Fresh off last weekend’s PGA Tour Q-School, Davis Lamb joins the podcast to talk through his young career, which saw back-to-back wins on PGA Tour Canada this past summer. Those victories and a top 5 finish in the Fortinet Cup have earned him status on the Korn Ferry Tour with a handful of guaranteed starts to kick off the season in just a few weeks.
Davis is a DC area native who won All-Met POY his senior year at Georgetown Prep in 2016, won a Maryland State Open while playing golf at Notre Dame and can still call Congressional CC home. In our conversation he provides us a glimpse into life on tour, overcoming swing issues, his mindset during the summer’s hot streak as well as some opinions on the golf world’s current hot topics.
www.pgatour.com/player/59125/davis-lamb
No helicopters have been procured for me to go to go thank you I’ve never said he wasn’t a great politician I’m just say he’s a how’d you play out there day well I found the conditions challenging mostly because there’s grass on the golf course but there never has I’m thinking about Swag bag
Iag when you got three crevices on the green your course is trash what is going on folks welcome back to the Beltway golfer podcast this is episode 77 I am your host Alex Dixon this is going to be the last podcast episode of the Year slowed down a little bit this
Year uh didn’t put out quite as many as 2022 but did a lot got into other stuff got really into shooting drones if you’re not following us on on Instagram or social media give us a follow at Beltway golfer and uh see some of our Drone footage gotten into it and having
A lot of great feedback but going to put out a lot more podcasts got a great list of guests that we’re working on for 2024 so excited about that but the golf season doesn’t stop and we’ve got an exciting one because just this past week was PGA Tour Q School which for the
First time in a decade or so they were actually giving out PGA Tour cards this year’s Q school was top five in ties adds a whole another level of pressure that they haven’t had had in in many many years it used to be that’s what it
Was Q school is all about I mean go go read John Feinstein’s book Tales From Q School uh he really paints a great picture of just the amount of pressure and intensity that there’s just so much on the line for these guys that have worked their whole lives to try to get
To this moment and it all comes down to one weekend to try to get their their PGA Tour cards so that was taken away for like a I don’t have the number of years but at least a decade or so and uh this year they brought that back in
Along with all all sorts of different levels of status on the corn fairy tour depending on where you finish our guest today is Davis lamb have had my on Davis for for a while we F follow each other on social media for quite some time but
Earlier this summer he won not once but twice back-to-back events on PGA tour Canada which got him into the got him to to finish top three or at least top five I think he said in the PJ tour Canada standings which in turn got him into this final stage of Q school so
Followed him uh this past weekend and he was gracious enough to hop on almost immediately after Q School ended and he was great it was great to to learn about just kind of what he went through at Q School his year in PGA tour Canada what
His year looks like coming up with some status on the corn fairy tour and just growing up uh as a golfer uh in the DMV played at Georgetown prep he’s a congressional guy he’s uh was all Met player of the year his senior year at Georgetown prep won the Maryland State
Open we get into all of it and he was a great guest and really learned a lot and got a kind of a a picture of what it’s like you know grinding out there on some of these tours trying to get your get to that level where you’re you have a PGA
Tour card Davis is still a young guy so he’s probably one of the younger guys that was in Q school but you know I I seems to have a bright career and and had a great year so we wish him all the best on the corn fairy tour coming up
Here in 2024 before we get to the conversation with Davis well I was about to do our sponsor read and I just pulled up their website and appears Union green might might be done I don’t know their website is not working I’m G to have to
Reach out but if Union green is still in business then they’re are they’re sponsoring this podcast because they’ve paid for the sponsorship but uh Union green.com does not seem to be working anyway let’s just get to the podcast happy holidays everybody I hope everyone had a fantastic 2023 can’t wait for 2024
Let’s get out and play here’s Davis lamb DMV golfer G to be out in the corn fairy tour in 2024 as well as the PGA Tour Americas hope you enjoy episode 77 of the bway golfer podcast here he is so we’re hanging out with Davis lamb
Davis how are you I’m doing well thanks for having me on so you just told me why don’t need to tell the listeners where where you at right now I am down in Jupiter Florida I’ve been here for a couple years now and uh after this week
I’m taking a much needed off day it’s a little cloudy windy today so it’s a good day uh to take a break so we we’re only only two days removed from uh final stage of Q school so let me start by saying thank you for for being open to
Hopping on on such short notice especially after what I can only imagine is about as stress filled a golf weekend or golf tournament that you’ve maybe ever played I don’t know you tell me um but why don’t you just start off by what was the whole weekend like what was what
What’s your what are your takeaways what was the experience like it was a lot of fun um it was my first time at final stage and I’m not sure how familiar you are with the new format in Prior years I want to say the last 20 years Q school
Has only been to get to the coron fairy torf um so it’s made up of you know 150 to 180 guys who went through Q school or got Exempted in some way or another um and this year because there were five tour cards on the line for the top five
Plus ties if it came to that there were a ton of guys outside the top 125 on tour pretty much the entire corn fairy tour outside the top 30 was there so as far as strength of field goes I’d never really seen anything like get you know
Guys that had a tougher year than you used to were there playing in the same golf tourament I was so it was a lot of fun I had the benefit this year of already having guaranteed starts in the corn fa going into it so as far as stress goes obviously it’s still very
High but not as bad as it is for some others I mean every shot when you go to that tournament matters even if you’re not in the top 45 not getting guaranteed starts every shot from that point on just helps your category and helps you
Improve going to the next year so yeah I got I got like all kinds of questions to ask about about so this was your your first first time there so let’s just back up a second before Q school so you just mentioned you had already earned
Some status on and some starts on the corn Ferry due to not one but two wins and a top three finish uh up at PGA tour Canada and I get they were they they refer to their end of season standings I’m a little confused by this myself the
Fort like what is the fortnet cup is that the year-long standings or is that like the end of season tournament both um it’s a little bit confus so it’s it’s the fortnet cup is the PJ tour Canada version of the FedEx Cup um so it’s just a a points list throughout the whole
Year through all 10 events and then the season ending points list is called the race of the fortnet cup and the final event of the year the top 60 players on the tour go to The fortnet Cup Championship so it’s two separate tournaments if you will um but the the
Most important one is the points list for the whole year so you finished uh in the top three is that that what got you status or was it the wins that you got earlier in the summer it was well so the wins contributed to my finish but U so
Right top five this year from the PJ tour Canada were guaranteed corn faery status um the number one Hayden who just got his tour card he got full status for the year um me and the other guy who finished second and third Sam Choy and I got the first four starts guaranteed and
A spot and final stage and then fourth and fifth get into final stage and they’re in What’s called the zipper category um which is the same category as the guys from the corn faery previous year that finished 75th to 100th um so they’re guaranteed status but not
Guaranteed any starts got it so you already had some starts you know even like as as someone who like me not that I’m like the the closest follower to the stuff but I was trying to follow it and like getting information off the internet on on like trying to figure out
Some stuff it’s it’s it’s challenging trying to figure out who to follow to figure out okay if this person finishes in the top five top 40 top 30 next 30 you know what they get so were you I mean I imagine you’re well aware like as far as I understood obviously top five
In ties got their their PGA Tour cards and then the next 30 got a guaranteed eight starts on the corn Ferry is that right so the next 20 out of that top five get the first 12 and then the the the top 40 the next 20 after that get
The first eight got it um so had did so so coming out of it did you gain any additional starts or status based on your performance so like you said it’s a little bit confusing even I’m not entirely sure um because I’m in one category through Canada and I missed top
45 by a shot so I’m not guaranteed eight but that puts me in a slightly better category in terms of alternate positions go for the rest of the year um but to answer your question it’s gonna it depends so much on who plays each week which guys decide to play corn faery
Which guys decide to stay in their conditional PGA Tour stuff so there’s really no it’s not as cut and dry as you might wish it was um I have the first four I know that I know if I play well in those everything takes care of itself
So I’m trying not to worry about really anything else I imagine it’s got to be challenging while you’re playing because like you said this is you know one of the deepest the deepest field of uh in a golf tournament that you’ve ever participated in and it’s all you know
You missed this next level of starts or status by one stroke like is it a challenge in the moment especially in your fourth round that got delayed till Monday like like were you fully aware that you needed that extra shot the entire time or you trying to block that
Out in just player game you know you block it out but they’ve got a lot of big leaderboards out there so it’s pretty hard to not focus on it um you know the conditions were tough all week and particularly on the Monday it was very windy and and pretty cold so I was
Four or five shots outside of that number going into the day so I knew I needed to play a great round I wasn’t going out there trying to press anything you know it wasn’t like a Monday it’s still want to just put a good round together and see what happens um I ended
Up shooting two under and thought I would have been outside by two or three and it ended up being one um and that’s just kind of how it goes I wouldn’t say I was letting off the gas coming down the stretch there’s some tough holes
Coming down so I was just trying to put myself in positions I did didn’t make a birdie the last few holes and uh missed by one so that’s the kind of thing in pro golf that can drive you nuts if you if you harp on it too much that’s just
Kind of the way it goes you know it’s it’s easy to think about the shots that I could have gotten those last four holes but over 72 holes there’s way more than a shot you can get back anywhere so just kind of learning from The Experience I’m happy my first time there
Played a decent golf tournament and uh you know we’re looking forward to the season yeah I mean I imagine as a guy I mean you’re still a pretty young guy you’ve been you’re you only at a college golf what this was your second year at a
College golf do I have that right yes second and so much different to miss that next status by one stroke than a guy kind of who’s been at this for 20 years who maybe maybe his career is headed in a little bit different direction where you got uh everything
Still headed uh in the right direction yeah so I I I didn’t watch as much of it as I wanted to you know just chasing around kids and stuff like that but the weather of the tournament looked like it was was totally insane um that that caused some big scores the first couple
Days right Thursday Friday it did it did and I think this week was was one so it was two on two different golf courses just because of how big the field was they couldn’t uh couldn’t pack us all into one golf course we played at Saw
Grass Country Club and D Valley at TPC sass um both courses incredibly tight and they frankly very challenging um but D Valley is a little more protected so very very windy at sass Country Club you know we’re only 100 yards or so off the beach um and it was blowing about 30 mph
The first round so it was buckle down you know try to make pars where you can and just just not force anything there were a lot of high scores and it wouldn’t take much to to shoot something uh you know an uncharacteristically high score for any of those guys um so it was
A was a grind which is what you want at an event like that you know when the conditions are easy it would have taken 25 under to get there so it’s nice to level the playing field a little bit have a bit of a grind but uh it took a
Lot of mental fortitude to go out there and and accept that you know some things are out of your control and some golf shots that feel pretty good are going to end up in pretty bad spots do you being only um kind of your second year out of
Playing college golf trying to trying to make it as a professional golfer did you did you know do you have good relationships with many other guys that were in Q School um you you mentioned Hayden Springer that you knew from from PJ tour Canada but like you know did did
Guys that have been at this five 10 15 times you know give you any pointers on how to handle keyo you know I talked to you guys beforehand um you I’ve been fortuned to be around a lot of good golfers for a long time so I’ve always
Done what I can to pick their brains but as far as during the tournament week um everybody’s kind of in their own little world obviously you know we have friends we do dinner we do all that stuff but as far as being on the golf course trying to pick somebody’s brain that’s not
Really the time rep place for it so you know it’s I have a caddy who had a lot of experience so I was kind of working with Tam leaning heavily on him but um you know it’s it’s not a time to get in anybody’s head about what you should be
Doing you know they’re all trying to focus on themselves sure um so let let’s back I want to go back to uh your season here so um over the summer you won your first tournament uh the ATB classic I had in in Late July that that weekend um
Late July or late June early July but so you you won that as a Monday qualifier which is which is uh incredibly impressive what going into that tournament what was like what kind of status did you have were you playing a lot of tournaments on PJ T Canada or is
That walk me through that no no so uh I’ll back up just a little bit my first year as a pro first four years as a pro I turned Pro in October of 21 so I got through Q school for PJ tour Canada in March of 22 um you know obvious my first
Time having status of professional tour didn’t really know what to expect I had a okay college career but I knew my game was improving I knew I was ready to compete at a at a higher level um and I went out there and I made seven out of
10 seven out of nine cuts um and lost my card and I was kind of like whoa what is going on here um I had something had to switch um and in that off season you know I kind of started struggling my game a little bit swing was a little bit
Off for for quite a while basically from Thanksgiving of last year to May um I developed some back swing hits that I just couldn’t get rid of so it was a tough kind of dark offseason not what you were looking for and things started to to improve a little bit um I played
Just well enough at Q School to get conditional status I wasn’t going to get any starts guaranteed but that’s good enough because you can go play Mondays and if you play well then you’ll get the rest of the season so on and so forth so um I skipped the first two Canada events
Just because they were both Way Out West and I I had to go for a Monday and it just didn’t feel like the best use of my time to go out to Victoria Canada for for one round of golf if it didn’t go well um so I took the two off played
Some minior stuff and my game was improving a little bit and I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to Canada you know everyone kept asking me it’s like I don’t really know you know I think I might be better off just playing Mondays
Trying to bully my way into the corn F that way and then I was at the G Pro in a G Pro is a a minor league a a mini tour in North Carolina Southeast um yep and I was playing good golf and I you
Know hit a ton of Greens in the first round didn’t make anything shot one under and then the tournament got canceled for rain and I was just distraught I was like I need something to play in and that next week was the Edmonton event and the Monday qualifier
Was uh probably a week from when I was playing that tournament in North Carolina and I said all right screw it let’s go let’s go play on Monday let’s try to get this season going a little bit um I knew my game was trending in the right direction I wouldn’t say I was
Like playing the best golf of my life ready to go win a golf tournament by any means but I went up there you know fully intending on Monday qualifying and and playing well enough to just get the rest of the season that was my main goal so I
Went up played okay in the Monday got through um was very happy about it and then you know got some really good work in made some serious improvements just in the first couple days before the tournament the Tuesday and Wednesday and I was like you know what I actually I’m
Starting to feel pretty good and I I went out um started on the back the first round late conditions were super benign you know we were like playing in a dome at elevation the ball’s going a mile it was just a lot of fun I chipped
In on my first hole for Eagle made a couple more birdies then hold a wedge shot on my seventh hole for Eagle so I was six under through seven and it was all of a sudden like all right here we go like I think we’re going to be comfortably comfortably make the cut
Here we got the rest of the season let’s let’s play golf um and then from that point on it was just a good tournament I was uh kind of firing just about all cylinders um conditions got really really tough on the weekend after the first two days being about as easy as
They get um and I was ready for that you know I think one part of my game that’s always been very good is being able to kind of handle elements and play ugly golf because a lot of guys have a tough time when it’s not uh you know basically
Trackman golf so went in there and played two good last rounds played a great backman on Sunday and and walked away with the trophy and that really just got the whole rest of the year in motion uh and you didn’t and that’s that’s awesome and you didn’t waste any
Time you came back when was the Quebec open that was the very next week or so we had a week off after Edmonton um I me I was just so thrilled to a win a big golf tournament like that and B have status for the rest of the year and I
Guaranteed full status for PJ tour Americas Next year so it was all good stuff you know I took three days of basically celebrating my friends just like so happy that things had gone well and then you know got back into it a little bit started playing again probably the Thursday before the next
Tournament week um was still playing good golf went up to Montreal was the next week um dumped rain on the drive up there the course was closed for two days we couldn’t use the driving rain so I only got one practice round in didn’t
Hit a lot of balls and it was just like all right it’s you know it’s go time and uh that week was more of a kind of blackout I I I came to on Sunday when we were doing the Trophy presentation on the green you know it was you know once
You see yourself do it once you win in that kind of Arena it kind of you feel like you unlock something um so that was a great week week just made a ton of birdies everybody was chasing and uh I was I was lucky to come out on top at
The end so that second win really sealed at the very worst top five for the year which I was thrilled about um because I knew at very worst I’d be at final stage of the chance to improve and to move into the next year and you know
Obviously we did a little better and got some guaranteed starts so you can you put a your finger on what kind of changed in in your game or your swing from kind of the the winter where you you said you you developed some kind of hitch in your in your back swing versus
You know back to back and and how much my followup question of that I understand you’ve been working for a long time with a former guest on this podcast Mr John Scott ran did he did he play a role in that oh absolutely absolutely um I’ll admit and John Scott
Would back this up that I’m not always the easiest guy to coach um you know this was this was a problem that I had developed two years prior and it took us about four months to fix it um and it popped back up again and for some reason
It was just as difficult so John Scott stuck with me and I have another coach in Florida Jason and Bale and we all were just well I was banging my head against the wall they were obviously very calm and supportive um but we threw everything at the wall until something
Finally stuck and it did um so the swing was a big part of it but I think I have to give a lot of the credit also to a mental coach that I’ve been working with for a few years now his name’s Graham Bart um and I think the biggest thing
That Graham taught me is that you don’t need what you think is your best stuff to to play well and he’s not a golf he’s not his background is mostly in basketball he he I was one of the first golfers he’s worked with so we’re working on a much higher level stuff
Than just oh how do you avoid hitting at the water how do I go out and play well when I’m not feeling good so on it’s much more about how do I prepare how do I think how do I approach the game um so it just came to a point where I said
Graham I’m I’m just I’m ready to win a golf tournament I I don’t care what it has to feel like or look like like it’s just it’s time to do this and he agreed and we just took that mindset into the week you know it was no one has their
Perfect stuff every week if you do once a year you’re lucky um and that’s you know maybe you’re lucky to get it once every three years so it’s it’s a matter of managing misses it’s a matter of managing your temper um and if you can stick with it for 72 holes and be
Committed for that long then good things happen no matter really how bad you feel like you’re playing that’s interesting um so how long you been working with with Graham Graham and I started just pretty much right when I turned Pro so December of 21 and how did you find him
My so I did a fifth I went to school at Notre Dame um and I did a fifth year at a school called FAU down in bokeh um as a grad student playing for my my co eligibility he started at Stanford um and Graham is located in San Francisco
And I had a mental coach at the time that I was happy with um I didn’t really understand how important it could be to find somebody that you really click with and he showed me his stuff and and Graham’s a a a beautiful mind I’ll say
He makes songs to to kind of uh illustrate his points you know he’s very eccentric he’s he’s the best mental coach I’ve ever worked with for and he showed me his stuff when we were there and well it’s pretty interesting and then I kind of forgot about it for a
Year and I was looking for somebody um in December I was like coach well who was that guy you s us that one time he’s like oh it’s great here’s his number shoot him a text and we did we had one hour session in to start just to
Introduce and I was I was sold immediately um I think it’s really important to find somebody that not only you trust what he’s saying um you trust that he knows what he’s talking about but will be open to kind of more of a conversational type approach um I think
One thing that I found with a lot of golf specific mental coaches is that it almost turns into them reading their books to you which a lot of these guys have nothing but incredible wisdom in their books but it’s not personalized in the way that I would have liked it and
With graham you know we don’t have a schedule for our calls we don’t have a a you know a plan of what we’re working on it’s kind of day in and day out what are you feeling today what are you feeling and i’ I’ve I’m very open with him I
Tell him man Graham I feel like I’m going to shoot a 100 today like and that’s honestly how it is sometimes and he’s able to to work around those feelings see see where they’re coming from and how we can kind of fight back against them so Graham’s been pivotal in
Any success that I’ve had and I’m not letting him go anytime soon that’s for sure that’s that’s a great to hear have you found um just your experience interacting with all the other players um you know on the on the PJ tour Canada and otherwise is pretty is everybody
Using a mental coach these days is is it a pretty high percentage or or how many do you think what percentage you know it’s not necessarily something then you go and and talk about that much I would say it’s it’s around 75% it’s High um certainly more guys than not um I’ve
Gotten gram connected with a couple of my friends down down here and in the Pro world that I think could could benefit from him and would gel with his personality because he certainly not for everybody um I personally think it’s the most important thing you can do when
You’re golf game I mean assuming you have the the physical skills the tangible skills to hit the golf shots you need to to compete compete um once you get to that point where you can do that it almost doesn’t matter it’s uh it’s how well can you manage your
Emotions how well can you plan how well can you stay in the moment when when the lights get bright sure um can you paint a picture a little bit I mean you’ve mentioned you got a mental coach you’ve got two swing coaches people follow PJ tour players and they see these huge
Entourages of their their whole teams that travel them to from from tour stop to tour stop can you paint a little bit of a picture of What It’s Like on PJ tour Canada as far as I know I don’t know about your coaching Florida but I
Know John Scott he’s got he’s got a whole stable of people he’s coaching I’m sure he’s not able to to follow you to tournament to tournament I’m sure a lot of this has to be done remote or when you’re in town who are you traveling
With what what is the travel like in my head I’m picturing I I’m I’m sure it’s a step up from Motel sixes and you know eating in you know in buffets but I don’t know you tell me it’s it’s a step up but it’s not a big step up um so
Travel in you know Canada it’s it’s a great opportunity um it’s it’s a it’s a part of the process you know you got to most guys have to get through one of those tours to to improve um but in no way is it a glorious life up there um
You know for the most part we’re playing pretty far outside of cities um kind of in the middle of nowhere um like when I was in Montreal I stayed in an Airbnb that was above a Dermatology office in a town that had maybe eight buildings One restaurant so I ate there most nights
And cooked other nights um so it’s it’s uh it’s not as glorious as the life you see on the PGA tour obviously I I’ve never had a coach or anybody come up with me up there never a caddy um you get local caddies every week which are generally just members
That want to watch golf um that’ll be a little bit different next year um there are a couple events that coaches will be at that’s a little more accessible you know we play in Florida we play in the Southeast a little bit um but as far as
Canada goes it’s a lot of Stam H players um it’s a lot of cheap meals and it’s a lot of downtime um what what is the the the local caddies you know so so both of those wins you had like a local caddy who was a member at at the T and did
They did they they help did they just try to stay out of the way did any any any incidents no incidents I was lucky this year um I’ve had incidents in the past that we’ll just we’ll leave it at that um but I think when you are on a
Tour like that you know you’re just texting aad Master hey I need a guy starting Wednesday and they’ll say if they can get one if you do it early enough you know usually they only have enough caddies for about half the field um and you are allowed to carry your own
Bag in Canada um I think the best caddies that I had up there understood that in the nicest way possible they don’t have much to contribute from a golf standpoint um my cadd and Edmonton Dawn um since I Monday qualified I got him late I didn’t meet him until about
10 minutes before my tea time on the first round he was an awesome guy super fun to be around and really just happy to be there I mean he was from that first nine all the way through he was absolutely glowing um so it’s was fun to
Share that with him he did a great job he kept up I mean what the old cliche about caddies is show up shut up and keep up and uh they did a good job with all of those um my caddy in Montreal spoke very little English um so you know
We conversed how we had to but uh I don’t speak any french so there’s a little bit of a language barrier there but he also did a great job so it’s fun I think it’s a lot of things in Canada you have to understand that you’re not on the PGA
Tour Life’s a little bit different you know the tour does everything they can to make it as high level as they can budget’s relatively low so you know we were lucky to have chiropractors and physios on site every once in a while we’d get meals at the course from the
Tournament but other than that it was kind of Pi your scorecard we’ll see after you’re round yeah so what about like on that tour like that where there’s so much downtime you know there’s there’s not a lot of Glitz and glamour I are there many many locals
Even coming out to watch is there anybody watching the tournaments other than friends and family it depends on the week I was there there were a like like Edmonton in Montreal um we probably had a hundred or so people following the final group in both of those rounds and
Then you know as far as buildout goes they put one or two grand stands in kind of VIP areas on the 18th green so those get pretty busy on a Friday morning when you’re teeing off the back at 10:00 a.m. no you’re not going to anybody for quite
Some time is there much C camaraderie uh amongst the players that are playing or or is it or is it somewhat Cutthroat and you’re not socializing too much there’s a lot of camaraderie um like I said it’s we’re all kind of in the same boat everybody wants everybody succeed
Everybody to succeed obviously um obviously you want to do the best but there’s a BL I mean we’re playing practice rounds together getting dinner together traveling together staying together all that stuff um it’s it’s costs are high up there and pay is low so you got to kind of manage that as
Well as you can and and a lot of that comes down to you know driving guys to different tournaments staying together you know four or five people doing Airbnb getting dinner together cooking all that stuff so it’s the camaraderie is is one of the best parts about that
Tour I would say so um and some of this I’m just learning so going forward because this past year PGA tour Canada and PGA Tour Latin America were two different things correct yes and this year they’re merging them so it’s like 16 events some of them will be in Canada
Some of will be in South of the Border and essentially that’s officially the tour just below corn fairy correct so going forward to 2024 you said you’ve got like how do you how do you envision your 2024 looking you said you’ve got four guaranteed starts on corn faery how
How does the rest of year how does the rest of the year play out for it so let’s say I go to those first four events and I play well um make a couple if I make two of the cuts let’s say then I’m guaranteed the rest of the season so
I’ll play all 26 on corn Cherry um should those first four not go well um I’d still be a conditional member I would likely get a couple more starts the rest of the year and be able to improve my status but with corn faery status I’m also exempt onto the PJ tour
Americas so if it comes to that I could go and play basically a full schedule up uh in Latin America in Canada got it and and and doing that obviously that’s not the plan but doing that would just ensure that you’re at a certain stage of
Q school next year to do this all over again i’ have to play I’d have to play well it’s top 25 go to Second Stage top five still from America’s goto finals um okay so my best path to status is just playing well those first four you know
Keep my card or move up to PGA tour through corn fery um but you never know so I’m ready for anything I’ll have somewhere to play all year and I know that that’s that’s comforting that’s good and so is those four are literally the first four corn fairy events of the
On the calendar yes oh that’s good uh when so when is I don’t I don’t know the corn fairy schedule like I should when does that get started so we start in January January 14th the first two events are in the Bahamas uh first one is an Exuma at sandal second one is
Abaco um in Grand Bahama Abaco club and then we go down to Panama and then bogot and then Argentina and Chile so the first six are all International and then the last 20 are all around the US kind of from as far west as Portland to as
Far east ases Savannah to New Jersey kind of in that range got it so that’s a quick turnaround just a couple weeks you’re you’re down the oh is getting after it yeah um so I’m not the biggest gear guy in the world but I figured uh you know anytime I got a professional
Golfer on here I I should do what’s in the bag like what what what uh what kind of clubs you hitting I’m Titleist 14 clubs um proudly I just got my first Circle T Scotty Cameron a couple weeks ago so I’m very excited about that um I
Mean I you want me to go through the whole bag sure why not I’m sure some listeners will love it cool yeah so uh I got him right behind me here so I play the Titleist TSR tsr3 driver okay the tensei white shaft I’ve got the tsr2
3-wood and tsr2 five wood I’ve got a u500 three iron with the ATM uh staff project decks I’ve got uh Titus t100’s for iron through pitching wedge with Project X 6.5s 52 degree vogi F grind 10 degrees of Bounce 58 degree vogi bounce between four and 8 degrees of Bounce um and I
Was using the terillium Newport Scotty Cameron and I’m just switched to a goo so we’re seeing if I can make a few more putts um but all the way tiess through the bag um and then I play the prov1 2023 prov1 how often are you kind of
Tweaking what’s in your bag and and and especially like your your your wedges and and putter um very rarely um I think the last few iterations of woods for Titleist have gone right in the bag they’ve just been you know tit has a very good job of keeping their same kind
Of character with just minor improvements um irons I’ll do every couple of years not always to the new model um so I think with irons it’s more important to have something that you you’re comfortable with and know the flight of than it is the newest technology so I’m still playing the
2021 T100 um try to get a new 58 degree every month or so and then putter is sort of an as needed basis um you know sometimes a putter cannot cooperate for a little while and it’s time to to put her in timeout so that’s where I’m at
Right now there’s a new putter in the bag as of yesterday um but as far as the other 13 clubs go I’ve played the same setup for for quite a while now at what point as a professional golfer or maybe or is it as a college golfer I don’t
Even know do like what’s in your bag playing 14 Titleist is that because you prefer Titleist I mean obviously you prefer titlist but like do do you are you do you become an official titlist guy like where you’re contractually hitting titlist yep so I was under a ball shoe glove contract with titlist
The last two years that’s pretty standard um satellite tour deal okay and then I was paying for golf clubs which I thought was standard but apparently is not um I was lucky to sign an agent after those couple of wins to kind of manage everything that’s going on um and
He was able to get uh a contract signed where I’m you know on staff with them I have a full line deal some bonuses in place so I’m I’m fortunate that I’ve I’ve played Titus anyway um and they wanted to to bring me on staff a lot of guys when they get to
This point start looking around different options but I’ve I’ve Loved Titus for a long time and I’m just happy that they’re supporting me very cool so you mentioned earlier on that um you know I I haven’t looked up all your college stats at Notre Dame but I know
You’re a good golfer you described as an okay college career I I I doubt that’s accurate but when when you when you you said you did one year kind of on on covid eligibility as a grad student at FAU you know was there any kind of um
What was the decision process like about whether or not to to give professional golf a go was was there any a doubt ever a doubt it was um I unfortunately played some of the worst golf of my life that year at SAU and it was during covid and
You know I was still doing school it was it was not the best uh six months of my life that’s for sure um and during that time like I said I was kind of I developed some swing issues that refused to go away and it was you know April of
That year of 2021 and I was like like I I’m finishing school in a month and either you’re going to turn pro or you’re not so it’s it’s time and I had a lot of conversations with my parents with John Scott and was like you know am
I gonna do this is are we ready for this and my parents said absolutely like this is all what you’ve always want to do you’re going to figure it out you’re going to do well I wasn’t as confident as they were but I knew if I I kind of
Managed the swing like I knew I could and got it back to a place where I could play good golf that that I had What it Took I think one thing that I I took a lot of comfort in is that pretty much my entire life saved maybe that’s six
Months I’ve improved every year I’ve gotten a little bit better every year and I was never a world beater as a junior say had an okay to to to solid college career you know I never won but I was kind of a lot of top 10 I was kind
Of a top 10 guy in college which is fine um but every year I felt like I learned something kind of gained some knowledge and got a little bit better and I just figured if I keep improving at this rate over time it’s just good things are
Going to happen um so I was confident in that even though the results weren’t necessarily there at the time that I did turn pro um and I was just lucky to have a great support system to behind me to be able to do it because it’s not an
Easy Endeavor to uh to Undertake from the get-go sure I imagine um well let let’s keep rewinding so now let’s get to part of the reason why you’re on the Beltway golfer podcast is is you’re a you’re you’re you’re a DMV guy you you grew up around Washington DC so um couple things
So one you you played go your golf at Georgetown prep um and but you were I mean you say you weren’t a world beater in in high school everything’s Everything’s Relative I mean I got you as relative yeah you were you were all met three times do I have that right
Including as a senior year or player of the year I was Player of the Year senior year I know that for sure um I don’t I was never First Team all met and I to be honest with you I can’t remember how deep that all met selection actually
Went but I was probably an honorable mention a couple of times okay um but no I so I I played fine for most of high school I had some good finishes and then Senior Year I won iac’s and metros and that was you know good but it’s it’s
Funny because like I said I wasn’t a world beater so high school golf no matter where you are is kind of a little bit of a bubble right um there’s a funny story I’ll share about college so to to fast forward a little bit while we re
While we rewinded is uh we were in school and it was um probably eight or nine guys on the golf team at Notre Dame just in our locker room hanging out and our coach brought his uh a recruit in who was in high school I don’t know where he was from
And I guess this kid was kind of being a little Brash and a little you know bragging a little bit to coach in a way that he was like okay this kid needs to kind of see what he’s walking into here and and Coach walks in and said hey uh
Guys I don’t remember his name Johnny here just won his uh high school state championship he’s very proud of it we’re all like oh good job and he’s like how many of you guys won your state championship and everybody in the room’s hand went up um so you know success at
The high school level uh only kind of puts you at the same level as everybody else you’re going to once you get to a national level so that’s kind of more what I mean I wasn’t you know competing very well on a national stage but I was
You know always kind of in the mix in my in my local area um that’s what’s so unique about golf being it it’s not not being I mean it’s you at that level it’s a team sport but you you get individual honors and winning an individual so
Everyone you yeah you have a division one team that’s just every single person has won enough title to make them think that they are a world beater until they get to that next level and they realize everyone’s done it because everyone’s you know it’s it’s it’s a it’s a
Singular trophy so also from from around here so you you were you still in high school you won a Maryland open correct was that when you at I was in college that was 2019 okay so that was going into my senior year of college and do I have it
Are you um some I read that you’re you’re a congressional guy is that how you met John Scott um no so when I started with John Scott ended up it was about a week or two weeks before he came over to Congressional um but he was at
Bethesda Country Club at the time and my couple of my good friends Chris and Joey Lan started seeing him um Evan Katz who you likely know he was seeing him for a long time and I wasn’t thrilled with the instruction that I was getting at the
Time and I just I think it was time for a change and I went over there and met with him and very very soon after he ended up on the back of the range a congressional so it worked out really well do you are do you come from a
Family of golfers when did you start pick up picking up a club uh I come from a family of of casual golfers um you know my dad’s a my dad’s an eight I’m sure he’ll listen to that so I’m sorry Dad he definitely instilled in me the
Love of the Game um but not much else um he you know so to answer your question I had a club in my hand when I was 3 years old you know I’d go out with him plastic clubs just messing around and I really enjoyed it um I don’t know what exactly
It was but from that moment on it was it’s pretty much all I’ve thought about every day of my life for the last 23 years um you know I was fortunate to grow up with a good group of kids my age um we had about seven of us that ended
Up playing in college and played every day and so we were always kind of pushing each other and getting better and better and that’s very fortunate especially in that area you know it’s not golf isn’t as popular as other sports you know obviously lacrosse and basketball and football are the big ones
In in the in the DC area um so to have a good close snit group of guys that I could play with every day and we all improved was a massive massive contributor to my success when did you start playing competitive junior golf how old so it it was kind of I started
Slowly I I did a lot of junior golf at Congressional I want to give a shout out to Stacy Miller AR she just probably the number one supporter of my golf career from a very very young age taught me everything that I know about how to you
Know keep a scorecard and and organize my clubs um the real basic stuff I started playing kind of mapga stuff plantation tour stuff around probably 14 134 um and then just gradually expanded where I would play started going to North Carolina a little bit uh
Went to Florida for the first time for a golf tournament when I was 16 or so um and just kind of it started growing and growing and then started playing AJ which are obviously National events played out of the country a couple times so it just started growing um over time
Do you remember a time when it really kind of started clicking for you where where you where you thought that this you know at the very least could be something you do in college there wasn’t necessarily one big moment um I remember the first time that I ever broke par in
A golf tournament it was at rest and National I don’t know what year it was um but I went out and I shot I think 39 on the front I want to say it was a par 71 and I turned around on the back and
Shot 31 birdied my last to and it was like I blacked out I’d never experienced a feeling that before and I was like oh my God that was awesome that was so much fun like what just happened and I didn’t have the obviously mental skills to be
Able to analyze like oh that’s what Flo feels like yeah you you can kind of force that a little bit that was way too early for that but that was when I was like huh maybe I am you know okay at this maybe I’m actually pretty good at
This how old do you how old do you think you were um I know my dad drove me to the tournament so I was you know younger than 15 I was probably 13 or 14 if I had to guess wow um nice but it was just always something that even when the
Results even though the results weren’t necessarily there I was like I think I could actually be good at this I felt like I had from a young age so much more in the tank and that I was just slowly kind of tapping into and like I said with the Improvement every year was
Every year was just a couple more experiences that I found that I was more prepared for than I thought I would be and so on and just kind of grew and grew from there I gotta ask um Andrew Green’s renovation Congressional what are your
Thoughts I I I think it’s it’s a lot of fun it’s a it’s a brand new golf course compared to what it used to be I’ll say I was a huge huge fan of the old one I think it was the traditional classic Northeastern golf course but there were
A lot of issues that that course had that were a result of the design um so namely too much tree cover uh a lot of big slopes around the greens that funnel water into the greens the course was never as healthy as it should be for you
Know such a Premier Club um so I think now with no trees the course is Far and Away the healthiest I’ve ever seen it on a day-to-day basis and it’s just a unique golf course you know it’s it’s weird going out to a course that is fundamentally the same course that you
Grew up on you know I used to know it like the back of my hand to now it’s a brand new golf course like it has the character it still has the same routing but I’m still I’ve played it probably a dozen times now and I’m still every time
Learning and I still see a pin on the green and couldn’t tell you exactly where it is so it’s a learning curve but think it’s a it’s a great golf course and I’m excited to see it you know put up to the test against uh the best
Golfers in the world soon not to put the cart ahead of the horse but uh do party you’ve played it 12 times since renovation do you the PJ championships come to Congressional in was it 2028 30 30 30 so you got seven years I mean I
Mean did did does that is that in the back of your head a little bit sure sure um you know I I would be thrilled to be able to play a major at my home course I think that’s a very unique um opportunity that 99% of professional
Golfers never get a chance to do um but that the in said I think I’m more worried about the first four events from the corn Story Tour this year uh so I think that would be an absolutely incredible opportunity and uh when we get there we’ll see how it happens so in
In the more of the present you know when you look at 2024 I mean you you you covered kind of what your looks like but your your goals like what what is a what does a good 2024 result look like for you you know it’s always interesting setting
Goals in golf because if I play good golf for me I will be on the PGA tour in 2025 right so it’s hard to say anything other than oh my goal is to be on the PJ tournament 2025 um so that’s obviously number one the goal let’s go out there
Not worry about conditional stats like that let’s just go play good golf everything takes care of itself if that’s you know top of the mountain goal number one I think the biggest goal for me would be to to gain the full season be able to play 26 events in the corner
Fa tour and then keep my card for next year um be able to go to Q School final stage next year full status guaranteed um and be able to play for that top five with you know nothing else in the back of my mind couple questions kind of just
Just more related to you know there a couple big things going on in golf is there a lot of chatter I mean obviously you’re so focused on Q school and you’re focused on your 2024 and going to the next level but there’s been there’s a
Been a lot of big Topics in in in golf these days is you know what is the chatter at your level you guys talk about like the the golf ball roll back for instance is that something that you guys talk about at the range or in the locker rooms and what’s the general
Feeling of players a little bit um I think the roll back is interesting because I’ll admit that I I haven’t done a lot of research into what it actually means there’s a lot of information going around back I saw a tweet the other day that Keegan Bradley was hitting the
Proposed rollback golf ball and it was going 50 yard shorter it’s like okay is that really I highly doubt that’s what this roll back means um from what I’ve heard about it it just sounds like they’re trying to make it go 10 to 15% shorter um whatever that means I think
It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out at different Club speeds because there’s a very real chance that relative to the field the long guys get longer and the short guys get shorter facing the compression of the golf ball that’s entirely possible and it also
Could tighten the pack up I think in my opinion the best way for a roll back to happen would be smaller driver heads for sure I think if we go back to a 430 CC driver head that’s a way better um a way better way to kind of bring skill back
Into the driving of the golf ball I don’t think distance is the only issue I think forgiveness is the issue and I think if I were to propose a a a rolled back golf ball it would be higher spin um and more susceptible to curve than it
Would be just going shorter um you know old golf ball is like the professional 90s you can get that thing going 60 yards left or right if you hit it off center um and the modern golf watch doesn’t do that I mean between head technology and ball technology I could
Hit one clean off the toe of the driver and it would just be a tight draw down the middle um so that’s that’s kind of more so what I look at it from I don’t think as as a distance issue so much as there’s not enough of a penalty for M
Hits um so I would like to see a ball that curves more and a head that’s less forgiving before I’d like to see just a golf ball that’s like a marshmallow you know I I would imagine the roll back doesn’t necessarily impact um how golfers it it doesn’t necessarily improve or um Harden
Anybody’s path getting to the tour or becoming a professional golfer because it impacts everybody maybe maybe it helps a shorter golfer a little bit more than somebody that just that just bombs it um but but one topic that I I think might um impact someone’s path is just
The larger thing that’s going on in professional golf which is you know the the battle between PJ tour and live and how PJ tour has responded by these elevated events and really focusing on the top whatever it is I don’t even know 25 50 golfers and and increasing P
Purses making it maybe a little bit Challenger for that a little more challenging for golfers in that second third or fourth tier to really make uh as much of a living as they used to is that something that’s discussed is that uh weigh at all on on golfers at on
These smaller tours as whether or not they can have a future in golf a little bit uh I think you know everybody on these tours firmly believes that they can be a top 50 golfer in the world um and if you didn’t I don’t know why you
Would necessarily even play um but it’s it’s it’s interesting obviously there’s been a lot of different news coming out from the tour and from Liv and what’s happening and what they’re trying to do who they’re trying to take care of and I think at the basis it I think it’s easy
To think of every let’s say there 200 guys on the PGA tour give or take you got it’s easy to be like oh we all are on the same tour we deserve the same compensation the same uh you know access the same publicity and that’s just not
The case right I mean any league in the world it relies heavily heavily on their Stars be that the top 5% 10% of whatever League or tour that there is um so I understand the tours move to compensate those guys better give better opportunity to Market themselves to earn
More money um but at the same time I think there’s a way to do it without leaving the last 150 guys in the dust um and that’s the sentiment that a lot of those guys have they feel like they’re being they’re not being heard um and the
Majority of them almost all of them I would say frankly all of them understand that Rory maroy moves the needle he deserves he’s who brings the fans he is who is generating the majority of the revenue for the tour but at the same time the tour is built around you know
156 person field where pretty much anybody can win on a given week and uh they need to be compensated in the same way and they have the same opportunities if they play good golf so I think it might take a couple years to the tour to find the structure that really works
Where you know you’re going to be in a category where you’re not the elevated events but there’s going to be a path a very clear path of how you can get into those and if you play good golf you will be the elevated events there’s nothing
They to keep you out of it it’s not like they’re saying the top 50 from last that’s the tour now everybody else right go back to Corn Ferry and try to get that top 50 no it’s you’re on tour you’re playing different events there’s frankly two tours on the PGA tour now
With the elevated events and the regular events um but as long as there’s a clear path for guys to go from that regular Tour event uh circuit to the elevated events then I think people will be understanding and happy with it you said you moved down to Jupiter you said last
Year two years ago uh two years ago um it’s you know when you when you go out to a restaurant in Jupiter are there just are there just golfers everywhere that’s kind of what I imagine it’s a lot of golfers um I’d say there are more of retirees than there are
Golfers any given restaurant depending on what time you go um but there are a few places you know if you go to thousand North Jordan’s place there’s always you know you name it there Brooks DJ all those guys are hanging out um the places that I go to eat you know it’s
More guys like me you know it’s all it’s all it’s all income based right um but it’s cool it’s it’s a very golf focused um city I mean I live on Donald Ross Boulevard and it’s just a normal street in city um every light you turn
On there’s a golf course to your left to your right um people drive around in golf carts so it’s a very very Golf and uh pickle ball now focused city right what about last question for you here what um I’m always curious uh especially you know having a podcast myself when
You’re on the Range what are you listening to whether it be music or uh any golf podcast you listen to it depends um I can’t say I listen to a lot of golf podcasts because I get enough golf my whole life um so once I once I
Leave the golf course I’ll listen to pretty much anything else or not what about non non-golf podcast yeah so so I spend a lot of time on the road I’d say I’d say i’ in season not so much on corn Fury but between Canada and mini tours
I’m spending at least 16 hours on the road a week um so what I found is I try to every third on listen to on the road has to be something at least somewhat educational you know there’s a lot of very interesting podcasts about literally anything you could ever want
To learn about out there but 75% of the time it’s just comedy podcast driil it’s just something that I can kind of have in the background tune out try to get to the destination so when I’m on the golf course I don’t listen to my music when I hit balls most of the
Time if I’m putting oh it’s always music it’ll be anywhere from you know little Little Wayne to Vivaldi it really just depends on how I’m feeling that day and what I’m trying to get done um so you know I’m not like everybody else not like a lot of guys who you know have
Headphones in 100% of the time when they’re track practicing I like it sometimes but a lot of times I just you know I think I learn a lot from the sound the golf ball mix be that putting chipping hitting balls so I I I get more
From hearing that the audio of the golf shot than I do kind of whatever’s you in the headphones that’s great that’s it’s it’s always good insight to kind of hear what um the the life of a professional golfer especially someone that’s trying to move stage to Stage so on that note
Man I I I really appreciate you uh you taking time on such short notice after such a huge event and and week at Q School congratulations on um the awesome year and uh best of luck uh coming up here just in a couple weeks man this is
Uh be exciting year for you thank you so much for having me I appreciate it I don’t have a good golf game but I don’t really care I’m a I’m a regular dude living in DC and I want to know about dcentric golf stuff if you can
Tell me something that I don’t already know then that is great for me I don’t want the regular stuff I want exciting stuff I want different stuff I want stuff I can’t hear elsewhere but I want it to be about DC golf
