A group of five, yet to be named, professional players enter the gym at the Augusta, Georgia YCMA.
Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke you hear on the 19th hole in your clubhouse.
But according to former Broadway pro Josh, this story involving himself and four other pros—including Captain Zack Johnson—when they were on mini-tours didn’t end up as the butt of many a joke.
“We finished rehearsal that morning,” he told Broadway hosts Subpar in GOLF Colt Nost and Drew Stolz. “Let’s go to this ‘Y’ and play basketball. So we go in there and people are all over and they say, ‘Hey, who wants to play next?'”
It seems like a normal day off for any man in his teens and twenties, even an aspiring professional on tour. Back when Johnson and Broadway were making their way to the big stage in the early 1900s, physical fitness wasn’t the focus today.
“Back then we’re all, even then, out of shape,” Broadway said. “Obviously we didn’t work out, you know, at that time, exercise was forbidden. You might hurt yourself, right?”
So what happened when a group of probably 20 out-of-center people played their first game?
They won. Then again. and again. And again, says Broadway.
“We ran the place for about two hours,” he said. “We played seven games. We won every game. Nobody can beat us.”
He had never seen any of them play before either.
“We’re just like, ‘Are you good?’ ‘Yeah, I’m very good.’ She’s any good for you? ‘Yeah, I can shoot,’” Broadway said. Fine. We may not lose today.”
Finally, a group of apparently the best players at the Y that day got together and finally got the two golfers off the course.
Blake Adams wasn’t happy about that.
“Blake, he’s a little quiet. Don’t say too much, but he got annoyed,” Broadway recalled. He said, “We’ll sit down again and then we’ll play you again.” They’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. We sat through a game and beat them 15 to none the next. And we’re like, ‘Okay, we’re out. Golfers leave.'”
If Johnson decides to bring the Ryder Cup back to the team this fall in Rome, Broadway says they’d better guard it with a hand in the face.
“He can absolutely fill it,” said Broadway.