MudBall Newsletter- Henry Shimp
What’s up Tie Podcast family? We’re back for the #MUDBALL(!!!) Newsletter. Let’s run it.
Drinking: I really make an effort to drink a ton of water. One packet a day of electrolytes that has 1000mg of sodium (the propels and whatnot that have 200mg don’t get the job done, sorry.) plus a couple cups of Mudball Half Caff from our friends at Goodwalk coffee puts me in a great spot. If you don’t sleep well, feel stiff, bloated, or lethargic all too often, start with drinking more water. I promise it won’t hurt.
Eating: Check out Mudball Monday episode 102 for more on how this is affecting my sleep, but something I’ve been focused on with dinner is eating as early as I feel somewhat hungry (which is arguably 10 minutes after I eat lunch) and focusing on eating high quality, calorically dense foods. Nice try, but Ice cream isn’t exactly high quality. Things like Rice, Eggs, Avocado, Honey, Fruit, and Meat are what I like for dinner because I get a lot of good nutrients and calories without putting too much volume of food in my body. I know some people are seeing this and saying “but I want to limit calories at all costs” which is fine, but if you focus more on quality and how that helps you sleep, you’ll be in a spot to put those good calories to good use. Just my two cents.
Reading: Usually I don’t love the super long and in-depth golf course books as I don’t really need the full ass history of every course I play. BUT, I was given the Sleepy Hollow book at the US Mid Am and wow has it been a good read. Amazing photography and a really great place to learn about the process of golden age restoration, plenty of history on CB MacDonald, and great enrichment on some of the templates that are present at Sleepy. Wonderful stuff.
Thinking: Thinking, hmm, what am I thinking? Well, I would say putting has been swimming in the ole dome quite a bit. I was beyond bad at The Mid Am with the flat man so I am officially “exploring other options.” The broomstick has just never felt right to me, but those armlock claw weird ass thingys have always looked “attractive.” I may join the dark side. Can’t be having 7 three putts and a 4 wiggle in 36 holes of competition ever again. WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED.
Culture: Playing (like shit) in my first US Mid-Amateur this past week gave me a renewed sense of the health of the blend between culture and competition that isn’t always apparent at the Amateur level. Now don’t get me wrong, I adore playing highly competitive amateur events against guys who act like each shot is a life or death ordeal; however, half the reason I want to beat players in those is because I know they care a bit more than me and that makes beating them even sweeter. At the Mid Am level, there’s more of a reverence for the game and competition from the masses which is refreshing. For more on the difference between the Amateur and Mid-Amateur game, check out my Writing Piece on the Mid Am from last week and Mudball Monday 101 covering the differences between an Am and a Mid Am.
Competition: We’re kind of in the silly season where there isn’t much to get up for aren’t we? Even though we have the Solheim and Ryder Cups in the next two weekends, I remain somewhat skeptical of what we’ll see there. I don’t know why that is but it feels like all of these professional team events have been politicized so much in recent years, thanks LIV. Here’s to hoping they’re both awesome and I’m completely wrong to not be fired up!
Architecture: A LOT going on in GCA at the moment. Cabot St. Lucia has popped open for initial rounds, same for Old Barnwell. The Tree Farm is about to get going for more preview play, and countless other projects roll right along.
I may turn this into a longer form piece, but this week I want to make a couple comments on roll back and architecture. I’ve never been one to focus too much on routings and things like walk backs to tees, but playing Sleepy Hollow this past week a few times really showed to me the issues we have caused ourselves on a lot of classic golf courses. There are so many great 6300-6600 courses that we have pushed up to 7000 at the detriment of a proper routing and flow from green to tee purely because of the continued pursuit of distance. It’s not good, and it needs to stop. That’s all for now on this, more to come.
Guest Check In: I have to go this way. A hearty congratulations to Mr. Stewart Hagestad who was a guest on The Tie Ahead of the 2022 Masters who has just won his 3rd US Mid Amateur and will AGAIN be pegging it at Augusta for his 3rd Masters as well as Pinehurst for his 5th(!) US Open. Stew gets a lot of flak for not working, being a professional amateur, etc etc. but what I will say, as a friend, is that what goes forgotten is the sacrifice and commitment that goes into playing the kind of golf he has for the last 8-9 years. Most 25-33 year olds don’t commit most of their free time to hitting balls and doing putting drills, but if you want to do what he has, that’s the only thing on the menu. Congrats, big fella. Who wants to hear more about it soon? (Pod. Pod pod pod. Pod. Poddd)
On Tap This Week:
Monday: MBM 102-The Most Iconic (Chaotic) US Open Setups
Wednesday: The Reverend Walker Simas on the keys for Long Form
Thursday: Patrick Grimes and WS breakdown the golf swing, breathwork, and A LOT more.
Cheers, my friends.
Henry