00:00And so that now the USM is done. You've got to see how it played out for the best amateurs
00:04in the world. What were your takeaways of how Marion played? I know you guys completed that restoration of Marion
00:10in 2019. So seeing these guys go play the golf course, what were your impressions of kind of how it
00:16fared?
00:18Well, I have to start by saying I personally feel that Marion's probably one of the best golf courses in
00:22the US, you know, if not the best in the US, and definitely one of the tops in the world.
00:27And I think we had that conversation when we were on 13. Right smiley. But it was great to see
00:32and it was great to watch that golf course with that event. Right. Because from a fan perspective, you can
00:40get around the golf course, you're much closer to the action. Right. And you can really see what's going on.
00:46I mean, we spent a lot of time hanging up on top of the hillside to the left of five
00:51green just above the creek, you know, and being able to watch the action, you know, the shots and guys
00:56trying to figure out how to play that golf hole. You know, it's pretty extreme pitch from right to left
01:01and where to land the ball and how to play it and all that good stuff. I mean, it was
01:06awesome to see. But I mean, I personally couldn't have been more happier with with the event, the way the
01:13course was presented.
01:14As you know, smiley, Paul Latchell is a good friend of mine. And yes, we ran into you on 13.
01:19I mean, it means the world to me to, you know, see Paul and the work that him and his
01:23staff were able to do. And I think, you know, talking to some of the members, you know, since I
01:27think that they felt it was one of the best. And I don't know, you guys tell me about right
01:32smiley, it was was it the best attendance, the most attendance?
01:35Well, I mean, I promise you from an attendance standpoint of all the fans out there just being on the
01:42grounds and Marion. And it was fun to for me watching all these these spectators walk the golf course before
01:49the groups would start on the weekend, they would all go and take pictures of some of the famous holes
01:53out there.
01:54They'd go down to the bottom of the hill at 11, where Bobby Jones won his Grand Slam. They go
01:58take pictures at the top of the fairway at the 18th hole. And then when they finished taking their picture,
02:03Charlie, guess what they did? They went right to that pro shop, and they got them some merch.
02:09That's the key to it.
02:10That's that is it's a great place to get some merch. And I'm going to connect that whole section, both
02:15literally and figuratively to the next piece of this interview, Jim, because the logo on your shirt on my hat
02:21Cobbs Creek, I believe it's what is it the 11th hole there at Marion, or that creek runs right out
02:27there and connects to the project in Philadelphia that Smiley and I had the pleasure of visiting during PGA Championship
02:33week, the one that you and Gil are working on this sort of renovation restoration.
02:37Of the old course, we did the gator tour, we got to play the q school course there, we got
02:43to see the tiger learning lab. This is such a cool project, Jim, and I think maybe the best place
02:49to start before you even get into the golf course and what you're working on is your ties to Philadelphia,
02:54why this means so much to you and to Gil and why you wanted to take this project on.
02:59Okay, yeah, so yeah, Charlie, you're right. It's the same creek that connects, you know, Marion to Cobbs Creek, golf
03:05proper, right? And there are two different worlds in general, right? Between Marion and Cobbs Creek, and there's a lot
03:12to that, which, you know, maybe we'll get into a little bit.
03:15But I grew up not too far from from Marion Golf Club, right? And I was a fence member, as
03:22I like to say, at all the great clubs in Philadelphia, right? Whether it's Marion, mainly Marion West, you know,
03:28Lanark, you know, Rolling Green. That was kind of my introduction into architecture.
03:34But Cobbs Creek, of course, right, is where we played most of our matches, right? There was a lot of
03:40junior matches at Cobbs Creek, our high school matches, hence the Cardinal O'Hara hat that I'm wearing right now,
03:45right?
03:47I have to get back into good graces because our rival school, Bonner, those guys have been out a couple
03:51times. I like to get the high school kids out and show them what we're doing.
03:54Oh, cool.
03:54Right? They've been out a couple times. Yeah, they've been out a couple times and I wear the hat and
03:58then they put it on social media. So I take a lot of heat for that.
04:01So I want to make sure that we get this link to the O'Hara people, you know.
04:06But yeah, so we played a lot of our high school matches here and growing up playing golf here.
04:12So it's kind of an introduction into architecture and it's great.
04:16So being able to come back and turn Cobbs Creek into, you know, really what it was supposed to become
04:22when it was first, you know, designed, you know, whatever it was, you know, 1913 or whatever year it was
04:28completed in.
04:29And it means a lot. It means a lot to myself where we are in our careers.
04:33It means a lot to me being able to give back to the city of Philadelphia.
04:37But I think more so it's not just the golf standpoint, but there's this entire community aspect, right?
04:43When you guys were here, you got to see it.
04:45I mean, I'm in the Tiger Woods Learning Center right now.
04:49That's a Smiley Show studio there.
04:50That's a remote Smiley Show studio as seen on the show.
04:54So this is it, you know, and Erin Cook is great, you know, part of the foundation.
04:58In fact, Erin's awesome.
04:59You know, she did tell me those smiles.
05:01She's waiting for your check for the use of this studio.
05:07I thought it was going to be a while.
05:08Until it's on the way.
05:11So, yeah, but the community aspect, I think, is the huge thing here.
05:14And there's a lot to that.
05:15There's a lot to the community of the golf course, the community of golf in Philadelphia, et cetera.
05:20So it's huge.
05:21It's huge for the city of Philadelphia.
05:23I love you.
