speaker B:Like, let me try, let me try.
Speaker B:And I smoke one out over the water.
Speaker B:Fort Lewis golf course.
Speaker B:It bounces off.
Speaker A:Hey, Bob, we got another one hooked here.
Speaker A:Come on, bring the stuff.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, you know, long story short, I get hooked.
Speaker B:And nobody in my family ever played the game of golf.
Speaker B:And when I say that, I don't mean my immediate, like mom, dad, siblings, I mean cousins, uncles, anybody, right?
Speaker B:So I had nobody to turn to but Golf Channel.
Speaker B:That was on anytime I was home.
Speaker B:Parents bought me a membership at Fort Lewis130 set from Walmart, and they had a babysitter for the next year.
Speaker B:Jt, mom makes.
Speaker B:Mom makes my little lunch pail, sends me out, drops me at the course at sunrise and picks me up at sunset for six days a week for that full first year.
Speaker A:Yeah, I was.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:But you had the advantage where I take it it was there at Fort Lewis.
Speaker A:Yes, the course.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So being from a military family and stuff, you know, they.
Speaker A:They expected to babysit you a bit.
Speaker A:And the other kids, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That's good because you hear those stories sometimes.
Speaker A:And then you go.
Speaker A:Some of those old courses in the old pros weren't as receptive as they are to kids today to hanging out there all day.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's true.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You can play around for 50 cents, but when you're done, take your coke and your hot dog and get out.
Speaker A:And things have changed a lot.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that was the start for me.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Nobody taught me anything other than me watching Golf Channel and then just going and playing over and over and over and over.
Speaker B:And then, you know, fast forward.
Speaker B:I played on the high school golf team, freshman and senior year.
Speaker B:Went to college originally to Play basketball and then dropped out of college three times.
Speaker B:First year out of college, I didn't like jt.
Speaker B:I'm sitting around for the first time in my life not competing in something.
Speaker B:So I'm like, I gotta do something.
Speaker B:It's either a sport I had done in the past, which was a list of them, or try something new.
Speaker B:So I'm like, man, all these years people told me, like, oh, you should be a long drive guy.
Speaker B:You should be a long drive guy.
Speaker B:I'm like, let's try it out.
Speaker B:I went out.
Speaker B:Southern California was the next event.
Speaker B:I said, I'll just go and sign up, see how I do.
Speaker B:I hadn't competed in the previous year in any sport, let alone played golf.
Speaker B:I had the seventh longest ball that day, including with the pros.
Speaker B:And I thought, maybe there is something here.
Speaker A:So there you go.
Speaker B:I just kept showing up and then, you know, won a trophy or two back here behind me.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I see him.
Speaker A:A really important question.
Speaker A:Do you still have those Walmart golf clubs?
Speaker B:They are still in the family, but they're at.
Speaker B:My brothers who.
Speaker B:Now my.
Speaker B:Both of my brothers and dad golf naturally.
Speaker B:But yeah, my.
Speaker B:They are still in the family.
Speaker B:I think they were called Foremost.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker A:I think you're right.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:My first set of clubs was some old ones my brother left, and I'm.
Speaker A:I'm probably pretty sure he stole them from somebody or something, but they were in an old ratty canvas bag and they were still the persimmon heads and none of the irons matched and all that stuff.
Speaker A:And I'd go hit balls in the pasture and once in a while hit one of the horses or one of my friends in the head.
Speaker A:But that's how I kind of got hooked because.
Speaker A:And everybody says this, so it's true.
Speaker A:But you hit that one sweet shot, it only takes one, you know, I guess, I don't know.
Speaker A:I never did this, but I think if you're doing heroin or something, takes a couple of times to hook you, maybe.
Speaker A:But with golf, just one, you know.
Speaker B:You know, I call it chasing the dragon for a reason.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, I'm no drug addict myself, but I've, you know, been around, seen one, read up, you know, studied psychology a bit.
Speaker B:And I'm like, that's what it is in golf.
Speaker B:You hit one good shot and you are forever chasing the dragon.
Speaker A:Yeah, you are.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And your.
Speaker A:Your wallet and your life and your wife will probably never be the same.
Speaker A:We're gonna Take a break here on grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:We're gonna be back with Anthony Thomas.
Speaker A:More fascinating stories right after this.
Speaker A:Please stay with us.
Speaker B:Just another conversation.
Speaker A:Just another Friday night.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's the same old bar.
Speaker A:Everything's never like in wood.
Speaker A:You are.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker A:here.
Speaker A:If you need something to practice with in the inclement weather, try birdie ball.
Speaker A:Go to birdieball.com check out the actual birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which I happen to have a couple of those, and they work great.
Speaker A:Birdieball.com hey, welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm JT.
Speaker A:Today we've got Anthony Thomas joining us.
Speaker A:I met Anthony about a week ago.
Speaker A:Very fascinating story.
Speaker A:Real quickly, you can find us on Facebook and Insta Face and, you know, all those things.
Speaker A:Twitter.
Speaker A:And if you need information, don't call me.
Speaker A:No, just go to infogrilling.net and we do have.
Speaker A:If you do.com, it flips it over to us, too.
Speaker A:But I'm just too lazy to have everything shifted, you know what I mean?
Speaker A:So I'm doing that.
Speaker A:Anyway, we're talking with Anthony Thomas today.
Speaker A:So you went to college.
Speaker A:You were studying finance, If I got the pecking order right.
Speaker A:And then you dropped out of college, and then you did this and that, and then you went to work in the Bay Area and.
Speaker A:But you kept getting drawn back to golf.
Speaker A:I mean, you know, you do jiu jitsu.
Speaker A:Jiu jitsu.
Speaker A:Sorry, I can't talk today.
Speaker A:You do all that kind of very cool stuff.
Speaker A:I did taekwondo, so, you know, whatever.
Speaker A:But I'm too fat anymore to do anything except fall down.
Speaker A:But, you know, it just.
Speaker A:It's funny how golf always just brings you back, Anthony.
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:I mean, you nailed it.
Speaker B:So college, like most college kids, or at least a lot of college kids that golfed before entering college, you get into college and you're like, oh, I want to golf.
Speaker B:But then reality sets in that you're not of junior age anymore, so you don't get junior rates.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And you also have to kind of foot the bill on your own.
Speaker B:Mom or dad isn't paying for your round, right?
Speaker B:So that happened for me.
Speaker B:I didn't golf really for a few years, other than, you know, the occasional hit a golf ball in a pasture when I find myself there.
Speaker B:That type of.
Speaker B:So then I remember very vividly sitting in a cafe in the college years.
Speaker B:This is my second year of college, although it was my third year out of high school because I took a Longer route, right.
Speaker B:Sitting in this cafe and mapping out what am I going to do with my life?
Speaker B:You know, I, growing up near a military base and surrounded by military personnel, I always thought, man, like a Marine Corps sniper, the most savage badass.
Speaker B:That'd be so cool.
Speaker B:Then it was like, well, military is still an option, but you know, there's military.
Speaker B:And I had three columns, Military teaching.
Speaker B:Because I've always loved to teach and help people have epiphany moments.
Speaker B:That's just one of life's delights.
Speaker B:And then the third column was golf.
Speaker B:I went for a tiny bit.
Speaker B:I went off to Golf Academy of America down in San Diego.
Speaker B:But this was after spending a year and a half already working in the golf world, teaching indoor at an indoor facility in the Bay Area, teaching the golf swing.
Speaker B:So I'm like, first few, first month and a half there, I'm like, I haven't learned really anything.
Speaker B:This is a waste of money.
Speaker B:So I left.
Speaker B:One of the other times I dropped out of college and then go on UC Berkeley, get my degree, finish up.
Speaker B:And I'm like, okay, military.
Speaker B:I'm kind of, I'm out with that.
Speaker B:I just, it's not the fit for me.
Speaker B:I love our military personnel and all this stuff, but not for me.
Speaker B:So it was teaching a golf.
Speaker B:Every teacher that I had ever had that fascinated me, that actually intrigued me, that I respected.
Speaker B:They had lived a whole other life.
Speaker B:They weren't just forever teachers.
Speaker B:So I was like, well, I could do that later and I don't need my body to do it.
Speaker B:I could do that.
Speaker B:Professor Stephen Hawking from a wheelchair, in theory.
Speaker B:So yeah, it was like, all right, let's do something with golf.
Speaker B:And kind of did, kind of didn't just danced in and out competing, trying to chase the world championship in long drive while I worked in the investment world for a little bit and then went off on my own.
Speaker B:And it just kept popping up in one way or another until I finally landed on charity, golf, entertainment and fundraising.
Speaker A:That's how we met.
Speaker B:This is how we met.
Speaker A:So tell us about High Five.
Speaker B:High five as in High Fives Foundation.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So High Fives foundation, which I love, is it's the safety net of the outdoor community.
Speaker B:So High Fives is an organization that.
Speaker B: It's a: Speaker B:They basically swoop in if somebody has an, a life changing injury.
Speaker B:Think like a broken spine, neck amputation, something like this.
Speaker B:You're out doing the sport, you love the game, you love riding your mountain bike, dirt bike, Whatever it is.
Speaker B:And you have an injury like this, skiing, snowboarding, all that, you have this life changing injury.
Speaker B:High fives is the organization that is there for you the moment that this happens, saving you, building custom equipment for you that gets you back to the sport that you love so much or back to the recreation you love so much and doing it at no cost to you.
Speaker B:So when I say the safety net of the outdoors, it's kind of twofold.
Speaker B:It's being there when an injury happens, but it's also doing everything to try to prevent those injuries from happening.
Speaker B:From education and all these things.
Speaker B:And genuinely an award winning organization, California.
Speaker B:I mean, the rate of dollars to people served for high fives foundation is top tier compared to almost any other organization I've ever seen.
Speaker B:They've literally won awards for this.
Speaker B:Where a lot of places you go, okay, here's a dollar.
Speaker B:It's like, well, how much of that dollar actually goes to the people they claim to serve?
Speaker A:Right, right, right.
Speaker B:A lot of organizations, like 20 cents high fives, you're up in 80 to 90 cents per dollar go to the athletes.
Speaker B:So that's high fives.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker A:That's cool.
Speaker A:So is high fives the only one you support?
Speaker B:Oh, no, no, no.
Speaker B:I'm on the board with high fives and I mean, I just love the community.
Speaker B:It's incredible.
Speaker B:But I raise money for all kinds.
Speaker B:I mean, I've raised in the last five years, you know, I've raised, I'm coming up on a million dollars total raised.
Speaker B:And it's everything from, you know, cancer funds to support fighting cancer or providing services.
Speaker B:I've raised funds for make a wish for high fives foundation, of course, and so many other organizations.
Speaker B:I mean police benevolent funds, firefighting benevolent funds, first responder benevolent funds.
Speaker B:Literally almost any charitable organization that you can think of.
Speaker B:I've been there and helped raise money for it.
Speaker A:And if you don't know what Anthony's alluding to is you show up at a hole and your benefit golf tournament and there's Anthony and he's got his little pop up, he's got a table and gives you the pitch and then he'll hit a long drive for you.
Speaker A:And a lot of benefit tournaments have this with students and stuff, but they don't normally have long drive guys there pounding one out there, you know, 380 on a 420 hole type thing, you know, and that was, that was cool because we didn't.
Speaker A:Well, a couple of the guys hit.
Speaker A:I don't know what the hell they were doing it for because I watched your ball going but put my driver back in the bag and it's like, you guys ready?
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker A:Anyway, we have to take another break, but we're gonna be back with Anthony Thomas right after this.
Speaker A:We're going to talk more about long, long, long drive.
Speaker A:I can't.
Speaker A:Tongue tied.
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Speaker A:so what was it like when you were actually competing in the long drive contests?
Speaker A:I mean, you show up, you hit your first one, you went, that's cool.
Speaker A:You get a seventh, you get hooked.
Speaker A:But then, then you're hooked.
Speaker A:Then you got to go compete.
Speaker A:Actually, did you have to train for it?
Speaker A:How do you train for the long drive stuff without like blowing out your back?
Speaker A:And I don't care how, how athletic you are or how good shape.
Speaker A:Golf is tough on the back at times.
Speaker A:Just for an example.
Speaker A:So how do you train for that?
Speaker B:That's a great question.
Speaker B:So luckily for me, I had a pretty significant and wide spanning sports background for myself and my brother.
Speaker B:So all their workouts I got to see, you know as well as mine.
Speaker B:So I would take some training from different sports that I had competed in.
Speaker B:And I remember like, oh, I loved this trainer and it was so impactful, this movement or whatever it may be.
Speaker B:But put simply, you're for long drive, you kind of need a couple things.
Speaker B:You need technique, you need to have a decent technique.
Speaker B:People think like, oh, long drive, you just swing as hard as you can and you could be the best in the world.
Speaker B:And that's not true at all.
Speaker A:No, that's what I do.
Speaker A:And it doesn't work.
Speaker B:It doesn't.
Speaker B:And the thing is, if you're going to win a world title, you have to hit multiple different rounds.
Speaker B:It's not like you can have one drive that won the day.
Speaker B:You have to win round after round after round.
Speaker B:So accuracy does play.
Speaker B:So you need technique, you need speed, you need to be able to move the club.
Speaker B:So a lot of the training is kind of exercising.
Speaker B:For me it was a lot of plyometrics, so like explosive movements and rotational stuff.
Speaker B:And a quick note for folks that do have or experience a lot of pain in their body, wherever it is in your body, most people, a lot of back pain, whatever.
Speaker B:With golf, that is typically going to be amplified because you're not balancing the body.
Speaker B:We spend all day swinging a single direction rotationally.
Speaker B:So that means accelerating as well as your body decelerating.
Speaker B:So gas and brakes.
Speaker B:But we typically do it just one side.
Speaker B:So think of doing that only on your right side.
Speaker B:Tires on your car, you need to balance these out.
Speaker B:So swinging the opposite hand is really helpful to prevent injury.
Speaker B:So that was a lot of training too.
Speaker B:Is everything that I was doing one, one like one direction?
Speaker B:My main swinging right handed, I would do left handed as well, just for the muscles, not Actually hitting golf balls, although sometimes I would do that too.
Speaker B:But you can kind of play that way, but just to balance the body out to avoid and prevent injury.
Speaker B:That's why.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Somebody even told me that long ago.
Speaker B:It's not too late, jt.
Speaker B:It's not too late.
Speaker A:Well, now I feel like they got me on a short tether and I just spin to the left all the time because I'm right handed, you know.
Speaker A:How far did you get with long drives?
Speaker A:I don't mean distance in your drives.
Speaker A:I mean how your.
Speaker A:Your competitive record.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So I. I started.
Speaker B:Most folks know Kyle Berkshire.
Speaker B:He's, you know, multi world championship.
Speaker B:So he and I started the same season, and then I competed for five seasons each year at the World Championship.
Speaker B:I made it to the World Championship every year.
Speaker B:Each year I finished higher and higher and higher.
Speaker B:2019 was my last season competing, and I finished 17th in the world.
Speaker A:Wow, that's pretty good.
Speaker A:How do you think the average tour golfer would do in the long drive?
Speaker A:Somehow I think that the.
Speaker A:The tour guys are trying for a little better shot placement and things at times.
Speaker A:What's your spot on?
Speaker B:You are 100% correct.
Speaker B:So the way that I think about it and explain it to folks is guys like Rory that hit it, you know, they hit a ball 402 yards.
Speaker B:If Rory went out to the long drive tour and he started tailoring his training to long drive, I think he'd do pretty decent because again, it's not just total distance, and those guys can typically flight the ball better than a long drive pro.
Speaker B:If I'm going heads up with Rory or anybody on the PGA Tour, they're going to be able to pick the spin based on the conditions for that day, and not just that day, but that round.
Speaker B:Because I can hit this round, 10 minutes later, I'm in the next round.
Speaker B:And the wind conditions and everything could be totally different.
Speaker B:A tour player is so precise in their skill set to be able to say, okay, I need to spin it more or less.
Speaker B:I need to hit a draw or a fade or just pipe it really low, sting or whatever it is, they have the shots for it.
Speaker B:So if they have the speed, like Rory can move it pretty well, they're going to do really well.
Speaker B:On the long drive Tour, they're not going to win, most likely, because the guys that are just top tier guys, it's.
Speaker B:They're not going to win, but they could do pretty well because they have the accuracy.
Speaker B:So when you only have six balls each set, they're Going to hit five out of six in play.
Speaker B:One of those might get a really good bounce and, you know, so on.
Speaker B:Whereas that long drive guy might be going after it and have an OB set or maybe only catch one and, you know that sort of bit.
Speaker B:So just law of large numbers, they're going to do pretty well.
Speaker A:I honestly don't know that much about it.
Speaker A:I mean, I've watched it, but I've never got into the minutiae of it.
Speaker A:Anthony, are you.
Speaker A:If you start with like a Titleist Pro V1 for an example, do you have.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:Do you have to play that through the whole competition or can you go.
Speaker A:No, I'm going to go to a softer.
Speaker A:I'm going to go to a velocity ball, or I'm going to go to a Snell golf ball or whatever.
Speaker A:Can you swap them out?
Speaker B:No, you cannot.
Speaker B:That's a great question.
Speaker B:So everybody on the long drive circuit hits the same golf balls.
Speaker B:So whatever the ball sponsor is for the year, it's the same balls.
Speaker B:And this is what makes it a level playing field for everybody.
Speaker B:Everybody has this golf ball to hit.
Speaker B:So you.
Speaker B:You don't swap.
Speaker B:You can't do anything like that.
Speaker B:It's just, here are the golf balls.
Speaker B:Pick your balls out of the bucket and you know, that's your.
Speaker B:The ones you have for that.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:So you don't know ball changes, but you can have multiple different drivers.
Speaker B:Different drivers set up and all that.
Speaker B:As long as they're usg, Jake.
Speaker B:And for me.
Speaker A:Well, that's interesting.
Speaker A:That's interesting because I just.
Speaker A:I would have thought, like, if you were a tour guy, you'd say, yeah, I played Titleist Balls, I play the Pro V, but today it's really foggy and damp and cold.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna play a little harder ball or softer ball, whatever's comfortable for with their swing and what they do.
Speaker A:So, yeah, level playing field is good.
Speaker A:Do you miss?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Do you miss?
Speaker B:I miss it.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:For sure, I miss it.
Speaker B:I love long drive and getting on the stage.
Speaker B:For me, it was, you know, as you mentioned, I do have an entertainment background.
Speaker B:Acting, modeling and stuff.
Speaker B:So I've not been afraid of being kind of all eyes on me.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Sometimes I enjoy it and thrive.
Speaker B:And for me, I just loved it so much.
Speaker B:I was always competing against myself.
Speaker B:It wasn't like, oh, I want to take this guy down.
Speaker B:I just wanted to hit the ball farther than I ever did before.
Speaker B:And if I won a tournament, awesome.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker B:But I miss it because the Year that I stopped was when my first son was born.
Speaker B:So it was the year that come.
Speaker A:Home, dad, gotta come home, right?
Speaker B:The year that Bryson came out, that was the year that I stopped competing.
Speaker B:I hit the first event of the year.
Speaker B:I think it was March, Got the due date for our son, and it was gonna.
Speaker B:He was due within two weeks of the World Championship.
Speaker B:And as I mentioned, for five years in a row, I finished higher and higher and higher and higher and higher.
Speaker B:So I'm like, I'm going to get this belt.
Speaker B:It's just a matter of time.
Speaker B:I keep showing up, keep doing what I'm doing.
Speaker B:It's working.
Speaker B:But I know myself and the competitor in me.
Speaker B:I was like, if it comes down to it, my firstborn, I'm like, I can't miss this.
Speaker B:You know, it's so important to me.
Speaker B:But at the same time, I'm pursuing this thing.
Speaker B:So I just had a, you know, real assessment, like, what is.
Speaker B:What am I getting out of this versus what might I lose?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:And I know myself, if it came down to the wire and let's say I'm coming off of a.
Speaker B:A tournament win or a tour stop win going into the World Championship, and I knew it would have been tough for me, so I was like, I'm just going to.
Speaker B:I'm just going to call it now and just keep doing the charity fundraising and go out.
Speaker B:I could still hit the ball hard for people.
Speaker B:I still love to do that and entertain and all that stuff, but I definitely miss it.
Speaker B:The crowd.
Speaker B:I would love to entertain the crowd and.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, you're.
Speaker A:You're a ham.
Speaker A:You're a ham.
Speaker A:That's okay.
Speaker A:It's good.
Speaker A:We got about 40 seconds where we got to go to the break.
Speaker A:Did you ever think about playing on the tour or try?
Speaker B:I never did.
Speaker B:You know, people ask me that so frequently.
Speaker B:I never did.
Speaker B:Even if I were to try to really go after it, I would probably need to dedicate a good four years with a really good instructor and me doing that full time to have a shot at it.
Speaker B:But I never really did.
Speaker B:I just loved the game.
Speaker B:It was never really, oh, go play tournaments or anything like that.
Speaker B:I just love the game.
Speaker A:We're going to take a break.
Speaker A:I'm going to be back with Anthony Thomas right after this.
Speaker A:Don't go away.
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Speaker A:Hi everybody, it's JT and this is a special version of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Bee.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Thank you for allowing us to be with you today.
Speaker A:My guest has been Anthony Thomas.
Speaker A:I met him last week.
Speaker A:He is a great guy.
Speaker A:He knocked the snot out of a golf ball, I'm going to tell you that because he was a long drive guy.
Speaker A:You had, you mentioned in the last segment, Anthony, you had a little foray into modeling and acting and all that.
Speaker A:It's different world, isn't it?
Speaker B:Yes, yes, yes it is.
Speaker B:So I've got, you know, your stories that are the horror stories, both first and secondhand stories, you know, other folks that I'd modeled with and stuff.
Speaker B:I have their stories that I as well as my own.
Speaker B:And then yeah, I have the great fantastic ones too where everybody thinks, oh, your life is so catered to you and all that, which it totally is not.
Speaker B:But there are moments where it is like that and I have everything on the spectrum.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:What, what do you think your, your wife would say if she was driving up i5 and saw you say it, Chehalis on a billboard modeling underwear or your are your mom and dad for that matter?
Speaker B:Well, jt, to be completely transparent, they have.
Speaker A:Okay, fair enough, man.
Speaker B:They have.
Speaker B:And you know, usually it's just kind of like, oh, there's another one.
Speaker B:You know the family thread, the running joke that I will say that gets the most attention.
Speaker B:It's not when they see me in an ad, it's like, oh man, cool.
Speaker B:Like look.
Speaker B:Oh, Anthony.
Speaker B:Uncle Anthony.
Speaker B:My nieces and nephews.
Speaker B:It's when my mom enters the family thread with some ad that she took a picture of to send to the family because she's so proud of me and it's actually not me.
Speaker A:Oh, there you go.
Speaker B:Those are the moments they get the most attention for sure.
Speaker A:That reminds me of my mother passed away a few years ago and she was quite the gal and but as she was getting on, you know, the memory started giving her a little fits there.
Speaker A:And one day she called me, she always would call me like at 5:30 in the morning on my birthday.
Speaker A:I was not born at 5:30 in the morning I looked at the bloody birth certificate.
Speaker A:I was born at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Speaker A:But for some reason she would call me.
Speaker A:I guess she wanted to be the first one out or something.
Speaker A:And she was doing happy birthday to you.
Speaker A:Happy birthday to you.
Speaker A:Happy birthday dear.
Speaker A:And she forgot my name.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, well, happy birthday to you.
Speaker A:And it was so funny that I don't even know why I'm telling the story because my birthday is months ago.
Speaker A:But the point is, is that.
Speaker A:Appreciate that from your mother, even if it's the wrong guy on the billboard.
Speaker B:Oh, we, my whole family, my brothers and I were very close.
Speaker B:We love it.
Speaker B:I mean, I love it.
Speaker B:I would rather see that stuff than, oh, here's Anthony in another ad.
Speaker B:Like, I enjoy the process.
Speaker B:I enjoy shooting, I enjoy acting, modeling, all that stuff.
Speaker B:I still do it.
Speaker B:That's my main thing.
Speaker B:Present day.
Speaker B:I love it.
Speaker B:But as far as, you know, sharing and like, oh, we saw you here.
Speaker B:I would much rather take mom misidentifying her own offspring.
Speaker B:You know, in the family thread I would take that.
Speaker B:Her mind is, she's still there.
Speaker B:She's fully.
Speaker B:This is just her going, oh, look at it.
Speaker A:I get it, I get it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:She, even when my mom had everything, was quite cognitive about things.
Speaker A:She'd still.
Speaker A:My brother's 15, almost 15 years older than I am.
Speaker A:So she would confuse our names once in a while.
Speaker A:Or she'd go, well, and his name's Terry.
Speaker A:My name is Jeff.
Speaker A:So there'd be a Jerry in there or something once in a while, you know, so it good.
Speaker A:It's just family stuff.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:And we love it.
Speaker B:I mean, she has such a wonderful sense of humor, my mother, that she could be the butt of a joke.
Speaker B:As long as everybody's having fun.
Speaker B:She's like, let's go, you know, let's roll with it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Is there something you want to do that you haven't done yet, Anthony?
Speaker B:So in life, like career wise or just anything?
Speaker A:Anything.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, anything at all.
Speaker B:You know, I have a few things that I want to do.
Speaker B:For one, I, I want to live in another country and just pick up another language and totally just immerse myself in the culture.
Speaker B:I've always wanted to do that.
Speaker B:I also almost did this before.
Speaker B:Like right out of college, I almost moved to China to live in the mountain and study and just live in a temple.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And just train, train martial arts and live in a temple.
Speaker B:I mean, now having kids, it's a little bit different.
Speaker B:Unless I drag them along throughout life too.
Speaker B:But as far as career wise and everything, I just, I'm pretty fine just being self employed and keeping going and helping people win and where I can.
Speaker B:Most of my things I haven't done yet that I want to do are more on the bucket list side of things.
Speaker B:It's not work wise, career wise, it's more so.
Speaker B:Man, I would love to have this experience or I would love to go there and do that and see this.
Speaker A:You know, well, those are, those are good things.
Speaker A:How can people find you?
Speaker A:That's always important.
Speaker A:How can people find you if they want to have you to come to their golf tournament or whatever?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:So if you're on Instagram, it's Anthony Thomas, 33, the number 33.
Speaker B:All just one word.
Speaker B:Anthony Thomas, 33.
Speaker B:YouTube is where I've been mostly active lately.
Speaker B:And that's at dynamic daddy.
Speaker B:And then you could just go AnthonyJ.
Speaker B:Thomas.com and that's my website.
Speaker B:You'll be able to contact me through there and I'd love to help you out with your event.
Speaker B:Whether I help out personally or I just kind of point you in the right direction, I'm happy to do that.
Speaker A:Anthony Thomas.
Speaker A:Thanks, buddy.
Speaker A:We're going to go into after hours.
Speaker A:We want to thank you for listening.
Speaker A:Go out there, have a good week, everybody.
Speaker A:Play some golf.
Speaker A:Most of all, be kind.
Speaker A:Take care.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
