Monica Olsen-Eric Fitzgerald
The salient focus of today's discourse centers on the forthcoming Standard Portland Classic, which is poised to take place from August 14th to 17th at Columbia Edgewater. We are joined by the esteemed Monica Olson, co-director of this prestigious LPGA tournament, who elucidates the significant transitions and enhancements that have been instituted this year, particularly with the introduction of the Standard as the new title sponsor for a three-year term. Our conversation delves into the tournament's evolution, highlighting the return of beloved features such as the VIP area and food truck offerings, which serve to augment the overall experience for attendees. Furthermore, we explore the inclusive nature of the event, which aims to engage families and newcomers to the sport, ensuring that the tournament remains accessible to all demographics. As we navigate through these topics, we aim to convey the excitement and anticipation surrounding this year's gathering, fostering a sense of community and celebration within the realm of women's golf.
Links referenced in this episode:
- portlandclassic.com
- paintedhillsbeef.com
- birdieball.com
- westonkia.com
- http://thebackninegolf.com/
- littlebirdmedia.com
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Little Bird Media
- Standard Portland Classic
- Safeway Classic
- Columbia Edgewater
- Umpqua Family Fun Zone
- Discover Golf
- Le Schwab
- Sports Bra
- Weston Kia
- Painted Hills
- Back Nine 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, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Just open up the door, and let's take good times.
Speaker C:Tomorrow's gonna be better than today.
Speaker B:Hey, everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green on the Golf News Network here in Portland on AM860 in Seattle.
Speaker B:I never did learn the call let up there, and, of course, a lot of podcast platforms and stations around the country.
Speaker B:I'm jt, your host here.
Speaker B:How's your golf game?
Speaker B:Sun's out here in Oregon, so that's a good thing for today.
Speaker B:Mine's a little rusty.
Speaker B:I'll just tell you that right now.
Speaker B:Well, today we've got a great guest with us, Monica Olson from Little Bird Media.
Speaker B:She and her partner lan, and I think a couple other people are involved at the highest levels of this now, what's called the Standard Portland Classic, which is the LPGA tournament that comes our way every year.
Speaker B:In this year, it's August 14th through the 17th.
Speaker B:So I badgered Monica at the Portland Golf Show a few weeks ago, and I didn't like the way the sound came out on that recording.
Speaker B:She was great.
Speaker B:It was a technological deal there, so I've asked her back.
Speaker B:So, Monica, welcome.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker B:I'm glad you're here.
Speaker B:And it's a Friday afternoon, and I'm sure as soon as we're done, you're headed out to the sunshine, so I wouldn't blame you on that.
Speaker C:Yeah, I hope so.
Speaker B:So it's the 54th year coming up.
Speaker B:This has been.
Speaker B:Over the years, it's been the Safeway Classic and a number of different names, but the.
Speaker B:The main name is the Portland Classic.
Speaker B:So you've got Standard as a new presenting sponsor there.
Speaker B:And why don't you tell us about that and how long that run is for, what the contractual length is, and we'll go from there.
Speaker C:Yeah, sure.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Well, yeah, so the Standard, we're super excited to have them on as our title sponsor.
Speaker C:They've been a very, very significant sponsor of the tournament over the last few years and have been looking at, you know, ways in which they might grow their sponsorship.
Speaker C:And this will be the first year as the title and their partnership with us is for at least three years.
Speaker C:So we've got a lot of time to really grow the momentum of the partnership.
Speaker C:And they're really a true partner in every Sense of the word.
Speaker C:I mean, they care so much about the tournament and the golfers on the lpga.
Speaker C:And they also are really great about really understanding, including the other sponsors involved, which is.
Speaker C:This is really nice.
Speaker B:So sometimes that can get a little dicey in our work.
Speaker C:No, not within there.
Speaker C:Like, you know, all ships rise.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:That's excellent.
Speaker B:So you and Little Bird have been involved for about what, four years now?
Speaker B:This fourth year.
Speaker C:Yeah, this will actually be the fifth year.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And did you know what you were getting into when you raised your hand, as they say?
Speaker C:Well, maybe not at the very, very beginning.
Speaker C:When we first were introduced to the tournament, we were brought on to help do sponsorship development.
Speaker C:And so we've had a hand in that over the last.
Speaker C:This will be the fifth year and that's kind of where we started.
Speaker C:But you know, as you bring sponsors in, you want to make sure that everything that you promise them is delivered.
Speaker C:And so then you start to get in your hands into other things.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And so we really became very intimately aware of all the things that go on with the tournament.
Speaker C:And then last year at the very kind of towards the end, close to the tournament time, unfortunately, our tournament director, who had been doing it for several years, had a little health issue and he's doing just great now and thank goodness.
Speaker C:But we stepped in to help him and I think that gives a taste of really a lot of the behind the scenes work that needs to be done for the tournament.
Speaker C:So we stood up to be the tournament directors last year and yes, we did a decent job and got the job for the next three years.
Speaker C:So our, our agency will be running operations along with the Tournament Golf foundation and Lynn and I are the co tournament directors.
Speaker B:Well, good for you.
Speaker B:Good for you.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker C:We're really excited.
Speaker B:That's a, that's speaking from experience myself.
Speaker B:That's a big job.
Speaker B:There are 15 legal pads full of details and that's only on the first day.
Speaker C:Yeah, lots of spreadsheets and lots of notes and yeah, it's, it's, it's exciting though.
Speaker C:It's exciting to be part of a, part of it sort of from the ground up.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we're really excited.
Speaker B:So what, so Monica, what can people look forward to now?
Speaker B:You said on the, on the show, at the, at the golf show that you're bringing back the VIP area and the bleachers around 18, because that wasn't there last year.
Speaker B:But Columbia Edgewater had also been doing a lot of remodeling.
Speaker B:There was Various reasons for things, but what can people expect this year when they attend?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So last year our layout was a little different.
Speaker C:It was just something we tried.
Speaker C:You know, the, the golf course or Columbia Edgewater had redesigned their whole clubhouse.
Speaker C:And it's beautiful.
Speaker C:And so it was the premier of everyone getting to see the, the new clubhouse the, the first day of the tournament.
Speaker C:And so we thought it would be neat just to utilize the beautiful clubhouse and the view from the deck.
Speaker C:So we moved our, our 18th champions club up on the, on their deck and it was great.
Speaker C:It was.
Speaker C:But, you know, we're just going back to the old traditional, you know, big tent on the 18th green this year.
Speaker C:So we're really excited about that.
Speaker C:Looks great on the Golf Channel.
Speaker C:And so that, that's a little different.
Speaker C:Different from last year, but not in years past.
Speaker C:And then some of the other things, we're bringing back some of the favorites.
Speaker C:Everyone loves the food trucks.
Speaker C:Not even just our attendees, but also the Golf.
Speaker C:Golf Channel loves it.
Speaker C:LPGA loves it.
Speaker C:So we're doing golf food food carts again this year.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, no, that's, that's a little different than regular tournament food.
Speaker B:Yeah, in a really good way.
Speaker C:Very Portland, you know.
Speaker B:Yeah, very, very Portland.
Speaker B:What about for, you know, the kids?
Speaker B:You've got kind of a fun center, if you will, when you first come in out of the parking and you've got that.
Speaker B:And then one thing that I always enjoy too is that I've been covering tournaments for a long time, but they're at Portland and pretty much any LPJ tournament, you can get right up close to the players and interact with them, you know, if it's appropriate.
Speaker B:And you can't always do that on the PGA Tour like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So tell us about the kid zone and the other activities like that besides.
Speaker B:Because little kids sometimes don't have the attention span of just watching golf.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So we want this tournament to be, you know, there's oftentimes there are people that have never been to a fancy country club or ever to a, you know, really fancy golf tournament.
Speaker C:And we want this to be something that everyone can come to.
Speaker C:So it's, you know, we've got very affordable pricing.
Speaker C:Ticket wise, kids under 17 are free.
Speaker C:And so we want everyone to come and bring your whole family and whether you're a golfer or not.
Speaker C:And so one of the things, as you mentioned, we've got our Umpqua Family Fun Zone right when you first walk in.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:We partner with a company called, called Discover Golf and they bring in a very elaborate, sort of fun type of golf course where kids are hitting tennis balls into the mouth of a clown.
Speaker C:And it just makes golf really fun.
Speaker C:We, we have people come and say, you know, I didn't even really make it too far into the golf course.
Speaker C:We just hung out in the family fun zone.
Speaker C:But you can get snow cones and you can get popcorn and it's really a fun experience.
Speaker C:So we have that.
Speaker C:Again, very excited.
Speaker C:And then Le Schwab is sponsoring a girls junior tournament and that happens on Saturday.
Speaker C:And so girls ages 7 to 17 can sign up and compete on the Mason course, which is the par three right there on the.
Speaker C:It happens right during the tournament on Saturday.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So that's really fun.
Speaker C:And then, and then we have expanded some of our food and beverage areas.
Speaker C:Like we have some out on 17 and 2, so people go out and get some something to drink and watch golf out there.
Speaker C:And we have something kind of new and exciting this year that we're especially excited about and that is a partnership we're doing with the sports bra.
Speaker C:And I don't know if you're familiar with the sports bra, but it is very popular.
Speaker C:And it's a bar here in Portland, first of its kind that plays only women's sports.
Speaker C:And so out on the 15th green or whole 15, we're actually going to do an activation just for them.
Speaker B:Oh, good.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:So it's going to be great.
Speaker C:It's going to be a little, little higher level ticket.
Speaker C:You can go and have some shade experience.
Speaker C:Wonderful golf there on 15.
Speaker C:And there will be a bar that sort of exemplifies what the sports bra is, the original sports bra.
Speaker B:I like bars.
Speaker B:We're going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back with Monica Olson from Little Bird Media.
Speaker B:She's a co director of the Standard Portland Classic coming up this year and later in August.
Speaker B:And Monica and I will be in just a moment.
Speaker B:Don't go away.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker B:Here.
Speaker D:You know, every week on Grilling at the green we 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 C:Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome back to grilling.
Speaker B:It's green.
Speaker B:I'm Jeff Tracy.
Speaker B:If you haven't figured that out after all these years, I Don't know.
Speaker B:Can't help you, probably.
Speaker B:We're talking with Monica Olson today, co director of the Standard Portland classic coming up August 14th through the 17th out at Columbia Edgewater.
Speaker B:It's a great tournament, great course like that.
Speaker B:This is where I kind of put Monica on the spot.
Speaker B:Now, don't let her face panic you there because this is fun.
Speaker B:You're, you're well traveled.
Speaker B:But this is where we always ask our guests for a travel tip.
Speaker B:Now, because it's a golf show, a lot of them, the answers are centered around packing their clubs around.
Speaker B:That does not have to be the answer.
Speaker B:You know, if you, if you want to pack kids, if you want to.
Speaker B:If you're going somewhere on vacation, it's just a travel tip.
Speaker B:I traveled for a long, long time and I probably could have used some of these trips tips back in those days, but.
Speaker B:Okay, Monica, what would be your travel tip?
Speaker C:I would say don't forget to pack your chargers.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's, that's true.
Speaker C:It's always a crisis when someone in the family goes somewhere and there's not a charger for a phone or a laptop.
Speaker C:And that's happened to us before.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And not all chargers are created equal.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker B:Yes, I've noticed that, too.
Speaker B:That's a good tip.
Speaker B:Good.
Speaker B:Tim, Michael, we want to thank the folks at Weston Kia for our sponsoring our travel tip segment here.
Speaker B:I've known those guys since we were kids, and they're a great dealership.
Speaker B:In fact, they're the number one Kia dealer here in Oregon.
Speaker B:So go to Weston Kia and in Gresham, Oregon, if you have to be in the area, tell Jay and Jan hello from me.
Speaker B:Also, you can find us on, of course, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and YouTube.
Speaker B:And the list goes on forever.
Speaker B:At one time, I think we counted, Monica, 33 platforms that are.
Speaker B:That our stuff goes out on.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:It's a lot, but it gets there.
Speaker B:So back to the Standard Portland Classic.
Speaker B:What are you most looking forward to?
Speaker B:I mean, it's a lot of work and it's, there's some pressure that goes with it.
Speaker B:But what are you or and Lynn looking the most forward to for this tournament?
Speaker C:I think I would say it's sort of twofold.
Speaker C:Maybe it comes from being a people pleaser, but I.
Speaker C:We really want this to be some.
Speaker C:And a tournament that the LPGA players come to and feel like it's really, really special.
Speaker C:And they already feel that about our tournament.
Speaker C:But I feel like it's time to Take it to the next level.
Speaker C:And so I.
Speaker C:That to me is really important.
Speaker C:And then also for our sponsors, we've had the most loyal sponsors over the years.
Speaker C:And you know, it's like when you do the same thing over and over again, it's, it's good, it's a solid product, but I think, you know, you never want to leave people feeling like it's the same.
Speaker C:Same.
Speaker C:So taking it next level for our sponsors as well.
Speaker B:Well, I think that's.
Speaker B:I think that's wise.
Speaker B:I mean, the Portland Classic has always been one of the best tickets in town for sure.
Speaker B:As far as, you know, cost versus value type thing.
Speaker B:I think they've gotten more and more valuable.
Speaker B:The tickets haven't gone up that much over the years, but.
Speaker B:But the, the value of the product is, is increased a lot like that.
Speaker B:Your support from the lpga, how is that coming along?
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:I mean, the lpga, you know, I remember hearing somebody from the LPGA talk to us initially, and they said that they really treat their tournament partners like family.
Speaker C:And it is, it is really true.
Speaker C:The LPGA is, is great.
Speaker C:We went out to, to Florida for some of the tournament meetings in November last year, and we learned so much, and they've been super supportive of our, of our tournament.
Speaker B:Did you pack your Chargers?
Speaker C:Did.
Speaker C:I did.
Speaker C:And didn't leave them there.
Speaker B:Oh, that's good.
Speaker B:That's a good thing like that.
Speaker B:You know, a couple of years ago, and it was just about the time you guys kind of took over they tournament golf had.
Speaker B:There was a situation with the city of Portland and homeless encampments on 33rd Street.
Speaker B:And so they moved it to the Oregon Golf Club.
Speaker B:Great golf club.
Speaker B:It's not really set up though, for audiences, you know, spectators.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:You got to be a mountain goat to get around on some of that course.
Speaker B:It's beautiful.
Speaker B:Don't.
Speaker B:Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful course.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But then they, they came back to Columbia Edgewater and think that has served whatever the, the agreement was, whoever blinked, if you will, and got what they wanted.
Speaker B:I think that was a really wise move.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:The Oregon Golf Club was an awesome host and.
Speaker C:But, you know, it's just.
Speaker C:It's been a long standing tradition to have it at Columbia Edgewater.
Speaker C:And Columbia is.
Speaker C:They love this tournament as much as we do, and they feel like they're kind of part of this whole, this whole LPGA family.
Speaker C:So we're very glad to have it back there again.
Speaker B:So what's one thing you would like to see this year as something you put out there and kind of you stand back behind the scenes and you can look at it and say, that worked.
Speaker B:I really want this to work.
Speaker B:Or maybe that's something we need to look at differently for next year.
Speaker C:Well, I would say.
Speaker C:Are you talking in terms of like a goal for the tournament or.
Speaker B:Yeah, the goal and the, you know, because you're always adding something to these a little.
Speaker B:Sometimes it's small, incrementally, but you keep adding.
Speaker B:So that's, that's what I want to pick your, pick your brain about a little bit there.
Speaker C:Well, I think there's a lot of momentum.
Speaker C:I mean, there's a huge momentum in women's sports.
Speaker C:I, I think the, the, the level of playing from the athletes is just like growing every year.
Speaker C:And I think what I would like to see is stands full, tons of participation, a lot of people coming out.
Speaker C:And so in order to do that, I think we just need to, you know, remind people how wonderful this event is and how great it is for our city and then also let them know about some of the fun things that are new activations that are happening.
Speaker C:And I, I think this sports bra pop up is going to be really a big deal and exciting.
Speaker C:So it's something we've never had before.
Speaker C:It's like a little.
Speaker C:So, you know, there's the Champions Club, that's the fancy, a little more on the high end, expense participation and then there's just a general admission.
Speaker C:There's not been anything in between.
Speaker C:And I think this next level of, you know, it's going to be $60 a day for the sports bra and you get shade and you get to be part of something that's really cool and uniquely Portland.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:We've been talking to Monica Olson, co director of the Standard Portland Classic.
Speaker B:Where can people find out everything they need to know about the tournament?
Speaker C:The PortlandClassic.com website.
Speaker C:And we are moments away, probably a few days away from tickets going live and on sale.
Speaker C:So keep your eye out for that.
Speaker C:We also could use the huge support of our volunteers.
Speaker C:Volunteers make this tournament happen and that they can go to portlandclassic.com and sign up to be a volunteer.
Speaker C:That that registration is up live now.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:Thank you, Monica.
Speaker B:Monica Olson from Little Bird, but really the co director of the Portland Standard or the Standard Portland Classic.
Speaker B:Gotta get them on the right order there.
Speaker B:Anyway, we've gotta take a break here.
Speaker B:We're gonna be back with Eric Fitzgerald from Back nine Golf right after this.
Speaker B:Don't go away, Monica.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker C:Thank you, Jeff.
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 taste buds explode.
Speaker D:Put a big bright smile on your face and whoever is 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 painted hills beef.com and find out more.
Speaker D:You won't regret it.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt.
Speaker B:We want to thank Monica Olson, the co director of the Standard Portland Classic for sharing those few minutes with us there.
Speaker B:It's a great event, comes around every summer and it's a real family oriented event too.
Speaker B:So do that.
Speaker B:I'd like to welcome my next guest, Eric Fitzgerald from Back nine in Sherwood.
Speaker B:It's a new facility that's coming on board here very shortly and it's got a different type of business model which I think is going to work well.
Speaker B:Anyway, Eric, welcome to the show.
Speaker E:Thanks, Jeff.
Speaker E:I appreciate you having me.
Speaker B:I had to take a drink of water there, talk too much.
Speaker B:Tell us about Back nine.
Speaker E:Yeah, you know, Back nine is a up and coming franchise based out of Utah.
Speaker E: been around since the end of: Speaker E:The indoor golf scene is booming right now.
Speaker E:You know, there's a stat I saw out there that there were more golf balls hit into screens last year than hit outdoor.
Speaker E:And you know, the reasons for that.
Speaker E:I think it's pretty simple.
Speaker E:It's, it's a commitment to play around a golf nowadays you're probably talking four to five hours.
Speaker E:It's kind of expensive.
Speaker E:You know, it's tough to get out to the course.
Speaker E:So the back nine, my facility in Sherwood is going to have three simulator bays decked out with full swing technology.
Speaker E:So it's the same technology Tiger and the guys were using on the tgl.
Speaker E:So it's cutting edge technology there.
Speaker E:We're going to be open 247 for our members.
Speaker E:So, you know, you're, you're a Busy mom, dad, Junior, you can only play at 2:00 in the morning, book a tee time, come on out.
Speaker E:Facility is going to be open for you.
Speaker E:So it's kind of a different take on it.
Speaker E:It's not going to have the bar restaurant that you'd see at a, you know, the competitors out there.
Speaker E:This is more pure golf kind of golf for introverts.
Speaker E:If you want to call it that way where you can just come focus, work on your game and just, you know, enjoy the beautiful game of golf that it is.
Speaker B:So are you going to have the undulating hydraulic green that they have on?
Speaker E:I would love to have that.
Speaker E:That was a little bit out of the budget, but that thing is pretty spectacular.
Speaker E:Watching them play on Monday and Tuesday.
Speaker B:Nights, I, I heard a number on that thing somewhere and it was like 200,000 or 250 at least.
Speaker E:That was, that was quite the, quite the facility they had, they were using.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's pretty amazing stuff.
Speaker B:So the model of 24, 7, I mean we've seen a lot of fitness clubs over the years do that.
Speaker B:You've got a key fob or something and it lets you in the door.
Speaker B:And I have a membership to one of those which as you can tell by looking at me, I never use.
Speaker B:But it is available.
Speaker B:But how much thought.
Speaker B:I mean I, and you said it was a franchise thing and I know you're a franchisee, but.
Speaker B:And creating that model for 24, seven, maybe some nights you got a sleepless night or something and you want to do something and you can roll over there at 4 o'clock in the morning and hit balls for an hour with nobody around.
Speaker B:Was that one of the big selling points, the 247 version?
Speaker E:Yes, it was.
Speaker E:You know, just, just making sure our members could play golf.
Speaker E:You know, it's.
Speaker E:Our memberships are on your terms.
Speaker E:You know, we've got a variety of membership packages you can choose from.
Speaker E:You know, you're busy mom and dad, maybe you work a swing shift, you know, whatever the case may be, and you can only hit balls at 2 o'clock in the morning or like, are you sad it's a sleepless night.
Speaker E:I'm just laying here tossing, turning.
Speaker E:I'm going to book a time in the back nine and go.
Speaker E:And you know, we don't use a key fob.
Speaker E:You book a tee time like you would a regular golf course.
Speaker E:You're going to get a code sent to your phone and that code will let you in the front door 15 minutes before your tee time.
Speaker E:So it's kind of a hands off facility.
Speaker E:We'll have people there during the day to offer free demos and all that kind of good stuff.
Speaker E:But really the overnight's reserved for our members.
Speaker E:That's when they can come in, use the facility.
Speaker E:We will have public tee times as well during the day so people can come check out the concept, see if they want to become members.
Speaker E:And our Whole goal is, you know, we're going to limit the number of memberships we offer just so our members can get their money's worth.
Speaker E:On average, our members play seven times a month.
Speaker E:If you start doing the math, that's cheaper than going and hitting a bucket of balls and, you know, yeah, go and hit range calls.
Speaker E:You get no data.
Speaker E:You get nothing out of it.
Speaker B:Do you have a variety of courses?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker E:Over 250 courses you can play.
Speaker E:All the TPC courses will be there, and even the courses they designed for the TGL over the winter, those will be available at the back nine facilities as part of the full swing technology.
Speaker E:So you kind of get to play the fantasy courses, but, you know, we'll do events when the players comes around.
Speaker E:So, you know, you played 17 at Sawgrass, do it closest to the pin, whatever the case may be.
Speaker E:You get to play real courses that the pros are out there playing.
Speaker B:Are they.
Speaker B:Is Back nine affiliated with tgl?
Speaker B:I mean, they are not.
Speaker E:They're affiliated with Full Swing, and then Full Swing happens to be partnering with tgl.
Speaker B:Okay, so it's kind of a DNA chart, if you will, for that.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker B:What prompted you to look at this?
Speaker E:You know, I have been a golfer since the age of 12.
Speaker E:You know, some of my earliest memories, getting all excited to go to the golf course with my dad growing up.
Speaker E:You know, I tried the golf thing out of college, and it's a.
Speaker E:It's a hard business to bust into, you know, then I joined the corporate world just like most people do.
Speaker E:And I do Excel and PowerPoint all day, every day.
Speaker E:And the back nine came up on a call I was having one day, and I'm like, you know, this is my chance to get back into it.
Speaker E:Golf has taught me so much throughout my life.
Speaker E:And, you know, I'd love to see, you know, whether it's young kids learning the game or the older crowd that can't walk the course anymore, any of the demographics, we just want them to have the game accessible because we know not Everybody can give 5, 6, 7 hours to go play a round of golf at Red Tail or whatever the case may be.
Speaker E:And this is just a way to continue the game.
Speaker B:Are you still working in the corporate environment?
Speaker E:I am at the corporate environment for now, until my location opens up.
Speaker E:Once location opens up, I will be there.
Speaker E:You will see my smiling face every day at my back nine location, showing people how it works and just, you know, living in the golf industry.
Speaker B:Well, that's a good thing, Eric.
Speaker B:It really is.
Speaker B:It is tough to get into the.
Speaker B:To make that transition from golfer to golf business.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:That's a tough deal.
Speaker B:A lot of people, I think, and I've had numerous.
Speaker B:Numerous of them over on the show over the years, they create something now, whether it's technology like this or it's a swing aid or a trainer or something.
Speaker B:You know, a lot of them go by the wayside in very short order because the doors are not readily opened for them.
Speaker B:Totally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker E:One of the reasons I picked Sherwood is, you know, you look at the Sherwood area, it's kind of.
Speaker E:I don't want to call it a Gulf desert, but there's no golf courses in Sherwood.
Speaker E:You've got Tualatin Country Club, which is kind of nearby.
Speaker E:You got a couple in King City.
Speaker E:You've got Chehalem Glen out here in Newburgh, where I live.
Speaker E:But, you know, Sherwood's kind of a nice central spot.
Speaker E:You know, we can draw people from down south, people from Beaverton, Hillsborough area.
Speaker E:It's just kind of a nice central spot where people can come and hit golf balls and enjoy the game.
Speaker B:I would think it would be an ideal location for commuters that go into the city or the.
Speaker B:The upper burbs, as I call them, and work in those areas.
Speaker B:But yet they live.
Speaker B:I live kind of down south where you do.
Speaker B:I'm kind of parallel right across the.
Speaker B:The latitude, if you will.
Speaker B:But I would think that that would be a good thing, too, where, you know, if they're getting tied up in traffic and I5 is backed up for 37 miles, which is like it always is.
Speaker B:It always is not unusual, especially on a Friday like today.
Speaker B:It's like, I think I can pull off here in Tualton and cut over 100%.
Speaker E:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah, I mean, that's a.
Speaker B:That's a really good thing.
Speaker B:How's it been received so far I saw I met you at the Portland Golf Show.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:I was fascinated by it purely because of the business model of the 24 7.
Speaker B:Because you're right.
Speaker B:There's a lot of simulator facilities around.
Speaker B:Most of them are centered around food and beverage, but yours seems to be more for the pure golfer, 100%.
Speaker E:You know, the.
Speaker E:The.
Speaker E:The bar and restaurant type, they.
Speaker E:They definitely have their uses.
Speaker E:You want to get together with a bunch of guys on a Friday night and, you know, pour a few back and hit golf balls, and you're more than welcome to.
Speaker E:But, you know, like I said, this is to work on your game.
Speaker E:You know, we're not gonna have the bar Restaurant, you can bring your own food and beverage.
Speaker E:So if you want to swing by at Subway, get a sandwich, grab, you know, the beverage of choice and come to our facility, you're more than welcome to.
Speaker E:You know, you can book the bay anywhere from an hour to three hours, depending on your membership level.
Speaker E:And then that also determines how many buddies you can bring with you.
Speaker E:Our starter membership is just you for an hour, but it goes all the way up to.
Speaker E:You can book for three hours and bring four guys with you.
Speaker E:And you start doing the math.
Speaker E:If you've got your foursome buddies you play golf with all the time, you split the cost of the membership.
Speaker E:It's much cheaper than going out and playing around golf at any of the golf courses around here.
Speaker E:So it just really offers that opportunity to play it on your schedule when you're available.
Speaker E:We're right next to a dance studio, so I'm going to be talking to all the dance mom and dads when they're dropping their kids off for their hour long dance classes.
Speaker E:We've gotten a fitness center in the same facility, so we'll be partnering with all the local businesses to really, really enhance what our members can experience at the back nine.
Speaker B:Is your membership based on number of hours or just a certain amount of allotted time per month or per visit?
Speaker B:How's that?
Speaker E:It is, it's per it.
Speaker E:So you get, you can book as many tea times as you want in a month.
Speaker E:You can only have one active tee time at a time.
Speaker E:So it's a starter membership.
Speaker E:You can book an hour tee time.
Speaker E:Once that hour is up, you can go ahead and book another hour whenever is available.
Speaker E:So, you know, in theory, if you wanted to, you could play every day on that single membership just by booking an hour each day and, you know, just getting your money's worth.
Speaker B:Well, that's pretty interesting because a lot of them have what I would say the model presents itself with potential overlaps with other people.
Speaker B:You know, you, you get so many hours a month or something like that and then somebody else has booked it and you're not done or, you know, it just, there's a potential there for, I don't want to say conflict, but just uncomfortable situations at times, you know.
Speaker E:Well, and that's, that's the beauty of the membership model as well.
Speaker E:You know, we're gonna limited number of memberships.
Speaker E:So if you've only got 100 guys that are members, you know, they're going to take pride in the facility, you know, they're going to respect the other Members, you know, everybody's going to want to get along because it's a small group of people building a little golf community there in Sherwood.
Speaker E:And, you know, you asked how it's been received, and everybody I've talked about the concept has been very excited, had some great conversations at the golf show.
Speaker E:The next step now is we just have to get this thing open.
Speaker E:That's, that's our number one goal at this point.
Speaker B:We're going to take a quick break here on Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm going to be back with Eric Fitzgerald from Back nine.
Speaker B:I want to tell you really quick before we go about birdie ball.
Speaker B:You've heard me talk about birdie ball dozens of times.
Speaker B:If you need a practice mat and you've got limited space to practice in your backyard or parking lot or whatever, check out birdieball.com they look like little napkin rings.
Speaker B:They fly like golf balls, but they'll only go about 40 yards.
Speaker B:Try birdieball.com Eric and I will be back right after this.
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 the actual birdie balls, their packages, their putting greens, which I happen to have a couple of those, and they work great.
Speaker D:Birdieball.com.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm JT today we've got Eric Fitzgerald from back nine.
Speaker B:Also, don't forget pig powder.
Speaker B:You say, why pig powder on a golf show?
Speaker B:Well, it is.
Speaker B:The title of the show is Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:So Pig Powder was created by my radio wife on the barbecue side, Leanne Whippen's father, and it was awarded the best on planet as far as a barbecue rub.
Speaker B:So go to pinkpatter.com good stuff.
Speaker B:You ever get invited to my house, I'll probably cook something for you with pig powder on it.
Speaker B:Anyway, we're talking with Eric Fitzgerald from Back nine.
Speaker B:It's a new facility that's going to be opened up shortly.
Speaker B:We're going to talk about that in a minute.
Speaker B:In Sherwood, Oregon, they have franchises all over the country.
Speaker B:And Eric is.
Speaker B:Can't fool me.
Speaker B:He's gotten tired of spreadsheets and Excel documents.
Speaker E:There you are correct.
Speaker E:I can't hide behind that anymore.
Speaker B:No, no, no.
Speaker B:How many franchises do they have?
Speaker E:You know, there are over 40 open right now, and I believe we're in triple digits as far as franchises under contract.
Speaker E:So, you know, in the next year or so, we'll be 100 plus facilities open.
Speaker E:They started out in Utah, really big in Arizona, got some great facilities in New York, Nebraska, I will be the first one in Oregon with a couple following shortly behind me.
Speaker E:So we're really starting to get that nationwide presence.
Speaker E:You know, Kevin Kisner, you may recognize that name for the PGA Tour, he has invested in a facility in Augusta, Georgia.
Speaker E:So they are opening up here in the next month or so.
Speaker E:So we are, we're really starting to see the back nine franchises pop up.
Speaker B:Is it, is it bombing?
Speaker B:Let's get down to it, Eric.
Speaker B:Is it expensive?
Speaker E:You know, the, the most expensive part is going to be your facility.
Speaker E:So you know, having to, having to pay the lease and that kind of stuff.
Speaker E:The equipment we've got a great deal with full swing.
Speaker E:So you know, your all in cost is not, you know, I'm just an everyday working guy, so it's not like I had to come up with a ton of capital for this.
Speaker E:It's definitely an investment.
Speaker E:But you know, you look at the disclosure documents and everything, it's a very healthy business model.
Speaker E:Mainly because there's no bar, restaurants, your labor costs are extremely low.
Speaker E:So most of your costs are going to be your rent payment and then you know, just your sunk cost, your equipment, your startup cost.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:No, and it's our memberships.
Speaker B:Memberships.
Speaker B:I can't talk today.
Speaker B:Expensive.
Speaker B:I mean, is it.
Speaker B:I'm assuming that when you book an hour, then you get billed for that hour, but you have some sort of base membership that allows you to do that.
Speaker E:Totally.
Speaker E:You know, we have, you know, I think our lowest membership is going to be a hundred dollars a month.
Speaker E:And that's got, you know, some time restrictions on it.
Speaker E:That's what we call the night owl.
Speaker E:So if you work a swing shift and you can only play golf from like 10pm to 5am 100 bucks a month, you can do unlimited sessions in that time.
Speaker E:Our lowest Single membership is 175.
Speaker E:They go all the way up to 400 and that 401, you get three hours.
Speaker E:You got five buddies, you can have two tee times.
Speaker E:So that's essentially a double membership at that point.
Speaker E:But there's no restrictions on how many, how many bookings you can have in a month.
Speaker E:You can just only have one active at a time.
Speaker E:And then as far as public tee times go, we're only going to charge 45 for an hour.
Speaker E:That's for you and three buddies.
Speaker E:So you know, if you guys want to play 18 holes at Pebble beach, you book the facility for two hours, that's 90 bucks split between four guys.
Speaker E:We want to make the, make it affordable so, you know, get memberships to fit your lifestyle.
Speaker E:And they're kind of, they kind of range all over the board.
Speaker B:Well, that's, that's kind of a cool thing.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:Did you have any qualms when you signed the, the agreement?
Speaker E:A thousand percent.
Speaker E:You know, I think you're gonna.
Speaker E:When I've been a corporate guy for 35 years and you sit at your corporate office job and you got benefits and you got PTO and you got all the fun stuff and your paycheck in regularly, so.
Speaker E:So I'm not gonna lie, it's a risk.
Speaker E:But when I look at it, you know, I'm getting to the age where it's like, you know, if I wasn't gonna go do something now, I would never do it.
Speaker E:I did go out.
Speaker E:I spent some time with the back nine guys at the end of August last year, just meeting them.
Speaker E:Great bunch of guys.
Speaker E:Absolutely.
Speaker E:After meeting them, I had zero qualms.
Speaker E:It's just a question of could I make the numbers work.
Speaker E:But I think it's a phenomenal business model.
Speaker E:I think it's a need in the Portland area.
Speaker E:Especially, you know, those November nights where it's dark at 4:30 and you know, man, I really want to go hit golf balls and there's nowhere to go unless I want to go pound terrible range balls at one of the facilities.
Speaker E:So I think, I think it's definitely got some potential here.
Speaker B:Range rocks?
Speaker B:Yes, range rocks.
Speaker B:Eric Fitzgerald.
Speaker B:Where can they find out more information?
Speaker B:People?
Speaker E:Send them somewhere, a couple different spots.
Speaker E:You know, you can, you can find us on the social medias, on Instagram, we're @B9Golf Sherwood.
Speaker E:Facebook.
Speaker E:It's pretty simple.
Speaker E:It's the Back 9Golf Sherwood.
Speaker E:Or our website is back9golf.com Sherwoodor and on the website you can sign up for essentially our waiting list to get news on when the facility is going to be open.
Speaker E:We're tentatively penciling a late May opening at this point in time, but we'll keep that mailing list updated.
Speaker E:All the socials will be updated just so people can follow us and we'll get that thing built out and everybody can come out and enjoy it.
Speaker B:Excellent.
Speaker B:Eric Fitzgerald.
Speaker B:Good luck to you, man.
Speaker B:I think this is great.
Speaker B:I think you, once you get that door open, I think things are going to go smoothly for you.
Speaker E:I appreciate that, Jeff.
Speaker B:No problem.
Speaker B:We're going to get out of here.
Speaker B:Next week is the masters but I will have a new show for you next week.
Speaker B:Yeah, we're going to do a new show.
Speaker B:I'm not going to tell you any more than that, but I want to thank Eric for being with us today.
Speaker B:And also Monica Olson from Little Bird.
Speaker B:And don't forget the standard Portland Classic coming up.
Speaker B:August starts August 14th.
Speaker B:Anyway, we got to get out of here.
Speaker B:Go out, play some golf, have some fun.
Speaker B:But most importantly, 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 reserved.
