Ian Baker Finch, Australian golfer and sports commentator
The latest episode of Grilling at the Green features an enlightening conversation with Ian Baker Finch, an esteemed figure in the golfing community and a recently retired CBS Sports broadcaster. Our dialogue delves into his remarkable journey from a small Australian town to becoming a celebrated golfer and commentator, offering listeners an intimate glimpse into the formative experiences that shaped his career. We explore the evolution of the game of golf, particularly the impact of technological advancements on equipment and playing style, as well as the significant contributions of figures like Tiger Woods to the sport's popularity. Baker Finch shares anecdotes from his illustrious career, including his pivotal victory at the Open Championship in 1991, providing a nuanced perspective on the pressures and triumphs of professional golf. This episode promises to resonate with both avid golf enthusiasts and those seeking inspiration from a life dedicated to the pursuit of excellence.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- birdieball.com
- CBS Sports
- Daiwa
- Nike
- Kia
- Painted Hills Natural Beef
- Snell Golf
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 for the hackers do sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker A:Just open up the door and let's.
Speaker B:Take good times in.
Speaker A:Tomorrow's gonna be better than today.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm jt, of course, we are based in Portland, but we also have stations in Seattle and Texas and parts in between.
Speaker A:This seg of girly anti green is brought to you by birdieball.com if you want to practice and you don't have a lot of room in your backyard or your apartment or whatever, I would suggest you go to birdieball.com and birdie balls themselves look like a little napkin ring, but they also make some of the world's best practice putting greens that you can use indoors and out.
Speaker A:So go to birdieball.com well, it's a big day for me here.
Speaker A:Somebody I've wanted to interview for a long time, Ian Baker Finch, just recently retired from CBS Sports at doing the golf broadcast.
Speaker A:And Ian has graciously agreed to be on this show.
Speaker A:And it's a real thrill for me.
Speaker A:So, Ian, welcome.
Speaker B:Thanks very much, Jeff.
Speaker B:Good to be with you.
Speaker B:You only had to ask and I would come on.
Speaker A:Well, and I. I gotta tell you, mutual friend of ours, Chris Moscaro from next on the T. Chris is a really good friend of mine and he actually gave me your cell phone number, but I was hesitant to use it, so I went through your.
Speaker A:Your book agent to do okay.
Speaker A:The proper way.
Speaker A:So anyway, I'm glad you did.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, it's all good.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:So we were talking before we came on the air about Australia in a place called Gimpy and.
Speaker A:And all that, how if you were looking at your life, how big of a journey was it from where you grew up?
Speaker A:Is it Beerwa?
Speaker A:Is it?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Bill was the.
Speaker B:The town of about a thousand people, population that was six miles down the range from the top of the hill where.
Speaker B:Where we lived, where there was about 50 people.
Speaker B:So Beale was the place where we went shopping.
Speaker B:And then Brisbane was the capital city of Queensland was about an hour and a half to two hours drive away.
Speaker B:So we, yeah, we lived really out in the country in an old logging town.
Speaker B:So, um, yeah, pretty, pretty small place, although not so far off the beaten track that people, when they travel to my neck of the woods, have driven through or driven by the area where I grew up, you know, it's, it's not like remote center of Australia, it's only 20 minutes to the coast.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, it's beautiful country down there.
Speaker A:And if you, for folks listening, if you ever get the chance to go to Queensland and then get out a bit from Brisbane and all that, it's a really interesting and spectacular area in the country.
Speaker A:So your dad was a little advanced, not older, but I mean he was a little older to be picking up the sticks.
Speaker A:Kind of run through that for us a little bit.
Speaker A:And then how he hooked you into this vicious game.
Speaker B:Well, like so many around the world and especially in Australia, golf didn't really take off until the 60s when Arnold Palmer came along.
Speaker B:And then Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, they legitimized golf for us in Australia.
Speaker B:And certainly Arnold Palmer to the blue collar worker like my dad, he was a farmer, lived in a farming area, a logging town.
Speaker B:He was also an electrician.
Speaker B:So he was a smart guy.
Speaker B:He'd completed his time.
Speaker B:He'd spent five years in the war, in the second World War, repairing planes and engineering firing mechanisms on, on fighter planes, et cetera.
Speaker B:So he was a smart dude.
Speaker B:But he just wanted to raise his family on a farm.
Speaker B:So he moved up to the area.
Speaker B:And during the sort of mid to late 60s, a few of the farmers started to travel about 15 miles over to a little course called Woodford and play golf on Wednesday afternoons.
Speaker B:They got bought a set of clubs.
Speaker B:Most of them bought a set of Arnold Palmers.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And they started to play and a few of them got together over a beer one night and said, hey, why don't we get a course a little closer to home down in Bawa?
Speaker B:And they joined up with the Return Serviceman's Lease Club and the Lions Club and they, they all went together and built this golf course just with local machinery and the farmers time and you know, no one was paid to come in and do it.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And built their own little nine hole course.
Speaker B:So that's how that all started.
Speaker B: nd I was a kid, I was born in: Speaker A:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:And was there why they built this golf course and I started to play caddy for my dad, swing the club and whatever.
Speaker B: When the course opened in: Speaker A:Must have been fascinating because I know as a young man, when you were able to hop on the tractor, as it were, with your dad, because I did the same thing, it was.
Speaker A:You didn't care where you were going.
Speaker A:You were with your dad and you were going to go do something fun.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker B:And you hung on.
Speaker A:And you never looked down.
Speaker A:That's one thing I remember.
Speaker A:You were exposed and looking at the gravel or whatever, and you just learn not to look down.
Speaker B:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And dad would say, hang on, if you fall off, you'll kill yourself.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker B:And don't touch the RTO at the back or the pto, I should say.
Speaker B:And then don't touch this and don't touch that, and whatever you do, don't touch the lever on the side that puts the blades up.
Speaker B:And, you know, he, he just, he gave me a, you know, a love, a hard, tough love lesson.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:On, on how to look after himself, and that was it.
Speaker B:And lived on a farm.
Speaker B:You had to look after yourself.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:But those experiences are, I think they set the tone and the tenor for our lives, you know, really good.
Speaker A:So I got a question here for you.
Speaker A:Are you really an old softie, as they say?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, totally.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Even though I grew up tough on the farm and, and, you know, I was the youngest of six kids, so I, I got a lot of beatings, but I also got a lot of love from my three elder sisters.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think when you're the youngest of, of a big family like that, you grow up a little faster, maybe.
Speaker B:But, yeah, I've, I've always been.
Speaker A:Let'S.
Speaker B:Say, just considerate of others, put it that way.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, I understand.
Speaker A:I was the youngest in my family and I, we didn't have the Internet in those days, but it was a.
Speaker A:Older siblings were a great source of information.
Speaker B:For sure.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:They, they kind of told you what, what was happening and what was not.
Speaker A:Next segment, we're going to get into your, your, you know, your major win and then all that that transpired afterwards.
Speaker A:But before we go to break, I was going to ask you about Steve Williams.
Speaker A:Steve worked for you.
Speaker A:He worked for Greg, he worked for Ray Floyd, of course, he worked for Tiger and all that from where, when Steve Williams worked for you and for Greg and I've read his book.
Speaker A:I've watched lots of interviews with him.
Speaker A:Of course I read your book.
Speaker A:When he went to work for Tiger, did that, I don't want to say change him, but did he get more intense because he Seems like a pretty intense guy anyway.
Speaker B:Yeah, he's a.
Speaker B:He's an athlete.
Speaker B:Doesn't drink, always tries to achieve the best he possibly can in everything he does.
Speaker B:I admire Steve because even as a young man, he came over from New Zealand to Australia to work, and he lied about his age.
Speaker B:He was only 14 when he first came over, and he told everyone he was 17 or 18.
Speaker B:But he was always a big kid with a mane of long black hair like we all had back in those days.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:But he always wanted to do the best he could, you know, he was always a hard worker, and he'd go home and train afterwards when all the other caddies were out drinking, Steve was looking after his body and himself, and he'd be up early and he'd walk the course.
Speaker B:And I think he was always the best he could be and probably the best at his trade.
Speaker B:And when he went to work for Greg, taught him how to deal with the crowds and the people and the adulation and the.
Speaker B:The razzmatazz that goes with being the best player in the world.
Speaker B:Sure.
Speaker B:Then he worked for Ray Floyd for about 10 years, mostly on Champions tours.
Speaker B:I was pretty relaxed and casual before he went over to Tiger, but I think he had to be the way he was with Tiger because that was just a circus every time he went out to play, you know, he was with TIGER from, from 98 through to, oh, I guess about 11.
Speaker A:11 or 12.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So long, long time.
Speaker B:13 major victories with him along the way.
Speaker B:So, yeah, he just had to do what he had to do.
Speaker B:And, you know, he never, never got caught up in doing the interviews.
Speaker B:Never got caught up in being, hey, you know, I'm Steve Williams.
Speaker B:You know, look at me.
Speaker B:He was always the wingman to Tiger woods, and that's how he was with me.
Speaker B:He was always just.
Speaker B:Just tough, but really, really competent.
Speaker B:And you trusted what he said?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:We're going to take a break.
Speaker A:We're going to be back here on Grilling at the Green with Ian Baker Finch and a few more surprises.
Speaker A:Nothing too spectacular, though, today.
Speaker A:We'll be right back.
Speaker A:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker A:here.
Speaker A:If you need something to practice with in the inclement weather, try birdie ball.
Speaker A:Go to birdieball.com check out the actual birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which I happen to have a couple of those, and they work great.
Speaker A:Birdieball.com foreign welcome back to Grilling.
Speaker A:It's green MJT.
Speaker A:We've got Ian Baker Finch with us today, by the way.
Speaker A:You can find us on all the social media platforms and wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker A:And also we're a big part of the Golf News network lineup on iHeart, so.
Speaker A:Okay, yeah, we've got a.
Speaker A:We've got a reach there.
Speaker B:Hey, I've got a quick story.
Speaker B:In our last segment, you mentioned Steve Williams.
Speaker A:Sure, go ahead.
Speaker B:Fun story.
Speaker B:He was caddying for me in on the European tour.
Speaker B:86, 87.
Speaker B:Back in the day, I was one of the better players, but not, certainly not in the top five or six players.
Speaker B:But I got to play with Sevy and Bernhardt and Nick and Sandy Lyle and the, the big five they were known as then, the players through the mid-80s that just excelled and changed the game in Europe.
Speaker B:Played a lot with them, played with, with Steve.
Speaker B: laying in the Spanish Open in: Speaker B:I'd been runner up the year before.
Speaker B:I was in one of those lead groups, didn't play very well.
Speaker B:Was out hitting balls on the Thursday after playing early and was hitting seven irons.
Speaker B:And Steve, when he used to sh.
Speaker B:In those days, you shag balls, the caddies went down onto the range and they caught the balls and put them into a shag bag.
Speaker B:And Steve was the tough guy.
Speaker B:And he always folded up a towel four or eight times, so it was like a catcher's mitt.
Speaker B:And he would catch the ball, and if he didn't quite get to it in time to catch it, he got it on one bounce, wiped it, put it in the bag.
Speaker B:Well, he was there like this one day, caught it in the sun, hit a seven iron, hit him right in the middle of the top lip, underneath the nose, split his lip wide open, knocked his two front teeth in and knocked him out.
Speaker B:So we ran down somehow, with some help, big fella, got him up to the clubhouse.
Speaker B:The doctor there only speaking Spanish, had actually been at lunch, smelled of white wine, hand was a bit shaky, and he stitched Steve up and, you know, Steve caddied the next day and, and onwards.
Speaker B:He had this big lump on his lip.
Speaker B:And the reason he's got two big, beautiful white teeth now is because the teeth that I hit eventually died and went gray.
Speaker B:And he had to get them recapped and covered and whatever over the years.
Speaker B: n iron at the Spanish Open in: Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:We've, we've been great mates for a long time, but for 40 years, we've.
Speaker B:We've been good buddies.
Speaker B:And he caddied for me.
Speaker B:Good Friend of Jenny's and mine and yeah, solid, solid guy.
Speaker A:So you won the Open in 91 and you know, you tied.
Speaker A:I got my notes here.
Speaker A:You tied, let's see, in 92 you were T6 at the Masters, 89, T34 at the PGA and the US Open.
Speaker A:Tied 13th at 92.
Speaker A:And then you covered extensively in the book and then you had just all kinds of things happen, you know, and you're to be commended for being even upright today, I'll say that, you know, because it's.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:I could just see the pressure on you in that time.
Speaker A:And one of the quotes was in your book that you got lead poisoning, you know, like that.
Speaker A:And that refers to David Ledbetter and changing your swing and all that.
Speaker A:I don't, I don't want to dwell on the negative, but why did you think you needed to change your swing?
Speaker B:Well, if I may, first on the clock.
Speaker B:I don't, I don't think the quote was meant that I said I got lead.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:Somebody, somebody else said it.
Speaker A:Yeah, yes, yes.
Speaker B:That's what they.
Speaker B:I disagree with that because I went to David Ledbetter when I first moved to the states in 19, and he and his partner Mitchell Spearman, who became my coach for a couple of years, did a fantastic job with me and I improved to the point where I could win the Open.
Speaker B:I was a top 25 player in the world for, well, since they started the rankings in 86 through to 93.
Speaker B:But I figured the early 90s were an era of change in golf.
Speaker B:Graphite shafts, metal heads, cavity backed irons, balata ball to sirloin ball, all of the things that were changing in the game was really an experimental time.
Speaker B:And I got sponsored by a company called Daiwa and Daiwa were fantastic.
Speaker B:And they were a fishing pole company, basically graphite shafts.
Speaker B:And I became a bit of an experiment with them.
Speaker B:And not only was I experimenting with my game, I changed balls, I changed clubs, I changed shafts, I changed everything from 92 to 94.
Speaker B:And it was all in the hope that I could hit the ball farther because that's the way the trend was going back then.
Speaker B:People were hitting it further.
Speaker B:People were trying to figure out were you better off hitting it high with a lot of spin to keep it in the air a long while.
Speaker B:Where we were always taught in the 80s to hit it lower and keep it out of the wind and keep it.
Speaker B:And don't spin it too much because the ball spun a lot.
Speaker B:So the whole thing was an experimental period.
Speaker B: From: Speaker B:Coaching became a big deal.
Speaker B:Ledbetter, Butch Harmon, a whole bunch of other guys that came along at that time, I won't mention them all, and.
Speaker B:And I just became a big experiment.
Speaker B:And what happened is I essentially lost my own game in trying to be this experimental model for all of these other clubs, balls, manufacturers, coaches, whatever.
Speaker B:So when I lost my confidence with a bad shot here or there, there was nothing really to pull back on or fall back on.
Speaker B:And I struggled along 395 and 96 and just felt so bad about myself because I was missing every cut that I decided I'd step away from the game, get some injuries fixed.
Speaker B:If I came back, I came back.
Speaker B:If I didn't, I'd go do something else.
Speaker B:So the sliding door moment was really.
Speaker B:I hadn't played for a year from.
Speaker B:Since the 96 Open Championship.
Speaker B:I'd missed the cut.
Speaker B:I went home.
Speaker B:I had injuries I had to fix for six months.
Speaker B:Couldn't wear shoes, couldn't do anything for six months.
Speaker B:I did all of the TV in Australia because I couldn't do anything else.
Speaker B:They said, hey, why don't you come and be the lead analyst for us?
Speaker B:So I did 12 events in a row, start of 97 as well.
Speaker B:I was over at the Open Championship to do the television for abc.
Speaker B:Us, abc.
Speaker B:And all the boys said, why don't you play?
Speaker B: ed an Open Championship since: Speaker B:You're here.
Speaker B:You may as well play.
Speaker B:And stupidly, I did.
Speaker B:I took a friend out to caddy for me.
Speaker B:I hadn't played for a year.
Speaker B:The stress and the.
Speaker B:And the tension on.
Speaker B:On my body and mind was so terrible.
Speaker B:I had such a terrible score.
Speaker B:I shot 20 over par and stepped away from the game.
Speaker B:Basically.
Speaker B:That was the hard time, that, that moment, that week, that was when I decided I need to go do something else.
Speaker B:And I, very fortunate, fell into the television.
Speaker A:But you had a rock.
Speaker A:You had Jenny with you.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:She was always beside me and always a great a partner.
Speaker B:Always looked after the kids, always kept home on the road, like home at home.
Speaker B:And yeah, yeah, she wasn't an advisor so much as just a rock there beside me.
Speaker B:And yeah, always.
Speaker B:Always a support.
Speaker B:And as it comes through in the book, she's.
Speaker B:She's a saint.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'd like to meet her someday and just like, sure.
Speaker A:Nice work, you know.
Speaker B:Thanks.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Funny story about that, though, is in the book you talk about how You're a good looking guy.
Speaker A:And back in those days, you know, the mullets, you, you were kind of king of the mullets in those days as far as you were, you know, you look good.
Speaker A:But girls would try to come up and give you their phone number and stuff or what have you.
Speaker A:And you would say, well, let me ask my wife if it's okay.
Speaker A:I thought that was great a couple.
Speaker B:Of times that happened.
Speaker B:Or I'd say, hey, Jen, this girl wants to hand me a note.
Speaker B:Or it was, it was a, it was a bit of an ongoing joke and she would say to me, she'd walk the course all of the time she'd be out there and she'd say, don't come up to me on the course.
Speaker B:I do not want to get hassled because as soon as people know that I'm following you, then I get hassled all day.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So sometimes just for a bit of, bit of fun, I go over and give her a big hug or a big kiss, you know, and she'd like shake her head like, there goes my day.
Speaker A:Anyway, we're going to take another break.
Speaker A:We're going to be back with Ian Baker Finch.
Speaker A:I just, I love that story.
Speaker A:We'll be back in just a second.
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Speaker A:Hey, everybody, it's jt.
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Speaker A:One of the things I've noticed about my own self and other people, if You're a really what they would call a rank amateur, like I am.
Speaker A:Sometimes you have a little problem with your feet, alignment and stance and that type of thing.
Speaker A:Well, the Rhymer is a very interesting little tool because it can help you get the spacing and stuff for you.
Speaker A:You stick it in your bag.
Speaker A:Don't get caught with it playing in a tournament, but you know what I mean.
Speaker A:But it's, it's really, it's.
Speaker A:It's been a help to me.
Speaker A:So go to carsleygolf.com we're talking with Ian Baker Finch today.
Speaker A:Some great stories.
Speaker A:And I loved your book, by the way.
Speaker A:You know, there was another book that I bought.
Speaker A:It says it's a biography, but the guy, I don't think never talked to you.
Speaker A:And I'm not going to mention the book, but that's gotta be tough.
Speaker A:People when they write stuff about you like that, not that you don't approve, but you don't even know they're doing it and all of a sudden it pops out.
Speaker B:Yeah, I know.
Speaker B:At the moment, if you go to Amazon to buy my book, there's four or five others.
Speaker B:Fortunately, they're below me because no one's bought them or read them or put reviews out.
Speaker B:But there's nothing I can do.
Speaker B:We've written a cease and desist letter to Amazon to say, hey, look, can you make sure you take these things down?
Speaker B:But people, just one of them's like a 50 page.
Speaker B:They just copied 50 pages from the book and put it out.
Speaker B:I was shocked.
Speaker B:Someone told me about it and I said, no, it can't be.
Speaker B:But, yeah, there's other things on there that are not the book.
Speaker B:I mean, Baker Finch, with me in the shirt, pink shirt, where I won the open is on the COVID And the others, there's no one to really write to.
Speaker B:There's no publisher, there's no name, there's no address.
Speaker B:There's no one.
Speaker B:They just.
Speaker B:I think they're AI generated.
Speaker A:Well, I'll tell you a little secret.
Speaker A:I bought this first one.
Speaker A:I read about five pages and I went to return it to Amazon because I just thought it was awful, okay?
Speaker A:And I've been in the media biz for a long time, but I thought it was awful.
Speaker A:And they said, no, we don't want it back.
Speaker A:We'll just give you a credit for it and you don't have to send it back because I wrote in a deal to him.
Speaker A:I said, this is just a cut and paste job.
Speaker A:That's all it is.
Speaker A:He.
Speaker A:I Don't know where this author got his information.
Speaker A:Probably off Wikipedia or, you know, maybe out of your book, who knows?
Speaker A:But it was just a cut and paste job.
Speaker A:And they said, no, no, we'll give you back your 15 bucks or whatever it was, just keep it.
Speaker A:So it's like, yeah, that's basically how.
Speaker B:They answered my, my lawyer, they said, there's nothing.
Speaker B:We can do this because there's no, there's no address or anything for us to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:To follow up on.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it?
Speaker B:I find it strange that they would allow it.
Speaker B:Why they wouldn't just block stuff like that.
Speaker A:I guess it's.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I, you know.
Speaker A:Anyway, we were talking a little bit in the last segment about equipment and of course that, that time change that you were talking like from 92 up to 95, 96, and then along comes Tiger.
Speaker A:And so my first question in that area is, did you ever.
Speaker A:You're a fit guy.
Speaker A:You grew up on a farm and all that, but did you go to the gym?
Speaker A:Did you run, did you swim?
Speaker A:Did you do all that?
Speaker B:I think, I think we all did something.
Speaker B:But really through the early 90s, late 80s, early 90s, the better players all trained somewhat.
Speaker B:And the best players were always the fittest and strongest.
Speaker B:You look at Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Speaker A:Oh sure.
Speaker B:Tom Watson and Greg Norman, you know, they were, they were all guys that were extremely fit and strong.
Speaker B:But I would ride the bike for 30 minutes, I would do yoga, we'd do a few, you know, 20 or 25 pound exercises.
Speaker B:Then this golf style fitness started coming in and we'd throw medicine balls around and we do, you know, more golf related exercises.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:But not to the point that Tiger changed it by really, he was doing weightlifting.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:Navy Seal stuff.
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:And, and that's because the game changed the equipment, made it more about distance.
Speaker B:The best players were the longest players in the 60s, 70s, 80s.
Speaker B:Yes, there were long hitters, but you had to be able to control the ball.
Speaker B:And it was more about getting the ball in the fairway than it was bombing it out there, 320 yards.
Speaker B:So Tiger changed the game more than anyone since Arnold, I would say for sure, because of his length.
Speaker B: ball changed completely from: Speaker B:And now driver is like the go to club now.
Speaker B:Whereas it used to be teared a half inch off the ground and hit something out of the neck that spun left to right.
Speaker B:You could get it in the fairway 240 yards.
Speaker B:Now they can hit a five iron.
Speaker B:240 yards.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:That just amazes me.
Speaker A:It does, because I've been following golf since I was a teenager and you and I are about the same age, and I, you know, and I.
Speaker A:And I've been watching that and then I see them, what I would hit, say seven iron or six iron.
Speaker A:They're hitting a gap wedge, you know, it's crazy.
Speaker A:And I'm like, holy moly.
Speaker A:You know?
Speaker B:Yes, J.T.
Speaker B:the worst thing is it's.
Speaker B:I talked about this a lot on television, how slow the game has become.
Speaker B:And there's a lot of reasons for it.
Speaker B:Obviously, there's a lot of money in the game, so they're taking more time.
Speaker B:But the greens are now 13 or 14 on the stint meter, like ridiculously fast.
Speaker B:That slows the game down half an hour.
Speaker B:The ball goes so far that they've had to put all of the tees back 100 yards.
Speaker B:So now you walk off the green, you walk back 100 yards.
Speaker B:Now you walk back past the green you just putted on.
Speaker B:So there's 200 yards extra on each hole.
Speaker B:The greens being fast.
Speaker B:The courses are so much tougher because they're trying to preserve par and the guys hit at 350 yards.
Speaker B:There's no such thing as a par five anymore, that most par fives are over 600 yards now.
Speaker B:They still hit iron for their second shots, right?
Speaker B:So they're waiting to tee off on par fours because they can drive the green.
Speaker B:They're waiting to hit their second shots on par fives.
Speaker B:The greens are ridiculously fast.
Speaker B:The courses are 8,000 yards long.
Speaker B:No wonder they take five and a half hours.
Speaker B:You know, like if, if you really wanted to make the game more fun and, and a better spectacle, find a way to bring it back to four hours.
Speaker B:And anyway, that's what I would do.
Speaker B:I don't think they're going to worry about doing it.
Speaker B:I think they're just going to keep it at five and a half hours.
Speaker B:But anyway, it's.
Speaker B:It's no fun at the club.
Speaker B:If you take more than four hours to play at your club, that's taken too long.
Speaker A:I played the other day because I got on and it was 4 o' clock in the afternoon on Labor Day.
Speaker A:And I live very close to a golf course and I know the GM there, he's really good to me, but I played it in 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Speaker A:But I was playing by myself.
Speaker A:And only in the last, like, two holes did we have any type of backup at all.
Speaker A:The rest of the time I went and I.
Speaker A:When I came home and I told my wife, I said that was the most fun I've had on a golf course in a long time because he.
Speaker B:Just clipped right through it.
Speaker A:Yeah, came right home.
Speaker A:We got a couple of minutes left before we go to break here.
Speaker A:In the equipment deals, they have changed too.
Speaker A:I mean, you were talking about Daiwa and the different balls back then, and of course, you cover that extensively in the book about what you did.
Speaker A:But, man, these.
Speaker A:It seems like guys get on tour and they get a very minimalist equipment deal.
Speaker A:They get clubs or balls or whatever they're doing and as they rank, move up the ranks.
Speaker A:If they do, in fact, they get more.
Speaker A:They get some money with it, a little more money.
Speaker A:And then when you're in the.
Speaker A:In the top league, I mean, I can only imagine what Tiger's deal with like, Taylor made was there.
Speaker A:Was there.
Speaker A:That's six, seven figures there, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, I'm sure his Nike deal was, oh, huge.
Speaker B:Maybe $50 million a year.
Speaker A:I mean, he was.
Speaker B:It was amazing and he deserved it because he really was the game changer.
Speaker B:He was the one that everyone was looking at and watching and he was on television.
Speaker B:Every shot that he struck for the year, we showed Tiger Woods.
Speaker B:So that's what it's all about, what it did, is it?
Speaker B:You know, Rising Tide floats all ships.
Speaker B:Everyone else got more and more and more and more and more as well because Tiger was worth it.
Speaker B:And then there was a couple of others around him that were probably worth a little, but.
Speaker B:But everyone started to get paid ridiculous amounts.
Speaker B:And the same thing happened with appearance money overseas.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Tiger was worth two or three million dollars to have him at an event just for the economic boost that it gave the area and the tournament and the television.
Speaker B:So when Tiger couldn't come, they then paid others, the second, third, fourth, fifth guy, a lot of money because they figured that they were all worth it.
Speaker B:But no one was really, you know, no one raised the anti or raised the needle, you know, more than Tiger did for sure.
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And you guys are, if are good, our friends, aren't you?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:We're going to take a break.
Speaker A:We're going to come back with Ian in just a second.
Speaker A:Please stay with us.
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Speaker A:Hi, everybody, it's JT and this is a special version of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Grilling at the Green is brought to you in part by Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Beef you can be proud to serve your family and friends.
Speaker A:That's Painted Hills Natural Beef.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:I'm jt.
Speaker A:Today we're talking with Ian Baker Finch.
Speaker A:Don't forget you can hear this show besides on terrestrial radio in some of your local areas.
Speaker A:You can also hear it on Golf Newsnet.
Speaker A:And of course it gets the day after we air it, it goes to podcasts, so you can do that.
Speaker A:We were talking a little bit about commentary and stuff in the last segment, Ian, and you bring this up in the book.
Speaker A:To me it was people either loved or hated Johnny Miller.
Speaker A:There, there wasn't anything in between as far as a guy like me sitting at home watching the thing.
Speaker A:Sometimes he could almost be, I don't want to call it cynical because I don't think he was that way personally.
Speaker A:But he would get a little, you know, like he would say, you wouldn't even see a rank amateur hit that shot or something, you know, and it was like, is that necessary?
Speaker A:But that was him.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah, he was consistent.
Speaker B:That's for sure.
Speaker A:He was.
Speaker B:It's funny, I always joke when I'm speaking with groups or I never wanted to be that guy that the older I got, the better I was.
Speaker B:And I think sometimes in some of the older broadcasters, you know, forget that they were hit bad shots at times.
Speaker B:And I noticed yesterday Cliff Drysdale is retiring from ESPN Tennis and Cliff Drysdale and Fred Stolly before he passed away.
Speaker B:Rest in peace, Freddie.
Speaker B:They have been the voice of tennis, especially at the majors for the last 40 years.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:And everyone came on to say, thank you, Cliff, you've been fantastic.
Speaker B:And if you ever listen to any of Cliff Drysdale, it was never about him.
Speaker B:He always was so giving and friendly and mentoring the other younger ones coming through.
Speaker B:And he was a really, really good player.
Speaker B:He was the first guy to use the double handed backhand.
Speaker B:He was in the 70s.
Speaker B:He had good looking turkey, really good player that had the swagger.
Speaker B:But even through 40 years of broadcasting, he never made it about him.
Speaker B:It was always.
Speaker B:Anyway, I just think that's the best way to do it.
Speaker B:It's about give.
Speaker B:Give the fans that are watching and listening an entertaining time, and that's what he's done.
Speaker A:Who is your favorite broadcaster to work with now?
Speaker A:You talk about Peter, Alice, and of course, Jim Nance and Frank and Dottie.
Speaker A:And a lot of those folks have been on the show and Ferrier McCord.
Speaker A:They're off in their own ether over there, so to speak.
Speaker A:But who was your favorite?
Speaker A:And who do you think kind of helped.
Speaker A:Helped you, even if they didn't help you directly.
Speaker A:But who did you kind of sometimes model yourself after?
Speaker B:So, so, so many.
Speaker B:Peter Alice was so much fun to work with just because of his style and his way with the words and his.
Speaker B:He was frivolous at times, but yet poignant.
Speaker B:Peter Thompson in Australia was.
Speaker B:Was wonderful man.
Speaker B:A few words, but everyone.
Speaker B:He said you wished you'd said it.
Speaker B:Mike Tirico, Terry Gannon, Roger Twybell at ABC and espn all those years as my partner, as my anchor, and then Jim Nance and that whole CBS team for the last 20 years.
Speaker B:I learned so much from all of them, but at the same time.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker B:Was just being me.
Speaker B:But I was trying to be the best version of me I could possibly be.
Speaker B:And sitting next to Frank Nobilo the last, oh, six or seven years has been a great fun.
Speaker A:Frank's a great guy.
Speaker A:By the way, you mentioned Roger Twybel.
Speaker A:Roger Twybel was the local sports guy here in Portland.
Speaker A:Way back.
Speaker A:Way back.
Speaker B:He was fantastic to work with at espn.
Speaker B:He and I were partners for eight years.
Speaker A:Yeah, he was on, actually, the local station that I'm affiliated with, the ABC station here, Channel two.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I hadn't thought of Roger a long, long time.
Speaker B:But he still does the world feed at the Masters.
Speaker B:He comes in and does some work every year at Augusta National.
Speaker B:I see him have lunch.
Speaker A:Oh, good.
Speaker A:Good for you.
Speaker A:Anything you'd like to do now that you're retired that, you know.
Speaker A:Are you gonna go fish?
Speaker A:Are you gonna.
Speaker A:If I said travel, that would seem rather redundant because you've traveled the world many times, but something maybe you and Jenny want to do.
Speaker B:Yeah, we'll travel.
Speaker B:We travel back to Australia three months every year.
Speaker B:I'm president of the Australian PGA Tour back home, so run the board there.
Speaker B:We have six board meetings a year.
Speaker B:I try and get home for four of them.
Speaker B:Covid taught us so much.
Speaker B:We'd have meetings every week on Zoom.
Speaker B:So now we do a lot of Zoom stuff.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker B:So that's always been a lot of Fun for me, and it's something that I am passionate about and want to give back.
Speaker B:Traveling with Jenny will spend a month in March again, a month in New Zealand this March, like we did this year.
Speaker B:I like to travel to Europe, but the traveling is more going where we want to go, when we want to go.
Speaker B:Not packing, repacking, you know, 25 weeks in a row like I've had to do for television for so many years.
Speaker B:And I'll do some course design work.
Speaker B:Something else I'm passionate about, that I've done quite a bit of that I love.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I won't be sitting on my ass doing nothing, that's for sure.
Speaker B:Well.
Speaker A:And these days, you don't have to do your laundry in the sink in the motel room.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:But, you know, it's still hard to pay five bucks to get your socks washed, don't you think, in a hotel?
Speaker A:Yeah, it is.
Speaker A:By the way, I've been amiss at this.
Speaker A:Ian's new book is Ian Baker Finch To Hell and Back with Jeff Saunders.
Speaker A:And so I'm sorry I didn't actually give the official title up front, but I can.
Speaker A:I guess I can hold it up here.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:That's it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's on Amazon.
Speaker B:Look it up.
Speaker B:It's a lovely read.
Speaker B:It's more about me being set in a time, in a great era in golf.
Speaker B:It's not a typical biography that I. I read a lot of sports biographies, and Jeff's done a fantastic job of just telling.
Speaker B:Telling my story in his words, and I've filled in a few blanks with some stories.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:Ian Baker Finch.
Speaker A:Ian's gonna stick around for after hours, but it's been such a pleasure to talk to you, and I hope we can do it again at some point.
Speaker B:I hope so.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Love to.
Speaker A:It'll be good.
Speaker A:That's gonna wrap it up for us this week.
Speaker A:We'll be back next week with another edition of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:And like we always say at the show, go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker A:But most of all, be kind.
Speaker A: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.
