Ha! I was just about to post this. Well deserved. Now we just need yours up there John and things will be set right. ![]()
Is that AI with an artificial Kessler overdub?
Seems like it.
I watched the video. Amazing what AI can do. Certainly it speaks highly of Bradley Hughes and can only help the golfing world become better aware of @twomasters , his golfing pedigree and all that he is contributing to golf and to us, his students.
I am interested to know from those who know - how accurate / inaccurate is this “Legends of the Green” AI-generated video about Bradley Hughes?
What is crazy is that they use the voice of Peter Kessler who I have talked to fairly recently, and apparently, he did not authorize the use of his voice for this AI program. There was a facebook thread he was on and he wasn’t even aware this was happening. For those who don’t know, Kessler was a prominent voice on The Golf Channel in the early days of that network and he was hired by Arnold Palmer directly.
It is pretty accurate in everything it has said from a fact output. It seems a lot of it came from articles that were written. I believe the only thing off the mark was the cuts made aspect as I believe I made over 100 cuts if you count majors and World Series golf even the presidents cup counts as a cut for competing in.
I spoke to Kessler from a forum a year or so ago and what shocked me was how bitter he had became. He flat out said that there are no real major champions after Jack and I asked him why and he went on a rant and I was trying to have a discussion to find out why he felt that way. Several people inboxed me and said Kessler is holding a lot of anger inside from how the Golf Channel moved away from him and I can tell you it showed.
Personally I feel that a person can have their favorite era and favorite golfer that’s part of freedom but to try to diminish champions who played the game by the rules that were in place is extremely odd to me. Anyone that doesn’t think that players like Tiger, Duval, Mickelson, Rory, Koepka, are not real champions speaks volumes. It’s akin to someone saying The Cincinnati Reds during the 70s were not real champions because they like Mickey Mantle even though The Big Red Machine won 108 games in 1975 and 102 games in 1976. These players play 7000+ yard courses with greens stimped at 14+ with undulations that are only receptive to extremely precise shots that less than 3% of golfers worldwide could pull off which takes skill and technique.
But it’s an American trait to downplay others achievements in order to lift up personal subjective opinions and at my age I have become accustomed to it, but it is still a little odd. I use to really enjoy Peter Kessler and I really stopped watching The Golf Channel after he left because the direction they went in was like being on the range for 24 hours watching bad golf swings. I hope that Kessler has found some peace because he was hell bent on his subjective opinion and didn’t have ears for anything outside of it.
I think that passing the baton is one of the most challenging things for athletes & broadcasters alike especially elite athletes. It reminds me of how I tell my adult children they had it so good because we had to walk to school in the snow and now they have snow days
. Time waits for no one and change is inevitable. The responsibility is on the people that are still playing to carve out a niche group and make it special like the Hickory Society has done so well. When you go to their events you see participants from 20 to 80 years of age. Organizations should bottle that business plan and reuse it.
Side Note: Congratulations Bradley Hughes on being recognized it was long overdue we all can agree on that for sure. ![]()
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I spoke to Kessler last summer on the phone. Interesting conversation. This reminds me to reach out to him again for maybe a youtube conversation. I think that would be interesting.
I wasn’t playing much in the mid-90s, but I never missed Peter Kessler. Back then, he was the Golf Channel. He has every right to be bitter. The turning point was that infamous interview with Arnold Palmer. Kessler essentially called Arnie out for endorsing the non-conforming Callaway ERC driver, basically accusing the King of selling out the game’s integrity for a paycheck. Rumor had it Arnie was a few drinks in, and the tension was visible. That interview was the end for Kessler—he was pushed out shortly after. He admits he was a better host than a negotiator, but he was right: his show was the only thing giving the network weight. It was a class act that highlighted the legends just as the industry started its downward slide into pure commercialism.
The “Big Bertha” Era and the Maui Legend
Callaway changed everything with the Big Bertha, paving the way for the $600 drivers we see now. I recently heard Christo Garcia (from Classic Golf) talking to Chi Chi Rodriguez, and Chi Chi said the exact same thing: the equipment has ruined the soul of the game.
It reminds me of an old-timer I met at the Maui Lani range back in 2015. This guy was the real deal—he knew Snead, Palmer, and Wild Bill Mehlhorn (who he claimed was the best ball-striker to ever live). It is like being here on the forum talking to him…..He told me a story that sounds like a movie: he owned a driving range in Maryland and in the early 80s, he invented a shaft testing device, and he claimed he was actually threatened by the Mob, who he insisted had their hands in Callaway at the time!!
The Great Shaft Scam
The “Mob” didn’t want him testing shafts because they were hiding a massive manufacturing shift. They moved from taper tip shafts (expensive and consistent) to parallel shafts (cheap “blanks” that cost a buck). He also said at the time the most important part of the golf club was the shaft (we would agree ) and I had never heard that before. He also told me about all the different things Arnie had in his name.
The “Sucker” Economy
The industry sees us all as suckers. Even the " teaching pros" are part of the machine. Most of these “PGA Certified” teachers can’t break 80 on a tough track. They passed their PAT (Playing Ability Test) by shooting a 155 on some easy, wide-open course one time, and they’ve been dining out on those three letters ever since. I knew guys who spent five years on the “PAT tour” just trying to post one decent score to get their card.
The Legend of the Maui Lani Range
I walked away from that 2015 encounter at the Maui Lani driving range thinking that old guy was just spinning yarns. He painted a picture of a “dark side” to golf’s Golden Age—claiming Arnie and Sam Snead were every bit the “dogs” that Tiger was. I know Rossie got in trouble for his book where he said that him and Arnie were rooming together when an angry husband woke him up in the middle of the night looking for Arnie and his wife. The old man even claimed Snead had a contract clause for a “different lady in his room every night” at a golf school, regardless of her looks. It sounded like the ramblings of a man who’d spent too much time in the sun.
But when I got home and started digging, the “senile old man” started looking like a prophet. I found the Maryland driving range he told me about, and then I found the patent for his shaft testing device. If the tech was real, maybe the stories were too.
Arnie: The First “One-Man Conglomerate”
He wasn’t lying about Arnie’s business empire. Long before Tiger had Nike, Palmer was a business machine. Under Arnold Palmer Enterprises, he didn’t just endorse cars—he owned six General Motors and Ford dealerships across five states. His reach was “mind-boggling,” with stakes in everything from dry cleaners and hotels to golf course design. He wasn’t just a golfer; he was a corporate titan who paved the way for the $600 drivers we see today.
The Kessler vs. Palmer Fallout
Peter Kessler really was the voice of the network until he crossed the King. In that infamous 2001 interview, Kessler grilled a defensive (and some say, slightly “refreshed”) Palmer over his endorsement of the non-conforming Callaway ERC driver. Kessler argued Arnie was betraying the USGA and the soul of the game for Callaway’s money. That interview effectively ended Kessler’s career at the network, proving that in the golf world of the 90s, you didn’t bet against the manufacturers or the King. This is a prime example of why no one has had the balls to speak out about the equipment like Kessler did. It reminds me of a rider saying Lance was doping or there was doping in cycling when he controlled everything in cycling. the Omertà . And for those who think doping is gone from professional cycling and golf….you probably still believe in Santa Claus.
The “Parallel Shaft” Conspiracy
The most technical part of his story—the shift to parallel shafts—is where his “Mob” theory gets interesting. He claimed the industry moved to cheap, $1 parallel “blanks” and didn’t want anyone testing them because the quality was junk.
The industry had moved to a “Sucker Economy,” where they’d label any cheap piece of steel as “Stiff” to move inventory, knowing most golfers would never have the tools to prove they were being sold a lie.
I fell for it myself when I got back into golf. I went into a simulator, saw myself flushing TaylorMade Rocketballz 7-irons 195 yards, and thought they were a miracle. I paid $800 for those “pieces of shit” only to find I couldn’t hit them on a real course. When I finally had them tested, the “Stiff” labels were a lie—the actual frequencies were all over the map, ranging from Ladies to Senior flex.
The USGA sold the game we all knew. The U Suck Golf Association. At 60 I am hitting the ball way further with modern drivers than I did at 20 although Mods and Hogan mods helping with that too
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I think a persimmon and blades Country Club would be a nice start. Super exclusive with a course that would make people’s mouths water. Like a Wonka Chocolate Factory of Golf. Maybe a Chocolate river like Rae’s Creek and Oompa Loompas cutting the fairways. If you are caught playing a cavity back or frying pan driver, you are expelled or suspended immediately.
Haha. I love the creativity.
I did a Golf Live with Peter Kessler in studio back in the late 90’s.. he was very good at what he did. Knew everything about me- asked the right questions and even took it so far as to send me a Christmas card for several years after that. He was definitely the heart of the Golf Channel back then and is probably right to feel he got shafted
Do you have a copy of that?
I would think so - probably on VHS. Would have to dig through my old tapes and find it and try transfer it to computer