Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, this is Jesse Perriman from the Flagler's Golf
Podcast, welcoming you to avery special conversation that I
had with one of our local hereon the Monterey Peninsula in
California, united States, oneof our local young phenoms, up
and coming golfer.
Her name is Antonia Malate.
(00:21):
Antonia, as I said, is fromMonterey, antonia Malate,
antonia, as I said, is fromMonterey and she is a current
player on the Epson Tour, whichis the AAA of women's golf, of
the LPGA, and I got to tell youfolks, she is an up and coming
(00:41):
star in my opinion.
So a quick background onAntonia she's from here.
She went to Robert LouisStevenson and got a full
scholarship to San Jose Stateand San Jose State women's golf
has been in the top ten inseveral consecutive years in
Division I women's golf and afew times they've been two in
(01:03):
the nation next to Stanford andStanford's bunch of world
beaters up there.
So San Jose State does holdtheir own and Antonia has and
was a big part of that.
So in this conversation we talkabout her journey, her
upbringing, playing golf in highschool, playing golf at a
(01:26):
collegiate level, at a highdivision one college golf level,
turning pro, and what herprocess is to learn, to grow, to
ascend and to get her bodyright, to get her mind right, to
get her golf swing right and toget her game right, to prepare
herself to go out on the roadfor the rest of the year.
(01:47):
So as of this recording, it'sFebruary of 2025.
She is prepping to get on theroad for a full schedule on the
Upson Tour in hopes of gettingher full LPGA Tour card at the
end of the year and I think thatshe is definitely capable of.
For you golf swing fanatics outthere, she's got she's a mini
(02:09):
Nick Price and she hits the ballvery, very hard and she rotates
nicely and uses the ground andgravity appropriately.
For for us older guys, it'sit's a real good swing model to
look at and I've said it beforeon here and I'm going to say it
again and certainly Antonia is agreat resource to look at
(02:32):
because they're swinging itbasically at the same speed as
we are and it's more palpablefor us to say, okay, they do
this, they do it well, and whatcan we learn from that?
Because the guys on the PGATour and on the Live Tour,
they're outliers, they're the 1%of the 1% and it's a real good
(02:55):
model for us to look at, andAntonia exemplifies all of these
things in spades.
So enjoy this conversation.
I sure did.
I expect a lot of great thingscoming from her and her career
and the best of luck to her, andwe are certainly going to have
her on again.
So cheers everyone.
Have a great week and don'tforget to rate, review and
(03:19):
subscribe.
I always forget to say that,but here I am remembering.
So cheers everyone.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the Flag Hunters Golf
(03:43):
Podcast.
We got a special one today,folks.
We have a young lady who isfrom my hometown, or our
hometown.
She also went to the sameuniversity I did and played a
lot better golf than I did, buther name is Antonia Malate and
she is on the Epson, the brandnew Epson tour.
Right, yeah, yeah, antonia,thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah.
So we played golf a few times,and and I mean especially the
people that listen that aremembers of the advanced ball
striking community I'll throw acouple little short videos of
Antonia's golf swing, becauseit's pretty, it's pretty sick,
it's good.
I call her the slop.
The slop master slots it anduse the ground and uses all of
(04:31):
the good forces of nature for uhto her, to her benefit.
So, antonia, thanks for comingon.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, I'm excited.
I mean, I just want to talk alittle bit about myself and you
know, you know, help others toget better at golf, just like
I'm trying to do myself.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So we're all in this thing together.
So you grew up here, you're agirl.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I'm a Monterey girl, Went to Stevenson for high
school and then obviously wentto San Jose State, played
college golf there for fiveyears and you know I play it up
out at Pasadena all the time andyou know all around Monterey
area and grew up here and loveall the courses around here.
I'm glad that I got to grow uphere, especially because the
golf here is amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So yeah, we're both blessed with that.
It's pretty insane when you'vegot Pebble and Spy and and the
preserve, you're out of thepreserve a lot.
You're a member at Pasadena,just like within.
You know 20, 30.
Well, the Preserve's a littlebit far, but all the Pebble
courses are within 15 minutes ofus.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We are blessed, I know definitely.
I mean, I even had Spyglass asmy home course in high school,
so got to play there every day,which was nice so, and then
played out at MPCC under ajunior membership when I was in
high school, there too, so, yeah, very, very blessed.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Monterey Peninsula Country Club, but I still think
it's the best 36 hole facilityin the world.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
It's pretty darn good , my goodness.
So let's, let's get into it.
Antonia, what, what, how didyou?
How did you get started playing, like what attracted you to the
game?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, so my parents actually played before I was
born, playing in Hawaii whenthey used to live there, and I
think the main thing that theydid for me when I was younger
was put me in the first teeprograms like Youth on course,
playing in all the little localjunior tournaments around the
area, and that really got mestarted into golf.
(06:30):
I mean, just being around otherkids who are also trying to
chase the same dream that I wasat the time really helped me and
motivated me to do what I donow.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Sure Now and that and through that experience with
the first tee and youth oncourse, you obviously got better
and were able to play atStevenson.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You know.
For those who don't know,robert Louis Stevenson is a
college preparatory.
High school campus in PebbleBeach actually borders the 18th
hole at Spy and Spyglass, whichdoesn't suck and has always been
known to have an excellent,excellent golf program.
Yeah, always.
(07:11):
Robert Louis Stevenson isalways competitive in Northern
California.
I mean, I don't know how manyCIF titles that you all have won
, but even when I was in highschool, stevenson was really
really good at both sides.
So you got in there and youobviously got better.
What was your high school golfexperience like?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I mean it was great.
I got to play, you know,spyglass, all the courses around
the area.
I mean just improving every day, especially in high school,
it's a grind.
I mean I'm balancing school,I'm trying to figure it all out,
trying to figure out if I'mgoing to play in college.
I was also playing basketballat the same time.
So I was balancing all of thatand balancing academics as well.
(07:54):
But I mean I played juniortournaments as well as during
high school golf.
So I was kind of, you know,going to tournaments while I was
playing, playing in littlematches at school, and I mean my
experience was great.
I mean I wasn't the best golfer.
I mean I was a really goodgolfer but I wasn't the best
that I wanted to be.
So you know, just took it dayby day and eventually accepted a
(08:18):
scholarship to play in collegeand that's where, really, where
I got, really got good incollege.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
So, yeah, talk about your experience at San Jose
State.
I mean pretty, pretty damn goodhistory when you think about
all of the, the women before you, my goodness, I mean to be
around them too, which isamazing.
I mean you know people.
It's it's one of those schoolsthat, unless you're in golf, you
(08:48):
don't really know, but peoplewho are somewhat familiar with
golf.
I mean just think about thealumni that we had.
I mean starting with Julie, andJulie Inkster and Patty Hearst
and Tracy Hanson and the, theMakapani sisters I mean you can
go on and on and on that.
All of these girls went off,and not only were they
(09:08):
successful on the LPGA Tour, youknow legends, major winners,
multiple tournament winners,just crazy, crazy lineage.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I know it's insane and I mean I guess I would say
San Jose State's kind ofunderrated too.
I mean not a lot of people say,oh, like San Jose State,
they're good at golf.
I mean we were third in thenation at one point on Wells on
the team.
So yeah, a lot of people kindof hear us come in where they're
like, oh, san Jose State, wereally know who you guys are now
(09:39):
.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's pretty good considering
you know you got big badStanford, just you know, 40
minutes up the road.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Exactly.
We were always going back andforth with them for sure, so it
was always fun.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, so so how was that experience playing
collegiate golf?
So what was that experiencelike for you, balancing school
and being on the road, becausepeople who don't know if you're
playing collegiate golf, you'reon the road a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, I mean it is a grind.
I mean I I learned it the hardway my first couple of years.
I really had to find a way tohone in and just really focus on
, you know, what was importantand being away from home was a
big part of it as well.
And you know, I I got a lotbetter just being out at the
facility grinding every day,seeing my other teammates and,
(10:31):
you know, even the men's playersout at the facility and we're
all kind of pushing each otherto be better every day, and that
was a big part of it.
And competing with some of thebest players in the world, I
mean that just that makes itthat much better.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, who, who were some of the gals that you, that
you played against, who might bewell known like, who was?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
out there.
Yeah, I mean rose, yeah youwere with rose.
Yeah, you can yeah, we playedtogether um amari avery as well.
She's um playing on epson withme now and we played together a
lot.
I mean, there's a lot of girlsout there that are either on
tour with me or on the LPGA now,so yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, and you got to.
You got to play in the in thewomen's Augusta women's.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yes, so that was really smoke.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I mean I breathtaking , it was just.
You can't even put it to words.
It's the most beautiful coursein the world.
I would say like super green Imean hilly, as everyone says and
the greens are just super pure.
I mean it's just before themasters, so the course is in
really good shape and the wholeweek, I mean they treat us
(11:39):
really well.
I mean we're all there, we allgot invited from being a top
player in the world, so justthat whole experience was
amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Yeah, it was just such a stroke of genius what
Augusta did for women's golfjust globally.
I mean, what an honor that musthave been when you got the
invitation.
When you got the invitation toyour first one, what were your
feelings?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I mean I was, I was in shock because I knew I was
really on the cusp line my firstyear getting into the
tournament.
I mean, when I got the emaillike beforehand it said like oh,
you're getting a package fromAugusta, and I was like, oh my
gosh, could that be it?
And I mean I was stoked, myfamily was really excited and I
was.
I was really really happy.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
So yeah, that golf course did was.
Did it intimidate you at first?
Were you a little bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
My first year, I mean it was, it was tough to play it
.
I mean I made it, I made thecut, so I made it to the final
round.
So only the final round is atAugusta, so you get to practice
around no matter what.
But I mean my first year, Imean I had to kind of really
figure out how to play thecourse, and I mean it's a lot
tougher than it looks, I wouldsay.
And my second year, going back,I mean the pressure of all the
(12:57):
fans and going back and seeingthe course again, I was a lot
more confident.
So I think it definitely takespractice to play out there for
sure.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah yeah, it's one of those places that you really
got to.
It takes some knowing you know,even though we all grew up
watching it on TV, once you'rethere it's a completely
different ball game.
It's.
It's really hard to put it intowords.
You know the TV doesn't do itany justice.
Plus it's.
It's might be the most hilly,might might be the hilliest golf
(13:29):
course I've ever walked.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah, sure, yeah, there's so much undulation on
the greens too and like, yeah,it is pretty hilly.
I would say I mean I had acaddy, which was nice, so I was
just like walking the course.
But yeah it is, it is prettyhilly once you're out there.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
What was your favorite hole at Augusta?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
15, even though I didn't play that hole as well as
I wanted to.
That one is like a really cooltee shot.
And then the second shot likeit's a risk reward for sure, and
I definitely took the risk lastyear or two years ago when I
played but I mean, it's such apretty hole, I mean it's, it's a
good, it's a good hole, it's agood par five.
I would say yeah, what aboutyou?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
My, my well, I think it might be.
My favorite hole in golf is 13.
Okay, yeah yeah, I think thatthe 13th at Augusta encapsulates
everything that is good andworthy about golf.
I mean, if you hit a good teeshot, you're rewarded.
You know you get rewarded forgood shots, which I like.
(14:38):
I have a little bit of aproblem with golf courses.
You get good shots and you get,you know, f I'm not, I'm not a
big fan of that.
Yeah, augusta rewards goodshots If you know where, where
to put the ball, and that takes,that takes a little knowing
that, that you know, I, I, Igotta think for women's golf, if
, if that's for for amateur golf, that has got to be a massive,
(15:02):
massive motivational piece.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Like man, I want to get there yeah, definitely not
too many people get there yeah,I mean, even so, like it was
only the tournament only startedlike a couple years before I
had played my first one, so Imean it was only the tournament
only started like a couple ofyears before I had played my
first one.
So I mean it was so cool.
Even the first time they had itout there it was like a big big
deal.
Everyone was like, yeah, shame.
So yeah it's good for women'ssports and women's golf and in
(15:29):
particular 100 percent.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Could not, could not agree more.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So let's, let's, let's get into you.
So you graduated from schoolpretty successful amateur career
, uh, and and you are now aprofessional exactly on the eps.
So the I'm not too familiarwith the with women's
professional golf in in relationto the mini tours, so it it's
(15:56):
the Epsilon tour, correct.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
The Epson tour.
Yeah, so it's like theequivalent of the corn fairy.
It's the developmental tour forthe LPGA.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, okay, and it's sponsored by the LPGA.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, so it's.
It's connected.
So when we play qualifying oranything, it's all like LPGA
Epson tour qualifying, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
That's cool.
So when, when, when is yourfirst event this year?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
so I leave the first the last week of february, so we
go to florida for the firstthree events okay yeah yeah, and
you are.
You're getting ready to rollhow exciting, yeah is this your
first full year or second fullyear?
Second full year.
I started at the beginning ofseason last year as well.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And how'd that go, your rookie season out there?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It went well.
I mean I had a few pretty goodfinishes.
I mean, obviously it's playingthe courses for the very first
time, definitely differentgrasses.
We played Bermuda most of theseason and obviously, being from
Monterey, it's not Bermuda.
So, just being adjusted to thedifferent grasses and, you know,
just being able to adjustoverall it's.
(17:04):
It's definitely takes time toadjust and kind of get settled
where you are and I meantraveling on your own.
It's just it takes experienceand it takes time to kind of
figure it all out.
But now that I did it one year,I think I'm ready for this next
year to, yeah, where to whereto fly into, just all the
(17:24):
logistics of it all is all partof it, so yeah, yeah, for for
people who don't knowprofessional golf, there's a lot
more layers to it than just theglamour that people see on tv.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I mean it is all that at administrative stuff, I mean
from down to doing your laundryright, I mean you gotta just
you gotta live too and you're onthe road and you're working
technically exactly, yeah yeah.
So how many in a row will you do?
Do you have a?
Do you have like, okay, I'll dofour or many in a row, will you
(17:58):
do?
Do you have a?
Do you have like, okay, I'll dofour or five in a row and then
take a week off?
You know what?
What's that like?
To find the balance of pursuingwhat you're pursuing and
getting rest in there and makingsure that your body's healthy,
your mind's healthy.
All of that, Because this is alot.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I know it is.
Yeah, it's like a 2021 eventseason, so they do a pretty good
job with splitting it up andmaking it the max of tournaments
in a row five.
So generally I played prettymuch the whole season.
I just missed one event lastyear because I had graduation,
but other than that, I playedthe whole season.
I just missed one event lastyear because I had graduation,
(18:40):
so, but other than that I playedthe full season and they
usually have like a week or twooff in between, which really
helps to kind of like give yousome time from being on the road
, cause I mean, you're in asuitcase for four or five weeks
and hotel different hotel todifferent Airbnb and you know
it's, it's a grind.
But yeah, I generally will sayI won't play more than five in a
row.
A lot of the girls agree I meanmore than five.
(19:04):
Sometimes you're like okay,towards the end of that stretch
you're like okay, this is toomuch.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Fried Gosh, darn fried, five, let's.
Let's break that down realquick.
People understand five in a row, so 72, all events, right um,
we play.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We play only 30, uh, three days so okay, so 54.
So it's 36 with a cut yes okay,our bigger events are four
rounds, but we only do three ofthose a year usually um, yeah,
five.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So how many practice rounds for, like just say, for a
54 hole event?
How many practice rounds willyou play?
Two, one, yeah two.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Usually I will go 18, nine and nine.
I would say, or or nine, nine,nine, maybe just like play the
other nine that I didn't um likeas much or didn't get as much
of insight on.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Sure, yeah.
So that's, let's say, you makethe cut.
So that's one, two, three,that's four five rounds and then
you times that, times five,that's 25 rounds of golf.
That's not even includinghitting balls, tripping, putting
, yeah Right.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And then, on top of that, let's throw in the
physical aspect of it.
So I see both of them prettyregularly.
Um, I work with both of themand they work with each other
kind of, and so they know likewe're on the same page and you
know, it's all like performancetraining, so it's like it's
great on the road.
Especially.
It's like mobility, you know,like agility, explosiveness,
(20:53):
exactly what you need in golf.
And they worked really hardwith me to kind of help me get
in the on the direction that Ineed to get and what, what
exactly I need for a golferspecifically.
And, yeah, they've been helpingme a lot.
So what is this?
Yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
what's that?
You know?
I mean you got to think about.
That's a lot of golf.
That's a lot of wear and tearon your body, it's a lot of wear
and tear on your spine.
So you absolutely need to havethis practice.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
What's that do for you mentally?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
As far as my training yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, you feel like it gives you a little bit of an
edge working hard out there.
Yeah, yeah, you feel like it,it, uh, it gives you a little
bit of an edge working hard outthere.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, um, I mean a lot of the training that I do.
Are you talking about, like, asfar as my body, like just being
able to move around, or Well,all of it really.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I mean as far as your body, um, I mean my goodness, I
can't imagine, because you'replaying.
You're playing in hot weathertoo.
I mean my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I can't imagine, because you're playing.
You're playing in hot weathertoo.
Yeah, yeah, pretty much thewhole season, it's hot.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Hot Is it?
A lot of humid?
Humidity too.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
A lot of humidity, a lot of dry.
It's a little bit of both, Iwould say, but we're in the.
Midwest for a while.
So, yeah, it's, it gets prettyhot over there.
Yeah, no, no, trainingdefinitely helps.
No, no, training definitelyhelps.
(22:23):
I mean the um, I would say theit translate.
It translates a lot.
I mean being able to be in thegym for an hour or two, just um,
working on that explosiveness,working on you know, the
mobility of it all, and thentranslating that to the golf
course.
It's all like the same.
You're using your, you're usingthe ground when you're hitting
the golf balls.
I mean I'm and just being ableto be on the golf course for 18
holes and not get tired, it'sall it all translates.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, I would say yeah, yeah, especially.
I mean it's asking a lot ofyourself coming down the stretch
in the last day we'll say inthe last day of a tournament.
You're in contention and you'replaying pretty well and it's
hot, it's humid, and I mean allof that training just comes into
play for that.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah, yeah, and just being able to be mentally there.
And you know like sometimestraining can be tough as well.
So it's like, okay, I'm goingto be mentally in here and hear
this hour that I'm in training,but also, like the last hour
playing on the course, it's all.
It's all relative.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So sure, yeah, sure.
Do you ever draw upon that whenyou're playing tournament golf,
if you ever feel yourselfgetting tired or anything, do
you ever?
You ever draw upon that, like,hey, I work out for a reason, or
any internal resources that youmight draw upon out for a
reason, or any of those internalresources that you might drop
on.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I mean just like I guess a little bit of that, but
also I guess I would say I use alittle bit of a trigger.
So, depending on the week, if,if one trigger worked for me,
like, say, I'm getting ahead ofmyself and like saying, oh, I
don't want to do this, I don'twant to be here, like maybe my
trigger is like it could beanything.
I mean your trigger can be likesinging a song.
(23:58):
It could literally be like okay, like let's think about
something else, like somethingrandom.
I mean for me it helps me to.
My trigger to come back to issinging a song in my head and
just not really like worryingabout what's going to happen or
the putt that I have coming up.
I mean a lot of it is mentaland you know you got to be able
to putt that I have coming up.
I mean a lot of it is mentaland you know you got to be able
(24:19):
to find something that works foryou.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, absolutely, you know there's, there's a, you
know it's, it's.
It's easier to say well, youknow the secret to golf is being
in the present moment, which Ithink it is, but how do you get
there?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
You know, how do you get to a space where you're
playing competitively?
And you're in the moment andyou're still.
You still want to be that dog,you still want to make birdies,
you still want to hit the ballWell, you still want to win, you
still want to do everythingwell and stay in the moment and
accept whatever happens.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
So at a professional level, how do you do that?
I mean, I guess, I guess younever really master it, you just
continue to work on it.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, I mean I, I would say what works for me is
like every week after an event Iwrite down all these things.
I write down how I was oncourse, like what I did well,
like course management, wise,mentally, like did I have a good
trigger that week or did thattrigger not really work for me
as well when I tried to get tooahead of myself or not really
(25:26):
stay in the moment, like you'resaying, or you know, just
emotionally, physically, likeall of those things.
I write, write it all down andeach day I have like different,
different things that work forme or different things that
didn't work for me, and I kindof, you know, every day it's
different.
It's not always going to be thesame.
I mean my notes that I read inmy yardage book aren't always
going to be the same every week,every tournament.
(25:47):
I mean I might have a differentswing thought or a different
trigger that worked for me thatweek.
But I mean, yeah, as you said,it's, it's a work in progress.
You just got to keep going withit and keep going and keep
chopping wood, keep carryingwater.
You know, right, right, I readthat book recently and that's.
I mean it's all about justfinding ways to, like you know,
(26:08):
keep going with the process.
Keep going, and you know it's.
There's not a right or wrongway to do it.
I mean you just have to figureout what works, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, I was talking to somebody the other day about
that and everybody does have adifferent process how they can
stay in the moment.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I guess that, just listening to you, that if you do
things that are going to reallystack the deck in your favor a
good, a good fitness regimen youknow you're taking care of
yourself physically.
You obviously have a good golfcoach, which we'll get to a good
mental practice, a good.
(26:49):
Are you meditator?
Do you meditate?
What do you do Psychologically?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I have a gratitude journal that I write in, so that
helps me.
But I also just read.
I read a lot of mental books,listen to you know mental
podcasts about you know processand routine and whatnot, so
that's kind of what helps me.
I mean, I'm always, you know,trying to learn new things and
see what works for me, so yeah,yeah, absolutely, I think,
(27:18):
having an open mind.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You have an open mind , antonio, that's great, you
know.
And and a good, a good mind ofdiscernment too, so you're able
to work through things andfigure out what, what works for
you and what doesn't.
Yeah, so let's, let's get toyour, your, I mean, goodness
gracious.
By the time I release this, I'mgoing to put out some videos of
(27:40):
Antonia's golf swing.
Antonia is one of my favoritegolf swings and those who have
been longtime listeners of thepod know that I've got I've kind
of have my, my favorites.
And, antonia, you've got one ofthem, my sister.
So you were off, you weretaught.
You were taught by Pat Parrish,right.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Yeah, when I was younger.
Yes, I see Justin Lee.
Now he's at Black Hawk CountryClub in Danville and I've been
seeing him since earlier yearsin college and ever since then
I've just gotten better andfigured out how to use the
ground.
I mean a lot of his training is, or a lot of his swing ideas
(28:22):
are, from the ground up, youknow, and just being able to use
the ground to your advantage.
So, yeah, I mean I've gottenbetter in my swing, gone more
consistent and found ways to getto where I am now just through
learning from him.
So yeah, yeah, and I'm going toam now just through learning
from him.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
So yeah, yeah, and, and I'm going to, I'm just going
to share this.
I'm going to get a lot of grieffor this, but what the heck?
Because if anybody listens,that plays with either you or I,
or plays with us both.
So, and how tall are you,antonia?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Five four.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yeah, five, four.
And it's not a surprise if sheK-marts me by about 20 yards, by
the way, and I'm still gettingit.
I mean I'm 50, I'll be 55 inapril, but I'm 54 now.
I still can hit it.
You know, I'll still get it outthere.
280 if I hit it.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Good you hit.
It.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I mean well, yeah, a couple times you've kind
of snuck it past me.
Good, so, um, and the reasonwhy I say this is because you
generate a lot of power for yoursize.
You're definitely one of thelonger hitters out there, so do
you attribute a lot of that to,uh, your work in the gym and and
(29:31):
your work with justin as well?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
yeah, both, I mean they're, they, they're both go
hand in hand.
I would say like I go to thegym and I actually train
barefoot in both of my gyms withboth of my trainers, so it's
like using the ground a lot and,you know, actually not using
shoes to like help you, supportyou.
It's like you got to really usethe ground and both my trainers
(29:54):
know like I'm trying to kind ofgain power through my golf
swing, gain speed over the pastfew years and, um, I mean both
of them, like using my twotrainers and then also my coach.
I mean working on power andjust finding ways to generate
power using the ground.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
yeah, yeah, and it sounds.
It sounds very efficient tooyeah because you swing within
yourself, you mean you're not,you're not really thrashing at
it.
You know, you're, you're,you're taking a nice controlled,
measured swing, which isimportant.
You know a lot of people don'twell, I mean people that listen
(30:33):
to the podcast do understand theground.
So when you train barefoot,does that give you more sense of
the ground?
Does it give you more stability?
Are you forced to like, say,for example, if you're doing
explosive movements?
Are you forced?
Speaker 2 (30:54):
to use your core more because you're not relying on
your shoes, Right?
I mean, yeah, a lot of it iscore bottom of your feet, like
the strength of the bottom ofyour foot you know, like calves,
Like a lot of it is like a lotof the strength comes from being
barefoot and like a lot ofpeople are not stable when
they're not wearing shoes.
So that's why my trainers arelike, ok, let's train barefoot
(31:17):
shoes.
So that's why my trainers arelike, okay, let's train barefoot
.
You know, a lot of theexplosiveness is going to come
from, you know, being able touse just your feet and not
wearing shoes.
So I think, um, yeah, stability, using your core and all of
these things are what you needin golf as well.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Like you, need to be able.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
you need to be able to hold your finish, you need to
be able to use your core onyour backswing.
So, yeah, I mean that's why mytrainers are like the best, I
would say, because they aredoing things that a lot of
trainers aren't.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
I think that's an interesting concept, antonia.
You know, like a lot of thelong drivers, they train in the
barefoot shoes, like they usezero and things like that.
You know for that, for thatvery phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So I think that's, I think that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I mean, that's something that we can take away
from.
We could really, you know, justhave an open mind and think you
know, I got a buddy of mine whowill play golf in the desert.
He's a member at a golf club inthe desert in paul springs and
he'll go out and he'll playbarefoot.
Yeah, he's been doing it for along time, yeah, yeah, it makes
(32:25):
me feel the ground better.
It makes me more I have tofocus on my stability.
I can't yeah and uh, as you andanybody who knows that that that
has pretty good action.
You've got to be stable.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah, Otherwise it's just it's game over.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah, yeah, You'll notice, like if you're training
barefoot versus wearing shoes,you're, you're, you're going to
be kind of wobbling a little bitbecause it's like it's not the
same You're, I mean everyone'sused to wearing shoes and I mean
, even if you play golf barefoot, I think it's a the same You're
, I mean everyone's used towearing shoes and um, I mean,
even if you play golf barefoot,I think it's a little bit weird
and you're like, not as stableas you would be wearing shoes
too.
So, yeah, I mean it's a coolconcept that um is kind of
(33:07):
starting to become more and morepopular and people are starting
to figure it out.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, yeah, I have a pair of zero shoes, the barefoot
shoes.
Yeah, I really like them, I usethem.
I've actually played golf inthem.
I wish, I wish there was moregolf shoes.
I wish there was golf shoesthat were like that, that
actually had spikes on, or evensmall, you know, just for the
stability part, yeah, thetraction part.
But so so what when you're?
(33:35):
When you're obviously you'regetting ready for the year,
you're preparing yourself forthe season, what is a day in the
life of Antonia Malate looklike as a young professional
golfer?
I mean, are you at the gymevery day?
I know that you're practicing,you're playing.
(33:56):
What does it look like?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, I mean I usually train three days a week
with my trainers.
But other than that, like if Ido things on my own, I obviously
do those on the other days.
But as far as like golfing, Iwould usually start out the day
with like a two to three hourpractice, either playing 18 or
nine holes.
After that and if, depending onif I have training or not that
(34:20):
day, but usually like a two tothree hour practice session, and
a lot of the things that Ipractice on are based on stats
and the things that I've, youknow, found that are outliers in
my statistics that maybe couldbe putting or could be like this
, certain yardage, you know, andevery day I try to focus on in
(34:42):
on those certain things and onceI do that and feel like I
accomplished the day, thenthat's when I end my practice.
So it's one more, one more andone more rep, always every day.
But you know that's what,that's how you get better, I
guess.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
So yeah, absolutely.
And then you beat up on guyslike me in our, in our money
games here locally.
It's pretty cool.
We got a, we got a, we got cool.
We got a couple of really goodgames and Tony is in them and
we're usually handing her moneyat the end of the day.
That's okay unless we're on thesame team.
(35:18):
But I think it's reallyimportant to have some good
coaches, a good process, I meanjust even, uh, people in your
circle to bounce ideas off yeah,I mean because golf, by its
very nature, is a really, reallylonely game yeah
(35:41):
my goodness.
I mean when you're out therecompeting, playing in a
tournament and you're somewhereelse in the country and it it's
just you yourself and Antonia.
Yeah, that's it.
So here I got two questions.
The second question we talkedabout prior to hitting the
record button, but the firstquestion is this so if you find
(36:03):
yourself in the middle of around and you're struggling,
just the game's not there, yeah,do you have something that you
can go to as a source of comfortor something that can snap you
out of potentially going downnegative rabbit holes that we
all go down on the golf course?
(36:24):
Do you have something that cankind of keep you going?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, I mean, as we talked about before, I guess I
would say two things.
I mean just having that go toshot.
So if it's either like the T atlow driver and just like
finding my go to shot on the offthe tee if that's what I've
been struggling on or knock downshot in the fairway, I tend to
usually take more club and knockit down if I'm, you know, not
(36:51):
hitting as well, and you know Imean a lot of it is, you know,
finding that go to shot, whichis my first thing I would say.
And then my second thing wetalked about before was the
trigger.
I mean the biggest thing is,you know, snapping out of it
will and keep your you know yourmind is going to keep going on
thoughts and whatnot, but if youhave that good trigger that
(37:12):
really helps you to like snapout of it, that's what's really
going to help you on the course,especially me.
I mean that's what helped mewhen I had won my event a month
ago.
I won in Arizona and my coachand I talked to, talked over
text before my last round and Iwas like you know, how am I
going to do this?
(37:32):
Like how am I going to get thisdone Because it's it's hard to
win, even if it's just a littlemini tour event.
I mean it's hard to win becauseyou're mentally you're like
you're going to maybe be allover the place, because you're
in that position of two strokesahead, going into the last day.
And how are you going to stayahead?
So he kind of said to me youknow like, find that trigger,
(37:52):
find what works for you anddon't let your mind get in other
places.
So I think those two things arewhat, what helps me and what is
going to continue to help methroughout this season.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah, that's so well said, antonia.
I mean I think that that's, youknow, for amateur golfers, I
mean even good, really goodamateur players, you're still.
You know, we are human, so weare going to be subjugated to
our thoughts, and when we're onthe golf course I think we're
all a little bit batty.
Sometimes we can go go prettycray cray, at least our thoughts
(38:27):
can.
Sometimes we can go go prettycray cray, at least our thoughts
can.
You know the what ifs.
You know, and I mean those it'slike by the very nature of the
game.
The game is telling you if, ifyou, if your mind is quiet
(38:47):
enough and you agree to disagree.
But the game is is teaching youmore about yourself than you
know.
Maybe even going into atherapist's office, I don't know
.
I mean you know it's like how doyou get over these thoughts?
How do you get past thesethoughts?
How do you, if you know themonkey mind and Zen in Eastern
tradition, you know it's likethe monkey mind.
(39:08):
The mind is always racing.
It's like how do you get it tocalm down?
I mean that's like the milliondollar question.
You have triggers to snap youback into the present moment.
You know that's that's kind ofthe million dollar question.
I wish I had the definitiveanswer to it, but it seems to me
you know, talking to otherpeople, that the greatest
(39:29):
players of our game, they maynot have the best golf swings or
even be the best putters, thebest ball strikers, but what
they are really good at iseliminating distractions inside
of their mind or dealing withthem.
Tiger, I mean, I love the storyabout Tiger.
Tiger gave himself a 10-footcircle.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Did you hear this story?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I think so yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Yeah, yeah, like he could do anything that he wants
to do within the 10-foot circleas soon as he's out of the
10-foot circle from his previousshot, shot's over.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Done, the energy of it, everything and uh one.
One of the problems and evenwith good amateur golfers is
they still carry the same energysay, you hit a bad shot
previously, you're pissed offabout that.
You lose sight of theopportunity of getting the ball
up and down yeah you know, Imean, that's why you got wedges.
(40:27):
yeah, you know, part of thereason is why you got wedges, so
you can get the ball up anddown.
Right, it's like to look at,look at it as a challenge, and
I've always been impressed withyour game, antonio, from that
regard, because if you hit apoor shot or a shot not up to
your standard, you doesn't, itdoesn't really seem to affect
you.
You just like, okay, ithappened, it happened, it
(40:47):
happens, let's go get it in thehall, let's go get it up and
down.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Right, yeah, it's.
I mean, yeah, you can't focuson the, you can't focus on the
future and you can't focus onthe past, so you just have to be
where you are and that's I mean, that's what's really helped me
.
And I think, even as I'm sayingthis, it's like I'm talking to
different people, like I'mtalking to my coach about stuff
and I'm talking to my trainersand they're all helping me
(41:13):
mentally.
It's not like I'm figuring allthis stuff out on my own.
It's you know you're, you'refinding, you're learning things
through other people and youknow like what, like my coach
said that day before, like thathelped me.
You know, it's not like I'mjust like, okay, I'm going to
figure out how to find a triggerby myself.
You know it's like talkingthrough it with other people
really helps, and you know yourcircle of people that help you,
(41:37):
your team, so yeah, Yep,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
You know, ask, ask and you probably you ask a lot
of questions too.
I mean, you're, you're, you're,you're inquisitive by nature,
you're curious, which is great.
Yeah, you know, I mean, that'sthat's, that's a great way to
get better, asking goodquestions and and bouncing ideas
off people yeah, you know,that's huge.
(42:04):
I don't, I don't, I don't knowif we were meant to figure it
all out alone, right, I don'tknow about that.
And then here, here, here's the, here's the million, the real
million dollar question whichyou and I have talked about, Um,
but I've gotten it a lot, andthat is getting.
I don't know.
I'm going to say it this wayhow do you get your body used to
(42:24):
your nervous system used tobeing under par?
You know, it's like I'll start.
I have a comfort zone Once Iget to four under par, like if
I'm at four under par I'm prettyokay.
Anything beyond that, I startthinking about it.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
I start getting in my head and then usually I'll do
something to manifest not comingin a little bit more under par
like I really want to.
I mean, I'd love to shoot 10under.
You never have.
It's like, how do you, how doyou get used to being under par
(43:03):
and then continuing to hit thegas button when you're, when
you're getting under par, justjust like more you know?
I mean, is it staying in themoment?
I mean, where does it click inyour opinion?
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Yeah, I mean it's hard.
I mean everyone's probablythinking like, oh, I'm 400, and
now what do I do?
And you get stuck.
But I mean I think what yousaid.
I mean it's it's hard to say,oh yeah, just be in the moment.
But it really is about just youknow, shot by shot, like you're
, you're right here over theseven iron, 170 yards, like you
(43:39):
can't really think, okay, what'sthat?
Where is it going to go?
You got to just hit the shot.
I mean a lot of it is you know,you got to just hit the shot.
I mean a lot of it is, you know,being present.
A lot of it is process.
A lot of it is starting fromyour the routine, like just
going back to your routine.
And then I mean whateverhappens happens, you know, like
(44:01):
it's not, like you reallycontrol what happens in the
future.
So I think just staying to theprocess, staying to your routine
, um, I mean not getting aheadof yourself.
Even when you're standing overa seven foot birdie putt, it's
like, okay, read the putt andyou know if it rolls and over
and like you want it to, youcan't really control what
(44:21):
happens.
So I mean a lot of it is justprocess, routine, and I mean
that just takes reps and takesyears and years of practice.
Not everyone's going to be ableto perfect that, but you know,
I mean even I will say that Ican.
I get ahead of myself sometimes, and that's when you always
have to just fall back tosomething and make sure to stay
(44:42):
at each shot, shot by shot.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, what a great answer.
Shot by shot, yeah, yeah, whata great answer.
It's so simple too.
I mean, yeah, I mean, I think,just the very nature of us
humans especially us in theUnited States, that didn't
necessarily grow up with themantra of staying in the present
moment, of taking things asthey are and accepting whatever
happens and being okay withwhatever happens.
(45:07):
Yeah, are and accepting whateverhappens and being okay with
whatever happens, yeah, andthat's kind of a at least in my
own journey in this game that'sbeen a real struggle for me is
to be okay with whatever happens, because I mean, my goodness,
it's the only sport where theball's just sitting there, you
know, we're not reacting toanything.
(45:28):
We're not reacting to a pitcheror a baseball or a soccer ball
or a tennis ball.
You know we're the ones who aredoing all the initiating.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
So I mean, my goodness, this game will test us
from, you know, from head totoe.
Yeah, definitely yeah, and youjust try to have all the
everything that you can do tojust have it in your favor, and
even then it's not a guarantee.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Yeah, just accepting that, you know.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
But we keep going with it.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Yeah, we just keep going.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yeah, you just keep going.
You just, you never know what'sgoing to happen.
Yeah, yeah, you keep going.
So when is your first eventthis year?
Speaker 2 (46:10):
I think it's the 28th , to be exact, so it's the
Friday, the Friday of February,the last day of February, yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
And then you're out there now.
Will you stay primarily outthere, or will you come back and
forth a little bit back home toCalifornia?
Speaker 2 (46:25):
So I'll it's just a three week stretch in Florida.
Then I come back and then Ihave like a month break and then
I play in Morongo, so SoCal,and then we go to like Arizona,
vegas, so we stay on the Westcoast a little bit and then and
then we go out to the Midwest.
So then it's then we go outswinging and then I just stay
(46:46):
out there for a while and theneither come back for a week or
two, if we do have a week offbut mainly just stay out there
during the stretches, becauseit's like Monday you start
practicing and then Friday thetournament starts.
So it's pretty much like youstay out there Sunday, the
tournament ends and then you goback and start practicing again
on Monday.
(47:06):
So yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
So does the top 10 on that tour get an automatic
entry into the LPGA tour?
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, so there's 15 cards at stake and then I think
the last five are theconditional ones, but top 35 is
automatically to stage finalstage of qualifying.
So there's two kind of goals.
Goals there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
Okay, so that's a good opportunity.
Yeah, yeah I afford you a goodopportunity.
How do you get on?
Do you have to try to qualifyfor the Epson tour?
Speaker 2 (47:46):
Yeah, so we, you, you go to qual, uh, qualifying,
every year for Epson LPGA, soit's one whole qualifying,
whereas, like Korn Ferry is likeits own qualifying.
So, um, yeah, in August it'sstage one.
So a couple of years ago I haddone stage one qualifying and
then made it to second stage.
(48:07):
So that got me Epson status andI finished pretty well.
So I got to start from thebeginning of season last year,
which really really helpsbecause you know you got to, you
got to start off the seasonwell to get your rank up.
So, yeah, yeah, you have toqualify for the Epson.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
What a great opportunity, Antonia.
Speaker 2 (48:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
What a fantastic opportunity I got to tell you
folks.
This girl can play.
She's got it in spades.
She drives it well.
She strikes her ironsbeautifully.
Her putting stroke is to diefor.
Her short game is insane.
Her hands around the greens arejust just really, really,
(48:49):
really, really high IQ hands.
She's a phenomenal wedge player.
She's got it all.
So you know, we'll in closingand she's a she's a friend of
mine and we're we're brother andsister from from Monterey here
and also from San Jose state,and we're going to continue to
to watch you and support you andcheer you on and monitor you,
(49:10):
antonia, and and we look forreally great things from you
coming down the pike.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
We're going to do it again.
Yes, we're going to do it again.
Well, antonia, thank you forcoming on.
Really appreciate it and theopen discussion Awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Yeah, anytime.
I mean, we'll play again soonso.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Yeah.
Hello, this is Jesse Perriman from the Flagler's Golf
Podcast, welcoming you to avery special conversation that I
had with one of our local hereon the Monterey Peninsula in
California, united States, oneof our local young phenoms, up
and coming golfer.
Her name is Antonia Malate.
(00:21):
Antonia, as I said, is fromMonterey, antonia Malate,
antonia, as I said, is fromMonterey and she is a current
player on the Epson Tour, whichis the AAA of women's golf, of
the LPGA, and I got to tell youfolks, she is an up and coming
(00:41):
star in my opinion.
So a quick background onAntonia she's from here.
She went to Robert LouisStevenson and got a full
scholarship to San Jose Stateand San Jose State women's golf
has been in the top ten inseveral consecutive years in
Division I women's golf and afew times they've been two in
(01:03):
the nation next to Stanford andStanford's bunch of world
beaters up there.
So San Jose State does holdtheir own and Antonia has and
was a big part of that.
So in this conversation we talkabout her journey, her
upbringing, playing golf in highschool, playing golf at a
(01:26):
collegiate level, at a highdivision one college golf level,
turning pro, and what herprocess is to learn, to grow, to
ascend and to get her bodyright, to get her mind right, to
get her golf swing right and toget her game right, to prepare
herself to go out on the roadfor the rest of the year.
(01:47):
So as of this recording, it'sFebruary of 2025.
She is prepping to get on theroad for a full schedule on the
Upson Tour in hopes of gettingher full LPGA Tour card at the
end of the year and I think thatshe is definitely capable of.
For you golf swing fanatics outthere, she's got she's a mini
(02:09):
Nick Price and she hits the ballvery, very hard and she rotates
nicely and uses the ground andgravity appropriately.
For for us older guys, it'sit's a real good swing model to
look at and I've said it beforeon here and I'm going to say it
again and certainly Antonia is agreat resource to look at
(02:32):
because they're swinging itbasically at the same speed as
we are and it's more palpablefor us to say, okay, they do
this, they do it well, and whatcan we learn from that?
Because the guys on the PGATour and on the Live Tour,
they're outliers, they're the 1%of the 1% and it's a real good
(02:55):
model for us to look at, andAntonia exemplifies all of these
things in spades.
So enjoy this conversation.
I sure did.
I expect a lot of great thingscoming from her and her career
and the best of luck to her, andwe are certainly going to have
her on again.
So cheers everyone.
Have a great week and don'tforget to rate, review and
(03:19):
subscribe.
I always forget to say that,but here I am remembering.
So cheers everyone.
Hello and welcome to anotheredition of the Flag Hunters Golf
(03:43):
Podcast.
We got a special one today,folks.
We have a young lady who isfrom my hometown, or our
hometown.
She also went to the sameuniversity I did and played a
lot better golf than I did, buther name is Antonia Malate and
she is on the Epson, the brandnew Epson tour.
Right, yeah, yeah, antonia,thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yeah.
So we played golf a few times,and and I mean especially the
people that listen that aremembers of the advanced ball
striking community I'll throw acouple little short videos of
Antonia's golf swing, becauseit's pretty, it's pretty sick,
it's good.
I call her the slop.
The slop master slots it anduse the ground and uses all of
(04:31):
the good forces of nature for uhto her, to her benefit.
So, antonia, thanks for comingon.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, I'm excited.
I mean, I just want to talk alittle bit about myself and you
know, you know, help others toget better at golf, just like
I'm trying to do myself.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So we're all in this thing together.
So you grew up here, you're agirl.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah, I'm a Monterey girl, Went to Stevenson for high
school and then obviously wentto San Jose State, played
college golf there for fiveyears and you know I play it up
out at Pasadena all the time andyou know all around Monterey
area and grew up here and loveall the courses around here.
I'm glad that I got to grow uphere, especially because the
golf here is amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So yeah, we're both blessed with that.
It's pretty insane when you'vegot Pebble and Spy and and the
preserve, you're out of thepreserve a lot.
You're a member at Pasadena,just like within.
You know 20, 30.
Well, the Preserve's a littlebit far, but all the Pebble
courses are within 15 minutes ofus.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
We are blessed, I know definitely.
I mean, I even had Spyglass asmy home course in high school,
so got to play there every day,which was nice so, and then
played out at MPCC under ajunior membership when I was in
high school, there too, so, yeah, very, very blessed.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Monterey Peninsula Country Club, but I still think
it's the best 36 hole facilityin the world.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
It's pretty darn good , my goodness.
So let's, let's get into it.
Antonia, what, what, how didyou?
How did you get started playing, like what attracted you to the
game?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, so my parents actually played before I was
born, playing in Hawaii whenthey used to live there, and I
think the main thing that theydid for me when I was younger
was put me in the first teeprograms like Youth on course,
playing in all the little localjunior tournaments around the
area, and that really got mestarted into golf.
(06:30):
I mean, just being around otherkids who are also trying to
chase the same dream that I wasat the time really helped me and
motivated me to do what I donow.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Sure Now and that and through that experience with
the first tee and youth oncourse, you obviously got better
and were able to play atStevenson.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
You know.
For those who don't know,robert Louis Stevenson is a
college preparatory.
High school campus in PebbleBeach actually borders the 18th
hole at Spy and Spyglass, whichdoesn't suck and has always been
known to have an excellent,excellent golf program.
Yeah, always.
(07:11):
Robert Louis Stevenson isalways competitive in Northern
California.
I mean, I don't know how manyCIF titles that you all have won
, but even when I was in highschool, stevenson was really
really good at both sides.
So you got in there and youobviously got better.
What was your high school golfexperience like?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
I mean it was great.
I got to play, you know,spyglass, all the courses around
the area.
I mean just improving every day, especially in high school,
it's a grind.
I mean I'm balancing school,I'm trying to figure it all out,
trying to figure out if I'mgoing to play in college.
I was also playing basketballat the same time.
So I was balancing all of thatand balancing academics as well.
(07:54):
But I mean I played juniortournaments as well as during
high school golf.
So I was kind of, you know,going to tournaments while I was
playing, playing in littlematches at school, and I mean my
experience was great.
I mean I wasn't the best golfer.
I mean I was a really goodgolfer but I wasn't the best
that I wanted to be.
So you know, just took it dayby day and eventually accepted a
(08:18):
scholarship to play in collegeand that's where, really, where
I got, really got good incollege.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
So, yeah, talk about your experience at San Jose
State.
I mean pretty, pretty damn goodhistory when you think about
all of the, the women before you, my goodness, I mean to be
around them too, which isamazing.
I mean you know people.
It's it's one of those schoolsthat, unless you're in golf, you
(08:48):
don't really know, but peoplewho are somewhat familiar with
golf.
I mean just think about thealumni that we had.
I mean starting with Julie, andJulie Inkster and Patty Hearst
and Tracy Hanson and the, theMakapani sisters I mean you can
go on and on and on that.
All of these girls went off,and not only were they
(09:08):
successful on the LPGA Tour, youknow legends, major winners,
multiple tournament winners,just crazy, crazy lineage.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
I know it's insane and I mean I guess I would say
San Jose State's kind ofunderrated too.
I mean not a lot of people say,oh, like San Jose State,
they're good at golf.
I mean we were third in thenation at one point on Wells on
the team.
So yeah, a lot of people kindof hear us come in where they're
like, oh, san Jose State, wereally know who you guys are now
(09:39):
.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's pretty good considering
you know you got big badStanford, just you know, 40
minutes up the road.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Exactly.
We were always going back andforth with them for sure, so it
was always fun.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, so so how was that experience playing
collegiate golf?
So what was that experiencelike for you, balancing school
and being on the road, becausepeople who don't know if you're
playing collegiate golf, you'reon the road a lot.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Yeah, I mean it is a grind.
I mean I I learned it the hardway my first couple of years.
I really had to find a way tohone in and just really focus on
, you know, what was importantand being away from home was a
big part of it as well.
And you know, I I got a lotbetter just being out at the
facility grinding every day,seeing my other teammates and,
(10:31):
you know, even the men's playersout at the facility and we're
all kind of pushing each otherto be better every day, and that
was a big part of it.
And competing with some of thebest players in the world, I
mean that just that makes itthat much better.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, who, who were some of the gals that you, that
you played against, who might bewell known like, who was?
Speaker 2 (10:47):
out there.
Yeah, I mean rose, yeah youwere with rose.
Yeah, you can yeah, we playedtogether um amari avery as well.
She's um playing on epson withme now and we played together a
lot.
I mean, there's a lot of girlsout there that are either on
tour with me or on the LPGA now,so yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Yeah, and you got to.
You got to play in the in thewomen's Augusta women's.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yes, so that was really smoke.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I mean I breathtaking , it was just.
You can't even put it to words.
It's the most beautiful coursein the world.
I would say like super green Imean hilly, as everyone says and
the greens are just super pure.
I mean it's just before themasters, so the course is in
really good shape and the wholeweek, I mean they treat us
(11:39):
really well.
I mean we're all there, we allgot invited from being a top
player in the world, so justthat whole experience was
amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Yeah, it was just such a stroke of genius what
Augusta did for women's golfjust globally.
I mean, what an honor that musthave been when you got the
invitation.
When you got the invitation toyour first one, what were your
feelings?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I mean I was, I was in shock because I knew I was
really on the cusp line my firstyear getting into the
tournament.
I mean, when I got the emaillike beforehand it said like oh,
you're getting a package fromAugusta, and I was like, oh my
gosh, could that be it?
And I mean I was stoked, myfamily was really excited and I
was.
I was really really happy.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
So yeah, that golf course did was.
Did it intimidate you at first?
Were you a little bit yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
My first year, I mean it was, it was tough to play it
.
I mean I made it, I made thecut, so I made it to the final
round.
So only the final round is atAugusta, so you get to practice
around no matter what.
But I mean my first year, Imean I had to kind of really
figure out how to play thecourse, and I mean it's a lot
tougher than it looks, I wouldsay.
And my second year, going back,I mean the pressure of all the
(12:57):
fans and going back and seeingthe course again, I was a lot
more confident.
So I think it definitely takespractice to play out there for
sure.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah yeah, it's one of those places that you really
got to.
It takes some knowing you know,even though we all grew up
watching it on TV, once you'rethere it's a completely
different ball game.
It's.
It's really hard to put it intowords.
You know the TV doesn't do itany justice.
Plus it's.
It's might be the most hilly,might might be the hilliest golf
(13:29):
course I've ever walked.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Yeah, sure, yeah, there's so much undulation on
the greens too and like, yeah,it is pretty hilly.
I would say I mean I had acaddy, which was nice, so I was
just like walking the course.
But yeah it is, it is prettyhilly once you're out there.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
What was your favorite hole at Augusta?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
15, even though I didn't play that hole as well as
I wanted to.
That one is like a really cooltee shot.
And then the second shot likeit's a risk reward for sure, and
I definitely took the risk lastyear or two years ago when I
played but I mean, it's such apretty hole, I mean it's, it's a
good, it's a good hole, it's agood par five.
I would say yeah, what aboutyou?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
My, my well, I think it might be.
My favorite hole in golf is 13.
Okay, yeah yeah, I think thatthe 13th at Augusta encapsulates
everything that is good andworthy about golf.
I mean, if you hit a good teeshot, you're rewarded.
You know you get rewarded forgood shots, which I like.
(14:38):
I have a little bit of aproblem with golf courses.
You get good shots and you get,you know, f I'm not, I'm not a
big fan of that.
Yeah, augusta rewards goodshots If you know where, where
to put the ball, and that takes,that takes a little knowing
that, that you know, I, I, Igotta think for women's golf, if
, if that's for for amateur golf, that has got to be a massive,
(15:02):
massive motivational piece.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Like man, I want to get there yeah, definitely not
too many people get there yeah,I mean, even so, like it was
only the tournament only startedlike a couple years before I
had played my first one, so Imean it was only the tournament
only started like a couple ofyears before I had played my
first one.
So I mean it was so cool.
Even the first time they had itout there it was like a big big
deal.
Everyone was like, yeah, shame.
So yeah it's good for women'ssports and women's golf and in
(15:29):
particular 100 percent.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Could not, could not agree more.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So let's, let's, let's get into you.
So you graduated from schoolpretty successful amateur career
, uh, and and you are now aprofessional exactly on the eps.
So the I'm not too familiarwith the with women's
professional golf in in relationto the mini tours, so it it's
(15:56):
the Epsilon tour, correct.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
The Epson tour.
Yeah, so it's like theequivalent of the corn fairy.
It's the developmental tour forthe LPGA.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, okay, and it's sponsored by the LPGA.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Yeah, so it's.
It's connected.
So when we play qualifying oranything, it's all like LPGA
Epson tour qualifying, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
That's cool.
So when, when, when is yourfirst event this year?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
so I leave the first the last week of february, so we
go to florida for the firstthree events okay yeah yeah, and
you are.
You're getting ready to rollhow exciting, yeah is this your
first full year or second fullyear?
Second full year.
I started at the beginning ofseason last year as well.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
And how'd that go, your rookie season out there?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It went well.
I mean I had a few pretty goodfinishes.
I mean, obviously it's playingthe courses for the very first
time, definitely differentgrasses.
We played Bermuda most of theseason and obviously, being from
Monterey, it's not Bermuda.
So, just being adjusted to thedifferent grasses and, you know,
just being able to adjustoverall it's.
(17:04):
It's definitely takes time toadjust and kind of get settled
where you are and I meantraveling on your own.
It's just it takes experienceand it takes time to kind of
figure it all out.
But now that I did it one year,I think I'm ready for this next
year to, yeah, where to whereto fly into, just all the
(17:24):
logistics of it all is all partof it, so yeah, yeah, for for
people who don't knowprofessional golf, there's a lot
more layers to it than just theglamour that people see on tv.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
I mean it is all that at administrative stuff, I mean
from down to doing your laundryright, I mean you gotta just
you gotta live too and you're onthe road and you're working
technically exactly, yeah yeah.
So how many in a row will you do?
Do you have a?
Do you have like, okay, I'll dofour or many in a row, will you
(17:58):
do?
Do you have a?
Do you have like, okay, I'll dofour or five in a row and then
take a week off?
You know what?
What's that like?
To find the balance of pursuingwhat you're pursuing and
getting rest in there and makingsure that your body's healthy,
your mind's healthy.
All of that, Because this is alot.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I know it is.
Yeah, it's like a 2021 eventseason, so they do a pretty good
job with splitting it up andmaking it the max of tournaments
in a row five.
So generally I played prettymuch the whole season.
I just missed one event lastyear because I had graduation,
but other than that, I playedthe whole season.
I just missed one event lastyear because I had graduation,
(18:40):
so, but other than that I playedthe full season and they
usually have like a week or twooff in between, which really
helps to kind of like give yousome time from being on the road
, cause I mean, you're in asuitcase for four or five weeks
and hotel different hotel todifferent Airbnb and you know
it's, it's a grind.
But yeah, I generally will sayI won't play more than five in a
row.
A lot of the girls agree I meanmore than five.
(19:04):
Sometimes you're like okay,towards the end of that stretch
you're like okay, this is toomuch.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Fried Gosh, darn fried, five, let's.
Let's break that down realquick.
People understand five in a row, so 72, all events, right um,
we play.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We play only 30, uh, three days so okay, so 54.
So it's 36 with a cut yes okay,our bigger events are four
rounds, but we only do three ofthose a year usually um, yeah,
five.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
So how many practice rounds for, like just say, for a
54 hole event?
How many practice rounds willyou play?
Two, one, yeah two.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Usually I will go 18, nine and nine.
I would say, or or nine, nine,nine, maybe just like play the
other nine that I didn't um likeas much or didn't get as much
of insight on.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Sure, yeah.
So that's, let's say, you makethe cut.
So that's one, two, three,that's four five rounds and then
you times that, times five,that's 25 rounds of golf.
That's not even includinghitting balls, tripping, putting
, yeah Right.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Oh, my God.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And then, on top of that, let's throw in the
physical aspect of it.
So I see both of them prettyregularly.
Um, I work with both of themand they work with each other
kind of, and so they know likewe're on the same page and you
know, it's all like performancetraining, so it's like it's
great on the road.
Especially.
It's like mobility, you know,like agility, explosiveness,
(20:53):
exactly what you need in golf.
And they worked really hardwith me to kind of help me get
in the on the direction that Ineed to get and what, what
exactly I need for a golferspecifically.
And, yeah, they've been helpingme a lot.
So what is this?
Yeah, what?
Speaker 1 (21:10):
what's that?
You know?
I mean you got to think about.
That's a lot of golf.
That's a lot of wear and tearon your body, it's a lot of wear
and tear on your spine.
So you absolutely need to havethis practice.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
What's that do for you mentally?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
As far as my training yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Yeah, you feel like it gives you a little bit of an
edge working hard out there.
Yeah, yeah, you feel like it,it, uh, it gives you a little
bit of an edge working hard outthere.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
Yeah, um, I mean a lot of the training that I do.
Are you talking about, like, asfar as my body, like just being
able to move around, or Well,all of it really.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
I mean as far as your body, um, I mean my goodness, I
can't imagine, because you'replaying.
You're playing in hot weathertoo.
I mean my goodness.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
I can't imagine, because you're playing.
You're playing in hot weathertoo.
Yeah, yeah, pretty much thewhole season, it's hot.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Hot Is it?
A lot of humid?
Humidity too.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
A lot of humidity, a lot of dry.
It's a little bit of both, Iwould say, but we're in the.
Midwest for a while.
So, yeah, it's, it gets prettyhot over there.
Yeah, no, no, trainingdefinitely helps.
No, no, training definitelyhelps.
(22:23):
I mean the um, I would say theit translate.
It translates a lot.
I mean being able to be in thegym for an hour or two, just um,
working on that explosiveness,working on you know, the
mobility of it all, and thentranslating that to the golf
course.
It's all like the same.
You're using your, you're usingthe ground when you're hitting
the golf balls.
I mean I'm and just being ableto be on the golf course for 18
holes and not get tired, it'sall it all translates.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Yeah, I would say yeah, yeah, especially.
I mean it's asking a lot ofyourself coming down the stretch
in the last day we'll say inthe last day of a tournament.
You're in contention and you'replaying pretty well and it's
hot, it's humid, and I mean allof that training just comes into
play for that.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Yeah, yeah, and just being able to be mentally there.
And you know like sometimestraining can be tough as well.
So it's like, okay, I'm goingto be mentally in here and hear
this hour that I'm in training,but also, like the last hour
playing on the course, it's all.
It's all relative.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So sure, yeah, sure.
Do you ever draw upon that whenyou're playing tournament golf,
if you ever feel yourselfgetting tired or anything, do
you ever?
You ever draw upon that, like,hey, I work out for a reason, or
any internal resources that youmight draw upon out for a
reason, or any of those internalresources that you might drop
on.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I mean just like I guess a little bit of that, but
also I guess I would say I use alittle bit of a trigger.
So, depending on the week, if,if one trigger worked for me,
like, say, I'm getting ahead ofmyself and like saying, oh, I
don't want to do this, I don'twant to be here, like maybe my
trigger is like it could beanything.
I mean your trigger can be likesinging a song.
(23:58):
It could literally be like okay, like let's think about
something else, like somethingrandom.
I mean for me it helps me to.
My trigger to come back to issinging a song in my head and
just not really like worryingabout what's going to happen or
the putt that I have coming up.
I mean a lot of it is mentaland you know you got to be able
to putt that I have coming up.
I mean a lot of it is mentaland you know you got to be able
(24:19):
to find something that works foryou.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah, absolutely, you know there's, there's a, you
know it's, it's.
It's easier to say well, youknow the secret to golf is being
in the present moment, which Ithink it is, but how do you get
there?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
You know, how do you get to a space where you're
playing competitively?
And you're in the moment andyou're still.
You still want to be that dog,you still want to make birdies,
you still want to hit the ballWell, you still want to win, you
still want to do everythingwell and stay in the moment and
accept whatever happens.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
So at a professional level, how do you do that?
I mean, I guess, I guess younever really master it, you just
continue to work on it.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
Yeah, I mean I, I would say what works for me is
like every week after an event Iwrite down all these things.
I write down how I was oncourse, like what I did well,
like course management, wise,mentally, like did I have a good
trigger that week or did thattrigger not really work for me
as well when I tried to get tooahead of myself or not really
(25:26):
stay in the moment, like you'resaying, or you know, just
emotionally, physically, likeall of those things.
I write, write it all down andeach day I have like different,
different things that work forme or different things that
didn't work for me, and I kindof, you know, every day it's
different.
It's not always going to be thesame.
I mean my notes that I read inmy yardage book aren't always
going to be the same every week,every tournament.
(25:47):
I mean I might have a differentswing thought or a different
trigger that worked for me thatweek.
But I mean, yeah, as you said,it's, it's a work in progress.
You just got to keep going withit and keep going and keep
chopping wood, keep carryingwater.
You know, right, right, I readthat book recently and that's.
I mean it's all about justfinding ways to, like you know,
(26:08):
keep going with the process.
Keep going, and you know it's.
There's not a right or wrongway to do it.
I mean you just have to figureout what works, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, I was talking to somebody the other day about
that and everybody does have adifferent process how they can
stay in the moment.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I guess that, just listening to you, that if you do
things that are going to reallystack the deck in your favor a
good, a good fitness regimen youknow you're taking care of
yourself physically.
You obviously have a good golfcoach, which we'll get to a good
mental practice, a good.
(26:49):
Are you meditator?
Do you meditate?
What do you do Psychologically?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I have a gratitude journal that I write in, so that
helps me.
But I also just read.
I read a lot of mental books,listen to you know mental
podcasts about you know processand routine and whatnot, so
that's kind of what helps me.
I mean, I'm always, you know,trying to learn new things and
see what works for me, so yeah,yeah, absolutely, I think,
(27:18):
having an open mind.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
You have an open mind , antonio, that's great, you
know.
And and a good, a good mind ofdiscernment too, so you're able
to work through things andfigure out what, what works for
you and what doesn't.
Yeah, so let's, let's get toyour, your, I mean, goodness
gracious.
By the time I release this, I'mgoing to put out some videos of
(27:40):
Antonia's golf swing.
Antonia is one of my favoritegolf swings and those who have
been longtime listeners of thepod know that I've got I've kind
of have my, my favorites.
And, antonia, you've got one ofthem, my sister.
So you were off, you weretaught.
You were taught by Pat Parrish,right.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Yeah, when I was younger.
Yes, I see Justin Lee.
Now he's at Black Hawk CountryClub in Danville and I've been
seeing him since earlier yearsin college and ever since then
I've just gotten better andfigured out how to use the
ground.
I mean a lot of his training is, or a lot of his swing ideas
(28:22):
are, from the ground up, youknow, and just being able to use
the ground to your advantage.
So, yeah, I mean I've gottenbetter in my swing, gone more
consistent and found ways to getto where I am now just through
learning from him.
So yeah, yeah, and I'm going toam now just through learning
from him.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
So yeah, yeah, and, and I'm going to, I'm just going
to share this.
I'm going to get a lot of grieffor this, but what the heck?
Because if anybody listens,that plays with either you or I,
or plays with us both.
So, and how tall are you,antonia?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Five four.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Yeah, five, four.
And it's not a surprise if sheK-marts me by about 20 yards, by
the way, and I'm still gettingit.
I mean I'm 50, I'll be 55 inapril, but I'm 54 now.
I still can hit it.
You know, I'll still get it outthere.
280 if I hit it.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Good you hit.
It.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Well, I mean well, yeah, a couple times you've kind
of snuck it past me.
Good, so, um, and the reasonwhy I say this is because you
generate a lot of power for yoursize.
You're definitely one of thelonger hitters out there, so do
you attribute a lot of that to,uh, your work in the gym and and
(29:31):
your work with justin as well?
Speaker 2 (29:33):
yeah, both, I mean they're, they, they're both go
hand in hand.
I would say like I go to thegym and I actually train
barefoot in both of my gyms withboth of my trainers, so it's
like using the ground a lot and,you know, actually not using
shoes to like help you, supportyou.
It's like you got to really usethe ground and both my trainers
(29:54):
know like I'm trying to kind ofgain power through my golf
swing, gain speed over the pastfew years and, um, I mean both
of them, like using my twotrainers and then also my coach.
I mean working on power andjust finding ways to generate
power using the ground.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
yeah, yeah, and it sounds.
It sounds very efficient tooyeah because you swing within
yourself, you mean you're not,you're not really thrashing at
it.
You know, you're, you're,you're taking a nice controlled,
measured swing, which isimportant.
You know a lot of people don'twell, I mean people that listen
(30:33):
to the podcast do understand theground.
So when you train barefoot,does that give you more sense of
the ground?
Does it give you more stability?
Are you forced to like, say,for example, if you're doing
explosive movements?
Are you forced?
Speaker 2 (30:54):
to use your core more because you're not relying on
your shoes, Right?
I mean, yeah, a lot of it iscore bottom of your feet, like
the strength of the bottom ofyour foot you know, like calves,
Like a lot of it is like a lotof the strength comes from being
barefoot and like a lot ofpeople are not stable when
they're not wearing shoes.
So that's why my trainers arelike, ok, let's train barefoot
(31:17):
shoes.
So that's why my trainers arelike, okay, let's train barefoot
.
You know, a lot of theexplosiveness is going to come
from, you know, being able touse just your feet and not
wearing shoes.
So I think, um, yeah, stability, using your core and all of
these things are what you needin golf as well.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Like you, need to be able.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
you need to be able to hold your finish, you need to
be able to use your core onyour backswing.
So, yeah, I mean that's why mytrainers are like the best, I
would say, because they aredoing things that a lot of
trainers aren't.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
I think that's an interesting concept, antonia.
You know, like a lot of thelong drivers, they train in the
barefoot shoes, like they usezero and things like that.
You know for that, for thatvery phenomenon.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So I think that's, I think that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
I mean, that's something that we can take away
from.
We could really, you know, justhave an open mind and think you
know, I got a buddy of mine whowill play golf in the desert.
He's a member at a golf club inthe desert in paul springs and
he'll go out and he'll playbarefoot.
Yeah, he's been doing it for along time, yeah, yeah, it makes
(32:25):
me feel the ground better.
It makes me more I have tofocus on my stability.
I can't yeah and uh, as you andanybody who knows that that that
has pretty good action.
You've got to be stable.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yeah, Otherwise it's just it's game over.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
Yeah, yeah, You'll notice, like if you're training
barefoot versus wearing shoes,you're, you're, you're going to
be kind of wobbling a little bitbecause it's like it's not the
same You're, I mean everyone'sused to wearing shoes and I mean
, even if you play golf barefoot, I think it's a the same You're
, I mean everyone's used towearing shoes and um, I mean,
even if you play golf barefoot,I think it's a little bit weird
and you're like, not as stableas you would be wearing shoes
too.
So, yeah, I mean it's a coolconcept that um is kind of
(33:07):
starting to become more and morepopular and people are starting
to figure it out.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah, yeah, I have a pair of zero shoes, the barefoot
shoes.
Yeah, I really like them, I usethem.
I've actually played golf inthem.
I wish, I wish there was moregolf shoes.
I wish there was golf shoesthat were like that, that
actually had spikes on, or evensmall, you know, just for the
stability part, yeah, thetraction part.
But so so what when you're?
(33:35):
When you're obviously you'regetting ready for the year,
you're preparing yourself forthe season, what is a day in the
life of Antonia Malate looklike as a young professional
golfer?
I mean, are you at the gymevery day?
I know that you're practicing,you're playing.
(33:56):
What does it look like?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, I mean I usually train three days a week
with my trainers.
But other than that, like if Ido things on my own, I obviously
do those on the other days.
But as far as like golfing, Iwould usually start out the day
with like a two to three hourpractice, either playing 18 or
nine holes.
After that and if, depending onif I have training or not that
(34:20):
day, but usually like a two tothree hour practice session, and
a lot of the things that Ipractice on are based on stats
and the things that I've, youknow, found that are outliers in
my statistics that maybe couldbe putting or could be like this
, certain yardage, you know, andevery day I try to focus on in
(34:42):
on those certain things and onceI do that and feel like I
accomplished the day, thenthat's when I end my practice.
So it's one more, one more andone more rep, always every day.
But you know that's what,that's how you get better, I
guess.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
So yeah, absolutely.
And then you beat up on guyslike me in our, in our money
games here locally.
It's pretty cool.
We got a, we got a, we got cool.
We got a couple of really goodgames and Tony is in them and
we're usually handing her moneyat the end of the day.
That's okay unless we're on thesame team.
(35:18):
But I think it's reallyimportant to have some good
coaches, a good process, I meanjust even, uh, people in your
circle to bounce ideas off yeah,I mean because golf, by its
very nature, is a really, reallylonely game yeah
(35:41):
my goodness.
I mean when you're out therecompeting, playing in a
tournament and you're somewhereelse in the country and it it's
just you yourself and Antonia.
Yeah, that's it.
So here I got two questions.
The second question we talkedabout prior to hitting the
record button, but the firstquestion is this so if you find
(36:03):
yourself in the middle of around and you're struggling,
just the game's not there, yeah,do you have something that you
can go to as a source of comfortor something that can snap you
out of potentially going downnegative rabbit holes that we
all go down on the golf course?
(36:24):
Do you have something that cankind of keep you going?
Speaker 2 (36:29):
Yeah, I mean, as we talked about before, I guess I
would say two things.
I mean just having that go toshot.
So if it's either like the T atlow driver and just like
finding my go to shot on the offthe tee if that's what I've
been struggling on or knock downshot in the fairway, I tend to
usually take more club and knockit down if I'm, you know, not
(36:51):
hitting as well, and you know Imean a lot of it is, you know,
finding that go to shot, whichis my first thing I would say.
And then my second thing wetalked about before was the
trigger.
I mean the biggest thing is,you know, snapping out of it
will and keep your you know yourmind is going to keep going on
thoughts and whatnot, but if youhave that good trigger that
(37:12):
really helps you to like snapout of it, that's what's really
going to help you on the course,especially me.
I mean that's what helped mewhen I had won my event a month
ago.
I won in Arizona and my coachand I talked to, talked over
text before my last round and Iwas like you know, how am I
going to do this?
(37:32):
Like how am I going to get thisdone Because it's it's hard to
win, even if it's just a littlemini tour event.
I mean it's hard to win becauseyou're mentally you're like
you're going to maybe be allover the place, because you're
in that position of two strokesahead, going into the last day.
And how are you going to stayahead?
So he kind of said to me youknow like, find that trigger,
(37:52):
find what works for you anddon't let your mind get in other
places.
So I think those two things arewhat, what helps me and what is
going to continue to help methroughout this season.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah, that's so well said, antonia.
I mean I think that that's, youknow, for amateur golfers, I
mean even good, really goodamateur players, you're still.
You know, we are human, so weare going to be subjugated to
our thoughts, and when we're onthe golf course I think we're
all a little bit batty.
Sometimes we can go go prettycray cray, at least our thoughts
(38:27):
can.
Sometimes we can go go prettycray cray, at least our thoughts
can.
You know the what ifs.
You know, and I mean those it'slike by the very nature of the
game.
The game is telling you if, ifyou, if your mind is quiet
(38:47):
enough and you agree to disagree.
But the game is is teaching youmore about yourself than you
know.
Maybe even going into atherapist's office, I don't know
.
I mean you know it's like how doyou get over these thoughts?
How do you get past thesethoughts?
How do you, if you know themonkey mind and Zen in Eastern
tradition, you know it's likethe monkey mind.
(39:08):
The mind is always racing.
It's like how do you get it tocalm down?
I mean that's like the milliondollar question.
You have triggers to snap youback into the present moment.
You know that's that's kind ofthe million dollar question.
I wish I had the definitiveanswer to it, but it seems to me
you know, talking to otherpeople, that the greatest
(39:29):
players of our game, they maynot have the best golf swings or
even be the best putters, thebest ball strikers, but what
they are really good at iseliminating distractions inside
of their mind or dealing withthem.
Tiger, I mean, I love the storyabout Tiger.
Tiger gave himself a 10-footcircle.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:52):
Did you hear this story?
Speaker 2 (39:54):
I think so yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
Yeah, yeah, like he could do anything that he wants
to do within the 10-foot circleas soon as he's out of the
10-foot circle from his previousshot, shot's over.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
Done, the energy of it, everything and uh one.
One of the problems and evenwith good amateur golfers is
they still carry the same energysay, you hit a bad shot
previously, you're pissed offabout that.
You lose sight of theopportunity of getting the ball
up and down yeah you know, Imean, that's why you got wedges.
(40:27):
yeah, you know, part of thereason is why you got wedges, so
you can get the ball up anddown.
Right, it's like to look at,look at it as a challenge, and
I've always been impressed withyour game, antonio, from that
regard, because if you hit apoor shot or a shot not up to
your standard, you doesn't, itdoesn't really seem to affect
you.
You just like, okay, ithappened, it happened, it
(40:47):
happens, let's go get it in thehall, let's go get it up and
down.
Speaker 2 (40:51):
Right, yeah, it's.
I mean, yeah, you can't focuson the, you can't focus on the
future and you can't focus onthe past, so you just have to be
where you are and that's I mean, that's what's really helped me
.
And I think, even as I'm sayingthis, it's like I'm talking to
different people, like I'mtalking to my coach about stuff
and I'm talking to my trainersand they're all helping me
(41:13):
mentally.
It's not like I'm figuring allthis stuff out on my own.
It's you know you're, you'refinding, you're learning things
through other people and youknow like what, like my coach
said that day before, like thathelped me.
You know, it's not like I'mjust like, okay, I'm going to
figure out how to find a triggerby myself.
You know it's like talkingthrough it with other people
really helps, and you know yourcircle of people that help you,
(41:37):
your team, so yeah, Yep,absolutely.
Speaker 1 (41:41):
You know, ask, ask and you probably you ask a lot
of questions too.
I mean, you're, you're, you're,you're inquisitive by nature,
you're curious, which is great.
Yeah, you know, I mean, that'sthat's, that's a great way to
get better, asking goodquestions and and bouncing ideas
off people yeah, you know,that's huge.
(42:04):
I don't, I don't, I don't knowif we were meant to figure it
all out alone, right, I don'tknow about that.
And then here, here, here's the, here's the million, the real
million dollar question whichyou and I have talked about, Um,
but I've gotten it a lot, andthat is getting.
I don't know.
I'm going to say it this wayhow do you get your body used to
(42:24):
your nervous system used tobeing under par?
You know, it's like I'll start.
I have a comfort zone Once Iget to four under par, like if
I'm at four under par I'm prettyokay.
Anything beyond that, I startthinking about it.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:42):
I start getting in my head and then usually I'll do
something to manifest not comingin a little bit more under par
like I really want to.
I mean, I'd love to shoot 10under.
You never have.
It's like, how do you, how doyou get used to being under par
(43:03):
and then continuing to hit thegas button when you're, when
you're getting under par, justjust like more you know?
I mean, is it staying in themoment?
I mean, where does it click inyour opinion?
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Yeah, I mean it's hard.
I mean everyone's probablythinking like, oh, I'm 400, and
now what do I do?
And you get stuck.
But I mean I think what yousaid.
I mean it's it's hard to say,oh yeah, just be in the moment.
But it really is about just youknow, shot by shot, like you're
, you're right here over theseven iron, 170 yards, like you
(43:39):
can't really think, okay, what'sthat?
Where is it going to go?
You got to just hit the shot.
I mean a lot of it is you know,you got to just hit the shot.
I mean a lot of it is, you know,being present.
A lot of it is process.
A lot of it is starting fromyour the routine, like just
going back to your routine.
And then I mean whateverhappens happens, you know, like
(44:01):
it's not, like you reallycontrol what happens in the
future.
So I think just staying to theprocess, staying to your routine
, um, I mean not getting aheadof yourself.
Even when you're standing overa seven foot birdie putt, it's
like, okay, read the putt andyou know if it rolls and over
and like you want it to, youcan't really control what
(44:21):
happens.
So I mean a lot of it is justprocess, routine, and I mean
that just takes reps and takesyears and years of practice.
Not everyone's going to be ableto perfect that, but you know,
I mean even I will say that Ican.
I get ahead of myself sometimes, and that's when you always
have to just fall back tosomething and make sure to stay
(44:42):
at each shot, shot by shot.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah, what a great answer.
Shot by shot, yeah, yeah, whata great answer.
It's so simple too.
I mean, yeah, I mean, I think,just the very nature of us
humans especially us in theUnited States, that didn't
necessarily grow up with themantra of staying in the present
moment, of taking things asthey are and accepting whatever
happens and being okay withwhatever happens.
(45:07):
Yeah, are and accepting whateverhappens and being okay with
whatever happens, yeah, andthat's kind of a at least in my
own journey in this game that'sbeen a real struggle for me is
to be okay with whatever happens, because I mean, my goodness,
it's the only sport where theball's just sitting there, you
know, we're not reacting toanything.
(45:28):
We're not reacting to a pitcheror a baseball or a soccer ball
or a tennis ball.
You know we're the ones who aredoing all the initiating.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
So I mean, my goodness, this game will test us
from, you know, from head totoe.
Yeah, definitely yeah, and youjust try to have all the
everything that you can do tojust have it in your favor, and
even then it's not a guarantee.
Speaker 2 (45:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
Yeah, just accepting that, you know.
Speaker 2 (45:56):
But we keep going with it.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Yeah, we just keep going.
Speaker 2 (46:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:01):
Yeah, you just keep going.
You just, you never know what'sgoing to happen.
Yeah, yeah, you keep going.
So when is your first eventthis year?
Speaker 2 (46:10):
I think it's the 28th , to be exact, so it's the
Friday, the Friday of February,the last day of February, yeah.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
And then you're out there now.
Will you stay primarily outthere, or will you come back and
forth a little bit back home toCalifornia?
Speaker 2 (46:25):
So I'll it's just a three week stretch in Florida.
Then I come back and then Ihave like a month break and then
I play in Morongo, so SoCal,and then we go to like Arizona,
vegas, so we stay on the Westcoast a little bit and then and
then we go out to the Midwest.
So then it's then we go outswinging and then I just stay
(46:46):
out there for a while and theneither come back for a week or
two, if we do have a week offbut mainly just stay out there
during the stretches, becauseit's like Monday you start
practicing and then Friday thetournament starts.
So it's pretty much like youstay out there Sunday, the
tournament ends and then you goback and start practicing again
on Monday.
(47:06):
So yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
So does the top 10 on that tour get an automatic
entry into the LPGA tour?
Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, so there's 15 cards at stake and then I think
the last five are theconditional ones, but top 35 is
automatically to stage finalstage of qualifying.
So there's two kind of goals.
Goals there, yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:36):
Okay, so that's a good opportunity.
Yeah, yeah I afford you a goodopportunity.
How do you get on?
Do you have to try to qualifyfor the Epson tour?
Speaker 2 (47:46):
Yeah, so we, you, you go to qual, uh, qualifying,
every year for Epson LPGA, soit's one whole qualifying,
whereas, like Korn Ferry is likeits own qualifying.
So, um, yeah, in August it'sstage one.
So a couple of years ago I haddone stage one qualifying and
then made it to second stage.
(48:07):
So that got me Epson status andI finished pretty well.
So I got to start from thebeginning of season last year,
which really really helpsbecause you know you got to, you
got to start off the seasonwell to get your rank up.
So, yeah, yeah, you have toqualify for the Epson.
Speaker 1 (48:26):
What a great opportunity, Antonia.
Speaker 2 (48:28):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (48:29):
What a fantastic opportunity I got to tell you
folks.
This girl can play.
She's got it in spades.
She drives it well.
She strikes her ironsbeautifully.
Her putting stroke is to diefor.
Her short game is insane.
Her hands around the greens arejust just really, really,
(48:49):
really, really high IQ hands.
She's a phenomenal wedge player.
She's got it all.
So you know, we'll in closingand she's a she's a friend of
mine and we're we're brother andsister from from Monterey here
and also from San Jose state,and we're going to continue to
to watch you and support you andcheer you on and monitor you,
(49:10):
antonia, and and we look forreally great things from you
coming down the pike.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (49:18):
We're going to do it again.
Yes, we're going to do it again.
Well, antonia, thank you forcoming on.
Really appreciate it and theopen discussion Awesome.
Speaker 2 (49:28):
Yeah, anytime.
I mean, we'll play again soonso.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Yeah.
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