A Cup of Chatter with Jarrod

Jarrod, congratulations on the recent wedding. How was the honeymoon?
Thank you. The honeymoon was awesome. If you ever want a vacation where you can kick back and do nothing but stare at a beautiful beach I highly recommend Turks.

Did you play the Provo course? The Emir of Qatar owns it.
I did not. I wanted to take laziness to a new level on my honeymoon and that included not playing golf.

Let’s get this out of the way. Tell us what happened at the Make a Few Bets cup.
Because of Captain Genius’ lack of friends I was forced to play with the Euros. I played absolutely awful for the entire weekend until I made the winning 10 footer in a death match that featured Captain Genius and I vs. Great and the Captain that I love, Jim. The match was intense, never more than 1 up or 1 down the entire time and when I made the putt to win I might have given a small fist pump.

Some members of Team USA were offended by this so I drafted an apology letter and sent it first class to Captain Jim. He welcomed me back but other team members weren’t so open to my return. I'm putting all my spare change in a krockery sack and intend to present it to Chief in exchange for his blessing.

Do you feel that you were out of line?
If my Team USA Brethren were truly offended by it then yes, I was out of line. Not Tiger vs. Rocco out of line, but out of line nonetheless. Keep in mind, I play to win no matter what.

Is this going to carry on until the Kiva Cup, and if so, what needs to be done to resolve any ill feelings?
In the words of Skiba it’s O-V-E-R!

You’ve been on both teams at the Kiva Cup. Tell us something you enjoyed about your experience on each team.
The only thing I can say about Team Euro is that Marilyn Halcomb did an outstanding job raising her two sons. They are both fine upstanding sportsmen and scholars not to mention incredible golfers of the ball. She must be a Saint. As for Team USA, the most enjoyable part is by far the camaraderie. We’re like a bunch of “Hard Fightin Soldiers” who all truly enjoy hanging out with one another.

You’ve played in golf tournaments practically your whole life. BGA events, Junior Masters, assorted Member-Member and Member-Guest. How does the atmosphere of a Kiva Cup compare?
I can tell you this the most nervous I’ve ever been with a golf club in my hand was not in Dothan at the Future Masters or in Huntsville at the Stewart Cink Cup or any other junior tournament. It was on 17 tee box in my first ever Kiva Cup - I was on the Europen team that year because of some visa issues - I was 1-down to Skiba with the Cup on the line. I won 17 and lost 18 to lose 1-down and the Kiva Cup resulted in a tie that year, but I learned a lot about myself.

It’s apparent that you are a good individual player, and you had some success last year when paired with Keith and Mark. Let’s face it, though, Jammy was half of a winning team a couple of years ago with Mark as a partner, so Skibo’s carried heavier weight than you before. In order for Team USA to have a chance, you’ve got to step out of the shadows and carry a pairing. Are you ready for that?
No doubt.

The story goes that Keith stopped the cart on #10 and gave you a stern message after you hit a poor shot and reacted dreadfully during last year’s Cup. How has that changed you as a golfer?
I hit one of the worst tee shots you’ve ever seen off 10 tee last year and I had a bit of a foul reaction you might say. I’m usually a pretty calm person unless I’m having an awful day on the golf course or Auburn loses to Coach Croom. Keith let the other cart drive off the tee and told me not so kindly that my match wasn’t over and if I wanted to win it then I should take a deep breath and realize that it’s just golf. I came back to win my singles match and have tried Keith’s Zen-like approach ever since. It seems to have improved my mental game immensely.

What do you see as Team USA’s biggest weakness, and how do they overcome it?
I think we ALL have to believe that we can win. If we go in with our usual negative attitudes complaining about handicaps and the like then we’re beat before we ever tee off. We ALL have to know that we are capable of winning every matchup that the Euros can throw at us and that includes the team of Dalton/Brian and they’re strangely inflated handicaps.

Thanks.
You bet.