AJGA junior Boston Bracken joins the pod to talk about tournaments, junior golf, ice cream and his recent obsession with Star Wars.
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Hi everyone and welcome to the podcast this is golf’s nextg the official podcast of the American Junior Golf Association my name is Tim Jackman I’m the vice president of communications I’m joined by Thomas Harrison who is the director of tournament operations and behind the camera we have Justin so I
Hope you’re ready to learn about the world of junior golf we’re going to focus on Pros right now that are agga alumni we’re going to talk about current Juniors that we have with us we have a great guest planed for a little bit later and then we’re going to talk about
What’s coming up in the ajga world so I hope you’re ready to come along with us and learn a lot yeah Tim you mentioned some great guests we’ve got Boston Bracken coming up but the opportunities are really endless we’ve seen the youth golf movement really just progressing onto the professional tours PGA Tour
We’ve had adberg and Dunlap coming out winning right away Alexa Pano rosang on the LPGA it’s just really impressive to see that those winners are getting younger and younger every day yeah the uh the Nick Dunlap one I think is really interesting because really it was less
Than two years ago he played his last ajj event and now he’s a PGA Tour Champion he he was the third Amer since 1985 to win as an Amer on the on the PGA tour and that joined stoer Plank and Phil Mickelson who coincidentally enough were also Rox Junior players of the year
Just like Nick was yeah it’s impressive to see you mentioned two short years ago I remember being a rules official watching him play and you think of course he’s going to go on to have a great career but maybe not in a 2-year span you never think that that same kid
Who you saw showing up to the first te getting everything ready to go is going to be in the winter circle on tour yeah it’s really cool to see them and I think we are very fortunate because we get to see a lot of these a lot of these kids
Play in junior golf and then we see them you know on tour all the way across the board a lot of the pros um you know the longer you’re here at the ajj the more you get to kind of see them progress and become you know stars on the PGA LPGA
Tour which is really awesome so looking forward to you know seeing more of that yeah absolutely some of those connections they have too you see a few years ago he plays in the Justin Thomas event he has his photo on that first te with Justin Thomas then he’s going into
The final round of a PJ Tour event with him in the group and he went to Alabama too yeah one of those things they have those deep connections it all kind of starts here and we’re really just seeing some of those full circle moments here as we progress yeah really so T speaking
Of really good Junior golfers uh we’ve got a great guest here Boston Bracken is joining us so Boston we’re excited to kind of chat with you and get to know you a little bit more perfect let’s do it thanks for having me on I’m honored to be the first
Guest we’ll get ready um we’ll we’ll keep it easy to begin with talk a little bit about uh that Carlton Woods event obviously that’s a huge event that we do lots going on just talk how much you love that event and like why you like it
Yeah that event’s um one of my favorites um I’ve played in that event twice now and I played pretty solid both times um but honestly it’s one of the best ran events um the dck do a fantastic job I think you have the entire um agga staff
There um full-time staff so that could also be a reason but yeah the derck do a great job um Carlton Woods does a fantastic job of Hosting it’s a great Golf Course um um every time we show up um it’s always a blast they always get
Some good games going um so yeah it’s always been fun and I’ve enjoyed the last two years though speaking of games Thomas I think you have a question regarding something of that so it’s always been kind of a hot topic for us people always ask you know our golfers
Athletes at Carlton Woods we put it to the test we have some basketball we throw the football around what do you think about that take that golfers can’t be athletes I’m not the one to be asking because I am definitely as far away from an athlete as you can get that’s why I
Play golf so I’m not the one to be asking on that question but I did see some pretty athletic guys out there they know some guys making some nice passes some shots being thrown down and um we also did the great golf ball race um so we saw some
Running some agility and um they it was fun if you had to rank Five Guys in that field and give us the top five athletes out there who do you think you’re running out there not Billy Davis I can give you that one sorry Billy love you but not Billy um let’s
Think I couldn’t even tell you um jird looks pretty athletic I feel like he’s got a pretty good AR arm on him um I don’t know there’s lots but um I’m definitely not in that group so we’ll just skip that if you had to rate
Michael ree’s jump shot on a one to 10 what are we giving it that Lefty stroke o like a three like a three not not great we want to you do not want to watch him shooting shooting shots it’s it’s pretty yeah just do not watch stay
Away from that he was pretty good in the golf great golf ball race they all give him that yeah I think they ended up winning dominant hey he’s a back-to-back champ but um that’s a place we talked about you finished well you have a top 10 a
Top five what is it about that event where you show up and you play pretty well consistently uh um the golf course sits my eye pretty well um it’s always cold I like to play in cold weather instead of 110 and humidity but um I don’t know there the vibe
Around it everyone’s always having a good time everyone’s hanging out everyone’s chilling um honestly when you’re when you’re having fun and you’re hanging out with cool people I feel like you you’re going to play a lot better and that’s one of the best parts about it um honestly I think the desserts
There are topnotch they have the is it called banberry is that the the ice cream I think I gained like six seven pounds from that ice cream there so shout out I think it was banberry I couldn’t be wrong but shout out that ice cream shop that was that
Was fantastic throughout the week how many milkshakes did you put down I’m not a milkshake guy so I only had a couple um I was mostly just sticking to the the ice cream with some hot fudge and some sprinkles on top so but I saw plenty of Milkshakes um being put down
Before rounds mid round I mean it it was pretty impressive that’s awesome so you actually received the Jim Harrison sportsmanship award from that tournament talk a little bit about that and what that means obviously we give that to someone who exhibits sportsmanship throughout the tournament week so talk a
Little bit about that yeah I’m not sure how I received that um if I’m being honest I’m very honored to receive it because I’m I’ve heard I don’t um Jim Harrison was a great guy I mean he also has a great last name so um flattery gets you everywhere yeah no
That’s that’s moving you up the board yeah I’m honored um his family was there and so it was a cool award to receive um yeah I feel like I don’t know just trying to be as good as a person as I can be through everyone I meet I mean is
It’s all you can do in life I feel like it’s it could take you a lot farther than most things in life so I I was pretty special my parents thought a lot of it uh I’m not sure how much I thought of it I thought was pretty cool but my
Parents like oh let’s go Boston but um everyone’s like Mr Nice Guy he can’t play golf but we call call him Mr Nice Guy hey you’re winning in something that’s that what matters so let’s talk a little bit about Moon away from Carlton Woods a little bit talk about uh your
College commitment and kind of what you’re looking forward to the rest of the year and then into the fall yeah so I’m committed to Arizona State University um down in Tempe Arizona um a lot nicer weather than most places it’s about perfect right now probably 75
Degrees and um grass is green um it’s a little nicer than what Carlton Woods was I mean it was 45 50 below and 30 all three days pretty much so but yeah I’m super excited um go see where where this game can take me and obviously it’s
Known as one of the um top top programs in the country I think they they actually just won by a pretty big margin in Cabo this last week um so super super cool win there um but yeah I’m super excited to go down and play with some of
The guys I’m pretty good buddies with them all coach Matt Thurman he’s a stu super excited to go play for him but yeah I think Carlton Woods was my last agga event um I was ajga has helped out tremendously I think I played in about every one of the invitationals last year
And so kind of sad Carlton Woods was my last one but yeah I’m super excited to see um see where the G game can take me and see what we can what we can make happen in a college awesome what do you think how do you think the ajj helped you get prepared
For college um I kind of started a little later than most I feel like most of these kids have have been playing agga tournaments I mean we got miles who’s like six years old and he’s just winning every event I mean it’s I mean it’s not even fair so U I
Don’t know there’s a lot of young kids coming up through the game of golf and it’s it’s really impressive I mean they’re hitting they’re longer than me they’re hitting straight I mean it’s it’s really impressive I mean he’s literally 15 I think he’s 15 years old
So um the game I started playing this these last year I think Carlton Woods was my third Invitational um last year so I don’t know it’s the courses we play each week um they’re fantastic um The Players you’re playing with I mean they’re also unbelievable I
Mean we’re going to go out it’s really cool we build these relationships in Junior golf then we’re going to go play with him in college and then hopefully on tour someday so I don’t know AG golf is the program everything about has progressed everyone in in a great direction
For um for the game of golf and it’s definitely making the game better and we’re getting better better younger players and it’s it’s really impressive I think um I mean Nick Dunlap who played ajj I mean growing up I mean he just won on tour couple weeks ago I mean
Impressive stuff the game’s just getting better so as you mentioned that last agga for you all those memories is there a memory that sticks out above the others when you think back on your ajj career yeah for sure um the I played in the Windom
Cup last year and um Windham cup uh it was probably one of the most fun weeks I’ve ever had on a golf course I mean I love playing golf I’m at the golf course if I wasn’t doing this right now I’d definitely be at the golf course right
But um happy to be here um yeah wiam cup was a blast it was it was honestly like one of the coolest weeks um go play with some some of your best friends um on a great Golf Course um up in middle of two Le in wine country in
California I mean stayed at a hotel all together um yeah it was it was a blast we relationships I’ll never forget and still some of my best friends day and hopefully it continues it was a blast do you have any stories or one particular story that was really a good
One from your junior golf career that you can share oh so many good ones there’s not one that like really sticks out I mean honestly as you guys know I like to talk to people so um honestly just coming to coming to coming to events coming to these events I mean
It’s it opens up a lot of opportunity meet cool people and um that’s honestly the best part of each week is getting to meet cool people talking to people about what they do what they like and you especially around the game golf talking about how they do things what they do
Best what what’s different from something to another thing I mean that’s that’s what I love that’s what I it’s honestly the reason play golf I love it but the things that you can learn throughout it and the the relationships you can have and so on I mean it’s
Incredible and so as these younger golfers are getting into the agga and playing their first events are there any tips or advice that you’d have for those young players yeah for sure um I say yeah for sure I don’t really know to be honest um honestly have fun with it I mean it’s
Just a game it’s the greatest game but it’s just a game and honestly just try your best work as hard as possible and try and play as many of these as you can get around the best best golfers it’s honestly where you learn the most is playing with better golfers better
Players um I don’t know golf’s golf’s created this really kind of cool um connection where you can learn all these different kind of things and I feel like as a young player that’s the biggest advant is learning from others and I know just take advantage of playing in um different climates different grasses
Take advantage of everything that you can to grow your knowledge about the game and and so so on so that’s probably my biggest device just playing as many termers as you can and have fun with it don’t put too much pressure on yourself and go
Win okay I just got a couple more real easy questions for you what are you uh what are you listening to right now I’m a big country guy I probably don’t seem like it I I can throw on some cowboy boots and my cowboy hat I can get snazzy up if you
Big yeah no it’s the move so um I don’t know I’m not a big rap guy don’t don’t like to be only only when I’m speed training got to get the high energy up and get swinging a little a little harder but not a big rap guy
Big in the country so there you go now on the TV side of course full swing is back what are you looking forward to in season two I’m so excited I was I was one of those people I don’t know if you know the Super Bowl on
The last year’s Super Bowl they had like the QR code that came up during one of the commercials and you could like watch the first episode and only like a thousand people watched it I was one of those guys and it was one of like the
Best I was so excited I think I watched like 16 times the full um Eight Episodes and I think it’s eight episodes and I don’t know I’m super excited I think they got some some a good group of guys coming in that they’re younger and I
Think it should be good I I’m not sure how um the live thing is going to play out so I kind of interested seeing that I actually haven’t even started watching it kind of disappointed myself now that you mention it um but I’m might have to not go to
The golf course and go watch it real quick um benj watches that whatever how many episodes it is but yeah I’m excited the golf’s golf’s going in a cool Direction Everyone likes money and that’s that’s where it’s headed so what is your uh what’s your like one
Show your go-to show if you just want to put something on to watch something I’m not a big show guy honestly if if I’m gonna on the TV always um is playing as Tiger Woods US Open uh 2000 or 2008 against Rocco either one of those I mean
That’s like 44 minutes like the greatest 44 minutes of your life I mean I’ve probably watched it I think it has probably a couple million views I’m probably one of those million views I mean it’s it’s one of the greatest it’s it’s one of the greatest 44 minutes of
Your life it’s if you haven’t seen it it’s a must watch both of those so that’s probably I’m not a big show guy actually recently at Carlton Woods one of my buddies recommended me Star Wars so the entire week at Star Wars I was coming home watching Star Wars before
I’d go to bed and honestly a big fan big fan of Star Wars honestly more of a fan of pad stuff you got probably shouldn’t say that I’m a bigger fan of Padme but on on the Pod but we’ll go with it oh gez uh well I I mean that’s all
The questions that we had for you Boston we really appreciate you taking the time to you know chat with us and be the first one to do it so um definitely hopefully you uh have a great rest of your spring and summer and certainly good luck at ASU well I appreciate it
Thank you very much for all the all the support and um love getting to know you guys um out on the golf course and all all these events so it’s been fun I appreciate you having me on the pot if you ever need need me again I’d love to be on it
So I’m sure we’ll be reaching back out we’ll stay in touch perfect awesome all right Boston have a good rest of your day we appreciate it thanks you guys as well peace out that’s awesome Boston I told you Boston would be a really great first guest to
Have on yeah when you go to the short listman he’s one of those kids he shows up is talking to everybody like he mentioned he just likes to get to know people so glad we could have him on looking forward to seeing what he does
In his career and happy form head to ASU here soon yeah for sure and we’ll have more guests like that on I mean he was obviously just the first one we’ve got more lined up um you know top Juniors Juniors that have a great have made a great charitable impact we’ll also look
At you know doing some alumni and maybe some other industry leaders on here as well to chat about junior golf and just golf in general so um you’re just coming up in ajj news we have you know a lot going on our spring season is just about
To kick off is kind of getting going right now uh so we have a lot of playing opportunities in the spring especially for those Junior golfers who are in the colder climates we got a lot of events you know where it’s going to be warmer in Texas and Florida and Southern
California Arizona that sort of thing so lots of opportunities out there over the next couple of months yeah lots of opportunities like you said change it up I know we talked about climate a little bit earlier in the interview but um a chance to play some different courses
Play some different grasses and really kind of grow the game for yourself you know as you’re getting out there trying to gain some experience you know as you’re looking to go onto that College route but excited for the spring season we’ve got our spring interns did a great
Week of training here at headquarters and hit the road a lot of rules training course setup things like that so I know they’re excited to be out there and if you see those interns along the way make sure you stop in say hi um they’re very
Excited to meet you guys as well so very happy to have them yeah and then at at the end of the spring we’ve got the Nelly Invitational which is really cool Nelly Corda hosting her first Aja invitation she’s a very decorated ajja player um obviously and so she’s hosting
Her first invitation with tayor made and then the mizuo America’s open probably probably the coolest event we do on the schedule with the the junior girls competing right alongside with the LPGA professionals yeah absolutely getting the girls a chance to be inside the ropes in that event is just something
That you don’t see anywhere else on any other tour TV cameras everywhere yeah you get really get that first class professional experience I know we try to give it to you at every event but when you’re right there you have the pros you’ve got the caddy you’ve got the
Camera right behind you it really just gives you a different feel and gets you ready for that next level yeah so lots of cool stuff coming up right now be on the lookout for more episodes we’re going to have more great guests like Boston on so be on the lookout for more
Episodes and thanks so much for tuning in with us thank You
