The sweat seeps through your glove and down your Golf Pride Z-Cord grips.

Match play pressure feels different. It’s all laughs and scooped two-footers until your partner hits his tee shot OB and you are one down with two to play.

Your hands would be sweating if it were 45 degrees, so the 90 degree heat has turned this tee ball into a “grip and rip”. It has to be a fairway finder.

You think about the words of your childhood instructor, “the tighter the tee shot, the harder I swing”.

You fall back into your rhythm, and opt for your trusted “pull cut”. Your swing is fluid and powerful as the ball starts at the left edge of the fairway, and floats back to the center stripe.

I teamed up with an old friend at a Member-Guest this past weekend. Golf is the great unifier, yes, but it’s also the best re-unifier. The years go by, but the game is always the game, and there will always be tournaments to play. Walking and chatting between holes and after the round over the course of a few days remains the best way to reconnect with someone, no matter how long it’s been since you last spoke.

This particular club separated the field into flights comprised of five teams, where every team would play one another in a nine-hole round robin format. Ten total points were up for grabs in each match, so even if you lost the point earned for winning the match, you could cut your losses by winning as many holes as possible. Nine points for each hole, plus the additional point for the match.

Nine hole matches are fun, and it’s an excellent format for meeting all of the guys in your flight. Nine hole matches are exponentially more fun when your partner makes four birdies in a row and closes the match out on the sixth hole.

Unfortunately, we lost our flight by a single point, which equates to a missed three footer or two across two days. So it goes.

The clock had just struck 7:30(am). Walking to the practice facility, my ears were serenaded with the beautiful melody of Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus, which promptly started a the discussion of the greatest one-hit wonders of all time…

Surrounded by a gaggle of men sipping transfusions and Bloody Mary’s, I was quickly made aware of the vibe of the tournament. It was going to be a party.

Now, I’ve talked about drinking vs non-drinking clubs previously, and I’d like to clarify my position. I’m neither for nor against either, I am simply asking people to understand the unspoken policies around drinking at certain clubs. Understand where you are. It’s an important life skill.

Once I saw the number of beers and mixed drinks in the coolers was 7x that of the water bottles (it was going to be 90 degrees), I knew we were in for a good time. Drinking on the course isn’t for me, but it certainly makes for a few laughs.

Mentally, competing in a golf tournament feels different than competing in more physically taxing sports. After some careful reflection, I concluded it has something to do with the endorphins (or lack thereof?)

Competing in a golf tournament is a marathon. After a bad shot, all I want to do is hit a good shot, but that could come from the next swing, or not until the next hole. Patience is at a premium — more so when you're playing with a partner.

Strung out over five matches, and the grind takes a toll.

On the other hand, I had forgotten about power of competitive golf as a bonding agent. Not only did I become friendly with a few of the guys (more on that later), but the stories and socialization at the bar after the round were heightened by our time on the course.

On the range, I ran into a guy with whom I played many junior golf events. I hadn’t seen him in at least a decade, yet we chatted like no time at all had passed. He is living the mid-am dream and was prepping for US Open Sectionals. Rooting for him.

As we do in broader life situations, golfers will generally gravitate to what feels familiar, and find those most similar to them. It’s a natural human instinct. When you think about it, country clubs are high schools for adults with disposable incomes.

Although the tournament had 144 players, I inevitably gravitated toward a group which could have been readers of this publication. I don’t actively advertise who I am, so who’s to say? What am I supposed to tell people? I make memes on the internet all day?

Anyway.

The diversity in golf now is not going away. As much as we may try to “shrink” the game, it’s antithetical to what the game is all about. I touched on the various factions (and why it’s a good thing they exist) in The BTG Papers, No. 1.

Find your people, in whatever shape and form you can.

Nanea emerged in the early 2000s as a passion project of two billionaire friends: Charles Schwab and George Roberts

Frustrated with the residential-heavy, resort-style developments, they sought something purer. They leased roughly 1,000 acres on the rugged western slopes of Mount Hualalai on Hawaii’s Big Island, a challenging site blanketed in black lava rock and native grasses.

The contracted David McLay Kidd (fresh off his breakthrough at Bandon Dunes) to build their playground.

The duo tasked him with creating a true links-style experience inspired by their favorite courses in the UK. Rather than bulldozing the lava, Kidd routed holes naturally among the outcroppings, using innovative paspalum grass throughout (a North American first) to achieve links-like play in a tropical setting.

Opened in 2003, Nanea was built for a small, invitation-only group (initially around 100–250 like-minded members) as an ultra-exclusive retreat. It quickly became Hawaii’s top-ranked course and remains one of America’s most private gems.

I’ve spent a few months building a directory to help you all find expert club makers and craftsmen.

After writing about How to Get Fit for Golf Clubs, I realized that finding a guy you trust with your life to build you a proper set is of paramount importance. You’ll become his friend, and he’ll probably talk your ear off about shaft load and his time working for NASA in a past life.

The directory has approximately 1200 listings, but if I missed one, you can submit it on the website for review, or just email me by responding to this email.

I want to put these shops on the map. The PE factory model of Club Champion and its kin, should not be the default. Your fitter should know your wife’s name.