On the eve of another Masters, our Augusta insider and head PGA Pro at Pine Ridge Ed Miller, heads back to Butler Cabin and briefs Nestor on the big weekend of golf that will get you back on course to hitting the ball on a Classic Five local course here in Baltimore.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
golf, pine ridge, golfers, clubs, golf course, masters, play, talk, week, mount pleasant, baseball, day, coco, classic, years, sports, golf tournament, guess, baltimore, nestor
SPEAKERS
Ed Miller, Nestor J. Aparicio
Nestor J. Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home we are wn St. am 5070, Towson, Baltimore and Baltimore positive. We’re taking the Maryland crabcake tour back out on the road. I’m wearing my Coco shirt because that was trying to honor Ed Miller here for classic five because, you know, I always see the golfers coming into Coco’s, but we’re gonna be a Costas on Tuesday all day long leading up to the Oriole game at two o’clock, talking about bridge issues in the peninsula and all sorts of very important things. Also on Friday, we will be at fadeless down at Lexington market, the new Lexington market. It’s beautiful come by. You’ll recognize it because all the same stuffs hanging on the walls, but it’s completely updated. It’s completely modern, the food’s delicious. Come on by two until five on Friday. I’ll be there with Luke Jones from two until three. And we’re live because I like walking a tightrope and not urinating during my show between two and five because I won’t have time to do that live radio changes everything and how are we been happy golf season to you I owe my apologies for my tardiness. As David Lee Roth said I don’t feel tardy, but i Everything
Ed Miller 01:01
is great. Nestor thank you so much for having me. Looking forward to the season weather’s hopefully finally breaking and we’ll see what happens even then look to warm the other day.
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:11
Hey, you know, I mean, watching all this cold ass baseball. I’m thinking it’s cold every it’s cold to go after cocoas and get a crab kick the other day. Yeah, I guess for golf season. Weather is, you know, for most people not for I mean, I know a bunch of knuckleheads go out into shorts and play when it’s 38 degrees, right for kids. But for most people to enjoy the sport, you know? 5862 You know, just something that that moves the needle and sunshine and not with these rain last weekend.
Ed Miller 01:44
Yeah, wasn’t the best golf weather this past week, unless you wanted to ride around in a boat before you hit your shop. Yeah, well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 01:51
I guess for the season to really get into gear this. This is what we’re doing. We’re working with classic five again, appreciate the partnership as always. And we’ll talk about classic five because I talked about in the ads and I I sort of think like everybody sort of knows where they are. They probably don’t and you’ve moved around from place to place. And I’m over Coco’s I was there two weeks ago getting a crappy a bunch of golfers came in and because it’s right around the corner, right I mean, I guess the thing about classic five is just one right around the corner for almost everybody.
Ed Miller 02:19
It seems that way. Yes, sir. We got the whole Baltimore area surrounded and then golfers were probably from Mount Pleasant the other day
Nestor J. Aparicio 02:24
i That’s exactly where they were from when I strike up conversation with them about radio and sports and new Orioles ownership. I did not you know golf is not something for me that I would naturally be in a conversation. Like if I sat next to Jim Nantz on a plane I probably wouldn’t talk golf with him. If I sat with a golfer I might not talk golf with him so much. The baseball conversation it is amazing. Everybody talks it when people talk golf on a golf course right now, given the political state of all of this and all the prime golfers in the world and had to sort of pick aside or make a stand or say something that pisses people off one way or another um, golf it feels to me on the outside it’s been a little bit targeted more in that way than any of the other sports that we have to talk about who’s playing where and why and for how much money and what they said in the media the last six months right?
Ed Miller 03:16
Absolutely it’s it’s definitely the last 18 months or so it’s definitely been a new topic in golf with the whole live thing and everything and I guess the irony in that is the Masters this week which in my mind is always kind of started the golf season when the Masters rolls around but Augusta is one of the few that you know allowing 13 to 14 live players actually play so it ramps up again and you know it gets all the customers and the golfers talking again you know like you said they pick aside some guys or for some guys we’re against it and
8Nestor J. Aparicio 03:45
oh professional wrestling Now the one thing about golf like yeah, you’d love Tiger Hey Tiger but but nobody really rooted against or for most people other than you like John Daly who didn’t or Yeah, I mean some people didn’t like certain personalities with golfers or whatever. But it was much more like not like the wrestling circuit where you had good guys and bad guys but very very fiercely independent. Same with tennis nationalities are involved all of that stuff you like left handers you might like Mickelson or whatever. This is been a little bit more on the toxic side for me on the outside and and again I’m not up on the fire with it. But to say like It’s like professional wrestling it’s like good guys and bad guys. And I think that that’s really unfortunate because Golf was never that way.
Ed Miller 04:34
Correct. Right? That’s you know, I’ve been a golfer my whole life and it’s always been about who’s your favorite golfer looking forward to certain events but you’re right the last year has definitely been about pick a side and almost becoming like politics or religion.
Nestor J. Aparicio 04:49
And more than that, I guess on a Sunday at at Augusta when you know we’re the Azaleas are out and they’re piping in the birds, whether in the bees or whether they’re real or not. I don’t Though they sound cool, they keep they make me turn the sound up friends, you know, but I would just say when all that is taken away over watching 50 years of the Masters back then Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and all that stuff, it really is about the play, right? I mean, it really like it is about the shot, the lay the air, where the whole you know, like, once it gets to that, and I guess everybody’s thankful for that. I mean, the same thing would be said about March Madness were to me, they’ve destroyed college basketball, they had to do this pay the kids, but they don’t have to, for me to sit here talk about it all day. I’m not all that interested in it. And then the other part of it is sort of like, they play and then you know, you get to watch Caitlin Clark play, you get to watch not Tiger Woods, but you get you know, like you get to watch Modern golfers do what they do, and you get to go out on the golf course and say, I saw him hit that shot. I’ll never be able to hit that shot, but it’d be trying. Right. Exactly,
Ed Miller 05:58
exactly. And you know, the irony and all that too is we’re talking about Tiger even though I do believe he’s playing this week, but you got a young guy and Scottie Scheffler he’s he’s doing the closest thing to Tiger you know, in the last 10 years and you know, we’re talking more about the 13 live guys coming over like rom I guess that’d be good for television, their little John ROM or Scottie Scheffler maybe on the weekend, who knows, but Well,
Nestor J. Aparicio 06:20
right. If you’re on Sunday, it’s it’s alive guy. And then then it becomes something that everybody’s talking about. I just think that’s so unfortunate, but there’s been so much money in golf, it’s so much interest in golf, you spent a lifetime teaching people how to play, this is your time in the season. Tell me what you’re doing now, because you’re up at Pine Ridge, Pine Ridge is unique because I mean, the machines up there and you can go and play alone and have a computer and measure every shot. I mean, I sort of looking at it is when I’ve seen it is just a way to get better at golf. If I were if I were going to pick up a club, my back’s a little better, by the way. But if I were going to pick one up and get after it, I might be more inclined to like, start there and see what I’m doing right and wrong. Absolutely.
Ed Miller 07:03
You know, like, I appreciate it. But yes, now I’m at Pine Ridge, and probably one of the busiest facilities in the state of Maryland, definitely in Baltimore. But we have the top tracer at the driving range. We’re hoping to get both both sides of the fence meaning you know, the experience golfer who wants to use the technology to get better. And we’re also looking to get the casual golfer who wants to come out and, and have some fun play games on the computer and all that kind of fun stuff. We actually got a food truck trailer up there at the driving range now to you know, serving alcohol, that kind of stuff. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 07:33
I knew that was a missing ingredient. When I was up there about two three years ago. I’m like, yeah, the food up here for me. I you know, we have food truck up here. Perfect idea. I would say for Pine Ridge, more than nit, Look, man, I’ve been on all these courses, right? I’ve done every charity, I’m doing this 25th documentary. And I did golf tournaments back at River downs in the late 90s. There I had my towel for me cheese, May of 1997. You know, it was the first first annual nasty outing golf out. And you see, you’d be shocked that I have a little issue with all this. But you know, I think for anybody that’s going out to play, you want to get better, you want to have some level of instruction. I mean, from the minute that norm taught me to not hold the thing like a baseball bat, you know, I think for people that maybe are away from the game, watch the Masters this week, maybe they’re into the political WWE strife of good guys. Maybe maybe that brings attention back to the game. But that attention always leads to I want to pick up a club and I want to play in many, many cases. Most people that watch golf, want to play golf, and enjoy playing golf and want to do it better. Absolutely.
Ed Miller 08:41
You know, and honestly, doing it better is probably one of the key elements to having fun in golf and sticking it out. So, you know, definitely, our lessons and clinics have definitely ramped up over the last few weeks. And that’s the best part about this time of year. Come out, get a lesson or two. You know, we don’t want you to take 100 lessons because obviously, the sooner we get you on the golf course, the more fun you’re gonna have. But it’ll definitely help make your enjoyment of the golf itself better if you actually kind of know what you’re doing. So
Nestor J. Aparicio 09:10
I played little league baseball, I played literally football. I talked to John Rollo about that a couple months ago, I had him on the show, because we were on the same team, believe it or not, he was a giant then nobody wanted to tackle. He was sort of like Derrick Henry. Nobody wanted to tackle him. And I did bowling. You know, I did duckpin bowling. I was in Highland Tanner’s League and he’s from the fact that kids can be a part of leagues and can be a part of this and I think the other part of Pine Ridge, but it’s for all the courses because you can go to Forest Park, get to any of these courses and be involved in some way wherever you are. But I’m on the north side now. You know, I’m going to Towson area. It’s it feels like it’s five minutes from almost everything even like Parkville Whitemarsh. Not that far. Tell me about like modern. If I had a nine year old boy or girl who Yeah, I don’t want to put them in the cross. I don’t want head trauma. I don’t want baseball they’re not interested in that, you know, soccer, they’re not down. They’re not good enough for that, that here’s a sport, they could pick up something and start and say, All right, and something if I’m a parent and I want to play my wife’s always angling to play golf, that to bring a child down, put them in a league and get them started. How would someone do that? Absolutely.
Ed Miller 10:17
Well, you can definitely get to our website, you know, classic five golf. But at Pine Ridge, we have an interclub we have a junior camp starting in a couple months. We definitely like you said we have play days for the juniors want to say Wednesdays and Saturdays we say Junior
Nestor J. Aparicio 10:31
camps that you already have to be a golfer or is that a startup? Is that is that?
Ed Miller 10:36
Start up be a brand new golf for beginners? Absolutely. You know, as you advance through, we definitely have some more it’s for
Nestor J. Aparicio 10:43
like a kid, take take a week and go learn about golf. And by the end of the week, you’ll be better at it.
Ed Miller 10:49
Okay, absolutely. And then, you know, like you said, there’s definitely a lot more opportunity for juniors to play them when I was a 789 year old kid. That’s
Nestor J. Aparicio 10:57
what I’m saying. I had no accent was no access point to me. I mean, Mr. Frank across the street, had clubs in his back in his trunk. And he played a Sparrows Point, but like 10 years old, like, you know, I mean, I didn’t know there weren’t a lot of people in Dundalk that had club Mr. Frank at clubs, Mr. Joe had clubs, but like, on my blog, there were a couple of men who play golf, my dad, my dad didn’t, but the race is my dad was baseball, boxing, football, basketball, just more traditional sports, page sports, but golf did not have the access points that it has now. And I think that that’s a beautiful thing for anybody that wants to play. And I think we see that over the century that where our golf stars are coming from, it’s not just a Florida, Texas thing, or just an Arizona thing. It’s an every everywhere thing, right? Absolutely.
Ed Miller 11:43
Absolutely. You know, it’s funny you say that, but we have a local kid who’s got a chance to win the PGA Tour event today. Mr. Danny McCarthy, but you’re right Golf has just finally, you know, I guess you definitely think Tiger for that. But golf is definitely considered, I guess one of the more, you know, popular sports now. And you’re right, we see. I see 1000s of kids a season now, whether they’re brand new or more advanced and playing in high school, but Golf has definitely become the opportunity for kids to be able to participate in play, just like they would lacrosse, soccer. All those other sports, baseball’s same thing.
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:15
You get to play in baseball, you got to practice basketball. A lot of that golf is it’s all practice. It’s like yoga. It’s just a series of classic five, he’s up at Pine Ridge. They’re gonna be on all summer with us. So full disclosure, I blew at off. I was late getting here because I worked on a Sunday. Because like, you go into a gosta you have been before, correct? Yes, sir. I’ve
Ed Miller 12:44
been a couple of times you and I’ve
Nestor J. Aparicio 12:45
discussed this before. So you’ve been four times, give me the inlay to how you got tickets, how you go about doing it, once you do it four times. I’m thinking like, if I’m ever gonna do it, I’m gonna talk to Ed because he’s done it wrong. He’s done it right. He’s done a good, he’s not a bad. But nonetheless, I’m appreciative that you could still make this thing happen this week. And I want to hear your excitement about it. Because nobody wakes up thinking they’re going to go I mean, I’ve turned down, I’ve told you this, I was offered a chance to do my show nasty nationwide. And I said, let Bob and bill go do it. Because they like golf better. It’s just going to be better for them in the morning show like it just be better. So I didn’t go to the masters. And then my wife got sick. And then after that Mike Smith was the Falcons coach, and he invited me and it’s just my wife was sick, and she couldn’t do it. We had flight in the Charlotte, we had it all like mapped out and all that. So give me your week because it’s still something that I don’t want it to my bucket list anymore. I don’t know that, that I that I have that. But if you called me tomorrow and said, My buddies out, can you do and I say let me get the cat sat for my wife gets back. Let’s go. I’m in, I would totally go. But I don’t want to go through the pains of whatever you’ve gone through to do it. So I want to hear about this because I’m excited for you. All right,
Ed Miller 14:01
well, I appreciate that. But this is gonna really, I don’t know, this might rock the boat a little bit. But I’ve been a PGA professional for over 20 years Nestor and I just found out about six years ago that as a PGA professional, I get free admission into the masters. And that’s when I started going to the Masters now I get one ticket. But as a PGA professional, I get in and I get to go see the masters and you know, to relay that my best friend from high school put in for a lottery because that’s normally how you have to do it. And it took him 18 years before he finally got tickets to the masters. And that was actually last year.
Nestor J. Aparicio 14:35
Did he go to the actual events? Or was it the warm ups? I know it’s I’ve had friends who have gone down there Tuesday, Wednesday, kick the ball around a little bit. And then I’ve had friends with a badge on Sunday and you know, walk in 17 Like the whole deal. I’ve seen it at every level. Um, and I maybe I’ll get there one day, you know, why do I need to go?
Ed Miller 14:54
Well, to me it’s like the Super Bowl of golf. You know, first of all, it’s a it’s a very into bid setting even though it is a major event as 1000s of fans, but the setup there is unlike any other golf tournament that I’ve ever been great places for the spectators to sit great views. And the one thing you know, like when I first you know, I watched the masters for 30 years on TV before getting there. And the sounds that cheers and they always talk about how that’s like the one course in America that’s it’s almost like a stadium, you no matter where you’re at on the golf course you can hear the cheers. And you almost know what’s going on, on what part of the golf course and it’s like really narrow
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:31
and smaller than you think and hilly. Right, yeah,
Ed Miller 15:35
everything is so much closer. That’s what I mean. So you can be on the 12th hole. And when somebody makes the ego on 15 You know it and you can pretty much you can almost tell who it is even though there’s no televisions or anything out there, but you just kind of know and you know, to top it off to it’s one of those events where the food and the drinks prices are still like 9095 and
Nestor J. Aparicio 15:54
you eaten those pimento sandwiches my mother used to eat down in the south, you know, birth
Ed Miller 15:58
year I went try to just to try it not really my cup of tea it’s gnarly.
Nestor J. Aparicio 16:02
Yeah, it’s like it’s like bad cheese and cream is terrible. And Miller’s here he’s going to the masters. You can visit him at Pine Ridge you can visit any of course is with Mount Pleasant forest Bark, bark. I left one out, left uplifted i i would get into it. I was down there. The other day I was down I was down Clifton Park because that was the Cocos right up the street from there from Clifton not mount Mount Pleasant now thinking about it. Like literally, um, but so for for local courses and for the weather and the water and all of this stuff. Every time I’m at Pine Ridge, it’s just I was gonna say to you, you’re there now. I don’t want to be snooty because I’m a I’m a Dundalk punk you know what I mean? Country Club, but it’s, it’s beautiful. It’s, you know, it feels like you’d have to pay to attend. You know, and I’m not saying it’s not like that with more urban places. I’ve driven a bus to Clifton Park all my life going to 33rd Street. So I mean, you know, I used to go through that golf artery and coming off the course. But But then there’s the bikini wax tree like beautiful, but classified has something for everybody including,
Ed Miller 17:11
absolutely you know, the classic five like you said, five courses. Clifton Park, ironically, our oldest over 100 years old, I am a little bit spoiled with Pine Ridge and that the reservoir that atmosphere it is very beautiful. Baltimore’s very lucky to have that golf course around the reservoir. But like you said, forest parks fun, great golf course, Mount Pleasant, famous for the, you know, the PGA Tour history, great layout, but you can pretty much have fun at any one of our five courses guaranteed. And it will test your skill level, regardless of what you want.
Nestor J. Aparicio 17:40
And you get a PGA professional like Ed that will show you how to hold the club the right way. And are there any beginner tips that you would give to people maybe your first thing I would say to anybody, especially my age is stretch before you do whatever you’re gonna do don’t get hurt. So there’s my there’s the optimist in me to get people back out. But if people are dusting off clubs and are thinking about clubs, sizes, changes, want new this want new that want to get my game back to where it was in 1991. You know, whatever my kids were in college or whatever. This is a time where people do rekindle that right, they pick it back up again.
Ed Miller 18:19
Absolutely. And you know, the one thing I would say that today’s golf versus 20 years ago, the technology is out there to custom fit you so much faster. So you know your swing may not be as fast as it was 2030 years ago, and all that kind of stuff. And there’s more choices and equipment. So we can definitely put you in equipment that’s going to make golf a little bit easier, more fun for you without necessarily breaking the bank. Because again, the better you play the probably the more fun you’re going to have when you’re out of that golf course.
Nestor J. Aparicio 18:46
I pick up these clubs now when I go to like the charity thing I do with Leonard Rask. And he does the thing for Matt Walsh. And I pick up the clubs and I’m like, doesn’t feel at all like the bag. It almost feels like Flintstone clubs, you know from the ones that I had back in the day from Sears you know? So don’t play golf like that. You got any thoughts on the masters of Pixar and you are going for the whole week? You’re gonna be there through Sunday?
Ed Miller 19:08
No, I’m actually only going for a few days I’ll be back to work by next weekend for sure. But
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:13
you’ll be ill everybody like everybody else in front of the television at two o’clock on Sunday.
Ed Miller 19:17
I hope so. Yeah. degrees B’s you know, but yeah, I’ll definitely be watching it on Sunday from the television. But My money is on Scottie Scheffler you know a second we’ll see what happens.
Nestor J. Aparicio 19:30
Well, it’s it’s the best golf tournament in the world. Ed’s gonna get down there take selfies and pictures of Butler cabin and get himself fitted for the green jacket. I got invited to Bob Eric and some other folks may be coming on later on this week as well. It’s masters week enjoy it. Baseball is going on you got to be on the Orioles because you weren’t you began this whole thing Tom at the crappy weather.
Ed Miller 19:55
Now just excited to be an Oreo fan this year. You know that you know offensive cool down a little bit. Definitely excited to where the season goes. And, you know, ironically, half of the baseball players are golfers too, you know, so they just got to put their clubs away for a few months. But uh, yeah, let’s go close.
Nestor J. Aparicio 20:09
So I you know, for years I had orange Kool Aid packets that were here. And we would say we’re drinking the orange Kool Aid Kool Aid canisters because they were terrible. And even if they told you, they might be good, you’d have to be drinking the orange Kool Aid, you know, in order to buy in, I now have an orange highlighter. So you know, because I’m here to highlight all the highlight things that are going to be highlighted because I feel things are gonna get better. That’s why I have the sunshine over my shoulders here like you know, John, John Denver sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. At first place makes me happy good baseball, good weather. I hope to come and visit with you and I hope we do that. I want to get up there get the food truck and see what’s going on and bring my wife because she really wants to play my back won’t allow but I grew up and maybe play with a bucket of balls with her. We’ll do that at Pine Ridge with you one day we’ll organize that Alright,
Ed Miller 20:59
sounds like a total plan Nestor would love to have you up there.
Nestor J. Aparicio 21:02
We’ll spend too much money at the Masters on $2.99 cent pimento sandwiches or whatever they are. Yeah, we’ll do our best not to for sure. All right, enjoy yourself have some peaches and cream or whatever they have down there on the south end millet can be found at Pine Ridge. There are five courses classic five we talked about it all the time you’ll hear the ads if you want to rekindle you want to pro you want to tip you want to just a nice course and a nice experience and affordable way go to classic five golf.com You can make appointments online or you can also reach them you can also make tee times so it’s very very easy to to get schooled up and get yourself back out on the golf course good stuff moving a little bit more than anything else. It’s time to get almost went dancing the other night with alternate day but you gotta get I gotta get moving a little bit more. That’s what spring is all about around here. We’re gonna be moving to Maryland crabcake tour all around town. We started Costas on Tuesday. The ninth on the 12th will be fade these walls to be failures on the 26th. I have postponed Coco’s on the 18th and I had a Bruce Springsteen emergency. That’s all I’m gonna say. So we punted on that. We’re going to do Coco’s in early June because she’s got graduations and Morgan State and Coppin State, everybody wants to Go Go’s crabcakes so in May, we’re going to cool that down and we’re gonna go to some new places with the Maryland crabcake tour. It is brought to you by the Maryland lottery, I’m Nestor we are wn St. Am 1570 tasks in Baltimore. And we never stop talking Baltimore positive
