Mark Bryan is "Ridin' with Rymer" at River Club

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As seen on “The Charlie Rymer Golf Show” on CBS Sports Network, Hootie & the Blowfish lead guitarist Mark Bryan joins Charlie at the Tom Jackson-designed River Club to discuss golf and music, and to play and showcase some of the course’s signature holes!

Charlie Rymer:

Hey, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, I’m with the lead guitar player from one of the world’s most beloved bands: Hootie & The Blowfish. I’m Charlie Rymer and this is Ridin’ with Rymer.

Mark Bryan:

No, that can’t be him. I’m looking for a pro. It’s supposed to be Charlie Rymer.

Charlie Rymer:

What’s up buddy? How you doing?

Mark Bryan:

I’m good. Thanks for having me.

Charlie Rymer:

Oh my goodness. It’s my favorite rockstar, Mark Bryan. I got a great golf course for us right here. This is River Club. Let’s go. Let’s get them loaded up.

Mark Bryan:

Looks beautiful. What’s going on here? Looks like we can go off course with this thing. Let’s talk about golf. So …

Charlie Rymer:

How long have you been playing golf?

Mark Bryan:

Oh man. Since I was a teenager, but I didn’t really take it seriously till Puggy Blackmon, the former director of golf for USC until he gave me lessons. And when he did, my handicap improved and I learned how to make a real turn on the golf ball. So I’ve been playing seriously now for maybe 25 years.

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah. Puggy was my golf coach in college. Georgia Tech. Yeah. Where I went.

Mark Bryan:

That’s so cool. I love the full circleness of that story.

Charlie Rymer:

So I got two goldens. You got two goldens.

Mark Bryan:

Got two golden retrievers. Yeah.

Charlie Rymer:

Have they been traveling with you any?

Mark Bryan:

They have. They’ve done the whole summer with us. They have a little bunk on the bus and everything. It’s great. I sometimes I’ll take him out while I’m hitting golf balls and it’s everything I can do to get the boy to stay, because he thinks it’s a game. He thinks he’s supposed to be fetching them.

Charlie Rymer:

Well lucky for you, if he goes out to watch you at golf balls, they don’t have to go very far to retrieve him. All right, Mark. So we got this beautiful island green par three.

Mark Bryan:

Yeah. What are we hitting here? It looks like 150?

Charlie Rymer:

Come on with me. We’re not doing anything conventional. Let’s go. Come on.

Mark Bryan:

All right.

Charlie Rymer:

Come on. What I want is three skips, jump over the bunker and then up about 12 feet right of the flag.

Mark Bryan:

What club do you have in your hand? Four Iron?

Charlie Rymer:

I got the Four Iron.

Mark Bryan:

Okay.

Charlie Rymer:

To hit it low, I like setting my hands and then holding them. I want to make sure that impact, that this angle right here between the back of the right hand and the back of the right wrist is as sharp as it can be. That’ll drive it right down under the water.

Mark Bryan:

I got three skims.

Charlie Rymer:

Three skips.

Mark Bryan:

I’m going to put this off my back foot and attempt to hit it thin.

Charlie Rymer:

You’re thinking way too much. See the ball, be the ball.

Mark Bryan:

Yes.

Charlie Rymer:

He did it. All right, how you going to get this yellow ball plugged in the face of this bunker out of there and up on the green? How that baby? You seem posing.

Mark Bryan:

Making sure that the sand all drips off the club down onto my head.

Charlie Rymer:

Come on, let me get you out of there.

Mark Bryan:

Yes buddy.

Charlie Rymer:

On a serious note, what you and the band have been able to do with the Monday After the Masters, all of these years-

Mark Bryan:

Yeah, I guess this April will be our 26th year and we have a golf event for charity and a bunch of celebs coming in and then we do a concert around it as well. So just you could never foresee the success that we’ve had with that event. It’s something maybe we could do for 50 years even. All right, Charlie. I think I’m just headed to that guidepost out there for this one. Think I can carry it that far?

Charlie Rymer:

No. You got all of that one, didn’t you?

Mark Bryan:

That should be out there in the fairway somewhere.

Charlie Rymer:

Do you have any questions for me?

Mark Bryan:

I actually do. I really enjoyed your Masters coverage. Yeah, it was really fun. You did a great job with that.

Charlie Rymer:

Oh well, thank you.

Mark Bryan:

It was fun.

Charlie Rymer:

It’s been fun to get to do that. I like having fun with golf, but I guess I really am a golf nerd, especially when it comes to Augusta, ’cause I grew up not too far from it.

Mark Bryan:

Exactly, and it’s true that you can be that guy too, that how much you respect the game and that you can handle professionally without always making jokes about it. But we love that you can make jokes about it too.

Charlie Rymer:

Golf is different for everybody, don’t you think?

Mark Bryan:

I always had this dream of having a course one day where you can just play in a bathing suit if you want. I just think there should be a looser code to golf in general as long as you’re still respecting the game and respecting the players around you.

Charlie Rymer:

If you do that golf course, can I be a member.

Mark Bryan:

Yeah, you might be my first member. I might have you help me design the damn thing.

Charlie Rymer:

That would be awesome.

Mark Bryan:

Charlie, thank you for having me out here today. What a beautiful golf course.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, it’s my pleasure to have you here. There’s so many little hidden gems like this, River Club. You come out for the first time. You’re like, “Man, how come I hadn’t played this golf course a hundred times?” All right, we got a couple [inaudible 00:04:38] here.

Mark Bryan:

Higher.

Charlie Rymer:

All right.

Mark Bryan:

If I can make this one backwards through my legs, will you give me the match?

Charlie Rymer:

Yeah.

Mark Bryan:

Okay.

Charlie Rymer:

No way! No way! God, you are the best, buddy.

Mark Bryan:

Thanks dude.

Charlie Rymer:

So much fun. Enjoyed it.

Mark Bryan:

Thanks. What a great day.

Charlie Rymer:

What a way to finish off. I lose the match between the legs backwards.

Mark Bryan:

What can I tell you?

Charlie Rymer:

You’re great for my stress level. Lot of fun, buddy.

Mark Bryan:

I love playing with you, man. Thanks for having me out. What a beautiful course.

Charlie Rymer:

Well, you got it. I appreciate you Ridin’ with Rymer here at River Club in beautiful Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Mark Bryan:

Let’s do it again.

Charlie Rymer:

Anytime, my friend.

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