As Seen on ESPN: “The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” Season 2, Episode 9 with PGA TOUR Winner Wesley Bryan

Speaker 1 (00:00):

The Charlie Rymer Golf Show starring Charlie Rymer.

(00:10):

Hey. Okay. Let’s pick up the tempo.

Charlie Rymer (00:13):

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, and even getting into some good eats. This is the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway, folks.

(00:43):

I’m in the heart of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This is Prestwick Country Club of Pete Dye [inaudible 00:00:49]. Today I’m hanging with PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan. I’m Charlie Rymer and this is Riding with Rymer.

(01:04):

Wesley Bryan.

Wesley Bryan (01:06):

Yes, sir.

Charlie Rymer (01:06):

Hometown hero of Chapin, South Carolina. Get in this cart. We’re going to play Prestwick Country Club.

Wesley Bryan (01:11):

Let’s do it.

Charlie Rymer (01:11):

Pete Dye and P.B. Dye golf course. You’re going to love it. You got any golf balls left?

Wesley Bryan (01:18):

I got one left.

Charlie Rymer (01:19):

I think that’s all he needs.

(01:21):

All right. So Wesley, I want to talk to you first about, you’re Like me, you’re a product of junior golf in South Carolina.

Wesley Bryan (01:28):

Elite level junior golf.

Charlie Rymer (01:30):

Elite level junior golf. But I mean, South Carolina. What do you think it is about South Carolina that’s produced so many PGA Tour players and now major champions? And even though we’re a small state, we come up big in the world of golf.

Wesley Bryan (01:44):

I know. And I’ll tell you the biggest shame is that not all of it has cycled through the University of South Carolina.

Charlie Rymer (01:50):

Well, it’s because you don’t have a very good coach at South Carolina in Bill McDonald.

Wesley Bryan (01:54):

Oh, absolutely. We all know that we’re dealing with a little bit of a handicap there.

Charlie Rymer (01:59):

Bill McDonald, by the way, was my teammate at Georgia Tech and great friend and amazing coach. And you play with-

Wesley Bryan (02:04):

Also a fantastic player.

Charlie Rymer (02:06):

Right. Absolutely. We’re going to spend a lot of time making fun of Bill McDonald today.

Wesley Bryan (02:09):

Okay. I love that. No, I think it’s a byproduct of the Junior Golf Association. It’s an association that I’ve supported for years. Anytime anybody will listen about junior golf in South Carolina, it starts with the South Carolina Junior Golf Association and the tournaments that they put on. I never had to leave the state to play good quality tournaments with good quality competition. So those guys at the Golf Association is what I attribute it to.

Charlie Rymer (02:32):

It’s like a love of golf for South Carolina and it’s an investment in the product here. And the payoff has been huge. Growing up here, financially, it’s just not as difficult to pursue competitive golf.

(02:49):

All right, Wesley, I got a par three for you. Number five here at Prestwick. 192 yards today. I know you don’t see water, you don’t see trouble, but we got water [inaudible 00:03:00], we got water left. We got a whole location tight on the left. Are you up for this challenge?

Wesley Bryan (03:04):

Yep. I like a little buttery fade right off the left side.

Charlie Rymer (03:08):

Buttery fade. I like butter.

Wesley Bryan (03:11):

I’ll tell you what, whoever was at this crime scene before-

Charlie Rymer (03:15):

Yeah, that’s some gouges right there.

Wesley Bryan (03:17):

Those two divots don’t look too nice.

Charlie Rymer (03:18):

I’m guessing these didn’t go real good. So what do you got?

Wesley Bryan (03:23):

I got a six iron.

Charlie Rymer (03:24):

That pretty standard 192, six iron?

Wesley Bryan (03:26):

192 actually is. If I were to go off the rack yardage, I would say 192 is my six iron number.

Charlie Rymer (03:32):

All right.

Wesley Bryan (03:35):

Might have just made it.

Charlie Rymer (03:37):

Man, you covered that flag right there like stink on poopy.

(03:44):

So 2016. Up until then you were the, my colleague at Golf Channel, former colleague-

Wesley Bryan (03:50):

Say don’t Damon. Don’t say Damon.

Charlie Rymer (03:51):

Damon Hack. I’d say, “This kid could [inaudible 00:03:55].” “He’s a trick shot guy.” And I said, “No, he got more than that.” But in 2016, you were the 11th player in the history of what’s now the Korn Ferry Tour to get the battlefield promotion. You won three times that one season. That’s your ticket to the PGA Tour. What clicked for you that year that put you over the top and let you earn your way to the PGA Tour?

Wesley Bryan (04:15):

There’s a lot of layers to this question. I think the first and foremost for me, really it started in 2015. I started actually making money.

Charlie Rymer (04:23):

Which is nice.

Wesley Bryan (04:24):

So when I showed up to a mini tour event, it wasn’t like-

Charlie Rymer (04:27):

Trying to break even.

Wesley Bryan (04:28):

Right. Breaking even was fine. I didn’t have to have peanut butter and jellies for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Charlie Rymer (04:34):

You discovered meat.

Wesley Bryan (04:35):

Right. Exactly. If I wanted to go to Chili’s or Applebee’s, by golly, I went to Chili’s or Applebee’s. It was one of those things, I got to start eating a little bit better. And then there wasn’t as much stress financially on me as what I had felt previously. So it kind of unlocked, like back to those junior golf days that we were talking about, so I spent more time practicing because I wanted to stay sharp. I knew I was going to go to Q School, so I stayed sharp but wasn’t able to play as much because we were doing the trick shot thing. And so I started hitting the ball really good. And at this point we had switched over to all Callaway equipment. I found a driver. I’d never driven the ball really good. Found a driver that I could aim up down the left tree line or left fairway line, hit it as hard as I want. So I was able to play a little bit more offense from the tee, which for me helped. I’d always been a really good wedge player, really good putter. And just finding that missing little ticket off the tee for that year really, really helped.

Charlie Rymer (05:32):

It’s amazing how having confidence with the driver sets up the entire game and it’s something we don’t talk about a lot. I led the Tour for three consecutive years and other fairways hit. That’s why I only played three years.

Wesley Bryan (05:46):

You want to know, I got the biggest compliment from Phil Mickelson my rookie year on Tour. We get to about the fourth or fifth hole and Phil looks at me, he goes, “It’s such a relief playing with you, Wesley.” I’m like, oh my gosh. He’s about to say, nice guy, good looking, young, vibrant, fun. Everybody out here is old, stiff, blah blah blah. And he looks me right in the eye and says, “For 20 something years, I have been crappiest driver of the golf ball on the PGA Tour. And it is nice to be able to finally hand that torch off to somebody else,” he said, “Because at least I hit it long and crooked.” And then at that point, I knew I really liked Phil Mickelson.

Charlie Rymer (06:23):

That’s so awesome.

(06:37):

So Wesley, you’re one of the best in the business from 70 to 125 yards. You mind giving us a little tip, help everybody out out there?

Wesley Bryan (06:45):

Yeah, let’s get into it.

Charlie Rymer (06:46):

So what are we, right at 90 yards here?

Wesley Bryan (06:48):

We’re right at 90 yards, back pin. Now, for the sake of this, the ball’s probably going to hit around the hole and spin back. The shot’s probably not going to end up very close to it. So there’s your disclaimer.

Charlie Rymer (07:02):

I mean, that’s the worst tip. I’m going to give you a tip and the ball’s not going to end near the hole. Why did I fly you here?

Wesley Bryan (07:09):

You see this hill? You see this hill right here? I didn’t want you to walk up this little hill to get to the top to where we could make it have not as much [inaudible 00:07:16].

Charlie Rymer (07:15):

Oh, so you’re doing this for me?

Wesley Bryan (07:16):

Yes. This is a favor for you.

Charlie Rymer (07:17):

Well, I appreciate that.

Wesley Bryan (07:18):

You should know how far you hit this club. For me, it goes about a hundred yards when I hit it all out full.

Charlie Rymer (07:23):

And how much law?

Wesley Bryan (07:24):

And this is a 58 degree. There’s a lot of factors that make the ball go farther and shorter, like having a little bit softer turf, a little bit fluffier grass obviously makes the ball go shorter. For me, I see a lot of guys on TV, like you, you’re calling golf and be like, “Oh, he’s got 72 yards to the hole.” Well, in all actuality, it’s really hard to know what’s 72, 3, 4. You can get close but not very good. What I’ve found that works best for me, every single day when I’m practicing back home, I set up balls in five yard increments and I do it from 70 to 75, 80, 85. I only practice on nice full round numbers. And so I never get in a spot where I’m trying to do a little bit too much with a golf ball.

Charlie Rymer (08:09):

And I love where you’re going with that because you’re at five yard increments. If somebody, like you said, is a below average player, if they could figure out how to hit it within 25 yards-

Wesley Bryan (08:19):

Well, that’s what I’m saying. A five yard increment and you get a number. What’s the furthest I could hit it from? If I’m going to hit those two numbers fairly consistently, what’s the furthest, two and a half yards? I don’t care if you’re a one handicap, a six handicap or a plus one, you can actually get to where you’re feeling the difference with a club with this much loft, a shot that goes 70, a shot that goes 80, and a shot that goes 90.

Charlie Rymer (08:41):

All right. Let’s see it. 90 yards.

Wesley Bryan (08:43):

90 yards. So really, there’s no tip in hitting the golf ball. It’s how you practice hitting the golf ball.

(08:53):

Oh, look at that. Not that much a spin.

Charlie Rymer (08:55):

Yeah. There you go.

Wesley Bryan (08:56):

That was nice.

Charlie Rymer (08:57):

Now, I want to ask you one more question about your wedge. The grind that’s on this wedge. I see three distinct angles here. I don’t normally see that front grind. Why do you have that front grind on this wedge?

Wesley Bryan (09:09):

So Roger Cleveland, in my opinion, he’s the best person that’s ever made a wedge. On this one, I’ve got a lot of heel relief here. I like a little bit more of it here on the toe because there’s some shots where I get a little bit closer up to it and I get the hands really high and hit lower cuts off maybe into the grain, tight lies that you really want ball first. And that’s, again, why I like grooves all the way over here because I can hit shots that come off over here that are still soft and spinning. This one right here is kind of a unique grind where when you set up here in fairway shots or you want to hit a standard pitch shot with a square club face, anytime the club faces square, now this bounce right here is engaged at eight to 10 degrees so that you get that same feeling. It’s not like a knife that digs in there. But as you see when I open it up, none of that even comes into play

Charlie Rymer (09:58):

So this club is extremely versatile for all kinds of situations. Different sand, week in week-

Wesley Bryan (10:04):

Absolutely.

Charlie Rymer (10:04):

… different firmness that you see in fairways.

(10:06):

All right, you went on and on and on about how you weren’t going to get this near the hole and we walk up here and where do you got it, about six feet? I’m not listening to you anymore.

Wesley Bryan (10:15):

No. I caught it a little bit fat, took the spin off of it, and here we are.

Charlie Rymer (10:21):

Breaks right, by the way, maybe more than you think.

Wesley Bryan (10:24):

See, now you’re reading my putts for me too.

Charlie Rymer (10:25):

I am. Yeah. Maybe you don’t need any help. Wesley, always great spending time with you.

Wesley Bryan (10:34):

Charlie, thank you.

Charlie Rymer (10:34):

Appreciate you coming down to Myrtle Beach to see us.

Wesley Bryan (10:37):

Anytime.

Charlie Rymer (10:38):

Let me buy you some ice tea.

Wesley Bryan (10:40):

Ice cream, potentially, in a minute.

Charlie Rymer (10:42):

Ice cream. We’re on like Donkey Kong.

Wesley Bryan (10:44):

All right.

Charlie Rymer (11:00):

Welcome back to the Charlie Rymer Golf show. Some days I just hop in my golf cart and there’s no telling where I’ll end up. Today I found myself at Huntington Beach State Park. Let’s see if we can find my friend, Ranger Mike, and maybe even meet some golfers.

(11:18):

Thank goodness. Ranger Mike, I found you.

Mike Walker (11:20):

Hey.

Charlie Rymer (11:21):

You know I can get a little bit off course. Getting off course at Huntington Beach State Park is a great place to be off course. I love it here. I just live a couple miles away and I understand you are going to give me a tour today and I’m going to learn a lot more about this park.

Mike Walker (11:36):

That’s the goal. Let’s go ahead and get started.

Charlie Rymer (11:39):

All right, let’s do it.

(11:41):

So Ranger Mike, I live about two and a half miles that direction. I oftentimes fly right over the inlet here. And what stands out to me is, especially when I’m flying in, this inlet is really distinguishable from everything up and down the coast, anywhere around here. Talk to me about how unique this piece of water is.

Mike Walker (12:02):

The salt marsh here in Murrells Inlet is kind of distinctive that most of the world’s salt marshes occur where you have a freshwater river meeting the ocean, and that is not the case here. So this is a full salinity salt marsh. And that has a big impact on everything from the seafood that comes from the salt marsh.

Charlie Rymer (12:20):

Which I’m very familiar with.

Mike Walker (12:22):

Yeah. And the truth of it is, most of what is harvested in South Carolina as “seafood” is actually salt marsh food. This is where our oysters and clams come from, shrimp and blue crabs, flounder, a lot of the fish that you like to eat. Here, the water conditions are actually much more stable so that’s conducive for a great variety of fish and other marine life. It’s also great for birds. Some of those birds, like migratory shore birds, those birds are flying thousands and thousands of miles in a week. Having a safe beach to just rest and feed undisturbed, that is literally the difference between life and death for them.

(12:57):

And then we have other birds that are actually nesting right now. Right now in the park we have least terns, Wilson’s Plover and American oystercatchers that are nesting. Those are all threatened species. These birds’ nest right on the ground. They’re nest is just a little scrape in the sand that they lay their camouflage eggs in. They’re super vulnerable to predators and especially dogs. So here at Huntington Beach State Park, one of the things that really makes this park unique is an incredible diversity of habitats. We’ve got these salt marshes, we have freshwater marshes, brackish water marshes, maritime forests, sand dunes. We have a rocky coast.

Charlie Rymer (13:30):

Well, my wife and I, on any given day, along with our two golden retrievers, are subject to be over here either on the beach or walking some of the beautiful trails. But we’re not the only ones. Talk to me about the number of people on an annual basis that come and enjoy Huntington Beach State Park.

Mike Walker (13:46):

So we actually opened in 1960. Over the years, our popularity has grown enormously. So we’re well over a million visitors a year now. When things opened back up, people were looking to get outdoors. And so our visitation has exploded, as it has for pretty much every park in the country.

Charlie Rymer (14:05):

That’s the thing. If people come to Myrtle Beach, often, they’re coming to play golf, they’re coming for a beach vacation, they’re coming for the great food, just to get the kids out of the house. And there’s so much history here and there’s so much really cool ecology that oftentimes it gets overlooked. And this really is a paradise right in the middle of all of that.

(14:26):

Well, Ranger Mike, thank you for all the great info on Huntington Beach State Park. I see why you’re so happy to get into work every day.

Mike Walker (14:33):

Yes, sir. Yeah. I have the best job in the world.

Charlie Rymer (14:36):

Well, let’s go check out some of the wildlife here. And I’m betting you got some golfers out here using the park.

Mike Walker (14:41):

I bet there are.

Charlie Rymer (14:42):

Let’s get after it.

(14:47):

So Ranger Mike, the legend is true. There’s a castle right here in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

Mike Walker (14:53):

There is.

Charlie Rymer (14:54):

On the beach.

Mike Walker (14:54):

There is. So this is Atalaya. It’s a national historic landmark, former winter home of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. The name Atalaya actually is Spanish for watch tower. So it refers to the very literal centerpiece of the building. This watch tower was actually a water tower. There was originally a tank at the top, provided water pressure for the building. Also served a secondary purpose. The Huntingtons were very concerned about mosquitoes having never lived in the South before, so Archer had a rather forward thinking idea. He was going to build a watch tower that was really a water tower that was going to double as a giant bat house. Figured bats would live in his watch tower, they would come out every night, fly around and eat the mosquitoes. But the Huntingtons found a more practical way of avoiding mosquitoes, and that is, they just visited in the wintertime.

Charlie Rymer (15:39):

I would wonder otherwise why those doors-

Mike Walker (15:41):

Right. Yeah, I mean, it was specifically designed for that. It’s a very popular venue for weddings and festivals. It’s a very unique building. There’s nothing even remotely like this anywhere in South Carolina.

Charlie Rymer (15:54):

Ranger Mike, thanks for the tour of the castle. Let’s go see if we can find a few more golfers here.

Mike Walker (15:59):

All right.

Charlie Rymer (16:00):

I need to find some of my people, the golfers.

Mike Walker (16:02):

Sounds good.

Charlie Rymer (16:02):

I’m hiding behind a tree.

(16:12):

Hey, how are you? I’m Charlie.

Ben (16:13):

Hi, I’m Ben.

Charlie Rymer (16:14):

Hey, Ben. Nice to meet you. You ready to play some Huntington Beach State Park ambush trivia?

Ben (16:18):

I’ll give it a shot.

Charlie Rymer (16:19):

All right. I got some golf trivia. I got some Huntington Beach State Park trivia. If you win, which in this case is getting three out of five correct, you get some Saintnine golf balls.

Ben (16:28):

Great, great.

Charlie Rymer (16:29):

You ready for question one?

Ben (16:30):

I’ll try it.

Charlie Rymer (16:31):

Are you sure you’re ready for question one?

Ben (16:33):

I’m ready.

Charlie Rymer (16:34):

Okay. Tiger Woods, you’ve heard of him, right?

Ben (16:36):

Yes, sir.

Charlie Rymer (16:36):

He won the 1997 Masters by how many strokes? And this is multiple choice. A, four, B, six, C, nine, D 12.

Ben (16:45):

I’m going to say B.

Charlie Rymer (16:46):

No. Let’s talk about this a little bit. So I’m asking you this question about Tiger Woods in 1997 and he did something really special. So keeping that in perspective, he won by how many shots? A, four, B, six, C, nine, D, 12.

Ben (17:01):

I’ll say D, 12.

Charlie Rymer (17:02):

That a baby. You see how this game works, right?

Ben (17:06):

I do.

Charlie Rymer (17:06):

Okay. I’m not going to help you out with this one. Which country has the highest number of golf courses per capita? Hint, hint, hint. Do you know where golf was invented?

Ben (17:18):

Ireland.

Charlie Rymer (17:19):

You were really close. But it was Scotland.

Ben (17:21):

Scotland.

Charlie Rymer (17:22):

Yeah. It was Scotland. Some people, by the way, think the first golf ever played in the US happened right here in South Carolina. All right, question three. How many species of birds can be found in Huntington Beach State Park? This is multiple choice. Remember in question one, it’s a big number. A, 100, B, 200, C, 250, D, more than 300.

Ben (17:45):

I’m going to go with D, more than 300.

Charlie Rymer (17:46):

Brilliant. Okay. You only got to get one of the last two right to get your Saintnine golf balls.

Ben (17:52):

That would be great.

Charlie Rymer (17:52):

Which golfer’s nickname is The Big Easy? And he ain’t from New Orleans.

Ben (17:59):

Oh, The Big Easy is-

Charlie Rymer (18:00):

Little south of New Orleans. Three, two.

Ben (18:04):

I’m just going to say John Daly, but I can’t think of the name. I heard it too.

Charlie Rymer (18:08):

Ernie Els. Okay. If you get this one right, you’re in. Besides three miles of beach, Huntington Beach State Park is made up of what important ecosystem? Something that you saw pretty quickly after you came through the gate.

Ben (18:23):

Swamp.

Charlie Rymer (18:24):

Swamp.

Ben (18:26):

Everglade system.

Charlie Rymer (18:27):

Let me think for a second. Judges, swamp? The actual answer is salt marsh. But we’ll take swamp. How about that?

Ben (18:34):

That’s sounds great.

Charlie Rymer (18:34):

Ben, thank you for playing. Appreciate it.

Ben (18:36):

Thank you very much.

Charlie Rymer (18:36):

Hope you’ve enjoyed your day here at Huntington Beach State Park.

Ben (18:39):

I did. Thank you.

Charlie Rymer (18:39):

All right. Don’t lose those golf balls.

(18:58):

Ranger Mike, we got a lot going on over here to the left. I’m seeing some birds in a nest, I’m seeing a big alligator up underneath. That’s sort of like me hanging out at a Chick-fil-A drive through. I’m thinking something’s going to drop down. Is that what’s going on with the gator under the bird nest?

Mike Walker (19:15):

That’s part of what’s going on. So right now, we have a variety of water and wading birds that are nesting, including these anhingas over here, which are very cool. So that alligator is there hoping one of the chicks is going to fall out the nest and he will happily eat that. But there’s a huge advantage to all this. That alligator is a great home security system. Any raccoons or snakes that try to get over there to eat the chicks or the eggs are going to get eaten by the alligator. And in South Carolina, we find that is the number one success factor for these birds when they’re nesting. They’ve got to have the alligators and that home security they provide.

Charlie Rymer (19:53):

So are the birds looking for the alligators to nest over?

Mike Walker (19:57):

They are.

Charlie Rymer (19:57):

So it’s not the other way around?

Mike Walker (19:58):

Right. Right.

Charlie Rymer (19:59):

Wow, that’s really cool.

Mike Walker (20:00):

They’re looking for an area with alligators. And they nest generally in groups and that activity is going to draw the alligators to right under their nests.

Charlie Rymer (20:08):

I’ve always been fascinated by alligators since I was a kid. I grew up upstate South Carolina. But I see more alligators these days at the age 54 than I did when I was 8, 10, 12 years old. Do we have more alligators around now?

Mike Walker (20:20):

Back in the ’60s and ’70s, they were an endangered species. With the protection covered under the Endangered Species Act, they’ve made a tremendous comeback. And they are found throughout the southeast, wherever you have freshwater marshes, generally.

Charlie Rymer (20:34):

Our friends from up north, Canadian friends in particular, they’ll come to a golf course, wintertime. Big alligators will lay up on the edge of golf course ponds. And I’ve had it said to me many times, “That’s not a real alligator. It’s fake.”

Mike Walker (20:49):

I definitely would not recommend throwing things at them. In fact, that’s illegal. That’s considered harassing wildlife. It also could be pretty dangerous. You don’t want to forget, alligators are the top predator here at a freshwater marsh. Or in a golf course pond, for that matter.

Charlie Rymer (21:02):

So in review, if you come visit us from up north, you’ve never seen an alligator, do not think it’s fake. It is not. That thing will get you.

Mike Walker (21:11):

Yeah. Don’t harass the alligators.

Charlie Rymer (21:14):

All right, Mike, I’m glad you could rustle up some gators for us. Let’s head on down here and see what else we can find.

Mike Walker (21:18):

Sounds good.

Charlie Rymer (21:20):

If you’ve enjoyed visiting Huntington Beach State Park as much as I have, check out a park nearby next time you travel to South Carolina. From the mountains to the coast, there’s bound to be a state park near you. Visit SouthCarolinaParks.com for more info.

(21:37):

Thanks for joining us on the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Grab an easy chair and let’s wrap up another episode.

(21:44):

The average golfer’s worst enemy isn’t a fast back sling or an incorrect tee height or anything like that. It’s a lack of focus. I can’t tell you how many times I bounced a ball off a house because I was thinking about what’s for lunch. There’s always another email to send, another text to answer. Leave your cell phone at home. Or better yet, throw it in a pond. Do that, and I guarantee that you’ll shoot better scores. Hope you’ve enjoyed the Charlie Rymer Golf Show. Keep it in the fairway, folks.