Fairways of Life is joined by Eric Cole, PGA Tour Player and 2022-2023 Rookie of the Year. Eric shares how he has managed to build his game up to knocking on the door of his 1st PGA Tour win and earning an invite the 2024 Masters Tournament, and we go in depth into his golf bag so that our viewers may gain insight into how a tour pro equips himself for success.
Eric Cole burst out on the scene in a huge way last year there was that playoff loss at the Honda against Chris Kirk which was still one of my favorite events of the entire year then he had a couple of top 10 before the incredible stretch at the end
Of the year ready for it fourth at the foret third at the Shriners runner up the zoo the end of the year RSM classic third place there it all culminated when he won the Arnold Palmer award that’s for the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honor
I’m sure all of this no doubt changed Eric’s life pretty safe to say he’s here to stay his his swing is beautiful his numbers so far this season show no sophomore slump yet six top 25s 29th in the FedEx Cup standings 38th in the official World Golf Ranking pumped to
Have them join us especially since we’ll be doing some pretty cool stuff in the second segment here today we want to get a little geeky on equipment with them Eric what’s going on man how you been oh I’m doing great thanks for having me on
Pleasure the you just saw on your on the return that you’re getting from us but the world saw on their television screens an invitation from the Masters I mean where’s your head at right now are you are you just like crazy excited about everything going on in your
World yeah it’s pretty cool it’s been a crazy last uh you know I don’t know year and a half or so but uh yeah I mean to get that Masters invite over the you know Christmas break was pretty special and it’s kind of a little bit hard to
Believe but um you know the fact that I’m going there in 5 days or whatever is is pretty cool and I’m excited I know my wife and family are excited to be there too so it’s going to be an awesome week we have a picture of you proposing to
Her at Pebble Beach and then we put it side by side with a wedding photo I guess the quick question is now if you if your wife is watching we’re going to we’re going to say that she’s the reason but but what is the reason what what
Changed in the world of Eric Cole where all of a sudden the guy that won a zillion times on his way up to the PGA Tour found himself on the PGA tour 35 years old and you’re and you’re lighting the world on fire yeah I’m not sure the answer to
That question I get it a lot but I’d say uh one of the biggest things is I didn’t uh change a whole lot I just kind of kept with what I was trying to do and kept trying to improve and I think it happened differently for different
People and for me for whatever reason it took a lot longer and um you know it’s it’s something that’s almost made it a little bit sweeter to take the long road and finally be here now and the fact that you are a son of Legends how much did that give you both
On both sides I suppose one is you’re you’re trying to come out from a shadow and two is you’re getting advice from the best of the best that have actually been there done that bought the T-shirt how much did you find balance in all of that in order to become who you
Are uh yeah I mean I I didn’t have a whole lot of the negatives that maybe uh people think you know I mean my parents are both very supportive and you know I didn’t feel like I was you know in their Shadow at all really I don’t know um if
Maybe I was different than other people who’ have had successful families in golf but uh for me it just felt like a lot of positives to be around golf a lot when I was young and see how cool it was and kind of you know inspire me to want
To do that when uh you know I became an adult and had a chance to turn pro and try and play so it was it was mostly positives for me how much do you have to be Eric careful with what you consume uh whe I don’t even know if you drink
Alcohol but how much you have to be careful with what you put into your body food or beverage or otherwise uh yeah I mean I I’m a type 1 diabetic so uh you know I have to monitor my sugar and have to be very careful with what I’m eating um I
Wouldn’t say I’m the healthiest person in the world but I I make sure that um what I’m putting in my body is for the most part pretty good stuff and uh try not to get my sugars too high for sure so can you if you wanted to have a beer or
Something yeah yeah I’m uh I I can drink a little bit uh you know if if if I if I I do drink it’s typically like uh something that doesn’t have a lot of carbs or sugar in it so uh oh you’re like a drink a t of beer yeah I could do
That yeah I like where you’re going all right so here’s the question I got for you to that you walk into the store whatever it is ABC Liquors where you live or whatever right and you’re going to buy that bottle of whiskey or a tequila or something you you’ve got your
You’ve got your pxg hat on dressed like you are right now do you get asked to show ID every single time uh yeah I’d say a lot yeah I uh I get asked ID decent amount uh probably not as much as uh um well I don’t know I I
Get asked a decent amount so maybe I look a little young I’m not sure a little young yeah I think you do it’s absolutely awesome all of it is very very impressive now I also saw where you were quoted as talking about your dad Bobby that he’s he’s the helped you
Develop the golf swing that you have now your golf swing is so beautiful and it is so inbalance could you kind of talk to us about the advice that he gave you over the years about trusting your swing and how you developed who and what you are right now as as that
Player yeah sure my uh my dad is a little more on the technical side of things than my mom is golf swing wise so uh he was really big on uh fundamentals so setting up well um correctly you know grip alignment um uh more of the
Positions side of the Swing so you know I kind of got a lot of that guidance when I was young and I think when you start from a good spot and this is definitely his opinion if you start from a good spot with those fundamentals you
Know even if you have a few little idiosyncrasies or uniqueness to your swing your swing’s still going to be within a certain you know it’s going to be somewhat fundamentally sound if you start from a good spot so I think that was a huge thing for me at a young age
Is to get that guidance as to you know this is what you should be doing this is how you should be doing it’s pretty objective and then from there you can kind of swing your swing and you know have that the feel of you know your game
But if you start from a good spot then it’s uh a lot of times it’s hard to get too far you know out of sequence or out of uh alignment with what you’re doing the fact that you are is down to earth as you are is incredible in contrast to
The fact that you’ve lived your life around Legends could you talk to us about the fact that you had an opportunity you’re still only 35 years old and here we are talking about that you played golf with and you knew Arnold Palmer through Sam and I
Know that you know Mr Nicholas as well it’s just it’s it’s kind of mind-blowing to me and then you become the Arnold Palmer award recipient as the Rookie of the Year all of that is an incredible Circle yeah now the the winning Rookie of the Year having it being named Arnold
Palmer award is just something that’s hard to put into words because I was very lucky um at a young age when I was in high school um to spend a lot of time around Mr Palmer uh through Sam Saunders and his family so um yeah it was it was
Really special at the time I knew it I think uh some of my favorite memories with him were uh not really Golf Course stuff just more uh sitting around the locker room hearing him tell stories and I remember watching him regrip clubs was something that was just unbel believable
So uh yeah I mean I was very lucky and uh you know to have it come full circle and win an award name after him after him is just such a huge owner and I’m very proud of it how about other Legends youve bumped into I mentioned Jack
Nicholas is one uh but just e either through your mom or through your dad the fact that you kind of grew up around the game of golf where you know I I I know the stories that you guys would go on site and your mom would put you in like
The daycare and you guys with your what six I believe right you would fill it up yeah know I was actually really lucky uh when we would travel around around with my mom I’m the second oldest in my uh family so everyone else would kind of
Be in daycare I was in daycare a little bit too but when there got to a point where everyone else was in daycare and I was uh got to go walk around with my mom and watch her play so I was kind of like uh little felt a little bit special um
So that was one of the things that really got me into golf is you know just walking out there uh by myself and watching her and watching the fans interact with her and um you know seeing how much fun she was having out there so that was a big uh
Impact and influence on me wanting to play professional golf you know you’re I just want to Circle back around to something that you had mentioned a couple of things actually but one of them was where you talked about how it took you more time to use your
Phrase do you think that that steel was hardened by fire in those years that when you were out and you were winning all these these mini tour events that by the time that you got to the PGA Tour you knew you had air in your lungs you knew that you could survive in
Situations like Lee trino would say when you you know you’re you’re putting for $5 you don’t have that in your pocket uh is that the way you felt that when you got there you’re like you know I kind of feel like I’m playing with house
Money uh yeah I’d say a little bit um I’d say for me it was just uh uh it was just so much harder I felt like it was so much harder to get to the p GA tour than um you know to just stick with what
Got you there and not change your game at all which is something you see with maybe some younger players some younger rookies is you know they haven’t spent as much time kind of learning their game and then they get to the PGA Tour and they see what all these great players
Can do and they try and either change their game or try and do some new uh coach or something um so I think I was a little bit Lucky in the fact that it took me so long that and I spent so so much time around older players uh who
Know kind of what it takes that um getting there A lot of times is a lot harder than playing well if you just stick on tour if you just stick to uh you know what got you there Eric did your views change as a guy that was trying to scrape and Claw
His way up the ladders of the game to now being an elite player given where the game is at that you know there Signature Events now there’s a lot lot of stuff that reward a player at your level versus a guy that was on the outside trying to get in have your views
Modified in any way on that and where the game is at right now on the PGA tour uh I I don’t really know how much of a uh opinion I have on it I think I think the idea of getting all the players together um in the big events is
Is awesome but uh you know you do want to protect the story of the underdog kind of like uh you know the H the Honda now cognizant for me a while back that was a really cool thing I’d never been in contention before all of a sudden I
Am and uh you know I think I think it’s a it’s a balancing act and I’m nowhere near smart enough to know where uh it’s going to end up but I think uh I think the idea that they’re trying to do these Signature Events and I think they’ve
Gone really well so far I think I think is uh a positive thing and the ability to try stuff is always a good thing all right so Eric before we jump into the equipment stuff which I’m dying to do with you let’s pay off uh the sponsors
That you have so that we can say thank you to all of them talk to us about who you who you have aligned yourself with please yeah sure I uh pxg is a club sponsor I got uh some partners that I wear their logos of blue tide office is
Like a business that helps with uh other companies starting up businesses pretty much uh um it’s a financial company and then uh well that’s on the other side Alpha advisors is kind of like a data technology efficiency company so helps companies be more efficient so I use
Tidalist Ballo glove and I think that’s about it okay Eric here we go brother grab grab that phone I’m gonna this is a live a national television take your phone and show me the golf bag and let’s start talking business here you are on the PGA tour 19th on tour in
Proximity to the hole from 125 to 150 yards you are 11th you are killing it with your scoring clubs you start where you want to but I’m dying to know about them yeah sure um so I use uh tidalist wedges I’m also messing around with a
Pxg wedge right now it’s hard to do it’s like backwards um but I use Titus wedges uh or vogi wedges I guess sm10 UH 60 55 and 50 so uh yeah just pretty pretty standard grinds my uh I use a t grind on my 60 but uh yeah I’ll
I’ll mess around a little bit with different grinds but uh try some different stuff out but yeah that’s pretty much my wedge setup that 60 that 60 degree wedge that you had with that grind is that to open up the heel a little bit so you can make it even
Flatter if you want to pop it straight up in the air yeah exactly yeah it’s a little bit uh uh there’s not much bounce on it and it’s definitely a little bit uh I’m not sure what the word is like you know more extreme than maybe uh some more
Forgiving game forgiveness wedges out there but uh it’s really nice on tour when you have to stop the ball quick and spin it so uh I think a lot of guys use it and I i’ I’ve used it for a while now love it okay talk to us about what
You’re doing with your irons are are you consistent with the irons or or do you have a mixed Set uh yeah I use all pxg uh 0317 St so it’s kind of like one of their smaller blades go right in there go right in so we can see a really
Good shot of them yeah baby yeah so 03 0317 St um and then I used I used the cavity back in the for iron so a little bit bigger for iron CB um and that kind of just little more forgiving little uh little little uh
Wide soul on it so it makes it a little easier to get up in the air if I need to standard lies for you what shafts yeah I use standard line Loft and then I use uh uh Dynamic gold X100 mids they’re called so a little more spin than just a
Typical Dynamic old X100 and what’s that do for your for your trajectory with those for for your Apex yeah the trajectory is pretty yeah Apex is a little higher but it kind of launches similar um so it’s just got a little more rise in it so it wants to uh land a
Little bit steeper so it’s got more Spin and lands a little steeper so you know that’s one big thing from the corn fairy tour to the PGA Tour is the uh the greens are much firmer and faster out here so uh you got to you got to stop
The ball and I’m not a real high spin player so I switched to those probably almost a year ago and it’s been really good s and what are you doing with your grips you have any cord in it uh no I use uh
The Align grips golf ride Al so uh I I I like it I think it’s like a little bit of an advantage to have that big rib on the back you can feel the face a little better so I’ve used those for a while now too very cool okay talk to us about
What you’re doing with your Woods yeah sure so uh fivewood is pxg uh I switched to fivewood maybe two years ago from a two iron and it was a very good decision for me uh um again same thing just trying to get the ball to land a little softer into some of the
Greens when you’re going for it on a part five and as long as I have the versatility to still hit it low I really like it um three-wood I use a tailor made 3-wood and then uh driver I use the new uh pxg Black Ops driver let me let
Me take a look at that baby yeah it’s been really good I uh I like it a lot it’s yeah one that uh is really cool it’s it’s it’s fast but you don’t lose anything with forgiveness so I think a lot of the new drivers um you know like they’re Built For Speed
But then as soon as you get offc Center strikes they come out with low spin and they’re not really all that controllable versus this has the speed but it also uh you know has that forgiveness in there which I really like now if I if I saw
Correctly Eric it was 9 degrees on this driver how how did you dial in what did you do shaft wise Etc yes so I use a uh Rip Tide even Even Flow Rip Tide um which uh has a little more spin than others but I got my uh
Drivers down like I think a half a degree so it’s more like a eight and a half um so it’s kind of like less Loft but then the shaft still has some spin so I think that uh although when you get fitted sometimes it’s fun to Max it it
Out and try and get the best window to hit it far I think for me I also am trying to have something that’s playable too on the course so while it might not uh be launching super high with low spin and going as far as I could hit it
Sometimes the idea of the ball coming off a little more playable um combo of lower launch and a little higher spin feels really good to me so that’s kind of the combo I have set up there pxg.com folks if you want more information on what Eric is doing or if you want to
Check out a PSG equipment for yourself talk to us about your putter my man yeah so Putter’s psg2 it’s uh called the bat attack I uh Center shafted so uh I switched to Center shafted uh I’m not sure if I can get that in there or not
Um but I switched to Center shaft uh probably again two and a half years ago and pretty been pretty steady with it since and uh this one’s really nice it’s uh you know just something that looks good feels good and uh it’s very easy to line up with kind of that back
Those two fangs on it and stuff so it’s been it’s been good and uh something that I’m confident in and pxg has done a great job of giving me a lot of options and finding something that works really well that putter looks like it would be
Face balanced is there any tow hang at all uh no it’s it’s completely face balanced um I’ve switched around a little bit with trying some other phsg Putters that that uh have just that little bit of tow hang um that I’ve used in the past but this one’s completely
Face balanced cool we are almost out of time my man it was awesome to go through that bag with you uh H how excited are you about this week and we’ve already asked you about the Masters but I’m ask you again because because it deserves to
How excited are you about the two weeks in front of you yeah no it’s it’s very exciting I think this is one of the best uh weeks we have on tour for just ease everyone stays uh right here on site and you just walk over to the course it’s a great
Course uh difficult but fair and then yeah the Masters being you know five five or six days away is hard to hard to believe but very excited about it awesome Eric thank you so much for spending time with us we wish you the very very best yes this week but also at Augusta
National awesome thank you very much good to talk to you it was good to see you guys
