August 27, 2025 • 41 mins
Newly crowned U.S. Amateur Champion, Mason Howell, joins the pod off the back of his recent win at The Olympic Club. The 18-year-old high schooler chats with Shane and Marty about his unforgettable week in the Bay Area, qualifying for the Walker Cup at Cypress Point, what’s in the bag, and some advice for junior golfers.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The guys from Ping. They've kind of showed me how
much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
hit any shot I kind of want.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're gonna be able to tell some fun stories about
what goes on here to help golfers play better golf.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Ping Proving Grounds Podcast. I'm
Shane Bakon. That is Marty Jerts and Marty. This is
the first time in the career of this podcast we
had to wait for somebody to get out of high
school to do the podcast, which is exciting for us Mason.
How with this US Amateur champion Mason? First things first,
you're eighteen years old. I know you're about the third
youngest ever win the US Amateur, But I was thinking
(00:33):
about the golf course Roda you're on right now. So
we're gonna go Opemont, We're gonna go Olympic, We're gonna
go Cyprus, We're gonna go Augusta, We're gonna go Shinnecock.
In terms of championship golf before you turn twenty years old,
this might be it. I'm not sure it's gonna get
a lot better than that.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, no, that that lineup of golf courses is unbelievable.
I keep punishing, punishing myself too. It doesn't seem like
any of them there's not getting any easier. So I
don't know what going on, but no, playing playing some
of these championship golf courses is yeah, it's it's such
as truly special. And uh leaf for Cyprus a week
from today, So that's that's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
What about tell us a little bit about Oakmont? Uh,
you know what your experience was there, what you learned there?
How did that help help you get prepped for what
you just achieved last week?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah? Absolutely Oakmont was hard. So anybody that.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Uh breaky news?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah shocking, No, it was. It was so much fun.
I love playing in front of a crowd like that.
That was really my first time being able to do that.
And yeah, there's a lot of a lot of support
just from random fans and a lot of support from
different different pros and uh I tried to play some
practice rounds with some cool people and uh tried to
pick their brains a little bit. But oh yeah, overall,
(01:53):
just such a fun week and uh, I wish wish
I would have made the weekend. There's there's still some
shots that I can go back and say, Man, I
wish I had that back. That's that's US Open golf.
So yeah, it was. It was a great experience, and
to go up there with so many friends and family
that made it truly that much more special.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Mason, was there a moment you know, I mean, I'm
assuming first he shot? You know what? The US Open
things like that stand out. Was there just a random
moment that stood out to you from the week You're
on the range and Rory walks by, or you know,
you're chipping next to Victor. Was there anything like that
where you're kind of looking over going this is way
cooler than I thought it was gonna be.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, so absolutely. I would say the nerves like got
less as the week went on, Like I was really
nervous in the practice rounds, like that Monday practice round.
I guess the first day they let fans on the
golf course. I was like, dang, this is real. But
no one thing that really stood out. It was maybe Tuesday,
I was putting after one of my practice rounds and
(02:48):
I was on the agreement to Shambo. It was just
me and Hills and yeah, one second I look up,
we're putting like three holes away from each other. And
then he walks off, and uh so does all the
other four hundred people that sitting there watching. I was like,
we know who they're watching.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
There's one thing in the one thing in the Majors
is Bryson will always be around, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Everywhere that week.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, what about what about your time your time in
Forest Highlands in Flagstaff this summer as well? Uh, you know,
we're we're kind of a fun event.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
A j g A.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What is the East versus West? Tell us a little
bit about that one. It's part of your summer journey here.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Also, Yeah, the Windham Cup is so much fun. I
think that's the second time been to Forest Highlands and
you know, it's kind of kind of sick to say
you have one of those bags you get the blue
West bag or the red East bag. And no, it was,
uh it was that golf courses. It was beautiful, so
many great elevation changes and the ball just flies for forever.
(03:50):
It feels like you're feels like you're hitting it in space, honestly.
But yeah, well there's such a great layout and playing
a team format like that, that the A G A
G A does. It's it's rare that you get to
do match play team formats unless you're kind of some
of these pros. They get to play on some of
these higher end teams. And yeah, it was a lot
of fun and thankfully the East came out on top.
(04:12):
I didn't have my best stuff, didn't really know how
far the ball was going, but no, we had a
lot of fun and Forest Islands was super awesome dust
and kind of let us crash the golf course for
multiple days. So yeah, if I ever get the chance
to go back there, that place was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Mason, I know a guy that could probably help you. Yeah,
we'll get the job here. He may or may not
be on the podcast as well. I want to go
back to the US samitar I mean, it's my favorite
golf event for a reason. It's extremely diabolical. Obviously a
lot of things could happen. You had to survive. What
was that? Was it a seventeen or twenty for seventeen playoff?
How many was it?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah? Twenty for seventeen?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, so was that the next day? Was that Wednesday
morning when you did that? They do that on Tuesday night.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, that was Wednesday morning, so I unfortunately finished my
second shoke play round Tuesday morningst midday all day. Yeah,
I just had to sit out there and sweat out refreshing.
I clicked refreshed so many times. I was like, please,
no playoff. I don't want to get up at six
in the morning tomorrow. But twenty to twenty for seventeen,
you think it's you got great odds. And I went
(05:16):
out and hit it like fifteen feet on the first
hole and lipped out and tapped in for part. And
I was like, surely that's good enough. Surely three people
slide with bogi. But we ended up going another hole
and then I made bogey and I was like, we're
gonna have to go another hole like this, I keep
spending myself. But fortunately, fortunately that bogey was good enough
to push me through. And yeah, it was being the
(05:37):
sixty three seed. It's been kind of my favorite number recently.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, and you do that and then you get in
the first round match and you're two down through two.
I mean again, you know, we every time we talk
about the winner of the US Amateur and famously, I
mean Tiger was down on a lot of matches and
had kind of those stressful moments. I remember talking to
Julie Engster once about her run in the US Women's amitar.
I think she won three straight as well, And you
know she talked about being on eighteen t one down
(06:00):
in as like a second round match, but you're two
down through two in the opening round of match play
ended up winning that match in nineteen holes. Like can
you just talk about the stress of that Wednesday, having
the playoff in the morning and then having that match,
Like how close you were to exiting early, well earlier
then obviously people thought you might or obviously you know
you coming out on top and didn't.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, absolutely, the so I got the playoff. My tea
time for the playoff was at seven forty two. There
were five groups of four, so the playoff took forever.
Like I finished and sat there for a good forty
five minutes, leaguing for the three or four groups behind
me to finish and just one hole. But and then
I when I when I found out I got through
after playing the second hole. We we didn't tee off
(06:43):
that afternoon until two o'clock. So I went back. Yeah,
I went back to the UH went back to the
Airbnb and took a took a fat nap. Then Uh, yeah,
we were talking about the whole thing is like you're
playing at number six ammer in the world, like the
worst thing. You just want to get off to a
good start, want to get up early. You know he's
gonna have his gonna have good stuff. And my opening
t shot, I pulled it right into a bush. So
I was like, yeah, great ways, but yeah, I was
(07:06):
two down through two. But honestly, I hung in the
entire match. I made some good saves to to keep
keep that score and never got any worse than that
and called my way back on the back nine. And yeah,
when we when we got to the when I hit
it long on eighteen regulation we were tied, I was like,
that's the one thing you can't do. Yeah, but I
hit probably one of the best chips I've ever hit
(07:27):
in my golf career, and uh made a good four footer. Stressful,
like that was the probably the most stressful day of
my life with the playoff and then going to nineteen holes,
but yeah, it was uh that was that was a
long day and the Usam was just stressful. There wasn't
a match where I wasn't my heart wasn't going, so
it was it was just a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, And uh, compare your experience there with how far
the ball was going, you know, did it did it
go considerably shorter to like your you know, your your
home there in Georgia, or and had that kind of
change over the week with the weather and temperature and everything.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, absolutely, the weather had a huge played a huge
role in it. And there were some days where I
felt like maybe I was just losing only like five
yards compared to at home. But there were some days
I was losing like almost a good twenty. Yeah, like
the Sunday in the championship match, the sun actually came
out for a little bit and I felt like the
(08:26):
ball was going way further than it did all week.
But in the semifinal match where I played Eric Lee,
it was the first four holes the rangefiner wasn't working,
so we were stepping off. He gave me a trip
down Memory Lane back to Oakmont stepping things off, but yeah,
the rangefinder wasn't working. The group in front of us
(08:46):
said they were fine with playing, so we kind of
had we kind of had to go along with it,
and uh, yeah, that the ball was going nowhere. It
was like we were like playing in the clouds whole
one and whole three. Yea, our approach shots, we had
no idea where they were ending up. But yeah, it
was it was fun. It was fun. You had to
adjust every day. Some days it was super windy, some
(09:09):
days it was calm. It would get cold, I mean,
but the weather overall was just unbelievable out there.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
I never thought I'd be wearing pants and a pullover
in the beginning in August.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So a little little different when you go to San fran.
Match play very very different obviously than stroke play. You know,
I think like the average golfer probably plays a ton
of match play in terms of matches against their buddies.
When you watch golf on TV, it's almost all stroke play.
Got the Walker Cup coming up, obviously, got the Ryder
Cup coming up as well. I just wanted to ask,
in terms of mentality, the way you went into these matches.
(09:41):
Was it an aggressive, you know play? Were you were
you trying to make birdies and beat guys on holes?
Were you playing a little bit more conservative kind of
How is your mentality throughout the week in terms of
that specific way of playing golf.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah. Absolutely. My caddie, Jimmy Gilm, He's has such a
good mindset for match play, and that's kind of all
we were focused on during the week was, uh, was
making match play because we knew we could make a
good run no matter who we played, because once you
doesn't matter what their seed is ranking is. Once you
step up on the first t it is uh. It's oh,
(10:14):
but yeah, it was Uh. It was crazy. I haven't
really told very many people this story, but on the
second round of stroke play, like I was fading pretty quickly,
wasn't having a great back nine, and I get a
whole seventeen, I missed the green, didn't hit a good
chip shot, and I had about twenty feet for par.
I was at three over. That was ended up being
(10:36):
the playoff and I made the twenty footer for par
and they made a five footer for par on the
last hole, so I was just limping home. But yeah,
match play. Once I got to match play, it felt
like a big weight off my shoulders. Honestly, I feel
like I could go play free, Like it doesn't matter
if you make a six, it's just one hole, So
(10:57):
it's one one of those things that you just have
to be mentally tough. You gotta play a couple of
little mind games. That's just how matchplay is. But overall, yeah,
I love playing matchway. We played all the time at
home and it's just not a format you get do often.
But uh, if you wanted to embrace a little bit things,
things will go your way.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
At Olympic there, Mason, did you know I remember I
was a standard bearer there, Shane when in the ninety
eight US Open, the one I think Lee Jansen one
and Peine Stewart had that pot that went up and
around and my brother was in the group where remember
John Daly's ball kept came back to him and he
tapped it. He was a standard bear in that group.
But I remember, uh, Mason was so cold. But what
(11:39):
I remember about because I was a standard bear in
Corey Pavin's group and he hit it so short, obviously,
but he curved it into all those like tilty fairways.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Tell us a little bit about like your game.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Did did did in your shot shape with your driver
and your irons? Did you do you play kind of
a stock straight to a cut? I've heard did you
do any shot shape? Off the tee and just how
did you approach that, like both off the tee there
at Olympic as well as like all those hanging lies,
uneven lies, uphill shots and everything. You can't really see
that well on TV.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, absolutely no, There is a ton of undulation out there.
TV does not do it justice. And I feel like
a lot of the fairways that were sloped, like the
whole properties just pitched one direction. And the wind was
also humming down down the hill. So every fairway that
was left to right, the winds left to right. If
the fairway's right to left, the wind's right to left,
so that that just made it a little bit tougher.
(12:33):
And off the te you know, I was hitting a
pretty straight to a little fade and if I needed
to hit the fairway I would tee it down a
little bit and play a little bit of a bigger fade.
But yeah, but with the irons was the comlete opposite.
I had no fade in the bag with my irons.
I don't know what was going on, but it, honestly,
it was good for me eliminated one side of the
golf course. But yeah, you really, the fairways can be big,
(13:00):
but there's some of them that you have to hit
it in the fifty percent, like the left side of one,
or at the lands right center, it's gonna kick into
the rough. There's no first cut, so that made it
a little bit more challenging. And I just think that's
why Olympic Club so teeth, because and the greens are
so small.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, you think about the
eighteenth green, I mean it's just such a sliver. Not
a long hole, obviously, but I mean it's just such
a tiny green and if you miss it, like you
said about that that last hole in the round of
sixty four, it's like miss the green and you feel
like you have did the best shot of your life
to have four feet right. I mean, it's just such
an interesting golf course in terms of championship golf. I
heard you say it was the best ball striking week
(13:35):
of your life. Was there a certain feel or mentality
or something you were thinking over the ball that was
clicking so well for you?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah? Absolutely. I feel like with my irons, I knew
that I was going to be a right to left
ball flight almost every single time, So that gave me
the freedom to just kind of set up a little
right and let it do its thing. But with the
weather all week and some days being super windy and
some days the green's being soft, like, I didn't find
myself like going out very many irons. It was a
(14:03):
lot of like seventy five percent, like chip eight irons,
chip seven irons, which is which is at home, Like
we don't get a lot of wind and the greens
stay relatively where the ball just hits and stops, so
I'm able to take a pretty big hacket almost every
single every single swing. But yes, staying under control with
my golf swing all week, that was something that was
huge for me because that's something I almost struggle with
(14:24):
sometimes I take a too big of a lash at
the golf ball. Yeah, but uh no, it was Yeah
that like spin control is so big out there. Like
the whole week, it was felt like I was teeing
it up on a different golf course every day. Some
like when I played in my Round of sixteen match,
(14:45):
like the greens were like a table top they were
so firm and it was blowing like thirty five And then
of course my semi final match, the ball was going nowhere.
The greens were ripping so it was, Yeah, it was,
it was. It was fun. Every match you teed it up,
you're getting something different.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I that's how you hit a bunch of cool shots, Mason,
like those little low spinning wedges, you know, like backpin
send it in there low with a ton of spin.
I mean, is that that seems like kind of a
little bit of a weapon in your in your bag?
Is that something a shot you've kind of always had,
like a little sought off, low skipping wedge.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely, I I loved it. I don't I don't
like hitting a wedge that lands passed the hole and
rips back to it. I think that's a little that
can be a little dicey sometimes. I like I like
to skip, Like if it's a backpin, I like to
skip it back there and have it grab it the whole. Yeah. Yeah,
that's a shot that my coach and I, Bill Conley,
at home, work on. He's not a big fan of
(15:38):
me swinging hard sometimes, so he likes those little flighted skippers.
So yeah, that and that those greens are just perfect
for it. So that worked out really well all week.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Were you hitting most of those with their fifty six
or sixty or fifty eight Pah, fifty eight right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Yeah, I play a fifty eight degree and I feel
like that, like I can do anything with that club.
I use it over club. Yeah, favorite club is probably
my putter, even though putting was honestly could have been
a little better at the Olympic, but I was My
ball striking was good enough that that got the job done.
But no, that fifty eight degree I use it everywhere
(16:15):
every chip. I used my fifty four degree A couple
of times I found myself like fifty to sixty yard
bunker shots, which are no fun. But yeah, that fifty
eight degree that's my weapon around the green. I can
feel like I can play it off the back foot
and skip it, or if I need to get a
little airtime, I'll throw it off the front foot with
a pretty big swing.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And Mason, you switched grinds earlier this year, is that right?
Like it from the B grind to t now?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah? So is that something that I went out there
and I went out to the Scott Sale in a
taping in in January, And that's something Jeff Brown and
I really really worked on.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Is uh.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
I kind of had a pretty concient didn't just low
like if I ever had a shot around the Green,
I was always going to go for the bump and run.
It just fits my eye. And we wanted something that
was a little a little easier for me to get
it up a little quicker, just to kind of open
open that bag of tricks a little bit. And the
tea grind. Yeah, it's awesome out of bunkers too. My
bunker game has improved so much since I got that wedge,
(17:20):
and uh, yeah, it's it's been the probably one of
the greatest things for my short game.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Mason, can you run us through your bag? Like, what
do you have in the bag? Would you have in
the bag at Olympic?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, absolutely so. I the driver is the ping G
four forty lst. I think it's ten and a half. Yep,
I have it cranked down a little bit, but uh
and then uh three wood G four forty max I
just put in a week before the uh ping three
iron the I d I. I love that club. That's
(17:51):
so good. Yeah, it's probably my favorite driving iron I've
ever hit. And then four iron through pitching wedge have
ping I two thirties and uh it's funny story. My
caddy Jimmy had wanted me to get rid of my
pitching ledge for so long for a forty six degree
and he just he just thinks that pitching wedge comes
(18:14):
off a little too hot and things like that. And
so the forty six degree came in yesterday. We're trying
that out. And then yeah, all my wedges uh fifty
to fifty eight, fifty fifty four and uh fifty eight
degree or s one fifty nine's nice, which I absolutely love.
(18:36):
And then uh my putters a ping Ali Blue.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Four, Ali Blue four and what what's your what's your
history of putters before the Alley Blue and how how
long has that been in the back?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, I've had the Alley Blue for a little over
a year. I had a ping answer before, uh pod,
I think it was a two point zero maybe, And yeah,
I absolutely love that thing I had. I was using
ping answers my entire life. I had opinion answer for
five years. I just couldn't make myself switch. And one
day my dad was on the punning green at my
(19:06):
home course. He grabbed the Alley bous four out of
the pro shop and was like, Hey, I think I
think I'm gonna get this, And I was like yeah,
let me see that. It looks pretty good. So I
rolled a couple on the practice screens. I was like,
you mind if I can play nine with it really quick?
And uh yeah, I haven't looked back. It's a it's
a big transition from a blade to that thing. But
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
But you're such a golfer if you're changing clubs after
you win a US amateur I love that you're changing
wedges like it's accomplished, like the biggest thing in amateur golf.
And oh, by the way, let me throw this forty
six in that is If that, if that's not getting
you ready for professional golf, I don't know what is. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Absolutely, duh. We're always open to change.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
MA say, it looked like your pace of play. I mean,
for what I could tell is like, oh, you know,
pretty pretty on the brist side. Has that always kind
of been your style of play? I mean, that's that's
just kind of what I observed there during the during
the matches last week. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Absolutely, I've always been a really kind of quick, your
pace golfer, and I just switched kind of like three
or four weeks ago. I stopped taking practice strokes on
putting from inside five feet and just kind of made
it all fuel, but like from anything like seven feet now,
and I'll take a practice stroke if it's anything that
I need to focus on speed a little bit. But yeah,
I'm not a big fan of slow golf. But uh no,
(20:21):
I I've always played fast golf. The longer I sit
there and think about it, the more that I'll play
mind games in my head and just overthink it. And
uh yeah, big big thing I always think about is
you gotta trust your first instinct and just go with it.
And so that just leaves me less time to double
guess myself. Yeah, and just get up there and fire.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You fired at the US Open qualifier. I mean we
talked about you getting into oapeline. You saw sixty three.
Sixty three didn't make a bogie right for thirty six holes, yep.
I mean you talked about best ball striking at the
Amateur that had to have been up there as well.
I mean you were co medalist. I think you shot
eighteen hunder par. You open with sixty three. You're eating lunch,
getting ready for that second eighteen, Like where does the
(21:02):
mind go to go? Oh, let's go just do that again.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah. No, it was. That was an incredible day. Yeah,
and I ball struck it really good that day, but
I still had some shots that I was like, where
did that come from? No, I got off to a
really good start that day. I think the first eighteen
I was four and or through five and the one
hole I didn't birdie, I missed a four footer. So
(21:25):
I got off to a great start. And yeah, I
was eating lunch after that. Uh after the first eighteen.
That was the only time I looked at the leaderboard
other than until I was done, and we only had
like forty five minutes, so I got a hamburger down
as quick as I could. And that was the most
nervous I've probably ever been on the golf course. Was
standing for the first t shot in the second round,
(21:47):
just getting started because fortunately I had played so good
the second round that I kind of had a cake
walk coming home. But yeah, no, I still hit and
I hit uh see whole sixteen at Piedmont Driving Club.
In the first time I played it, I cold like
pretty much duck hooked the three wood found way and
make par. And the second time I played it, I
(22:07):
went threewood again and pretty much popped it up and
then there were still there there were some still questionable shots,
but yeah, my putter and uh short game was was
pretty dialed that day.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Shait.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
We need we need to just introduce Mason to the
thriver man.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I know it sounds like he might be a big
fan of it. Get him ready, might be able to
hit it on seventeen at Cyprus. We need to get
him dialed with the with the kind of mini ping driver.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, Mason, what uh what about your ball speed?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Man?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
To tell us a little bit about your journey. I
mean here, I saw your cruising some at one eighty
five or so, Like, what's it been like since you're
you know, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, now eighteen, Like, what's that
journey been like from a ball speed standpoint?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Absolutely, I would say between ages sixteen and seventeen, I
shot up in height. Yeah, and that's been a big thing.
I've always had a pretty long swing with a lot
of lag, and that he'll can generate a lot of
speed as well. I'm I'll be honest, like I'm not
the most muscular guy out there, but I feel like
in golf that you don't really have to be. But yeah,
(23:10):
the I I feel like I've always tried not to
swing too hard because it's one of those things that, like,
you you see a guy like I played with Tommy
Morrison and he is we'll see, he's six foot nine,
I think, but he had one of the most dowed
back golf swings I've ever swing, and he struck it beautifully.
So it's one like you can you can get wrapped
(23:32):
up in how far people hit it, but at the
end of the day, it's who hits it the streatest.
But yeah, recently I've gotten pretty comfortable with swinging at
my driver a little harder and being able to shape
it more and uh, just hit hit a little bit
more of those kind of fairy finding shots. And if
you ever feel like there's a fairway that's uh pretty wide,
I'll go ahead and give it a rip. But yeah, no,
(23:53):
it's uh, I've definitely picked up a lot of distance
over the last six months. And but again it's it's
all about control.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Are you.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Are you a like you practice on a track man
or any tech or you just kind of all play
and feel what's your what's your what's in your toolkit
for practicing and training and everything?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, so I try to keep it pretty feel. But obviously, okay,
I've gotten where I have a foresight launch monitor that
I'll go out there and practice with, but I uh, yeah,
I don't use as much as I probably should. But
I've been such a field golf for my entire life that, yeah,
whenever I'm go out there in practice, I know my swing.
(24:32):
I feel like I can tell what I'm doing wrong,
even when I'm just standing over the ball or just
made a bad swing. But yeah, a practice day for
me doesn't doesn't always consist of getting out there with
the launch monitor and checking the numbers of every single shot.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Mason, you you mentioned obviously the Walker Cup. I was
listening to you on the Friday Podcast today with Andy Johnson,
and you said you didn't realize winning the US Amateur
got you a spot on the Walker Cup. Obviously, I
think everybody in the field that the US am atter
understands if you make the championship match, you're likely going
to get the Masters invite US Open. But yeah, when
did you find out that the win got you a
(25:11):
Walker Cup spot? Was it after after the victory?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
No, so it was Yeah, going into the week, I
had no idea and I got that wasn't on my
mind at all. And I think it was after I
won my quarterfinal match, maybe maybe my round of sixteen.
I camera, I heard somebody came up to me and said, like,
you know, if you win, you get on the Walker Cup, right,
And I'm like.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Hey, You're like thanks, man, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
That's like the pressure.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, that's like when the caddy's like there is out
of bounds left and.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Go straight left. No, but it was uh yeah, so
that that gave I mean, that finals match, if you
get runner up, it comes with so much. That was
what makes that STEMI final match so stressful. But obviously
there's still so much more to play for in that
finals match, and yeah, that was one thing I really
wanted to win, uh to get a spot on the
Walker Cup. And so we uh we set out and
(26:02):
uh we were we were hungry for it, and yeah,
I was just just proud to get it done that
day because it's it's not an easy day because by
the end of it, you will have played eleven rounds
to go off in nine days.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Mason, have you been to Augusta, have you attended and
how much are you looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah. So I went to the Wednesday practice round in
twenty nineteen with my dad and uh, yeah that place,
Yeah it was okay, I guess no, but it was.
Uh that place looks like it's just like copy and
pasted some AI generated It looks unbelievable. I played Augusta
(26:43):
Country Club a couple of times in Georgia State am
and you just looked through and was like, how is
that like even possible?
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
But yeah, I'm that I'm really excited for that. Uh
obviously I still got to wait on the invite, but
yeah that if I if I get the opportun you
need to play, that's gonna be uh, probably my best
golf memory ever.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
So I need to ask about this hat you're wearing
because I heard that you have. This is like a
superstitious hat or your lucky hat or whatever. It's a
trucker hat and you wear it all the time. I mean,
is this like, are you wearing it every match you're
during the amateur? I mean, is this a hat that
that you don't take off? Do you have other ping hats?
What's the story with this? Oh?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Uh yeah, I apologize. I have way too many ping
hats in my room but a lot of the stickers
on them.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
But I no.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Second round of stroke play, I changed hats and I
did not play well, and I was like, I'm going
back to my back to my trucker hat. And yeah
it was, Uh, I've always worn this hat. This is
probably like my like eighth or ninth one of these,
because they just get so faded. But yeah, I'm I
(27:53):
love navy. This is my color. And uh, yeah, we
we've got We've got quite a few of these Navy
trucker hats.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's funny all the golfers with their superstition, su shame, like.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
We all got some amazing at them. What else you got, Mason?
What else you do that's like superstitious? On the golf course?
Ball marker heads up, tails down? What do you do?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, So if I'm not putting good, if say, if
I'm using a quarter not putting good, I'll use heads,
and then uh, I'll get to I'm so in my
head about it, it's so bad. Say I make a
put on heads, uh the next hole. Sometimes I'll do
tails just to see if I need to flip flop them.
But if I'm minted on tails, I know that's not
the order I need to stick in So's. It's one
(28:34):
of those things I definitely need to not have that
in my head, but it's just something to keep my
mind off overthinking things.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Yeah, I understand that, Marty. Do you have something I've
never asked you that. Do you have something weird you
do during tournament, golf or whatever, the superstitious? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
No, I always I use a pitch. I use a
divot fixer. I've I've used literally every round since college.
Like it's super sharp, Like I have to be careful
with it because it's probably fixed it. You know, ten
thousand pitch.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Have you ever nicked the hand before going? Oh yeah,
the pencils, the pencil stab.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, yes, it's very similar, similar to the pencil stab.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
But if I tried to hold on something like that,
it would be long gone by now.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yeah, that's crazy. I love that I've been doing. My son,
my oldest was born uh six four nineteen. I've used
in nineteen sixty four quarter since he was born. That
I think is kind of coolough, So he tried to
take it the other day. By the way, you know,
I like, I'm pretty diligent about putting it back in
my bag when I finish and I had in my
(29:33):
pocket after the run. He's like, can I have your Quarterdad?
I was like, you can have anything I got in
my life, you can't have that quarter. That's like my
only thing I actually truly, truly want to keep where
it needs to be. But yeah, superstittions are funny, man, Mason. Maybe,
and maybe when you get to Georgia, they'll they'll break
you out of that at some point. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I guess when I get to Georgia, I have to
switch up the hats too. I don't know what I'm.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Gonna have, a good point. Maybe a Navy I have
to get like a Navy Georgia at which will be honest.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Yeah, which unfortunately red black and Navy.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Doesn't look good.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, don't look good?
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Good?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Doesne look good? We'll figure something out. We'll have to
find a new lucky one.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Mason. What other weather sports you play growing up? Assuming
you're just all golf now, but any other sports? And
when if you if you're all golf now, assuming that,
like when did you kind of go go all in
and specialize?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, so I'd say right now, definitely golf and pickleball?
Pick a ball we go with our buddies at the
club and we play all the time. But yeah, actually
the day before I left for the AM, I I
went and played pickup basketball. Probably probably not the smartest
(30:40):
thing to do, but uh yeah. I played basketball throughout
middle school. That was kind of something I grew up playing.
And then I actually played competitive tennis till I was twelve,
sorry twelve, I think. Yeah, my dad played tennis in college,
so I kind of grewup playing tennis and golf and
(31:01):
I tried everything. I played football, I played baseball, but yeah,
I'd say I focused on tennis and golf the most,
and once I got through middle school, I started really
focusing on golf and I stopped basketball just because one
of those things in the winter, like I get out
of practice at five point thirty and it's pretty dark. Yeah,
there's no time for golf.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So no, you don't. You don't want to be doing that.
I will say this, I mean, you are in rarefied era.
I believe in ninety seven during the Masters, when Tiger
won by a million, I think he played pickup hoops
one of those days and Butch got onto him. I
think there was a story where Butch was like, what
are you doing, bro? Yeah, I was winning this thing
by a million. Don't jam a finger?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah I don't. I don't know what I was doing,
but we were down when I went. Sorry, guys, you're good.
When I went to school in Florida, we were at
our state championship and I was still in middle school.
I was playing on the varsity team, and uh, we
were like, there was I guess you take five or
six to the state championship and we were we were like, yeah,
there's a hoop in the parking lot, let's go play.
(32:03):
And our coach like pretty much bolted up our doors,
like absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Do not do that. Please. But you fish as well? Right, yeah?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Sorry. Fishing is something I do all the time fortunately
down like fishing or what Yeah, yeah, bass fishing. There's
a bunch of little ponds and lakes around here, and
I'll go with a lot of my buddies. A lot
of us have little john boats with little motors on them,
and we'll go out and we'll try to catch as
many as we can. And uh that's something that I'll
(32:32):
my parents probably are mad at me for because I'll
stay out way past i'm supposed to. It'll still be
dark and I'm like one more cast, one more cast,
one more cast. Yeah. I love fishing. I just love
being outdoors in general.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Are you a golf course, lake pond fishermen? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Yeah, I played. Let's see, in April, I played the
Terra Cotta am Invitational AM down in Naples, Florida, And
after my second round, I think we had a group
of like five of us that went back out to
the golf course and uh we we caught some of
the biggest bass I think I've ever seen in my life.
That's where you gotta find them, the golf course. Golf
(33:09):
course is oh.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Good, Mason. Is it weird being back in high school?
I mean, you know, you kind of go through this
whole journey and now obviously you know you probably tick
off something that maybe you didn't think was going to
be attainable maybe until you're you know, you're nineteen twenty
twenty one years old in college. Has this been weird?
Like going back into this world after I mean, you know,
(33:32):
you're doing national media and you're doing all this stuff, Like,
is it strange being back there like at a desk?
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Yeah, it kind of stinks. I'm gonna be honest, No,
I I. I started Wednesday was my first official day
of school a week and half late, so we're already
starting behind the eight ball a baby, Yeah, we're uh,
We're we're getting it done. Fortunately, I went pretty easy
on myself and took a pretty easy schedule this year.
(33:59):
But I'm still in school from eight to three every day, which, uh, which,
But it gives me such a healthy balance, Like I'm
able to hang out with my friends at school. Then
after school I can focus on my golf. But I
feel like if I was playing golf all day every day,
I would just wear myself down, because that's that's just
how golf is.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
After school. Did you are you?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Are you a rain drat?
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Do you play?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Do you do you do a little putting routine? What's like,
what's like your average week, like you know, the next
couple of weeks practicing?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm I'm absolutely I like to get out
on the golf course. Fortunately, at Glenarvan during the weekdays
we have the big ability, Like even if it's just
going out on the golf course and dropping some balls
and hitting different shots. But Glenarvin has such a good
junior program that there's always people to play with out there.
So almost every day after school, I'm I'm playing nine
(34:50):
holes and then we're going to the back of the
range and having putting contests with my friends. And then
some days I'll just want to want to be alone
and uh get some stuff done on my own. But honestly,
I'm not I'm not the biggest range rat I am.
I feel like sometimes you can work yourself in the
bad habits just sitting there hitting range balls, and I
find it, I uh, my game gets a little bit
(35:12):
better whenever I'm working on the golf course.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I could change. It's kind of interesting watching, uh, watching
Mason play the am I could kind of tell that,
like I would have guessed that with just your shot shaping,
your sowd off shots, you know, your low wedges really
really fun to watch. You kind of have that style,
like you just spent a lot of time playing golf
hitting shots, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
I mean on the range, you'll you'll you're hitting the
same shot over and over again, and on the golf course,
every time you hit a shot it's something different. So
I just kind of like, even if it's just going
out there and dropping a ball and being like get
this up and down or just dropping the ball kind
of semi blocked out by a tree and it is
like shape it around this tree.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yeap.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
So it's just one of those things that you just
have to kind of play mental games. But yeah, my
coach has always said that he feels like you can
just work yourself into so many bad habits it's by
just pumping range balls all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yeah, street smarts is what I call it. You know,
you you kind of got book smarts. You know, if
you're on the range just hitting seven iron after seven iron,
and if you go out there and actually hit golf shots,
it's a little bit more street knowledge, you know, where
you're like, oh, I actually know how to hit this shot.
I've hit this one before. Obviously. I know you're set
about going to Georgia. You're head of their next year.
I heard you mentioned you had you've had a lot
of Georgia jerseys over the years. Do you have a
(36:24):
favorite Georgia jersey you've had in your in your eighteen
years of life. Is there like a quarterback jersey or
basketball jersey you've had that was maybe you were at
the most or was your favorite player coming up?
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Yeah, I actually had one that I really liked, like
two years ago than the guy transferred. I was like,
what do we do it? Transfer portal? But uh no,
growing up, I was always a big like Sony Michelle guy. Yeah,
and he's he's had a great career in the NFL,
But that just he was the number one, So I
liked having the number one. But uh yeah, I love
(36:59):
getting up to after going to the games. I can't
wait for some of them this fall. I'm just ready
for football football season to start. College football is the best.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Mace you got any advice man for maybe kiddos out
there that could be listening twelve thirteen, fourteen fifteen that
are kind of thinking about, like, uh, maybe playing a
few different sports, thinking about going all in on golf.
What what tips, tricks or advice would you give him,
you know, based on your experience here the last few years.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Yeah, absolutely, I would say, like the biggest thing is
just don't weigh yourself down, like there's no that go
have fun with your friends, go take some time off.
There's there's no no need to make yourself play every
single day and take the fun out of it. Because
my coaches and my dad, my dad especially he is
(37:48):
he's so big on telling me that if you're not
having fun, it's not gonna translate to good golf. It's
just gonna everything's just gonna get worse. And so I've
always tried to keep a really positive mindset on the
golf course too. And that's what what's so good is
to go find like I would say to kids coming
up and trying to play competitive and maybe trying to
play uh coligiate golf, is go find yourself a good
(38:10):
group of friends to play with every single day. And
and I think that's that's that's the biggest thing. And
golf golf can be boring. You can make it boring,
and you can make it uh, you can make it
too hard on yourself. This is how I would put it.
So I just think and everybody says, go have fun,
make it fun, but I just think there's there's different
(38:32):
levels to that, and uh yeah, So that's one thing.
I've been super blessed to have such a good, good
group of players to play with Egg Glen Arvin and
we've all made each other better. But it's just one
of those things that, uh, the second you get down
on yourself in this game, it's I mean it's hard
to bounce back. It takes time. But yeah, just keeping
(38:55):
a smile on your face is the biggest thing you
can do.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Love it. Yeah, Mayson, And it's been great chat with
you man. I I'm a fan. I loved watching you play.
Excited to see what you can do. Schedule the rest
of the year. I know you got Walker Cup, You
got any other big events coming up? I mean, like,
are you're playing high school golf as well? Yeah? What's
those matches look like?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (39:15):
High school golfs in the spring, So that's gonna be
weird to take a break for Augusta right in the
middle of my high school.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Season, you know what. I'm assuming the coach will understand.
But yeah, like what's the what's what other big events
or what other stuff do you have on the calendar?
Speaker 3 (39:27):
Yeah? So after Walker Cup, I'm playing on the World
Am team. We're head into Singapore. Awesome. Uh, never been
to Asia before, So that'll be on that'll be that'll
be awesome, and then really the rest of us the
rest of the fall, I don't have anything. Maybe the
Jones Cup uh at an ocean forest in Sea Island
(39:50):
in January weather. It's probably gonna be miserable there. But yeah,
just just a lot of amateur tournaments and obviously things
die down a little bit when when the collegiate players
get back in session. But yeah, it'll be good to
have a little bit of time off. I've been hitting
pretty hard recently, and you're gonna go have some fun
with friends. I still got like homecoming to go to.
(40:11):
We'll have prom in the spring, so it's still got
to live out my senior year.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Senior year is fun, man, and then you get to
go to Georgia and have even more fun playing a
little bit of college golf program there. It's pretty dialed.
I feel like, like like Andy said to you on
the pod, every time you flip on the first page
of a PJA Tour leaderboard, you see a couple of
couple of Georgia g's there, and I think they will continue. Congrats, man,
I mean, what a what an accomplishment. I know the
habit Meyers just off camera, you said you got it yet?
(40:37):
Did you get it yesterday in the mail?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
I got it like two hours ago in the mail,
two hours ago.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
So cool. That's like, I think both the amateur trophies,
the Cox Trophy for the Women's am and the US
Amateur Trophy are the two coolest and ali golf. So
congrats again. We really appreciate the time. Have a great
senior year, Enjoy prom enjoy Cyprus, enjoy Augusta, and enjoy Shinnecock.
And I would afford to seeing you play a little
bit collegiate golf coming up.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
I appreciate you guys, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
That is Mason how that's Marty Jerts And this is
the Ping proven Grounds podcast.
The guys from Ping. They've kind of showed me how
much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
hit any shot I kind of want.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're gonna be able to tell some fun stories about
what goes on here to help golfers play better golf.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey, everybody, welcome to the Ping Proving Grounds Podcast. I'm
Shane Bakon. That is Marty Jerts and Marty. This is
the first time in the career of this podcast we
had to wait for somebody to get out of high
school to do the podcast, which is exciting for us Mason.
How with this US Amateur champion Mason? First things first,
you're eighteen years old. I know you're about the third
youngest ever win the US Amateur, But I was thinking
(00:33):
about the golf course Roda you're on right now. So
we're gonna go Opemont, We're gonna go Olympic, We're gonna
go Cyprus, We're gonna go Augusta, We're gonna go Shinnecock.
In terms of championship golf before you turn twenty years old,
this might be it. I'm not sure it's gonna get
a lot better than that.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Yeah, no, that that lineup of golf courses is unbelievable.
I keep punishing, punishing myself too. It doesn't seem like
any of them there's not getting any easier. So I
don't know what going on, but no, playing playing some
of these championship golf courses is yeah, it's it's such
as truly special. And uh leaf for Cyprus a week
from today, So that's that's gonna be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
What about tell us a little bit about Oakmont? Uh,
you know what your experience was there, what you learned there?
How did that help help you get prepped for what
you just achieved last week?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah? Absolutely Oakmont was hard. So anybody that.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Uh breaky news?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yeah shocking, No, it was. It was so much fun.
I love playing in front of a crowd like that.
That was really my first time being able to do that.
And yeah, there's a lot of a lot of support
just from random fans and a lot of support from
different different pros and uh I tried to play some
practice rounds with some cool people and uh tried to
pick their brains a little bit. But oh yeah, overall,
(01:53):
just such a fun week and uh, I wish wish
I would have made the weekend. There's there's still some
shots that I can go back and say, Man, I
wish I had that back. That's that's US Open golf.
So yeah, it was. It was a great experience, and
to go up there with so many friends and family
that made it truly that much more special.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Mason, was there a moment you know, I mean, I'm
assuming first he shot? You know what? The US Open
things like that stand out. Was there just a random
moment that stood out to you from the week You're
on the range and Rory walks by, or you know,
you're chipping next to Victor. Was there anything like that
where you're kind of looking over going this is way
cooler than I thought it was gonna be.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, so absolutely. I would say the nerves like got
less as the week went on, Like I was really
nervous in the practice rounds, like that Monday practice round.
I guess the first day they let fans on the
golf course. I was like, dang, this is real. But
no one thing that really stood out. It was maybe Tuesday,
I was putting after one of my practice rounds and
(02:48):
I was on the agreement to Shambo. It was just
me and Hills and yeah, one second I look up,
we're putting like three holes away from each other. And
then he walks off, and uh so does all the
other four hundred people that sitting there watching. I was like,
we know who they're watching.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
There's one thing in the one thing in the Majors
is Bryson will always be around, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Everywhere that week.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, what about what about your time your time in
Forest Highlands in Flagstaff this summer as well? Uh, you know,
we're we're kind of a fun event.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
A j g A.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
What is the East versus West? Tell us a little
bit about that one. It's part of your summer journey here.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Also, Yeah, the Windham Cup is so much fun. I
think that's the second time been to Forest Highlands and
you know, it's kind of kind of sick to say
you have one of those bags you get the blue
West bag or the red East bag. And no, it was,
uh it was that golf courses. It was beautiful, so
many great elevation changes and the ball just flies for forever.
(03:50):
It feels like you're feels like you're hitting it in space, honestly.
But yeah, well there's such a great layout and playing
a team format like that, that the A G A
G A does. It's it's rare that you get to
do match play team formats unless you're kind of some
of these pros. They get to play on some of
these higher end teams. And yeah, it was a lot
of fun and thankfully the East came out on top.
(04:12):
I didn't have my best stuff, didn't really know how
far the ball was going, but no, we had a
lot of fun and Forest Islands was super awesome dust
and kind of let us crash the golf course for
multiple days. So yeah, if I ever get the chance
to go back there, that place was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Mason, I know a guy that could probably help you. Yeah,
we'll get the job here. He may or may not
be on the podcast as well. I want to go
back to the US samitar I mean, it's my favorite
golf event for a reason. It's extremely diabolical. Obviously a
lot of things could happen. You had to survive. What
was that? Was it a seventeen or twenty for seventeen playoff?
How many was it?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah? Twenty for seventeen?
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Yeah, so was that the next day? Was that Wednesday
morning when you did that? They do that on Tuesday night.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Yeah, that was Wednesday morning, so I unfortunately finished my
second shoke play round Tuesday morningst midday all day. Yeah,
I just had to sit out there and sweat out refreshing.
I clicked refreshed so many times. I was like, please,
no playoff. I don't want to get up at six
in the morning tomorrow. But twenty to twenty for seventeen,
you think it's you got great odds. And I went
(05:16):
out and hit it like fifteen feet on the first
hole and lipped out and tapped in for part. And
I was like, surely that's good enough. Surely three people
slide with bogi. But we ended up going another hole
and then I made bogey and I was like, we're
gonna have to go another hole like this, I keep
spending myself. But fortunately, fortunately that bogey was good enough
to push me through. And yeah, it was being the
(05:37):
sixty three seed. It's been kind of my favorite number recently.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Well, and you do that and then you get in
the first round match and you're two down through two.
I mean again, you know, we every time we talk
about the winner of the US Amateur and famously, I
mean Tiger was down on a lot of matches and
had kind of those stressful moments. I remember talking to
Julie Engster once about her run in the US Women's amitar.
I think she won three straight as well, And you
know she talked about being on eighteen t one down
(06:00):
in as like a second round match, but you're two
down through two in the opening round of match play
ended up winning that match in nineteen holes. Like can
you just talk about the stress of that Wednesday, having
the playoff in the morning and then having that match,
Like how close you were to exiting early, well earlier
then obviously people thought you might or obviously you know
you coming out on top and didn't.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, absolutely, the so I got the playoff. My tea
time for the playoff was at seven forty two. There
were five groups of four, so the playoff took forever.
Like I finished and sat there for a good forty
five minutes, leaguing for the three or four groups behind
me to finish and just one hole. But and then
I when I when I found out I got through
after playing the second hole. We we didn't tee off
(06:43):
that afternoon until two o'clock. So I went back. Yeah,
I went back to the UH went back to the
Airbnb and took a took a fat nap. Then Uh, yeah,
we were talking about the whole thing is like you're
playing at number six ammer in the world, like the
worst thing. You just want to get off to a
good start, want to get up early. You know he's
gonna have his gonna have good stuff. And my opening
t shot, I pulled it right into a bush. So
I was like, yeah, great ways, but yeah, I was
(07:06):
two down through two. But honestly, I hung in the
entire match. I made some good saves to to keep
keep that score and never got any worse than that
and called my way back on the back nine. And yeah,
when we when we got to the when I hit
it long on eighteen regulation we were tied, I was like,
that's the one thing you can't do. Yeah, but I
hit probably one of the best chips I've ever hit
(07:27):
in my golf career, and uh made a good four footer. Stressful,
like that was the probably the most stressful day of
my life with the playoff and then going to nineteen holes,
but yeah, it was uh that was that was a
long day and the Usam was just stressful. There wasn't
a match where I wasn't my heart wasn't going, so
it was it was just a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah, And uh, compare your experience there with how far
the ball was going, you know, did it did it
go considerably shorter to like your you know, your your
home there in Georgia, or and had that kind of
change over the week with the weather and temperature and everything.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, absolutely, the weather had a huge played a huge
role in it. And there were some days where I
felt like maybe I was just losing only like five
yards compared to at home. But there were some days
I was losing like almost a good twenty. Yeah, like
the Sunday in the championship match, the sun actually came
out for a little bit and I felt like the
(08:26):
ball was going way further than it did all week.
But in the semifinal match where I played Eric Lee,
it was the first four holes the rangefiner wasn't working,
so we were stepping off. He gave me a trip
down Memory Lane back to Oakmont stepping things off, but yeah,
the rangefinder wasn't working. The group in front of us
(08:46):
said they were fine with playing, so we kind of
had we kind of had to go along with it,
and uh, yeah, that the ball was going nowhere. It
was like we were like playing in the clouds whole
one and whole three. Yea, our approach shots, we had
no idea where they were ending up. But yeah, it
was it was fun. It was fun. You had to
adjust every day. Some days it was super windy, some
(09:09):
days it was calm. It would get cold, I mean,
but the weather overall was just unbelievable out there.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
I never thought I'd be wearing pants and a pullover
in the beginning in August.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So a little little different when you go to San fran.
Match play very very different obviously than stroke play. You know,
I think like the average golfer probably plays a ton
of match play in terms of matches against their buddies.
When you watch golf on TV, it's almost all stroke play.
Got the Walker Cup coming up, obviously, got the Ryder
Cup coming up as well. I just wanted to ask,
in terms of mentality, the way you went into these matches.
(09:41):
Was it an aggressive, you know play? Were you were
you trying to make birdies and beat guys on holes?
Were you playing a little bit more conservative kind of
How is your mentality throughout the week in terms of
that specific way of playing golf.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yeah. Absolutely. My caddie, Jimmy Gilm, He's has such a
good mindset for match play, and that's kind of all
we were focused on during the week was, uh, was
making match play because we knew we could make a
good run no matter who we played, because once you
doesn't matter what their seed is ranking is. Once you
step up on the first t it is uh. It's oh,
(10:14):
but yeah, it was Uh. It was crazy. I haven't
really told very many people this story, but on the
second round of stroke play, like I was fading pretty quickly,
wasn't having a great back nine, and I get a
whole seventeen, I missed the green, didn't hit a good
chip shot, and I had about twenty feet for par.
I was at three over. That was ended up being
(10:36):
the playoff and I made the twenty footer for par
and they made a five footer for par on the
last hole, so I was just limping home. But yeah,
match play. Once I got to match play, it felt
like a big weight off my shoulders. Honestly, I feel
like I could go play free, Like it doesn't matter
if you make a six, it's just one hole, So
(10:57):
it's one one of those things that you just have
to be mentally tough. You gotta play a couple of
little mind games. That's just how matchplay is. But overall, yeah,
I love playing matchway. We played all the time at
home and it's just not a format you get do often.
But uh, if you wanted to embrace a little bit things,
things will go your way.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
At Olympic there, Mason, did you know I remember I
was a standard bearer there, Shane when in the ninety
eight US Open, the one I think Lee Jansen one
and Peine Stewart had that pot that went up and
around and my brother was in the group where remember
John Daly's ball kept came back to him and he
tapped it. He was a standard bear in that group.
But I remember, uh, Mason was so cold. But what
(11:39):
I remember about because I was a standard bear in
Corey Pavin's group and he hit it so short, obviously,
but he curved it into all those like tilty fairways.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Tell us a little bit about like your game.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Did did did in your shot shape with your driver
and your irons? Did you do you play kind of
a stock straight to a cut? I've heard did you
do any shot shape? Off the tee and just how
did you approach that, like both off the tee there
at Olympic as well as like all those hanging lies,
uneven lies, uphill shots and everything. You can't really see
that well on TV.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, absolutely no, There is a ton of undulation out there.
TV does not do it justice. And I feel like
a lot of the fairways that were sloped, like the
whole properties just pitched one direction. And the wind was
also humming down down the hill. So every fairway that
was left to right, the winds left to right. If
the fairway's right to left, the wind's right to left,
so that that just made it a little bit tougher.
(12:33):
And off the te you know, I was hitting a
pretty straight to a little fade and if I needed
to hit the fairway I would tee it down a
little bit and play a little bit of a bigger fade.
But yeah, but with the irons was the comlete opposite.
I had no fade in the bag with my irons.
I don't know what was going on, but it, honestly,
it was good for me eliminated one side of the
golf course. But yeah, you really, the fairways can be big,
(13:00):
but there's some of them that you have to hit
it in the fifty percent, like the left side of one,
or at the lands right center, it's gonna kick into
the rough. There's no first cut, so that made it
a little bit more challenging. And I just think that's
why Olympic Club so teeth, because and the greens are
so small.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, you think about the
eighteenth green, I mean it's just such a sliver. Not
a long hole, obviously, but I mean it's just such
a tiny green and if you miss it, like you
said about that that last hole in the round of
sixty four, it's like miss the green and you feel
like you have did the best shot of your life
to have four feet right. I mean, it's just such
an interesting golf course in terms of championship golf. I
heard you say it was the best ball striking week
(13:35):
of your life. Was there a certain feel or mentality
or something you were thinking over the ball that was
clicking so well for you?
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah? Absolutely. I feel like with my irons, I knew
that I was going to be a right to left
ball flight almost every single time, So that gave me
the freedom to just kind of set up a little
right and let it do its thing. But with the
weather all week and some days being super windy and
some days the green's being soft, like, I didn't find
myself like going out very many irons. It was a
(14:03):
lot of like seventy five percent, like chip eight irons,
chip seven irons, which is which is at home, Like
we don't get a lot of wind and the greens
stay relatively where the ball just hits and stops, so
I'm able to take a pretty big hacket almost every
single every single swing. But yes, staying under control with
my golf swing all week, that was something that was
huge for me because that's something I almost struggle with
(14:24):
sometimes I take a too big of a lash at
the golf ball. Yeah, but uh no, it was Yeah
that like spin control is so big out there. Like
the whole week, it was felt like I was teeing
it up on a different golf course every day. Some
like when I played in my Round of sixteen match,
(14:45):
like the greens were like a table top they were
so firm and it was blowing like thirty five And then
of course my semi final match, the ball was going nowhere.
The greens were ripping so it was, Yeah, it was,
it was. It was fun. Every match you teed it up,
you're getting something different.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I that's how you hit a bunch of cool shots, Mason,
like those little low spinning wedges, you know, like backpin
send it in there low with a ton of spin.
I mean, is that that seems like kind of a
little bit of a weapon in your in your bag?
Is that something a shot you've kind of always had,
like a little sought off, low skipping wedge.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
Yeah, absolutely, I I loved it. I don't I don't
like hitting a wedge that lands passed the hole and
rips back to it. I think that's a little that
can be a little dicey sometimes. I like I like
to skip, Like if it's a backpin, I like to
skip it back there and have it grab it the whole. Yeah. Yeah,
that's a shot that my coach and I, Bill Conley,
at home, work on. He's not a big fan of
(15:38):
me swinging hard sometimes, so he likes those little flighted skippers.
So yeah, that and that those greens are just perfect
for it. So that worked out really well all week.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Were you hitting most of those with their fifty six
or sixty or fifty eight Pah, fifty eight right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Yeah, I play a fifty eight degree and I feel
like that, like I can do anything with that club.
I use it over club. Yeah, favorite club is probably
my putter, even though putting was honestly could have been
a little better at the Olympic, but I was My
ball striking was good enough that that got the job done.
But no, that fifty eight degree I use it everywhere
(16:15):
every chip. I used my fifty four degree A couple
of times I found myself like fifty to sixty yard
bunker shots, which are no fun. But yeah, that fifty
eight degree that's my weapon around the green. I can
feel like I can play it off the back foot
and skip it, or if I need to get a
little airtime, I'll throw it off the front foot with
a pretty big swing.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And Mason, you switched grinds earlier this year, is that right?
Like it from the B grind to t now?
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Yeah? So is that something that I went out there
and I went out to the Scott Sale in a
taping in in January, And that's something Jeff Brown and
I really really worked on.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Is uh.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
I kind of had a pretty concient didn't just low
like if I ever had a shot around the Green,
I was always going to go for the bump and run.
It just fits my eye. And we wanted something that
was a little a little easier for me to get
it up a little quicker, just to kind of open
open that bag of tricks a little bit. And the
tea grind. Yeah, it's awesome out of bunkers too. My
bunker game has improved so much since I got that wedge,
(17:20):
and uh, yeah, it's it's been the probably one of
the greatest things for my short game.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Mason, can you run us through your bag? Like, what
do you have in the bag? Would you have in
the bag at Olympic?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, absolutely so. I the driver is the ping G
four forty lst. I think it's ten and a half. Yep,
I have it cranked down a little bit, but uh
and then uh three wood G four forty max I
just put in a week before the uh ping three
iron the I d I. I love that club. That's
(17:51):
so good. Yeah, it's probably my favorite driving iron I've
ever hit. And then four iron through pitching wedge have
ping I two thirties and uh it's funny story. My
caddy Jimmy had wanted me to get rid of my
pitching ledge for so long for a forty six degree
and he just he just thinks that pitching wedge comes
(18:14):
off a little too hot and things like that. And
so the forty six degree came in yesterday. We're trying
that out. And then yeah, all my wedges uh fifty
to fifty eight, fifty fifty four and uh fifty eight
degree or s one fifty nine's nice, which I absolutely love.
(18:36):
And then uh my putters a ping Ali Blue.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Four, Ali Blue four and what what's your what's your
history of putters before the Alley Blue and how how
long has that been in the back?
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Yeah, I've had the Alley Blue for a little over
a year. I had a ping answer before, uh pod,
I think it was a two point zero maybe, And yeah,
I absolutely love that thing I had. I was using
ping answers my entire life. I had opinion answer for
five years. I just couldn't make myself switch. And one
day my dad was on the punning green at my
(19:06):
home course. He grabbed the Alley bous four out of
the pro shop and was like, Hey, I think I
think I'm gonna get this, And I was like yeah,
let me see that. It looks pretty good. So I
rolled a couple on the practice screens. I was like,
you mind if I can play nine with it really quick?
And uh yeah, I haven't looked back. It's a it's
a big transition from a blade to that thing. But
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
But you're such a golfer if you're changing clubs after
you win a US amateur I love that you're changing
wedges like it's accomplished, like the biggest thing in amateur golf.
And oh, by the way, let me throw this forty
six in that is If that, if that's not getting
you ready for professional golf, I don't know what is. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Absolutely, duh. We're always open to change.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
MA say, it looked like your pace of play. I mean,
for what I could tell is like, oh, you know,
pretty pretty on the brist side. Has that always kind
of been your style of play? I mean, that's that's
just kind of what I observed there during the during
the matches last week. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Absolutely, I've always been a really kind of quick, your
pace golfer, and I just switched kind of like three
or four weeks ago. I stopped taking practice strokes on
putting from inside five feet and just kind of made
it all fuel, but like from anything like seven feet now,
and I'll take a practice stroke if it's anything that
I need to focus on speed a little bit. But yeah,
I'm not a big fan of slow golf. But uh no,
(20:21):
I I've always played fast golf. The longer I sit
there and think about it, the more that I'll play
mind games in my head and just overthink it. And
uh yeah, big big thing I always think about is
you gotta trust your first instinct and just go with it.
And so that just leaves me less time to double
guess myself. Yeah, and just get up there and fire.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
You fired at the US Open qualifier. I mean we
talked about you getting into oapeline. You saw sixty three.
Sixty three didn't make a bogie right for thirty six holes, yep.
I mean you talked about best ball striking at the
Amateur that had to have been up there as well.
I mean you were co medalist. I think you shot
eighteen hunder par. You open with sixty three. You're eating lunch,
getting ready for that second eighteen, Like where does the
(21:02):
mind go to go? Oh, let's go just do that again.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah. No, it was. That was an incredible day. Yeah,
and I ball struck it really good that day, but
I still had some shots that I was like, where
did that come from? No, I got off to a
really good start that day. I think the first eighteen
I was four and or through five and the one
hole I didn't birdie, I missed a four footer. So
(21:25):
I got off to a great start. And yeah, I
was eating lunch after that. Uh after the first eighteen.
That was the only time I looked at the leaderboard
other than until I was done, and we only had
like forty five minutes, so I got a hamburger down
as quick as I could. And that was the most
nervous I've probably ever been on the golf course. Was
standing for the first t shot in the second round,
(21:47):
just getting started because fortunately I had played so good
the second round that I kind of had a cake
walk coming home. But yeah, no, I still hit and
I hit uh see whole sixteen at Piedmont Driving Club.
In the first time I played it, I cold like
pretty much duck hooked the three wood found way and
make par. And the second time I played it, I
(22:07):
went threewood again and pretty much popped it up and
then there were still there there were some still questionable shots,
but yeah, my putter and uh short game was was
pretty dialed that day.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Shait.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
We need we need to just introduce Mason to the
thriver man.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
I know it sounds like he might be a big
fan of it. Get him ready, might be able to
hit it on seventeen at Cyprus. We need to get
him dialed with the with the kind of mini ping driver.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Yeah, Mason, what uh what about your ball speed?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Man?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
To tell us a little bit about your journey. I
mean here, I saw your cruising some at one eighty
five or so, Like, what's it been like since you're
you know, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, now eighteen, Like, what's that
journey been like from a ball speed standpoint?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Absolutely, I would say between ages sixteen and seventeen, I
shot up in height. Yeah, and that's been a big thing.
I've always had a pretty long swing with a lot
of lag, and that he'll can generate a lot of
speed as well. I'm I'll be honest, like I'm not
the most muscular guy out there, but I feel like
in golf that you don't really have to be. But yeah,
(23:10):
the I I feel like I've always tried not to
swing too hard because it's one of those things that, like,
you you see a guy like I played with Tommy
Morrison and he is we'll see, he's six foot nine,
I think, but he had one of the most dowed
back golf swings I've ever swing, and he struck it beautifully.
So it's one like you can you can get wrapped
(23:32):
up in how far people hit it, but at the
end of the day, it's who hits it the streatest.
But yeah, recently I've gotten pretty comfortable with swinging at
my driver a little harder and being able to shape
it more and uh, just hit hit a little bit
more of those kind of fairy finding shots. And if
you ever feel like there's a fairway that's uh pretty wide,
I'll go ahead and give it a rip. But yeah, no,
(23:53):
it's uh, I've definitely picked up a lot of distance
over the last six months. And but again it's it's
all about control.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Are you.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Are you a like you practice on a track man
or any tech or you just kind of all play
and feel what's your what's your what's in your toolkit
for practicing and training and everything?
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, so I try to keep it pretty feel. But obviously, okay,
I've gotten where I have a foresight launch monitor that
I'll go out there and practice with, but I uh, yeah,
I don't use as much as I probably should. But
I've been such a field golf for my entire life that, yeah,
whenever I'm go out there in practice, I know my swing.
(24:32):
I feel like I can tell what I'm doing wrong,
even when I'm just standing over the ball or just
made a bad swing. But yeah, a practice day for
me doesn't doesn't always consist of getting out there with
the launch monitor and checking the numbers of every single shot.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Mason, you you mentioned obviously the Walker Cup. I was
listening to you on the Friday Podcast today with Andy Johnson,
and you said you didn't realize winning the US Amateur
got you a spot on the Walker Cup. Obviously, I
think everybody in the field that the US am atter
understands if you make the championship match, you're likely going
to get the Masters invite US Open. But yeah, when
did you find out that the win got you a
(25:11):
Walker Cup spot? Was it after after the victory?
Speaker 3 (25:14):
No, so it was Yeah, going into the week, I
had no idea and I got that wasn't on my
mind at all. And I think it was after I
won my quarterfinal match, maybe maybe my round of sixteen.
I camera, I heard somebody came up to me and said, like,
you know, if you win, you get on the Walker Cup, right,
And I'm like.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Hey, You're like thanks, man, appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:34):
That's like the pressure.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Yeah, that's like when the caddy's like there is out
of bounds left and.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Go straight left. No, but it was uh yeah, so
that that gave I mean, that finals match, if you
get runner up, it comes with so much. That was
what makes that STEMI final match so stressful. But obviously
there's still so much more to play for in that
finals match, and yeah, that was one thing I really
wanted to win, uh to get a spot on the
Walker Cup. And so we uh we set out and
(26:02):
uh we were we were hungry for it, and yeah,
I was just just proud to get it done that
day because it's it's not an easy day because by
the end of it, you will have played eleven rounds
to go off in nine days.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Mason, have you been to Augusta, have you attended and
how much are you looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yeah. So I went to the Wednesday practice round in
twenty nineteen with my dad and uh, yeah that place,
Yeah it was okay, I guess no, but it was.
Uh that place looks like it's just like copy and
pasted some AI generated It looks unbelievable. I played Augusta
(26:43):
Country Club a couple of times in Georgia State am
and you just looked through and was like, how is
that like even possible?
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (26:49):
But yeah, I'm that I'm really excited for that. Uh
obviously I still got to wait on the invite, but
yeah that if I if I get the opportun you
need to play, that's gonna be uh, probably my best
golf memory ever.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
So I need to ask about this hat you're wearing
because I heard that you have. This is like a
superstitious hat or your lucky hat or whatever. It's a
trucker hat and you wear it all the time. I mean,
is this like, are you wearing it every match you're
during the amateur? I mean, is this a hat that
that you don't take off? Do you have other ping hats?
What's the story with this? Oh?
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Uh yeah, I apologize. I have way too many ping
hats in my room but a lot of the stickers
on them.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
But I no.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
Second round of stroke play, I changed hats and I
did not play well, and I was like, I'm going
back to my back to my trucker hat. And yeah
it was, Uh, I've always worn this hat. This is
probably like my like eighth or ninth one of these,
because they just get so faded. But yeah, I'm I
(27:53):
love navy. This is my color. And uh, yeah, we
we've got We've got quite a few of these Navy
trucker hats.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's funny all the golfers with their superstition, su shame, like.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
We all got some amazing at them. What else you got, Mason?
What else you do that's like superstitious? On the golf course?
Ball marker heads up, tails down? What do you do?
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Yeah, So if I'm not putting good, if say, if
I'm using a quarter not putting good, I'll use heads,
and then uh, I'll get to I'm so in my
head about it, it's so bad. Say I make a
put on heads, uh the next hole. Sometimes I'll do
tails just to see if I need to flip flop them.
But if I'm minted on tails, I know that's not
the order I need to stick in So's. It's one
(28:34):
of those things I definitely need to not have that
in my head, but it's just something to keep my
mind off overthinking things.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Yeah, I understand that, Marty. Do you have something I've
never asked you that. Do you have something weird you
do during tournament, golf or whatever, the superstitious? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
No, I always I use a pitch. I use a
divot fixer. I've I've used literally every round since college.
Like it's super sharp, Like I have to be careful
with it because it's probably fixed it. You know, ten
thousand pitch.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Have you ever nicked the hand before going? Oh yeah,
the pencils, the pencil stab.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, yes, it's very similar, similar to the pencil stab.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
But if I tried to hold on something like that,
it would be long gone by now.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
Yeah, that's crazy. I love that I've been doing. My son,
my oldest was born uh six four nineteen. I've used
in nineteen sixty four quarter since he was born. That
I think is kind of coolough, So he tried to
take it the other day. By the way, you know,
I like, I'm pretty diligent about putting it back in
my bag when I finish and I had in my
(29:33):
pocket after the run. He's like, can I have your Quarterdad?
I was like, you can have anything I got in
my life, you can't have that quarter. That's like my
only thing I actually truly, truly want to keep where
it needs to be. But yeah, superstittions are funny, man, Mason. Maybe,
and maybe when you get to Georgia, they'll they'll break
you out of that at some point. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I guess when I get to Georgia, I have to
switch up the hats too. I don't know what I'm.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Gonna have, a good point. Maybe a Navy I have
to get like a Navy Georgia at which will be honest.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Yeah, which unfortunately red black and Navy.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Doesn't look good.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, don't look good?
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Good?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Doesne look good? We'll figure something out. We'll have to
find a new lucky one.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Mason. What other weather sports you play growing up? Assuming
you're just all golf now, but any other sports? And
when if you if you're all golf now, assuming that,
like when did you kind of go go all in
and specialize?
Speaker 3 (30:17):
Yeah, so I'd say right now, definitely golf and pickleball?
Pick a ball we go with our buddies at the
club and we play all the time. But yeah, actually
the day before I left for the AM, I I
went and played pickup basketball. Probably probably not the smartest
(30:40):
thing to do, but uh yeah. I played basketball throughout
middle school. That was kind of something I grew up playing.
And then I actually played competitive tennis till I was twelve,
sorry twelve, I think. Yeah, my dad played tennis in college,
so I kind of grewup playing tennis and golf and
(31:01):
I tried everything. I played football, I played baseball, but yeah,
I'd say I focused on tennis and golf the most,
and once I got through middle school, I started really
focusing on golf and I stopped basketball just because one
of those things in the winter, like I get out
of practice at five point thirty and it's pretty dark. Yeah,
there's no time for golf.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
So no, you don't. You don't want to be doing that.
I will say this, I mean, you are in rarefied era.
I believe in ninety seven during the Masters, when Tiger
won by a million, I think he played pickup hoops
one of those days and Butch got onto him. I
think there was a story where Butch was like, what
are you doing, bro? Yeah, I was winning this thing
by a million. Don't jam a finger?
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Yeah I don't. I don't know what I was doing,
but we were down when I went. Sorry, guys, you're good.
When I went to school in Florida, we were at
our state championship and I was still in middle school.
I was playing on the varsity team, and uh, we
were like, there was I guess you take five or
six to the state championship and we were we were like, yeah,
there's a hoop in the parking lot, let's go play.
(32:03):
And our coach like pretty much bolted up our doors,
like absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Do not do that. Please. But you fish as well? Right, yeah?
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Sorry. Fishing is something I do all the time fortunately
down like fishing or what Yeah, yeah, bass fishing. There's
a bunch of little ponds and lakes around here, and
I'll go with a lot of my buddies. A lot
of us have little john boats with little motors on them,
and we'll go out and we'll try to catch as
many as we can. And uh that's something that I'll
(32:32):
my parents probably are mad at me for because I'll
stay out way past i'm supposed to. It'll still be
dark and I'm like one more cast, one more cast,
one more cast. Yeah. I love fishing. I just love
being outdoors in general.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Are you a golf course, lake pond fishermen? Oh?
Speaker 3 (32:47):
Yeah, I played. Let's see, in April, I played the
Terra Cotta am Invitational AM down in Naples, Florida, And
after my second round, I think we had a group
of like five of us that went back out to
the golf course and uh we we caught some of
the biggest bass I think I've ever seen in my life.
That's where you gotta find them, the golf course. Golf
(33:09):
course is oh.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Good, Mason. Is it weird being back in high school?
I mean, you know, you kind of go through this
whole journey and now obviously you know you probably tick
off something that maybe you didn't think was going to
be attainable maybe until you're you know, you're nineteen twenty
twenty one years old in college. Has this been weird?
Like going back into this world after I mean, you know,
(33:32):
you're doing national media and you're doing all this stuff, Like,
is it strange being back there like at a desk?
Speaker 3 (33:38):
Yeah, it kind of stinks. I'm gonna be honest, No,
I I. I started Wednesday was my first official day
of school a week and half late, so we're already
starting behind the eight ball a baby, Yeah, we're uh,
We're we're getting it done. Fortunately, I went pretty easy
on myself and took a pretty easy schedule this year.
(33:59):
But I'm still in school from eight to three every day, which, uh, which,
But it gives me such a healthy balance, Like I'm
able to hang out with my friends at school. Then
after school I can focus on my golf. But I
feel like if I was playing golf all day every day,
I would just wear myself down, because that's that's just
how golf is.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
After school. Did you are you?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Are you a rain drat?
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Do you play?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Do you do you do a little putting routine? What's like,
what's like your average week, like you know, the next
couple of weeks practicing?
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Yeah, absolutely, I'm I'm absolutely I like to get out
on the golf course. Fortunately, at Glenarvan during the weekdays
we have the big ability, Like even if it's just
going out on the golf course and dropping some balls
and hitting different shots. But Glenarvin has such a good
junior program that there's always people to play with out there.
So almost every day after school, I'm I'm playing nine
(34:50):
holes and then we're going to the back of the
range and having putting contests with my friends. And then
some days I'll just want to want to be alone
and uh get some stuff done on my own. But honestly,
I'm not I'm not the biggest range rat I am.
I feel like sometimes you can work yourself in the
bad habits just sitting there hitting range balls, and I
find it, I uh, my game gets a little bit
(35:12):
better whenever I'm working on the golf course.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
I could change. It's kind of interesting watching, uh, watching
Mason play the am I could kind of tell that,
like I would have guessed that with just your shot shaping,
your sowd off shots, you know, your low wedges really
really fun to watch. You kind of have that style,
like you just spent a lot of time playing golf
hitting shots, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:31):
I mean on the range, you'll you'll you're hitting the
same shot over and over again, and on the golf course,
every time you hit a shot it's something different. So
I just kind of like, even if it's just going
out there and dropping a ball and being like get
this up and down or just dropping the ball kind
of semi blocked out by a tree and it is
like shape it around this tree.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Yeap.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
So it's just one of those things that you just
have to kind of play mental games. But yeah, my
coach has always said that he feels like you can
just work yourself into so many bad habits it's by
just pumping range balls all the time.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
Yeah, street smarts is what I call it. You know,
you you kind of got book smarts. You know, if
you're on the range just hitting seven iron after seven iron,
and if you go out there and actually hit golf shots,
it's a little bit more street knowledge, you know, where
you're like, oh, I actually know how to hit this shot.
I've hit this one before. Obviously. I know you're set
about going to Georgia. You're head of their next year.
I heard you mentioned you had you've had a lot
of Georgia jerseys over the years. Do you have a
(36:24):
favorite Georgia jersey you've had in your in your eighteen
years of life. Is there like a quarterback jersey or
basketball jersey you've had that was maybe you were at
the most or was your favorite player coming up?
Speaker 3 (36:37):
Yeah, I actually had one that I really liked, like
two years ago than the guy transferred. I was like,
what do we do it? Transfer portal? But uh no,
growing up, I was always a big like Sony Michelle guy. Yeah,
and he's he's had a great career in the NFL,
But that just he was the number one, So I
liked having the number one. But uh yeah, I love
(36:59):
getting up to after going to the games. I can't
wait for some of them this fall. I'm just ready
for football football season to start. College football is the best.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Mace you got any advice man for maybe kiddos out
there that could be listening twelve thirteen, fourteen fifteen that
are kind of thinking about, like, uh, maybe playing a
few different sports, thinking about going all in on golf.
What what tips, tricks or advice would you give him,
you know, based on your experience here the last few years.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Yeah, absolutely, I would say, like the biggest thing is
just don't weigh yourself down, like there's no that go
have fun with your friends, go take some time off.
There's there's no no need to make yourself play every
single day and take the fun out of it. Because
my coaches and my dad, my dad especially he is
(37:48):
he's so big on telling me that if you're not
having fun, it's not gonna translate to good golf. It's
just gonna everything's just gonna get worse. And so I've
always tried to keep a really positive mindset on the
golf course too. And that's what what's so good is
to go find like I would say to kids coming
up and trying to play competitive and maybe trying to
play uh coligiate golf, is go find yourself a good
(38:10):
group of friends to play with every single day. And
and I think that's that's that's the biggest thing. And
golf golf can be boring. You can make it boring,
and you can make it uh, you can make it
too hard on yourself. This is how I would put it.
So I just think and everybody says, go have fun,
make it fun, but I just think there's there's different
(38:32):
levels to that, and uh yeah, So that's one thing.
I've been super blessed to have such a good, good
group of players to play with Egg Glen Arvin and
we've all made each other better. But it's just one
of those things that, uh, the second you get down
on yourself in this game, it's I mean it's hard
to bounce back. It takes time. But yeah, just keeping
(38:55):
a smile on your face is the biggest thing you
can do.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Love it. Yeah, Mayson, And it's been great chat with
you man. I I'm a fan. I loved watching you play.
Excited to see what you can do. Schedule the rest
of the year. I know you got Walker Cup, You
got any other big events coming up? I mean, like,
are you're playing high school golf as well? Yeah? What's
those matches look like?
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (39:15):
High school golfs in the spring, So that's gonna be
weird to take a break for Augusta right in the
middle of my high school.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
Season, you know what. I'm assuming the coach will understand.
But yeah, like what's the what's what other big events
or what other stuff do you have on the calendar?
Speaker 3 (39:27):
Yeah? So after Walker Cup, I'm playing on the World
Am team. We're head into Singapore. Awesome. Uh, never been
to Asia before, So that'll be on that'll be that'll
be awesome, and then really the rest of us the
rest of the fall, I don't have anything. Maybe the
Jones Cup uh at an ocean forest in Sea Island
(39:50):
in January weather. It's probably gonna be miserable there. But yeah,
just just a lot of amateur tournaments and obviously things
die down a little bit when when the collegiate players
get back in session. But yeah, it'll be good to
have a little bit of time off. I've been hitting
pretty hard recently, and you're gonna go have some fun
with friends. I still got like homecoming to go to.
(40:11):
We'll have prom in the spring, so it's still got
to live out my senior year.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Senior year is fun, man, and then you get to
go to Georgia and have even more fun playing a
little bit of college golf program there. It's pretty dialed.
I feel like, like like Andy said to you on
the pod, every time you flip on the first page
of a PJA Tour leaderboard, you see a couple of
couple of Georgia g's there, and I think they will continue. Congrats, man,
I mean, what a what an accomplishment. I know the
habit Meyers just off camera, you said you got it yet?
(40:37):
Did you get it yesterday in the mail?
Speaker 3 (40:38):
I got it like two hours ago in the mail,
two hours ago.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
So cool. That's like, I think both the amateur trophies,
the Cox Trophy for the Women's am and the US
Amateur Trophy are the two coolest and ali golf. So
congrats again. We really appreciate the time. Have a great
senior year, Enjoy prom enjoy Cyprus, enjoy Augusta, and enjoy Shinnecock.
And I would afford to seeing you play a little
bit collegiate golf coming up.
Speaker 3 (41:00):
I appreciate you guys, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
That is Mason how that's Marty Jerts And this is
the Ping proven Grounds podcast.
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