Top Amateur Golfer Alex Carney
The primary focus of today's discourse centers on the multifaceted contributions of Alex Carney to the golfing community, particularly her endeavors in organizing and participating in local tournaments. As a prominent amateur golfer in the senior division, Alex shares her journey in the sport, elucidating the profound impact golf has had on her personal and professional life. The conversation delves into her experiences at Tualatin Country Club and her significant role in fostering community engagement through golf tournaments. Furthermore, we explore the nuances of tournament organization, emphasizing the importance of understanding the audience and ensuring a pleasurable experience for participants. Alex's insights serve as a testament to the enriching nature of golf, not merely as a competitive pursuit but as a vehicle for community building and personal growth.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Snell Tour Caliber Balls
- Tualatin Auto Body
- Weston Kia
- Painted Hills
- Carsley Golf
- Birdie Ball
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcript
It's time for Grilling at the Green.
Speaker A:Join Jeff Tracy as he explores a golfing lifestyle and tries to keep it in the short grass for the hackers, new sweepers and turf spankers.
Speaker A:Here's Jeff.
Speaker B:Everybody.
Speaker B:Welcome to Grilling at the Green here in Portland on Seattle on the the respective answers and a proud member of the golf news across the world.
Speaker B:Actually, a little quick note here.
Speaker B:Don't forget the standard Portland Classic is coming up August 14th through the 17th out at Columbia Edgewater LPGA tournament and believe it's the longest running LPGA tournament at this point in time.
Speaker B:It's a great show.
Speaker B:By the way, this segment of Girly at the Green is brought to you by Snell Tour Caliber Balls.
Speaker B:That's tour caliber golf balls for every player of every skill level at an affordable price.
Speaker B:Go to snellgolf.com and also my friends John Breaker and his family back in Colorado who produce the birdie balls.
Speaker B:Not just the birdie balls themselves, but they have a wide selection of award winning putting greens.
Speaker B:Well, today it's my pleasure to welcome to the show Alex Carney.
Speaker B:Alex is a top rated amateur golfer in the senior division.
Speaker B:Alex also and her husband Dave also happen to own a business that supports a lot of golf here called Tualt and Auto Body and they're very involved in the golfing community here in the Portland area.
Speaker B:Alex, welcome.
Speaker C:Hi.
Speaker C:Nice to see you or talk to you, John.
Speaker B:Yeah, you can see me, but I can't see you so.
Speaker C:Well.
Speaker B:Let's kind of do a little historical perspective here.
Speaker B:Alex, how did you get involved in golf?
Speaker C:Well, it happened years ago.
Speaker C:We started our business in Tualatin and I believe it's 39 years ago now.
Speaker C:And when we first came out, we joined the Chamber, we started doing different things and they, we joined about five or six years later, Tualatin Country Club.
Speaker C:And I really started loving golf and then the Chamber asked me to put on the golf tournament for them and, and I started working on that.
Speaker C:And then subsequently as we grew, we evolved to, I evolved to working with six different chambers that surrounded our community because those people were bringing their cars to us, et cetera, and we were giving back.
Speaker C:So we started doing all of these golf tournaments and more and more.
Speaker C:Obviously we're helping be a part of it, sponsoring, playing, doing whatever.
Speaker C:And then I was also asked to run a subsequent golf tournament for the, the Packbackers for Tualatin High School.
Speaker C:So I did that for a few years and then I said, well, we're, we're Feeding the same from the same pool.
Speaker C:We have got to do something.
Speaker C:So we actually put both of those tournaments together for many, many years.
Speaker C:And just in the last, I want to say five, I think after, of course, Covid was a big reset for everyone, but they started doing.
Speaker C:They split out how they were doing their tournament from the high school.
Speaker C:And we still run this through Tualatin Chambers.
Speaker C:So we host this huge tournament every year at Tualatin country Club.
Speaker C:It's July 14th this year.
Speaker C:Fabulous.
Speaker C:All the community comes out.
Speaker C:We have partnerships that sponsor holes, and it is the most dynamic, fun group.
Speaker C:Everywhere you stop, you're playing a game, you're getting some swag.
Speaker C:You get to talk with people.
Speaker C:It's a really fantastic event.
Speaker B:I get to play in it this year.
Speaker B:I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker C:We are, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So when.
Speaker B:When you first picked up a club, did you think, I can be really good at this?
Speaker B:Which you turned out to be very good at it.
Speaker B:And we'll get to that a bit later in the show.
Speaker B:But you say.
Speaker B:Or did you look at it and I wonder how you hit this thing, you know, what was the dynamic there?
Speaker C:Oh, it's funny.
Speaker C:My husband and I were married five years before.
Speaker C:We had kids, and so we thought, well, we'll take some golf lessons.
Speaker C:And we.
Speaker C:His dad played a lot of golf, and he'd play golf.
Speaker C:I had never played golf.
Speaker C:And I just, from day one, loved it.
Speaker C:And I loved the serenity of the golf course.
Speaker C:I love the beauty, I love the quiet.
Speaker C:Everything about it drew to me now, I.
Speaker C:Early on, though, and then we had kids and I did not play for many, many years.
Speaker C:I played maybe once, maybe on a weekend.
Speaker C:Only in summer because we live in Oregon.
Speaker C:I did not play in the rain.
Speaker C:So I.
Speaker C:It took me a long time to get my.
Speaker C:I mean, I was okay.
Speaker C:I go down the middle and all that, but I wasn't that good.
Speaker C:And it wasn't until I started playing more full time that I started getting better.
Speaker C:And then I started investing time in trying to be better.
Speaker C:And I mean, it is.
Speaker C:It's a thing.
Speaker C:You have to stay on it.
Speaker C:So sadly.
Speaker C:Sadly.
Speaker C:And then I wish I had done it when I was a teenager.
Speaker C:Our sons, both of our sons are phenomenal because they started young.
Speaker C:Even though they don't play for a while, all of a sudden they can wrap out this huge drive.
Speaker C:That's how it happens with me and.
Speaker C:Or women generally.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that's.
Speaker B:I found Alex, the more I get involved in the golf business, World as it were, working with tournaments and of course, doing this show and other things that I do, the less time I actually have to play.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I drive by a golf course every day and I went, oh, man, look at that.
Speaker B:Those guys are out there playing, you know, and it's one of those things.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:What kind of really prompted you.
Speaker B:You spoke about being involved with the chamber at Tualatin there, and then, of course, giving back to the community.
Speaker B:I think all, you know, really good business people and community members want to do that.
Speaker B:But what was the impetus to.
Speaker B:For you to raise your hand, which.
Speaker B:That's a warning to people.
Speaker B:If you raise your hand, if you're involved in these civic groups, you're going to get assigned something.
Speaker B:But when you raised your hand and said, I'll take on the golf tournament, I mean, had you had any idea what was involved in putting on a tournament?
Speaker C:I'd been around some tournaments, but I had also helped to host significant business development meetings.
Speaker C:And we did Christmas lunches and brunches.
Speaker C:And everyone's in a chamber is always involved in helping in some aspect.
Speaker C:So you do a little one and then you do a little big one.
Speaker C:And so it's just really.
Speaker C:It's a matter of keeping great lists.
Speaker C:Have all the people set up, make sure there's enough people doing this, the different positions that you need to have.
Speaker C:This has grown significantly from when we first started, obviously.
Speaker C:And it's a major event, and it's really fun to watch.
Speaker C:And one of the things that we had to decide early on is, hey, do we keep the yellow pages?
Speaker C:Or look at all these sports teams that are constantly needing help?
Speaker C:Or the high school cheer or the baseball teams, basketball, everybody.
Speaker C:Even if it's sponsored in some way by the schools, there's always a need.
Speaker C:If they're traveling, they need money for that.
Speaker C:If there's uniforms, all these different needs.
Speaker C:And so we found that we would much rather have less ads that are just generally located and go for more specific.
Speaker C:And so you will see in our office years and years and years of sponsorship and pictures of the kids all around town.
Speaker C:And in subsequent.
Speaker C:We belong to six chambers.
Speaker C:All surrounds Sherwood, Wilsonville, Lake, Oswego, all of them around us.
Speaker C:And we've just found that they were.
Speaker C:They'll come back now, they'll bring their kids and show them their picture.
Speaker C:As a youth, you know, t ball player, it's really fun.
Speaker C:And as a community, you know, when you go to the store, you don't want.
Speaker C:You want people to Be going, oh yeah, those people never do anything here.
Speaker C:So I think it was just a need.
Speaker C:We looked around where is the money best spent and it was in the community rather than on a yellow page ad.
Speaker C:So that's pretty much what we did.
Speaker B:I think that's a decision that a lot of businesses have to make is the fact of do.
Speaker B:Especially now.
Speaker B:It's not just yellow pages.
Speaker B:It's radio, it's tv, it's digital, it's gosh, it's just.
Speaker B:And I live in that world and it's endless.
Speaker B:But you know, it's not always about return on investment in the short term, it's return on investment into the community that I think just me, my prejudice, if you will.
Speaker B:I think the investment in the community is more well founded and brings a bigger return than just trying to get somebody to bring you a damaged car on a digital ad.
Speaker B:I'm using you as an example there.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:No, I, I, I really agree with, I feel like the community feeds itself.
Speaker C:We love reading about what's going on in the community, what's going on in the neighborhood.
Speaker C:The chamber is a good source for that.
Speaker C:There's a Tualatin little newspaper that's fantastic.
Speaker C:I think that all of those things help build it.
Speaker C:Even though our infrastructure has grown so large, it may not feel like that small community anymore.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:So I agree with you on that.
Speaker C:I think that this is a very huge aspect to keep the qualities that we love about our towns in the forefront.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:We're talking with Alex Carney today.
Speaker B:She's a top amateur golfer.
Speaker B:We're going to talk about that when we come back, but we've got to take a break.
Speaker B:Alex and I will be right here when you get back on grilling at the green.
Speaker B:Ready for a new ride?
Speaker B:Choose from over 1,000 vehicles at Weston Kia.
Speaker B:Like a new Sportage Soul Fort K, Ford Sorento Telluride or Carnival Gas, electric or hybrid.
Speaker B:Oregon's all time leader in Kia sales.
Speaker B:Everyone wins at Westin.
Speaker B: From: Speaker B:Reported by Kia Corp.
Speaker B:Welcome back to grilling.
Speaker B:It's green on jt.
Speaker B:So we're talking with Alex Carney today.
Speaker B:Her and her husband Dave own a company in Tualton, Oregon called Tualatin Auto Body.
Speaker B:But Alex is also very involved in the golf community here, not only giving back as a business but also as an actual amateur golfer who does quite well.
Speaker B:And we're going to talk to her about that right now.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:You had a couple of really good weeks this past couple of weeks.
Speaker B:You, you won your flight at the Tualton Country Club, then you played in the qualifier.
Speaker B:Kind of walk us through all that, if you would.
Speaker C:Well, actually, I think so.
Speaker C:Last year I won the club championship as a senior for to Walleton Country Club and then also at Charbonneau.
Speaker C:And I qualified for the Oregon Senior Amateur that was being hosted here at Tualatin through the Oregon Golf Association.
Speaker C:So I was so happy to represent our club.
Speaker C:And there were about eight of us from the Tualton Country Club that were involved in some way or another or past people that had been part of our club.
Speaker C:And it was just, it was a great honor to be, to be there and be able to do it and, and play against these great golfers and didn't have such a good week, but I got to come in on the last day and I had a very good last day in the pouring down rain.
Speaker C:I don't know what that says about my golf, but there you go.
Speaker C:So I was able to win my flight on Saturday and it was very validating.
Speaker C:So it was, it was fun.
Speaker B:What, what's next for you?
Speaker C:We just play.
Speaker C:Well, we're playing in all of the local community events.
Speaker C:Our big event on July 17th and then we are actually going to go up to Montana and celebrate my husband's birthday with the relatives.
Speaker C:So that'll be fun, but not, not too much.
Speaker C:Just golf and whenever I can and, and keep it going.
Speaker C:So I haven't signed up for a lot of external tournaments, but we'll see what comes up.
Speaker B:How is the pressure?
Speaker B:I mean, it's one thing when you are involved in all these various tournaments and you're supporting them and you're playing in them, that's one thing.
Speaker B:But when you start to get into a situation like you said, you won your club championship, you're playing for an OGA event.
Speaker B:They're different names in different states, but they're all.
Speaker B:They all end up about the same.
Speaker B:Do you feel any nerves?
Speaker B:You don't seem like a very nervous.
Speaker C:Person to me, but yeah, absolutely.
Speaker C:I try really hard to stay in my own head and game and play.
Speaker C:I think one thing I'm good at is managing the course.
Speaker C:I'm not as long as other people.
Speaker C:I kind of have to watch where I go generally.
Speaker C:I don't get too crazy with my swings.
Speaker C:That did happen one day this week and I thought that's not my normal game.
Speaker C:Where does that ball come from?
Speaker C:But that happens.
Speaker C:And Then just kind of managing and sucking it up, trying to just calm your nerves and not get ahead of yourself.
Speaker C:And we love to watch golf.
Speaker C:All the national events we watch, and just watching them under pressure, and it's so heartbreaking.
Speaker C:You know, what happens to lose like Tommy Fleetwood just did by one.
Speaker C:It's just.
Speaker C:That's hard.
Speaker C:And he was trying to protect.
Speaker C:And I understand all of it, so.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:But it's just.
Speaker C:It's a personal journey, and it felt really good to get past it.
Speaker C:Match play is also very different than stroke play.
Speaker C:And so we were playing match play, which makes it somewhat easier because you got to start over on every hole, but it's still all adding up all the time.
Speaker C:So I guess just.
Speaker C:You're always just like they say on tv, stay in it.
Speaker C:Just don't get ahead of yourself.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Don't get over your skis, as they say.
Speaker C:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:You can do that.
Speaker B:I'm sure Fleetwood was disappointed until they dropped that 900,000 or whatever in his wallet for second place.
Speaker B:I don't.
Speaker B:I didn't read the numbers.
Speaker C:Yeah, that.
Speaker B:That'll take a little of the sting out of it, I'm pretty sure.
Speaker B:I'm just saying.
Speaker C:I think.
Speaker C:I think there's something about how long it's been since he's one.
Speaker C:He's.
Speaker C:He's got a phenomenal career just being in the top 10.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:100%.
Speaker C:And there's many.
Speaker C:Many golfers that never win a tournament and have great careers because they win enough.
Speaker C:But that.
Speaker C:That had to be a stinger to get that close.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I had a guy.
Speaker B:Excuse me, Alex.
Speaker B:I had a guy tell me years ago, I was complaining about that I wasn't hitting the ball correctly or something and kind of put his hand on my shoulder, and he said, you know, there's a lot of guys that can't hit the ball that far on the tour, but they make a very good living.
Speaker B:And then he kind of smirked at me and walked away.
Speaker B:And I've always remembered that.
Speaker B:So now I can't get it worth a damn.
Speaker B:But anyway.
Speaker C:But we love.
Speaker C:I don't know, why do we like this game that gets us so tied up in knots?
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker B:I think it's a.
Speaker B:I think it's a challenge.
Speaker B:You know, maybe it's a little bit of us reflecting back to our youth when we were better athletes or.
Speaker B:I have no idea.
Speaker B:But it is addictive.
Speaker B:It is addictive.
Speaker C:I love the fact that we may not hit as long or far or whatever, but you can have a game, and I love that.
Speaker C:Now they're playing the tee boxes forward to make it better for older, younger, and what it's doing is it's making them stay in the game longer.
Speaker C:We have a fantastic gal who just quit the last couple of years in her 90s playing golf.
Speaker C:So to me, that's so good for all of our health and our outlook and, you know, being out on these beautiful courses, like you say, you look by and it's.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker C:Nothing bad about that.
Speaker B:No, no.
Speaker B:It's the only thing.
Speaker B:It maybe inspires a little jealousy in me at the time, you know, when I'm.
Speaker B:They're playing and I have to go back to the office.
Speaker C:That's right.
Speaker B:That's a deal.
Speaker B:Did you ever desire to, like, play on the Women's Senior Tour or anything?
Speaker C:You know, I really have a lot of opportunity.
Speaker C:No, I was always working full time until Covid, basically, so we kind of retired after that.
Speaker C:I play a lot of golf in California.
Speaker C:I play tournaments down there, and I love it.
Speaker C:I then, of course, play up here.
Speaker C:Same.
Speaker C:I have more opportunity than I have time and, you know, getting everything put together and everything.
Speaker C:Also, we have kids in North Carolina with our grandkids, so we.
Speaker C:We do a jog out there quite a bit to see them.
Speaker C:So time.
Speaker C:We're busier now than when we were working full time.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:We're going to take another break.
Speaker B:We're going to be back with Alex Carney from Tualton, Oregon, and more of her story in just a minute.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, it's J.T.
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 Hill will make your 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 hillsbeef.com and find out more.
Speaker B:You won't regret it.
Speaker B:Welcome back to Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:I'm jt.
Speaker B:I want to tell you about the.
Speaker B:The rhymer from Carsley Golf.
Speaker B:A lot of people, even I don't care how long you've played, you still have these issues.
Speaker B:Once in a while is ball position and stance.
Speaker B:And the Reimer is a very simple little device you can throw in your golf bag.
Speaker B:And if you're on the range or practicing, it'll help you go to carsleygolf.com.
Speaker B:and it works out really well.
Speaker B:We're talking with Alex Carney today.
Speaker B:She's top amateur golfer here in Oregon and does a great job.
Speaker B:I, I, I will tell you, I don't really know Alex that well.
Speaker B:We met a few weeks ago.
Speaker B:I'm going to get to know her better, and so are you through the course of this interview.
Speaker B:But this lady's got some game, I'll put it that way, like that.
Speaker B:As you go work with these tournaments, what's one of the things, Alex, that, and this is kind of Alex's advice corner here.
Speaker B:What's one of the things you see in these, in these scrambles?
Speaker B:And most all these tournaments are scrambles because they're meant to have fun and raise money.
Speaker B:What's one of the things that you think people could probably do better or make sure they include in their, in the fulfillment of the tournament that some of them don't.
Speaker B:I'm sure yours don't have too many of those little items, but I play in a number of these every year and there's a few of them that I go, you know, if, if you just maybe did this over here, it might go better for you.
Speaker B:And one of the things too, that a lot of people that organize these tournaments, there's a fair number of them that are not golfers.
Speaker B:They, they get the assignment through the chamber or through the office or wherever it is, and they're not golfers.
Speaker B:So what would be some things you would suggest to people if they're doing tournaments like this to look at, to make things better?
Speaker C:You know, I think every tournament group learns every year from the prior one that's, you know, something that 100% we all do.
Speaker C:And the biggest thing is, you know, know your audience and you, you're right.
Speaker C:We do have some fabulous volunteers that know nothing about golf.
Speaker C:And, and, and they need to be coordinating with someone that does know about golf because you, you can't have them trying to place people around if they don't understand the dynamics or where's the hole in one hole or, you know, who's having the wine is over here, but not over here.
Speaker C:Not, you know, no one's coming around with the golf cart.
Speaker C:You know, there's lots of little juggling that goes on, and we just try and make sure that any of our hole sponsors have some sort of a game if it gets backed up.
Speaker C:A lot of times these, these golf tournaments take a while because some of the men are very long hitters.
Speaker C:They have to wait till the, you know, the spacing clears in front of them.
Speaker C:So most of our sponsors will have, like, a little game going on, Give away things, have a raffle prize, have some sort of a contest to make it past the time.
Speaker C:Also gives you an opportunity to spend a little bit of time with your.
Speaker C:Your host there at that hole.
Speaker C:And I think that, that if nothing else that's important, make sure that you have, you know, correct prizes or cash or whatever.
Speaker C:And, you know, I think the most bottom line is you're raising money for a good cause.
Speaker C:Everybody have a good time and just support and try and be gracious.
Speaker C:So, yeah, that's.
Speaker C:I think that's the biggest point.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the other thing is you want to play.
Speaker B:You want to play well, but you want to have fun.
Speaker B:But in a scramble tournament like this, I'll give you an example, and I've spoken about this on the show before.
Speaker B:One of the first tournaments I ever played in which a scramble.
Speaker B:Years ago, there was out of, let's say, 25 teams, there was 22 of them that were there to have fun, and they wanted to play well, but they wanted to have fun, and they knew that it was to raise money, etc.
Speaker B:Etc.
Speaker B:And there was about three teams that were short of the word vicious, but they were very serious about playing.
Speaker B:And it really kind of turned a light bulb on in my head about, why are you here?
Speaker B:You know, what's the primary mission if you're here?
Speaker B:Is it to have fun and raise money for whatever you're trying to benefit that day, or is it you really just need your name on that trophy, which is the most important?
Speaker B:And sometimes I think.
Speaker B:And I like to win.
Speaker B:Hell yes, I like to win.
Speaker B:But I think we got to kind of keep in mind why we're there.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker C:Oh, I agree.
Speaker C:It's kind of funny.
Speaker C:You could have the best round and think, everything's clicking, we've done so well, and someone will beat you by like six strokes.
Speaker C:And you think, how'd that happen?
Speaker B:Yeah, well, I learned my lesson on that too, Alex.
Speaker B:Yeah, I walked into the.
Speaker B:To the luncheon afterwards, and they had the scores posted.
Speaker B:Now they came in at like 19 under.
Speaker B:And I'm like, what?
Speaker B:You know how that happened?
Speaker C:I know, I know.
Speaker C:We're just like.
Speaker C:We always kind of just say, don't expect anything.
Speaker C:Let's go have fun.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Couple of fun questions here that some of them have to do with golf and some of them don't, but what is a course that you would like to play?
Speaker B:That you haven't had the opportunity to play yet.
Speaker C:Greenbrier is one.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's actually, there's.
Speaker C:There's a few really exclusive ones that I would love to play.
Speaker C:Sea Island, Georgia, we'd love to go there.
Speaker C:We are going to Whistling Straits this year, so that will be fun.
Speaker C:I'm certain it's not going to look anything like when they had the Open there, and I'm so glad because we played Torrey Pines right after the men were in there.
Speaker C:I don't know how they hit through that rough.
Speaker C:I did not.
Speaker C:I couldn't get my body arms through that thing.
Speaker C:It was wild.
Speaker C:So I have a lot of respect for their strength.
Speaker B: er the Open was there back in: Speaker B:And I'm like, I couldn't get a ball to stick on the green if I'd had super glue on it.
Speaker C:Oh, I know, I know.
Speaker C:I agree with you.
Speaker C:It's, it's.
Speaker C:It's very intimidating when you come in after something like that.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Here's kind of a fun one for you.
Speaker B:If I gave you a box with everything you've lost or misplaced in your life, life, including golf stuff, what would be the first thing you'd reach into that box for?
Speaker C:Oh, a cross pendant that I lost very young and it just, it was from Communion.
Speaker C:And still that's, that's one.
Speaker C:I don't usually lose things, so I'm very, very good with that.
Speaker C:And so that really drives me nuts if I do lose something.
Speaker C:So that would be one my, my.
Speaker B:My radio host, co partner on the barbecue show, Leanne.
Speaker B:I asked her that question a few weeks ago on the show when I first kind of came up with it, and she said the same thing.
Speaker B:She had had a gold cross that I think her dad had given her, and they were, they were big on water skiing and stuff.
Speaker B:She went to hand it to.
Speaker B:She was on the boat, she was going to hand it to somebody on the dock and it fell in the water.
Speaker B:And she said, you know, we spent like three hours in the.
Speaker B:Right there by the dock, in the water looking for it.
Speaker B:We could never find it.
Speaker B:So that, that bugged her, too.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker B:Do you get a chance to go to the, like, here in Portland, they have the, the Standard Classic coming up here in a month and a half.
Speaker B:But do you get a chance to go to some of the pro events and watch?
Speaker C:Yes, I love to do that.
Speaker C:And we, we went to a lot when Kevin Jacobson ran them up here.
Speaker C:We went to a lot of those and, you know, volunteered and helped and absolutely love it.
Speaker C:I, there's nothing like watching from, from a first eye view of what's going on.
Speaker C:Although I will say was interesting.
Speaker C:One of the golfers who I will not name, who got a huge penalty, we're at the Oregon Golf Club looking down hole one, and he's going to hit this humongous drive.
Speaker C:And Kevin Jacobs doing his little, you know, shtick about Omar Palmer.
Speaker C:And he gets up to hit and he turns and he launches his ball over all of the spectators into a parking lot.
Speaker C:I think in that day.
Speaker C:So that was, oh, so many years ago, $50,000 fine.
Speaker C:And all I thought was that would have killed somebody.
Speaker B:That was, you can say it because we've talked about it on the show.
Speaker B:That was John Daly who did that.
Speaker C:I couldn't believe it.
Speaker C:We, when he turned, we thought, oh, he's going to say something.
Speaker C:And then he set up and hit.
Speaker C:And we're, I'm like, no way.
Speaker C:He can't do that.
Speaker C:And he did.
Speaker B:It was, yeah, he was.
Speaker B:JD Was a wild man.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It still is, unfortunately, powered by something other than energy.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, there was energy involved, but it wasn't, you know, we're gonna take a break, but a couple things before we go.
Speaker B:Don't forget the Standard Portland classic Coming up August 14th and the 17th at Columbia Edgewater, if you haven't ever been out there and seen the tournament and that course, it's a beautiful course.
Speaker B:And like I said, you can check out what we do on GolfNewsNet.com and also the Golf NewsNet 24.
Speaker B:7 radio on iHeart.
Speaker B:And then we also do the Grilling at the Green television that's on GNN Golf Newsnet, multiple platforms like Rokube, Pluto, Apple, Amazon and other streaming platforms.
Speaker B:With that said, Alex and I are going to take a break.
Speaker B:We're going to come back and wrap up the show in just a minute.
Speaker D:Hey, everybody, J.T.
Speaker B: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 Jeff Tracy.
Speaker B:J.T.
Speaker B:to my friends, and we've got Alex Carney with us, who's a top amateur golfer here in Oregon.
Speaker B:Alex, she loves to play golf.
Speaker B:I love to talk to People that love to play golf.
Speaker B:So we're a match made in heaven.
Speaker B:That's what I'm going to say right there between Alex.
Speaker B:So, given the opportunity, would you like to play in, like, the US Senior AM Open?
Speaker C:Oh, yes.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:I played in a couple of OGA events.
Speaker C:I played in Bandon Trails and Black Butte Ranch and one other.
Speaker C:I think it really enjoyed it.
Speaker C:And they do pick different golf courses around, you know, Oregon.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:And so that's a lot of fun to.
Speaker C:I think that's a great way to showcase other clubs and abilities.
Speaker C:They make it extremely hard in many cases.
Speaker C:I remember the rough at Black Butte and the carry was so long.
Speaker C:I think they've gotten nicer.
Speaker C:Well, I think I wasn't a senior yet.
Speaker C:That's what it was.
Speaker C:So I was playing against these young college kids.
Speaker C:I'm like, okay, I don't have a 300 clear on this yardage.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:But, you know, you learn a lot.
Speaker C:You learn a lot about yourself and what kind of a course you like, what you don't like.
Speaker C:And again, just the opportunity to be out there and have fun is fantastic.
Speaker C:You always meet, I have to say, great people.
Speaker C:And the funniest thing, we just started watching that new program stick.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:It's pretty funny.
Speaker C:So it'll be interesting to see how that develops.
Speaker C:But we're just.
Speaker C:Golf is addictive, and I love being around it and seeing it, so.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Couple of good, fun questions here for you, Alex.
Speaker B:If you could play golf with one of your golfing heroes, who would it be?
Speaker C:Oh, Arnold Palmer.
Speaker C:I met him down in California, and so very gracious and just a lovely man.
Speaker C:There's actually a lot I think would be fun to play golf with, but he would probably be one of my top.
Speaker B:There you go.
Speaker B:So if directive came down from the golf heavens and made Alex Carney the supreme leader of golf for one day, just one day, they don't.
Speaker B:They don't give you a lot of time on that.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:But if they did that, what would you, as supreme leader, decree?
Speaker C:Oh, that all your pets drop.
Speaker B:Tommy Fleetwood would have been on that one with you yesterday, that's for sure.
Speaker C:Absolutely.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:I like that a lot.
Speaker B:What I'm looking.
Speaker B:I want to do this.
Speaker B:Who do you think was the.
Speaker B:The biggest influence on you personally in your life?
Speaker C:I was lucky to have good mentors throughout my life, and I.
Speaker C:My parents, obviously, were in many, many ways, but I also had to learn how to stand on my own Pretty young.
Speaker C:And there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker C:I think that's a good thing in a lot of ways.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:But I think also you gotta find the right people to mentor with because you can get wrong mentoring and, you know.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:And I've always tried to be approachable and have people be able to come to me and talk to me.
Speaker C:And I was very inspired by a young gal who told me that she had watched me as we were all growing up.
Speaker C:She was one of my kids friends and she said, you know, a lot of parents didn't work in those days and you always work, but you always had a smile on your face and you were always approachable.
Speaker C:And I thought.
Speaker C:And she goes.
Speaker C:And I, I look to you in that category.
Speaker C:And I thought, wow.
Speaker C:I mean, that meant more to me than many, many, many other compliments.
Speaker B:Sure, Absolutely.
Speaker B:Okay, Alex, last question here.
Speaker B:If you could dine with a historical figure, who would it be and what would be on the menu?
Speaker C:I would really love to dine with Queen Elizabeth.
Speaker C:I think she's amazing.
Speaker C:I think she held her life together for so many years.
Speaker C:Not into English food, so she'd have to kind of go out of her, I don't know.
Speaker C:I like steak and lobster.
Speaker C:We'll go with that.
Speaker B:I'm sure she would.
Speaker B:She would have gone with that like that.
Speaker B:Alex Carney from Tualatin Auto Body in Tualton, Oregon.
Speaker B:Big supporter of many golf tournaments.
Speaker B:Her and her husband Dave and their son Brian, who I have the pleasure of knowing all of them.
Speaker B:And Alex will be playing in the Tualatin Chamber golf tournament coming up July 14th.
Speaker B:And I believe she's going to be playing also in the Wilsonville Chamber coming up the next week on July 23rd.
Speaker B:Alex, you've been very gracious to put up with the abuse of this show, and I thank you.
Speaker C:Oh, it was lovely to talk with you again, Jeff, and I can't wait to see you again.
Speaker B:It won't be too long.
Speaker B:I guarantee you it won't.
Speaker B:Okay, we're going to get out of here, but thank you all for listening.
Speaker B:We'll be back next week with another edition of Grilling at the Green.
Speaker B:Until then, go out, play some golf, be kind and try smiling once in a while.
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.
