Welcome to Status Update — a free Friday newsletter featuring long and short stories, general ramblings from the week that was, the most interesting things to have recently caught my eye and any other golf-related nonsense I believe to be worth your time.
The Opening Drive
I got a drink (OK, two drinks) with a friend last night, and the subject of starting one’s career over — or perhaps starting new — was raised. It was a topic I was instantly enthralled with and an opportunity I was instantly jealous of my bar mate for having.
Now, I don’t have the responsibilities of most of my friends — family, partner, etc. — and so my opinion of this may be skewed, but it was a conversation I have not stopped thinking about since.
It’s not the first time something like this has been discussed or brought up to me. Since leaving the consulting world, people have taken an interest in my career path, asked for advice, praised me, ridiculed me and everything in between.
The most common question I get, however, is would you do anything different?
Some assume I would have gone to Northwestern, Syracuse or some other college that would allow me to bully people in the media center with my pocket diploma. The people who assume this are usually the ones who know little about me.
I’ll never wish for anything like that, but the thought of getting an earlier start in golf has entered my brain, although it quickly exits when I get to thinking about all the dumb experiences I have had. Like the really dumb ones — the ones I won’t be sharing on this medium because there are a growing number of co-workers who are subscribing to this newsletter.
Not cool guys — please unsubscribe.
Last week, for example, I went down to Orlando for the PGA Show and got to interview Jim Nantz, Derek Jeter, the 2022 U.S. Open champion and the man who sets up the golf courses for the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup.
Everyone has asked, “How was Jeter?” or “How was Nantz?” and they are fair questions — I would probably ask the same. But the conversation always shifts to my interactions with my co-workers like meeting my editor for the first time or receiving some news that caused me to literally start Tebowing on the floor of the PGA Show.
Talk about a good first impression.
I will say my favorite interaction from the show may have been with Jeter’s co-founder who asked me before the interview, “Who are you, what do you do, and why should I care?”
My name Jeff?
My week, by most accounts, was not a fun one on paper — multiple travel delays, excess time in airports, a diet of chicken, rice and bad coffee. Factor in some of those interactions that I have shared, and it almost comes across as your standard work trip.
But I loved every second of it. Every single one.
Not because it was fun (although there were times), but because it was a brand new experience and in its simplest form what I do (write, talk, babble, etc.) is express my experiences.
Every brush stroke an artist makes is a product of experience. Every story an author pens is a product of experience. Every tale I decide to tell is based on — you guessed it — experience.
The medium through which one shares this will always evolve. Articles, podcasts, radio shows, social media, whatever it is, but the core driver behind the work will always be experience.
And I think that’s where the happiness for my drinking pal ultimately lies. They are going to experience something new, something they have never done before and the worst thing that can possibly happen is they get a great story out of it.
Or they are forced to deplete their life savings. But still, you get my point.
Quotes of the week
“I suck.” - Viktor Hovland
“PGA Tour broadcasts are kind of infuriating.”
“Have you ever seen the Chinese reenactment of Tiger’s car crash? It’s hilarious.”
Well, I have now…