Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. I'm your host
Speaker 1: Claude Harmon. This week's pod is it's a special one
Speaker 1: for me, and the reason for that is my guest
Speaker 1: is rayhn Thomas. I'm sure many of you don't know
Speaker 1: who Ray is, but he just turned professional, played his
Speaker 1: college golf at Oklahoma State University, had a top ten
Speaker 1: in the International Series on the Asian Tour last week
Speaker 1: in his second professional event as a pro. But the
Speaker 1: reason why it's special for me is Ray started in
Speaker 1: our junior program. I have an academy out in Dubai
Speaker 1: and Ray started in our junior program when he was
Speaker 1: nine years old. And to kind of watch his journey
Speaker 1: and to kind of watch the things that he's done
Speaker 1: and watch him turn professional now has been pretty cool
Speaker 1: for me. He talks a lot about his junior career,
Speaker 1: struggling when he got to college and kind of that
Speaker 1: jump from junior golf to college golf, and now he's
Speaker 1: making that jump from college golf to professional golf. And
Speaker 1: I've got a massive, massive soft spot for Ray. He's
Speaker 1: always got a smile on his face. Justin Parsons who've
Speaker 1: had on the pod before, JP and I were working
Speaker 1: together in Dubai at my academy. When Ray was a
Speaker 1: junior and he was young, we would put him through exercises.
Speaker 1: He couldn't touch his toes. He always had a smile
Speaker 1: on his face. And to watch him play last week
Speaker 1: finish top ten on an invite on the Asian Tour,
Speaker 1: it was really really cool for me, and I think
Speaker 1: this is a really good podcast because golf, even at
Speaker 1: the highest level, can sometimes be difficult. You can go
Speaker 1: through slumps, you can go through confidence crisises, and Ray
Speaker 1: talks very very open about it. But I'm so excited
Speaker 1: to get the opportunity to talk to Ray Hann. I
Speaker 1: think he's got a big future and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see what he does as a professional. So this is
Speaker 1: a cool one. It's special for me, and I think
Speaker 1: everyone's going to enjoy listening to Ray Han Thomas and
Speaker 1: his story. So my guest today is finishing up his
Speaker 1: fifth year at Oklahoma State University in the golf program
Speaker 1: and he just turned professional, made the cut in his
Speaker 1: first professional tournament. Corn Fairy seventy two, sixty four, sixty seven,
Speaker 1: seventy three, tied for sixty eighth. Ray, this is a
Speaker 1: really cool moment for me, not only to watch for
Speaker 1: everything that you did at Oklahoma State for the last
Speaker 1: five years, but now that you're turning pro. You were
Speaker 1: nine years old when you start in our junior program
Speaker 1: in Dubai, and to watch the journey from where you started.
Speaker 1: I mean, I still remember you used to show up.
Speaker 1: I used to call you short. One day you came
Speaker 1: to me and you said, mister Claude, I don't like
Speaker 1: him when I when you call me short. And I said, Ray,
Speaker 1: you'll load the ground. The journey has been so cool,
Speaker 1: and now you're turning pro. When you look back on it,
Speaker 1: from junior golf to now turning pro, what do you
Speaker 1: think you've learned the most in the last you know,
Speaker 1: five years at Oklahoma State. Because for people that don't know,
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State's golf program is there. They're the Los Angeles Lakers,
Speaker 1: the real Madrid they are. If you want to play
Speaker 1: on the PGA Tour and you're lucky enough to go
Speaker 1: to Oklahoma State, it's such a privilege. The five years
Speaker 1: you spent there, what do you think being an Oklahoma
Speaker 1: State cowboy golfer taught you in those five years?
Speaker 2: It taught me a lot First of all, thanks thanks
Speaker 2: for getting me on here, claud I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: And I mean the five years at Oklahoma State it
Speaker 2: was awesome. I learned a lot more about myself in
Speaker 2: my game, and that's what Coach Bratton was kind of
Speaker 2: all about, trying to figure out who you are and
Speaker 2: stick to those things, know your strengths and your weaknesses.
Speaker 2: And I struggled for a good chunk of my college
Speaker 2: career and trying to figure out, trying to figure out
Speaker 2: who I was. And this last year has been a
Speaker 2: really big leap for me, just in my confidence in
Speaker 2: my game, and yeah, just figuring out what I do
Speaker 2: well and what I do when I play well, and
Speaker 2: trying to go back to those things when I see
Speaker 2: myself straight off the path a little bit.
Speaker 1: You had a kind of a really kind of meteoric
Speaker 1: amateur career, you know, you just started playing so good
Speaker 1: as an amateur. You want to mean a tour event,
Speaker 1: and as an amateur where there were professionals playing, you
Speaker 1: shot sixty one and a tourna made nine birdies in
Speaker 1: a row. You got to Oklahoma State and you did.
Speaker 1: You struggled early, I think, and that struggle for a
Speaker 1: lot of junior golfers that listen to this podcast, for
Speaker 1: a lot of parents who have junior golfers, the jump
Speaker 1: from junior golf to basically one of the biggest colors
Speaker 1: golf programs in the world and one of the best,
Speaker 1: that's a big, big step, and I don't think people
Speaker 1: realize how hard that jump is from high high level
Speaker 1: amateur golf where you're having success, you're winning golf tournaments.
Speaker 1: You know, Ray I have parents all the time, Let's
Speaker 1: say to me when their kids go to college, were
Speaker 1: used to seeing him win. We're used to seeing him
Speaker 1: win junior golf tournaments. Now he's a freshman. Now she's
Speaker 1: a freshman. She's she's not winning, she's not playing great.
Speaker 1: What was What was the struggle for you and how
Speaker 1: did you find your way out of it?
Speaker 2: The struggle for me initially was, you know, I'd be
Speaker 2: at the course all day and I just didn't really
Speaker 2: have a plan and I would just be going through
Speaker 2: fields just trying to figure out some way to crack
Speaker 2: the team and make it. And you're playing Carston Creek.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've ever been out there, but
Speaker 2: it's a daunting and intimidating golf course if you're not
Speaker 2: hitting the ball good. And so it was just like
Speaker 2: the anxiety was building. And you know, playing for Oklahoma State,
Speaker 2: we'd just come off probably one of the best teams
Speaker 2: in college history of the last two years in twenty
Speaker 2: eighteen twenty nineteen, had some amazing players and guys who
Speaker 2: were in Torno and you know.
Speaker 1: You Victor Hovlin, Matt Wolfe. Yeah, christ I mean they
Speaker 1: want to a national championship. Zach Bowsho was on that team.
Speaker 1: Zach was a.
Speaker 2: Stud Austin's winner on the tour.
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, and you go into Oklahoma State, I think,
Speaker 1: knowing a lot about it, but the culture that the
Speaker 1: coaches and the other players, it is a it is
Speaker 1: a It is a big family. And one of the
Speaker 1: things I love about Oklahoma State and the job that
Speaker 1: the coaching staff does there. All of the players that
Speaker 1: play on tour still support love, go back, spend time
Speaker 1: in Stillwater, Ricky, Victor Hobb. I heard a rumor you're
Speaker 1: currently living in Vic's house in it Yeah, in Stillwater
Speaker 1: because Vic's now moved to Duport to live with Christophurt.
Speaker 1: That's the best to me, that's the best story. Of
Speaker 1: the year. You've got you got Victor Howland, he wins
Speaker 1: almost forty million dollars last year. He's rooming with his
Speaker 1: college roommate who's playing on the corn Ferry, and Chris Vntura.
Speaker 1: You've got all these guys down here, Ray living in
Speaker 1: twenty million dollars houses and Vic's a roommate. You're now,
Speaker 1: is Vic charging you to stay in the house or
Speaker 1: is he is? He? Is he giving it to you
Speaker 1: for free?
Speaker 2: He hasn't sent me a billy yet, but I don't
Speaker 2: think there will be one. I hope not.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, if Victor Hoblin sends your ass
Speaker 1: a bill for staying in his house, I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: a talk with him because he he doesn't need the
Speaker 1: rent money.
Speaker 2: He doesn't know.
Speaker 1: But my point behind that is you get to meet
Speaker 1: these guys that are now playing on tour, and they
Speaker 1: play a huge part. I think in every player that
Speaker 1: goes to Oklahoma State. I think there's yes, listen, every
Speaker 1: college golf program they do the same thing. But I
Speaker 1: just happen to know. You know, I worked with Ricky.
Speaker 1: I know a bunch of the guys, and I think
Speaker 1: they do a fantastic job at taking care of the
Speaker 1: next generation of players. Said, come into Oklahoma State, they
Speaker 1: go back, they play with you. Guys. Everybody I talked
Speaker 1: to Ray, you were kind of in your five years
Speaker 1: at Oklahoma State on the golf team. They used to
Speaker 1: call you the Oklahoma State golf mascot because you were
Speaker 1: everyone's favorite. Right, You've always got a smile on your face.
Speaker 1: And that's one of the things I've always loved about
Speaker 1: you is, you know, I've known you for a very
Speaker 1: long time and watched you grow as a junior golfer
Speaker 1: and now become a professional. Your attitude has always been amazing.
Speaker 1: And you know when you got to Oklahoma State, you know,
Speaker 1: justin Parsons and I, we were still trying to help you,
Speaker 1: and we we knew that you were struggling. I mean,
Speaker 1: you got the full blown driver yips for a good player.
Speaker 1: That is scary because you drove it great as a
Speaker 1: junior golfer. How much of that, Ray, do you feel
Speaker 1: was your technique and your quest to try and get better,
Speaker 1: and how much of that was just what all golfers
Speaker 1: go through, is you get anxiety, you don't have confidence,
Speaker 1: you can't see your shape, for you. What was it
Speaker 1: when you got to Oklahomas Obviously you get a scholarship
Speaker 1: to go there. You can't fake that. Yeah, you're a
Speaker 1: good player, and they think you're going to be a
Speaker 1: great player if you go to Oklahomas State and play
Speaker 1: on the golf program. But you got there. Was it
Speaker 1: the situation? Was it being away from home? Was it
Speaker 1: just the expectation? What was it that caused you to
Speaker 1: kind of have that confidence crisis that you went through.
Speaker 2: I think it was a plethora of things, for sure. Definitely,
Speaker 2: I think there were some technique issues in my swing,
Speaker 2: but obviously, like they're guys that's swinging at all different
Speaker 2: types of ways that can do it. But mentally, I
Speaker 2: was just, you know, putting so much pressure on myself,
Speaker 2: especially like you said, like you're winning junior golf tournaments
Speaker 2: all the time, and your expectations rise so high, and
Speaker 2: then when you don't meet those expectations, you're putting even
Speaker 2: more weight. And I mean those first few years at
Speaker 2: Oklahoma State, I mean I was down in the dumps
Speaker 2: with my just because you golf is are weird sport
Speaker 2: where you can put in a bunch of hours and
Speaker 2: get worse and it literally felt like that, like I'd
Speaker 2: be putting in eight hour, nine hour days and just
Speaker 2: feeling like I was getting worse, And so that weighs
Speaker 2: on you a lot. And I honestly think that the
Speaker 2: real changing point was this last summer, I was hurt
Speaker 2: with my right hand. I had a broken bone in
Speaker 2: my hand and I had to take some time off.
Speaker 2: And so Zach Bowsho got you know well, and who
Speaker 2: was on the national championship team in twenty eighteen, He
Speaker 2: asked me to caddy him while he was on the
Speaker 2: corn ferry, and I knew he was struggling with his
Speaker 2: game prior to that, and he also had some driver
Speaker 2: issues and stuff things gone. And I caddied for him
Speaker 2: in Wichita and he finished fourth after he Monday qualified
Speaker 2: in and just learning from him and the way he
Speaker 2: kind of goes about the game, and I really changed
Speaker 2: the way I thought about the game. And that was
Speaker 2: really a big pivotal point. When I got back, I
Speaker 2: wasn't really as anxious as I was.
Speaker 1: I think you had a unique opportunity as a player
Speaker 1: to go caddy for someone who's a friend, someone who's
Speaker 1: kind of around the same age as you. But you
Speaker 1: got to go see him play in a professional tournament.
Speaker 1: And I remember when I was doing television back in
Speaker 1: the day for Sky Sports, they put me on course
Speaker 1: and I'd never done on course commentary and stuff, but
Speaker 1: I remember it was a FedEx Cup that that Billy
Speaker 1: Horsell won. We were in We're at Cherry Hills, and
Speaker 1: Sergio Garcia had a chance to win this golf tournament
Speaker 1: and he made some really soft, soft bogies coming in
Speaker 1: that were just bogeys that you just don't expect good
Speaker 1: players to make like that. And as someone that was
Speaker 1: watching it, you could just kind of see, man, that
Speaker 1: that was just that you just there's no way you
Speaker 1: can make bogey from from that drive, and you still
Speaker 1: have to when you caddied fors at. It kind of
Speaker 1: make you look at your own game and say, and
Speaker 1: maybe I don't need to take on some of these shots,
Speaker 1: fire at some of these flags. You know, I talk
Speaker 1: about this all the time on the podcast, right, I
Speaker 1: think so many players don't realize that twenty feet left
Speaker 1: or right of it is a good shot. But also
Speaker 1: you go to Oklahoma State and you look at the
Speaker 1: wall of players that have won tournaments there. I've seen
Speaker 1: that locker room in that area where I mean it's
Speaker 1: just nothing but guys raising trophies, right, Yeah, and so
Speaker 1: you feel like you have to basically knock it stiff
Speaker 1: every single shot. You feel like you have to go
Speaker 1: shoot sixty four, sixty five every single time you tee
Speaker 1: it up. And that's that's very, very difficult to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, And so when I saw Zach and when
Speaker 2: I've played with him, it is just like, you know,
Speaker 2: he'd miss some shots, but he was playing very well
Speaker 2: at the time. And what I got from him the
Speaker 2: most was that he kind of thought of the game
Speaker 2: as a puzzle and he was like trying to figure
Speaker 2: out what the biggest parts of the puzzle are and
Speaker 2: just grind on it and don't look at like struggles
Speaker 2: as something to be deterred from, but like a challenge
Speaker 2: to try to overcome. And I got that. You know,
Speaker 2: I've kind of narrated down to I think golf, professional
Speaker 2: golf is just critical thinking and problem solving, and so
Speaker 2: if you can, if you have the right tools to
Speaker 2: problem solve it, I think I think you can kind
Speaker 2: of get through anything.
Speaker 1: The other thing, I think that I'm really proud of
Speaker 1: you for ray your junior year, you're an academic all
Speaker 1: big twelve. There aren't a lot of golfers playing professional
Speaker 1: golf that were high on academics. But I think it's
Speaker 1: something that's really interesting that you talk about the problem
Speaker 1: solving and the puzzle of golf. A lot of junior
Speaker 1: golfers struggle when they go to college ray because they
Speaker 1: forget that your technique is important. Yeah, I mean, you
Speaker 1: were trying and you were doing the right things. The
Speaker 1: first couple of years. You're grinding eight hours a day.
Speaker 1: You're working your ass off. You're trying to get better,
Speaker 1: but sometimes in an effort to try and get better,
Speaker 1: in an effort to try work so hard, you can
Speaker 1: get worse. And it's a mind I mean, just it
Speaker 1: blows your mind that wait a minute, I'm I can't
Speaker 1: work any harder than I'm working like, I can't put
Speaker 1: more time in that I'm putting in and I'm getting worse.
Speaker 1: What's that like? And how do you say? Okay? Was
Speaker 1: it an adjustment of how much you were practicing? Wasn't
Speaker 1: an adjustment on changing the way that you practice? How
Speaker 1: did you find this this kind of bridge to okay?
Speaker 1: I'm struggling. How do I get myself out of this
Speaker 1: because I'm already working harder than I've ever worked in
Speaker 1: my life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was mainly just once I understood what I
Speaker 2: needed to do in my golf swing, I just said, okay,
Speaker 2: range session, just grind on the things I need to
Speaker 2: because I would always go back and forth with different
Speaker 2: trying to get fields and things to just have me
Speaker 2: get through the day. And I was like, I just
Speaker 2: to myself, I know what I need to do. As
Speaker 2: long as I get these things done, I will play
Speaker 2: good golf at some point, and it will it will happen.
Speaker 2: And then I changed my practice from where I was
Speaker 2: spending most of my time on the range because I
Speaker 2: was just scared to go on the golf course, especially
Speaker 2: at Carston. I'm hitting balls in the junk every single
Speaker 2: time and having to reteat It's not fun if you're.
Speaker 1: Not driving it good. At cars two Creek, yeah.
Speaker 2: You will swear I.
Speaker 1: Big numbers.
Speaker 2: So I was just like, okay, I keep I'm scared
Speaker 2: to go on the golf course, and that's where that's
Speaker 2: where I'm going to be making my my my bread,
Speaker 2: you know. So I just said, you know, our range
Speaker 2: sessions are an hour long, go to the golf course
Speaker 2: and just play as many holes as I can. And
Speaker 2: that's how I changed, And I'll just kind of beat
Speaker 2: it out. I was like, I will dig this out
Speaker 2: of the dirt and beat it out of my system.
Speaker 1: Chris Venturo, who was on that national championship team, I
Speaker 1: worked with him when he turned pro, and I talked
Speaker 1: to him about you know what they did. You know, him,
Speaker 1: Victor Hovlin, Matt Wolf, they were all on that team,
Speaker 1: and he said, listen, we played way more golf than
Speaker 1: we practiced. He said, yeah, there were times where we
Speaker 1: would practice. But he said, Vic Matt, He said Matt especially,
Speaker 1: he said Matt when he was at that at Oklahoma
Speaker 1: stated he said, he just basically played all day long.
Speaker 1: He'd play from you know, sun up to sundown. And
Speaker 1: I think that's something that everybody that's trying to play
Speaker 1: competitive golf is. It's important to hear that that you
Speaker 1: went from eight hours a day on the range to saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm going to spend an hour on the technique stuff
Speaker 1: that I need to work on. But then the most
Speaker 1: important thing is not what happens on the driving range,
Speaker 1: it's what I actually do when I'm on the golf
Speaker 1: course trying to play and trying to score. When you
Speaker 1: made that shift to try and say, Okay, I'm going
Speaker 1: to practice less and I'm going to play more. It's
Speaker 1: not like that solved the technique issues, right, But what
Speaker 1: did it do for your confidence to get out there
Speaker 1: and just say, Okay, I've got what i've got today,
Speaker 1: I'm only going to hit balls for an hour and
Speaker 1: I'm just going to go play and I'm going to
Speaker 1: try and shoot this or because I think so many
Speaker 1: people listening think what happens on the driving range is
Speaker 1: a it predetermines what happens on the golf course.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like people try to recreate tournament conditions and
Speaker 2: you can to a certain degree, but it's never really
Speaker 2: the same. And so what I what me and Zach
Speaker 2: kind of talked about was like progressions, Like go through
Speaker 2: your progressions. Like if you're working on something into your technique,
Speaker 2: do it on the range, see it happen. Take it
Speaker 2: on the course by yourself, see it happen. Do it
Speaker 2: in like a money game or a little game against
Speaker 2: your body, see it happen. Just do it in a
Speaker 2: tournament and see it happen. And your confidence will slowly
Speaker 2: grow back, because then you'll be like, Okay, I'm starting
Speaker 2: to get this thing. And that's what I kind of
Speaker 2: did with my I'd go by myself and just bang
Speaker 2: balls off the tee and you know, play play holes
Speaker 2: and shoot a score and be like, Okay, I can
Speaker 2: see it happen. Go do it in a money game.
Speaker 2: See it happen. Go do it on the tournament, and
Speaker 2: the confidence grow from there.
Speaker 1: I think so many people listening Ray struggle with the
Speaker 1: off the tee and there's nothing I think putting is.
Speaker 1: Obviously there's no substitute for great putting. Yeah, but if
Speaker 1: you can't drive the golf ball, and you can't drive
Speaker 1: the golf ball in play, if you were going to
Speaker 1: play any sort of competitive golf, whether it's the monthly medal,
Speaker 1: whether it's the club championship, whether it's a junior tournament,
Speaker 1: or whether it's elite Division one college golf, if you
Speaker 1: can't drive it, you cannot play and you can't compete.
Speaker 2: Yeh.
Speaker 1: Did you go to trying to shape the ball more
Speaker 1: and hit shots with your driver, or did you say, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm just going to try and become really one dimensional
Speaker 1: and just kind of hit one shot all the time, one.
Speaker 2: Shot all the time. I kind of heard I remember
Speaker 2: when you when I when I spoke to you a
Speaker 2: few times, you would just be like, these guys don't
Speaker 2: shape it all that much. You need to get really
Speaker 2: good at one shape and then start working it from there.
Speaker 2: And I kind of took that too, And I've listened
Speaker 2: some to Scott Foston too. I think he's a really
Speaker 2: smart guy. And so I just was like, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: hit one golf shot and I'm going to pick good
Speaker 2: targets and just try to rip it and just keep
Speaker 2: doing that and if it if it, if I hit
Speaker 2: one into the junk, so be it. I'm gonna still
Speaker 2: keep picking one shot and hitting it at one target.
Speaker 1: You started working with Dana Dalquist. I saw Dana at
Speaker 1: the US Open. Obviously great win for Dana. He works
Speaker 1: with Bryson d. Chambeau. I think Dana's one of the
Speaker 1: smartest golf instructors out there. I've had him on the
Speaker 1: podcast before. What's the work that you've done with with Dana?
Speaker 1: And what shape now, Ray are you are you trying
Speaker 1: to hit? Is it a draw? Is it a fade?
Speaker 1: What is it? And what are the technical changes that
Speaker 1: you've made that in kind of your fifth year, the
Speaker 1: COVID year that you were lucky enough to have was
Speaker 1: kind of a great year for you. If you look
Speaker 1: at your career over the four years previous, what have
Speaker 1: you done in trying to work with Dana and what
Speaker 1: changes you guys trying to make.
Speaker 2: I've been hitting a fade, at least trying to hit
Speaker 2: a fade for the most part. I hit it pretty
Speaker 2: straight if anything. And uh, but I've been just trying
Speaker 2: to work a fade. And me and Dana, I've kind
Speaker 2: of been working on some things. He's used the sports
Speaker 2: box stuff and just trying to keep my height. I
Speaker 2: tend to get really like squatty and down in my back.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, you had to go to Dana Dolquist
Speaker 1: to tell you that. I mean, and I mean, how
Speaker 1: many times have we told you, but your head drops right?
Speaker 1: Good job, fly to California and have someone else tell
Speaker 1: you that.
Speaker 2: And so he's helped me with that and a few
Speaker 2: other things on my shoulder till it's get I get
Speaker 2: really into the left side bend on my back swing.
Speaker 2: And what he's really taught me is like the understanding
Speaker 2: of the golf swing, which I think is like a
Speaker 2: problem solving tool for sure, because you need to know
Speaker 2: what you're like when you do something bad, what you're doing,
Speaker 2: and how to correct that, I think, and I think
Speaker 2: as a good golf coach, like you guys, you know,
Speaker 2: you have to give your students the tools to be
Speaker 2: able to problem solve. And he's definitely given me that.
Speaker 2: Like I understand that when my ball starts moving too
Speaker 2: far from right to left, that my left shoulder is
Speaker 2: getting a bit too far down and I'm pushing vertically
Speaker 2: too early, and.
Speaker 1: Then that club at your speed is coming in is
Speaker 1: just a man and it's struggling. You struggle to manage
Speaker 1: the face from there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And so he's really taught me just problem solving
Speaker 2: and understanding, and he's great with like he's great with
Speaker 2: the technique, but he's also good with talking about how
Speaker 2: to prepare and he talks about narratives and stories and
Speaker 2: things to tell yourself and he's big into that as well.
Speaker 2: So he's a great guy to talk doing a good
Speaker 2: edition ray.
Speaker 1: When you were struggling those first couple of years at
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State, were you able to try and look back
Speaker 1: at You know, we always we hear people say, just
Speaker 1: play like a kid. When you were a kid used
Speaker 1: to shoot. I mean I remember, I mean when you
Speaker 1: were kind of playing junior golf and competing after even
Speaker 1: after I'd moved from Dubai. Like I said, you know,
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, you're playing in a tournament shit sixty one.
Speaker 1: You make nine birdies in a row, and you're smart.
Speaker 1: You're a smart kid. You're intelligent, You're a thinker. You
Speaker 1: remind me a lot of your Junior President's Cup. You're
Speaker 1: a part of the junior the first Junior President's Cup
Speaker 1: team for the international side in twenty seventeen. Your captain,
Speaker 1: Trevor Ummerman, who's a good friend of mine, who I know,
Speaker 1: who I worked with. I used to say to Trevor,
Speaker 1: you're almost too smart to play golf because you try
Speaker 1: and overanalyze everything. Whereas guys like Brooks, guys like DJ,
Speaker 1: guys like Gary Woodland, they are very much seaball hit ball.
Speaker 1: You know, they don't think a lot, and that is
Speaker 1: a strength for them. But for someone like yourself, who
Speaker 1: is a very cerebral type person, was it hard to
Speaker 1: kind of go Can I just go back to doing
Speaker 1: what I did as a junior to where I wasn't
Speaker 1: really income, my brain wasn't with all of this, so
Speaker 1: I just played golf.
Speaker 2: I think about I've thought about that a lot, and
Speaker 2: what I think is the kid that I was then
Speaker 2: has led me to this point that I am now,
Speaker 2: And I think golf and just your mind in general
Speaker 2: is a constant evolution. And I'm never trying to get
Speaker 2: back to the kid that I was because it's just
Speaker 2: not going to happen. There's so much that's happened since then, experiences,
Speaker 2: thoughts and things like that that have gone, like, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not the same person that I was, so why
Speaker 2: don't I just try to be the best person I
Speaker 2: am today? And like, I get there some guys that
Speaker 2: do the simple and really just you know, and that's
Speaker 2: great in all power to them. But me, I've learned
Speaker 2: that I actually, really I'm very curious and interested in
Speaker 2: the golf swing and all the little intricacies in it.
Speaker 2: And that's what I've kind of just dove into. And
Speaker 2: that's what Dana has been able to teach me. Danny Luf,
Speaker 2: because who was my coach prior, He's also taught me that,
Speaker 2: and I've just really enjoyed just learning about the golf
Speaker 2: swing and what good gootball strikers do, how I can
Speaker 2: play well myself.
Speaker 1: So coming from your parents were Indian, you play for India,
Speaker 1: but you were brought up and grew up in Dubai
Speaker 1: and for someone by the time they got to college golf, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, you have done as much travel as a
Speaker 1: lot of tour players. You play golf all over the world.
Speaker 1: When you do that, and you go all over the
Speaker 1: world and you have to play in the Middle East,
Speaker 1: you have to play in Europe, you have to play
Speaker 1: in Ireland, Scotland, you have to play in Asia, the conditions,
Speaker 1: the grasses are very, very very different. Your game translates
Speaker 1: differently in different wind conditions and stuff like that. What
Speaker 1: did you like about all of the different golf courses
Speaker 1: that you got to play as a junior golfer.
Speaker 2: I just I really enjoyed the competition, obviously, the aspect
Speaker 2: of just being able to go out and compete against
Speaker 2: different people in different places. And I thought in terms
Speaker 2: of just the golf courses, I thought it was just
Speaker 2: a fun challenge to be able to be able to
Speaker 2: kind of just play everywhere that anywhere I could play
Speaker 2: and try to see how my game fit. And I
Speaker 2: think the travel really helped me when I moved to
Speaker 2: college because it was like being away from home wasn't
Speaker 2: anything new to me. April here was just so friendly
Speaker 2: and welcoming that I never felt like out of place
Speaker 2: away from home, like this is home for me now.
Speaker 2: And I think that's what was really important to you.
Speaker 2: Just learning how to be independent and be by yourself.
Speaker 2: Because I was fifteen, I think was my first trip
Speaker 2: by myself and I went to the UK for like
Speaker 2: six two weeks, and I mean I was staying with
Speaker 2: friends and a lot of Scottish pros and the buy
Speaker 2: that connected me with people and just being by yourself,
Speaker 2: you got to figure out how to get around and
Speaker 2: where you're playing, and yeah, you have to be extremely independent.
Speaker 2: I think that's what the travel did for me.
Speaker 1: That Junior President's Cup team that you were part of
Speaker 1: the twenty seventeen not Shay botch It he was on
Speaker 1: the American side. Garrett. He's won a couple of times
Speaker 1: on tour now. Derrick Heego, the South African he was
Speaker 1: on that team. He's won on the PGA tour, Carl
Speaker 1: Phillips's stud Chris so Lampreck. I mean, one of the
Speaker 1: longest hitters. When you look back at that, it must
Speaker 1: be kind of cool to say, Okay, I was part
Speaker 1: of these kids. And I remember I was at that
Speaker 1: President's Cup and I came out and watched you play.
Speaker 1: And what did you learn about that kind of competition?
Speaker 1: You know, that's a big deal. I mean, Trevor immondwo
Speaker 1: was the captain for the US, I mean for the
Speaker 1: international side. I think Justin Leonard was the captain for
Speaker 1: the American team. It was the first time the Junior
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup they've been doing for a long time. We've
Speaker 1: all seen the pictures of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas
Speaker 1: doing that. But to be a part of that, I
Speaker 1: think you were the leading point in the standings to qualify.
Speaker 1: I mean you were leading the standings going into that tournament.
Speaker 1: It was it was in New Jersey that week. Must
Speaker 1: have been pretty cool for you to play.
Speaker 2: Oh, it was awesome. It was an amazing week. And
Speaker 2: the greens were I remember the greens being so fast.
Speaker 2: I'd never put it everything like that before. Like Trevor
Speaker 2: Mummerman and he had us hit like these four footers
Speaker 2: from above the cup on the practice putty green and
Speaker 2: he was like, just try to leave it short and
Speaker 2: you just couldn't and uh, just to develop some feeling.
Speaker 2: It was an amazing week. I played it. I played
Speaker 2: against Option the singles and he destroyed me. And you
Speaker 2: could tell that kid was going to be special and
Speaker 2: he is and uh, but it was just it's it
Speaker 2: was an amazing experience and I think it really showed me
Speaker 2: that I, you know, had the potential to be uh,
Speaker 2: to be good and uh, to be around those guys
Speaker 2: was was was a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: Oklahoma status, I said, is one of the elite, elite
Speaker 1: of US college golf programs. When you get there, it
Speaker 1: is it is kill or be killed. There is it's
Speaker 1: a fast learning curve and there is a lot of
Speaker 1: time if you're playing bad you kind of feel like, man,
Speaker 1: I mean, I've got to play so good because they've
Speaker 1: got so many good players. The schedule, you all play
Speaker 1: the tournaments, you all play that competition aspect of it
Speaker 1: where you're constantly, constantly in competition, I think is so
Speaker 1: important for your development for professional golf, because that's what
Speaker 1: professional golf is, right, from a competitive standpoint, Alan Bratton,
Speaker 1: the head coach there, Donni Dahr, who was one of
Speaker 1: the assistants. What did you learn from Coach Bratton and
Speaker 1: Donnie about being a competitor and how did they kind
Speaker 1: of mold who you are as a player today, because
Speaker 1: they're two of my favorite people. I think they're two
Speaker 1: of the best in developing great players.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Coach Bratton is one of the best,
Speaker 2: but probably one of the best coaches, if not the
Speaker 2: best in college golf right now. And I think Coach
Speaker 2: darr was the same. He's not he wasn't really an assistant.
Speaker 2: He was we had two head coaches. And I think
Speaker 2: what Coach Bratton's really good about is he he's a
Speaker 2: good motivate, very good motivator, and he kind of lets
Speaker 2: you realize that, you know, we we see the guys
Speaker 2: like Brooks and DJ and Scottie and those those people,
Speaker 2: and we see them play so well, and he's like,
Speaker 2: there's no reason why you do that. There's no reason
Speaker 2: they were in the same spot that you were at
Speaker 2: some stage. He's like, there's no reason why you can't
Speaker 2: dream big enough and and be out there with him.
Speaker 2: And I think he was. He was really instrumental in
Speaker 2: helping me get better, and you know, I'm extremely grateful
Speaker 2: for what he's been able to help me with.
Speaker 1: And the culture Ray at Oklahoma State, there is a
Speaker 1: there is a you can feel it, you can touch it,
Speaker 1: you can see it. The culture that they've created at
Speaker 1: a really kind of remote place in Oklahoma. The weather's
Speaker 1: not great, it's windy, it gets cold. But to be
Speaker 1: a what's it like to be a part of that culture,
Speaker 1: to be a part of, you know, the Oklahoma State
Speaker 1: golf program. I think, you know, if you look at
Speaker 1: right now, Alabama has a culture, Texas has a culture.
Speaker 1: Conrad Ray out at Stanford, he's done the same thing.
Speaker 1: But to me, the way that the guys at Oklahoma
Speaker 1: State have done it over the last you know, twenty
Speaker 1: thirty years. I mean it's second of what's it like
Speaker 1: being in that culture? And do you do you feel it?
Speaker 1: And is it something that you feel as it's you know,
Speaker 1: you've got a responsibility to play well because of everything
Speaker 1: that has come before you.
Speaker 2: I think it more of like a responsibility to just
Speaker 2: cocked myself like like a cowboy. You know that there's
Speaker 2: a certain culture that coach Bradden Stratta instill in us
Speaker 2: and the way we act and conduct yourself, play good
Speaker 2: or bad. And I think the main thing I got
Speaker 2: from Oklahoma State was the relationships I've built with certain
Speaker 2: people like Victor. He's been a huge person for me.
Speaker 2: Obviously I'm staying at his house and you know, he's
Speaker 2: been able to you know, He's I bounce ideas off,
Speaker 2: Zach Bowshoe, Austin Necker, all these people are huge, huge
Speaker 2: for me to be able to talk to and kind
Speaker 2: of bounce ideas off. And I've learned so much from
Speaker 2: him that and these are connections I'm going to keep forever.
Speaker 2: He coached Bratton, somebody I talked to on a daily
Speaker 2: basis and get his ideas and things. And I think
Speaker 2: just having that kind of support system and that culture
Speaker 2: is huge. And I think all the Oklahoma State guys
Speaker 2: have a kind of thing of paying it forward, you know,
Speaker 2: whether it's through the pro am or talking to guys
Speaker 2: like us and seeing if they can help us get better.
Speaker 2: Everybody wants everybody from Oklahoma State wants the guys to
Speaker 2: do well. And it's awesome because my first few years,
Speaker 2: Victor was living in Stowwater and he I think he
Speaker 2: missed the cut somewhere, like I think it was the
Speaker 2: players he missed the cut. In the next day, he
Speaker 2: was qualifying with us at Stillwater Country Club on a
Speaker 2: bunch of greens, and I was like, man, this guy
Speaker 2: works hard and he's trying to get better, and he's
Speaker 2: not afraid to just pitch up with us and play.
Speaker 1: Ricky Foller is probably as famous as anyone who is
Speaker 1: associated with the Oklahoma State program. I know you've spent time.
Speaker 1: Every time I would see Ricky when I was working
Speaker 1: with him, and if he was at Oklahoma State, I'd
Speaker 1: always say to him, how's my boy Ray doing? And
Speaker 1: he would always say great things about But Ricky's kind of,
Speaker 1: I think, a global ambassador for Oklahoma State golf, right.
Speaker 1: I mean the orange clothing that he that he wears,
Speaker 1: he kind of leads orange. What are some of the
Speaker 1: things that you've learned from Ricky and the time that
Speaker 1: you've gotten to spend around him, because I mean, you
Speaker 1: couldn't meet everybody thinks that their public persona might be
Speaker 1: different than who they really are, right. We're going through
Speaker 1: that right now. A lot of people are saying, hey, Bryson.
Speaker 1: It's all in act. He's not really like that and stuff.
Speaker 1: But Ricky is what you see is what you get.
Speaker 1: He is just one of the nicest human beings I've
Speaker 1: ever met. Talk to me about the times that you
Speaker 1: get to spend with with Ricky and how that's shaped
Speaker 1: the way that you do things.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I've spent some time with him. I
Speaker 2: played I think a nine hole practice around with him
Speaker 2: in Abu Dhabi. I think you were there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we set that up. It was sweet. It was
Speaker 2: sweet to do that.
Speaker 1: And at that time, it was funny that we set
Speaker 1: that practice round up with you when you qualified where
Speaker 1: we were like.
Speaker 2: Sixteen, yeah, sixteen or seventeen, Yeah, it was it was
Speaker 2: you know you.
Speaker 1: I mean, you weren't even on Oklahoma States radar at
Speaker 1: that point. So the fact that she played in Abudabi
Speaker 1: with Ricky at that time and then went on to
Speaker 1: follow in his footsteps, that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2: That's pretty cool. And so from Ricky we played. So
Speaker 2: he came down to still Water I think maybe two
Speaker 2: years ago now, and we had like everybody wanted to
Speaker 2: play with him on the team, and so we ended
Speaker 2: up playing like an eight sum at Carston, and I
Speaker 2: just thought that, you know, just watching him go about
Speaker 2: his business and how kind of focused he is, even
Speaker 2: when we were in the eight. So I'm like, he's
Speaker 2: trying to shoot the bows score he can possibly shoot.
Speaker 2: And that's what I've went from Victor too, when we
Speaker 2: were just having fun games. He is trying to shoot
Speaker 2: the lowest possible score you can possibly shoot. And I
Speaker 2: think seeing that and seeing how diligent and focused he
Speaker 2: is on trying to get better. And Coach Bratton always
Speaker 2: talks about how Ricky was such a stud in college
Speaker 2: and he was like he knew he was going to
Speaker 2: be great, and he is.
Speaker 1: But I think what you just said there is something
Speaker 1: that's really important for people listening. If you're going to
Speaker 1: play so many times, it's easy to go out on
Speaker 1: the golf course and just say, listen, i'm not hitting
Speaker 1: it good, so I'll work on my game, or I'm
Speaker 1: not going to try and shoot the lower score. But
Speaker 1: the guys that make it to the tour, they are fierce,
Speaker 1: fierce competitors, and when they go out, they're trying to
Speaker 1: play their best and they want to shoot the lowest score.
Speaker 1: And I think I say that to so many of
Speaker 1: the juniors. Listen, if you're going to go out and play,
Speaker 1: if you want to hit a couple of balls, that's fine,
Speaker 1: but you have to keep score every time you go play.
Speaker 1: Otherwise you don't understand the competition aspect of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Victor was Victor because I had spent
Speaker 2: so much time with him and played with him a lot.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can just see the focus that he
Speaker 2: puts into his practice. Like when he's playing, he is
Speaker 2: shooting the lowest score he can possibly do. He's running
Speaker 2: through his gold routine and he's trying to beat you,
Speaker 2: and he's trying to get his chip out. They paid for.
Speaker 1: So the big jump from junior golf to college golf.
Speaker 1: Now you're making the ultimate jump from college golf amateur
Speaker 1: golf to professional golf. Make the cut in your first
Speaker 1: competitive professional event in the corn Ferry. You got a
Speaker 1: sponsors invite. I was talking to Donny Daher about it.
Speaker 1: He said he thought the sixty four, the sixty seven
Speaker 1: that you shot in the second and third round, seventy
Speaker 1: two in the first, seventy three in the last round.
Speaker 1: But he said he thought those two rounds were really,
Speaker 1: really important for you moving forward making the cut. What
Speaker 1: was it like playing your first professional of Was it
Speaker 1: different than you thought? Is it different ray than elite
Speaker 1: college golf?
Speaker 2: It is definitely a little different obviously now you're on
Speaker 2: your own. I mean, when you're with the team, you know,
Speaker 2: you got coach Bradney's telling you where to go, and
Speaker 2: you know what we're doing and for the day. And
Speaker 2: now it's on your time. You know, you decide when
Speaker 2: you're going to go play or practice, strond what you're
Speaker 2: going to do for the day. And so it's definitely
Speaker 2: different that in that aspect. But at this end of
Speaker 2: the day, it's just golf, like good golf anywhere. It
Speaker 2: doesn't matter, like you know, good golf travels. And so
Speaker 2: when I went out there, I kind of had its
Speaker 2: expectation on the corn Fray that you had to just
Speaker 2: go shoot lights out, which you kind of do to
Speaker 2: make the cut because those cuts are just so low.
Speaker 2: But I put that weight on myself that first round
Speaker 2: and I wasn't hitting the ball all that good those
Speaker 2: few days leading to it, and it just kind of showed.
Speaker 2: And then that second round, I spoke to Dana and
Speaker 2: I had a late teeth time. So I got out
Speaker 2: there and just hit a few extra balls and I
Speaker 2: was just like, Okay, I know what I need to do,
Speaker 2: just with my movement. If I made good movements, I
Speaker 2: will shoot a good score. And that's what I did.
Speaker 2: And that last round I was playing pretty good and
Speaker 2: just kind of let it go a little bit. But
Speaker 2: it was awesome. And I got to play with Chris
Speaker 2: Vinchuur in that last round, and he made the game
Speaker 2: look very easy.
Speaker 1: He's in, Chris fin Tura should put putt better. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy, he's one of the best. He's one of
Speaker 1: the best pure. I mean, listen, I've been around the
Speaker 1: game a long time. Chris Fintur was one of the
Speaker 1: best pure putters I've ever seen.
Speaker 2: I mean he also put through ten holes and when
Speaker 2: I played with him, he was six hundred ten.
Speaker 1: And you know this. The other thing is he works
Speaker 1: his ass off on his putting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he looked like he was. He was doing a
Speaker 2: whole bunch of drills before the round, and I mean
Speaker 2: you could tell when he started putting he was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I get why he was doing those, Like he's making everything.
Speaker 1: I had Matthew Pavall on the pod a couple of
Speaker 1: months ago and he's done. He's moved to kind of Jupiter,
Speaker 1: and he was I was letting him practice at Floridian.
Speaker 1: He does ninety minutes a day ray of putting drills,
Speaker 1: like every day, ninety minutes. So when he was on
Speaker 1: the leaderboard US Open a couple of weeks ago and
Speaker 1: everybody's looking at it, going where is this coming from,
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is not a surprise. And he hits
Speaker 1: driver everywhere. Everywhere. He doesn't hit it miles right, he
Speaker 1: doesn't vomit. He hits kind of a little bleed cut.
Speaker 1: But a great example for you moving forward is he
Speaker 1: just gets the ball in play with the driver and
Speaker 1: he's got so much confidence in it that he's hitting driver.
Speaker 1: And if you remember watching the US Open, he had
Speaker 1: a ton of drivers and he really really did the
Speaker 1: jump now to competitive professional golf. Talk me through what
Speaker 1: the plan is, because I don't think people realize that
Speaker 1: when you are in college golf, everything is done for you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the travel, the school, you know, when you have to
Speaker 1: go to school, the coach and the team as you
Speaker 1: went to practice. As soon as you get out, you
Speaker 1: have to find a place to live. You have to
Speaker 1: find a place to practice. You have to find all
Speaker 1: of this stuff yourself. And I think one of the
Speaker 1: big jumps that is hard for a lot of players
Speaker 1: early on is everything's kind of been done for you
Speaker 1: as a college golfer, especially when you're at a program
Speaker 1: like Oklahoma State. I mean, you guys fly private at
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State as much as the tour players do. So
Speaker 1: now you're about to go play your first kind of
Speaker 1: big international. You're going to play the International Series as
Speaker 1: part of the Asian Tour in Morocco. I grew up
Speaker 1: at that golf course by the way. Really yeah, my
Speaker 1: dad was the first head pro at Royal Darslum that
Speaker 1: they ever had. We moved to Rocco when I was
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two, and there is an island green
Speaker 1: that they have there and my sister and I used
Speaker 1: to have we named two ducks that lived in the pond,
Speaker 1: and when we were kids, we would go feed the ducks.
Speaker 1: But my dad the first head pro. Have you ever
Speaker 1: played there?
Speaker 2: I've never played there.
Speaker 1: They've got fifty four holes there. Ray it's Trent Jones
Speaker 1: and it is old school. You will love it. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just tree lined old school. So now you're going
Speaker 1: to go play international series Morocco? Are you are you excited?
Speaker 1: Are you nervous? What are your expectations? And then after that,
Speaker 1: what is the plan to get on a tour somewhere?
Speaker 1: Are you going to go to Europe and you're going
Speaker 1: to try the US? What's what's what's the plan?
Speaker 2: Uh So yeah, I'm feeling all kinds of things about Morocco.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm excited. It's like when you turn pro
Speaker 2: in college, you have a schedule and you know what
Speaker 2: you're going to be playing in and when what we're
Speaker 2: doing as a pro, like I've turned if you're not
Speaker 2: a superstar, you don't know exactly what you're what you're
Speaker 2: going to play in. So you're scrambling looking for events,
Speaker 2: looking for money, looking for people to sponsor you. And
Speaker 2: you know, as an Indian you have to like you know,
Speaker 2: get a visa for here and a visa for there.
Speaker 2: And you know I've talking been talking about visas for
Speaker 2: the last three months and so that stuff is all
Speaker 2: stuff that I wish I didn't have to do, but
Speaker 2: you have to do is just a you know, an
Speaker 2: adult and a professional. But I'm excited you know, just
Speaker 2: try to get like, I don't care where I play
Speaker 2: right now, I just need to play. I just need
Speaker 2: to get as many tournaments as I can get into,
Speaker 2: and just just keep getting reps and get ready for
Speaker 2: I'm going to do the corn for your Q school
Speaker 2: and uh, I've got conditional status on PGA Tour Americas
Speaker 2: and so I'm gonna try to see if I can
Speaker 2: get get into some of those events in Canada and
Speaker 2: so just try to build a schedule off that and
Speaker 2: just get ready, just get as many reps as I
Speaker 2: can until Q School and hopefully get a maybe a
Speaker 2: PGA Tour card or a CORN free card.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who's going to caddy for you? I mean, I
Speaker 1: mean obviously both shoes gotta he's got to pay it back, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, both shoes, both shoes got to take the
Speaker 1: job of caddying for you and Morocco.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be sweet. I love that. I mean,
Speaker 2: and him have a great time together, so that that
Speaker 2: would be awesome. But I'm just going to do a
Speaker 2: local guy. I'm in a position where I just need
Speaker 2: to get local guys until I get status somewhere and
Speaker 2: then then I'll get somebody.
Speaker 1: Lastly, Ray as a junior golfer. You came through our
Speaker 1: junior development program as a nine year old, and I
Speaker 1: think so many kids they need Indian golfers. You're the
Speaker 1: next generation of Indian golfers, right, and there is a
Speaker 1: there is a long Jo t Rendawa Jee Milka sing,
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of guys, Auto Bandla hereing now is
Speaker 1: kind of one of the guys and Shif Kapor old school.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like it's an opportunity for you as
Speaker 1: a golfer but also a golfer to represent India because
Speaker 1: I think junior golfers always looked to the superstars, right,
Speaker 1: you're sixteen years old, like, Okay, I want to be
Speaker 1: Rory McRoy, But if you're not from Northern Ireland, you
Speaker 1: can't really relate to what he did. And I think
Speaker 1: it's important that Indian young Indian golfers look at someone
Speaker 1: like yourself, Ray and say, okay, Ray, it's from the
Speaker 1: same country as I am. He kind of had the
Speaker 1: same upbringing as I did. Do you feel like it's
Speaker 1: important that you kind of fly the flag now and
Speaker 1: hopefully can fly the flag for Indian golf moving forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, India has been great to me when I
Speaker 2: was a junior and amateur and kind of helping me
Speaker 2: get my way. And even the Academy back in Dubai,
Speaker 2: you know, they've done a great job of developing some
Speaker 2: good players and sent some guys to some pretty nice
Speaker 2: colleges like you know, Joshill Tennessee, Toby Bishops in Florida. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know, Justin.
Speaker 1: We've spent thirty I think we've sent since we started.
Speaker 1: You were the first group of junior golfers that we
Speaker 1: really from an elite standpoint, started working with in two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine, I think since two thousand and night.
Speaker 1: I was starm to Justin about this the other night.
Speaker 1: I think we sent close to almost thirty kids to
Speaker 1: play Division one college golf out of out of Dubai,
Speaker 1: which is a very very small, small golf market.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there are a small place. I mean, you wouldn't
Speaker 2: really expect it, but you know, the facilities at the
Speaker 2: Academy were fantastic, and the and the development program was
Speaker 2: huge for me as a kid, you know, not only
Speaker 2: just for my golf game, but you know, I got
Speaker 2: to hang out with some of my best friends to
Speaker 2: this day, and so I always had a blast when
Speaker 2: I was at the Academy and kind of just took
Speaker 2: that along with me as I progressed on. And I
Speaker 2: mean the Academy was huge for me. I mean, learning
Speaker 2: from Justin he's still a huge mentor to me and yourself.
Speaker 2: And being able to talk, bounce ideas off you guys,
Speaker 2: and reach out to you guys when I need something.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's huge, and the Academy has been a
Speaker 2: big part of that.
Speaker 1: Well. I can't tell you how proud I am of you.
Speaker 2: Ray.
Speaker 1: It's it's something that that Justin and I and all
Speaker 1: of us that that watched you in Dubai kind of
Speaker 1: do what you've done. It's it's pretty special. Lastly, Ray,
Speaker 1: go to Indian Come on, give it to me. What's
Speaker 1: your go to order when you go when you go home?
Speaker 1: When you when you go home and you get what's
Speaker 1: what's the what's the Indian food that because obviously Indian
Speaker 1: food in America? When you go home, what's the go to?
Speaker 1: What do you crave? What do you say, I've gotta
Speaker 1: have that?
Speaker 2: So my when I go back home, my mom knows
Speaker 2: exactly what I want and she'll set up like the
Speaker 2: menu for the week and Uh, it's like this semolina
Speaker 2: rice thing and this fish curry she makes, and it transcends,
Speaker 2: it puts me in a place like it brings almost
Speaker 2: brings tears in my eyes. I talked to talk about
Speaker 2: it with the guys at school and they don't quite
Speaker 2: understand it. But for an Indian, for an Indian like,
Speaker 2: the food is just so important to us, and it
Speaker 2: takes me back to back to them my child today.
Speaker 2: It's it's an amazing thing. So yeah, I will be
Speaker 2: How spicy can you go? I honestly can't go too spicy.
Speaker 2: I think I've been pretty westernized. I mean, you can't
Speaker 2: even here. You wouldn't even know I was Indian if
Speaker 2: you didn't didn't have the video on, you know. So
Speaker 2: I kind of go too spicy. But she knows how
Speaker 2: to do it just right, justin And.
Speaker 1: I think of you like you're part of the family,
Speaker 1: and uh, we're proud of you regardless of what you do.
Speaker 1: And I know whether you make it in professional golf,
Speaker 1: you're going to make it in life because I think
Speaker 1: you're one of the best kids that I've been lucky
Speaker 1: enough to meet. So good luck, We'll all be watching
Speaker 1: play good and say hello to the say hello to
Speaker 1: my pet ducks on the on.
Speaker 2: The part three will I will thanks great to talk
Speaker 2: to you right lost. Thank you.
Speaker 1: So that was a really cool talk with rayhn Thomas,
Speaker 1: and listen, I think he's somebody that you're going to
Speaker 1: want to follow. You know. I can't imagine anyone listening
Speaker 1: to that podcast and not saying, Wow, what a cool story.
Speaker 1: He struggled, He had a standout junior career, kind of
Speaker 1: caught lightning in a bottle late as a junior, went
Speaker 1: to kind of the one of the top college golf
Speaker 1: programs in the country, Oklahoma State University. He struggled, he
Speaker 1: fought through it. He's trying to make his way as
Speaker 1: a professional. Now made the cut in his first professional
Speaker 1: event on the Corn Ferry and now as a top
Speaker 1: ten on the international series on the Asian Tour. And
Speaker 1: I think ray can do some really really cool things.
Speaker 1: But I think it's a great story. He's a great kid.
Speaker 1: I've never seen him not smiling. He loves golf, he
Speaker 1: loves life. He's a smart kid, and I root for him.
Speaker 1: I think all of you follow his career. He's going
Speaker 1: to get more starts. He's going to Chase. Now he's
Speaker 1: got to try and find a way to be a pro.
Speaker 1: He's got to try and find a tour to play on,
Speaker 1: and it's going to be exciting to see what he does.
Speaker 1: But as I said in the opening, it's a cool
Speaker 1: story and for me to kind of see a young
Speaker 1: kid who was He wasn't the biggest kid in our
Speaker 1: junior development program. He was just a great kid.
Speaker 2: He still is.
Speaker 1: I'm proud of him. I'm excited to see where he
Speaker 1: goes as a pro and hope everyone follows his career.
Speaker 1: Thanks everyone for listening. We've got the last major of
Speaker 1: the year coming up next week and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: get up to Troon, Scotland. It's one of my favorite
Speaker 1: in the open road. It's a great golf course. It's
Speaker 1: going to be cool to watch. Son of a Butch
Speaker 1: comes to you almost every Wednesday. We will see you
Speaker 1: definitely next week.