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The 2015 Grandaddy Recap Thread - Thanks For The Memories

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JB

JB

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This thread will serve as host to all of the recaps from one of the greatest events ever hosted. Here is a fun photo/video filled with some great memories set to a song that seems fitting.


Recommend viewing in full screen since it's done in High-Res
 
Extremely impressive JB.
 
Simple... perfection
 
YES! Kills me I can't see the video from work, but soon.

I'm ready for this thread, but I'm also at a loss of where to start with all of this awesome that unfolded. This event changed everything for me. Everything.
 
Great compilation! Even had me tapping my foot while smiling the whole time...and I wasn't even there in person!

Almost felt like it though living through the live update thread. Look forward to reading the novels that come forth. Well done indeed.
 
Great Editing JB
I hope to have a shot at the ZooCrew Next year
 
The video was great. I'd love to get into this next year.
 
I hate to see this one go up because it's the finality of this great experience, but happy at the same time because we get to share our thoughts with the community.
 
Wow. The emotions...... I have my recap ready for posting...But that video is truly something special
 
Well done Josh/Morgan, it warms the heart to see all our brothers having the time of their lives. I don't know why but it makes things a bit dusty. For all of us that have been there this is a reminder of how special it is!
 
Ok so its recap time. Just a warning, this is going to be long. So I apologize in advance.

2015 has been unbelievable for me. The Grandaddy was my sixth event of the year, all in different states. I’ve traveled from Ohio to Florida to California and met some of the most amazing people life has to offer. I’ve played some of the best courses our country has to offer. I am very blessed to have found THP and made it a part of my life. Back in September in Chicago for #TheGauntlet, the MVP spot that was up for grabs wasn’t really on my mind. That event was going to be my first taste of competitive golf and I was very focused on being ready for Cog Hill. I feel like I was playing the best golf of my life heading into that event and it translated to the course. I was lucky enough to meet some of the Zoo Crew there and it taught me something very valuable about golf. I still remember it like it was yesterday. We were down heading into the final day of the event and JRod and I won our match and put us into a position to win the event but there were still some groups on the course. I was sort of pacing nervously waiting for the rest of the groups to finish to see if we had won. I look back at my cart and I see JRod reaching into his golf bag and pulling something out. Once I see what it is, it hit me. He pulled out his fishing pole and started fishing off of the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] green. He wasn’t worried about winning, we just finished an awesome round that was a ton of fun. In his mind, he had already won. It sent me a clear message that there is a much larger picture to these events than just wins and losses. Once JB announced we had won and I was the MVP and headed to The Grandaddy, time stopped. I couldn’t believe it. I was heading to the crown jewel of them all!

In the months leading up to the event, there were so many emotions running through my head. Guilt was the first. Why me? Why not some other guys who in my mind were more deserving of the spot? But life has a way of making things happen when least expected so after a talk with some of my close friends I was able to get over the guilt for the most part. The next emotion was excitement. Everything in life took on new meaning. I really didn’t have a single bad day leading up to the grandaddy because lets face it, golf heaven awaits my arrival and when you know that, everything in life tastes better. The last emotion I had to deal with was anticipation. I couldn’t wait to get to California. I was nervous driving to work hoping I didn’t get in a car accident or something stupid like that that could cause injury and I wouldn’t be able to go to the event. I was curious as to how our team was going to gel as a unit. I was worried about how my swing would be during my fitting. All of these things just built up in anticipation of the event. But once I landed in San Diego, every emotion I had in me turned into shock and awe and pure enjoyment the entire time.

Before I get into the recap portion of this post, I need to give the ultimate thanks to the single greatest thing in my life, my wife. You may have seen her post every now and then (kortneyV) and she has been to THP events before, but she knew this event was different. She knew how much this meant to me. We have two young boys at home and she stepped up the motherly duties so I could spend time on the course or at the range. She has been my rock through this journey and honestly I couldn’t have done this without her (Man its getting dusty in here). Behind every active THPer there is a support system. And im extremely blessed to have my wife as my support system. Ive spent 8 weekends away from my family due to golf this year and she never complained. She sent text messages wishing good luck and encouragement each and every day I was gone. I cant explain in words how much that helps me. Kortney, thank you. Thank you for listening to every story and every exciting post I read to you and going through all the pictures with me. Thank you for being you.

Ok, on to the event itself. My flight was scheduled to leave Cleveland, Ohio at 5:45am Sunday. Saturday evening while the wife and I were out to dinner, I received a weather alert. A very “Ohiotopia” weather alert. There was going to be frozen fog. This ended up shutting down roads and cancelling flights and I was sooooo worried about not getting to the airport that we made the decision to drop me off at the airport Saturday night and I would stay the evening at the airport. Not ideal, but there was no way in hell I was going to miss my flight. I think I slept a total of 45 minutes before it was time to check in and go through security. Once I got word that my flight was on scheduled and was actually going to be taking off a little early, it was time to be excited! I tried to sleep on the plane but everytime I would close my eyes I just pictures some of the things we saw in last years Live Update thread and the adrenaline was pumping so there was no sleeping. I met up with JB, GolferGal, Jman and cdpkook in Dallas for our connecting flight to San Diego and you could tell everyone was just ready to get to California and get things started! Once we landed in San Diego we took a bus ride to our hotel where the rest of the team at the hotel bar. To say we gelled as a team is an understatement. Some of us had met previously, but most of us hadn’t. But we all hit it off and had a great time at the bar. We decided to head up to the hotel rooms to get cleaned up and ready for dinner that would be at 6pm PST which was really 9PM for me and I still hadn’t had any sleep. I tried to lay down for a nap before dinner but again there was no way I could keep my eyes closed. I headed down to dinner like a kid walking to the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. I had no clue what laid ahead for us but I knew it was going to be better than I could imagine.

Our team dinner was fantastic. Personalities really started to show and Jman and I gave each other the same look a couple times. That look of “this is going to be awesome”. Everyone on the team was an awesome person. Funny, polite, encouraging… just all high quality people even though we were all from different walks of life. We had heard Finley was going to stop by for dinner but we only thought he was coming to drop off the captains gift. I was absolutely not expecting him to show up with duffels loaded with awesome Callaway Grandaddy swag. The polos, ¼ zips, jackets, hats, headcover, valuables pouch, belt….. It was just all awesome and all had the Grandaddy logo on it. I wore it with pride and will continue to wear it with pride. Finley, im going to thank you a few times throughout this post so bear with me. But thank you so much for the awesome Grandaddy swag. After we had already gotten our swag and gone through everything and started to just talk over a few drinks, we got Ralloed. You will probably hear this a few times through everyones posts, but how legendary is it to show up to the biggest THP event there is as an event rookie and walk away with your name being a verb?! Haha so cool. After a team shot of patron, it was time to finally call it a night and hopefully get some sleep, which I was only able to get four hours of haha

The anticipation of Monday morning was visible. That’s the first time we started really showing the internet golfer inside of us all and started talking about set up ideas. For me, I had an almost certain idea of what my bag would be. Once we pulled up to the ECPC sign, it was go time. Personally, I don’t think ive ever been so amped up to hit balls. Luckily I was set to go in the third group of fittings so I had some time to loosen up and get in the right mind frame to hit balls with a decent swing. We started out with a tour of the facility and it was so neat to see major trophies, Phil’s graveyard, the indoor hitting bay and the robot testing area. The range was set up with club carts and staff bags and tents… I felt like I was in a dream where I was a tour pro. The first thing I was going to do was get fit for my putter. This was the one thing I had no clue what I was going to end up with. I loved the feel of the Works insert but wasn’t crazy about the versa paint job so I grabbed a Works #1 and rolled a few putts. I made two of three and the fitter mentioned he noticed I was getting handsy and leaving the face open a bit so he recommended I try a #7 to help balance the face. I rolled three putts, making them all and said “Yep, throw it in the bag”. I ended up going 1* flat to help keep the toe down. After I finished my putter fitting, I walked out to the range and went over to the short game area to rub elbows with Roger Cleveland (how freaking cool is that?!?!). One of the awesome things about Roger is how down to earth he is. He remembered me from the Gauntlet and asked a couple questions about how my game is and then told me to get in a bunker so he could see me hit a few shots. Normally I love bunker shots. I would say that’s a strength of mine, but the pressure was on with the legend RFC watching. I ended up hitting a couple good shots and was thrilled Roger didn’t have anything awful to say about it haha as I was walking back over to watch the fittings, JB asked if I could do a video with Roger talking about the Gauntlet and how I won my spot in the grandaddy there. Well hell yeah! The video is something I will look back on forever. A true legend of the game saying he likes what he sees from my game. Ok I can retire now haha

My Fitting

I went over to the fitting area to watch and Jman says hey do you wanna get fit now? Absolutely! Now my fitting blew my mind. I started hitting the CF 8 iron just to loosen up and I figured I would hit the Apex Pro’s at some point because there was a part of me that felt I was going to end up with them. Not a chance. The Apex CF felt so good. He gave me the 7i to dial in my fitting. My swing speed was at 96mph and the fitter said usually anyone over 90mph he would but in an X Stiff. I had never gamed irons in an X so I said sure lets try it out. All of the X flex shafts just felt too heavy to me so he recommended we go back to stiff but try something in the 120g range. So he put the PX 6.0’s in and it felt so much better. That shaft is a winner for me. He was noticing everything was just leaking to the right so he took be over to the hard plastic mat and put some tape on the bottom of the club and told me to just make a normal swing at a ball. I made contact with the mat towards the toe. Interesting, so he told me to hit another one. Made contact in the exact same spot. The toe was making contact with the ground first which causes the face to open slightly before impact causing a push or leak to the right. To fix that, we went 2* upright. So I had the irons and shafts picked out, knowing I only want to go up to 5i, it was time to put together the top of my bag. I hit my 5i 205 yards so the next club in my bag was going to need to be around 215-225. Perfect, that’s what I hit my 21*UT that I have back at home. So I told the fitter I was looking to go 21* UT and then 18* UT into a 3 wood then driver. He goes and grabs the 21* and 18* for me to hit. I hit five balls with the 21*. All of them were between 195 and 205. Odd, but ok ill try the 18*. Same results. 205-210 with it. So right now im struggling to create a decent gap from 5i into my woods. He went over to the clubs and came back with two Apex Hybrids. I started off with the 4H. Honestly one of the best feeling clubs ive ever hit, but take a guess at the distance. Yep, 200 yards on the dot. Three more balls at right around 200 yards and then we move on to the 3H. Just a shade longer at a max of 215. At this point we are scratching our heads at what we are seeing. He walks away again and comes back with an XR 3H and 4H. I started with the 3H and bingo. 245 yards. I was blown away at how good of a club the XR hybrid was. Im not a hybrid guy either. So ok, the 3h is staying around for now, lets see if we can close the gap with the 4H. It did, 225 yards on three straight balls. So the 4H is in the bag for sure. The question now is 3H or 5 wood. I tried the GBB 5 wood and the distance was very similar, 240 carry 245 total but had better peak numbers. We agreed that the 5 wood would probably be better because its more forgiving and I would be able to attack greens easier with the higher peak height. Ok the GBB 5 wood is a winner. Lets hit the 3 wood. Just as solid as the 5 wood. 260 carry, 270 total. It’s a winner, throw it in the bag. On to the driver where I had an idea of where I wanted to go. GBB with a Tour Green x stiff. After three swings with the GBB he walks away and comes back with the DBD w/ the Rogue I/O 70X and says “right now your spin is over 4600, this will help bring it down a lot. Try this”. The spin numbers went wayyyyy down to about 2800. Ok so this may be the winner, lets dial it in. We go from 9* to 8*, Draw bias, gravity core to he heel side, low. It was like swinging a completely different club. 164pmh ball speed, 14* launch, 279 carry, 300 total. I was shocked at how great it felt. So before we filled out my order sheet, he asked if I want to try the 816 fairways to match with the driver and Rogue I/O 70x. I said hey why not and took a couple swings with the 816 fairway. By far the best fairway I have ever hit. I didn’t even want to see what the 5 wood was like, just lets go all 816 with the same shaft at the top of the bag. So, the fitting was complete and what I ended up with is in my signature. I was so blown away at how different my fitting ended up compared to what I thought I was going to get.

To be continued.....
 
Tour of Callaway HQ

This was one of the cooler tours ive taken. So many neat things to see as far as R&D technology. Im not sure what we can or cant say so I will keep this brief and just say youll all love some of the offerings Callaway/Odyssey has for next year. After the tour we sat down for lunch, which has some amazing mac n cheese, with some of the Zoo Crew and Callaway guys behind the product and brand. We were also surprised by Chip Brewer who was awesome with every answer he gave. It would have been easy for him to blow smoke or give PC answers, but his answers were genuine, as were the answers from everyone else. After lunch it was time to continue with the rest of the tour and then load up on the bus and head out to the desert where Golf Heaven, or more popularly known as The Hideaway, awaited us.
Trip to the Desert

The bus ride is something past teams have talked about time and time again so this was something we were looking forward to even though it was a 3 hour ride. Bus rides can be interesting, but when you take 13 THPers, add 10 Zoo Crew members plus beer and snacks, its going to be a fun ride. About 30 minutes into the ride, JRod sprints to the back of the bus and almost knocks the door down trying to get into the bathroom. Maybe the mac n cheese didn’t sit right? Not the case, out comes Super JRod in adult superman pajamas with a J on his chest. Classic JRod! On the bus ride out there, there was a tweet sent out my Matt Wood, the course pro at Hideaway. He asked if we wanted to come over for dinner and the tweet had a picture of an awesome fireplace surrounded by Hideaway swag bags! Surprise boys! Dinner at the Hideaway!! We stopped at our hotel first, checked in and then had about 20 minutes to get cleaned up for dinner. Once we got to the Hideaway, I had mistaken the guard shack for the courses club house, yes it was that big. We pull in and walk into the room where dinner was going to be served and out on the patio there were tables set up to stand around and enjoy perfect margaritas. Looking out towards the course, it was pitch black. It was sort of symbolic. Here we are, at the Hideaway, and you cant see any of it. The figurative curtain was still closed until tomorrow. After a great Mexican dinner it was time to get back on the bus and head to our hotel for the evening. In typical THP/ZooCrew fashion, we took over the hotel lobby/bar for a great evening of laughter, smiles, drinks and relaxation. After all, were on the greatest golf vacation of our lives!
Day 1

This was the day we had all looked forward to, some for a much longer time than me. It was time to get dressed in our team script, load up in the bus and head to the course where our new bags of amazingness awaited us. The bus wasn’t tense, but there was definitely a sense of anticipation in the air. Some of us have seen the place before, some of us hadn’t and for those of us that hadn’t, we couldn’t stop staring. There are a lot of amazing golf courses around the world, but believe me when I say thing. The Hideaway is absolutely perfect in every way. I couldn’t find the words to say. I just had to make sure my jaw didn’t scrape on the ground too much. We walk in to the area where breakfast was ready for us and the breakfast sliders didn’t disappoint! I had 2 of them, and then went right outside to that same patio I was at the night before and just tried to soak it all in. I couldn’t believe I was standing there. The one place thousands and thousands of THPers dream of, im there and im about to play in the freaking grandaddy. Its still surreal to me. At this point, we hadn’t even seen what kind of bags we were getting or what they looked like (aside from a teaser pic tweeted out by Anthony Taranto) so I couldn’t wait to get to my bag. They had our carts ready for us and bags already on the carts. Walking up to the bag for the first time to see all 14 brand new beauties is something this equipment junkie will never forget. It was time to head to the range and see how the new irons worked for me seeing as though ive never had any clubs other than driver fit to me before. The range was beautiful, they had range tenants to make sure the clubs always stayed clean, pitching green for guys to work on the short game, a green set up for bunker practice and then another green for putting. I could literally spend hours there every day. After we had all warmed up it was time to take the course. I was paired up with Rallo and I knew we had a tough opponent in DNevs and Harry Arnett. In 9 hole matches, mistakes are multiplied because there is less time to recover for it so early on we dug ourselves too deep of a hole (2dn after 2). After some timely pops and decent play we fought back to get things to AS but Harry the par machine took over and then DNevs buried us with some clutch putting to win the first 9 holes 2&1. Im sort of glad we lost our match with a hole to play as opposed to losing it on 9 because it allowed me to play 9 a little more relaxed because the pressure was off. And I think that carried over into the second match of the day. We started off with a birdie on 10 after I chipped in from off the green. Walking up to the chip shot I knew it would be difficult but if I landed it in the spot I wanted it to it would funnel down towards the hole. After that went in, it was all good vibes for Rallo and I. This was his first THP event and I could tell he was nervous, but I think that settled the both of us down a little. It was a back and forth match for the entire 9 and it came down to the 18[SUP]th[/SUP] hole. I made a pretty big mistake on the approach and instead of going for the middle of the green I decided to go at the flag but I hit it fat and didn’t get enough to get over the water. So im in my pocket and all the pressure is on Rallo to make a tough up and down. After a tricky first chip, he was able to hit a shot that got him to within a couple feet needing to make the putt for a halve and he did. I was so proud of him to step up in that big moment and make a solid net par there. I’ll take a half point against those two any day. Our third match was Alternate Shot against JRod and Rhi. JRod was my gauntlet captain so I know how solid he can play and I had heard that Rhi was pounding her driver all day so I was curious about how our match would turn out. They won the first two holes, we won the third and then it sort of went back and forth the rest of the round. Im not kidding when I say this, Rhi was a monster against us. She was hitting her drives 200 yards from the ladies tees and that was setting up JRod with short irons and wedges into greens. We fought back to tie the match until Rhi stuck the dagger in us. All in all, its not how I wanted the matches to look on the scoreboard, but that is so miniscule in the big picture. I had a blast with new equipment, a partner who made all three matches fun and four Zoo Crew opponents that I would be lucky to tee it up with again. After the bus ride back to the hotel, we got ready for dinner which ended up being a burger with a side of Moscow Mule. So good haha. We did our pairings again and Jman asked me if I wanted Hashtag Chad. I paused, looked at the handicap situation and knew I would have a fight on my hands. But eff it, it’s the grandaddy. Hell yes I want that match.

Day 2

In my Day 1 matches, I didn’t adjust to what I had that day. In golf, you either have your swing or you don’t. You can spend all day trying to find it or you can adjust to what works and make the best of it. I wasn’t going to make that same mistake twice. That meant a ton of tee shots with the 3 wood. So on the range I spent the bulk of the time hitting my 3 wood and getting comfortable with the ball flight. We drove off to the first tee and taking a step back and looking at my group, I couldn’t have asked for a better group that day. Hashtag, JRod, Rallo and Matt Wood. There was no way we weren’t gonna have fun.

18 holes of singles match play is a GRIND. Especially when you and your opponent only halve two holes the entire round. Chad and I honestly went back and forth all day. The biggest lead of the day was 2up and I got there twice. Both times I got there I lost the next hole. Chad just didn’t make many mistakes. For whatever reason, the Clive fits my eye better. I had more confidence on that course than the Dye course and it wasn’t even close. At about hole 4 I started to get in a good rhythm and played holes 4-12 even par. We drove up to the 17 tee box and I was 2up with 2 to go and Chad didn’t let up. I had my first three putt of the day to lose the hole so fittingly we went down to the wire. I ended up winning the match 2up but it really should have been halved with how close it was.

To my teammates, you are all rock stars in my book. Ive gone through the live update thread completely five times now and you all did an awesome job bringing our experience to the forum. We are in a very small fraternity of golfers to live through what we experienced. And it makes me happy to know everyone was thankful for it and there was zero sense of entitlement out of anyone. Ill make another post later on for each one of you, but for now and for the sake of getting through this post I will just say that I love each and every one of you and wish I could go back in time and hang out with all of you at the range at Hideaway.

To Callaway, I am forever grateful for the opportunity you gave us. It has honestly changed my life. From the gear to the bag to the clothes, I will rock it all proudly as often as I can. I mean it when I say it that the #ZooCrew is the most unbelievable group of people in the industry. They are great for the game of golf. They understand everything about the average Joe consumer and does a fantastic job making sure their voice is heard. It was a privelage to meet you all and share rounds with David, Harry, Johnny, Rhi and Chad. To those who didn’t play but were there capturing video and pics on the course and the WITB photos, that was so bad a$$. It felt “tour like” to play those two days and its something I will always remember. To the Callaway employees behind the scenes that arranged our travel or built our clubs or any other magical things you guys did, THANK YOU! Without people like you, events like this cant happen.
To Matt Wood and the rest of the Hideaway staff and members, I don’t feel worthy to have played your courses. And I mean that. I would have thought it was only fiction had I not lived it. Whenever someone mentions “Top Courses” I will always put the Hideaway at the top.

Thank you to mikedean441, Howzat, GG and anyone else who helped keep everyone informed on the matches.

Again, im sorry for the long post, and if you read it all, thank you. This was hard to put into words. This was hard to do without getting choked up. This is the freaking Grandaddy of em all!!


And it could be you next year…….
 
T2GRN18 said:
Well done Josh/Morgan, it warms the heart to see all our brothers having the time of their lives. I don't know why but it makes things a bit dusty. For all of us that have been there this is a reminder of how special it is!
Click to expand...

Havent met too many people that embraced this event (and THP) as much as you did/do. I will never forget your match.
 
Wow. Incredible video. So many emotions right now
 
Canadan said:
That video was awesome... Although I didn't like the text at the end. heh.

Can't wait to read these recaps.
Click to expand...

It will say "Team THP 2016 Champions" in the next video.

Nice recap video, Josh, of a spectacular event.
 
Another thank you to Callaway and THP. Without those two, i dont smile like i do now. The Grandaddy is true happiness for a golf junkie like myself. I miss every single one of you and look forward to the day we get to tee it up again some how.
 
Very well done JB! Makes my heart happy to see clips and pictures of this event, such an unbelievable event from start to finish that I'm glad to be able to say I've been a part of. Hopefully again some day, too.
 
Such a great event and a well-done video. Thanks!
 
Very impressive video / slideshow Jb - made me feel as if I was there and the song was definitely fitting!
 
What a great re-cap!! Should keep everyone salivating for a chance to be part of the next one. Extremely well done by THP & Callaway!!
 
Finally got it to play here at work. Thank goodness its lunch and I'm studentless because its dusty as hell in here.

Wow. Just wow. I really still cannot believe that all of that happened. Greatest event ever. Seriously life changing, I mean that.
 
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