Brent Whittaker, Director of Tournament Operations, OGA
This podcast episode delves into the intricate responsibilities of Brent Whitaker, the Senior Director of Championships and Events at the Oregon Golf Association (OGA). We engage in a comprehensive discussion regarding the multifaceted nature of his role, which encompasses managing competitions, addressing rules inquiries, and overseeing the organization of various golf events. Brent elucidates the meticulous process involved in preparing for championships, including the development of local rule sheets and the collaborative efforts with golf course superintendents to ensure fair play. Furthermore, we explore the nuances of maintaining the integrity of competitions and the challenges posed by varying weather conditions and course conditions. Through this dialogue, we gain insight into the dedication required to elevate the golfing experience for players and the community alike.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Oregon Golf Association
- Golf News Network
- iHeart
- Weston Kia
- Oregon
- Birdie Ball
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Snell
- Carsley Golf
- OGA
- USGA
- Emerald Valley Golf Course
- Langdon Farms
- Phil Lago
- Waverly Golf Club
- Tualatin
- Pronghorn
- Columbia Edgewater
- Bandon
- Gearhart
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 the.
Speaker B:Golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it.
Speaker A:In the short grass for the hackers.
Speaker B:New sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker B:Here's Jeff.
Speaker A:Hey everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:This show airs on a multiple platform of radio stations and podcast platforms as well as being part of the Golf News Network on iHeart.
Speaker A:Thank you for taking the time to listen to the show today.
Speaker A:Very interesting guest today, Brent Whitaker.
Speaker A:I met Brent, I've known of him for a long time, but I just met him a couple weeks ago.
Speaker A:He is the director of championships and events at the Oregon Golf association, which is actually my next door neighbor, so to speak.
Speaker A:Not Brent per se, but the.
Speaker A:The course in the headquarters there.
Speaker A:Hey, how are you?
Speaker B:Hey.
Speaker B:I'm good, Jeff.
Speaker B:Yeah, glad to be on.
Speaker B:Glad to see you as well.
Speaker A:What does a director of championships do?
Speaker A:Let's kind of get that out of the way.
Speaker A:I know what they do, but I don't know everything.
Speaker B:Yeah, sure.
Speaker B:So it's kind of all encompassing.
Speaker B:So we used to be called rules and competitions but we do a lot from managing the game from if there's rules questions that come up from our member clubs or just our, you know, our golf community, we'll typically take those on and answer those questions.
Speaker B:We also teach worlds workshops.
Speaker B:Those are like some of the rules atmosphere or rules things we do.
Speaker B:But we also run competitions and run championships.
Speaker B:That's our bread and butter.
Speaker B:It's kind of how we got started was with the organization was the OGA was created by running the Oregon Amateur and it sort of spawned from there.
Speaker B:So my role is really just run all of our adult competitions and programs and including overseeing our junior programs as well.
Speaker B:So those go anywhere from, you know, our elite level championships to our one day gross net series to our junior summer series, EJ playdates, and those kinds of things too.
Speaker A:So when you say, when you say you run them, Brent, does that encompass everything?
Speaker A:I mean, from helping with the, if you will, the committee that actually checks in the entries and make sure, you know, if they've got a cart or a caddy or whatever they need run us through all that?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's all of that.
Speaker B:So, so what's, what's unique about what we do is really.
Speaker B:So it's all, all of that.
Speaker B:So we, we take the entries in.
Speaker B:We, we do all the course acquisition.
Speaker B:So that's kind of this time of year is.
Speaker B:Is doing a lot of that.
Speaker B:We're getting our.
Speaker B:Our schedule set for 20, 26, and even years ahead of that.
Speaker B:And then we sort of build out all of our websites, our entry platforms.
Speaker B:We have a group of people, whether it's our junior golf committee or our tournament committee, that we work with to create policies and general requirements for our events and our championships.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:Yeah, and then it's processing those entries.
Speaker B:So we take them in in house, we process them, and then we put the pairings together, player information, all of that stuff.
Speaker B:We work with the golf courses on course setup, and in a lot of cases for our championships, USA qualifiers, and junior majors, we're typically the ones on site doing all of that work.
Speaker B:So we're selecting the whole locations, writing the local rule sheets, marking the penalty areas, marking ground repair, working with our volunteer base on how we run, run the event from start to finish.
Speaker B:Though it's all of that, I would say, like a lot of our other programs, like our OGA Tour programs, our summer series, we have volunteers and.
Speaker B:And some subcontractors and contractors that run those on site.
Speaker B:So it's a little bit different.
Speaker B:We just sort of manage that more typically.
Speaker B:Our staff is on site for all of our championships, junior majors, those kinds of things.
Speaker A:Okay, so one thing I want to.
Speaker A:I want to talk about real quick and a little bit off the.
Speaker A:In the ob here you might say is, I think, you know, there's kind of a. I don't want to say a theory among golfers, maybe even the ones that don't play in championship events, but you said you got your local rule sheet, and then there's, of course, the USGA stuff, etc.
Speaker A:Etc.
Speaker A:When you're putting together your local rule sheet, how do you make the decision about what's going in there for the weekend or the week, however long the comp is, and say, okay, you.
Speaker A:You know, you can lift clean in place or something.
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker A:I was trying to think of one example, but.
Speaker A:But, you know, I think people get a little confused, especially when they're watching stuff on television and.
Speaker A:And they see something.
Speaker A:And this is where the guys used to, you know, sit on their couch and call into the Tour or something and say, hey, Tiger did this or Phil did that or whatever, and.
Speaker A:And they're not familiar with what's on the local sheet.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So we like it.
Speaker B:We like to call it detective work.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's really fun.
Speaker B:So one of the roles that we have is we have to.
Speaker B:And granted, we've gone a lot of those golf courses, you know, for many years we've got sheets that we've used in the past, but it's, we stand on the T and as a group we talk about all the things that could possibly go wrong on that hole.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So where is somebody going to hit a ball out of bounds or into, you know, a bush or a penalty area and then what are they going to do from there?
Speaker B:And we, we, we do that detective work ahead of time to figure out exactly what we need to write on a notice to players, whether those are obstructions that they should be aware of or you know, like I said, penalty areas, dropping zones that they might want to use or other things that might come into play.
Speaker B:And some of them are local rules too.
Speaker B:I mean there's plenty of examples about what that looks like, you know, whether that's lift clean in place like you talked about, where it's preferred lies.
Speaker B:And usually when it comes to that, we have some criteria that we need to see before we'll go down that route.
Speaker B:In some cases, if it's a USD qualifier, we're just not allowed to use, use that.
Speaker B:But for our own events, we typically will see like is the ball, is it even though it's rained, is it really affecting the ball?
Speaker A:And yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:And play.
Speaker B:And so we've got some built in criteria on how we figure that out, but that's kind of the, kind of the way it looks like is just that pre detective work.
Speaker B:And it's fun because it's really just like a puzzle piece of figuring out exactly all the things that could go wrong.
Speaker B:And then we, we try to write a sheet that's going to, that's going to make up for those kinds of things and allow.
Speaker A:Okay, let me give you a scenario here Brent, really quick.
Speaker A:You've got a course did some, some work as they're always doing and maybe they moved something, a water source or something, you know, a standpipe, whatever.
Speaker A:You don't see very many of those but you know, maybe they did that.
Speaker A:How do you determine how far to move the line away from that?
Speaker A:I mean, is it just like, is it standard?
Speaker A:And I don't know this.
Speaker A:So this is why I'm asking, is it standard?
Speaker A:Like okay, you move it six feet from there or do you move it six inches from there?
Speaker B:Well, I mean, I think everything we want to do is fair, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, we always approach everything from what's, what's, what's, what's the most equitable for the players themselves.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we don't want one player to be disadvantaged over another.
Speaker B:So the, the, the short answer is it all just, it, it depends.
Speaker B:You know, in some cases we might pull that line really, really close to the penalty area.
Speaker B:And in those cases, you know, a lot of times for, for us and our staff will remind them if it's a, like a no play zone or like an environmentally sensitive area.
Speaker B:You live near the golf, the OGA golf course.
Speaker B:So you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker B:Hole number 14 out here, number eight.
Speaker B:You know, those are all areas where we don't want players to go in there and play from because it would be against the rules.
Speaker B:And so in order to avoid that, we will mark the penalty area, the line closer to that, so that there's really not a chance that they're going to get into it.
Speaker B:I mean we really work from this idea that the players don't know the rules like we do.
Speaker B:They don't know the rules.
Speaker B:So we've got to help them out as much as we possibly can so that they avoid any penalties that they would get.
Speaker B:And that's the other thing that's fun about what we do is, is really, you know, unlike any other sport where you've got a referee that's standing on the sidelines or that's involved in the game itself, you know, and they're calling those penalties.
Speaker B:In our case, we really want to try to prevent as many penalties as we can, which is why we will write a really thorough notice to players.
Speaker B:Or like you said, like when we go out and mark a golf course, we're going to make sure that the line is fair and it avoids any confusion and any chance that that player is going to get into, into, into, into trouble where they're going to get a penalty.
Speaker B:In those cases, I would say, you know, you know, if it's a normal line that we're putting down, you know, you know, a lot of times, you know, what I tell our staff a lot is like the pay the players are already getting in.
Speaker B:They're already paying for it, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So then why wouldn't we really want to make it more difficult for them?
Speaker B:In that case, we're going to take.
Speaker A:A break and be back.
Speaker A:Excuse me.
Speaker A:With Brent Whitaker, senior director of championships and events at the Oregon Golf association right after this.
Speaker A:Stay with us.
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Speaker A:You can find us on all the major podcast platforms, various radio stations around, and of course, Gull's news network.
Speaker A:The show airs on Friday and Sunday on gnn.
Speaker A:So just FYI there, we're talking with Brent Whitaker, senior director of championships and events at O OGA.
Speaker A:So I want to follow up a little bit what we said in the first segment there.
Speaker A:Standing water is always a big deal here, you know, anywhere in the Northwest.
Speaker A:Well, other parts of the country too, but we have our fair share of it, I'll put it that way.
Speaker A:And you know, that's.
Speaker A:How do you decide the depth of the water if it's just a half inch little puddle, if you win, if you will, versus something that is, you know, 4 or 5 inches deep and 10ft wide?
Speaker A:What's the variation there that you choose from to say this is okay to, to get it out of there?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So, you know, the rules of golf.
Speaker B:We just lean on the rules of golf.
Speaker B:And in fact, a lot of times what we, you know, when we talk to our rule staff or, you know, our own staff, it's, it's really just let the, let the rules do the talking.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And in this case, it's pretty easy.
Speaker B:So we would just say that, you know, the rules, the definition of temporary water is, you know, it's water on the surface that can be seen before and after the player takes their stance.
Speaker B:So that could be, you know, like a full puddle that's a foot deep or, or more.
Speaker B:Yeah, it could be as little as, you know, just water on the surface.
Speaker B:And if a player can see what that looks like and, you know, then, then they, they can take relief and what relief looks like, it can change depending on where they are.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, you know, one big misnomer for your audience too is like, we call it the general area, which is a nice rule speak for everything that's around that's on the golf course itself.
Speaker B:But then there's these four specific areas that, that, that apply as well.
Speaker B:Whether that's going to be a bunker, a penalty area, hazards.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:The putting room that they're playing to or the teeing area.
Speaker B:So in the teeing area, if there's water on the.
Speaker B:If there's a puddle of water, they can do.
Speaker B:I like to call that Candy Land.
Speaker B:And they can do whatever they really want in those cases.
Speaker B:They can pick up the ball, they can move it around, they can mop up the water if they really like.
Speaker B:So they.
Speaker B:There's.
Speaker B:There's a lot of options that are available for them in the general area.
Speaker B:And the general area is fun because I think in, you know, normal.
Speaker B:A normal golfer will think that the general area, there's a difference between the fairway and then the rough.
Speaker B:And in rule speak, that's not the case.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:It's both of the same.
Speaker B:And so if there's a puddle in the rough, then we're going to treat it the same way as if there's a puddle in the fairway and they're going to be able to take relief.
Speaker B:They're going to drop their ball within.
Speaker B:They're going to find their nearest point of relief and go through that whole.
Speaker B:That whole scenario in that case.
Speaker B:So I think that's something different.
Speaker B:Obviously, bunkers, we're going to do something different there on the putting green.
Speaker B:You know, I like to call that the promised land because it's really kind of that.
Speaker B:That space where you're going to be able to find your nearest point of relief and you're going to place the ball in someplace.
Speaker B:So there's always different things that are going to happen where you are on the, On.
Speaker B:On the golf course.
Speaker A:I like to think of the.
Speaker A:The putting green is kind of like Valhalla, because eventually I get there.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's why I call it the promised land.
Speaker B:It's sort of like this land.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:That's going to be the place you want to go to, you know?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:You work so hard.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:We've already established this.
Speaker A:You work closely with USGA and the rules, et cetera, et cetera, at that.
Speaker A:How do you actually go out there?
Speaker A:This is going to sound silly, but believe me, I've had people ask me, you go out there with a.
Speaker A:A tape measure and say the second cut of.
Speaker A:Of rough needs to be 6 inches.
Speaker A:Is that a general estimate or a rule of thumb?
Speaker A:Or did somebody go around and measure 10 different spots and say, okay, this is okay?
Speaker B:You know, unfortunately, we have great superintendents here in the Northwest, and.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker A:They have to be.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Ye.
Speaker B:So, you know, usually in when we, so like when we, when we acquire a golf course to host one of our championships, one of our events or you know, even some of our junior majors, we have language that we put in that contract that does require them to have.
Speaker B:You know, I think it's about an inch, inch and a half of rough.
Speaker B:And that's general.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:We don't normally.
Speaker B:And, and honestly, that can depend what that requirement is going to look like, depending on the, the championship that we're running.
Speaker B:If it's an elite level championship, like our ore amateur, we're going to be a little bit more intricate on what that looks like with them and we're going to talk about like, where they, where we want that in, like the, how big the fairways are going to be cut and, and what if there's going to be a secondary cut of rough and where we want the, the rough to really grow.
Speaker B:And we're going to, we're going to work a little bit more hand in hand with our superintendents.
Speaker B:But for the most part, you know, if it's or public links championship or, you know, some of our other ones, we're going to rely on that superintendent.
Speaker B:When we say can you grow the rough an inch and a half, you know, he's going to see it.
Speaker B:But a lot of times what we're doing is we're coming out to that golf course, you know, a few days ahead and we're going to take a look at it and you know, we'll go around with the superintendent and we'll talk about, you know, how we want it to play, you know, and we'll get their impact.
Speaker B:You know, I think what's really important is, you know, for what we do is, is that partnership, you know, we call them stakeholders, our stakeholders with our, our superintendents because they're, they want to showcase their golf course as much as we want to showcase it too.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:So, you know, again, it's at all, it's relative to the player itself and who's playing in that championship.
Speaker B:If they're really good, you know, scratch players, then we have a little bit more leeway and we can work with them and, and, and, and, and create a strategy about how we want that golf course to play.
Speaker A:How many site visits do you do?
Speaker A:I mean, you've, you've, you know, pick a course, sun river, just one of them at sun river and that you may hold one or two events a year at or something.
Speaker A:I don't know that right off top of my head.
Speaker A:I can't recite the.
Speaker A:The actual schedule, but just pick one like that.
Speaker A:But how many site visits do you do?
Speaker A:And if it's a new course that you're trying to get in the program, is there a site visit just right out of the gate to go see if it would actually meet the standards?
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, fortunately in my case, I've been doing this for so long that I know pretty much almost all the superintendents in the state and, oh, sure, most of the general managers and a lot of the head professionals, too.
Speaker B:So I do a little bit less site visits than I used to.
Speaker B:However, I'm in constant conversations with our.
Speaker B:Our host sites and asking them about, you know, how the golf course is going, looking, forecasting, you know, and those kinds of things.
Speaker B:I would say we at least do one site visit, a minimum of one site visit for all of our championships.
Speaker A:You know, and that's prior to.
Speaker A:Prior to showing up and actually getting the event underway.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:That's like months in advance.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, like, the biggest one we probably do is the Oregon amount, you know, because that's our flagship, you know, so we'll do multiple site visits with them, usually at least one initial site visit early on when we sign the contract with them that they're going to host it.
Speaker B:And then, you know, we'll do a site visit with their entire staff to sort of get on the same page.
Speaker B:And then we'll do multiple site visits with just the superintendent, you know, figuring out exactly how we're going to play the golf course.
Speaker B:You know, I think this last year when we ran it at Tualatin, you know, we were there quite.
Speaker B:We were there quite a few times.
Speaker B:And, you know, I think that one played really well, and we created a strategy of what we wanted it to look like.
Speaker B:And, you know, other than having rain on the last day, it was flawless.
Speaker B:And it was, you know, it was a great championship.
Speaker A:You've got a broad spectrum of courses here.
Speaker A:It's not like Arizona, if you will, or, you know, other south southern states where you've got desert, you've got ocean, you've got the Valley, you've got three different geographies, if you will, to work with.
Speaker A:Does that sometimes try to get your head wrapped around?
Speaker A:Like, this week you were working in the Valley, and next week you got to be in sun river, and then the next week you got to be a Gearhart.
Speaker A:I'm just making up stuff here.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:You know, is that sometimes you go, ah, okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, it certainly matters because I think, like, you know, like, when you're going from, you know, the high desert, right, where the ball is going to fly a lot further.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker B:And you're typically dealing with conditions where, especially in the summertime, they're going to be dried out, so the ball is going to really fly.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So you can play the golf course a lot longer.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So that's kind of.
Speaker B:When we look at setup, we're going to take all of that into consideration when.
Speaker B:When that.
Speaker B:When.
Speaker B:When we.
Speaker B:When we look at that and, you know, and.
Speaker B:But then conversely, like, when we go to the coast.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we went to.
Speaker B:To answer your question, I think we went from high desert to Salishan.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And the golf course is going to play a lot.
Speaker B:You know, it's going to be shorter, but it's going to play a lot longer because the ball is not going to run out.
Speaker B:You're at sea level, so it's not going to fly as fast.
Speaker B:You're going to have the wind to deal with.
Speaker B:So you've got all these other conditions that are there so that you've got to, like, take into consideration for.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I'd say, like, definitely in the northwest.
Speaker B:You know, there's such a plethora of what we have here.
Speaker B:I mean, it's so fun to really set up golf courses in this area because we, you know, you could have a short course, and it could still be really difficult and demanding depending on where it's at and, like, and what you do with it as well, so.
Speaker A:Okay, cool.
Speaker A:Brent and I are going to take a break, and we're going to be back in just a couple minutes.
Speaker A:So don't go.
Speaker A:Don't go away.
Speaker A:I was gonna say don't go with us.
Speaker A:Don't go away.
Speaker A:We'll be right back.
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Speaker A:Welcome back to grilling at the green.
Speaker A:I'm J.T.
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Speaker A:So I'll just say that we're talking with Brent Whitaker today, the senior director of championships and events at OGA Oregon Golf Association.
Speaker A:How did you get into doing this stuff?
Speaker A:Yeah, were you gonna be a tour pro and then.
Speaker B:No, nothing like that at all, actually.
Speaker B:So, you know, I went to the U of O and actually, like, you know, studied psychology in college.
Speaker B:So I actually wanted to go down that route down to.
Speaker B:Into counseling more than anything else.
Speaker B:And I did play golf.
Speaker B:I played, you know, I played in high school.
Speaker B:I played, you know, all different types of places, mostly just recreationally at the time.
Speaker B:And when I was in college, I got a job at Emerald Valley Golf Course.
Speaker B:And that was right around the time that Jim Puliska was.
Speaker B:Had purchased it.
Speaker B:And so, you know, it was really interesting.
Speaker B:Like, again, I've always really been into sports and competition.
Speaker B:Really, I'm kind of a competitive person.
Speaker B:And so I really thrived.
Speaker B:And, you know, it was kind of one of those.
Speaker B:Those things where we would run corporate outings and they were scrambles and they were sort of like.
Speaker B:Everybody got.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, they would just kind of events, and then Jim would bring his friends down every Friday.
Speaker B:And I was the guy that helped, you know, set up the scorecards and all of that and do all the score and manage all the scoring.
Speaker B:And it was really fun for me because they were really competitive.
Speaker B:And there was an internship at the oga.
Speaker B:It's called the Boat Ride Internship.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:It's a grant.
Speaker B:It's funded from the usga.
Speaker B:And so I applied for it and I got it.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, so then there was a job afterwards at the oga and, you know, I worked for Jim Gibbons back in the day.
Speaker B:And, you know, he kind of had a role for me, was looking for like an assistant Tournament director at the time, and I just loved it.
Speaker B:And, you know, I've been here since then, so, like 20 years now, so.
Speaker A:By the way, congrats on your Ducks.
Speaker A:I'm a. I'm an OSU guy, but we don't talk about that right now.
Speaker A:Beaten Penn State the night.
Speaker A:That was impressive.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:That's why my voice is a little hoarse today.
Speaker B:Yeah, I can imagine.
Speaker A:I can imagine.
Speaker A:Do you.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My partner in crime and a lot of things.
Speaker A:Steve Depala.
Speaker A:And you know Steve because.
Speaker B:He know Steve.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:Shoots a lot of the tournaments, and I've helped him on a few over the years.
Speaker A:But he.
Speaker A:He sent a question.
Speaker A:He's in Ireland, by the way.
Speaker A:Golf.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's good for him.
Speaker A:The brat.
Speaker A:But he wanted to know how.
Speaker A:How you survive from late spring into early fall when you're constantly.
Speaker A:You've got an event, like, every week.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, you know, I'll just say we have amazing staff here.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, you know, I'm not the only one that has to run all this stuff.
Speaker B:I've got great partners and great.
Speaker B:And great people to work with.
Speaker B:You know, Spencer Sorensen, he manages most of our junior programs as well as does some of our.
Speaker B:Our champ.
Speaker B:Our adult championships.
Speaker B:USJ qualifiers.
Speaker B:Zane Bemoa.
Speaker B:You know, he does an amazing job as well, helping us out and running tournaments as well, and then, you know, interns.
Speaker B:So I don't.
Speaker B:Fortunately, I don't have to be at everything, but it's busy.
Speaker B:It's for sure busy.
Speaker B:I mean, like, you know, this year alone, we, you know, we added in the junior America's cup at Columbia Edgewater.
Speaker B:You know, both Spencer and I were down at the women's Amazon at Bandon.
Speaker B:You know, we had the Pacific Coast Amateur here in.
Speaker B:At Eugene Country Club.
Speaker B:And so we were the month of July and through August, it was actually June, too.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker B:I mean, like, so June, July, August, we were kind of running ragged.
Speaker B:You know, I. I think it's fun.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And I would say my.
Speaker B:I would say the guys probably say the same thing, too.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a fun.
Speaker B:It's a great environment to be around, regardless of the travel.
Speaker B:I love to travel, but it's.
Speaker B:It's such a.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's a.
Speaker B:It's a blast to see the guys compete.
Speaker B:People competing out on the golf course, they're long hours.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:You know, we always talk like, I know this is sort of a.
Speaker B:A.
Speaker B:An airline, pilots kind of.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Where it's like you have Moments of sheer boredom, of total boredom, and then these moments of sheer terror.
Speaker B:And, you know, in some ways, it's kind of the same way running golf tournaments.
Speaker B:I mean, not care.
Speaker B:I mean, like, the worst thing that happens is we have a thunderstorm or, you know, have a big, you know, a big rules violation or something else that we have to put up with.
Speaker B:But it's similar, you know, like you're just waiting for people to finish and, you know, you're out there helping them and making sure things are going well.
Speaker B:And sometimes it can be boring.
Speaker B:Sometimes it can be just exciting to watch.
Speaker B:Watching people play golf, you know, especially when they come down the stretch, I think that's really fun.
Speaker B:It's really fun for me.
Speaker A:So a really important question, Brent, is, do you drive one of the little white OGA cbrs or do you drive the truck when you go out?
Speaker B:I'm a truck guy.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:I pull the truck in the trailer.
Speaker B:So, yeah, I haven't gotten everybody else into in the hauling that thing around, but that thing has been such a godsend.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:So it makes life really easy for us.
Speaker B:You know, I remember when Barb was here and I pitched the idea to.
Speaker B:To.
Speaker B:To buy it.
Speaker B:We actually had.
Speaker B:Had.
Speaker B:When I first started the OGA, we had this smaller, like 10 by 10 trailer.
Speaker B:And we, you know, pulled it around and it was fine.
Speaker B:We sort of outgrown it, in fact, like, we were always way over the weight limit on that thing.
Speaker B:And it was, it was, you know, and then it got stolen, fortunately for me.
Speaker B:But it was so, you know, and I was envious of some friends that were up in the northwest, up in Washington.
Speaker B:Their trailer had like an office space in it.
Speaker B:And I was like, oh, gosh, this would be super fun to have.
Speaker B:And so I pitched the idea.
Speaker B:Barb and she bought it and so we got it.
Speaker A:So made it, made it happen.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What all is in that truck or that trailer?
Speaker A:I mean, you.
Speaker A:I used to travel with horses and we had great big trucks and trailers and they were always.
Speaker A:I mean, the horses probably took up less space than everything else, if you know what I mean.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, just.
Speaker A:I'm just kind of curious of what all you throw in there.
Speaker B:Everything in the kitchen sink.
Speaker B:I feel like sometimes, you know, like, you know, I like to call us the, like the, like the circus at times.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, you know, you know, our goal is to really run championships and make them the most elite level championships as we can get.
Speaker B:So you have to come up with like, different ideas of what that really looks like.
Speaker B:But for the most part, you know, it's all the stuff we would need.
Speaker B:Tents, tables, our flags, flag sticks for the golf course, tee markers, obviously, tea prizes, signage.
Speaker B:We'll pull our own signage.
Speaker B:Paint all.
Speaker B:All of our buckets of fun.
Speaker B:Buckets of funds are really great.
Speaker B:Those are, you know, our step meters, our.
Speaker B:Our.
Speaker B:Our paint guns, our levels that we use to select hole locations, tape measures all that goes into there.
Speaker B:And then obviously in the cab, we've got our printers, our paper, you know, our radio systems, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a lot.
Speaker A:A lot of stuff.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:A lot of stuff to pack and unpack every week.
Speaker A:So do you go out and paint the cups?
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:I don't necessarily paint the cups.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We will dot for where the whole location goes or we'll identify.
Speaker B:We'll find that spot.
Speaker A:No, I meant the white inside.
Speaker B:Oh, no, no.
Speaker B:Well, I've.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't think.
Speaker B:Here's a fun story for you.
Speaker B:So I.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:In between my small step, in between, like, working at Emerald Valley and working here, I did a small stand at Emerald at Langdon Farms, and I worked for Phil Lago in the maintenance area because there wasn't enough hours in the golf shop for me.
Speaker B:So I've learned just enough to be dangerous about, like.
Speaker B:Or about, you know, course maintenance.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But my fun story is this.
Speaker B:So, like, they sent me out to go, you know, mow the practice screens.
Speaker B:And in my head, I'm like, oh, yeah, practice greens on the driving range.
Speaker B:So I went and just, like, cut them all down.
Speaker B:I mean, like, I buzz these things.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So, like.
Speaker B:Like, you know, like, it was awful.
Speaker B:And so Phil comes out and kind of looked at me and was like, you know, we were just meaning, like, the practice putting green, and I'm like, oh, yeah, that makes more sense.
Speaker B:So since then, they, like, kept me from doing anything that would be.
Speaker B:Would cause more damage.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So I don't paint the cups.
Speaker B:I've done it once or twice.
Speaker B:I have a buddy who's the superintendent at Wine Valley, and I've gone out with him a couple times, and he's let me paint cups.
Speaker B:But I don't.
Speaker B:I. I think it's an art form.
Speaker B:Honestly, those guys that.
Speaker B:The ones that.
Speaker B:The ones that really pop and, like, they don't get any paint outside that cup.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I'm amazed at.
Speaker B:And even like, the little thin layer of.
Speaker B:Of green or soil at the top.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm.
Speaker B:I'm always amazed at what they can do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:When you see a good one, you know it.
Speaker B:No, yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:Know it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We're talking with Brent Whitaker today, senior director of championships and events at the Oregon Golf association, my next door neighbor, I might add.
Speaker A:And we are going to take a quick break and come back and wrap up the regular show.
Speaker A:And then Brent's going to stick around for after hours.
Speaker A:He has no idea what that's about, but I'm gonna.
Speaker A:I'm gonna show him.
Speaker A:We'll be right back.
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 Be Beef.
Speaker A:You can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Grilling at the Grain.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:We're talking with Brent Whitaker today, senior director of championships and events over at oga, and we'd like to thank the folks at Squares Golf Shoes.
Speaker A:I have a couple of pairs of squares.
Speaker A:And when you get older, your feet do funny things.
Speaker A:If you walk as much as Brent does, he can probably tell you your feet do funny things, especially at the end of the day.
Speaker A:But this is a solicited pitch here, but since I've been wearing squares, the end of a round, my feet don't hurt as much.
Speaker A:I'll put it that way.
Speaker A:You got more room in the toe box.
Speaker A:So go to squares squares.com and they sell them directly to you.
Speaker A:You can't really find them.
Speaker A:There's a few stores they're in, but not very many.
Speaker A:So go there and get yourself a pair of those.
Speaker A:What's been your greatest pleasure and what's the biggest pain in doing your job?
Speaker B:I would say the best thing about my job is just the relationships that I've built.
Speaker B:I know that sounds really cliche, but like, I would say, I.
Speaker B:My closest friends are the guys that play in a lot of our championships or the ones that I work with on a regular basis at different host courses.
Speaker B:I've really gotten annoying a lot of people all around the country.
Speaker B:A lot of guys that do my job, you know, nationally, the guys at the usga.
Speaker B:I would say just the friendships that I've built.
Speaker B:You know, I think that's really one of the best things.
Speaker B:You know, there's always that nuance of, like, being out on a golf course, you know, all day long and all that.
Speaker B:I know that sounds like a pain, but, like, realistically, it's.
Speaker B:It's really fun for us.
Speaker B:You know, seeing a new course, seeing some of the best courses in this, in the, in the state, in the country.
Speaker B:That's just a.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:It's a thrill.
Speaker B:I mean, like, we're.
Speaker B:Pronghorn is going to be hosting our OJ Tour Championship next Monday and Tuesday.
Speaker B:So our staff and I will be going down and setting that up so we get to spend, you know, three days at, you know, a world famous resort.
Speaker B:So, you know, I can't beat that.
Speaker B:Really can't beat that at all, that's for sure.
Speaker B:You know, I'd say, like, you know, I probably the hardest thing about my job is really the biggest pain is it's just like the long hours and then not really having much of a summer.
Speaker B:I think sometimes that can be a little bit of a drawback.
Speaker B:You know, my wife would certainly say that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, they tend to speak up.
Speaker A:They do that stuff.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:What's your, what's your favorite?
Speaker A:And you're not going to get in trouble for this, but what's your favorite venue to work?
Speaker B:My favorite venue to work.
Speaker B:Gosh.
Speaker B:Are you talking like specific, like golf course site?
Speaker B:Yeah, like, yeah.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've got so many favorites.
Speaker B:Obviously there's Bandon.
Speaker B:I love that place.
Speaker B:You know, that's just a special spot.
Speaker B:But that, with that one comes like a lot of weird things that happen.
Speaker B:Fog, wind, and those are hard and make it really hard, especially when you're running a golf competition.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So, like, you know, I know it's fun for the player to be able to put up with the wind, but like, I don't personally enjoy it because there's so much more that you got to think about when.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:That comes into play.
Speaker B:I love Waverly Golf Course.
Speaker B:Golf club.
Speaker B:A country club.
Speaker B:I think that's an amazing site.
Speaker B:It's always, you know, it's iconic.
Speaker B:It's really wonderful.
Speaker B:That staff there does an amazing job.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker A:No, it makes sense since, you know.
Speaker B:One of my favorites, honestly, is Emerald Valley.
Speaker B:I mean, like, if I have to be completely honest with you, you know, it's close to my house.
Speaker B:You know, I, I have a lot of fondness for that place because, you know, I got my start in the business.
Speaker B:You know, I know it really well.
Speaker B:I know the superintendent really well.
Speaker B:I know, you know everybody there really well.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, like, I understand, I understand.
Speaker A:Do you, do you work a couple days a week at, here at OGA and then work from home?
Speaker A:Is that your schedule or are you here every day?
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's, you know, I work from home a couple days a week, depending on where we are in the season.
Speaker B:You know, I think, you know, from my standpoint, we travel so much, so, you know, I'm never either at home or in the office most of the time.
Speaker A:Well, you're always a guy on the go, Brent.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker B:We certainly are.
Speaker A:We got about a minute left.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What is one thing that.
Speaker A:And we're going to get into more of these types of questions in the after hours, but what's one thing you would think or hope that the USGA would look at as far as rules that would help in a competition?
Speaker B:Well, it's something that's going down that road and I'm really excited to see exactly where that's going to go.
Speaker B:But I would say the scorecard in scoring has always been something that's been awkward.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:When somebody signs for a number that's wrong or they don't sign up there, they don't, they don't sign their name on a scorecard and there's always these little small issues and once it's returned, then they can't really come back and fix it.
Speaker B:And so it puts us in an awkward spot that they get disqualified or, you know, other bad ramifications happen.
Speaker B:Obviously, there's been a new policy that the PGA Tour and the USJ put in place.
Speaker B:It's their 15 minute rule or policy.
Speaker B:We at the association has adopted it.
Speaker B:But I know that's on the on is something that the USJ is working on.
Speaker B:So I'm kind of excited about what that looks like and I'm really hopeful that they clean that up because I think that's always something from a golfer standpoint and from a committee standpoint, it's a tough one to deal with is disqualifying a player.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Brent Whitaker, senior director of Championships at oga.
Speaker A:Thanks, buddy.
Speaker A:I appreciate it.
Speaker B:You bet.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yeah, a couple of things.
Speaker A:We've got Charlie Reimer coming up in the next couple weeks and we've got Bob Herring is going to give us his take on the Ryder cup, that thing.
Speaker A:And we'll just leave my statement at that.
Speaker A:That was really interesting.
Speaker A:And a couple more folks coming your way.
Speaker A:So until then, go out, play some golf, have some fun and be kind.
Speaker A:Take care, everybody.
Speaker B:Grilling at the Green is produced by.
Speaker A:JTSD Productions, LLC in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserved.
