Danielle Ammaccapane - Founder and President of the Infinity Women’s Golf Tour
The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the introduction of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour, an innovative venture spearheaded by renowned LPGA Tour player Danielle Ammaccapane. In a comprehensive dialogue, we delve into the motivations behind establishing this tour, which seeks to provide a platform for female golfers to continue their careers in a less pressurized environment compared to the traditional circuits. Ammaccapane elucidates her vision of creating an engaging and entertaining atmosphere, which aims to revive the joy of the sport that she believes has become overly serious. She further discusses the structure of the tour, which includes a unique drafting system and guaranteed contracts for players, thus ensuring financial stability while promoting competition. We invite listeners to explore the dynamic nature of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour and its potential to reshape the landscape of women’s professional golf.
Links referenced in this episode:
- paintedhillsbeef.com
- squaresgolf.com
- infinitywomensgolftour.com
- birdieball.com
- pigpowder.com
- westonkia.com
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Golf News Network
- Infinity Women's Golf Tour
- LPGA Tour
- Westin
- Weston Kia
- Squares Golf Shoes
- Epson Tour
- Korn Ferry Tour
- Christy Kerr's Kerr Cellar wines
- Pig Powder
- Birdie Ball
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, here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Here in Portland and, and in Pennsylvania and in Texas and all over, and especially on the Golf News Network.
Speaker B:I'm jt, your host.
Speaker B:How's your golf game this week?
Speaker B:If it's like mine, we've got snow, so it's.
Speaker B:Nothing's going on there.
Speaker B:Really fortunate to have Daniela Amak.
Speaker B:As soon as I thought about saying it, I said it wrong.
Speaker B:Amakapani, is that right?
Speaker C:Yeah, Danielle Amakapani.
Speaker B:Danielle Amakapani.
Speaker B:I'm sorry about that, but I got tongue tied, which is not, not good for somebody in my business.
Speaker B:Anyway, Danielle is a LPGA Tour player.
Speaker B:I believe she won seven tournaments.
Speaker B:A lot of top 25s, a lot of top tens, and she lives in Scottsdale.
Speaker B:And she started something new, as you heard us talk about, if you were listening off the air, she is the founder and president of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour.
Speaker B:Danielle, welcome.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:Nice to have, Nice to be on with you.
Speaker B:Oh, I appreciate that.
Speaker B:We'll talk more about your tour career and stuff in one of the later segments, but we talked a few times off the air.
Speaker B:And would you please tell us about the Infinity Woman's Golf Tour and why you were so instrumental and had so much perseverance in making this happen?
Speaker C:Well, I, I don't think there's a, you know, there's no surprise to this.
Speaker C:So the men have always had the, you know, the Champions Tour, and that was the, that was the way for them to continue their career after they were leaving the pga.
Speaker C:And everybody knows that the women have never had anything like that.
Speaker C:So really this was that.
Speaker C:It started as just that, and then it kind of morphed itself into what it is now, which is really kind of cool.
Speaker C:So that's how it started.
Speaker C:Right now we're running with two leagues, so I am doing all the ages.
Speaker C:So we're going to have 21 to 39, and then we're going to have a league for 40 and older.
Speaker C:And girls are going to be on teams.
Speaker C:They're going to get drafted to be on teams.
Speaker C:They're going to be like some mid season trades.
Speaker C:We're going to have some individual play, some team play, and we're going to have girls miked up for some reality.
Speaker C:We're going to do betting real time.
Speaker C:Betting we're going to have.
Speaker C:Oh my God, we're going to have so much stuff from trying to think all the things, oh, we're going to have nightly entertainment, we're going to have concerts and just so much fun.
Speaker C:This is, this is going to be a place for the ladies to showcase their golf without the stress of, you know, the LPGA and what that represents and all.
Speaker C:And I did that for 20 years and I loved it.
Speaker C:And I traveled all over the world and, you know, wouldn't have traded that for anything.
Speaker C:But the women just didn't have anything to transition into.
Speaker C:And I just wanted something fun and light hearted and a way for them to showcase, you know, their golf because they're really good and nobody gets to see it and they don't get to see their personalities.
Speaker C:And now we're going to be able to showcase that and you will be able to get up and close and personal to the great, to the game that you used to watch and love.
Speaker B:I know I've covered LPGA golf here in Portland.
Speaker B:What it's this year, it's the Standard Classic, but the Portland Classic, you know, I won there.
Speaker B:Yes, I do know that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And you know, it's so much different than covering a PGA Tour event.
Speaker B:You know, you don't want to disturb anybody during the round, but you can feel free to walk up to the ladies after the round or even on the, on the practice range or whatever and they're very willing to talk to you.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker C:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:On the other, ladies are a little more engaging sometimes.
Speaker C:I'm not going to say that the men aren't.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:But you know, they play for a lot of money and, and I think the other thing that I wanted to incorporate was the fact that I feel like golf in a hole on all sides has gotten too serious and, and I always felt like when I started my career and it was my job to entertain not only with my golf game, but to, you know, to entertain the fans and be, you know, fun and things like that.
Speaker C:But I just feel like somewhere along the line the game just got so serious.
Speaker C:And I think it's because the money, you know, went on a rise and everybody thought, oh, I gotta like, work out now, and I gotta have my trainer and my head coach and my.
Speaker B:And all my chef and everybody and.
Speaker C:Everything, you know, and it just, it seemed like it just got too serious.
Speaker C:And I just don't think that's what golf was meant to be.
Speaker C:You know, back in the day when you had Lee Trevino and Chichi Rodriguez and they were doing their thing.
Speaker C:I mean, that's what we need to bring that fun back to golf.
Speaker C:And that's what I want to do.
Speaker B:I know that like on the guys tour they are, they're suffering from some television ratings.
Speaker B:Part of, part of it is Tiger's not playing much anymore, if at all.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:That being said, we all knew that day was coming.
Speaker B:But they don't interact with people like you say.
Speaker B:There's not any levity in it.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:They're winning tremendous amounts of money and more power to them for that.
Speaker B:If you can play at that elite level, go for it.
Speaker B:Yeah, but I think me being in the media, media business, I can actually say it's not that entertaining to watch.
Speaker B:I, I personally like to watch the LPGA Tour tournaments better.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, like that.
Speaker C:Yeah, I completely agree with you.
Speaker C:And that was the whole reason for us kind of doing this.
Speaker C:This was, this was what I really kind of wanted to do.
Speaker C:I wanted to bring that fun and entertain entertainment part back.
Speaker C:And that's, I'm really calling it almost like an entertainment tour.
Speaker C:This really is going to be kind of fun.
Speaker C:You know, we might even have girls who you've never even heard before who say to themselves, you know what, I can try out for that tour and I might be able to make it.
Speaker C:And you might see the next greatest 40 year old that you've never seen on any tour at all.
Speaker C:And she might be the most fun person you've ever seen.
Speaker C:And it just could just be this door could open up to so many other gals that don't have the opportunity to play any of those other tours and that maybe we're looking for the next star, you know, and who's to say that we couldn't have celebrities and we can't have influencers play and all that.
Speaker C:We're sure we can.
Speaker C:We can have all those.
Speaker B:Well, if you're creating it, you can do what you want.
Speaker C:Well, we are going to have them.
Speaker C:We've already created and that's exactly what.
Speaker B:We'Re going to do.
Speaker B:No, I think that's good.
Speaker B:And I, and you touched on earlier that the entertainment factor is so important.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's.
Speaker B:They, you go to a tournament and yeah, it's kind of cool to see the top players and you see this and you see the Titleist trailer or whatever if you've never seen that stuff before.
Speaker B:But it's not that entertaining unless you're just a die hard golf fanatic, you know, but in something.
Speaker B:What you're talking about, it's a little more enticing to the general public, too, because, you know, people that are over 40 have heard about Julie Inkster or Christie or whoever you get to play.
Speaker B:I know you got those in your press release.
Speaker B:You said you had those ladies signed up and a couple other ones.
Speaker B:But it might be fun, you know, it might be fun listening to Christy Kerr talk about her wineries, you know, her vineyards.
Speaker C:Hey, we're going to have Christy Kerr's Kerr Cellar wines.
Speaker C:We are going to have those at our events.
Speaker C:And, you know, she's going to be available to talk to people and.
Speaker C:And, you know, it's not that I'm not a truest of the game.
Speaker C:I love the game.
Speaker C:I've always loved.
Speaker C:Yeah, I've always loved the game, and I love everything about the game, how honest you have to be, and everything's on, you know, and I love that there's just a.
Speaker C:It's the coolest sport, and I'm not trying to do anything to change that.
Speaker C:I feel like golf has kind of gotten.
Speaker C:Like I said, I think it's just a little too serious, maybe a little too stuffy, and the fans really want to be engaged, and they're helping us see where golf needs to go.
Speaker C:And I think this is what we're doing.
Speaker C:I think we are taking it where the market wants it.
Speaker B:How long did it take you to come up with the components?
Speaker B:I mean, did you just sit down one day with a legal patent to this, or had you been.
Speaker B:I'm sure you'd been thinking about it over the years.
Speaker B:This isn't.
Speaker B:You don't do something like this on a whim.
Speaker C:No, you don't.
Speaker C:I've been working on it for a couple years, and.
Speaker C:And it's been.
Speaker C:A lot of stuff has been tossed around.
Speaker C:I met a gentleman by the name of Ty Twine, who is now the CEO and commissioner of this tour.
Speaker C:He is the first black male man to ever be the CEO or commissioner of a women's sports organization.
Speaker C:And he was just put on the COVID of a magazine.
Speaker C:It's going to be on two magazines, I think one now on Formidable.
Speaker C:But he is.
Speaker C:He is brilliant.
Speaker C:He put all of this together with my help and really created something special.
Speaker C:And he took all my.
Speaker C:All my ideas that I wanted incorporated into this.
Speaker C:This really cool two league kind of tour, and.
Speaker C:And everything that we're doing.
Speaker C:And I'm just.
Speaker C:I'm thrilled.
Speaker C:I'm thrilled with the product.
Speaker C:He really did something special.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back with Daniela Amakapani.
Speaker B:Did I say it right that time?
Speaker C:Danielle?
Speaker B:Okay, Danielle.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I'm getting there.
Speaker B:By the time the show's over, I'll have it anyway.
Speaker B:We'll be back.
Speaker C:Daniela, if that's the worst thing, I get called, there's no problems.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:We'll be back in a couple minutes.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody.
Speaker D:JT here, you know, every week on Grilling at the Green bring you a travel tip and that is brought to you by the Westin dealerships.
Speaker D:I've known those guys since I was a kid, and they have one way of doing business.
Speaker D:It's called the Weston Way.
Speaker D:It's family oriented, and there's no better people to deal with.
Speaker D:Check out Weston Kia on Southeast Stark in Gresham, Oregon.
Speaker B:Hi, this is Brendan Deyong, and you're listening to Jeff on Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm JT Today we've got Danielle Amakapani with us today.
Speaker B:She is the president and founder of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour.
Speaker B:Besides being a tour player on the LPGA with seven wins and a ton of top tens and top 25s, this is the part of the show, Danielle, where we, we asked people for a travel tip.
Speaker B:You're a world traveler.
Speaker B:I know this.
Speaker B:Most people will say, like, you know, I put my extra sweatshirts or whatever in my golf bag.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:But, but one of the things that I encourage people to give their thoughts on is comfort, especially when you're flying on very long flights.
Speaker B:I've been a world traveler, too, and those long flights can be killers.
Speaker B:So when you got on those planes, what, what was the first thing you did?
Speaker B:Did you make a little nest in your seat or.
Speaker C:Well, it certainly depended on what class I was flying.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker C:So if I was ever going first class, I knew that they were going to have all the amenities for me to be comfortable.
Speaker C:But if I flew anything else, I kind of had to bring those things with me.
Speaker C:But most certainly I had to have something to put my head on, you know, had, you know, I had a pillow of some sort.
Speaker C:A very small travel pillow was always my favorite thing to travel with.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Sometimes I get cold on the airplanes.
Speaker C:Always either a blanket or an extra sweatshirt, something like that.
Speaker C:And then I always try to travel with something thing to support my back in the seat so that, you know, my back didn't bother me so much when I would get up or at the end of that flight.
Speaker B:Yeah, no, those are good tips because.
Speaker C:Oh, and food.
Speaker C:You always got to make sure you got food.
Speaker B:You got to have food.
Speaker B:That food.
Speaker B:That food is.
Speaker B:The cost of the food is directly proportional to what part of the airport you're in once you get through security.
Speaker B:You talk about inflation.
Speaker B:The food prices go up there at.
Speaker B:That they do at the Hudson stores or whatever.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:So let's.
Speaker B:And let's go back to the Infinity Women's Golf Tour.
Speaker B:How has the reception been for it?
Speaker B:I mean, you got to get the players first before you.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Do that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I have a whole bunch of ladies who've.
Speaker C:Who've, you know, signed some letter.
Speaker C:Letters of intent that say, I'd like to be a part of this.
Speaker C:I've got a.
Speaker C:I got a boatload of those.
Speaker C:I don't know that I'm really going to have all that hard of a time finding the talent.
Speaker C:I think these girls are starved for something.
Speaker C:I think they.
Speaker C:They want to play, and I think they're going to.
Speaker C:They're really going to enjoy what we're doing.
Speaker C:I mean, we're.
Speaker C:It's unprecedented.
Speaker C:We are offering, and this is the first ever guaranteed contracts.
Speaker C:So when.
Speaker C:When those girls get drafted, those five girls on the team, those five girls are going to have guaranteed money to show up and play, and then we're going to play for some individual money and we're going to play for some team money.
Speaker C:So this is, I think, something that the ladies are going to love.
Speaker B:Oh, cool.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:Are you.
Speaker B:Are you going to play?
Speaker C:I'm going to play a little bit this year, and I'll tell you a little bit about what we're doing later here this year, but come next year when we launch here in the United States.
Speaker C:I'm not going to play.
Speaker C:I don't want to take a spot away from a gal who's.
Speaker C:Could potentially be make, you know, earning some sort of a living money, you know, And I just feel like, you know, it's.
Speaker C:I'm going to have so much to do.
Speaker C:I just don't know that I can do both.
Speaker C:And I don't think it would be fun for me.
Speaker B:Well, where are you going to start?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So this year, we partnered with the United Nations.
Speaker C:We have six countries that we're going to visit, and they have an initiative to empower women through sports, and they're using our tour as a vehicle to do that.
Speaker C:And so we're honored to travel to these six countries and get the word out about women and, you know, equality and all this kind of stuff that we are, you know, all about anyways, and.
Speaker C:And it helps us kind of get the brand out there before we actually launch next year here in the United States.
Speaker C:And we will play 10 tournaments next year with a tour champion.
Speaker C:So really 11 events.
Speaker B:Oh, that's cool.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Are there any countries that you.
Speaker B:You never played in but wanted to.
Speaker B:That you're going to be.
Speaker C:Yeah, so we are actually going to some countries that I'm super excited about that I've never been.
Speaker C:So we do have our dates locked in for.
Speaker C:We're going to Tuscany, Italy, in May, May 19th.
Speaker C:So I'm really excited about that.
Speaker C:And then we'll start up again in June.
Speaker C:We'll have off in July, we'll kick back up again.
Speaker C:And I believe I may get these countries not in the right order, but we will play one a month.
Speaker C:And we're going to be going to, I believe, Spain and then Abu Dhabi, and we're going to go to Rio de Janeiro, and then we're going to go to Marrakesh, and then we're going to finish up in the United States and Florida in November.
Speaker B:Do you need a media hack to go with you to help you with this stuff?
Speaker C:I know everybody's, everybody's volunteering because they all want to go.
Speaker B:I bet.
Speaker B:I bet.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I've been to a couple of those.
Speaker C:Places, but Rio's probably one of the ones that I've.
Speaker C:It was really on my bucket list.
Speaker C:It just looks like a really fun city.
Speaker C:So I'm excited to, to go there.
Speaker B:I wouldn't mind going to Marrakesh.
Speaker C:Yeah, Marrakesh, I think, is going to be pretty neat as well.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I've been to the Middle east, but I, I've.
Speaker B:I was working, you might say, and so I, I couldn't get around to see a lot of things, but, yeah, that, that's kind of fun.
Speaker B:Is.
Speaker B:Have you had any pushback on this at all?
Speaker B:I can't imagine.
Speaker C:I'm sorry.
Speaker C:Yeah, I didn't answer your question earlier.
Speaker C:So we launched just in January of 16, January 16th.
Speaker C:You know, word get out pretty quickly what we were doing, and I haven't, I haven't had anybody good.
Speaker C:It's been really, really well received.
Speaker C:Everybody's loving it.
Speaker C:Everybody thinks it's great.
Speaker C:You know, a lot of gals have thanked me for doing this and, you know, and I'm happy to help.
Speaker C:And like I said, you know, this kind of fell in my lap and I just ran with it.
Speaker C:I was like, this is.
Speaker C:We need this.
Speaker C:So we need this.
Speaker C:And this is.
Speaker C:This is important.
Speaker C:So women's sports is on a rise.
Speaker C:This is perfect.
Speaker C:The timing of it is perfect.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think so.
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker B:And I, you know, I've been a big proponent.
Speaker B:Not that it matters to most people, but I really have been a big proponent of women in sports and wants to see them succeed and go further.
Speaker B:A lot of talented folks, and I've said this, too, if you get a chance to play in a Pro am or anything with the tour players, don't think you can beat them.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Just do yourself that favor, lower your expectations, and have a good time that day.
Speaker C:Yeah, it's.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker C:It is funny.
Speaker C:All my male friends that I play golf with and stuff, they all say the same thing.
Speaker C:It's like, because they can relate to the swing speed and how far we're hitting it and all of that.
Speaker C:And of course, the men, you know, they're driving it so far you can't even see it.
Speaker C:But it's, you know, it's impressive, and it's fun to watch them live as well.
Speaker C:But if you're looking to learn how to do something.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think they always look to the women.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the women have always been more outgoing.
Speaker B:As far as.
Speaker B:If you ask for help, though.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:You probably more relatable to the average golfer, you know, not exactly, but it's more relatable.
Speaker B:Anyway, Danielle and I are going to take another break, and we're going to be back here on grilling at the Green in just a moment.
Speaker B:Stay with us.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, it's jt.
Speaker D:You know, I talk about painted hills all the time, and we always say beef the way nature intended.
Speaker D:But it's more than that because each bite of painted hills will make your taste buds explode.
Speaker D:Put a big, bright smile on your face, and whoever's at your dinner table will have a big, bright smile on their face.
Speaker D:And you can thank me for that later.
Speaker D:Just go to paintedhillsbeef.com and find out more.
Speaker B:You won't regret it.
Speaker B:Welcome back to grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:We'd like to thank Squares golf shoes.
Speaker B:I've got a couple of pairs of squares, and so does the crew on the TV show, and they're very comfortable for me, when you get old, your foot gets stupid.
Speaker B:And so I found that they helped me actually stand up.
Speaker B:So go to squaresgolf.com and check them out.
Speaker B:We've got Danielle, Makapani, I say it slow, people, because I don't want to hose it up here.
Speaker B:Anyway, as I told you, Danielle's the president of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour, but she was also a touring pro on the LPGA for a long time.
Speaker B:And like I said, at the top, you had seven wins.
Speaker B:I don't know where all my notes went, but you had a bunch of top tens, and you had even more top 25s.
Speaker B:What do you think?
Speaker B:I mean, it.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You made a nice life for yourself with that, and you got to do something you wanted to do.
Speaker B:But how did that kind of mold you into getting to where you are now with the Infinity Tour?
Speaker C:Well, I mean, I don't know.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:I just know that I know golf and I know I've traveled a lot.
Speaker C:So, like, when we start to travel and, and do things, you know, it.
Speaker C:It'll be easier, sure.
Speaker C:But, you know, it's just.
Speaker C:It's golf in the end.
Speaker C:It's, it's.
Speaker C:It's nothing too serious.
Speaker C:We're gonna go hit that white ball around a golf course somewhere around the world and around this country, and we're going to entertain folks, and they're going to come watch us and get to know us a little bit better and.
Speaker C:And have some fun doing it.
Speaker C:You know what I mean?
Speaker C:That's really what.
Speaker C:What it's all about.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I love my time on the LPGA Tour.
Speaker C:I really did.
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:If it wasn't for the fact that I traveled all over, I never would have met the people that I did.
Speaker C:And I, you know, I'm grateful for that opportunity.
Speaker C:It does.
Speaker C:It brings me full circle, brings me right here, right now.
Speaker C:This is, this is what I was meant to be doing.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:Couple of tour related questions.
Speaker B:And what was the.
Speaker B:The most fun you had on the tour?
Speaker B:What's something you looked forward to at every event, every week when you were on the tour that, you know, yeah, you played golf and that's what you did for a living and you enjoyed that.
Speaker B:But there was.
Speaker B:Must have been something always fun that you looked at.
Speaker C:Well, there, you know, it was kind of neat because we, we used to go to places that, you know, that was your chance to go and sightsee and see, like, where you're at and visit and tour and tour around and do things like that.
Speaker C:So, you know, for me, I took the opportunity either Monday or Tuesday, depending on if I knew the golf course or not.
Speaker C:I might go and go to the beach.
Speaker C:I might go, you know, to a museum.
Speaker C:I might Go do whatever it was that, you know, might be some touristy things around in that area and just kind of, you know, do some fun things like that.
Speaker C:I always used to like to do that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:What was the favorite thing you got to do when you came to Portland?
Speaker C:In Portland?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Win the tournament.
Speaker C:I used to love it up there.
Speaker C:I'm not kidding you.
Speaker C:I always got the best feeling when I was up there.
Speaker C:The pint, the tall pine trees, and the way the air used to smell.
Speaker C:It always used to smell so clean and fresh, and it just.
Speaker C:I just loved it up there.
Speaker C:It just had a serene kind of a feeling to me.
Speaker C:I always felt very calm, and I did.
Speaker C:I always loved that area.
Speaker C:I always used to play really good up in Portland and Seattle and, you know, as far as getting out and stuff like that, Downtown Portland used to be a lot of fun to go and hang out down in there.
Speaker C:There used to be some spots.
Speaker C:Long, long time ago.
Speaker C:I don't really know what it's like now, but.
Speaker C:But, you know, I wouldn't venture too far.
Speaker C:And there were some things I did want to do there that I didn't get to do.
Speaker C:Like I wanted to go water rafting, but I felt like that might be a little too dangerous.
Speaker B:Oh, well, they.
Speaker B:You know, I don't know how it was then, but now they.
Speaker B:They get y'all suited up and helmeted up and all that stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Back in those days, they probably just stuck in a raft with it with a guide and a couple other people and said, there you go.
Speaker B:But there's a lot of that up here.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, it's all good.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we have great seafood up here.
Speaker C:Yes, you do.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So that's a big thing for me, too, you know, because I come from the food background, you know, eating at good restaurants and always eating good food was always.
Speaker C:Was always a challenge for me.
Speaker C:Maybe I'm just a little too jaded or just a little too picky, but I always, always wanted to eat good food, and I was always looking for the best restaurants.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I don't blame you there.
Speaker B:How did you know?
Speaker B:You've been off tour for a while now.
Speaker B:Um, how do you think it is?
Speaker B:Changed.
Speaker C:It's changed a lot of ways.
Speaker C:Oh, well, I mean, I think it's too serious, like I said before.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think there's a lot of.
Speaker C:I think there's just too much of that kind of going on.
Speaker C:That.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker C:That's the biggest change that I see.
Speaker C:I Don't know if the girls look like they're having as much fun as they could, you know, but I'm not there.
Speaker C:I'm not behind the scenes, you know, I can't.
Speaker C:I can't kind of see what's really kind of happening.
Speaker C:They're playing for a lot more money.
Speaker C:They're, you know, the game, the equipment's changed, really.
Speaker C:I mean, there's so much has changed.
Speaker C:They've stretched out the golf courses now.
Speaker C:There's a lot of stuff.
Speaker C:But I really felt like I played in the most fun era, though.
Speaker B:I bet you did.
Speaker B:I bet you did feel that way.
Speaker B:I know that there's a lot more media focus on the LPGA tour.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Of course, with social media and stuff, we're all either proponents or victims of that, but, you know, there, there's a lot of that.
Speaker B:But I, I think that's a good thing for the ladies to do that.
Speaker B:And I, and I'm glad to see the money.
Speaker B:You know, there's been some incredible jumps in the money the last couple years, and I, I think that's a good thing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker C:That's never a bad thing.
Speaker C:No, never.
Speaker C:No, that's never a bad thing.
Speaker C:The media and the coverage and all of that is all improved.
Speaker C:And it's all.
Speaker C:You do know the ladies better than you did before.
Speaker C:And because of that and social media and then the ladies, they're branding their own branding of themselves.
Speaker C:They can do all of that now where we, you know, we didn't have that, that wasn't available to us when we were, you know, you had to get agents and do all of that, and it just, everything moved at a slower pace now.
Speaker C:Everything moves so quickly.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, it really does.
Speaker B:You know, it's interesting when you, when you, when you talk about the tours and stuff, Danielle, that they've got the, the Epson Tour, which is their feeder tour, if you will, there.
Speaker B:But again, Epson Tour does not get near the coverage as the Korn Ferry Tour does for the guys.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Oh, God.
Speaker B:But if you go watch an Epson Tour event and you, you know, they have those events and sometimes you don't even know they're in town or if they're within a 50 mile radius of you because they've had a couple up here and, hell, I didn't know they were here.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I do this stuff.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:But again, you can go out and see those tours and see some really great golf.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:By the ladies.
Speaker B:And on those tours, they're liable to come sit down and eat a hamburger with you at the table, you know.
Speaker C:Well, and those are the kind of gals that we're looking for over here.
Speaker C:You know what we're doing?
Speaker C:We're just offering another.
Speaker C:Another place for these ladies to play.
Speaker C:You know, if they don't get on the Epson Tour, maybe they come play with us.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And just another opportunity is really what we're.
Speaker C:We're showcasing both for the ladies over 40 and the younger gals who may not be able to get on the Epson Tour.
Speaker C:We can certainly.
Speaker C:We can certainly accommodate them over where we are.
Speaker B:Are you looking to do.
Speaker B:Excuse me.
Speaker B:Any.
Speaker B:As you progress, do some television coverage?
Speaker C:Oh, yeah, we're going to be streaming.
Speaker C:Yeah, we're going to be streaming right away.
Speaker C:Yep, we have all that in.
Speaker C:That's all almost done.
Speaker B:Oh, good for you.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Congratulations.
Speaker B:What's one thing on your to do list as far as the Infinity Tour that you can tell me without giving any trade secrets away, but that you still got a couple things to check the box on?
Speaker C:Well, I haven't secured all the players, and I don't have, you know, right now I don't have a schedule for next year, so I don't have golf courses set up yet, and I don't have a schedule for next year.
Speaker C:So those, those are coming, like, pretty quickly here.
Speaker C:We're getting ready to.
Speaker C:Because we've been so busy with the United nations for this year, we're going to start getting.
Speaker C:Getting ready for next year and start to put together a schedule.
Speaker B:Are you actually going out and doing site visits?
Speaker C:Yeah, we're going to do that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:So can I go to Marrakesh and do your site visit with you?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:That has nothing to do with the Infinity Tours.
Speaker C:This is just for the United nations, but a way for us to get our brand out there as well.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Next year when we play, we will be just here in the United States playing and you know, where in the country.
Speaker C:I haven't.
Speaker C:I have my thoughts about where I'd like to maybe go, but, gosh, we just.
Speaker C:We have to secure those golf courses in the dates, and I don't have any of that secured yet.
Speaker B:We'll see if you can come up to the Northwest.
Speaker C:I'd love to.
Speaker C:I love it up there.
Speaker C:I would love to.
Speaker C:There's a lot of great golf courses in the, you know, in and around Portland.
Speaker B:We're going to take another break here.
Speaker B:And who did I forget to mention?
Speaker B:Oh, yes, pig powder.
Speaker B:The best powder rub on the planet.
Speaker B:That's what it was voted and I can verify that because I use it on lots of things.
Speaker B:My co partner and co conspirator on the barbecue show, Nan Whipping, that's her dad's recipe.
Speaker B:So all you gotta do is go to pigpowder.com Danielle and I will be back in a minute, wrap up this show and she is going to stick around for after hours, play victim for a few minutes with us.
Speaker B:We'll be right back.
Speaker D:Hey everybody, JT here.
Speaker D:If you need something to practice with in the inclement weather, try birdie ball.
Speaker D:Go to birdieball.com check out actual birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which.
Speaker B:I happen to have a couple of.
Speaker D:Those and they work great.
Speaker B:Birdieball.com welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm J.T.
Speaker B:by the way.
Speaker B:Happy Valentine's Day.
Speaker C:Yes, same to everybody out there.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then Monday's President's Day.
Speaker B:So you kind of got a four day weekend, more or less.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker C:Sure do.
Speaker B:We're talking with Daniel Amaka now.
Speaker B:See, I did it again.
Speaker B:I, I actually know how to say it.
Speaker B:Danielle, I am so sorry but you're not the first one that I've ever had a difficulty with like that.
Speaker B:Anyway, Danielle is the founder and president of the Infinity Women's Golf Tour that' launching around the world this year and be in the States coming soon to a city near you, I hope like that.
Speaker B:What's your long term goal with this?
Speaker B:Do you see this going on for 10, 15, 20, 30 years?
Speaker B:What?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we, we are going to franchise this business model and we're in the works of doing that presently.
Speaker C: So we're going to play in: Speaker C: just in the United States in: Speaker C:Four other countries.
Speaker C:The year after that we'll launch another four and year after that I think another two.
Speaker C:So we are truly looking to get close to 10 countries to have the same model and then at the end of that we are going to have a true world championship.
Speaker B:Well, there you go.
Speaker C:We're going to take the best of the best from the world and we're all going to play.
Speaker B:I love that idea.
Speaker B:Is that when a country gets a franchise, whoever purchases it and does that.
Speaker C:But yeah, franchise, you know, we'll, we'll franchise it out and the model will stay the same.
Speaker C:They can tweak it however we decide they can do that, but they'll get their own players from their own countries to play.
Speaker C:And, and then like I said once we kind of have enough countries.
Speaker C:We can have a real world championship.
Speaker B:Is it going to be.
Speaker B:Will they be doing one tournament or a series of tournaments?
Speaker C:They'll do their own.
Speaker C:They'll formulate their own schedule, like their own schedule and however many they want to play and their money and all that, how much that they play for and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Well, people from, like, somebody from the States.
Speaker B:Could they go play in Brazil or whatever and.
Speaker B:Or would they have to be invited?
Speaker C:Well, no, I think.
Speaker C:I think the whole point of that is to.
Speaker C:To allow the ladies from their own country to play in their own.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Kind of very developmental in a way.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:If you want to play in the United States, you would play with us here.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Well, people will ask me or they'll send me emails, so I want to.
Speaker B:I want to ask.
Speaker C:You know, we're starting with 40 next year in each league, so we'll have 80 girls total.
Speaker C:But that is going to change.
Speaker C:We know that, you know, the following year we may.
Speaker C:We may be double that.
Speaker C:We may be 80 in each league.
Speaker C:You know, we may be expanding very quickly because if we want to accommodate as many players as we possibly can.
Speaker B:Tell me about the trades.
Speaker B:This is sounding like NFL and stuff and Major League Baseball.
Speaker B:Put somebody out of waivers, get them out of here.
Speaker C:We're going to do something called a mid season trade.
Speaker C:So maybe after five tournaments, if another team captain says, hey, I'd like to have that player on that other team, well, then they can negotiate that.
Speaker C:That trade and, and see how that goes.
Speaker C:And then we also have that fifth player when we start doing our team play, that fifth player that's sitting out.
Speaker C:If that team captain says, hey, I'd like to sub in that fifth player and take another girl out, well, she.
Speaker C:She'll be able to do that after nine holes.
Speaker B:I see.
Speaker B:So what?
Speaker B:So, I mean, I'm laughing because I'm thinking of a scenario like I was thinking back in school, and it's like we always had one kid that got stuck on a team, but nobody wanted them, you know, and they tried to trade him off to another team.
Speaker B:Nobody.
Speaker C:It is pretty funny how that kind of, you know, you could kind of think that way.
Speaker C:But they're all together on a team.
Speaker C:They're all getting, you know, guaranteed money to play or not play.
Speaker C:And to encourage, you know, to help their team, they can go out there and cheer them on and do whatever they want to do, then get in a cart and go follow them around and, and, you know, it just, just.
Speaker C:We're going to have lasers.
Speaker C:We're not going to really have caddies.
Speaker C:It's going to be, It'll.
Speaker C:It'll really be different, you know?
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So are they.
Speaker B:You said you have letters of intent, and that's good, but are they going to be still independent contractors like they are on the other tours?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:These ladies will be able to grow their brand and do whatever they like to do.
Speaker C:The guaranteed money just means that they have to play in all those events.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:Because we are paying them to be there.
Speaker C:Aside from that, they can do.
Speaker C:They can grow their brands, they can have sponsors.
Speaker C:We can help them with that.
Speaker C:They can do it on their own.
Speaker C:All of that can be done.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:And where can they, where can folks find out about this?
Speaker B:Danielle?
Speaker B:So you have a website or.
Speaker C:Yeah, just.
Speaker C:They can.
Speaker C:You can certainly email me at.
Speaker C:Danielle@infinitywomensgolf door.com infinity women's golf.
Speaker C:Yeah, I mean, you just go to the website infinitywomensgolfdoor.com so, okay, you want to go to the website, you can contact us there.
Speaker C:And they can certainly find me at that email as well.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we're, we're excited.
Speaker C:We're super excited.
Speaker C:I'm, I'm thrilled.
Speaker C:I wish we were moving faster, but Ty is one person and he is, he's doing it all himself, but moving at a rapid pace.
Speaker B:No, I think it's great.
Speaker B:And I, and I commend you for, you know, trying to create this.
Speaker B:Well, you not trying.
Speaker B:You have created it, but it's, it's a big job.
Speaker B:But seeing your vision come to fruition, that's a great thing, Danielle.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:You know, I, I was talking to another gal and by the name of Jane Geddes, who has been on the LPGA for a long time.
Speaker C:And, you know, she's won a few majors and stuff.
Speaker C:And I, I, and I said to her, I go, you know, I didn't win any majors, but I said, this kind of feel that, this.
Speaker C:Putting this together kind of feels like my major, and it feels really rewarding and it feels special.
Speaker B:Good for you.
Speaker B:Well, and congratulations.
Speaker B:Well, we're going to get out of here.
Speaker B:Danielle and I are.
Speaker B:We're going to do after hours, but don't forget, you can go to infinitywomensgolf.com is that correct?
Speaker C:Infinitywomensgolftour.com tour.com there you go.
Speaker B:And find out more about it.
Speaker B:And I look forward to talking to you more about this in the future as things really start rolling.
Speaker C:Yeah, that'd be great.
Speaker B:Okay, we're gonna be back next week with another edition of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Until then, go out, play some golf, stay warm.
Speaker B:If you live up here in the northwest, a little chilly right now, but go out there.
Speaker B:But most of all, be kind.
Speaker B:Take care, everybody.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is produced by JTSD Productions, llc, in association with Salem Media Group.
Speaker A:All rights reserve.
