On Tuesday, July 1, San Francisco 49ers tight end attended a Zoom call ahead of the American Century Championship to discuss his first-time visit to the long-standing event.

When asked about what brought him to make his debut this year Kittle noted a few items.

“I thoroughly enjoy golf. I thoroughly enjoy having an excuse to be outside for four days for multiple hours … I just like hanging out with the boys. It’s fantastic. All the interactions you get, all the people you get to meet.

And then I’m a huge fan of Lake Tahoe. So, give me an excuse to go to Lake Tahoe for four days, and I’ll take it.”

Kittle, who got his first set of clubs with a scholarship check at a local Play It Again Sports, told a story about retrieving clubs from his playing partner that he still uses today.

“He hit like three drives in a row into the forest. And so he just threw his club into the forest and I was like, hey, can I just, can I go get that? It was a Nike Sasquatch driver. I still have it in my bag today, still use it every single day that I golf.”

Kittle went on to talk about his relationship with his father and how he uses the golf course to spend much-valued time with him.

“What I realized is the older you get the harder it is to spend quality time with your parents. And so just to get like those five to seven hours of just hanging out, sharing a golf cart, talking about stuff, whether it matters or it doesn’t matter. I just always appreciate the time I get with my dad because he’s one of my best friends.”

As an initial investor in The Curling Group, Kittle also spoke about the upcoming Grand Slam of Curling. The six-day event is slated to happen at the Tahoe Blue Event Center from November 4 – 9 in South Lake Tahoe.

“I’m stoked. If there’s any opportunity for me to get up there during the season, I’m gonna try my best to be up there,” Kittle said. “I think everybody will thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it.”

But for now, the focus will be on golf (and finishing better than Charles Barkley) as the celebrity tournament draws near. As for any advice given to Kittle to help give him the lay of the land and playing in front of the thousands of attendees, fellow NFL tight end Travis Kelce offered up a suggestion.

“I think Travis told me to have a few drinks before the first tee box so I’m not too nervous.”

The American Century Championship is set to take place at Edgewood Tahoe from July 9 – 13. Saturday of the event is sold out, but tickets for all other days are still available. For more information on the 36th annual celebrity event visit americancenturychampionship.com.