Speaker 1: Probably one of the best rounds, the best thirty six
Speaker 1: sold matches in the USGA history there. I mean, that
Speaker 1: was unbelievably impressive and I was super happy just to
Speaker 1: have a front seat to that. And at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, looking back, it's really fun to watch,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm really proud that I made him
Speaker 1: go out and earn it.
Speaker 2: That got thoughts.
Speaker 3: Can't get him John, and not the thing what I'm
Speaker 3: thinking about. Can't get him John, Not the thing what
Speaker 3: I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2: Hello, this is Alan Chipnoocket back for another Fire Drill podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm back home after a two week vender covering the
Speaker 2: US Women's Amateur and the US Amateur. It was great fun,
Speaker 2: presuming a lot of you listeners out there too. To
Speaker 2: the US am it was a spectacular week at Cherry Hills,
Speaker 2: and the championship match was a barn burner. Nick Dunlop prevailed.
Speaker 2: He is obviously a star in the making and quite
Speaker 2: a stud. But I think a lot of golf fans'
Speaker 2: hearts were with Neil Shipley, who put up a great
Speaker 2: fight and was a fun character all week. We're delighted
Speaker 2: to have Neil join us, so thanks for doing this, sir.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks Alan, thank you for having me on. Appreciate
Speaker 1: the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what is this whirlwind been like? You know,
Speaker 2: you showed up as a somewhat unknown college golfer and
Speaker 2: in the space of a week became a folk hero
Speaker 2: and everyone's favorite golfer. And what's your life been like
Speaker 2: in the last forty eight hours since the amateur ended.
Speaker 1: It's been a whirlwind. You know. We got back to
Speaker 1: Columbus and I had team meetings right away Monday morning
Speaker 1: at nine am and sat through an hour and a
Speaker 1: half of some compliant stuff and just kind of got
Speaker 1: back home decompressed. But it's funny even out here out
Speaker 1: in the Shady Side neighborhood in Pittsburgh, a really nice
Speaker 1: area where there's a lot of shops, and like got
Speaker 1: recognized once or twice down there. I got my hair
Speaker 1: trimmed up this morning and was in downtown Mount Lebanon
Speaker 1: and a few people came up and said hi to me.
Speaker 1: So it's been it's been quite the adventure. It's a
Speaker 1: little different. I had to make my Instagram public. I
Speaker 1: did that this morning because I had I added about
Speaker 1: three thousand followers or four thousand followers so it's been
Speaker 1: been hectic and different, but I'm just trying to embrace
Speaker 1: it all.
Speaker 2: Did you go through and delete any old posts that
Speaker 2: might be inappropriate for a public consumption?
Speaker 1: No, No, you kept it clean and PG thirteen for
Speaker 1: everyone since the beginning. You know, got my parents on
Speaker 1: there and Grandma on there, so they're not trying to
Speaker 1: get myself in trouble anytime soon.
Speaker 2: Good. The big headlines can come out of this podcast
Speaker 2: as you got a haircut, well, I mean that's as
Speaker 2: you probably know, your Lush just locks for the subject.
Speaker 2: There was so much commentary on the telecast that that's
Speaker 2: a big deal. I mean, here you're messing with your brand.
Speaker 2: What inspired that?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean we took about like about an inch
Speaker 1: off just to try and keep the hair healthy and
Speaker 1: you know, just get it reshaped up a bit ready
Speaker 1: for a big growth this fall and a big fall season,
Speaker 1: so you got to keep it looking good and it
Speaker 1: takes a lot of time and maintenance to do that.
Speaker 1: It's it's really is. I put almost as much time
Speaker 1: into my hair as I do my golf game.
Speaker 2: So I mean in the new n I L landscape,
Speaker 2: like you know, panteens out there for you, Paul Mitchell.
Speaker 2: I mean, forget Calae and Taylor made like you. This's
Speaker 2: a whole a potential revenue stream, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I was. I'm you know, maybe targeting
Speaker 1: head and shoulders, become the next Troy Paul Malu for
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh region, you know, maybe get on some commercials locally.
Speaker 1: So we'll see what that, uh, if anything materializes there.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 2: It's funny, you know that having a great run in
Speaker 2: the US Amateur always came with tremendous spoils the Masters
Speaker 2: and the US Open invitations and other opportunities. But now
Speaker 2: have you hired an agent and the nil stuff is
Speaker 2: a real thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it is. You know, I've been over the
Speaker 1: summer with some good play, I garnered some attention from
Speaker 1: a few different agencies, and I've been They've been smaller
Speaker 1: and more boutique, and I've been going through that process
Speaker 1: of trying to figure out who I'm going to go with,
Speaker 1: and more recently after this week, had some more people
Speaker 1: pop up. So I'm going to have to do a
Speaker 1: little bit more filtering and stuff like that to figure
Speaker 1: out who I'm going to go with. But it's significantly
Speaker 1: as intending maybe in January or February to sign with somebody,
Speaker 1: but that timeline's definitely gotten moved up quite a bit
Speaker 1: now because you've got to try and take advantage of
Speaker 1: what we can get now and just get things set
Speaker 1: up and ready to go for the Masters, so have
Speaker 1: a little smooth transition into spring season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a whole new world
Speaker 2: out there. Have you gotten a lot of old high
Speaker 2: school buddies and other people who've checked in wine to
Speaker 2: caddy for you at Augusta.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we've I think I've said to a
Speaker 1: bunch of people, or I know my old high school
Speaker 1: team Jimmy Myers, He's like, oh, he told me you
Speaker 1: could caddy for me at Augusta, And I was like, oh, geez, dude,
Speaker 1: you mean you better get in line. But uh now
Speaker 1: I've I don't know who's going to caddy for me
Speaker 1: out there yet. I haven't figured that out. I know, uh,
Speaker 1: my good friend Carter who stepped in on Saturday, he
Speaker 1: caddy Frost and Greecer when he made to the semi
Speaker 1: finals as well, and he went out to the Masters
Speaker 1: with Greaser but didn't caddy for him out there, So
Speaker 1: maybe I might. I might put him on the bag.
Speaker 1: We'll see. No promises, not not Carter. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: you're gonna be on the bag, but he's definitely on
Speaker 1: a short list. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I talked him after the round on Saturday. He's he's
Speaker 2: a sweet kid. And you, guys, go back to what
Speaker 2: you you're ten, eleven, twelve years old. It sounds like
Speaker 2: you grew up on kind of a pretty humble nine
Speaker 2: hole golf course. Can you tell folks about your sort
Speaker 2: of your entry into into golf, how you fell in
Speaker 2: love with it and where you played and that sort
Speaker 2: of thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, when I was really young, I played at
Speaker 1: Mount Leven and Mumunicipal Golf Course, which is I actually
Speaker 1: haven't played in a while. It's not super nice. It's
Speaker 1: just kind of what you'd expect out of a nine
Speaker 1: hole UNI. But you know, i'd play in the Thursday.
Speaker 1: They had a junior league in the mornings where we'd
Speaker 1: go off at like seven o'clock in the morning. They'd
Speaker 1: have tea times blocked off for us for like two hours,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot of juniors that played, and I
Speaker 1: think that was a great place to get my start
Speaker 1: in the game, and then when I got older more
Speaker 1: into the game, my parents we joined Saint Clair Country Club,
Speaker 1: which is just south here of town and it's probably
Speaker 1: one of the premier golf courses in Pittsburgh. And my
Speaker 1: parents made a big sacrifice in doing that for me
Speaker 1: and getting me the resources I needed to really improve.
Speaker 1: And that's where I met Carter. He was probably ten
Speaker 1: years old when I was thirteen or fourteen, and I
Speaker 1: mean I kind of took him under my wing from
Speaker 1: there because he just played a lot of golf together
Speaker 1: all the time. And he ended up following me to
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School and he was on the
Speaker 1: team when I was a senior, he was a freshman.
Speaker 1: We won the state championship that year and did a
Speaker 1: lot of cool things together. We're the only two kids
Speaker 1: that lived in the South Hills, so as his uber
Speaker 1: driver for Prenanci the whole year and take him all around.
Speaker 1: I mean, we had a lot of ate, a lot
Speaker 1: of pizza together, and a lot of McDonald's things like
Speaker 1: that on the road, and it was ton of fun.
Speaker 2: And you don't come from it sounds like there's not
Speaker 2: a big golf tradition in your family who actually sent
Speaker 2: you down the path of wine wine to play.
Speaker 1: You know, my parents don't play. But when I was
Speaker 1: four years old, I think I watched VJ. Singh. I
Speaker 1: think it was I think it was the for PGA
Speaker 1: that VJ. Sing won, and my dad had a TV
Speaker 1: on and I was watching, and you know, the next day,
Speaker 1: I knocked his golf clubs over and started swinging around
Speaker 1: his you know, full sized golf club in the backyard.
Speaker 1: And from there he got me my own set and
Speaker 1: took me the driving range. And that's kind of how
Speaker 1: I got my start. I was always a I always
Speaker 1: played baseball and basketball most of the time throughout most
Speaker 1: of the years, so that was my primary sports for
Speaker 1: a while. And it wasn't really until maybe my eighth
Speaker 1: and ninth grade year that I really knew that I
Speaker 1: wanted to play college golf and do it competitively.
Speaker 2: Who who kind of brought that dream to life? You
Speaker 2: mentioned VJ. Sing was inspiration, which you don't hear very often,
Speaker 2: which I think is cool. But were there other sort
Speaker 2: of mentors or people who were important in getting you,
Speaker 2: you know, rooted in the game and pushing you along.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, for sure, once I joined Saint Clair
Speaker 1: Country Club. It's actually funny. I got a text from him.
Speaker 1: His name is Grant Angle. He was much older than
Speaker 1: I was when I was in when I was in
Speaker 1: middle school, he was probably senior in high school. He
Speaker 1: won the state championship individually in Pennsylvania and went to
Speaker 1: Ohio University to play golf. And when I was young,
Speaker 1: guys like the guy I wanted to be. I told
Speaker 1: him that tech. I shot him a text and told
Speaker 1: him that, and he was really flattered about it, and
Speaker 1: it was it was. It was pretty cool. And I
Speaker 1: think after that. You know, I have my swing coach
Speaker 1: that I started him when I was thirteen years old.
Speaker 1: He's done in Saint Lucie, Florida. His name's way Ishmael
Speaker 1: and he is a cool story on his own. But
Speaker 1: he he took me under his wing and I've been
Speaker 1: with him since then and still text a lot now
Speaker 1: and he still works with my swing and you know,
Speaker 1: it's we have a really good relationship and it goes
Speaker 1: beyond just player coach and more just as friends now too.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. It's funny. I was at the two thousand
Speaker 2: and four PGA and a whistling Straights and on the
Speaker 2: seventeenth hole, it's that really long hard part three and VJ.
Speaker 2: I mean I think it was like a two iron.
Speaker 2: He just the way he was, he was silhouetted by
Speaker 2: the lake and the angle I have. I said, that
Speaker 2: might be the best golf swing I've ever seen, and
Speaker 2: he hit it. He hit it tight, and that was
Speaker 2: a huge moment him winning that that championship. And he's
Speaker 2: not a guy that the people name check very often.
Speaker 2: But was that someone that you sort of modeled yourself after.
Speaker 2: I mean, people around you said you've got a tremendous
Speaker 2: work ethic, and obviously that was Vj's stock in trade.
Speaker 2: But you know, there's a lot of golfers saw Jack
Speaker 2: Nicholas's swing and they read his books and that became
Speaker 2: a touchstone. But did you stick with VJ or with
Speaker 2: other people who you kind of patterned your game after.
Speaker 1: You know, when I was watching VJ, I was maybe
Speaker 1: three years old, so that was and you know, I
Speaker 1: wasn't thinking that analytically about it back then. Good point,
Speaker 1: but I think, you know, he has the type of
Speaker 1: swing with his great tempo and you know, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit longer, but which I've always been a guy
Speaker 1: who historically he's gotten the club a little bit deeper
Speaker 1: and longer, and I think the way he gets the
Speaker 1: club backshallowed out and kind of into the slot is
Speaker 1: something that didn't maybe model myself after, but was pretty
Speaker 1: It was something that like we looked at and you know,
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, if I can just keep get the
Speaker 1: club in the slot and the way down, especially when
Speaker 1: he's younger, it's like, you know, if I can get
Speaker 1: the club in the slot on the way down, you
Speaker 1: know I can play golf from there.
Speaker 2: That's cool. Yeah, I mean Phil Mikcholson told me, like
Speaker 2: the there was one swing of sebbi bi Astero's It
Speaker 2: was the thirteenth hole of Augusta on Sunday from the
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty six. You would watch that one swing over
Speaker 2: and over on this VHS tape he had until he
Speaker 2: wore out the tape. Like it's funny how these these
Speaker 2: things that get burned into your brain as a golfer.
Speaker 2: So I love that. No where where does Oakmont Country
Speaker 2: Club come in because I think people probably heard of
Speaker 2: the telecast you did some catting there. Everyone knows Oakmont
Speaker 2: is one of the greatest courses in the world unbelievable
Speaker 2: US Open tradition. So how did you get started there?
Speaker 2: What did you learn and what was the scene like
Speaker 2: for a teenage caddy?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I started there. It was actually I think
Speaker 1: during COVID or right before COVID, and you know, I
Speaker 1: just wanted to make make a buck or two here
Speaker 1: and there for some spending money, and just one one
Speaker 1: of my friends us A members set me up with
Speaker 1: a caddy master, And you know, I started off back
Speaker 1: then probably cattying once a week, you know, or whenever
Speaker 1: as home. And you know, now it's not as much
Speaker 1: because I travel so much, but you know, the ability
Speaker 1: to play there on Mondays was huge because you're playing
Speaker 1: one of the most difficult golf courses and you just
Speaker 1: learn a lot about your game because you really have
Speaker 1: to have everything there to score well. Once you play
Speaker 1: around there, you know, ten times you figure out how
Speaker 1: to maybe manage your game and round in seventy five
Speaker 1: not playing your best, but to go shoot sixty nine
Speaker 1: to sixty eight. You got to have it going. And
Speaker 1: I think it's just a it's a great test of golf,
Speaker 1: and it really tests all of your abilities from ball
Speaker 1: striking to putting to short game, and I think the
Speaker 1: speed and firmness of the greens really, uh, it really
Speaker 1: exposed as your weaknesses. I'd say it's.
Speaker 2: Like doing high altitude training. You know, if you play
Speaker 2: a lot of golf Oakmont, then you go to a
Speaker 2: place like Cherry Hills and some kids have never seen
Speaker 2: a setup that tough, and for you is like, oh,
Speaker 2: I know this golf, Like is it sort of desensitized
Speaker 2: you to tough setup. So after having an Oakmont.
Speaker 1: Background, definitely, it really desensitizes you to fast greens. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean Cherry Hills is probably running at twelve and
Speaker 1: a half or something like that, and here in Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: twelve and a half is the kind of the norm,
Speaker 1: you know. I think because of that, I felt super
Speaker 1: comfortable on the greens and that's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: my speed putting was probably strength of mind throughout most
Speaker 1: of the week.
Speaker 2: One thing that I think people might not realize is
Speaker 2: what a scholar athlete you are. Like, tell the listeners
Speaker 2: about your academic achievements, because they're pretty substantial.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I graduated from James Madison in three years.
Speaker 1: I had my degree in quantity to finance, and I
Speaker 1: had minors in math and economics, and then I just
Speaker 1: finished up my master's in data analytics, and I think
Speaker 1: I have a few all American scholars sprinkled in there.
Speaker 1: I'm not really sure which years.
Speaker 2: Or whatnot, but so modest I love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that one if that one's yeah, that
Speaker 1: one's not. You know, if you're a solid student, most
Speaker 1: guys get it. So but that's it's a good thing
Speaker 1: to go on the resume, and it's just that's been
Speaker 1: really important for me and my family. My sister was
Speaker 1: a straight A student throughout all of her years. She
Speaker 1: got into some of the most prestigious universities in the
Speaker 1: the country and decided to go to Notre Dame, where
Speaker 1: my mother went, and she's set the bar super high.
Speaker 1: And even though I was a AB student in high school,
Speaker 1: I kind of looked like a slouch just because because
Speaker 1: of how elite she was. But it was it was
Speaker 1: really cool to kind of have her pushing me and
Speaker 1: my brother along and kind of setting the bar high
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 2: So now you're a graditude in the fifth year at
Speaker 2: Ohio State, you must be a little demotivated to hit
Speaker 2: the books. I mean, what what what, after all, you've
Speaker 2: already accomplished, what are you studying and how are you
Speaker 2: going to apply that to your future?
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm getting I'm getting a certificate in public
Speaker 1: management this year. Be honest with you, it's something that
Speaker 1: it's a type of it's a type of program that
Speaker 1: a few football players would do for the fifth years
Speaker 1: and things like that. So it's not going to be
Speaker 1: quite as rigorous, but I still think it's going to
Speaker 1: add some value to my skill set just in terms
Speaker 1: of managing people and companies and just giving myself a
Speaker 1: you know, giving yourself kind of like a top downlook
Speaker 1: at companies more so, and how to manage finances and
Speaker 1: things like that throughout them, because I think a lot
Speaker 1: of things I did is was, you know, it's quantitative finance.
Speaker 1: We're looking at the little details of financial models or
Speaker 1: pricing options things like that, or you know, just how
Speaker 1: to create person portfolios or manage risk. And then in
Speaker 1: data analytics, it's here's this data set, what is it
Speaker 1: telling us? And then I think this managing one, managing
Speaker 1: managing one is going to help me kind of apply
Speaker 1: that more towards a whole company. Not not saying that
Speaker 1: I want to do that, but I think professional golf
Speaker 1: is really what I'm looking to do here after this year.
Speaker 1: But it's gonna be a really good backup plan. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, Padrick Harrington famously got his like accounting certification.
Speaker 2: He was ready to be a CPA if it didn't
Speaker 2: work out. I mean, it's good to have a backup plan.
Speaker 2: But you might be the only guy on the PGA tours.
Speaker 2: You look forward to the Wednesday pro ams because you
Speaker 2: can like pick the brains of all these CEOs and
Speaker 2: nerd out on some of this stuff.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, for sure. It's fun to talk to some
Speaker 1: of my friends who are in finance down out on
Speaker 1: Wall Street and just kind of see what's going on,
Speaker 1: or even just look at the markets and just kind
Speaker 1: of maybe have a greater understanding of the patterns of
Speaker 1: things going on, especially right now the Federal Reserve and everything.
Speaker 1: I'm going to start nerding out if I get down
Speaker 1: that line. But it's just it's cool, and I think
Speaker 1: it's just an interesting world to be in.
Speaker 2: I love that you know, you and I talked about this.
Speaker 2: I think was after a Saturday's round, I mean a
Speaker 2: year ago. Your World Amateur Golf ranking was in the
Speaker 2: seventeen hundred's. Part of that was because you know, James
Speaker 2: Madison is a mid major. You weren't playing in stacked fields,
Speaker 2: and the system was kind of weighed against you. But
Speaker 2: I think you always had that belief you could be
Speaker 2: an elite player. People around you recognize that, But now
Speaker 2: you're actually doing it. I mean, have you had a
Speaker 2: chance to think about how much your golfing life has
Speaker 2: changed in one year? Basically?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's kind of crazy to think about. Honestly.
Speaker 1: You know, you kind of go along and you improve
Speaker 1: every day and you don't really see the big progress
Speaker 1: from year to year unless you really kind of think
Speaker 1: about it. And I'm just really proud of where I'm
Speaker 1: at now and what I've been doing. And I don't
Speaker 1: think the kid sophomore year, Neil Shipley at James Madison
Speaker 1: would have ever had them playing in the Masters in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. It's you know, man, he probably was
Speaker 1: picturing Masters twenty twenty eight maybe, But it is kind
Speaker 1: of the accelerated path that I've been on in terms
Speaker 1: of my development's been just super cool and super thankful
Speaker 1: for the opportunities I had at James Madison. I think
Speaker 1: it really prepared me to take advantage of the resources
Speaker 1: that we have at a higher state, because it's it's
Speaker 1: ridiculous actually all the stuff we have there to help
Speaker 1: improve and at GMU you had to really use what
Speaker 1: you had to get better. And I think having more
Speaker 1: to how to state and using that, like I'm using
Speaker 1: what we had at James Madison's help me improve a ton.
Speaker 2: So now that you've gotten a taste of the big time,
Speaker 2: I mean, how much does that light your fire and
Speaker 2: make you want to just keep get to the next
Speaker 2: level and the next level? I mean, what is the
Speaker 2: depth of your ambition right now?
Speaker 1: Oh gosh? I mean playing with that many people watching
Speaker 1: you and like in a big field like that and
Speaker 1: big tournament, it's it's going to make this first college
Speaker 1: tournament feel a little bit anti climactic, but I you
Speaker 1: know it, really I want to get back to that stage.
Speaker 1: I'm super excited to play those two majors and just
Speaker 1: have the chance to compete event against the best in
Speaker 1: the world. And you know, I don't see a reason
Speaker 1: why I can't compete well against them and make cuts
Speaker 1: and things like that. You know, those guys are really, really,
Speaker 1: really good. But you know, I feel like I got
Speaker 1: a lot of game, uh that could stack up against them.
Speaker 2: One of the things that always interested me about golf
Speaker 2: in particular. I mean, every athlete has to learn to
Speaker 2: perform under pressure as big crowds, the media, all that stuff,
Speaker 2: and that's a challenge. But you know, golf attracts these
Speaker 2: kind of loan wolf personalities. A lot of kids gravitated
Speaker 2: towards it because team sports aren't for them, and you're
Speaker 2: just alone on the driving range and you're living in
Speaker 2: your own head. And as you have success, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden you get put on these these big stages
Speaker 2: and that doesn't agree with everybody. You know, there's a
Speaker 2: there's a personality type that that that I think shrinks
Speaker 2: from that attention a little bit. But obviously, anyone who
Speaker 2: saw your celebration on the seventeenth hole after you hit
Speaker 2: it stiff, I mean, what did what did the crowds
Speaker 2: do for you? Because you know, to be embraced like that,
Speaker 2: probably for the first time of that scale, must it
Speaker 2: must have felt amazing. But also can you know you
Speaker 2: can start it can mess with you a little bit.
Speaker 2: So how did you manage that emotion and how did it,
Speaker 2: you know, help your golf game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, you know, just not putting expectations on
Speaker 1: yourself because you have that many people watching or that
Speaker 1: many people were doing you on. You know, I feel
Speaker 1: like you can put maybe extra pressure that you you know,
Speaker 1: you feel like you have to perform for these people.
Speaker 1: But you know, I feel like at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, if I just thought about hitting each shot
Speaker 1: as best as I could, and you know, when you
Speaker 1: made a big pot here or hit a big shot there,
Speaker 1: you know, get the crowd hyped up and use that energy.
Speaker 1: I think that was a big key for me. Those
Speaker 1: crowds really helped me kind of spur a comeback there once.
Speaker 1: I want, you know, eleven and twelve, you could kind
Speaker 1: of feel the energy shift in that match against j M,
Speaker 1: and you know, we it is really cool to kind
Speaker 1: of use that energy. And I mean it got crazy
Speaker 1: on seventeen and I mean I kind of blacked out
Speaker 1: a bit there from the walk from my ball to
Speaker 1: the whole It is just, yeah, it was awesome. And
Speaker 1: watching in fact that video, it's just kind of gives
Speaker 1: me chick. That's kind of a moment that I'm going
Speaker 1: to remember forever and kind of put in the memory
Speaker 1: bank of you know, look I can compete and I
Speaker 1: can you know, do things really cool like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I wrote this in the moment. But
Speaker 2: what made that such a fun clip. It was just
Speaker 2: the purity of it, right, Like, this has been a
Speaker 2: very messy golf season on the professional level, and it's
Speaker 2: been acrimonious, and it's been all about the money and
Speaker 2: then everyone suing each other and there's all this press
Speaker 2: conference bitchiness and I think it's turned off a good
Speaker 2: number of golf fans. But there was something about that
Speaker 2: moment that was just it was just so sweet. I mean,
Speaker 2: it was just pure joy, not just from you but
Speaker 2: everyone around you. And you know that even though you
Speaker 2: didn't go on to win the US Amateur, to me,
Speaker 2: that was sort of the defining highlight of the whole
Speaker 2: thing because that's what it's about. I mean, it's still
Speaker 2: it's a big time tournament and all this and that,
Speaker 2: but there's just something that feels right about about the
Speaker 2: US Amateur because it's guys who are just playing their
Speaker 2: hearts out. There's no paycheck at the end of the week.
Speaker 2: It's just really for pride and for history. And I
Speaker 2: think that moment just embodied the whole thing, So kudos.
Speaker 2: I mean that that, Yeah, it's kind of once a
Speaker 2: lifetime thing. I mean, if you go on to have
Speaker 2: a twenty year PGA Tour career, they're still gonna be
Speaker 2: playing that clip. And it's pretty neat to have transcendent
Speaker 2: moments in the sport. So let's just go to the
Speaker 2: championship match because I've I wanted to ask you this, like,
Speaker 2: you played incredible golf the next day and you know,
Speaker 2: unofficial sixty six in the morning round. When when when
Speaker 2: you're done with eighteen holes, are you thinking like, dang,
Speaker 2: I just played some really great golf. I don't have
Speaker 2: a lead. But was there any sense of being deflated,
Speaker 2: like I'm not sure what more I can do here
Speaker 2: and I can't shake this guy?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it was a little tough because I mean, damn,
Speaker 1: you shoot five under on a USGA setup and you'd
Speaker 1: think you'd have at least one shot lead or did
Speaker 1: you mean one up or something like that. But uh,
Speaker 1: my thought process going into is like, look, I played awesome.
Speaker 1: I can keep that up, and there's no guarantee that
Speaker 1: Nick is going to keep playing that good either, you know,
Speaker 1: so let's just let's get out there and let's make
Speaker 1: some birdies and see what can happen, you know. And
Speaker 1: I think Nick played just probably one of the best
Speaker 1: rounds or the best thirty six sole matches in USGA
Speaker 1: history there. I mean, that was unbelievably impressive, and I
Speaker 1: was super happy just to have a front of a
Speaker 1: seat to that. And you know, at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, looking back, it's is really fun to watch,
Speaker 1: and you know, I I'm really proud that I made
Speaker 1: him go out and earn it. You know, I feel
Speaker 1: like a guy. Sometimes if guys play that good, they
Speaker 1: might have such a big lead going into the eighteen,
Speaker 1: you know, after eighteen or you know, going into you know,
Speaker 1: a few holes, it's they're almost out of reach. But
Speaker 1: I kept him kind of within touch for most of
Speaker 1: the match until kind of the end there, and I
Speaker 1: made him go out and make a ton of putts
Speaker 1: and do something really special.
Speaker 2: I mean psychically say that you learn more in your
Speaker 2: defeats than your victories, and what will you take from
Speaker 2: that final match to kind of propel you forward?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day watching Nick,
Speaker 1: you know, he's a great golfer, but I don't think
Speaker 1: he does. He does a lot of things really well.
Speaker 1: But I saw a You know, you play with great
Speaker 1: players and you realize, like, man, I'm just as good
Speaker 1: as them, Like I can do that too. They're not
Speaker 1: They're not going out there into anything too crazy. And
Speaker 1: he made a lot of putts and things like that.
Speaker 1: But you know, I've had days like that before too,
Speaker 1: so you know, you kind of when you play with
Speaker 1: the best players. And I realized this too, more so
Speaker 1: my Jamu years when I'd play with great players, is like, man,
Speaker 1: that guy just shot sixty four and you know, I
Speaker 1: don't feel like you did anything special. He wasn't like
Speaker 1: going out of his mind crazy. You know, I think
Speaker 1: it makes you realize that to be the best player
Speaker 1: in the world, you just need to be really consistent
Speaker 1: and just really persistent in your preparation.
Speaker 2: That's awesome them. Well, it's great chatting with you, Neil.
Speaker 2: I know you got a lot going on there, so
Speaker 2: we're gonna we're gonna let you get back to class
Speaker 2: or the co eds, whatever else is happening in your
Speaker 2: new life. But thanks for taking this time. Best of
Speaker 2: luck going forward. I think I speak for every golfer
Speaker 2: and I say, we're cheering for you and it's gonna
Speaker 2: be fun to be on this journey. So just keep going.
Speaker 2: I mean, as you said, you're good enough. You just
Speaker 2: gotta you just gotta keep doing what you're doing. So
Speaker 2: thanks the time.
Speaker 1: Thanks, I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got it all right. Well this is Alan Shipnak.
Speaker 2: That was Neil Shipley. This has been another fire Drill podcast.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. I'll be back in the here soon
Speaker 2: and that's the end.
Speaker 3: I'm been big again. I plead the wind made a
Speaker 3: fortune when my ship game. Then I ran the table
Speaker 3: and then I thought I could fall down the win
Speaker 3: and tell me hit me lack a can in the
Speaker 3: ball and now okay and shape this losing streak. Every
Speaker 3: road I take, it's a dead end street. I got
Speaker 3: thoughts in my head, can't give them out, trying not
Speaker 3: to think what I'm thinking about.
Speaker 1: I got thoughts in my head, can't
Speaker 3: Get them out, trying not to think what I'm thinking
Speaker 3: about