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[upbeat piano music] Welcome to the Bay State Golf Podcast. We're crossing borders this week. I've got Eli Spaulding from Maine, New England Am champ, two-time Maine Am champ, on the other line.

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Eli, thanks for joining today. Hey, Sean. Thanks for having me. I'm very happy to be on today. Yeah, stoked to have you. I've been just trying to collect as many winners in the area as possible.

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We have run into each other quite a bit this summer. [laughs] You've been playing a lot of golf, and I've just happened to be at a lot of the events you've been, you've been playing in. Let's start at just

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how and when did you just get into playing golf and, and then, like, the leap into playing competitive golf. Yeah. So I started playing around the age of five.

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Like a lot of young golfers, you know, I, I grew up watching Tiger Woods, and I saw him winning majors, winning at Augusta, and it was hard for that not to get me fired up, you know.

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My first set, I think I had some Nike clubs, a Nike, you know, one of those square strike drivers. So I loved Tiger Woods, and I loved, loved Nike and, you know, my dad, my dad played golf.

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I come from a family of all runners. Um, I have a twin brother, he runs in college at Maine Maritime. A younger sister, who's a year and a half younger, she runs at Johnson & Wales in Providence.

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My mom ran at Allegheny College. She was All-American, and my dad ran at, um, University of Maine, and, uh, he's now in the Maine Running Hall of Fame. So I have a, uh...

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We have a, we have a lot of history, um, of college athletics, but no one's played golf, and I- my dad loves playing golf on the side, and he was the one who, who got me into it.

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We have a little local nine-hole track that we'd just go over after work, after he was done with work, and I can vividly remember the amount of times, you know, we'd start playing around 6:30 in, in the summer and finish the last couple holes in, in the dark, um, that's really where I fell in love with it.

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And from there, um, you know, I, I played a lot of other sports. I, I grew up pl- running, played soccer, played basketball.

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You know, I, I love competing, but I'd say to me, golf, golf was a, a little, little more enjoyable than the others, I think. I love to hit different shots. I also, most summers I'd, I'd make holes.

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We have a little, little backyard, and I had some foam golf balls, and I'd love to make holes and pretend, you know, I'm Tiger Woods on, on the 18th hole at Augusta or whatever and have a shot to get up and down and, and win a major or something like that.

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I love to, to kinda daydream and, and do that and let my creative side have, have fun. And, you know, so I, I grew up playing, just loving golf, and

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I just wanted to have fun and, and then, uh, it was around the age of eight or nine my, my dad got me into some US Kids competitions. And I was, I was an okay player.

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I wouldn't say I, I practiced a lot, and I was the type of kid you'd see on the putting or chipping green probably just trying to hit, like, an insane flop shot, you know, not really, not really [chuckles] practicing those easy chips you're probably gonna have on the course.

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I loved hitting difficult shots. I loved hitting, you know, a stinger through the trees or something. So I would say I was more just playing golf to have fun. I wasn't, I wasn't someone that was,

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as a young kid, you know, really trying to get better or win. I was more just doing it to have fun. But I loved competing, and I think it was that that kinda fueled me to get better, keep playing in, in US Kids stuff.

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You know, I loved it. It was, it was so much fun for me. I played the US Kids World Championship down at Pinehurst when I was 10, and from there, I think it was seeing some better players and

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honestly, it was losing to, like, 150 players that maybe woke me up a little bit and was like, "Okay, you know, maybe I'm not as good as I think I am. Like, I still have a long way to go."

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And I continued to play in US Kids stuff, and I'd say a big transition point for me was going into my freshman year.

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I'm a member at Brunswick Golf Club, and, uh, we have some great players, Cale Manuel being one of them.

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You know, he's, he's four years older than me, but he had a, ha- has had a lot of success, played at UConn for two years, and then he played in the US Open and ended up transferring to Georgia.

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And he's a great player and, you know, I, I was able to spend a lot of time around him, watch him play and practice, and seeing the way that he practiced was just another level and a step up from me, and I, I did my best to, to learn from him and just honestly watch how he practiced and be like, okay, like, now I'm-- when I walk onto the putting green, like you set up a chalk line from five feet.

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You, you work on your stroke, then you hit some lag putts.

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It was, it was really, for me, going into my freshman year, it was learning, learning how to practice, learning how to get better, and learn from that, and that really helped me to then take a step into more competitive golf tournaments and, and really getting better.

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It's amazing how you mentioned Tiger. Like, what is your first memory of, of Tiger Woods? 'Cause I'm 42, and he is kind of...

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I started playing golf before Tiger came onto the scene in '97, but, like, he was definitely a guy who a lot of people my age and even me ki- he just changed how I felt about the game. What's your first Tiger memory?

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Do you have one? Yeah. I mean, I think as a kid, it was going on YouTube and watching some of his highlights. It was the... Two of my favorite shots he hit. One was, uh, the, the chip in on, at Augusta on 16.

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That one I would just watch on repeat.

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And then the other, I think it was in 2010 or 2011 against Ricky Fowler at Bay Hill, and I think he was long at the green, and he had a f- like an insane flop shot, and the announcer's like, "You know, he's gonna do well to get this within 10 or 15 feet," and he hits, like, this perfect flop shot from thick rough, and it just trickles in, and

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that one I watched a lot, and it made me, it made me wanna master the flop shot. [laughs] But, you know, I, I love the way, just watching

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his, like, ferocity and the way he competed, I think it, it kinda fueled me to, to really want to compete and play golf. You're... How old are you? You're 20? I'm 20.

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So you weren't even, you weren't even born when he chipped in in '05 at the Masters. Just to put that into perspective- I, I wasn't born... for people. I wasn't born. That's amazing. Yeah.

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And he's still, like, it's just an am- it's an amazing impact he's had on, like, just, you know, decades of golfers. How would, how would you describe your golf game?

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Like, just to someone, what's the scouting report on, on Eli Spaulding? I'm a player that, you know, I'm more of a, like, artistic, creative golfer. I like to hit shots.

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You know, I'd, I'd say I'm a really good, good putter and good chipper, and I'm a good long iron player, and I'm pretty consistent. I'm good at, you know, minimizing damage and keeping the ball in front of me.

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Uh, but I would say I'm not some, like, robot golfer, like a Ludvig Åberg that you see on TV. I'm, I'm more someone that I like to hit shots.

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I like to step up on holes and, you know, kinda see a shot and hit it, whether, whether that's my natural shot or a shot that kinda fits the hole shape.

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I'd say I'm, I'm someone that's a little more creative, and when I get out in a tournament, I'm not afraid to

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hit a shot that a certain hole calls for, or, you know, if I need to hit kind of a, a lower shot or something into wind, you know, I, I like to

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be creative with those shots and have fun with those shots, rather than just kinda having one or two shots. I like to have, have a lot of different shots in the bag and be able to hit those when I need to.

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I've noticed just watching you, watching you play, you hit a lot of different shots off tees, a lot of different clubs off tees, that if you stood at a, if you stood on a tee box and watched, like, five groups come through, there are times when you're maybe the only one hitting, uh, like a long iron.

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You've, you've got a driving iron that you hit pretty far and pretty straight.

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So it's interesting to hear you say you just like to think about how a hole should be played or thinking about not just ripping driver everywhere.

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A lot of, [laughs] a lot of, a lot of kids, golfers your age just love, like, they just pull the driver out, and they go hit it and find it, and it certainly feels like you like to attack golf courses a little bit differently.

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Yeah. I completely agree. There have, there have definitely been tournaments where,

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you know, sometimes a three wood or a three iron might be the better club, but I'll hit, like, a four iron 'cause that's what feels good off the tee.

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Like, I'd say my game is, is more based on confidence over shots and whatever I see on, on the hole, you know, that's what I'm gonna hit, and what feels comfortable is what I'm gonna hit.

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And I think that's a good way to play golf because you're, you're never going to hit a bad shot because you weren't committed, and I think it's really important to hit the club that feels good in your hands and you feel committed to.

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And, you know, when you hit a good shot and you're in the fairway, like, you're in the fairway and you're not chipping out of the trees if, if you hit a driver that you were uncommitted with.

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And I would, I would much rather hit a good shot and be committed than, sure, maybe I have a little longer ways into the green, but, you know, I, I was committed to the shot and pleased with the result, and I think, I think that's important.

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You've played an insane amount of golf this summer, coming off a college season at Loyola, where you also played a lot of golf and a lot of good golf, and you've, you've won tournaments.

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Just to give people a sense of, at least this is from what I could find, you played the Hornblower, the Maryland Am,

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won the Philly Am, played the Northeast Am, then went and played the Maine Am, won the New England Am, and then this past Monday, four days after winning the New England Am, you went to Boston Golf and qualified for the US Am.

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My first question is, you were just talking about, like, how to play golf holes.

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Kind of how do you prepare for that much golf when you are someone who maybe likes to play by feel, likes to stand over shots that you feel good about?

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When you're playing that much competitive golf, how does, how do you get ready for all these different golf courses? Yeah. It's something I, I think about a fair bit. I try not to overthink that because I think

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it can be easy to go into a course, map everything out, and then you get there and, you know, a lot of these courses, like, I haven't played a practice round, or I go out and maybe I just walk the course the day before.

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Or you play a practice round and in competition they move a tee box, or the hole changes a little bit, and it's a different hole. So I try not to think too much about

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h- exactly I'm gonna play the hole this way, or this is the target I'm gonna aim at no matter what.

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I, I do like, I think it's important to adapt, and like I said, like, when, when you step up on a tee and maybe you don't feel comfortable or- Say the hole's like

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440, and your other two-- you watch the other two guys hit driver, and sometimes I think it can be easy to feed into that if, if you see them hit driver and you're like, "Oh, I have to hit driver."

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But I really try to hit the club I feel comfortable with, and if it's a three iron on-- in that case, then I'm-- it's gonna leave me with 170 or 180, you know, that's, that's fine, and I'm okay with that.

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I've accepted that. One of the things I would say I do that's a little different compared to most people is, in all my tournaments this summer, I actually, I haven't had, like, a yardage book or anything like that.

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A lot of people, it's a pretty standard practice to use a yardage book or something along those lines.

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But usually what I'll do is I'll just map out the course before, like go on 18 birdies or something, or use the shot pattern app and map things out, and I'll just write down on a scorecard the clubs I intend to hit for each, for each hole.

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Like, on, say, Great Horse at, on number 10, I'll say driver and then, like, 54, 58 or something. And just mapping it out for me in my head kinda helps me to, no matter how I'm playing,

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whether I'm, like, five under or five o-over, I'm still gonna be committed to the same, the same clubs that I intend to hit before the round.

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Because I think it's also really easy, uh, and a lot of amateurs do this when, you know, you're not playing that well, or you're playing really well, and if you're not playing well, you know, you try and get too aggressive or do something that you probably shouldn't do, but you're like, "Well, I need to make birdies," or you try and force it a little too much.

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And I think at the end of the day, it's, it's probably more important to stick to the game plan that you chose before the round, because that's, that's the game plan that's probably gonna lead you to the least amount of strokes.

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And even if it could be laying up on a par five when it feels like you probably should go for it, like, i-if that's a game plan that I make, then I'm gonna stick to it even, even if it feels like I need to do something, I need to make birdies.

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Like, I'd much rather stick to my game plan and be committed to that than focus on, on trying to do something that's, uh, outside of, uh, what I've already kind of decided. Yeah.

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What-- Is that something you've just kind of learned about yourself over time? Do you have, do you have a coach, someone who, or you're in college? How, how did that process come, come to be?

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It's something I've done over time. I'd say I started doing it about a year and a half ago or two years ago. Definitely

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college golf, like, that was one of the things that when you, when you get to college, we play so many events, it's a very busy schedule, both fall and spring, and

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there's not a ton of time to, you know, after a practice round in a tournament, you go back to the hotel and,

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like, four hours, three hours later, you're going to sleep, and then you're waking up at, like, there's not a ton of time. And I found it was pretty easy for me.

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Instead of trying to map out everything in a yardage book that feels pretty complicated, um, you know, there... For me, a yardage book, I still look at 'em and it's like, feels like there's a lot going on.

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I mean, now at school I've, I've known how to use a yardage book well and how to do that, but I still rather, I like to just take out a scorecard and write down the clubs I'm gonna hit on, on every hole, and when I'm out on the course, I stick to that.

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I think for me, one of the things that I've struggled with and where I can lose shots is when I necessarily don't really stick to my routine, or I get out on the course and I walk to the tee and I'm like, "Oh, what club should I hit here again?

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I don't really remember." You know? If, if I'm walking to the next tee after, after the last hole with, with an idea in my head of exactly what club I'm gonna hit,

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it, it really helps me with my commitment to the shot and just going forward, you know, I can already, already kinda be thinking about the next shot in my head and, and where to hit it, rather than stepping up to the ball and, and not really knowing,

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knowing as much or being a little less committed. Are you tracking stuff after the round too?

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How do you react to maybe thinking about, like, Great Horse or a lot of these events you play in now, you see a golf course two, three times in a row.

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So how does the, how does the end of your round get you ready for, for the next day? Yeah. Um, I'll use, we have a stats, statistics app, uh, Circles

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that, through, through Lola that can help you just to see your stats at the end of the round, and I'll put those in so I can, you know, compare my stats to the previous days and

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be like, okay, you know, look at, look at my driving, look at my approaches. And, and from there, you know, I'll, I'll use that to, to change the way I play a couple holes.

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But honestly, I think for the most part, my game plan and routine mostly stays the same for an entire tournament. I don't, I don't really change too much.

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If, if there's a par five or a short par four that is, is kinda in between on laying up or going for it, you know, I might, I might make that change just depending on if the tee shot feels comfortable, more comfortable or not when I step over the second or third time.

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But for the most part, my routine stays pretty much the same.

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I would say one of the things I've been doing this year that's been really helpful is, I think, and this goes into just when you play a lot of tournaments, when you're busy, I think

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it's easy, like, I come home for, you know, two or three days between events pretty regularly, and during that time- You know, I, I still go to the course and practice, but it's easy to kinda lose track of what you need to work on or what might help prepare you for the next event.

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And I've been doing a really good job this summer of just journaling and reflecting after every tournament. I think that's really important because

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I would say what I, what I used to do before, really in, in college as well, is it's super easy after, after kind of a poor event to get down on yourself a little bit. Or, or for me, you know, I'm a really hard worker.

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I like to put in a lot of work, so it's, it's easy for me just to, after a bad event, get right to work and kinda do the wrong things or, you know, maybe you wanna change your swing a little bit, and

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sometimes that, that does more harm than good. And I think it's, it's really important to reflect. Like, I look at the, the Maryland Amateur, you know, I missed the cut.

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I shot seven over the first day, um, and it's, it's only one round, it's 18 holes and then a cut. And, but I hit it really good. And when I, when I went through and,

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you know, reflected and kinda went through my round and reflected on it and some of the shots I hit, I was like, "Oh, you know, I, I hit it pretty good. I putted pretty well."

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And for me, what I ended up seeing was it was more kind of I, I needed to be more committed to my process and just have a more, like, free-flowing process.

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And sometimes I think it's, it's good to reflect because it can be easy to play poorly and you think, "Oh, it's your swing,” or, you know, "Maybe it's, maybe it's your putting."

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But in that case, for me, it was, it was something that was completely outside anything technical related, you know. It was, it was how I was going into the ball and, and my process over shots and...

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So I think it's really important to, to reflect, and I think it also helps me, um, kinda stay centered. I think it, it makes the, the losses feel a little better because I know, you know, when I'm

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coming back home and practicing, I'm, I'm gonna work on this stuff and this is how I'm gonna get better to improve.

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And, and when you win too, it's, you can still pick apart, pick apart your wins and your good play and be like, "Oh, I can work on this. I can work on that."

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So I think for me it's really helpful because it's easy to get disturb- discouraged or even, even just have highs, have lows and kinda fall into, fall into some of those spots.

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But if you can stay pretty level even, even through some tough events or even through some wins, I think it's, it's how you can play really good golf for the long term. Right, so the journaling piece.

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This, this is fascinating to me 'cause I've heard some other players talk about this too. Are you-- Do you have, like, kind of some questions that you ask yourself and you write these things down?

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Are you just kind of getting all your thoughts and, like, how it felt down?

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Or are you going through more, like, maybe shot by shot and starting to kinda put together what might have gone right or wrong over the course of a round? Like, what does, what does the journaling look like?

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I would say I start out by just doing an overall reflection of maybe how I played and what I, what I thought personally, just like a outside review, like, you know. For the Maryland Amateur it might be,

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"I felt pretty good with my irons. I putted pretty well." This is all in summary, but like, "I putted pretty well. I did this well. But this didn't go so well."

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So really overall summary, I'm just kind of piecing together, you know, what, what went poorly and then what, what went well. And then I, I'd say the most important thing I've been doing recently is

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really, you know, not really, not sort of walking through shots, but more how I felt out there and if there were a couple shots where I didn't feel comfortable or I felt nervous and didn't really execute.

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You know, one of the biggest things for me that I think can...

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I, I do well but at the same time I need to improve is, um, I'm really good with my course management and strategy and, like I said, like committing to shots and sticking to my strategy.

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But when it comes to sometimes, like, the execution process or what goes on during my head before an important shot, I think to actually, like, write out, you know, what I was thinking before those shots or how I felt before those shots, I can, I can then get some valuable info of, "Okay, well, I felt really nervous over that shot," or, "I felt uncomfortable and then I made a bad swing."

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It's like, why did I feel uncomfortable? Maybe it was, maybe it was just simply because it was, like, a tough shot over water and it was into wind and I was worried about, you know, hitting one kinda high and spinning.

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Or maybe it was I wasn't committed to the shot.

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And ultimately too what, what's worked for me the last couple weeks, I've, I've gone back to my coach and we've worked a, a fair bit just to improve my process and routine before the ball, before I hit the shot.

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And I've really been trying to do a good job of

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everything that I can do to prepare me for a shot, whether that's like a small practice swing or, you know, picking a target, or maybe it's just as simple as, like, feel for feeling out, say I have to hit, like, a low, low cut or low draw, like feeling out that shot.

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I try and do that before the shot, before I step up to the ball. So when I step up to the ball, I'm trying to hit the shot that I just rehearsed, I just saw in my head. And when I step up to the ball, you know,

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I'm just trying to hit that shot and everything else kinda goes away, and I think that's, that's been really helpful. And I really just, at the New England Amateur, you know, the main am, I, I really-

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It's tough when, when you've won two years in a row, and, you know, y- it's your state amateur, you really wanna win.

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And I'm good friends with Mick Madden who won, and obviously I was pulling for him, but I wasn't really happy with how I played. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to play well, and

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it was a little unlike me, but I realized, like, I just put, I put way too much value on, on certain shots.

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And shots that were easy, and I'd have, I'd have a wedge shot in the fairway, and I'd be like, "Oh, you gotta hit this close."

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Like, you have to do this well or do that well, and that's not really how golf should be played. That's not how...

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When you're playing a casual round with your friends, you know, you're not putting pressure on yourself to hit a shot close or hit it well. You're, you're just trying to execute the shot that you see in your head.

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And I tried to kinda channel... I tried to mentally be in a place at Great Horse where I was, I was just hitting a regular shot out at Brunswick, you know, with my friends. Like, it was just...

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It felt like it was a casual round of golf. And when I stepped into the shot, like, I was just feeling out, hitting, trying to hit the shot I just rehearsed for.

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I wasn't putting any extra pressure on myself to, to hit it close or to do well, and, you know, I'm, I'm excited. I've, I've been playing really well and really good golf, and hopefully that's gonna continue.

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But I know that the more I can be oriented this way and, and have my process, uh, be more connected from, from the pre-shot process to when I step into the shot, it's, it's a similar idea.

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You know, I'm, I'm going into the shot, hitting the same shot that I just rehearsed for.

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I think that's, that's something that's gonna really help me in the future and, you know, when I get under more pressure scenarios, when I play in the US Amateur at Merion in a couple weeks, I think it's something that's, it's gonna be beneficial to me.

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Are you-- I, I... Thinking about the New England Am, kind of an interesting final round. Caden Pizzelli goes bananas for, like, five holes, six holes. Are, are you, are you a leaderboard watcher? Are you someone who...

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At, uh, uh, I would guess from everything you've said that you're not, just based on how you like to approach the game and rounds and shots. But do you, do you check it?

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Are you someone who might peek at it at certain times of a, of a final round to see where you are? Or are you, like, just locked in on what you're doing? Correct. I'm not a leaderboard watcher.

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I, I didn't, I didn't look at, look at it until the, after the round. I didn't even know. You know, I'm pretty good at picking up on small details, like

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seeing, seeing everyone around the 18th hole, I was like, okay, like it's, it's me versus Caden. But I still had-- Like, I, I didn't know that that tap-in was necessarily fully to win.

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Like, there could've been someone else that shot, like, 10 under. I knew that probably wasn't the case, but I never even checked the leaderboard.

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I, I knew that it was really most likely just a battle between me versus him. But, I mean, I gotta give him so much credit. He, he kinda had a tough first, you know, six holes, especially with that double on six, and

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we're somewhat good friends, and it was, it was kinda funny after, after we both, we both birdied, uh, the par five number eight.

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We kinda both gave each other, like, a fist bump, you know, talked a little bit and, um, then, then he birdied 10, 10 and 11, and we were both, you know, giving each other fist bumps still, like, just talking to each other.

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And, um, then he bogeyed 12 but birdied 13, and then when he made that eagle putt on 15, it was like, okay, like, this just got real. Um, because I ha- I had to make...

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I still had to make a 10, 12 footer for birdie on, on 14, and I made it, and then we were both tied on 15 tee box. But I mean, it was, it was a really good battle, I think.

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It's, for me, and I talked to, talked about this a little bit playing with, with Joey the first round and shooting eight under. It really helps me, honestly. You know, I'm someone, I'm good at holding a lead, and

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I can go out and win by five or six shots in a tournament.

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But I think in a bigger tournament, like the New England Am, it, it's helpful for me to have, have someone that's like, okay, like, pars aren't gonna cut it here. You know, you have to chase birdies, and I think

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that, that really helps because for me, you know, it, it makes my, my routine and my process and the way, where I'm trying to hit the ball pretty simple.

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It's like, you gotta hit it in the fairway, and then you gotta try to make birdies. Like this Caden, I mean, he was playing great, and it really seemed like he was gonna go birdie 16, 17, and maybe 18 too.

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Like I, I didn't know. So it's like I, I gotta be as aggressive as I can be and, you know, I'm, I'm gonna lose the tournament by making pars and being conservative. And I think it's...

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When you get yourself in a position like that, it's, it's important to understand that because, I mean, sometimes, some days you might not have the game to, to rise up to the occasion and follow his birdies like I did.

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But, like, I, I was playing well and putting well, and I was able to, to kinda mount his charge and, and rise up to that.

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And then, you know, he, he had a couple tough bogeys coming down the stretch, and, and I was able to get the win.

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But I mean, it's so much fun to, to, to, to play, play guys when they're really, really giving you a run for your money, and it makes, makes you work hard.

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And I think during those moments, you, you learn a lot about yourself too, and you realize that, you know, you can, you can really rise up to the occasion.

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And in those, in those final moments, it's important to know that- You know, I have what it takes to get it done. Yeah, you birdied 14, 15, 16 to kind of, like you said, just hold him off a little bit.

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Are there any, from that whole week, from those three rounds, any shots that you maybe journaled about or think about or are, are using that just feel like they were really good examples of, like, your process, or just even, whoa, that was a good bit of luck I had.

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I mean, you, you, you had... I don't know what your second round was.

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Obviously it was the highest score, but, uh, is, was there, so was there anything from the week that just you felt like this was a big moment for me to just keep the ball mo- moving forward?

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Yeah, the most important thing I did from the week is after the second round, I, to be honest, I played pretty similar to the way I did the final round.

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I had five 10-foot putts on the back nine from holes like 12 to 16, and I missed every single one of those.

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And for me, it, and it wasn't because I was making bad strokes, it was just because I didn't really feel comfortable over the ball.

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The way I had been putting, I'd been doing a couple extra practice strokes before the ball and I think I, I called my coach, John Mullen, later on and we had just been working on my, on my like full shot routine, pre-shot routine, and

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I was like, "I don't, I don't really like the way I putted today. Like, I missed a bunch of putts, not because I hit bad strokes, but just because I didn't really, didn't really feel comfortable over the ball."

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And we, we kind of talked for 20 minutes or so and, I worked at it for a while on the putting green after my round. Probably spent a good two hours out there and,

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you know, after I was done with that, I, I, I felt pretty good. I was a little nervous 'cause I'm like, I don't, you know, I've, I've never really putted like this before. I've never gone into the ball.

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I, I was trying to go into the ball and do all my practice putting strokes away from the ball, so when I seventh the ball, I'm just hitting, just hitting the ball. And I, I couldn't quite do that.

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I had to settle for a little compromise. I had to do one putting stroke before the ball and then, and then hit it. Um, but it really helped just to, you know, when I seventh the ball, it's, it's kinda just

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getting the speed dialed in with the one practice stroke and then stepping up and hitting it. I think I was just probably spending a little too much time standing over the ball doing practice strokes and

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I think in that time it, you know, you can create some doubt for sure, and I think that's, that's what happened. And so that really helped because I would say the final round, I, I made a couple long putts.

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I, I didn't hit it great by any means, and I had to make some decent putts for my birdies. It wasn't like my birdies were all four to six-footers. Like I, I made a couple, I made a 20-footer on 11.

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I made that 15-footer on 14. I made a 15-footer on, on three. So there were some putts that,

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some longer putts you don't really expect to go in that I made, and I think that really helped just to be comfortable and confident over the golf ball.

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Where, where do you feel your, when you're, when you get nervous on the golf course, like where do you feel it? Do, are, are you, do you feel it in your hands? Do you feel it in your legs? Do you feel it in your brain?

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Like, where does it come out? I'd say I, I mean, I probably feel it in my ha- like, like any golfer probably, like if, if I'm really nervous, like you look down at your hands, it might be shaking a little bit.

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But I'd say probably just feel it in my hands. In the past, I've been, been pretty good with nerve- with nerves, and

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the biggest thing for me I'm, I'm trying to do is I think, like anyone, you know, you see, we've seen so many guys on the PGA Tour trying to win, win majors and their adrenaline gets up and they just

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can't hit like a soft shot coming down the stretch. I was pretty lucky actually at Boston Golf Club. The last hole, 18's a par three.

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It was 175, like a little into wind, a little uphill, and I was like, "Okay, I can just swing hard at an eight iron. Like that's perfect," you know?

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But, but if that's like 165, you know, I don't really have a shot for that 'cause that's in between a eight iron and a nine iron.

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So for me, I think that's the, that's the big thing I need to work on for the future, especially, you know,

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hopefully I'm gonna make the cut at Merion and I'll be, be playing match play and you never know when you're coming down, down the final stretch and you're really nervous and it's gonna be important to just be able to calm yourself down and hit a soft wedge shot or

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not feel like you, your only swing with a driver is like a full swing. So I think for me it's, it's just doing my best to calm myself down in those scenarios and not, not let the adrenaline get the best of me.

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Uh, uh, let's talk a little bit about Merion or the US Am at least. So you qualified. You, obviously that's like, you got match play, stroke play. You've won the Philly Am, which is a match play event.

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You've won New England Am, which is a stroke play event. So the first question is, before we get to Merion is, are, which, which one do you prefer? Are you, do you like stroke play? Do you like match play more?

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Do you not even care, uh, about the format? That's a good question. I'd say I probably like match play more. I think match play's a little more fun. I like the head-to-head competition.

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I, I really feel like mentally I'm, I'm pretty strong when it comes to just like really wanting to beat my opponent, but also still making like solid, smart decisions. And

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I'd say like Philly Am, I did a really good job when, when my opponent was out of position, you know, I made sure just to make par.

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Like I'm really good at capitalizing on those opportunities when, when I have a bit of the advantage, like I, I take advantage and, and win the hole. So- I, I really enjoy match play and I like that element.

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I like that element of it. What is... So as you were, as you mentioned Merion, is this your third time in the US Am?

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'Cause you, your two main amps got you exemptions, so you played Olympic last year, and where was it the year before? It was at Hazeltine. At Hazeltine. Yeah. That's right. Okay.

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So I've played the last two years- Went to Ballaster one... at Hazeltine and Olympic, yeah. And Olympic, and now you're going to Merion. That's quite a trio of, uh, places to get to go play golf around the country.

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What, what did you... Like, anything that you learned from those two experiences?

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You talked about, like, way w- at the beginning of this podcast, US Kids and, like, seeing, getting to the point where you're seeing, like, golfers, you're getting to, you're at a national stage.

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So, like, what have you taken from those two years that you hope to kind of put into your trip to Merion? Yeah. Um, you know, I've learned a lot.

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Uh, that's, that's something that when I, when I don't play well or when I'm unhappy with the result, I really just try and learn, learn from the experience and figure out how to get better.

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I think the biggest thing the first two years at, at both Hazeltine and Olympic is I put way too much pressure on myself to hit, I would say, like, perfect tee shots off the tee.

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You know, eventually everyone's gonna hit it in the rough, and the rough is so thick and so penalizing. I think for me it was, it was just putting a lot of pressure on myself to hit it in the fairway. And

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if I had just gone to... It's a lot easier said than done, but, like, if I had just gone to the tee box a lot more free and confident in myself and

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trusting, trusting my game, 'cause I really was swinging it quite well for, for both events. If I had just gone to the tee with more confidence, I think I would've played a lot better.

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And I think it's easy to see the thick rough, the fast greens, and feel like you have to hit it in the fairway or you have to hit really good shots. But that's not really... I don't really think that's the answer.

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I think, you know, everyone's eventually gonna hit, hit a bad drive or two or a bad approach shot, and I think the more I can, I can just be confident and playing, playing free, I think the better I'll play.

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Do you know anything about Merion? Have you done any little research? Have you played it before? I've not played it.

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Actually, I have, I have a friend up here in Maine, um, who's, who's a member down at a club at Philly, and he's actually trying to get me out and play tomorrow.

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Tomorrow's, tomorrow's the last day it's open, and then it closes for a month till the practice rounds. Yeah. So I'm, I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from him. But yeah, no, I, I haven't played Merion.

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I've, I've talked to my coach a little bit who's played it, and some other people, and it sounds like it's a, uh, a very position-ori- oriented golf course, a very well-designed golf course.

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Um, there are a lot of holes where, you know, there, there's OB left, and they push the fairway right up to the OB, and it's a small landing zone and it makes you, kind of forces you to play away from the OB.

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But in doing so, you know, you hit it right into thick rough or deep bunkers, and all of a sudden you're out of position.

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So I think for me it's just going to, like I've talked about, you know, be, be really committed more than ever to a lot of my tee shots. Fortunately, you know, many of those holes are only 350, 390, 400 par 4s.

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They're not super long, but they're still going to require really good, you know, three irons or four irons off the tee to probably only 25- to 30-yard wide landing zones.

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And if you miss those landing zones, you're gonna be in a lot of trouble. So I think it's just getting really committed with, from...

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Like, I hit a fade, so with trouble left, you know, it's just getting really committed with starting the ball on the trouble and then cutting it into the fairway.

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But, uh, it'll be some practice for sure, you know, starting the ball left and making sure that it, it cuts back, uh, into the fairway.

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And I think part of it too is just being confident and trusting yourself in those scenarios that, you know, you can start the ball OB and know that it's gonna come back into the fairway.

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I mean, you've played so much golf. What do you do when you don't play golf? How do you... Is there...

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What other things does, does Eli Spalding like to do in, uh, in his free time, whether it's winter or just now to disconnect from thinking about and playing the game? I love a lot of sports.

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So I still, I still run, I swim a bit. I'll, I'll play, like, basketball or soccer with my friends. I like fishing a lot too.

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You know, we live, we live on the ocean, so love to go out on the boat for a bit, do some fishing, um, do some hiking. Uh, I'm into a lot of stuff, you know. It's a bit- Yeah...

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of a bummer now to, to come back and not have as much time to do that, but it's a commitment, something I'm certainly willing to sacrifice.

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But yeah, when I come home, you know, I think it's really important to see your friends, do stuff that makes you happy, is fun, and get away from, you know, something that you love and you work hard at.

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But at the same time, um, you know, everyone, everyone needs to take some breaks or at least just have some separation and be able to go off and do things that, that you really enjoy and that make you happy.

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Because ultimately, like, you're, you're not gonna get those experiences back too, and it's, it's certainly things that are important to experience and, and enjoy. You must be the...

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Are you the slowest runner in your family? Yeah. [laughs] I am the slowest runner in my family. I, I... Yeah, it's, it's not even close. Are they all distance runners? Or, like, middle distance? Yeah, they are. Yeah.

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They're all distance runners. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, my, my brother's coming home today, uh, so he'll probably be asking me to run with him, and that's gonna be, that'll be a struggle for sure.

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Uh, last question very quickly. What's, what... You got the US Am obviously. What else is on your schedule before you head back to Loyola? Is that it? Do you have any, any other competitions?

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I'm gonna play the Maine Match Play, which is, it's a really fun event. Uh, it's, it's, uh, it's interesting the format or the how they select players.

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It's all based on points, so they just select the top 32 guys based on points, and they'll do match play and from there.

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So that'll be fun, and that's right before the US Am at Merion, so it's good to kinda get those match play reps in. And it's at, uh, Praputa Club where I won my first amateur. My uncle, he works there.

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He's the head mechanic, so, you know, maybe he'll get to hop out on the bag after one of his work days. But I love the golf course and it's actually a pretty good course to prepare for Merion.

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It's, it's relatively short, but the greens are, are small and tricky and slopey, and there are some holes where you really have to hit the fairway.

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So I think it'll be a good, good event for me to, to prepare, pr- prepare for Merion and, you know, hopefully I make match play and I'll, I'll already have that, that confidence from just playing match play in that.

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Yeah. That's amazing. Well, uh, we'll be following along here and, uh, I'm trying to figure out if I can get out to Merion, so maybe I'll see you in person out there hitting some golf shots.

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That would be, that would be- Awesome... great. But good luck. Represent Maine and New England and, uh, and enjoy the run-up to the event. Thank you, Tom. Thanks, Eli. Thanks for having me.

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