Danielle Ammaccapane - Founder and President of the Infinity Women’s Golf Tour - Afterhours
In this engaging episode of Grilling at the Green After Hours, we delve into a candid conversation with Danielle Ammaccapane, who shares her insights on the sport of golf and the nuances of her illustrious career. The dialogue traverses various topics, including the significance of mentorship in her life, particularly the influence of her coach, Bill Cornelius, and the pivotal role her parents played in her journey. We also explore the rules of golf that could benefit from modernization, such as the necessity of signing scorecards and the peculiar requirement to hit out of divots. Furthermore, Danielle reflects on her early experiences in golf and the evolution of her perspective on the game, emphasizing the joy and excitement that persist despite the passage of time. As we conclude, we invite our listeners to consider the importance of kindness and enjoyment in both golf and life.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Painted Hills natural beef
- Jack Nicklaus
- Nancy Lopez
- Bill Cornelius
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
Welcome to Grilling at the Green After Hours.
Speaker A:The conversation that took place after the show ended.
Speaker A:Hi, everybody.
Speaker A: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 Hill's natural beef.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to After Hours.
Speaker A:Here on Grilling at the Green, I am Jeff Tracy.
Speaker A:If you didn't know that, well, you probably didn't miss too much.
Speaker A:But I've been around for a while.
Speaker A:We've got.
Speaker A:I'm gonna see if I can get this right.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We've got Danielle Amakapani with us today.
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Hey, how about that?
Speaker A:See, I get to giggling, and then, hell, nothing works when I start laughing.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:And I'm laughing at myself.
Speaker A:I'm not laughing.
Speaker A:Anyway, Danielle decided to be brave and stick around for after Hours.
Speaker A:We'd never met before, and after.
Speaker A:After hours, who knows?
Speaker A:She may never want to talk to me again, but we'll see what we can do.
Speaker A:Are you ready?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, let's do it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:If you could play around a golf with one of your golfing heroes, and you played lots of rounds with lots of outstanding, heroic ladies and stuff, and probably some guys, too, but if you could play around a golf with one of your golfing heroes, who would it be?
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker B:I would love to play with Jack Nicklaus.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:If I had my druthers.
Speaker B:Yeah, I would love to.
Speaker B:You know, and, you know, Nancy Lopez, Jack Nicklaus.
Speaker B:Those were the ones that I really admired.
Speaker B:Of course, I got to play with Nancy Lopez, so that dream came true.
Speaker B:But Jack Nicklaus, that would have been cool.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Who was the biggest influence on you personally, in your life, personally?
Speaker B:Probably, you know, a couple folks I had, obviously, my parents, my mom, my dad, Laura and Ralph, and then my coach, Bill Cornelius, who passed away quite some time ago.
Speaker B:But he.
Speaker B:He really did kind of steer me in the right direction with my game and stuff.
Speaker B:And I, you know, I did the best that I.
Speaker B:I could.
Speaker B:I wasn't a very, you know, strong, you know, per little person, and I just kind of just took what he gave me, and I did it to the best of my ability, and I was lucky enough to win, you know, more than once, and.
Speaker B:And have a.
Speaker B:Have a pretty good career.
Speaker B:So I'm very thankful to Bill and my parents for, you know, allowing that to happen.
Speaker A:You had an excellent career.
Speaker A:Name something that you were really Enthused about when you first saw of it, saw it or heard of it.
Speaker A:And then with time, the excitement kind of fizzled.
Speaker A:This is about golf, of course.
Speaker B:Something that was exciting but then fizzled, huh?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I don't understand the question.
Speaker B:I don't think.
Speaker B:Let me think.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:You know, maybe like, you.
Speaker B:Are you thinking, like, maybe like travel, like, it was exciting and then it got kind of boring after.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, that first time you go to the airport and you get like.
Speaker B:The first time you went internationally on a first class, you know, plane, you're kind of doing that whole thing, and then after a while you're like, ah, this is not fun anymore.
Speaker A:Yeah, I got 17 hours to get there type thing.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:Like, I think that.
Speaker B:I think the whole stigma of it kind of wore off.
Speaker A:Okay, here's something you can relate to, I'm sure.
Speaker A:Danielle, if you were declared supreme ruler of golf for one day.
Speaker A:Day, what would you decree as supreme ruler?
Speaker B:That you don't have to hit it from the divot.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:How about that?
Speaker A:I like that.
Speaker A:Yeah, I like that.
Speaker A:What's the dumbest thing you ever saw happen when you were playing on tour?
Speaker A:Now, it could have been something you did or it could have been something another player did, or.
Speaker A:It doesn't matter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, the dumbest thing was I forgot to sign my scorecard.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:Walked out of the tent and.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know what happened there.
Speaker B:Solva.
Speaker B:Automatic disqualification.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, that was dumb.
Speaker A:How far did they let you get away?
Speaker B:I think about that all the time.
Speaker B:I got all the way up to the locker room before they came and chased me down.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker B:This was a long, long time ago.
Speaker B:You know, one of my first.
Speaker B:I don't know, a few years on tour.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it was.
Speaker B:It was a long time ago.
Speaker B:But, you know, that's probably something that probably doesn't need to have happen too.
Speaker B:Like, they probably don't need to sign their scorecards.
Speaker B:I mean, everybody knows what they shot right.
Speaker B:On television.
Speaker B:Everybody's like, why do you have to verify it?
Speaker A:Right, right, right.
Speaker B:You already know it, you know, and.
Speaker B:But yeah, that's probably.
Speaker B:That was not too smart on my part.
Speaker A:You know, you mentioned about hitting out of a divot, but are there other things that you think that maybe we could come into the 21st, 22nd century in golf rules?
Speaker A:Some of them.
Speaker B:Well, like I just said, I think those.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think those two things.
Speaker B:I think signing your scorecard and Maybe the.
Speaker B:The divot thing maybe could be a, you know, something that you could.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:X.
Speaker B:Those two things come to my mind.
Speaker A:Right away, how we're getting off the questions here, but that's okay.
Speaker A:Do you think we need to be rolling back golf balls and equipment?
Speaker B:You know, I thought about that the other day.
Speaker B:I heard it on the radio, and I don't know.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I don't know, because I.
Speaker B:I don't think that the game is, you know, they're talking about.
Speaker B:Because the land is.
Speaker B:Is getting too bright.
Speaker B:You can't keep stretching these golf courses out.
Speaker B:So what do you have to do to combat that?
Speaker B:You got to make them hit it shorter.
Speaker B:You know, if they hit it shorter, they're still going to all be in the same area.
Speaker B:So the same guys are hitting it.
Speaker B:They're either up here or they're back here, but they're all at the same area.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So I don't know that that really matters all that much.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And I don't know how that changes the game.
Speaker B:It just needs to be more fun, you know, wherever they're hitting it from and whatever they're doing, just enjoy it more and give the fans a little bit more, you know?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, I agree.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:Especially as for amateur players and weekend warriors and that.
Speaker A:I don't think you need to make it more difficult for them.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I think, you know, and with professional golf, you know, making a birdie these days isn't like when you were making a birdie like.
Speaker B:Like just when you go way back, you know, to where the game, like, making a birdie was something special.
Speaker B:Now it's almost like a given.
Speaker B:It's almost like a par.
Speaker B:And so, like, when you see these people, these guys, and they.
Speaker B:They make a birdie, and they can hardly, you know.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Get excited about it because it's.
Speaker B:It's like the norm.
Speaker B:It's like making a par for them.
Speaker B:There's no.
Speaker B:You know.
Speaker A:I understand.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know what I'm saying?
Speaker B:That's where I think the game is a little wonky for me.
Speaker A:Well, let me tell you, I still get excited when I make a.
Speaker A:I do, too, though.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't make that many either.
Speaker A:When you were on tour and there was a lengthy weather delay, lightning, rain, whatever, what did you do during the delay?
Speaker A:Did you.
Speaker A:Food.
Speaker A:Food.
Speaker A:Okay, I can dig that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Food, Food, food.
Speaker B:Eat.
Speaker B:Go inside and get warm and eat.
Speaker A:That's a good idea.
Speaker A:If you could dine with a historical figure, Daniel, who would it be?
Speaker A:And what would be on the menu?
Speaker A:It doesn't have to be related to golf.
Speaker A:Can be anybody.
Speaker B:It would be some sort of a chef that could cook me an amazing Italian meal.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:If I could.
Speaker B:If I.
Speaker B:There's so many chefs that I like.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:My dad was a chef.
Speaker B:I would love for.
Speaker B:I would.
Speaker B:I would love to.
Speaker B:For one of these fancy chefs to cook me an amazing Italian meal.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker A:Not Chef Boyardee.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:None of that.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Do you remember the first time you ever picked up a golf club?
Speaker B:Sure do.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I was 10 years old.
Speaker B:My dad took me to a driving range.
Speaker B:It was a lit up driving range here in Phoenix.
Speaker B:And we would go at night after dinner and we go hit balls, and I loved it.
Speaker B:And shortly after that, he asked me if I wanted to play a little tournament out here, and I wanted to play and kind of did that.
Speaker B:And then shortly after that, because I loved it, he's like, well, let's get some lessons.
Speaker B:And that's when I was introduced to Bill.
Speaker B:But I remember I was 10 years old and I went to a one month summer camp in Arizona.
Speaker B:You don't want to do that now.
Speaker A:No, you don't want to do that.
Speaker B:Oh, my God, it was awful.
Speaker B:But I was 10 years old at the time, and I remember filling out a questionnaire at the end and it said something like, what would you like to do at your game?
Speaker B:Or something like that.
Speaker B:And I said I wanted to be an LPGA professional.
Speaker B:And I just knew way back then that that's what I wanted to do.
Speaker B:I just love the game.
Speaker A:For those of you who not.
Speaker A:Are not informed, especially from.
Speaker A:What would you say, April to October, maybe you don't want to be out doing stuff in the middle of the day.
Speaker B:Not out here, not in Arizona.
Speaker B:My God, the.
Speaker B:The sun is just.
Speaker B:It's just too hot here.
Speaker B:You know, you can play here in June.
Speaker B:You know, it's low hundreds, but July, August, September, it's brutal.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And you just.
Speaker B:You can't do much.
Speaker B:But there are people that play here and they.
Speaker B:I've been here for so long that I don't know what it is.
Speaker B:It's like, it's really hard for me to be out in the.
Speaker B:In the sun and I have to kind of COVID myself up because I really feel like my skin burns now.
Speaker B:But so.
Speaker B:But you know, I get away in the summertime and then I don't have to be here during those hot summer months.
Speaker A:For my first day of work was in the middle of August, and it was at a horse farm.
Speaker A:So we were outside and it was 117 degrees.
Speaker B:Oh, geez.
Speaker A:But I learned quickly because, you know, these guys had lived there for years.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:We would start at 5 in the morning and we'd work till about 11, and then we'd come back and they'd feed the horses at about 6, between 5 and 6:30, and then between 6:30 and 7, we'd all show up again and we'd work till about 11 o'clock at night.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's what we did in the end of the day.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You can't.
Speaker B:You just can't be out in it.
Speaker B:It's just, it's.
Speaker B:It's rough.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Danielle, I said one mistake in your past that besides not signing the scorecard because there's no play on what words here that but you would like to erase.
Speaker B:Is there one?
Speaker B:One what now?
Speaker B:I.
Speaker A:Mistake, mistake, mistake, mistake.
Speaker B:You know, I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from them.
Speaker B:I don't know if I take them away.
Speaker B:I think.
Speaker B:I think you're a better person for, you know, for.
Speaker B:For that.
Speaker B:If you can learn from those kinds of things and stuff.
Speaker B:And God knows I made my mistakes and I learned from them, but taking them away, you know, just.
Speaker B:I don't know that I did anything that was that serious that it needed.
Speaker B:Guy kind.
Speaker B:You kind of go, oh, God, I really wish I didn't, you know.
Speaker B:You know, do that.
Speaker B:Of course, there's a few things, maybe in college, but we all.
Speaker A:That's legal.
Speaker A:That's legal.
Speaker B:Hey, maybe I could take that away.
Speaker B:But once I kind of got, you know, on tour and stuff like that, tried to have as much fun as I could, and, you know, I don't think there's.
Speaker B:I don't think so.
Speaker B:Nothing really comes to mind.
Speaker A:What's one thing?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, thank you.
Speaker A:What's one thing you miss about your twenties?
Speaker B:About how good I felt.
Speaker A:Yeah?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:About how fast I could get out of bed.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, my 20s, man, did I have fun.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I used to love to go out and dance and do stuff and hang out my friends and just kind of try.
Speaker B:I was traveling and doing all that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:I love to travel.
Speaker B:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker B:You know, now it's hard.
Speaker B:It's like I gotta.
Speaker B:Now I have to.
Speaker B:I have.
Speaker B:I actually have to watch how I get out of bed so I don't hurt myself.
Speaker B:That's sad.
Speaker B:But, you know, and then, you know, me, the thought of me getting on an airplane and going to Marrakesh this summer is killing me.
Speaker B:My body's kind of screaming at me, going, why are you doing this?
Speaker B:And.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:So that's going to be interesting to see how I feel when I get to the other side.
Speaker A:You.
Speaker A:We kind of already touched on this, but do you think there should be any major changes made to pro golf and.
Speaker A:Or amateur golf?
Speaker B:No changes.
Speaker B:I'd like to see maybe a little more team stuff, different format things.
Speaker B:Besides, we talked about the scorecard, signing that, and then the divots.
Speaker B:There's no reason to play from a divot.
Speaker B:I mean, that's kind of silly.
Speaker B:Yeah, I think that's, you know, playing it where it lies.
Speaker B:I get it.
Speaker B:But if you hit it in the center of the fairway, you should be playing from grass, not someone else's mistake.
Speaker B:You know, divot and miss or whatever you want to call it.
Speaker B:But anyways.
Speaker B:But yeah, those are.
Speaker B:Those are kind of things that I.
Speaker A:Was thinking, you know, we kind of touched on this, but what's the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Speaker B:Well, I mean, now it's.
Speaker A:You mean back then now or then?
Speaker B:Well, it's different.
Speaker B:I mean, back then it was, you know, because I was on tour and I was kind of getting myself ready, and I didn't need that much time to get ready.
Speaker B:One thing I knew, I never liked to spend that much time on the range, so I didn't.
Speaker B:The range was the very last thing I did before I went to the tee.
Speaker B:So I would chip and putt and do all that kind of stuff first.
Speaker B:Then I went to the range, and then I went straight to the tee from there.
Speaker B:I didn't go to the putting green, and I wanted to make sure that I was loose and ready to go and then just kind of take off.
Speaker B:Nowadays, I need a lot more time to get ready to do anything.
Speaker A:I'm laughing with you.
Speaker B:Yes, I know.
Speaker B:You understand, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:That old horse guy.
Speaker B:But no, it's, you know, in the mornings, I get up now I really.
Speaker B:I'm transitioning into being more of a business person than I am, you know, that.
Speaker B:That tour golfer now.
Speaker B:And so I have a few things that I'm doing and you have to get up.
Speaker B:I'm going to have some coffee.
Speaker B:I didn't drink coffee when I was on.
Speaker B:When I was on tour.
Speaker B:So have a cup of coffee.
Speaker B:Get myself going emails and jumping into creating documents and different things that I'm doing now.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:Only a couple more here.
Speaker A:What's your Favorite movie.
Speaker B:Favorite movie.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Well, I'm kind of biased.
Speaker B:It's kind of.
Speaker B:My daughter was in Bedtime Story, so maybe that movie.
Speaker A:Yeah, There you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:You weren't a helicopter mom.
Speaker A:Mom on the set, were you?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:No, I worked.
Speaker B:In fact, when my daughter said she didn't want to do any acting anymore, I was kind of like, oh, thank God, I don't have to be in LA anymore.
Speaker B:I'm going back to Phoenix.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:We hightailed it back here.
Speaker B:But, boy, it was.
Speaker B:That was rough living out there, driving her all around and doing all that stuff she was doing.
Speaker B:Don't get me wrong, I had the best time.
Speaker B:And I got an eye opener to the inside track of how that entertainment industry works firsthand.
Speaker B:No doubt.
Speaker B:But it was.
Speaker B:It was rough.
Speaker B:I mean, all those.
Speaker B:All those drives for her when I had to go up to all those studios and different places for auditions and the work and all of that, and it all had to be done after school, which was like rush hour traffic and you can't get anywhere in la.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You know, a turnaround.
Speaker B:The shortest turnaround time for me, four hours.
Speaker B:I kid you not.
Speaker B:It was a five to six hour thing almost daily, if not every other day.
Speaker B:It was.
Speaker B:It was a lot.
Speaker A:Well, I commend you for doing it and supporting.
Speaker A:Supporting your kid that way.
Speaker B:Yeah, she was good.
Speaker B:She was in a few things that were really, really good.
Speaker B:She's no longer doing that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:She's married and she.
Speaker B:She gave me and my husband two beautiful grandkids.
Speaker B:And these little girls, Aniston and Amelia, are just precious.
Speaker B:And they're coming out here in a few days and I'm so excited to see them.
Speaker A:Grandma spoiled them.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, they live on the East coast, they're in Pennsylvania.
Speaker B:I don't get to see them very much.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:If.
Speaker A:If you were on death row, what would you.
Speaker A:What would your last meal be?
Speaker B:Oh, geez, that's terrible.
Speaker A:Oh, a lot of people have some great answers to this, though.
Speaker B:Do they really?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, because there's no limit to what you can eat.
Speaker A:You don't have to worry about calories.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:You don't have to worry about anything.
Speaker B:Well, no, it wouldn't be.
Speaker B:It would certainly be something fattening and something good.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You'd have some.
Speaker B:What are your.
Speaker B:I'm Italian.
Speaker B:It's going to be some sort of the best Italian pasta dish that I could figure out what it had in it.
Speaker B:Some sort of, you know, seafood, whatever.
Speaker B:And I'm going full blown with the ice cream.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Just bring the gelato truck right there.
Speaker B:Just bring the.
Speaker B:We're talking ice cream and Cool Whip and chocolate syrup and nuts and bring in it all.
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker A:That a girl.
Speaker A:Okay, last question.
Speaker A:What do you want to do if and when you ever retire?
Speaker B:Man, I'm already retired.
Speaker B:If and when.
Speaker B:This is what I'm doing in my retirement.
Speaker B:This is it.
Speaker B:You're seeing it right now.
Speaker A:Okay, well, that's a good answer.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, when I.
Speaker B:If I.
Speaker B:If I ever walk a walk.
Speaker B:A walk away from.
Speaker B:From golf completely and I just disappear or something, I don't really know what I would be doing.
Speaker B:Probably traveling and, you know, taking the grandkids and doing stuff with them.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:Daniela, thank you for being with us today.
Speaker A:Been a good sport, a great interview, and I wish you all the success with.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, thank you, Jeff.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:You do a great job with your show, and congrats on all your success.
Speaker A:Oh, thank you.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week with another edition of After Hours.
Speaker A:See me abuse more people.
Speaker A:It's always fun.
Speaker A:Go out, play some golf.
Speaker A:Have some fun.
Speaker A:But most of all, be kind.
Speaker A:Take care, everybody.
