As Seen on CBS Sports Network: The Charlie Rymer Golf Show with Gary Player & Mark Bryan

Front and center in this episode is “The Big Timer” and his special guest who’s “Ridin’ with Rymer,” golfing legend Gary Player. Charlie and “The Black Knight” tee it up at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach and cover a wide range of topics, all as Charlie gets a few playing tips from the 9-time majors winner along the way.

 

 

Off the course, Charlie heads down the road with his dogs for a play date with those of Mark Bryan, lead guitarist for Hootie & The Blowfish. While they’re there, Mark and Charlie are laying the tracks for the full version of the show’s brand-new theme song!

“The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” has aired on CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour home of CBS Sports that is available through all major cable, satellite and telco distributors as well as via OTT streaming service providers YouTube TV, fuboTV, DirecTV and Hulu.

Transcript:

The Charlie Rymer Golf Show, starring Charlie Rymer.

Charlie Rymer:

Hey okay, let’s pick up the tempo!

Charlie Rymer here and welcome to my new show where we do things my way! As a former golf pro and media personality I know golf, but this isn’t going to be your grandfather’s golf show. I’m bringing you conversations with celebs and golf greats. Getting off the course and out on the water, then even getting into some good eats.

This is the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway folks!

Charlie Rymer:

This is The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And today I’m with the greatest player of all time. I’m Charlie Rymer. And this is Ridin’ with Rymer.

Charlie Rymer:

All right, Mr. Player, you are going to love Dunes Club.

Gary Player:

Hey, listen here, man. I don’t want you calling me Mr. Player. I want you calling me Gary, please.

Charlie Rymer:

That’s going to be tough, but I’ll give it a shot. Let’s go.

Gary Player:

What a carry, what a carry, man you’re singing that club well.

Charlie Rymer:

Whew. That’s pure right there.

Gary Player:

The last time I missed the fairway, the Pope was an altar boy. That’s the old Pope.

Charlie Rymer:

I’ve still got a little bit of club head speed.

Gary Player:

Oh man. And you got some weight behind it. No, serious.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, you know what? I can always lose some weight. You’re not going to get any taller. I’m going to ask you some quick questions.

Gary Player:

Right.

Charlie Rymer:

Did anybody drive it longer than you?

Gary Player:

Most people did.

Charlie Rymer:

Did anybody hit it straighter than you?

Gary Player:

Not many.

Charlie Rymer:

There might’ve been some better putters than you, but when it was all on the line, when you were 29 years old and you were trying to be the youngest person to win the career grand slam, you won the US Open. You had to have been scared and feeling it like any other human, right?

Gary Player:

Yes and I’d love to tell you how I prepared for that major championship because nobody’s ever prepared for a major like that. I can tell you without boasting. And Nicklaus was partly responsible for me winning. And he said, “Don’t go to Greensburg, come with me.”

Gary Player:

And I prepared mentally, physically and sleep-wise, laughing-wise, all the things that go to winning a major and I prepared. I went to the scoreboard every morning at six o’clock, sat in there in a tai chi position and visualized my name on that scoreboard.

Charlie Rymer:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Gary Player:

I went to a Catholic church, not to pray to win, to have patience and accept adversity and love adversity because you’re going to have it. You can’t play a 72-hour tournament without adversity. You can’t go through life without adversity. It’s the greatest blessing bestowed upon a human being.

Charlie Rymer:

And back to your preparation, you told me how hard you worked.

Gary Player:

Oh, yes.

Charlie Rymer:

You had to feel like you deserve to win. But the mental state that it put you in was probably even more beneficial than what you got out of it physically. Am I correct?

Gary Player:

You’re right. You’re right. And you see what a lot of people don’t understand, to be a superstar, so you have a puzzle, dedication, application, enjoying the suffering, being a good putter, being a good chipper, not choking. There’s a whole list of things. Sleeping well, laughing. There’s so many things that encompass being a champion.

Charlie Rymer:

Because in golf and unless you’ve won 160 professional tournaments like you have, everyone else has to deal with really more downs than ups. I mean I can deal with the ups, but dealing with the down times is what’s so challenging. And a lot of people quite honestly think you’re crazy because you’re so positive and upbeat all the time.

Gary Player:

Ja, that’s right. Because you can’t play golf without adversity so you might as well be grateful for it. You can’t chase it away and so there’s so many things that go to making a champion.

Charlie Rymer:

No amateur is quitting because the game’s too easy, at least not that I’ve ever heard.

Gary Player:

No, exactly, well said.

Charlie Rymer:

Have you ever met a man that’s nicer, sweeter, more honest, more gracious, more endearing than Lee Elder?

Gary Player:

He is so appreciative of everything. So nice to see him on the first tee at Augusta this year, a black man wasn’t allowed to play there. And you know, when he came to South Africa, I invited him in the middle of apartheid, the middle of apartheid. He was scared to come. The black caucus was saying, “No, don’t go.” And the people in the airport in Cape Town said I was a traitor because I invited a black man to play in our PGA. That tournament went off well. They gave him standing ovations and we did other venues as well.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, let’s go down memory lane a little bit. What’s your fondest memory of Arnold Palmer?

Gary Player:

You know, I used to fly with him a lot and he flew the plane like he played golf. If there was one little gap in that tree, he’d take a 1 iron.

Charlie Rymer:

Wow.

Gary Player:

Nicklaus was more sensible, he’d chip it back on the fairway and take his bogey. If Palmer needed a par, he tried to hit it through the gap and make a six and lose the par. But people loved that because that’s how people played golf.

Charlie Rymer:

Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Gary Player:

My fondest memory is his patience with people. The way he’d sign with people when he was finished, he loved people. He was never irritable with people. Marvelous. And I sent him an SMS the other day, I said, “Listen, Arni, I’ll be joining you not in too long a future and make sure you got a decent golf course up there and make sure it’s a Gary Player design.

Gary Player:

Wap, came back, “You crazy. It’s going to be an Arnold Palmer design.” And I said, “And also Muff,” I call him Muff. I said, “Make sure you got a gymnasium up there because I could never get you in the gym.” And I said, “If you’d listened to me, you’d still be here.”

Charlie Rymer:

I don’t think there’s supposed to be any sit-ups in heaven. But you mentioned Mr. Nicklaus, you said he’s your best friend. Tell me about that special relationship with Jack Nicklaus?

Gary Player:

See, Jack and I, we can tease each other. He says the other day, he says to me, “To be classified as a superstar, Gary, what do you figure you’ve got to do? I know you’re very strict on being a superstar.” A guy who wins two majors they call him a superstar. Now I see it in my humble opinion, it’s only my opinion, you got to win. Let’s set the bar high for a superstar it’s six majors. I said, “Jack, what do you feel you got to win?” And he says, “I believe you got to win 10.” Because he knows I won nine.

Charlie Rymer:

He’s got a needle on him.

Gary Player:

He’s got a needle and I’ll give it back to him. I remember going to Mr. Roberts in Augusta, the fairways are long and the greens were hard. So Arnold and Jack said, “You go there. He likes you, go and make a meeting.” So I go in there, Mr. Roberts was a very dour disciplinarian. I walk in, he says, “Morning, what can I do for you young man? Sit down.” I said, “Mr. Roberts, Arnold, Jack and I wondering if you can’t-”

Charlie Rymer:

You threw them under the bus.

Gary Player:

I mentioned their names first. I said, “Can you please cut the fairways a little bit shorter because we cannot spin the ball on these hard greens.” He says, “Do you know anything about poetry? Thank goodness I did, William Wordsworth, Keats, Shakespeare. I named them all. He said, “Very impressive. Not many young pros know anything about poetry.” He says, “Can you hear me?” I said, “Pretty well.” He says, “The mowers are as low as they can go. Good morning.” Now you sit on the verandah and you see 10 mowers coming down the first fairway like this and the greens are better than a snooker table. The bunkers have all got drainage and a system of raking with a machine. No, this is a different game.

Charlie Rymer:

We have to head to break. But when we come back, it’s a bunker lesson with Gary Player. Yeah, that’s right, Gary Player.

Charlie Rymer:

So Gary, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask the greatest bunker player of all time to give me a bunker lesson. Would you mind doing it? At 18th hole at Dunes Club?

Gary Player:

I will do it with pleasure.

Charlie Rymer:

Okay, I need to be your caddy.

Gary Player:

All right. Here we are. Hell, I tell you one thing, you’d be the most expensive caddy I’ve ever had.

Charlie Rymer:

You got that right.

Gary Player:

Now watch. That’s a matchbox. Okay. That’s a matchbox. In the old days, when they lit their cigarettes or lit a fire, they had a matchbox, no lighters. They took the match. And when they lit the match, you could not light it if you went like this, you had to go pssht, didn’t you? You had to strike the match. You couldn’t just let it go slowly.

Gary Player:

Now there’s your matchbox. Okay? So now you put the ball there. I’ll show you the average weekend golfer. They go back and they go like that. They’ve got to get this there, look at my hand, watch, strike the match. Watch this. There, see the strike?

Charlie Rymer:

Oh, the sound of that is perfect.

Gary Player:

Was that just stopping?

Charlie Rymer:

I love that.

Gary Player:

Ja.

Charlie Rymer:

Strike the match. And I think that’s great imagery for our viewers here. But I want to ask you one thing, my two favorite people to watch hit bunker shots, you and Sevi. And the one thing that both of you have in common that I don’t really see other players do-

Gary Player:

Is the way we set-up.

Charlie Rymer:

The tremendous knee-flex, and getting their hand down low. Why?

Gary Player:

Yes and the wide stance. Ja, right and the wide stance.

Charlie Rymer:

Why?

Gary Player:

Let me show you this. Because what you’d want to do, you’ve got to stand wide. I’m pleased you noticed that. Why? If you stand narrow, you get a spaghetti movement. You want to stand wide because you’re playing this only with your wrists. You’re playing this, unlike a long drive where you playing with your body, here you’re playing with your wrist. You want to stop all the movement with your legs and you get a nice footing in the sand.

Gary Player:

And then the other thing you’ve got to do, you got to set that club as quickly as you can. You cannot play bunker shots with stiff wrists. Watch this, Charlie. This is so noticeable. Now to take a sand iron over there with this lip you got to hit pretty hard. You got to use a lot of club head speed and watch this with a pitching wedge. Watch, just watch how easy I’ll play this. It’s a simple look, look, just there, just a little chip.

Charlie Rymer:

And that gets all the way to the hole.

Gary Player:

Gets all the way to the hole. Members listening to this, every bunker shot you play a short, 99 times out of a hundred you short. Every chip shot you hit, you’re short and you’re also short off the tee.

Charlie Rymer:

So much wisdom there. Mr. Player, thank you for that lesson. That was amazing.

Gary Player:

Now that was nice.

Charlie Rymer:

So cool. You’ve been at this a long time, playing professional golf, the amount of good that you’ve been able to bring about and through this game and just think about between you and Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. The Foundation’s dollars raised, the lives impacted.

Gary Player:

Yes, yes.

Charlie Rymer:

I mean, golf is good.

Gary Player:

Oh man. How it made a little guy like me coming from South Africa, a poor kid, coming to this massive, great country and being able to play here and to travel more miles than any human being, meet every president of the United States. I wasn’t allowed to play Denmark, Sweden, China, India, so many countries. Japan, I was not allowed to play there.

Gary Player:

I had demonstrations against me. I lost the PGA in 1969 because I was from South Africa they demonstrated against me to get to our government. They threw ice in my eyes, in the PGA. They threw telephone books at my back. They threw balls between my legs. They charged me on the green. They shouted on my backswing and I lost the PGA by one shot.

Gary Player:

I’m going to my grave knowing that I won 10 majors, not nine, but anyway, was I bitter about it? Did I hate those people? No, I didn’t hate them. I said I’ve got to build. I’ve got to help to do more to get rid of apartheid. I’ve got to do more for freedom, not hatred, and getting the young people to join me with my hatred. You got to get out of that groove of hatred and revenge.

Charlie Rymer:

The inspiration that you provided for your fellow countrymen in golf that came after you that modeled you. I think of Ernie Els. I think of Charles Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen-

Gary Player:

Trevor Immelman.

Charlie Rymer:

Trevor Immelman. Again, we’re talking not only great champions, major champions there, but high-quality individuals that saw what you did, emulate it on the golf course and away from the golf course as well.

Gary Player:

I have never gone to bed once, not once where I don’t say thank you for everything, for everything, for the good times, the bad times, just being in this great country. I say, thank you every day of my life. Gratitude is terribly important.

Charlie Rymer:

We certainly need inspiration and I know just from driving you around here, the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach, the response that you’re getting from the people here, you have inspired many, many, many people, not only across the U.S. and South Africa, but across the globe. And that response, I think comes from your authenticity. The fact that you do reach out first means a lot to so many.

Charlie Rymer:

Mr. Player, I got to tell ya, hanging out with you is so much fun and I just wanted to thank you for coming out today and riding with you, I normally do a handshake.

Gary Player:

My pleasure, my pleasure. [crosstalk 00:13:30].

Charlie Rymer:

But I want to do a hug.

Gary Player:

There we go. Thank you, my man.

Charlie Rymer:

What an amazing day.

Gary Player:

But what a pleasure talking to you because you’ve been a good player. You understand the game, you’re a contributor to golf. You’re giving people a lot of knowledge that they didn’t know. And we all love this game because it’s a game that has longevity, love and meeting so many wonderful people. Take care.

Charlie Rymer:

Amen.

Charlie Rymer:

You’re going to commercial break. Come on, take a break right here at the beach. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be just fine. I’ll be just fine.

Charlie Rymer:

I got a great call from a good buddy Mark Bryan of Hootie & the Blowfish fame this morning. He said, “The weather’s awesome. Bring your golden retrievers we’ll have a little play date.” He’s got two of them just like I do, talk a little bit of golf. Maybe talk a little bit of life, listen to music. That ladies and gentlemen is an invitation that is too good to turn down.

Charlie Rymer:

Come on boys.

Charlie Rymer:

(Singing)

Charlie Rymer:

Come on boys. Who’s that? Who’s that? Let’s go check out [Diggins 00:15:19] and Rosie. Look at there. Look at there. What’s going on. What’s up, brother Mark? How you doing?

Mark Bryan:

Man I’m good, Charles. How are you? Thanks for coming by.

Charlie Rymer:

Come here and give me some sugar.

Mark Bryan:

How are you, man?

Charlie Rymer:

Man, I’m doing great. I wish I was a golden retriever. They got it figured out, don’t they?

Mark Bryan:

They sure do, man.

Charlie Rymer:

Hey, the show’s doing great. I want to thank you for doing our whistle tune right there at the top of the show, man it’s been awesome.

Mark Bryan:

Thanks for asking me, man. What a fun thing for me to do. Yeah. Blast.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah, it’s been really cool. We’ve been using it. Everybody loves it. It’s awesome.

Mark Bryan:

You’ve been using it?

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. At the top of the show.

Mark Bryan:

The version I sent you?

Charlie Rymer:

Uh-huh (affirmative).

Mark Bryan:

That was the demo I made on my laptop, Charlie.

Charlie Rymer:

You made that on your laptop?

Mark Bryan:

Yeah, buddy.

Charlie Rymer:

That is talent right there folks, that is talent.

Mark Bryan:

Well, we can’t use that one for the show, let’s make a real one in the studio. Plus I got to make good use out of this place. It’s brand new.

Charlie Rymer:

I’m looking forward to seeing it, a nice tree-house studio.

Mark Bryan:

That’s right. Let’s do it.

Charlie Rymer:

Come on. Let’s go. Hey, doesn’t Forrest Gump live around here somewhere?

Mark Bryan:

This is where we make the magic happen.

Charlie Rymer:

Great space. I mean I know some wonderful things are going to happen here.

Mark Bryan:

Let’s see.

Mark Bryan:

(Singing).

Mark Bryan:

It feels pretty good.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. That sounded awesome.

Mark Bryan:

What number is that again?

Speaker 6:

106.

Mark Bryan:

106bpm. Let’s go 106.

Charlie Rymer:

106?

Mark Bryan:

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

With a guitar?

Mark Bryan:

Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

We can put some mandolin in there at some point.

Mark Bryan:

No, actually we’re going to start with snaps.

Charlie Rymer:

Okay.

Mark Bryan:

So he’s going to give us that beat. We’re going to go out and snap to that beat.

Charlie Rymer:

We are going to snap. I think maybe Mark is going to snap. I think Buzz could snap better than me.

Charlie Rymer:

(Singing).

Mark Bryan:

I think we have a keeper.

Charlie Rymer:

Can I clap now?

Mark Bryan:

You can clap.

Charlie Rymer:

I mean, it’s just going to be unbelievable, it’s going to take us to the whole next level.

Mark Bryan:

Good. I’m so glad you all decided to get this detailed about it. I mean [inaudible 00:18:10].

Charlie Rymer:

That’s so cool. Are you kidding? To come in here and I mean, who, number one, who has an original theme song for their show and to be able to come in here and record it with you is just the coolest thing ever.

Mark Bryan:

Well thanks, man.

Charlie Rymer:

And I think what really takes it to that next level is me snapping. Well, Mark, there’s only one thing left to do.

Mark Bryan:

What’s that Charlie?

Charlie Rymer:

That flew pretty well for something that’s loaded down with fish food.

Mark Bryan:

That wasn’t too bad.

Charlie Rymer:

Hit me another one.

Mark Bryan:

All right.

Charlie Rymer:

Think about Davis, keep that chin level. How’d that feel?

Mark Bryan:

Kind of thin, but good.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. Let’s see one more. That’s what it’s supposed to feel like right there.

Mark Bryan:

That felt great.

Charlie Rymer:

While we’re hitting some balls, just to distract you. I want to talk a little bit about your new solo album.

Mark Bryan:

All right.

Charlie Rymer:

What’s going on with that?

Mark Bryan:

“Mid-life Priceless” collection of songs I felt like I had to make after the Hootie Project. And so I recorded them last year and been putting them out and making a bunch of videos and having a blast with it.

Charlie Rymer:

This past year was the first year that we hadn’t had the Monday after the Masters Hootie & the Blowfish celebrity Pro-Am has been a fixture here in South Carolina for years. It’s coming back this year, September 13th in Myrtle Beach. And I know you got to be excited about that.

Mark Bryan:

So excited. A lot of the folks were coming back. The celebrities we’ve had for years and golfers will all be coming back and everybody’s ready for some fun now.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah they are.

Mark Bryan:

Really looking forward to it.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. But you also have another Pro-Am with Denny Hamlin NASCAR driver that raises a lot of money. Generally do that in the Charleston area. Tell me about that event. Is it coming back?

Mark Bryan:

It is, that one we’re going to do in October and that was here in Charleston, out of Daniel Island Club and with Denny Hamlin and we’re coming up on 10 years with that one. That raises money for my charity Carolina Studios and Denny does some cystic fibrosis work with MUSC. And that event’s been great too. It’s wonderful.

Charlie Rymer:

Well Mark, thanks for a wonderful day. You got a beautiful home here in the South Carolina low country. You gave me an amazing theme song and we got to hang out with the golden retrievers, four of them. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Mark Bryan:

Yeah. Thank you for coming Charlie. And thank you for the golf lesson too, brother.

Charlie Rymer:

Now you got it. Let’s finish the day watching you hit a few more into the marsh here.

Mark Bryan:

All right.

Charlie Rymer:

In golf there is nothing quite as satisfying as a well-struck shot. The reward of seeing the ball fly strong and true right at the target. Nothing like it, but it doesn’t happen by accident. You got to believe that great preparation will lead to great execution. Give it a shot in life, I’m betting you’ll like the results.

Charlie Rymer:

That’s it for the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway folks.

Charlie Rymer:

(Singing).