So, my Grandaddy story started a little bit ago, September 13[SUP]th[/SUP], 2015 to be exact. My team had just won the Gauntlet event with Callaway Golf and I was named the MVP of the event, punching my ticket aboard Team Redemption. I couldn’t put it into words what that had meant to me and I probably still cant, but being a part of that team was something that sort of changed me and changed golf for me for the rest of my life. I have some friends from that team that are still very close to me, some I still talk to every day. That was a unique time for me in my personal life as well as I was trying to adjust to life with two kids and the normal challenges that comes with being a young husband and father. The Grandaddy for me was something to work for and something to work hard to get better at. That week in California back in 2015 allowed me to refocus some things in my personal life and I took so much away from that event; more than I ever could expect. Relationships with Callaway, with team members, with Grandaddy alum…all of which I wouldn’t have ever had without the Grandaddy. It was a week where I fell in love with the event and I knew at the time I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to it.
Fast forward a couple years and I am following along with the 2017 Grandaddy and it was announced that the following year would have a non playing Assistant Captain position and this would be a veteran of the event. Now I wont lie and say I didn’t want it because I did, but to me there are a number of others that have earned the right to be considered too. I could name at least a handful that if they were named and I wasn’t, I would be fine with it because I trust their judgement and know they would have the best interest of the event in mind with their decisions. But on that day, February 28[SUP]th[/SUP], when I was announced, I freaked out a little bit. I was at work, hadn’t even logged on to my computer yet because I was dealing with an employee issue, hear someone in the other office yell “you lucky son of a b**** Phil”, go running into his office and that’s how I found out. This was it, this was the start of my goodbye to the Grandaddy.
Now I have never been a captain for a THP event nor have I ever been involved with picks of contests and let me tell you, in a way I hope I never have to again. I had votes in the Captain’s contest as well as votes in all 11 other contests. In a way, it was so difficult because trying to take the username away from the entry is not only time consuming but damn near impossible if I slip up and see it in the thread together. But I approached every contest the same…waited until the contest was over, copy everything, paste into an excel document, delete everything but the entry and repeat until all I had was the entry. Then I would grade each entry on a scale from 1-10 and then take my top 10 entries and trim that down to 5. The top 5 is what was submitted. Captain tequila4kapp and I made an agreement that we wouldn’t share anything with each other (he had a vote as well) until after we both submitted our entries and honestly, I think there was only 1 contest where we had completely different lists. But there were a handful of times where we would have up to 3 duplicate entries. Its crazy how much we were on the same page with what we were looking for in a teammate. For me, it was simple. Love the event, respect the community and never make the event about you. So that’s what I looked for in the contest entries. And I gotta say, I love how it turned out!
Tequila4kapp – Captain
Frank, this was the first time we had really interacted with each other and I gotta say, it was an honor to share the Captain duties with you. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be trying to be the assistant to someone I had known nothing about but getting on the same page with you was crazy easy and we shared damn near identical visions on this event. We spoke about what we wanted and didn’t want, but nothing was ever a debate. I can say that we left nothing on the table, we even brought the team in on some pretty cool stuff early on and it showed once we got to California. Theres no right or wrong way to captain an event….but damn man Im a huge fan of your way.
ArmyGolf – Contest #1 Winner
Our Canadian ringer! I was really glad I got to meet you and share some golf with you in Orlando this year and after I did, I was really pumped you were on our team. I had heard from other THPers about your game and know that you’ve done well in previous THP events so I didn’t hate having someone on the team with some high pressure experience. Plus, the Canadian version of trash talk was freaking fun to listen to hahaha
ShaneWu – Contest #2 Winner
Sorry, I was running late posting this. Lol but seriously, even though you were late for just about everything, you definitely made your presence felt with the team. Awesome swag gift for both Team THP and the Zoo Crew too! On the course, you’re as cool as your personality seems and I felt good putting you in tough situations knowing youll have fun and play well while doing it.
Dacatalyst41 – Contest #3 Winner
Clayton….my brother from another mother…..thank you. Thank you for being the person you are. The way you approached this event with your prep, with how you had ideas to bring content to the forum that no one before you has, the fact that I only saw you once without a smile (a conversation I will cherish for the rest of my life), you just brought so much to the team. Certain teams have success because of the talent they have, but talent will only get you so far. You are a glue guy. You are someone who will keep this team together for years to come because your personality is too infectious to ignore. You get it….and I cant thank you enough.
BlueHen2006 – Contest #4 Winner
Matt, the silent one with a silky smooth swing who hits the ball forever! I don’t think anything can phase you haha and that’s such a good trait to have. You were in some pretty high profile matches and you carried yourself like a THP Event veteran. Your story about your wife at home with the kids so you can enjoy yourself hits home with me and the fact your family means so much to you is something I admire you for. Next time im in Maryland we are playing golf together!
Kev – Contest #5 Winner
The self-proclaimed best amateur golfer in South Dakota! And Ship Show guest star! (Yes I remember you were on the ship show too, clayton…I didn’t forget lol) I think its safe to say you brought The Grandaddy to the forum like never before. You took how you would want to see it and turned it into forum update gold. You are one hell of a person, teammate and a heck of a good golfer too. True story, JB and I were wondering what took you so long to close out Neubarth. Turns out, your just a really nice guy and wanted him to feel what its like to almost get a full point in the Grandaddy.
mpeterson – Contest #6 Winner
Another veteran to THP and THP events but someone I hadn’t met before. I was really surprised at how much punch you can pack into that swing! You claim to be a 250 average but sheesh, your tee game is something to brag about! One thing I want to mention to you is how incredible of a teammate you were Day 1. I wont get into detail, but there is a teammate of ours who loves your attitude and support on and off the course.
Boder – Contest #7 Winner
Mr. I don’t like high profile matches. HA. You were born for the big stage! We had it all lined up too for you to show the internet that Finley is human after all and that the golf you played against him day 1 was no fluke. You don’t say a ton on the course but that putter of yours does a ton of talking. I think you and Roger pulled off some of the most incredible halved matches Ive seen in a long time. Theres a ton of fire and passion in you for this game but the second we got back on the bus its quiet, smiling Boder. You sir are one hell of a golfer and a big part of why we had a shot at it going into day 2.
PhillyNumbers – Contest #8 Winner
I was closed when I said we would have someone shoot their age in singles! You were a horse for us all week and played against some tough opponents but took it in stride like it was your normal 6am tee time in Texas (that you would text the group an hour before, waking up the west coasters at 3am local time). You said something to me on the bus that will stick with me and it makes me very thankful that at the age of 31 I have reached the mountain top of golf. But the way you play, you have at least another three decades of golf ahead of you! I think I speak for the team when I say you are what I want to be when I grow up!
Rogt – Contest #9 Winner
Not sure where I saw your biggest smile: the nest or in the pro shop when you came in to say you guys won the final two holes to halve against finleys group Wednesday haha Your handicap traveled very well and even though the nerves were there on the first tee, you stepped up and piped it down the middle! I would go on about memories with you but most are Nest related and I cant talk about that in this post hahaha
Ttucliffhanger – Contest #10 Winner
Ah, the good ol #ReNest. Team THP’s version of puke and rally! I have no idea how you were able to play golf Thursday, let alone win your match! One thing I will say is you promised the group not to miss the bus in the morning, even if it meant sleeping on the hotel lobby couch. That’s dedication my friend! In all seriousness, one thing I love about having you on the team is you absolutely brought the excitement during the leadup. During the long days at work when this event seemed so far away, you were the one to bring spirits up. We were lucky (?) enough to have the same flight home and layover in Detroit so we were able to spend some extra time together and I really enjoyed it. I love how much you love your daughter….that says a lot to me about the type of father you are. And of course, thank you for your service. You are a better man than I am that’s for sure!
Dazeedmonds – Final Contest Winner
Good ol daze! Pro tip for anyone traveling with Dave, make sure he has his e-cig charger with him or your Uber WILL make a stop for one on the way home haha. Dave, or should I call you Mr. 24?? Either way, you have some sneaky fire power with your game. Could be the good touch around the greens, the knock down 3 hybrid that Finley loved to see or the 3 foot long battery charger, you sir are a stud for any team and Im glad you were on ours! It seemed like we were always spending extra time together thanks to nonsmoker friendly places lol
To the team at Callaway Golf, you guys are life changers. You may not realize it because you live it every day but what you all do for the game of golf touches so many lives. All for the sake of generosity and golf…..I don’t understand it still. Not many go to the lengths you do for average internet golfers and yet you are all obsessed with doing more and more every year. I don’t know if there will be a Grandaddy next year or not, but if there is I have no idea how you could improve it….but I trust you will. I hope you all feel our team was a good representation of the type of brand ambassadors you want because like it or not, this group of 13 is going NOWHERE! We thank you for the gear, we thank you for the food, we thank you for the transportation and hospitality, but most importantly we thank you for the opportunity to experience what some wont believe is true.
Well, Im sure I’ll have more to say in this thread, but this is my goodbye to #TheGrandaddy. It’s been a long 3 years, but its 3 years I would never want to give back. Thank you to everyone who supported the event and every member of the team. We saw every congrats, every good luck and it meant a ton to us to have that live update thread going crazy!!
-AssCap
Fast forward a couple years and I am following along with the 2017 Grandaddy and it was announced that the following year would have a non playing Assistant Captain position and this would be a veteran of the event. Now I wont lie and say I didn’t want it because I did, but to me there are a number of others that have earned the right to be considered too. I could name at least a handful that if they were named and I wasn’t, I would be fine with it because I trust their judgement and know they would have the best interest of the event in mind with their decisions. But on that day, February 28[SUP]th[/SUP], when I was announced, I freaked out a little bit. I was at work, hadn’t even logged on to my computer yet because I was dealing with an employee issue, hear someone in the other office yell “you lucky son of a b**** Phil”, go running into his office and that’s how I found out. This was it, this was the start of my goodbye to the Grandaddy.
Now I have never been a captain for a THP event nor have I ever been involved with picks of contests and let me tell you, in a way I hope I never have to again. I had votes in the Captain’s contest as well as votes in all 11 other contests. In a way, it was so difficult because trying to take the username away from the entry is not only time consuming but damn near impossible if I slip up and see it in the thread together. But I approached every contest the same…waited until the contest was over, copy everything, paste into an excel document, delete everything but the entry and repeat until all I had was the entry. Then I would grade each entry on a scale from 1-10 and then take my top 10 entries and trim that down to 5. The top 5 is what was submitted. Captain tequila4kapp and I made an agreement that we wouldn’t share anything with each other (he had a vote as well) until after we both submitted our entries and honestly, I think there was only 1 contest where we had completely different lists. But there were a handful of times where we would have up to 3 duplicate entries. Its crazy how much we were on the same page with what we were looking for in a teammate. For me, it was simple. Love the event, respect the community and never make the event about you. So that’s what I looked for in the contest entries. And I gotta say, I love how it turned out!
Tequila4kapp – Captain
Frank, this was the first time we had really interacted with each other and I gotta say, it was an honor to share the Captain duties with you. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be trying to be the assistant to someone I had known nothing about but getting on the same page with you was crazy easy and we shared damn near identical visions on this event. We spoke about what we wanted and didn’t want, but nothing was ever a debate. I can say that we left nothing on the table, we even brought the team in on some pretty cool stuff early on and it showed once we got to California. Theres no right or wrong way to captain an event….but damn man Im a huge fan of your way.
ArmyGolf – Contest #1 Winner
Our Canadian ringer! I was really glad I got to meet you and share some golf with you in Orlando this year and after I did, I was really pumped you were on our team. I had heard from other THPers about your game and know that you’ve done well in previous THP events so I didn’t hate having someone on the team with some high pressure experience. Plus, the Canadian version of trash talk was freaking fun to listen to hahaha
ShaneWu – Contest #2 Winner
Sorry, I was running late posting this. Lol but seriously, even though you were late for just about everything, you definitely made your presence felt with the team. Awesome swag gift for both Team THP and the Zoo Crew too! On the course, you’re as cool as your personality seems and I felt good putting you in tough situations knowing youll have fun and play well while doing it.
Dacatalyst41 – Contest #3 Winner
Clayton….my brother from another mother…..thank you. Thank you for being the person you are. The way you approached this event with your prep, with how you had ideas to bring content to the forum that no one before you has, the fact that I only saw you once without a smile (a conversation I will cherish for the rest of my life), you just brought so much to the team. Certain teams have success because of the talent they have, but talent will only get you so far. You are a glue guy. You are someone who will keep this team together for years to come because your personality is too infectious to ignore. You get it….and I cant thank you enough.
BlueHen2006 – Contest #4 Winner
Matt, the silent one with a silky smooth swing who hits the ball forever! I don’t think anything can phase you haha and that’s such a good trait to have. You were in some pretty high profile matches and you carried yourself like a THP Event veteran. Your story about your wife at home with the kids so you can enjoy yourself hits home with me and the fact your family means so much to you is something I admire you for. Next time im in Maryland we are playing golf together!
Kev – Contest #5 Winner
The self-proclaimed best amateur golfer in South Dakota! And Ship Show guest star! (Yes I remember you were on the ship show too, clayton…I didn’t forget lol) I think its safe to say you brought The Grandaddy to the forum like never before. You took how you would want to see it and turned it into forum update gold. You are one hell of a person, teammate and a heck of a good golfer too. True story, JB and I were wondering what took you so long to close out Neubarth. Turns out, your just a really nice guy and wanted him to feel what its like to almost get a full point in the Grandaddy.
mpeterson – Contest #6 Winner
Another veteran to THP and THP events but someone I hadn’t met before. I was really surprised at how much punch you can pack into that swing! You claim to be a 250 average but sheesh, your tee game is something to brag about! One thing I want to mention to you is how incredible of a teammate you were Day 1. I wont get into detail, but there is a teammate of ours who loves your attitude and support on and off the course.
Boder – Contest #7 Winner
Mr. I don’t like high profile matches. HA. You were born for the big stage! We had it all lined up too for you to show the internet that Finley is human after all and that the golf you played against him day 1 was no fluke. You don’t say a ton on the course but that putter of yours does a ton of talking. I think you and Roger pulled off some of the most incredible halved matches Ive seen in a long time. Theres a ton of fire and passion in you for this game but the second we got back on the bus its quiet, smiling Boder. You sir are one hell of a golfer and a big part of why we had a shot at it going into day 2.
PhillyNumbers – Contest #8 Winner
I was closed when I said we would have someone shoot their age in singles! You were a horse for us all week and played against some tough opponents but took it in stride like it was your normal 6am tee time in Texas (that you would text the group an hour before, waking up the west coasters at 3am local time). You said something to me on the bus that will stick with me and it makes me very thankful that at the age of 31 I have reached the mountain top of golf. But the way you play, you have at least another three decades of golf ahead of you! I think I speak for the team when I say you are what I want to be when I grow up!
Rogt – Contest #9 Winner
Not sure where I saw your biggest smile: the nest or in the pro shop when you came in to say you guys won the final two holes to halve against finleys group Wednesday haha Your handicap traveled very well and even though the nerves were there on the first tee, you stepped up and piped it down the middle! I would go on about memories with you but most are Nest related and I cant talk about that in this post hahaha
Ttucliffhanger – Contest #10 Winner
Ah, the good ol #ReNest. Team THP’s version of puke and rally! I have no idea how you were able to play golf Thursday, let alone win your match! One thing I will say is you promised the group not to miss the bus in the morning, even if it meant sleeping on the hotel lobby couch. That’s dedication my friend! In all seriousness, one thing I love about having you on the team is you absolutely brought the excitement during the leadup. During the long days at work when this event seemed so far away, you were the one to bring spirits up. We were lucky (?) enough to have the same flight home and layover in Detroit so we were able to spend some extra time together and I really enjoyed it. I love how much you love your daughter….that says a lot to me about the type of father you are. And of course, thank you for your service. You are a better man than I am that’s for sure!
Dazeedmonds – Final Contest Winner
Good ol daze! Pro tip for anyone traveling with Dave, make sure he has his e-cig charger with him or your Uber WILL make a stop for one on the way home haha. Dave, or should I call you Mr. 24?? Either way, you have some sneaky fire power with your game. Could be the good touch around the greens, the knock down 3 hybrid that Finley loved to see or the 3 foot long battery charger, you sir are a stud for any team and Im glad you were on ours! It seemed like we were always spending extra time together thanks to nonsmoker friendly places lol
To the team at Callaway Golf, you guys are life changers. You may not realize it because you live it every day but what you all do for the game of golf touches so many lives. All for the sake of generosity and golf…..I don’t understand it still. Not many go to the lengths you do for average internet golfers and yet you are all obsessed with doing more and more every year. I don’t know if there will be a Grandaddy next year or not, but if there is I have no idea how you could improve it….but I trust you will. I hope you all feel our team was a good representation of the type of brand ambassadors you want because like it or not, this group of 13 is going NOWHERE! We thank you for the gear, we thank you for the food, we thank you for the transportation and hospitality, but most importantly we thank you for the opportunity to experience what some wont believe is true.
Well, Im sure I’ll have more to say in this thread, but this is my goodbye to #TheGrandaddy. It’s been a long 3 years, but its 3 years I would never want to give back. Thank you to everyone who supported the event and every member of the team. We saw every congrats, every good luck and it meant a ton to us to have that live update thread going crazy!!
-AssCap
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