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Tales from the First Tee returns with a heat-soaked episode full of Southern expressions, golf course characters, and the peculiar relationships we form with our equipment. Your host Rich Easton shares stories from the sweltering fairways of Charleston where even alligators have more sense than the golfers braving triple-digit temperatures.

• Team play at Charleston National where all players must contribute for success
• Mississippi native "Cloudy Graves" and his colorful Southern expressions for every situation
• Golf etiquette pet peeves including slow play and unwanted ball handling
• Chance encounter with actor/musician Charles Esten (Outer Banks, Nashville) over bourbon
• Playing with Dr. Lester "No Surprises" Payne and discovering golf clubs have feelings
• The importance of recognizing heat exhaustion symptoms while playing summer golf

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Pressure doesn’t need a trophy to feel real. We start with Bethpage Black and the Ryder Cup’s unique voltage—captains orchestrating pairings, European chemistry in foursomes and four-ball, and a home crowd that couldn’t keep the line between passion and taunting. Golf asks for silence; fandom doesn’t always listen. You’ll hear how that tension plays out in shot routines, heart rates, and the razor-thin edge between competitive fire and corrosive noise.

From there, we head to a quiet nine that wasn’t. A new playing partner turns the round into a biography reading, carts stack up behind us, and timing collides with etiquette. That chaos opens a bigger idea: noise doesn’t just come from bleachers or laughter in your backswing—it lives in your head as “food noise.” We unpack the pull toward snacks at 8:01 a.m., planning travel around food courts, and the ritual joy of sandwiches at the turn. GLP-1s, paleo, prepped meals, and Nutrisystem all make cameo appearances as tools that can turn down the volume, but we make the case for a lasting mix of moderation, movement, and cooking with purpose.

The heartbeat of the story lands on the back nine with Valdemar. One dollar and a flag-on-flag challenge transform casual swings into committed shots. Concessions disappear. We play it down and putt everything out. Short putts grow sharp edges; focus finds a home. That single dollar ends up framed because it represents the simplest truth in sport and life: stakes create meaning, meaning creates pressure, and pressure—handled well—creates presence. If you’ve ever felt your hands shake over a must-make putt or your thoughts drift to dinner mid-round, this one’s for you.

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Dan Gaeta from Operation VetFit discusses PTSD in veterans and their revolutionary approach to preventing veteran suicide that has resulted in zero suicides among their members.

• Clinical definition of PTSD including exposure to traumatic events, intrusion symptoms, avoidance behaviors, and negative alterations in cognition
• The "masculine warrior paradigm" that creates challenges when veterans return to civilian life
• Success story of Thomas Burke who went from a suicide attempt to earning a Doctorate in Divinity from Yale
• Operation VetFit's approach includes exercise as a therapeutic modality, which is underutilized in mental health treatment
• Cognitive restructuring helps replace negative traumatic associations with new positive memories
• Color-coded intake system (red, yellow, green) developed by Colonel Neil Shuley helps assess and prioritize veterans' needs
• Veterans helping other veterans creates a sustainable model - "jumping in the hole" alongside struggling peers
• Scientific assessment of anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and pain creates an effective risk factor evaluation
• Exercise is a crucial but often overlooked component of mental health treatment

If you work with veterans or know someone struggling, visit operationvetfit.org to learn more about their approach and resources.

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