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TURNING STONE RESORT CHAMPIONSHIP

August 3, 2010

Notah Begay III

VERONA, NEW YORK

ADAM WALLACE: All right. We'd like to welcome Notah Begay to the interview room. And as you guys know, this is Notah's home course. Welcome back. If we could get some opening comments about how you feel coming into this week. Last year you didn't get to play because of an injury, so we're happy to have you back. So if you could tell us what your thoughts are coming into the week.
NOTAH BEGAY III: Yes. I guess I'm still wondering what it's like to play here on the weekend. Last year I had a torn meniscus and had knee surgery later in the year. And the other two years I hadn't really played all that well, but certainly been a privilege to represent the property, the tournament, and promote it with all the PGA TOUR players and fans and try and get golf a little bit more established here in Upstate. And I think it's been a success.
ADAM WALLACE: Questions?

Q. The conditions are a lot different now than they would have been the last couple of years, especially during the winter here. And now it's really, really hot. Does it change the way you play at all?
NOTAH BEGAY III: Well, I don't know necessarily that it changes the way that the players strategize and approach the golf course. The actual setup of the golf course itself does change. With the warmer conditions, the PGA TOUR is able to make it play a little bit firmer.
So unless we get any big rains in the next few days, you're going to -- for the average fan you're going to see balls rolling out a little bit more on the fairway, which brings a little bit more trouble into play, where a ball may hit and then stay in the fairway or the first cut now will probably roll into the rough.
And depending on -- with the technology and all of the devices that the greens staff has at their disposal and all, they can pretty much make the greens as soft or as hard as they want. So I'm hoping they opt for a firmer, more difficult setup which I think will identify the person that's playing the best this week.

Q. Can you talk about how the course has been playing over the summer?
NOTAH BEGAY III: You know, this golf course is probably as far as the PGA TOUR is concerned, it's probably the least played course of any of the venues, maybe with the exception of Augusta National.
You know, just the way it's manicured and taken care of, and it gets no play. So it's virtually perfect.

Q. And how important would you say it is that the tournament stay in the summer months?
NOTAH BEGAY III: I think it's vital. I mean it's vital for a lot of reasons. You know, this area is conducive to a lot of vacationers as far as a lot of their economic vitality is concerned. So having an event that's able to attract people that are up here on vacation and to promote the charitable endeavors that the tournament tries to establish through some of their donations and such, they've been extremely creative with helping organizations that, you know, come from smaller markets.
I mean these charities in these areas don't have access to a tremendous amount of resources on an annual basis, so if you can generate 10 to $20,000 of additional revenue for them, it's huge. And this event allows a handful of charities to do that, and it would be a shame for that to go by the wayside.

Q. I would just like to get your thoughts, you being the tournament ambassador, just your thoughts on one of the sponsor exemptions Chris Smith, certainly he's been through so much in the past year, wife dying in a car accident, both of his kids were critically injured in that accident. Just your thoughts on him being able to play here this weekend?
NOTAH BEGAY III: As an ambassador I get a little say, not final say, but I was certainly a big advocate for Chris, having gone through sort of my own issues with injuries, and certainly not to the extent he has.
But he's been fighting for starts and trying to get his game back in order and to deal with that sort of personal tragedy, I think it was a no-brainer for this tournament to extend him an opportunity to continue to pursue his dream. And you know, his life's changed now. And I think he's handled it as gracefully and with as much class as I think anybody could have.

Q. Notah, have you had a chance yet to talk to Gavin Hall at all, and if so, is there any advice maybe you'd give to him as he gets set to play in his first PGA TOUR event?
NOTAH BEGAY III: I talked to him actually just at lunch here, and it's exciting. You know, the whole -- the intent of I guess us as we get into our later years -- I'm 37 now and I've been playing professionally over 15 years -- is to set the stage for the younger generations.
And for a kid like that to have a chance through an invitation that was extended on a tournament, a local kid that obviously has the ability I think is an exciting opportunity for people in this area to see that, you know, it's great when kids get to pursue their dream.
And this is a dream. I mean you know, there's a lot of talented 15-year-olds in this country that'll never get to play a TOUR event. And he has that opportunity. Now, whether he pursues a career in golf -- there's a lot that stands from where he's at now to a career in this game. And you know, he may never play another TOUR event again, but I'm hoping that he just enjoys it and doesn't get too caught up in the competition.
Nobody's expecting him to do well. So I think it's more important for him to have fun and to really take as much experience as he can from the process and help him become a better player.

Q. Have you seen his game at all, what makes him as good of a golfer as he is so young?
NOTAH BEGAY III: You know, all the guys out here look good. You watch them on the range, they all look the same. They hit it good. It's certainly not their ability to hit the ball or the technical aspects of their swing are the big determining factors of success out here. It's how much heart do you have and are you going to give up if it gets tough.

Q. Notah, how is your health and how do you expect to do this year?
NOTAH BEGAY III: I've got no expectations. I've made zero money on the TOUR this year. I've only played I think eight tournaments, and you know, just for me just getting through a tournament without being in pain is a success, and I'm hoping to do that. We'd have to take another half hour to talk about all my injuries, but I don't want to bore you. My wife hears it about every other week, so she says it's a pretty boring story.
You know, my expectations are extremely low. The biggest major for me this year is Q-School. So I say this every year, but I honestly feel like I'm close to being healthy again. So hopefully I can get through the school, get a few extra starts down the road and be healthy for a 2011 campaign and try and get back into some sort of good form.
You know, it's getting tougher. It's more competitive. You're seeing a lot more athletes playing golf, and consequently it's becoming more demanding, and I think that's great for our sport.

Q. Notah, what was your reaction to Ray initially being in the tournament and then subsequently taking himself out of it?
NOTAH BEGAY III: You know, I was a big support of Ray either way, but I felt like he was right on the money in saying that, you know, his presence in the event was a distraction to all the good things that were taking place here. And for him to be able to see that and understand it, you know, took a lot of leadership ability.
And I think it was the right choice. And it was a tough choice, but I didn't see -- I didn't see personally any problems with him playing, certainly because there's been precedents set before with Nationwide Tour events and other PGA TOUR events where players that were otherwise not really qualified on paper got starts.
So there was, you know, a lot of controversy surrounding it. It just depends on -- you know, do you want to see the glass half empty or the glass half full, and I think it was a big distraction, and he just didn't feel like it was relevant to all of the good things that were happening here. And I think it was a good choice.
ADAM WALLACE: All right, Notah, thanks for coming in. Best of luck to you this week.
NOTAH BEGAY III: All right.

End of FastScripts

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