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Inside The Charge: Scottie Scheffler’s Caddie Ted Scott Talks Josh Allen, Keon Coleman, & More! · Inside the Charge

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome into another episode of Inside the Charge. Matti glab
0:03
Speaker 1: here as your host. In joining me today is PGA
0:07
Speaker 1: tour caddy Ted Scott, who is the caddy for the
0:10
Speaker 1: world number one golfer Scottie Scheffler. Now you made me
0:14
Speaker 1: wondering why is Ted Scott in Buffalo?
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Speaker 2: Well, we're here to help paint that picture.
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Speaker 1: Ted is partnered with an amazing organization called Hope for
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Speaker 1: op Leusis, which is where he's from. Our wide receiver
0:27
Speaker 1: Keon Coleman is also from op Leusis and does work
0:30
Speaker 1: with Hope for opp Lewsis.
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Speaker 2: So they are here on behalf of that organization.
0:34
Speaker 1: And also to take in what it's like to get
0:37
Speaker 1: ready for a game day as an NFL player. Ted,
0:39
Speaker 1: you also got to spoke to the team this week.
0:43
Speaker 1: How has it been being in Buffalo Bill's Land?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's exciting. I mean, obviously I've never been to
0:50
Speaker 3: a NFL game before, and you know, coming here to Buffalo,
0:54
Speaker 3: everybody said you're just gonna love it, and the people
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Speaker 3: are incredible. It reminds me a lot of Louisiana. You know,
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Speaker 3: we're known for our culture and the people. Everybody comes
1:01
Speaker 3: together and especially like the LSU fans and stuff, and
1:04
Speaker 3: so it's just really neat to kind of experience that culture,
1:07
Speaker 3: that small town feel for a big time atmosphere. And
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Speaker 3: I'm excited to be here, and everybody's welcomed us, you know,
1:13
Speaker 3: with open arms, So it feels good to be here.
1:15
Speaker 1: People say, if football fans say, you know, there's nothing
1:19
Speaker 1: like a college atmosphere, there's nothing like an SEC football atmosphere.
1:23
Speaker 1: And people will say it's very comparable to a Buffalo
1:26
Speaker 1: Bills game. So you are in store getting to experience
1:29
Speaker 1: a home game. Our fan base is wild, as many know.
1:33
Speaker 1: All you have to do is be clued in on
1:35
Speaker 1: social media to see Bill's mafia in full force. You
1:39
Speaker 1: spoke to the team on Friday morning, What did you
1:43
Speaker 1: say to them?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't give away all my secrets because we
1:45
Speaker 3: don't want the other the opponents, you know, to be
1:47
Speaker 3: knowing those things. But no, Yeah, I got the opportunity
1:50
Speaker 3: to speak to coach in the spring. We did a
1:52
Speaker 3: zoom call and you know, just talking about mindset and
1:55
Speaker 3: how Scottie prepares for tournaments and what makes him good
1:57
Speaker 3: and so I just tried to share some of those
1:59
Speaker 3: principles that coach and I had already spoken about the
2:01
Speaker 3: spring and just share it with some of the players
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Speaker 3: and hopefully they'll be inspired to think better and getting
2:05
Speaker 3: a better headspace. So it was a lot of fun.
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Speaker 1: When you are at the top of your game, doesn't
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Speaker 1: matter if you're a golfer or an NFL player, mindset
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Speaker 1: plays a huge part in going out onto the field
2:17
Speaker 1: or going out onto the course and executing at the
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Speaker 1: highest level. We hear from a lot of our players
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Speaker 1: that self talk is very important.
2:25
Speaker 2: Why is mindset so crucial as a golfer.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, as a golfer, you have time between every
2:31
Speaker 3: shot about five minutes, you know, so there's so much
2:33
Speaker 3: time to think. Maybe in football things are happening quicker,
2:35
Speaker 3: you're under adrenaline. But in golf, you hit a ball
2:38
Speaker 3: and you walk for three hundred yards, and then you
2:39
Speaker 3: hit a ball and you walk for one hundred and
2:40
Speaker 3: fifty yards, so all you have is time to think.
2:43
Speaker 3: So for a golfer, it's such a game. It's almost
2:45
Speaker 3: like being a placekicker or shooting the winning free throw
2:48
Speaker 3: in basketball. Every shot you have all this time to think.
2:51
Speaker 3: So if you're not in a good headspace over the course,
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Speaker 3: of four days, you're probably not going to have a
2:55
Speaker 3: chance to win the tournament. So I would say it's
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Speaker 3: probably the most important key for a golfer to start
3:00
Speaker 3: there and then work on the physical attributes afterwards.
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Speaker 1: It's probably a very important key as a caddie as well,
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Speaker 1: because you are walking with Scotti Scheffler to every single hole,
3:12
Speaker 1: You spend a lot of time with him, and you
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Speaker 1: spend so much time with him throughout a tournament every
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Speaker 1: single day.
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Speaker 2: What do you have to do as almost a.
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Speaker 1: Mindset coach to help Scotty be able to prepare for
3:25
Speaker 1: the next hole or just get him in the right
3:28
Speaker 1: space as he approaches a big tournament.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Scotty's already incredible mentally, and my job is
3:35
Speaker 3: really just kind of monitor that behavior because sometimes, you know,
3:38
Speaker 3: life happens, you're frustrated, maybe you know something's going on
3:41
Speaker 3: or whatever, so you bring we bring outside influences sometimes
3:44
Speaker 3: to the golf course, or maybe the golf ball's not
3:47
Speaker 3: going in the hole quick enough. So when we get
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Speaker 3: off the rail. Mentally, you know, it's like, hey, buddy,
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Speaker 3: you're not thinking right. Let's think this way, let's act
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Speaker 3: this way, And it kind of gets him right back
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Speaker 3: to performing at a high level. So it doesn't happen
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Speaker 3: very often with Scotty, but yeah, it's definitely my job
4:01
Speaker 3: to try to recognize whenever that is happening and then
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Speaker 3: to speak up and try to encourage him to get
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Speaker 3: back focused on task. And he's really good about that
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Speaker 3: and that's why he's number one in the world. You know,
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Speaker 3: he's incredible. He's pretty easy to work for it.
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Speaker 1: To be honest, somebody who performs at a very high
4:14
Speaker 1: level in this building is our quarterback, Josh Alan. You
4:18
Speaker 1: guys got to take part in a chipping contest on
4:22
Speaker 1: the indoor field. There were a bunch of buckets set
4:24
Speaker 1: up and you guys were chipping balls into the bucket.
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Speaker 1: How is the interaction with Josh?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. It was kind
4:32
Speaker 3: of funny because they're like, they gave me a tougher challenge,
4:34
Speaker 3: and I was like, guys, I carry the clubs, I
4:35
Speaker 3: don't use them, so it's like, why do I have
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Speaker 3: this difficult challenge? You know, But you could tell he's
4:40
Speaker 3: a very good golfer. Obviously. I've heard that Josh is
4:43
Speaker 3: a really good athlete, that he's good at everything and
4:45
Speaker 3: he likes magic tricks and this and that, and you know,
4:47
Speaker 3: so he's a guy that really prides himself in being good.
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Speaker 3: And you could tell just watching him Chip, I'm like,
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Speaker 3: this guy can play golf, you know, I recognize it
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Speaker 3: right away. But he's got a great personality. It's very warm,
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Speaker 3: easy to talk to. You know, you could see where
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Speaker 3: he could people would gravitate to him as a leader
5:01
Speaker 3: on the team and want to, you know, do their
5:03
Speaker 3: best around him. And that's what you want in a
5:05
Speaker 3: quarterback from what I you know, when I'm reading and
5:08
Speaker 3: watching and I'm not I don't know a lot about
5:09
Speaker 3: football other than just watching it on TV. But you
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Speaker 3: could tell he's a great leader and guys are surrounding
5:15
Speaker 3: themselves and getting fired up to be a part of
5:17
Speaker 3: his team. And I think he's going to lead you
5:19
Speaker 3: all the great things this year.
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Speaker 1: Somebody who we're really excited to have on this team
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Speaker 1: this year is our rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman. You
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Speaker 1: guys share that you're from the same hometown, Opelousas, Louisiana.
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Speaker 1: How did you get connected to Keon?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, actually through the organization Hope for appelousis you know,
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Speaker 3: My wife and I have been supporters of Hope for Oppolusis,
5:39
Speaker 3: which is basically an after school program that gives educational
5:42
Speaker 3: support and does mentoring for children that maybe don't have,
5:46
Speaker 3: you know, the education that they need, or they're not
5:48
Speaker 3: caught up educationally, or they don't have the support mentally.
5:50
Speaker 3: So it's an incredible program. Lauren Carrier, who runs it,
5:53
Speaker 3: as one of our closest friends. We love his heart.
5:56
Speaker 3: We see him, you know, in the trenches every day
5:58
Speaker 3: just trying to help people, and so being a long
6:01
Speaker 3: supporter of that. And then Keon actually used to come
6:03
Speaker 3: to live on our street a lot in one of
6:05
Speaker 3: our neighbors would he would spend a lot of time
6:07
Speaker 3: to his house and spend the night of his house
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Speaker 3: and he would mentor him. And he's here Jonathan Fisher,
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Speaker 3: So we have that connection already. We both love Hope
6:13
Speaker 3: for Appolusis. And then when Keon got drafted here, the
6:16
Speaker 3: Bill's Mafia sort of adopted Hope for Appolusis as well.
6:19
Speaker 3: And that's when I started learning more about the Bills
6:21
Speaker 3: and the Bill's Mafia, and I was like, wow, it
6:23
Speaker 3: sounds like Louisiana. Man, it feels like these people should
6:26
Speaker 3: be cooking a gumbo and you know, talking like that, Yeah,
6:31
Speaker 3: how to do that?
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Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. I love that. What a cool connection.
6:34
Speaker 1: And we're gonna have Lauren on in just a bit
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Speaker 1: to tell us more about Hope for Opolosis and.
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Speaker 2: The amazing work that they do in.
6:40
Speaker 1: Opelousis What is the best part of being a caddie?
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Speaker 3: Oh? I think honestly being right there watching the best
6:49
Speaker 3: players in the world and uh and you're you're standing
6:51
Speaker 3: right next to him doing their thing. You know, getting
6:53
Speaker 3: a front row seat to greatness and just watching behind
6:56
Speaker 3: the scenes of preparation. You don't always get that experience,
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Speaker 3: and that's really what you guys have done for us
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Speaker 3: this week. You know, you've rolled out the red carpet
7:03
Speaker 3: and we're here getting to be around the best in
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Speaker 3: the world at what they do and get it behind
7:07
Speaker 3: the scenes look and walk side by side with them,
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Speaker 3: and that's just fun. You know, it's fun to be
7:11
Speaker 3: around people. It's like, I find myself wanting to go
7:13
Speaker 3: back to my hotel room and start doing push ups
7:15
Speaker 3: and I don't do push ups, so yeah, it's definitely fun.
7:18
Speaker 3: It's a blast.
7:19
Speaker 2: How did you become a caddy?
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Speaker 3: I failed as a professional golfer. You know, that's a
7:24
Speaker 3: true story. Basically, when I was nineteen years old, I
7:27
Speaker 3: met a man who was eighteen years old and he
7:29
Speaker 3: was amazing and he taught me, said, Ted, every person
7:32
Speaker 3: is superior to me in some way. Therefore I can
7:34
Speaker 3: learn from him. Even a bum off the street has
7:36
Speaker 3: something to offer me. So I never looked down on anyone.
7:39
Speaker 3: I'm always looking to learn. And I took that philosophy
7:41
Speaker 3: and I've applied it to my life. And I thought, hey,
7:43
Speaker 3: I'm trying to play pro golf. Let me go try
7:45
Speaker 3: to caddy for a week and just see what makes
7:47
Speaker 3: these guys so good? You know, what do I lack?
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Speaker 3: What do they have? What can I strive for? And
7:52
Speaker 3: the guy that took me in was named Grant Waite,
7:54
Speaker 3: and Grant asked me to do it again and again,
7:56
Speaker 3: and I was like, hey, this is a lot of fun.
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Speaker 3: I'm learning a lot. And as I did it, I
7:59
Speaker 3: started to realize how far I was from these guys.
8:02
Speaker 3: You know, I was talking to one of your guys
8:05
Speaker 3: here and saying it was like it'd be like me
8:06
Speaker 3: coming in here trying to be a punter, and all
8:08
Speaker 3: of a sudden, I'm kicking ten yards thinking I'm gonna,
8:10
Speaker 3: you know, I'm gonna be in the NFL, And then
8:12
Speaker 3: you realize these guys can kick it like eighty yards,
8:14
Speaker 3: and you're like, yeah, I probably should just stick to
8:15
Speaker 3: carry in the equipment, you know. So I quickly realized
8:18
Speaker 3: I wasn't good enough and said, hey, can't beat him.
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Speaker 3: Join them.
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Speaker 1: You still get to be in the ring with them
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Speaker 1: and getting to see what's going on, and it's amazing
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Speaker 1: that you get to do it alongside the world number
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Speaker 1: one golfer. Right now in Scotty Scheffler. Speaking of Scotty
8:31
Speaker 1: and all that, he's done seven PGA Tour titles this year,
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Speaker 1: which is incredible, the most since tire Woods in two
8:37
Speaker 1: thousand and seven.
8:38
Speaker 2: What is his potential?
8:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, don't forget he won the Olympics, so that's eight.
8:43
Speaker 3: When that's eight, that counts. I mean, I'm counting the
8:46
Speaker 3: Olympics soon.
8:46
Speaker 2: I like it. I like it. Let's count it.
8:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think his potential's endless. I mean, Scotty,
8:51
Speaker 3: if you look at the history of Scotty Scheffler as
8:53
Speaker 3: a junior, he won I don't know, one hundred tournaments
8:56
Speaker 3: or something they said in North Texas, went to college,
8:58
Speaker 3: had a great career there. On the corn Ferry Tour
9:01
Speaker 3: was the corn Ferry Tour Rookie of the Year. Got
9:03
Speaker 3: on the PGA Tour was PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
9:06
Speaker 3: He's been Player of the Year the last few years.
9:08
Speaker 3: So the guy's a winner. And you know, as long
9:11
Speaker 3: as he stays healthy, I don't really see anything slowing
9:13
Speaker 3: him down other than the human acre, which is what
9:16
Speaker 3: I can be called sometimes. So as long as I
9:17
Speaker 3: don't get in his way, he should still have great success.
9:21
Speaker 1: Scotty has done so much in such a short amount
9:24
Speaker 1: of time. The Masters wins and beyond, and just the
9:29
Speaker 1: time that it took, the little amount of time that
9:32
Speaker 1: it took from going pro to start earning those titles.
9:36
Speaker 1: How has it been to be a part of such
9:39
Speaker 1: quick success.
9:41
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean when I got the phone call to
9:42
Speaker 3: Caddy for Scotty Scheffler, we were his partner at the
9:45
Speaker 3: Zerich Classic, so I'd only spent a week around him,
9:47
Speaker 3: and I thought he's a really nice guy, but I
9:49
Speaker 3: didn't really know much about him. I didn't know what
9:51
Speaker 3: kind of game he had, and so the first week
9:53
Speaker 3: actually caddying for him. I was like, Wow, this guy's
9:55
Speaker 3: really good. And then the second week you're like, man,
9:57
Speaker 3: this guy's really good. And then the third you're like, wow,
9:59
Speaker 3: this dude and play, you know, and then you see
10:01
Speaker 3: how Hardy works and what kind of mindset he has,
10:03
Speaker 3: and so is like, this guy's gonna win soon. You
10:06
Speaker 3: never know what's gonna happen, how many wins you're gonna have.
10:08
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's been a surprise to me. But to
10:10
Speaker 3: be honest with Scotty, it's not a surprise to him.
10:13
Speaker 3: You know. It's what he worked for and he believes
10:14
Speaker 3: in himself and he's not shocked when he wins, you
10:17
Speaker 3: know the first few times. Maybe some people are, but
10:19
Speaker 3: this guy, he's a winner, and he signs up to win,
10:22
Speaker 3: and he steps up to win, he prepares to win.
10:24
Speaker 3: So you know, it's been a joy. I'm very blessed
10:28
Speaker 3: to be on the front road watching it, you know,
10:29
Speaker 3: and walks side by side with him, for sure.
10:31
Speaker 2: And what a mindset to have.
10:32
Speaker 1: I think that's something that we can probably all take
10:34
Speaker 1: into our daily lives, is to just have that mindset
10:37
Speaker 1: of being a winner. Speaking of Scotty Scheffler we're gonna
10:40
Speaker 1: put you in the mind of or just in the mindset.
10:43
Speaker 2: Of Okay, it is, it is. It is tournament day,
10:47
Speaker 2: we are on the course.
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Speaker 1: Would you rather have a sixty foot putt or sixty
10:53
Speaker 1: foot chip? Now we're thinking would Scotty. Would you rather
10:57
Speaker 1: have Scotty have a sixty foot putt.
10:59
Speaker 2: Or sixty four chip?
11:01
Speaker 3: Well, I would say that's a vague question because what
11:04
Speaker 3: are the circumstances? Are we putting over a mound? Or
11:06
Speaker 3: is it a good lies? Is it a bad lies?
11:08
Speaker 3: It a bunker shot? You know, So there's a lot
11:10
Speaker 3: of details that go into that, but just right off
11:12
Speaker 3: the bat, of course, these guys would rather putt. You know,
11:14
Speaker 3: putting is pretty simple. As long as it's nothing goofy,
11:17
Speaker 3: you're gonna put it closer. And that's good advice for amateurs.
11:20
Speaker 3: Get your putter out. You know, you're not that good
11:22
Speaker 3: a chipping, So just get your putter out, use it
11:24
Speaker 3: as often as possible, gets.
11:26
Speaker 2: Your putter out of everybody. Okay, one more of these.
11:28
Speaker 1: A ninety yard shot from the rough or one to
11:31
Speaker 1: eighty from the fairway.
11:32
Speaker 3: Ninety from the rough all day?
11:34
Speaker 2: Okay.
11:34
Speaker 3: Yeah. Statistically, the pros are way better from the rough
11:38
Speaker 3: from ninety yards and they are one eighty from the fairway.
11:40
Speaker 1: What question do you get the most from amateur golfers?
11:45
Speaker 3: How heavy is the bag? That's probably the most the
11:47
Speaker 3: most asked questions.
11:48
Speaker 2: How heavy is the bag?
11:49
Speaker 3: Probably average is about forty five to fifty pounds on
11:52
Speaker 3: just a normal day. And if it gets cold then
11:55
Speaker 3: it can go up pretty quick. We can start adding
11:57
Speaker 3: the jackets out there.
11:58
Speaker 1: And yeah, what is the most interesting thing in the bag?
12:02
Speaker 3: Oh? Man, the most interesting thing in the bag probably
12:05
Speaker 3: food that we didn't know was in there that would
12:07
Speaker 3: be considered interesting. An old banana that because I'm not
12:10
Speaker 3: the best at cleaning out the bag of either, is he? So? Yeah,
12:12
Speaker 3: if you dug in our bag, you'd probably find some
12:14
Speaker 3: old food that we haven't eaten that you're like, gosh,
12:16
Speaker 3: why is that still in there?
12:17
Speaker 2: You know, that's great.
12:19
Speaker 1: What's something you you wouldn't normally know about a caddy
12:22
Speaker 1: but is very important to what you do?
12:25
Speaker 3: Man? I would say, uh, not important to what we do.
12:29
Speaker 3: But what you wouldn't know about a caddy is not all.
12:32
Speaker 3: Not all great caddies are great golfers. That's kind of
12:34
Speaker 3: a fascinating thing, and everybody assumes that because you're a caddy,
12:37
Speaker 3: Like you guys, did you assume because I because I
12:39
Speaker 3: caddy for world number one? Like, hey, let's just make
12:42
Speaker 3: give him the small buckets? And I'm like, this is
12:44
Speaker 3: this unfair? Why do I have to have the small
12:46
Speaker 3: bucket hitting shots? You know? So, yeah, that's that's surprising.
12:49
Speaker 3: You know, there's there's great caddies that I'll go play
12:51
Speaker 3: golf with and be surprised, like this guy's actually not
12:53
Speaker 3: that good at golf, but he's really good at caddy
12:55
Speaker 3: and you know, so that's an interesting thing that I've
12:57
Speaker 3: I've found out over the years.
12:59
Speaker 1: One last question for you before we welcome Lauren on
13:02
Speaker 1: to the set. What have you learned from NFL players,
13:07
Speaker 1: NFL coaches as you've been here Friday during a practice day,
13:12
Speaker 1: Saturday as well, and now Sunday as game day is
13:15
Speaker 1: about to take place and unfold.
13:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think being here, number one, you're around a
13:21
Speaker 3: bunch of alphas. You know, these guys are out here
13:24
Speaker 3: tackling and blocking and running really faster. They're huge. You know,
13:27
Speaker 3: you're kind of like, don't make eye contact. I'm walking
13:29
Speaker 3: around the hallways, like looking at my shoes and you
13:31
Speaker 3: know that's number one. Just yes, sir, I say yes
13:33
Speaker 3: sir to everyone. But the main thing is just you know,
13:37
Speaker 3: really excited about how hard they work, how eager they
13:40
Speaker 3: are to learn. You know. Some of them come up
13:42
Speaker 3: and ask me questions like why are they asking a
13:44
Speaker 3: caddy question? You know, But people are just willing to
13:46
Speaker 3: learn and grow. And that's really over the years, I've
13:49
Speaker 3: seen that the best athletes, the best players, they never
13:52
Speaker 3: stop learning, you know, And it's a great way to be.
13:54
Speaker 3: It's like, show up every day, work hard, and be
13:57
Speaker 3: willing to grow. You know, we don't we never figured out.
13:59
Speaker 3: You never quite get there, you know. And I think
14:01
Speaker 3: it's the same in football. That's what I've that's what
14:03
Speaker 3: I've seen this week is that guys are just trying
14:04
Speaker 3: to keep getting better. And you're like, he's already the best.
14:06
Speaker 3: Why is he trying to get better?
14:08
Speaker 1: You know.
14:08
Speaker 3: And that's the mindset of what got him there, and
14:10
Speaker 3: that's the mindset of what keep them there. So that's
14:12
Speaker 3: been really fun to experience.
14:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, mindset plays into a lot of the top tier
14:17
Speaker 1: athletes in this world. It's the reason why Scottie Scheffler,
14:20
Speaker 1: big reason why he's been able to win so many
14:23
Speaker 1: titles this season. All Right, we're gonna take a break,
14:26
Speaker 1: but when we return, Lauren Carrier, the executive director of
14:30
Speaker 1: Hope for.
14:30
Speaker 2: Oppolusis, is gonna join us. So stay tuned.
14:43
Speaker 1: We now have executive director of Hope for Opelousis joining us,
14:48
Speaker 1: Lauren Carrier. Lauren, thanks so much for being a part
14:51
Speaker 1: of the crew that's in town this weekend to spread
14:53
Speaker 1: the good news on everything you guys are doing and
14:56
Speaker 1: get to link up with Kean and Ted.
14:59
Speaker 2: I think it's so cool.
15:01
Speaker 1: When the sports worlds collide. How has that been for
15:04
Speaker 1: you to have you know, Ted Scott who caddies for
15:07
Speaker 1: Scottie Scheffler here, as well as Keon Coleman who was
15:11
Speaker 1: having just such a great rookie season.
15:13
Speaker 4: You know, it's been so cool whenever he got drafted
15:16
Speaker 4: and everything went wild. You know, I didn't realize that
15:19
Speaker 4: we were going to get drafted too when that happens,
15:21
Speaker 4: and so you.
15:22
Speaker 5: Know, Ted is a is a great family. I know
15:24
Speaker 5: Ted is a great friend. And whenever Keon made the
15:26
Speaker 5: comments about Tiger, wish.
15:27
Speaker 4: He could and and and the money was coming in
15:30
Speaker 4: from our Giving day and the Bills were participating. I
15:32
Speaker 4: was like, Ted, would would you be willing to come
15:35
Speaker 4: up with me to Buffalo, you know, and like, come
15:37
Speaker 4: and meet the team. We could shoot some content with
15:39
Speaker 4: Keon and golf and coach him up. And Ted was
15:42
Speaker 4: just like, man, let's go. And then for him to
15:44
Speaker 4: get connected with Coach and there'd be so much you know,
15:46
Speaker 4: similarities between them and then to really hit it off.
15:49
Speaker 5: It's like a dream come true. You know.
15:51
Speaker 4: I pushed a ball and made a phone call and
15:53
Speaker 4: you know, and here we are and here we are
15:55
Speaker 4: just crazy.
15:56
Speaker 1: I always say the sports world is is so big
15:59
Speaker 1: on the outside looking in, but once you get in
16:01
Speaker 1: it it seems so small because the connections that you
16:04
Speaker 1: can make, you can probably find somebody you know, like
16:08
Speaker 1: through so many different NFL teams, And I just think
16:12
Speaker 1: that's so neat. And I do think sports just is
16:15
Speaker 1: such an incredible uniter in this world. And the work
16:19
Speaker 1: that you guys are doing is so awesome. It's all
16:21
Speaker 1: about community, love and the potential of a child through education.
16:25
Speaker 2: So what is Hope for opelusis.
16:27
Speaker 5: Thank you for asking.
16:29
Speaker 4: Hope for OPULEUSUS is a homegrown nonprofit in OPPELUSUS Louisiana.
16:33
Speaker 4: So we began to ask the question, how do we
16:36
Speaker 4: love our neighbors.
16:37
Speaker 5: Appelusis is unique.
16:39
Speaker 4: It's it's got its own, you know, positives and some
16:42
Speaker 4: really challenging problems as well.
16:45
Speaker 5: And so for us, we wanted to love our neighbors.
16:47
Speaker 4: Our neighbors were families with children, and so we started
16:52
Speaker 4: dreaming about it and learning, and we've we started with
16:55
Speaker 4: twelve little kids in one little house, providing after school tutoring.
17:00
Speaker 4: It's a safe place for kids to be and loving
17:02
Speaker 4: relationships with with adults and other other peers that they
17:06
Speaker 4: can have.
17:07
Speaker 5: And so that's what we do. It's it's a long
17:09
Speaker 5: term commitment.
17:09
Speaker 4: We start in first grade and we've grown all the
17:12
Speaker 4: way up through twelfth grade. So picture a little neighborhood
17:16
Speaker 4: with these bright colored houses, and we started with one
17:19
Speaker 4: and now we own about twelve houses, all stripped together.
17:23
Speaker 5: Uh.
17:23
Speaker 4: And so it's it's each it's each house has a
17:26
Speaker 4: different grade in it. Kids get off the bus, they
17:28
Speaker 4: come in, get a snack, get a hug. We work
17:31
Speaker 4: tightly with our school district. We want to support them
17:34
Speaker 4: and the parents, and so we know what our kids
17:36
Speaker 4: have for homework that day, it's signed by the teacher.
17:38
Speaker 4: We know what their grades look like right now because
17:41
Speaker 4: we have the log in, you know, we we get
17:43
Speaker 4: to coach our parents up and walk with them and
17:47
Speaker 4: and really build a strong relationship. It's it is family
17:51
Speaker 4: and you know, and that's that's what it becomes.
17:53
Speaker 5: For our kids. And we have amazing opportunities.
17:55
Speaker 4: As kids get older, they can work for us and
17:58
Speaker 4: mentor the younger kids. So you know the case for
18:00
Speaker 4: a kid as they stay in, they get loved on,
18:02
Speaker 4: and then they realize that I can do that too.
18:04
Speaker 4: I get to I want to come work for Hope.
18:06
Speaker 4: And so they get to do that as a junior senior.
18:08
Speaker 4: And we have some amazing and exciting leadership opportunities.
18:11
Speaker 5: For the high schoolers too. We do some high.
18:13
Speaker 4: Adventure backpacking canoeing all over the country, very cool and
18:16
Speaker 4: so it's it's a wild ride. We're a small little
18:20
Speaker 4: nonprofit that has, you know, big goals to keep growing
18:23
Speaker 4: to sever more kids.
18:24
Speaker 1: Ted, when did you hear about this awesome family and
18:26
Speaker 1: how did you get involved with Hope?
18:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I met Lauren and just kind of
18:31
Speaker 3: was like, this guy's just different. You know, when you
18:32
Speaker 3: get around someone you're like, I need to know what
18:34
Speaker 3: this guy's up to. I need to spend time with you.
18:35
Speaker 2: Good vibes, and then.
18:36
Speaker 3: As you just hurt his heart, I mean, I'm trying
18:38
Speaker 3: it to get teary eyed here. Yeah, it's just like
18:41
Speaker 3: I want to support this dude.
18:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course.
18:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
18:44
Speaker 1: And Lauren, when did Keon start to get involved and
18:48
Speaker 1: Hope Propolution?
18:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we started in two thousand and eight, and
18:51
Speaker 4: so at that time, he, I would say, probably he
18:56
Speaker 4: was too young to get in right when we started,
18:58
Speaker 4: and so was his little sister Can't, who just graduated
19:01
Speaker 4: this year, and so Keon got in as soon as
19:04
Speaker 4: he could. Back then, we were only in fourth grade,
19:05
Speaker 4: so all of his older siblings were all in our program.
19:08
Speaker 5: His mom was one of our.
19:10
Speaker 4: Most active moms, a mom who was available, who wanted help,
19:13
Speaker 4: who appreciated all that we did. So we got super
19:16
Speaker 4: close to her early on. And so yeah, I've got
19:20
Speaker 4: pictures on my phone that I don't showed everybody with
19:22
Speaker 4: Kean from a little tiny dude, although it have this
19:25
Speaker 4: this cool picture where it's like, you know, him still
19:29
Speaker 4: looking like a junior high age kid, and then the
19:31
Speaker 4: next year he's by all of his brothers and he's
19:33
Speaker 4: bigger and taller than all of them in like a
19:35
Speaker 4: year and a half time. So you know, Keon's his
19:38
Speaker 4: whole family have been a big part of what we've done.
19:41
Speaker 4: I've been super close with his brothers and you know,
19:44
Speaker 4: we're blessed to have them. They're a really awesome family
19:46
Speaker 4: to be a part of what we do. And so yeah,
19:49
Speaker 4: for a long time from the jump, and it's very special.
19:52
Speaker 1: Apelusis is in the name of Hope for Opelusis, It's
19:55
Speaker 1: where you guys are from and live.
19:57
Speaker 2: It's where Keon is from.
19:59
Speaker 1: For those of us in Buffalo who don't know much
20:02
Speaker 1: about Oppolusis, Ted, why is Opelusis so special?
20:08
Speaker 3: South Louisiana is incredible for food and culture. Some of
20:12
Speaker 3: the best spices that you probably ever taste or made
20:15
Speaker 3: right there in Opelousis. The people are just very friendly.
20:18
Speaker 3: You know, we come together and I met some of
20:20
Speaker 3: Kean's family this past week and they're just like, oh,
20:23
Speaker 3: you know from Oblusis and we have this connection. I
20:25
Speaker 3: met one of the coaches here that's from Church Point,
20:27
Speaker 3: you know, so which is a town, neighboring town. It's
20:30
Speaker 3: just a unique culture and it, like I said, it
20:32
Speaker 3: kind of feels like Buffalo. You know, you guys got
20:34
Speaker 3: your wings, we got our Cajun food. You know, so
20:37
Speaker 3: food and culture just makes it super special. And we
20:40
Speaker 3: all love to do community together and get behind a
20:42
Speaker 3: good football team.
20:43
Speaker 4: So I would add to that family is a really
20:47
Speaker 4: good thing that makes what we do, what Appolusis is
20:50
Speaker 4: special for. And so family is is kind of that
20:54
Speaker 4: uniting piece for a lot of people. A lot of
20:56
Speaker 4: big families, cousins, aunts and uncles. People don't move away,
20:59
Speaker 4: you know, they're kind of all there together. So family
21:01
Speaker 4: is rich. And yeah, it's a it's a wonderful beautiful
21:05
Speaker 4: historic towns to Thirds town in Louisiana.
21:07
Speaker 5: Wow, And you guys got to come check it out.
21:09
Speaker 1: I know, we Buffalo people have got to, you know,
21:12
Speaker 1: gotta take a little off season.
21:13
Speaker 5: Tripped and hit us up. We'll give you'll be your
21:17
Speaker 5: tour guides.
21:17
Speaker 2: Well, well spoke about the Cajun.
21:19
Speaker 1: I mean, people love chicken wings here and there are
21:23
Speaker 1: some places that do some pretty good Cajun wings. I
21:26
Speaker 1: don't know where they're getting their Cajun seasoning from, but
21:29
Speaker 1: maybe you know, we.
21:30
Speaker 2: Can we give us Louisiana.
21:32
Speaker 5: Can we say about where we ate last night? Go ahead,
21:34
Speaker 5: We read Duffy's.
21:35
Speaker 4: Last night and they have the Cajun dry rub and
21:38
Speaker 4: the honey Cajun Yeah, and uh and they were both amazing.
21:43
Speaker 4: So yeah, shout out, keep it going, guys.
21:45
Speaker 1: There's there's several places who do Cajun wings so well
21:50
Speaker 1: here and they're so good when you got a little
21:52
Speaker 1: bit of medium with the Cajun seasoning, you cannot go
21:56
Speaker 1: wrong if you're eating that in Buffalo, New York. Lauren,
22:00
Speaker 1: going back to hope for oppulusis why is it so important, uh,
22:04
Speaker 1: the work that you guys do in that community.
22:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, for our community, we have a.
22:10
Speaker 4: Lot of single parent households. We have very high poverty rates,
22:15
Speaker 4: and so you know that has all sorts of implications.
22:18
Speaker 4: You've got mom running into jobs, trying to keep all
22:20
Speaker 4: the plates spinning. You've got education systems that are already
22:25
Speaker 4: really taxed because of children who are who are behind.
22:29
Speaker 4: And so you know, for a mom to know that
22:32
Speaker 4: I've got a safe place for my kids to be,
22:34
Speaker 4: it can give her a peace of mind.
22:35
Speaker 5: We've had parents be able to pursue other goals.
22:37
Speaker 4: Go back to school, you know, get their nursing degrees
22:40
Speaker 4: and and things like that. So uh, and every human
22:43
Speaker 4: being just needs love, you know. So when whenever you
22:46
Speaker 4: can find a safe place like that in a community
22:48
Speaker 4: to be a part of and to grow up in,
22:51
Speaker 4: you know, these kids make memories with each other that
22:53
Speaker 4: they'll never forget. You know, I have our our past graduates.
22:56
Speaker 4: The second we get together, we start chopping it up.
22:58
Speaker 4: We're talking about all the trips that we've been.
23:00
Speaker 5: On and remember that time, you know we lost time
23:03
Speaker 5: in the mountains.
23:04
Speaker 4: And whatever it is, whatever story it is, you know.
23:07
Speaker 4: So it's just the fabric of what we all need
23:10
Speaker 4: for development. And maybe some of our families wouldn't get
23:12
Speaker 4: that otherwise, not to mention the experiences and the opportunities
23:16
Speaker 4: and the doors and so relationships are everything, and so
23:20
Speaker 4: they get the relationships with us, with our full our
23:22
Speaker 4: staff is amazing. You know, what they do on a
23:25
Speaker 4: daily basis, they're given their very lives. Every one of
23:28
Speaker 4: my staff members have had a student living their home
23:31
Speaker 4: with them for a season, not because we asked them to,
23:34
Speaker 4: because that's just the way that they live.
23:36
Speaker 5: In the hearts that they have.
23:37
Speaker 4: That's amazing and so so Yeah, it's crucial, it's needed.
23:41
Speaker 4: We have one hundred and eight kids in our program
23:44
Speaker 4: and we've begun an expansion to double that number to
23:47
Speaker 4: two hundred in the next five years. And so I
23:49
Speaker 4: mentioned all the houses. We're not even using all of
23:51
Speaker 4: them yet. We've been buying to renovate to get ready
23:53
Speaker 4: for this expansion. And so the timing of like all of.
23:56
Speaker 2: This is so, well, what is next for you guys.
24:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, So last year we purchased the shopping center and
24:03
Speaker 4: it was a kind of a shopping center right across
24:06
Speaker 4: the street from the footprint of where our campus is.
24:09
Speaker 5: Uh.
24:10
Speaker 4: It was built in the fifties. It's got a good
24:12
Speaker 4: bit of deferred maintenance. We're gonna be bringing it back
24:14
Speaker 4: to life. It has some tenants in it, but it's
24:16
Speaker 4: got an open section and so our uh the last
24:19
Speaker 4: piece that we need is a new home for our
24:21
Speaker 4: high school and then we'll have all the pieces that
24:24
Speaker 4: we need to get that expansion done. And so we're
24:27
Speaker 4: gonna do a renovation on that property. So that's what's next.
24:30
Speaker 4: That's the next kind of big piece that we're getting done.
24:32
Speaker 4: But we this year, we've doubled first grade. We added
24:35
Speaker 4: another full time staff member. We started our alumni association
24:39
Speaker 4: and so we have our past kids.
24:41
Speaker 5: We're getting them together.
24:41
Speaker 4: We had a Monday night football game when Keon scored
24:44
Speaker 4: his first touchdown with the alumni and h and so
24:48
Speaker 4: you know, we're we're trying to just continue to grow
24:51
Speaker 4: as we grow, strengthen those bonds. Keon has really showed
24:54
Speaker 4: us that, and it's it's funny. It's just you didn't
24:57
Speaker 4: think I didn't think about where we started. But you know,
24:59
Speaker 4: our kids, this is going to be their mission too,
25:02
Speaker 4: you know. Yeah, and in a ways, and it will
25:05
Speaker 4: inspire them to go find other missions.
25:06
Speaker 5: You know, it's not going to be their only mission,
25:08
Speaker 5: but it's going to be.
25:09
Speaker 4: It's it's it's special to see how much value our
25:12
Speaker 4: kids can add. And nobody understands what we do better
25:15
Speaker 4: than our kids who have been through it and our families.
25:17
Speaker 3: That have been through it.
25:18
Speaker 1: So you're gonna have a lot of Bills fans continuing
25:21
Speaker 1: to grow the Bills fan base.
25:23
Speaker 2: And there already.
25:24
Speaker 5: Are wild for the Bills.
25:27
Speaker 4: I mean, we were to the high school football game
25:29
Speaker 4: on Friday last week, and I tell you, we saw
25:31
Speaker 4: twenty kids wearing Keon Coleman.
25:32
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, local celebrities.
25:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, oh gosh, yeah, Lord for you.
25:37
Speaker 1: How cool has it been to watch Keon grow and
25:40
Speaker 1: blossom and develop In the last couple of weeks he
25:43
Speaker 1: has really come on strong to showcase.
25:46
Speaker 2: I am Keon Coleman.
25:47
Speaker 1: I'm in the NFL, and you are gonna notice me.
25:50
Speaker 4: I'll tell you this from my perspective. I've I've run
25:53
Speaker 4: into all kinds of new feelings. You feel like a
25:55
Speaker 4: parent would, a family member would write like you.
25:58
Speaker 5: You're in the ways that you get nervous. I get
26:01
Speaker 5: so nervous.
26:02
Speaker 4: You know, it's it's strange, but I am not surprised
26:05
Speaker 4: with what we've seen the last two weeks. If you
26:07
Speaker 4: just put on his college his college film and see
26:10
Speaker 4: what he's been able to do, you know, so not surprising,
26:14
Speaker 4: and we ain't seen nothing yet with what he's able
26:16
Speaker 4: to do.
26:17
Speaker 5: I'm I'm so.
26:18
Speaker 4: Excited and blessed him to be in the culture, with
26:21
Speaker 4: the leadership of this organization, spending time with coach Sean
26:25
Speaker 4: and Joe Brady and and these you know, the whole
26:28
Speaker 4: the whole back end of this thing is just amazing
26:30
Speaker 4: in the right place. Like I said, you feel like
26:33
Speaker 4: a member of your family's here. So for him to
26:35
Speaker 4: be here, we feel so happy about it. He's in
26:37
Speaker 4: the right place.
26:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ted, what type of sense of culture have you
26:40
Speaker 1: gotten from being able to be inside of these walls?
26:44
Speaker 3: Yeah? I mean this need to be on a team
26:46
Speaker 3: something we don't do a lot in golf. You know,
26:48
Speaker 3: it's an individual sport. The team's small. Whenever I got
26:51
Speaker 3: to speak to the team, even at the end, the
26:53
Speaker 3: coach said a little thing and they all clapped together,
26:55
Speaker 3: and I was like, whoa, These guys are all doing
26:57
Speaker 3: the same thing and supporting each other, and they kind
26:59
Speaker 3: of take you in and rough you up a little.
27:01
Speaker 5: Bit and they rag each other.
27:04
Speaker 3: It's probably a little bit like our Ryder Cup. You know.
27:06
Speaker 3: It's like we get together twelve people and and and
27:09
Speaker 3: get and get to hang out and have fun and
27:11
Speaker 3: play together and play for each other. So that's been
27:14
Speaker 3: really neat to see and experience, and like you said,
27:16
Speaker 3: the culture here in Buffalo, but more importantly even on
27:20
Speaker 3: this team in Buffalo has been incredible for Keon. For
27:23
Speaker 3: you know, this organization and what they've done and their
27:26
Speaker 3: their mindset and their hearts is very special. So we're
27:29
Speaker 3: excited about that.
27:30
Speaker 1: We always hear from people on the outside who get
27:33
Speaker 1: to spend a few days with the team, with the
27:35
Speaker 1: coaching staff.
27:36
Speaker 2: Is wow.
27:37
Speaker 1: There's such a huge family atmosphere inside this building and
27:41
Speaker 1: it starts with our owners and then from down it
27:44
Speaker 1: goes to you know, Sean McDermott, our general manager, and
27:47
Speaker 1: it seems like that's what Hope for ov luses is
27:50
Speaker 1: as well.
27:50
Speaker 2: And it's it's so.
27:52
Speaker 1: Neat to watch these two worlds collide in in a
27:54
Speaker 1: very positive way. So thank you so much for taking
27:58
Speaker 1: the time to come stay with us and tell us
28:00
Speaker 1: a little bit more about life as a caddy on
28:03
Speaker 1: the PGA tour with Scottie Scheffler.
28:05
Speaker 2: How cool and just all.
28:07
Speaker 1: The fun and exciting things that are going on right
28:09
Speaker 1: now with Hope for Apolysis.
28:10
Speaker 2: Thank you appreciate it all right. Thanks guys.
28:13
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for another episode of Inside the Charge.