WEBVTT - Kyle Westmoreland 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:08.639 It's the son of a butcher podcast. I'm your host, 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:13.400 Claude harmon come to you every Wednesday. This week's guest, 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:15.840 I think, one of the real feel good, kind of 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.360 positive stories currently in this crazy game of professional golf 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:24.000 that we find ourselves in. Um. Kyle, one of the 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.880 graduates off the corn ferry, has his PGA Tour Card. 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:30.160 Now you will see him on the PGA tour. uh, 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.879 but what a really interesting story, interesting background. Uh. Went 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:38.480 to the Air Force Academy. UH, served five years after 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:43.160 the Military Academy. Um, so a tenure process to get 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.080 to the corn ferry and then to get his card. 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.199 and Um, I really really enjoyed talking to kyle. I'd 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.320 watched him Um at the US Open that he qualified 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.920 for out at Tory Pines in Um. But I think 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.560 this is a story that everybody can get behind and 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.000 kind of his journey to the PGA tour is very, 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:03.600 I think, unique. Um, it's inspiring and um I think 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.200 everybody's going to really really enjoy listening to it and 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:09.800 I think that with the PGA tour starting, Um, the 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.160 new season, the rap around and I think he is 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.119 going to be someone that everybody listening will be looking 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:21.600 out for. So really excited for the talk with Kyle Westmoreland. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:28.760 My guest is one of the twenty five players from 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:31.880 the corner ferry tour to secure their PGA tour card. 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.479 Kyle Westmoreland. Um, Kyle, you're the first player to play 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.720 on the PGA tour to come out of the Air 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.800 Force Academy. I mean, are you gonna demand that they 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:43.800 announce you on the on the first tie of your 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:47.240 first PGA tour event as Captain Kyle Westmoreland? Are you 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.360 just happy with Kyle? I'm just happy with Kyle. You know, 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.440 captain was something we were in the past, but happy 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:55.120 to be a golfer now and happy to be playing 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.440 on the golf spe stage. I really appreciate you having 0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:00.320 me on. Um, what an amazing story. I mean, I 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.800 think with all the craziness currently going on, Um, in 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.360 the world of Professional Golf, with the PGA tour and 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.359 the live and all that, you know, crazy drama. I mean, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.560 your story to me is one of the great kind 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:16.000 of feel good stories about, you know, what the game 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:21.360 of golf allows people to do and and your story, Um, 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.320 I mean there's so much to unpack, but I've got 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.200 I gotta Talk to you. I don't think people that 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.520 that watch golf realize that, you know, trying to make 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.280 it into the tour championship, trying to keep your card. 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:36.400 But I think, Um, the drama on on the corn 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.200 ferry every year for guys trying to get their cards, 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.880 to get twenty five opportunities to to have a life 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.000 changer to play on the PGA tour. Um, it's always 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:47.720 to me some of the best drama. What was it 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:50.800 like for you? Um, you missed the cut in the 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.800 first of the finals, which puts you behind the eight ball, 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.400 and then you pull it out. Yeah, you know, I 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.680 honestly there's not. There's not much like it. You feel 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.239 you feel some nerves or anxiousness, you know, playing different 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:07.760 tournaments in different situations, but honestly, there's nothing that compares 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.640 to the Corn Ferry Tour finals coming down to the 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.720 end on the bubble Um, other than maybe q school right. 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:16.480 Q schools super, you know, competitive and there's so many 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.520 guys fighting for spots and you know you're just trying to, 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.040 you know, prove your worth there and uh, and you're 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.080 trying to do the same, you know, Corn Ferry tour finals. 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.720 I did put myself on the eight ball, which didn't help. 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.120 Played well in Ohio. You know, we're pushing for a 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.120 Birdie or two down the stretch. That, you know, really 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.119 would have capped it off and made it not come 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.960 down to uh, two hours after I finished on a 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.200 Sunday of Victorian national. But you know, it's just awesome 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.960 to be there and then just it's just chaos. You know, 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.920 if you're on the bubble, you know, like I said, 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.440 I told you, I recommend everyone play better and not 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:52.360 be on the bubble. It's a it's a great thing 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.120 to get your card, but the two hours leading up 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:55.800 to it, you know, we're pretty stressful for me and 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.560 my wife, my family. But then being there was awesome. 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:00.720 You know, that made it, made the variants. Now is 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.600 and memory will never forget and I'm just thankful to 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.480 have the opportunity to plan a PGA tour. It's one 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:09.680 of those opportunities, Kyle, to where going into the finals, 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.600 I mean with the cards available. Um, if you're one 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.320 of those guys, as you said, on the bubble, there's 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:18.920 you know what you need to do right. You know 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.160 that every single shot, every single pot Um. You know 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.160 that making a bogey on a par five, you know, 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.919 a silly bogey, and you look up and you're like, 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.279 I've just dropped three spots. So it's that constant checking 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.599 of the leader boards. All the golf sports psychologists always 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:39.719 say listen, stay in the moment. I mean, as a 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:42.880 coach I'm constantly telling my players stay in the moment, 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:45.840 stay in the moment. You can't affect what's going to happen. 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.240 You can't be affected by what has happened. But that's 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.600 so much easier said than done when you're in that 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.919 kind of cauldron, last round of the year on the 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.400 corn ferry and you know that if you go out 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.360 and get your job done, Um, some things could happen 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:06.680 to where it's taken out of your control. Yeah, exactly. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.160 You know, I typically do my best to uh, like 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:10.919 you said, stay in the moment, kind of detached in 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.159 the situation. I don't play with a bunch of emotion. 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.320 Try Not to, because I think you know, emotional decisions 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:19.039 are the most of the time bad ones. Um. But 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.240 I don't watch any leaderboards. So I don't look at 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:24.440 the leader board. I don't even I don't want to know. Um, 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:26.400 you know, if someone you know tells me. I look, 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.520 I'll see where the leaders at. So, you know, see 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.320 what kind of what we need to do to try 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:33.200 to get get to there. But you know, other than 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:35.280 once when when I get to the last three holes, 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:37.360 I typically asked Im like hey, what do we need here? 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.400 What needs to happen? But until then it's just, you know, 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.840 creating that game plan, trying to execute the best your ability. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.000 You know, I'm confident in my game and in the 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.320 confident in the game plan that we come up with 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.320 each and every week and I know that if I 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.240 go out and I execute well, I'll be competitive. Um, 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.920 so it's just trying to do that. I think everybody 0:05:55.960 --> 0:05:58.400 listening is always fascinated when you're watching golf when you 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.560 hear players say, listen, I didn't watch any leaderboards today. 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.920 I mean there was a great there's a famous story yes, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:05.720 for Parnivic back in the day, had a chance to 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:09.320 win the open championship. Um, at turnberry, didn't look at 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.800 a leaderboard, didn't know that he needed not to make 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.360 a Birdie. Um. I think people, the fans, are always 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.920 kind of maybe sometimes confused by that, because in other 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:24.480 sports you're constantly aware of what's happening in the game. Right, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.280 if you're an NFL quarterback, it's not like you don't 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.760 want to know what down it is, what score it is. 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:34.320 What you need to do. Um, the thought process behind 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:38.479 not watching the leaderboard, because there are players called watch leaderboards. 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.240 They want to know where they are. Um, why do 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:43.640 you take the approach? You said you know, you'll you'll 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:45.560 kind of ask on the last three holes in these 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.360 type of pressure situations. But what is it about not 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:53.039 watching leaderboards that you think does for you and for 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:57.440 your mental kind of frame of mind? Yeah, I try 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.719 to only put energy into stuff that I can control. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.800 And I can't control what's going on to the leaderboard, 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:03.599 but I can't control what's up, what's up in front 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:05.640 of me. And and you know, if I if it 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:07.560 comes down in the last three holes, you know, and 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.280 and and I asked and I want to know. There 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.320 there is a point where the caddy does need to 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:15.560 know where we're at. It does need to know that. Yeah, 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.440 caddy has got to know. That's part of the job. 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.800 But but for me, Um, if I can't control the situation, 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.960 I can't control it, then I don't I don't care 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:24.840 about it. You know, it doesn't. It doesn't matter to me. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.080 And if someone goes on a six, you know six 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.200 whole Birdie run or whatever, and you see you know 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.920 so and joey garbage made four executive birdies, then uh, then, 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:35.360 you know, it doesn't do anything for me to look 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.400 at it doesn't do anything for me to add some 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.360 external pressure. Sure that doesn't necessarily need to be there. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:41.680 And when I got to hit a you know, when 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.800 I need to hit a two dirty yard shot over 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.840 the water too, you know, a green that has uh, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.200 you know, water in front, bunkers on the left and right. 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:51.920 You know, I don't need to know that Joey made 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:55.400 four Birdie. Doesn't matter to me. But but I will 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.200 say caddy doesn't need to know. And coming down to 0:07:58.200 --> 0:07:59.680 the last three holes, that can kind of change a 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.520 little bit because you start, you know, you start trying 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:03.920 to feel where you're at, what you need to do, 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.239 and especially this last round, right last trying to Victoria national, 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.840 I'm struggling to shoot even par. Right, I'm I think 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:13.960 I made a double. UH, part three, really sloppy shot, 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:17.200 bad shot and UH camera showed up. You know, cameras 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.360 had followed us. So so I know there's no reason 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:22.400 that something that cameras should follow a guy shooting even 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.560 par unless he's on the bubble. So I knew where 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:26.360 I was at and so I kind of asked it 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:28.840 then and I thought we needed to make a Birdie 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.000 on the last. Turns out we uh, we, you know, 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:34.040 we could. We would have been okay not making it, 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.880 but it was nice to make the Birdie in a 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.840 situation that you think you need to, even though you're 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.600 you're playing professional golf. If you're not one of those guys, 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.000 you know, like a rory mcilory or Dustin Johnson or 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:51.280 Justin Thomas who basically they're on camera from the time 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:53.400 they get to the golf course right there on their 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.960 on camera. There's people following them from the parking lot, 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.680 they're following them to the driving range. So they're used 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.160 to that. If you're not a superstar and you're playing 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:04.840 on the web and and and or on the corn 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.040 ferry end and the corn ferry, there's less cameras than 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.800 there are on the P G A tour right. I 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.360 mean it's it's a way different kind of media set up. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:18.000 So all of a sudden the cameras show up. You know, 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.080 you're like, okay, that that puts. Do you feel like 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:24.240 that puts added pressure on you? Because all of a 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.720 sudden you're like, okay, it's not just me doing out 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.480 this out here on my own. Now I'm gonna be 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.720 in the coverage. Everything I do, all the shots that 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.880 I hit now are going to be televised. Do you 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.720 feel that and you sense that? Not so much pressure, 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:43.720 but are you aware that that's happening? Um, I wouldn't 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.680 say I feel any extra pressure. I would say actually 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.440 the opposite. This past week Victoria national, you know I 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.880 wasn't I wasn't playing great six under. I wasn't in 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:54.960 the mix to win. I knew I was, you know, 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.360 pretty far down the leaderboard, but cameras were there. So 0:09:57.600 --> 0:09:59.520 get you pretty fired up and try to finish. You 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.079 know you're doing and something you know you're in the mix. Um, and, 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:05.000 and I love that. I think cameras there, you know, 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.360 allows my family friends from around the world to watch. 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.120 I mean I finished and had about five hundred texts 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.240 from buddies that are stationed all over the world that 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.439 I went to school with. Their met military time and 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.199 it's just a it was awesome for me and honestly, 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.960 it was nice to have them there and let me 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:22.600 know that, like hey, we are in the mix and 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.680 we are you know, this is still still golf tournament. 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.840 We're not playing great, but may a couple of birdies. 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.439 We can, you know, control our own faith. You mentioned 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:34.040 the military there. It's so much a part of your story. Um, 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.120 let's go back to the beginning. You grew up in in. 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:38.120 I didn't know you grew up in Houston Texas. I 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.840 grew up in Houston Texas. Let's go um what. You 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.200 wanted to go to the University of Texas and play 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.920 golf there. Such an amazing history. They've had so many 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.520 great players. They just won the national championships again, coach fields. 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:53.840 You know. I mean the list of players that have 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:58.520 played at ut from a golf standpoint. Scottie Scheffler, Um, 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:03.680 just our Jordan's speed, Ben Crunshaw, all the greats, Tom Kite, um. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.480 But you chose to go to the Air Force Academy. 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.120 Talk me through what that process was like. Did you 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:14.559 have other offers, UM, from other programs in in in college? 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.360 I did. Yeah, so I was fortunate, you know, to 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.920 have some options. Most of the smaller schools and in 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.920 Texas at the time. They've since, you know, grown quite 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:26.680 a bit. But, like you have h was one that 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.680 I looked to. I looked at Texas tech for a brief, 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:32.360 brief amount of time. Looked at a couple of schools 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:36.120 in Kansas, which tos state in Kansas State. Looked at 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.520 Air Force Academy. But, to be honest, I was pretty 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:40.080 rock coming out of out of high school. You know, 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.120 I played, played other sports all growing up and and 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.120 I played golf in the summertimes, but it was kind 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:49.400 of you know, you know, secondary tertiary sports. So it 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.560 was it was awesome when I, you know, chose to 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.200 really pursue golf my last three years of high school 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:56.640 and and uh, you know, dove into it. But I 0:11:56.679 --> 0:11:58.480 was Rong. I had a lot of speed. Didn't always 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:00.680 know where it was going. Um, but the you know, 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.520 the benefit of that is we learned how to chip right, great. 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:05.960 The thing. The thing about chipping is, you know, you 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.439 don't you don't get good at chipping by hitting fifteen 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:11.360 greens around. So so it was awesome. Got The hone 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.040 in the short game, I say, Um, and then chose 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:17.160 air force coach fields, was actually one of the people that, 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.599 you know, convinced me to not convinced, but talk to 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.640 me into thinking about air force. I I visited. Didn't 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.200 plan on going there, UM, but I really like the 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.120 coaching staff, liked what the school is about. I thought 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.439 it would be a challenge for me and, uh, it 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.560 turns out it really was a challenge for me, but 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:33.559 I thought it would be a challenge for me and 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.480 and coach fields, you know, they he really didn't have 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.000 space on his team. He had a he has a 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:40.000 great program that if you Um, if you check a 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.920 few boxes, you're guarantee. Uh, I guess I guarantee walk 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.120 on right. Prefer Walk On. So that's what I planned 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:51.559 on doing. However, the Air Force Academy, you know, came 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.080 about and talked to him and he said, Hey, you 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.840 should consider this, and ended up, you know, with the coaches, 0:12:57.040 --> 0:12:59.840 coaching staff there. We went there, got a lot better 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.520 and uh, you know, I wouldn't change anything. Before we 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.960 get to to military report, you mentioned that you started, 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:09.800 you played, you really only focused golf the last three 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.920 years of of of high school. What other sports did 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:16.920 you play growing up? Yeah, I grew up playing football, 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:21.240 basketball and baseball as well. Baseball was probably the main sport. Football. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.240 You know, if you'd asked me in middle school if 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.480 you know what sport I'd be playing, I would have 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.679 told you I was the next eventce young right. Turns 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:32.520 out I wasn't nearly as athletic or capable on football field, 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.560 but but I enjoyed it. And and then basketball. You 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.240 know I love basketball as well. You know, pretty much 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.320 anything with the ball I've played it at some point 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:44.080 in time, but baseball is probably my sport. I see 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.840 so many college see so many kids trying to play 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.840 golf and you know, the one that's always difficult for 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:53.400 me is the you know, fourteen, fifteen year old, you know, 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.480 either boy or girl, that comes in. You asked them 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.920 what other sports they play and the parents say listen, 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.600 you know, they a little soccer when she was younger, 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.360 but really for the last six seven years all she's 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.080 done is play golf. Um, as a coach, that's always 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.560 a really tough one for me. Um, because I think 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:16.959 high school and and and junior high, being in competitive sports, 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.360 competitive athletics, being on a team. One of the things 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.520 that I think is hugely important for the development of 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.640 a Golfer who is trying to play at an elite 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.760 level is to have been a part of some sort 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:33.720 of competitive team to where they could play good in 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:37.400 the team could lose and they could play bad and 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.400 the team could win. What do you think playing team sports, 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:46.560 playing other sports did once you made that choice to say, okay, now, 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:48.640 in my last three years of high school, I'm really 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.040 just now going to be a one sport athlete. But 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.640 up until that sport, because I tell parents, kyle all 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.400 the time, keep your kids playing as many sports as 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:02.880 possible as long as possible. Yeah, yeah, exactly that. You know, 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.320 playing in a team sports, you learned so much, so 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:09.040 many valuable lessons there, um, that translate into all walks 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:10.920 of life. You know, even even in Golf, right, that 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.360 is an individual sport, but as a team, playing team sports, 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.240 I loved being a part of it. I love the Camaraderie. Um. 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.560 That being said, you know, Golf was my summertime, summertime 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:24.160 out right I was I started playing golf because it 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.080 was the it was the cheapest form of babysitting growing 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:28.720 up and like actually grew up the outside of the 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.600 Fort Worth there. He went to high school, Junior High 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.640 High School in Houston, but Um, it was like two 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:35.600 dollars to play all you can play. We didn't have 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:37.760 a range or anything. So and I didn't do well 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.760 the babysitters. So my mom would send me to the 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.280 golf course at five bucks. And you know, it's been 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.440 too by, you know, Sandwich with the other one and 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.920 then playing Nassau with the old guys, you know, early on. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.040 So I learned how to do that in the summertime. 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.960 But but all those other sports, you know, they made 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:56.600 me better at different things. Football, you know, obviously Um 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.520 gave me some size. You you grow up training for 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:02.480 football and and uh, you know, I think strength wise, 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.960 you you can really benefit there Um as well as 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.600 well as, you know, just development, learning how to lose 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:11.520 and continue on and make a good play or make 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.600 a bad play and continue to come back because other 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.440 people are counting on you to do your job. And 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.480 then on the golf course, you know, I think I 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.720 took those other sports, the accountability that comes from those, 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.680 from those other sports, and applied it and applied the 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:26.960 same drive and and I was able to, you know, 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.360 Mosey into a sport that is uh, you know, you 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.200 you control your own faith, right. So there's there's bounces, 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.200 there's things that will happen to you on the golf course. 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.160 But if, I think, if you apply those same work 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.000 ethics that you learn in those other sports in the Gulf, 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.560 I think that's a, you know, a winning recipe. One 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.240 of the other things called that I find when you 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.640 work with young kids who really get out of all 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.080 other sports and they just focus on golf. Um, from 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:54.800 a coach standpoint, from an instruction standpoint, Um, sometimes kids 0:16:54.840 --> 0:16:57.760 that have been an individual sports and nothing else, they're 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.360 very difficult to coach because they've never really he had 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.360 to deal with anyone with a coach saying hey, you 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.560 miss that play, get out, we'll bring somebody in. That 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.240 kind of I always say to the players it's funny 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.639 in golf you can be working on something with a 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.040 player and say, listen, why don't you? You know, you 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.399 try and let's hit this shot right, we're gonna hit fades, fade, fade, 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.880 fade to fade, and you know you're trying to start 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.240 the golf ball left and you know the golf ball 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.199 starting to the right, starting to the right, starting to 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.600 the right. And and I'm always thinking if this was 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:28.240 team sports, if this was high school football and the 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.439 coach was telling you to run an out pattern and 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:32.440 you were supposed to run five yards and then cut 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:34.960 across and go across the middle, and you kept running 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.119 five yards and cutting towards the sideline. The coach would 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:41.320 sit your ass down. They'd bring somebody in and you 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.879 would sit there. You don't go practice, you don't go 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:46.280 work on it like we're doing golf. You just go sit. 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:49.679 And I am always interested in somehow, some way in 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.760 team sports, when the coaches take you out, you don't 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:54.359 go to the you don't go to the range and 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.960 hit balls. You sit there and then the coach will 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.080 come back to you and say, okay, are you ready 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:02.000 to come back in and do your job? And do 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:05.680 the job like we've practiced it. I'm always fascinated that 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:09.800 that seems to work in team sports, put an individual sports. 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:12.960 Sometimes you can tell somebody what to do over and 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.000 over and over again and they struggled to do it. Yeah, yeah, 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.119 I think I mean just facing adversity mentally. You know, 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.520 it is something that you learned so early in team sports, 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.400 especially like a football or a baseball right, because there's 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:31.080 immediate feedback with your coaches and yeah, I just I agree. 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.320 You know, I haven't really thought about it like that 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:35.679 in that sense. But yeah, but you know, if I 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.760 have missed a snap in football, you know I was 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:41.000 going to hear about it. Right there's immediate repercussion and 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:42.920 I guess you know, if you were to set me 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:44.679 up on the range and say hey, you need to 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:47.840 hit a cut right now, I would probably hit a cut, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:49.600 you know, if I knew that there was a repercussion 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:53.040 of somebody yelling at me right. So you could. You 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:54.439 can hit a cut. You can take a guy and 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:55.840 you can tell them, hey, you need to hook this, 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.200 you can't cut it. You know, it needs to start 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:02.320 writing hook to figure it out, especially people going at 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.800 this level or or even in high school. Right, you 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.840 can do that in high school. But but I agree, 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.000 that's neat. I haven't thought about it like that. So 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.720 let's take a short break and we will be back 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:20.600 right after this. All right, let's get back to the interview. 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.800 Most people that are going to go to college in 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.080 the United States and try and play competitive Um Golf 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.440 and go to college. It's very different to go into 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.200 the University of Texas and being a College Golfer and 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.919 making that decision when you're eighteen, nineteen years old, and 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.920