March 27, 2025 • 39 mins
In this engaging conversation, Chris Finn interviews Riley Smyth, a professional golfer on the Epson tour, who recently celebrated her first professional victory. They discuss her journey in golf, the challenges she faced, including injuries and the pressure of competition. Riley shares insights into her mental toughness, the importance of fitness and training on tour, and how she manages her status and points in the competitive landscape of professional golf. The conversation highlights the dedication and resilience required to succeed in the sport, making it a must-listen for golf enthusiasts and aspiring athletes alike.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm mister chick. Welcome to the Golf Fitness Bomb Spot.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host, Chris Finn, and today we are streaming
live with a very special guest, uh near and dear
to my heart from the very early days of P
for S Golf, which back in the day was known
as par for Success.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Riley Smythe is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today who I have known since I guess twenty sixteen,
twenty seventeen. Uh she plays on the epsentur graduated from
University Virginia and she uh just had her first professional
victory at the Central Florida Championship on the EPSENT Tour,
(00:51):
first event I believe of the year. So wand to
welcome you on Riley.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Thanks for me on, Chris, Yeah, first event of the year.
Super exciting to get season kicked off that way. You know,
known Chris for a long time now, and it's you know,
it's been great. He's gotten me, gotten me through a
lot of a lot of injuries over the year.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We've had some good times together.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But yeah, we were abstoually, we were talking before you know,
we went live and started recording. We can obviously get
into the backstory of the journey and everything to get
to this point. But I mean, you gotta gotta talk
us through, like you know, I guess we'll fast forward
to the sixteenth. All he said, you had no idea
(01:41):
you were in the lead the final round, or you
were no idea like where you were on the leader board, whatsoever.
Final round, you come up sixteen, like, take us through
those final three holes.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, So, I mean I knew I was playing well,
but there was a lot of a lot of good
players up at the top of the later board going
into the final round, and you know, the conditions were
super scorable, so I knew anything could happen, and I
just first event of the year, wanted to put together
a solid final round having been one shot back going in.
(02:13):
That was what was most important to me at that point. So,
you know, just made a really good sand save on
fifteen for par and then came into sixteen, saw the
leader board, kind of couldn't didn't take a great look
at it because I again at that point, just wanted
(02:35):
to put together solid couple holes to finish it off
and whatever happened was going to happen. But put it
to like twenty feet on sixteen, drained it for birdie.
So I knew obviously it was going to be in
a good, good position and have really.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Like twenty feet.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I mean, you got some time right before it goes
the whole like, do you know it was good from
this moment you hit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It, like, uh, pretty much?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So I it was not too good. Two decent shots
to get me up there. I mean off the tee,
it's this dog leg right wide open on the right side,
and all three days I just blocked it super far right.
But I knew it was perfectly fine, and it actually
(03:23):
was a great angle to a pin tucked on the
left side. But then kind of kind of pulled, pulled
my wedge a little bit. Thought it wasn't going to
catch the green, thought it was going to kick off,
so it kind of got lucky that held onto the fringe.
But yeah, and then the pot I knew it was good.
(03:46):
It was We really thought we got the read right.
So I knew I hit it exactly where I wanted to,
but it was a matter of just whether or not
the break was going to do what it was supposed
to do.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, and it matched the speed to it and everything quickly,
all right, So you do that, So yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
That's awesome. Okay, then we're moving on.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
And then seventeen another part three and put it in
the bunker, put it to like eight feet durin the pot.
So I'm like, okay, great another another really good sand
save and eighteen is a great verdy opportunity. It's par five.
They were playing it up all week at four sixty
(04:31):
and both.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And we gotta say, for everybody listening, Riley is quite
long off the teeth, so I think, you know, she
was probably you're probably one of the first girls I
ever saw. And I'm saying girl because you were like
a teenager right like, like she's one of the longest
women now, but like as a girl, she was longer
than the women, uh swinging one hundred miles an hour
plus like since you were, you know, in high school,
(04:55):
so you know, four sixties Like, I mean, I might
as well just be a.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Par four for you. But I want to before you
get to eighteen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I'm curious the par putt on eight on seventeen versus
the birdie put on sixteen? Did you get more jacked
up about one or the other? You stay pretty even keel, like.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
What was your kind of a little bit more jacked
up about the one on seventeen, just because at that
point I had two bogies in the first round, played
bogue free second round, and the third round I had
only had one bogie, and so it was also kind
of one of those where you know, for me, that's very,
(05:33):
very atypical to have that few bogies in a tournament.
So I was definitely more psyched about that. But yeah, no,
So I go up to eighteen t and slight dog
leg laughed off the tae and water up all up
(05:54):
the right side some trees in my landing spot on
the right side, and the first and second round I
had just blasted it right into the trees and had
to punch out. So I was like, today's the day
I got. I gotta hit my draw right into the fairway,
like I gotta hit this fairway at least one time,
(06:16):
and I just I striped it. Get up there, have
one sixty in take a nice, nice full nine iron
up to the middle of the green. I'm like, just
put it on, doesn't matter where, just put it on
and we'll deal with it. And then get up and
(06:36):
I have about a seventeen footer for eagle, and at
that point. That's when I saw that I was tied,
and so I'm like, Okay, I know that she's still
got to play eighteen because she's in the group behind me,
but like wanted to make the putt, but just wanted
to give myself a tap in at the very least
get into a playoff and and then just kind that
(07:00):
trust my trust myself to be able to get it
done from there.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So you know, I guess you know last year and
you had you had a great year on tour. Absolutely,
I think it was it like eight points or something
that you it was like you just missed like at
the end of the year by like I don't even
know how what was it was.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
So the year before I had missed getting full full
status by by sixty three dollars, and then last year
it was yeah, and then last year played in only
played in ten of the nineteen events because my status
wasn't great to start, but then ended up having four
(07:43):
top tens and ended up forty second on points for
the year for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So like, so I bring that those up. Looks.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I remember the sixty three I remember like talking to
Dad afterwards and like all of that, like you know,
people a lot of the times I think they see
like they see the in and they don't rec they
don't realize all the stuff that happened before and prepared
you for that. And obviously having known you for so long,
I've seen a lot of the grind and the two
hip surgery rehabs and like all that stuff that you've
(08:13):
gone through. When you're playing the eighteenth hole, you've put
it in the woods twice. Like what sort of like
did all of those experiences you feel like just kind
of led to that point where you were able to
handle it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Was you know, how does that kind of relate?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I think I think to some aspect where you know,
I think part of it to start the year this
year is I'm just really happy that I get to
play the full season. Last year, I played really well
and only got into half the event, so you know,
(08:51):
didn't really have the opportunity to chase top ten. Versus
this year having full status, I'm like, Okay, you know,
I have twenty opportunities this year. I have a full
season to be able to chase top ten, really chase
my LPGA Tour card for next year. So I think
(09:12):
there there's definitely just a lot of gratitude for everything
that I went through in that of them just being
able to know how lucky I am to get a
start at the at the beginning of the season. And
so it does. It does take a little bit of
pressure off in those situations as well as you know,
(09:36):
I caddied a lot last year for a couple of
my friends, and so they got into positions where they
were on the cut line, or I caddied at Q
school and the pressures the pressure is so high there,
or you know, we did, we got into contention a
couple of times. And so having those experiences in many
(10:03):
different forms definitely definitely puts it into perspective. And you know,
I know that I can handle the situation.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah, I mean, and you clearly did so. So seventeen
feet what do you do?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Do you make it? You tap it?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So yeah, so I you know, I just leave it,
you know, six inches above the whole. We thought it
was going to break more than it did. It just
stopped turning, but had a nice easy tap in. Put
it into a playoff. We ended up going back to
play eighteen three times, sudden death playoff and first playoff
(10:47):
hole we both missed the green in two. She puts
it tight. I put it to twelve feet. I drained
the pot for bird eight. She taps in for Bardie.
We go back. She's got to punch out of the
trees off her tee shot. I just missed the green
(11:09):
until I chip onto eighteen feet. She stuffs her webshot.
So again I got it. I have to make this pot,
drain it again. We go back, and then she's got
to chip out from the bunker. I just missed the
(11:31):
green again. Hit a good chip to about six feet.
She puts her wedge to twenty five feet, puts it
up to about three three and a half feet above
the hole. I'm six feet above the hole. Put it,
you know, three about three feet by. At that point,
I wasn't leaving that pot short. I knew, I knew
(11:52):
I had. That was for the wind, So yeah, it
was not being lagged up there. But then I got
to go first with the with the three footer I
had uphill. I drained it, and you know, I really
thought we were going to a fourth playoff whole at
that point. You know, she had she had been playing
(12:13):
really solid. She had been putting really well, so I'm like,
we're going to another one. I fully accepted it and
she just missed it, and then that just solidified it
right there.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That was That's amazing. Yeah, the mental tough I always
tell this story. I don't know if I've ever told
you this story, but when I in the earth, this.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Is like I said, doing this shoot almost fifteen years
and I always you know, there's obviously been a ton
of good players that have come through, and I'm always
the longer I've done it, I've become very aware the
best athletes oftentimes aren't the ones that make it, you know,
to winning and having success, a lot of it comes
down to between the years.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And I think so one of the tests I don't
know if you remember this early on, as I'd put
a stack a sled on one end with heavy weights
and then the other one would have like one plate
or nothing, and it would basically like, hey, push it
down and then light one to come back. And you're
one of the I believe three people who I had
to tell to stop because I basically I don't tell
you like how many do it?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I'm like, just go. And there's been so many men
and women who will.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Just like like they're just like I'm done, I'm gonna puke,
I don't feel good whatever. But the number it is
every single person that I've had to tell to stop
doing it because they're either pushing from bloodied knees or
it's like all right, like you're good, Like we know,
I know you're not stopping on your own volition. Though
every single one of them has made it in some way,
(13:43):
shape or form, you were actually the last one that
needed to fully solidify that quote unquote test for me.
So I don't know it's bliget or not, but it
just for me was always telling of how tough somebody
was between the years. And you know, you've obviously had
the speed for so long that you're always one of
the longest per people out there. And I just loved you.
(14:03):
Obviously we flown in the same club your dad does.
Whenever we go play.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I'd always love it. Do you see how far that
smithe girl hits the ball? She hits it past me?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
So, so what's it been like, you know, since the win? Obviously,
because that now you win, that does that automatically gets
you to the final.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So what happens now for you?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Basically, Yeah, so basically, I mean, we obviously have we
have seventeen more events left. We played two more in
Florida back to back weeks after, so you know, I won,
but had to go right back and play again the
next week. So I'd say, you know, that's that's definitely
(14:44):
the hardest cut to go make is right after a win,
you know your game's feeling good, but there's so much
that you are you know, dealing with emotionally in the
in the next couple of days after winning, you know,
I so many texts to go through, so many messages,
and it was finally by the time the first round
(15:05):
world around, I'm like, oh, I got to go play again.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah. What was the hardest part about that? Immediate?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Was it like dealing with the texts with their media requests?
I mean, what did you what sort of stuff did
you have to deal with?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yeah, so definitely some media, a lot, a lot of
messages to go through where I you know, kind of
felt like I would start to get through them and
then I would just get a whole another slow of
them where you know, part of it was okay, this
is this is awesome, and I really appreciate hearing from
(15:40):
everyone and all the support, but in some aspect, I
was like, I need to go practice still, Like, yeah,
I played great this week last week, but this course
that we're playing this week, the conditions are brutally hard.
But I got to go practice, Like I need to
just turn off my phone and put it away. But
(16:03):
but yeah, so that it. It was definitely an especially
having a three whole playoff. I was exhausted because there,
I mean, the adrenaline level was so high for so
long that by the time I and then I had
to drive up to Jacksonville that night, and so by
(16:27):
the time I got done with my drive, I just
crashed because there was nothing left in my body.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So that so then what So then the rest of
the year, I like, talk to the status.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I think a lot of people listening they don't they
don't understand status and the grind. And I mean, honestly,
it's half the players still struggle to understand what the
statuses are.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
So so where where What does that wind do for you?
And then what does the rest of the season look like?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the wind gives me five hundred points, and so
at the end of the season, the top fIF fifteen
on the points. Let's get LPGA Tour cards. Top ten
is better because it is full LPGA status. Eleven to
fifteen is conditional and you can go improve it at
(17:13):
final stage of Q School. So really the goal at
the end of the day is to be top ten,
even though they are giving out those additional five cards.
And so last year, I think it was about eleven hundred,
twelve hundred points something like that that got you into
top ten, in about nine hundred and two thousand that
(17:38):
got you into top fifteen, So definitely puts getting those
five hundred points from a win this early in the
year puts me in a really good position to be
able to go get my card, where it's just it's
a really big headstart and then it's just stringing together
(17:59):
a lot of a lot of good events from here
for the rest of the season. But either way, I'm
gonna have, like I don't want to be back on
Epsen next year, but I would have full status at
this point because top eighty retained their full status, and
(18:20):
last year top eighty was probably about three hundred points
maybe something around there. So it is it's it's at
least comforting knowing that I don't I don't have to
go back to Stage one of Q School. More than
(18:42):
likely I won't have to go to stage two because
top thirty five gets you into stage three and that
was the cutoff for that was about five fifty last year,
which through three events, I'm at five twenty nine, so
that it it definitely puts me in a really good
(19:03):
position to be like, Okay, I have the comfort of
knowing I'm putting myself in a really really good position
to get my card for next year for sure.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
And my last question for we got to talk a
little bit fitness. I got some interesting stats from when
you were younger that I'm curious. We'll play a little
little guessing games guess where you were. But the you
know what is like just for context, everyone listening, like
if you make a cut and finish dead last post,
like after the cut, like, how many points is that
and like.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Just like so that would be probably I think it's
about two or three points. So top five it goes
like five hundred three twenty two thirty, like one fifty,
(19:54):
and then maybe like about one ten, one twenty one,
like anywhere from one hundred to but a lot of
times that gets split up a lot because of ties,
So it's it's the same as with pay out for
perse that whatever. However many places are tied, they take
(20:15):
those that combined total points and divide it by how
many are tied, so it you really, you really get
screwed a lot of times. If you know, you finish six,
that's a good amount of points, but there's seven people
tied for.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Sex, so you get like ninth ninth place points.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Kind of exactly. So that's where there's a very big
drop off once you get past top ten. That's when
you start seeing it where it's like, Okay, it's gonna
be hard to make big, big jumps after top ten.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So what you know, just in your experience, what's the
biggest difference from finishing top ten versus just making a cut.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
I think I think a big part of it is
mentality of, you know, trying to chase the win every
week that I think there are a lot of people
that are worried about making cuts. And I was in
that category for a while, especially my rookie year, because
if you don't make a cut, you don't get paid,
(21:33):
and so everybody a lot of people sit there and
they're like, oh, well, I'm really stressed about the cut,
my game's not where I want it to be. I'm
really worried about whether I'm making a cut or not
this week. And typically a lot, I mean, there are exceptions,
(21:55):
but a lot of the time when you have that mentality,
you're going to be sitting near the cut line every week,
just because that's that's where your eyes are when you're
looking at a leader board versus if you're looking if
you're chasing the wind, your eyes are always chasing the
top of the leader board, and so you're seeing, oh, well,
(22:18):
you know the cuts at plus two, but the leaders
at minus eight. Well, if I'm shooting for minus eight,
even if my game doesn't feel as sharp, i might
be falling in that minus four minus three category, right,
And I mean, I think it's just it's also just
(22:40):
keeping balls in play, keep being balls in play, giving
yourself a lot of birdie looks because all the players
are out here good enough to be able to convert them.
A good chunk of the time that it's just okay,
how many times, how many times can I give myself
a birdie look?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
The more shots on goal, you'll make more of.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Them, exactly, And like for me, that biggest focus is
how many Birdie looks can I give myself on par fives.
If I can play the par fives minus seven are
better for the week, I'm going to be up there.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, well that's where length comes in. So that's a
great segue into speed. And I think one of the
interesting things we've seen, particularly in the women's side of
the sport, has been you know, I think there's a
lot of talk on the men's side, particularly you know,
anyone listening who's over the age of fifty, that mobility
is a problem for most women. Mobility is not generally
(23:43):
the problem. You obviously had some hit mobility things that
we had to address early on. But you know, the
strength side of it is tends to be like the
big I was kind of I always called kind of
like the kevlar armor for women in terms of keeping
them healthy so they don't get her but also allowing
them to swing faster. So, you know, I think it's cool.
(24:05):
I'd be curious to see if you know at this
point absolutely we've always You've always been also big into weightlifting,
so squatting, deadlifting, bench pressing, So I thought would be
fun to if you could guess where your so if
we say, like, what you're current bench pressed? Do you
know where you're where you're at at this point? Do
you have any guesses what your max was when you
(24:27):
were this is back in twenty Yeah at the exact date.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah, I might need the date that I that's.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Uh so October sixteenth, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
K how old were you?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah, bench would have been I think right around the
one twenty mark.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Ninety five really yeah, ninety five pounds?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
We go all right, so let's go uh oh for
one you were, well, we could do we could do
this like, you know, closest without going over style.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
But uh so let's go dead left. Any guesses.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
It's gonna be under.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
What is it now? What are you now?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
It's at two seventy now, so for all you, for
all you men listening right now, what is it?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Seventy to seventy? Okay, just just want to make sure
they heard that.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I didn't reach two twenty five until college, so it's
probably one eighty.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Five one thirty five.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
That still had to be on the back end of
recovery though.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Oh yeah, I mean we're coming out of her recoveries.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, but you got you got actually here, so your
best was one thirty five for six, which would have
an estimated at one fifty seven.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Okay, hey, yeah, I was gonna say, what one thirty
five max doesn't make sense?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah, no, you're one fifty seven predicted. So yeah, we
were still doing higher reps there. You crossed the two
hundred mark. In June of twenty twenty, you were over
two hundred. Don't worry. I have your I have you
at all. I'm looking at our data sheets, so I
just have it. Yeah, by your last name. Your mom
is right above you. You crushed her. You lifted way
(26:25):
more than your props.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That's good, all right. What about squat.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So right now it's front front squad only at one
seven day.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, so we have your front squad numbers here.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
From that's front squad.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Okay, so I got front squad from November of nineteen.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
November of nineteen, that's again, and that's that would have
been pretty pretty full recovery. But that's you know, back
that was coming back from college freshman.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
Year one seventy now one.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Max one or not.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I think this is this is fun for me just
to see your face, but I think it's really cool
for like, hopefully I want to make a point for
everyone listening, like this is such a long process to
get stronger that you have gone through, and you know,
I think people don't I think realize how strong a
lot of the women are on tour and how fast
that they swing, and what you're capable of. And it's
(27:45):
actually just making this point on another platform that to
swing the club one hundred you're between what one O five,
one ten generally coursewise at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
It's like what one o eight to one to wait
on the range, So probably sitting at like one ten,
one twelve on the court twelve.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Okay, yeah, I wanted I was trying to pump you up.
I guess say low so you could tell me I was.
I don't want to I didn't want to go high.
But you know, I think that's to swing one hundred
and ten miles an hour. Whether it's you or a
guy on tour, or or somebody in the on the
senior or a sixty five year old person listening right now,
(28:26):
the raw like physical capability or the absolute amount of
force that needs to be produced is exactly the same.
And so having those strength numbers, having that ability to
produce that force is so important and particularly free with
your you know, the history of the hips and those
sorts of things that you had when you were younger,
which I know it was a lot of fun for you.
(28:46):
But uh, but if I guess the kind of the
last pause I wanted to get into is obviously you're
traveling now full season. You got a lot of events.
How are you staying in shape and kind of taking
care of your body on tour while you're on the
road in different places and all over the place.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Well, so I think the biggest perk is the fact
that we do have pts available for us every week.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
And Alex are you without he going.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
To Alex's LPGA. He will be out at one event
this year for.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Us, all right, so you'll see him next year then
mm hmm. It's like four more events and then when
when do they just put you on the LPGA? How
many more events you got to?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
What we we actually don't have the battlefield promotion like
uh like corn Faery does with PGA.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
That means to change to change.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
But but yeah, so fortunately we have we have pets
every week fifteen fifteen minute appointments, so can be a
little short if you have a lot of issues going on.
But but it's you know, I'll go in a couple
of times a week just to make sure that everything
(29:59):
is staying in chat. Unfortunately, learned learned a lot from
Chris that I know exactly what to tell him every week.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Those pets are so lucky to have you walk in
because you're like, hey, I need to check my left
iliacis my right uh?
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Right?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So I was like, but I think that's too. That's
an important point for.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
People to realize, like one of the greatest gifts that
you can get is understanding how your body works and
to kind of be your own mechanic. And I think
that's going to be a huge part of your success
long term in your career.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, we're there. There's the occasional thing that does throw
me for a loop and I'm like, uh, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (30:37):
But I haven't gotten one of those texts in a while.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
I actually did. I did throw out my back the
week after Christmas. Took a solid six weeks to uh
to get better, and it was everything was a mass.
Uh almost almost harniated a desk. It was quite bad.
But but so fortunately, Yeah, so we have we have
(31:08):
pets that I get to go in every week and
they are able to do everything. So most of the
time I'll go in and get needled because I know
that's the most effective for me, and for a fifteen
minute appointment, it is the most time effective method that
(31:29):
they can use, especially to get the greatest benefit from
walking out and immediately feeling better. So that's a big
part of it. And then they also will set us
up with a gym, a local gym every week, and
that really helps from being able to go in to
(31:52):
a solid gym that isn't just hotel with a couple
of dumbbells and a treadmill, and be able to get
in my work apps that I need to get done,
because that's at the end of the day, Like Chris said,
the biggest injury prevention method that I can use. The
(32:13):
stronger my body is, the less likely I'm going to
get injured because I am so mobile, especially in my
back and shoulders.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
I'll never forget some of those videos Robert would send
me and your back would be like like it was
like Exorcists, like like how much you could turn with wild.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
It hasn't changed all hurt, It just hurts a little more.
Getting this just hurt some way.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
You're getting old now what so? Like how often are
you going to the gym? Do you have like do
you typically travel on Monday's?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Workout? Specific days of the week do you how do
you typically work it?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
So part of it depends on pro am what which
proram I'm in, because we have two pro ams every
week when and Thursday, So it depends on which one
I get placed, and it's random, so that that's a
big determiner. And then my tea times Friday Saturday also
will determine which day I go. But I try to
(33:13):
get in three days a week every week that we're
on the road. If I'm flying, it won't be Monday. Typically,
if I'm driving, I'll try to get and it's not
too long of a drive. I'll try to get in
something Monday, just to try to get the body a
little bit looser. But flying usually just ends up taking
(33:36):
up the whole day and then I still have to
get in the car and drive, you know, two hours
after I land in the airport.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
You don't you guys don't general They don't put you
in the big like connecting it to the major airport
areas at all.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
But yeah, so then two Tuesday is usually the first
day of the week, and then if I'm in the
pro am Thursday, it'll be Wednesday. If I'm in the
program Wednesday and I'm in the afternoon on Friday, it'll
be on Thursday. And then after whichever day I have
(34:18):
a morning round, just because I know that that's going
to be the most time effective where Okay, I have
a morning tea time, I'm done earlier, and then I
don't tee off until late, so I have a ton
of time to kill.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Yeah, for sure, that's awesome. That's super HELPLICU.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I think a lot of people don't understand like life
on tour and how you get the workouts in and
like how tough it is and those sorts of things.
But but I'll say, I want to respect your time here.
I know you probably gotta go practice. So I want
to thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Riley.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
It's been as a from like a personal side, it's
been so fun to watch you grow up and finally
get that first one and that uh it's kind of
I think as as you do this for a while,
you see a lot of kids come in and you're like, oh,
they could be really good, and most of them never
pan out.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
And it's always been there's been a probably only two
or three that when someone will ask me, they'll be like,
because you know, you know how it is that at
the clubs, right, Hey, how she good? Like she's great, right,
And a lot of times you'll be like, oh, yeah, yeah,
they're good, they're good, but in your mind you're like.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, no, way they make it. They're too so off right.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
But I'll never whenever they would say it about you,
and I'd be like, oh yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yep, she'll be on torp. Yep, she's got it. She's
got the it.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
That different, right, And it stepped between the years, and
I think, you know, hopefully for everybody listening, like just
listening to Riley's story about the physical side, but also
hopefully you guys take a lot from what she went
through to win and the mental side of it, and
the mental it's not just physical strength. You know, if
you can deadlift two seventy, you probably whatever the equivalent
brain is is like five hundred or something. And I
(35:57):
think that's just an I think that's probably the most
under talked about, underrated side of the game that I've seen.
I don't know if you've seen the same thing on
top of it.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Yeah, I mean it's once you get once you get
to this level, and even the elite college players, everyone's
got the physical skills. Everyone. Everyone can hit a drive
where they need to, They can hit an iron shot close,
they can hit wedges close, they can make pots, and
(36:31):
but it's just it is the ability, you know, to
adapt and just to really really be able to, you know,
figure it out when when things aren't going well, or
you know when when you're on the road for four
weeks in a row and you're lonely, you miss home,
(36:53):
your game's not feeling good, you've missed three cuts in
a row. Okay, what are you going to do that
fourth week? How are you gonna adjust and go play?
Because at the end of the day, it's it is
our job and that can wear on wear on you sometimes,
but it's how can you handle handle everything getting thrown
(37:17):
at you and being overwhelmed and and still just go
play golf? Sure?
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Very wise words hope, uh hope help you guys all
listen and kind of take that to heart.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
So Riley, we're people.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
If people want to follow you this year kind of
follow your progress, uh, you know this year and then
as you go to the next level, Uh, you know,
what's the best place for them to kind of keep.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Up with it.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
So obviously on epsentur dot com, we got all our
lives scoring on there. And then my Instagram is Riley
Underscore Smith getting better at posting on there a little
bit more frequently.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Say now that you're winning, you got to you gotta
gotta get more a social make more money that way.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yeah, it hasn't always been my greatest skill, but you know,
trying trying to get better at that. But you know,
epsentur is really good at being able to keep up
with all of that. Their instagram is really good at
keeping up with what's going on with our schedule as well.
(38:26):
So I think, right right now, those are the two
two biggest ways awesome.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Yeah, we'll make sure we put that in the show
notes for you guys so you can you can file
follow Riley and and I obviously on a personal look
forward to the next time you're back up here. I
know we got a big rematch that needs to occur. Well,
maybe that'll go extra holes. I hope not. Based on
your track record, I hope. I hope it just ends
in eighteen.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
But but right you know, Chris, might it might end
at you know, like thirteen. This scour around.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Oh wow, wow, shots fired across the bow. So ay, Riley,
thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
I can't thank you enough, and everyone listening, thank you
so much for hanging out with us here on the
Golf and the Spom Squad.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And we'll catch you in the next episode.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Thanks for having me, Chris,
I'm mister chick. Welcome to the Golf Fitness Bomb Spot.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm your host, Chris Finn, and today we are streaming
live with a very special guest, uh near and dear
to my heart from the very early days of P
for S Golf, which back in the day was known
as par for Success.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Riley Smythe is with us.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Today who I have known since I guess twenty sixteen,
twenty seventeen. Uh she plays on the epsentur graduated from
University Virginia and she uh just had her first professional
victory at the Central Florida Championship on the EPSENT Tour,
(00:51):
first event I believe of the year. So wand to
welcome you on Riley.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Thanks for me on, Chris, Yeah, first event of the year.
Super exciting to get season kicked off that way. You know,
known Chris for a long time now, and it's you know,
it's been great. He's gotten me, gotten me through a
lot of a lot of injuries over the year.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We've had some good times together.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
But yeah, we were abstoually, we were talking before you know,
we went live and started recording. We can obviously get
into the backstory of the journey and everything to get
to this point. But I mean, you gotta gotta talk
us through, like you know, I guess we'll fast forward
to the sixteenth. All he said, you had no idea
(01:41):
you were in the lead the final round, or you
were no idea like where you were on the leader board, whatsoever.
Final round, you come up sixteen, like, take us through
those final three holes.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, So, I mean I knew I was playing well,
but there was a lot of a lot of good
players up at the top of the later board going
into the final round, and you know, the conditions were
super scorable, so I knew anything could happen, and I
just first event of the year, wanted to put together
a solid final round having been one shot back going in.
(02:13):
That was what was most important to me at that point. So,
you know, just made a really good sand save on
fifteen for par and then came into sixteen, saw the
leader board, kind of couldn't didn't take a great look
at it because I again at that point, just wanted
(02:35):
to put together solid couple holes to finish it off
and whatever happened was going to happen. But put it
to like twenty feet on sixteen, drained it for birdie.
So I knew obviously it was going to be in
a good, good position and have really.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Like twenty feet.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I mean, you got some time right before it goes
the whole like, do you know it was good from
this moment you hit.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It, like, uh, pretty much?
Speaker 3 (03:01):
So I it was not too good. Two decent shots
to get me up there. I mean off the tee,
it's this dog leg right wide open on the right side,
and all three days I just blocked it super far right.
But I knew it was perfectly fine, and it actually
(03:23):
was a great angle to a pin tucked on the
left side. But then kind of kind of pulled, pulled
my wedge a little bit. Thought it wasn't going to
catch the green, thought it was going to kick off,
so it kind of got lucky that held onto the fringe.
But yeah, and then the pot I knew it was good.
(03:46):
It was We really thought we got the read right.
So I knew I hit it exactly where I wanted to,
but it was a matter of just whether or not
the break was going to do what it was supposed
to do.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, and it matched the speed to it and everything quickly,
all right, So you do that, So yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
That's awesome. Okay, then we're moving on.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
And then seventeen another part three and put it in
the bunker, put it to like eight feet durin the pot.
So I'm like, okay, great another another really good sand
save and eighteen is a great verdy opportunity. It's par five.
They were playing it up all week at four sixty
(04:31):
and both.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And we gotta say, for everybody listening, Riley is quite
long off the teeth, so I think, you know, she
was probably you're probably one of the first girls I
ever saw. And I'm saying girl because you were like
a teenager right like, like she's one of the longest
women now, but like as a girl, she was longer
than the women, uh swinging one hundred miles an hour
plus like since you were, you know, in high school,
(04:55):
so you know, four sixties Like, I mean, I might
as well just be a.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Par four for you. But I want to before you
get to eighteen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I'm curious the par putt on eight on seventeen versus
the birdie put on sixteen? Did you get more jacked
up about one or the other? You stay pretty even keel, like.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
What was your kind of a little bit more jacked
up about the one on seventeen, just because at that
point I had two bogies in the first round, played
bogue free second round, and the third round I had
only had one bogie, and so it was also kind
of one of those where you know, for me, that's very,
(05:33):
very atypical to have that few bogies in a tournament.
So I was definitely more psyched about that. But yeah, no,
So I go up to eighteen t and slight dog
leg laughed off the tae and water up all up
(05:54):
the right side some trees in my landing spot on
the right side, and the first and second round I
had just blasted it right into the trees and had
to punch out. So I was like, today's the day
I got. I gotta hit my draw right into the fairway,
like I gotta hit this fairway at least one time,
(06:16):
and I just I striped it. Get up there, have
one sixty in take a nice, nice full nine iron
up to the middle of the green. I'm like, just
put it on, doesn't matter where, just put it on
and we'll deal with it. And then get up and
(06:36):
I have about a seventeen footer for eagle, and at
that point. That's when I saw that I was tied,
and so I'm like, Okay, I know that she's still
got to play eighteen because she's in the group behind me,
but like wanted to make the putt, but just wanted
to give myself a tap in at the very least
get into a playoff and and then just kind that
(07:00):
trust my trust myself to be able to get it
done from there.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
So you know, I guess you know last year and
you had you had a great year on tour. Absolutely,
I think it was it like eight points or something
that you it was like you just missed like at
the end of the year by like I don't even
know how what was it was.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
So the year before I had missed getting full full
status by by sixty three dollars, and then last year
it was yeah, and then last year played in only
played in ten of the nineteen events because my status
wasn't great to start, but then ended up having four
(07:43):
top tens and ended up forty second on points for
the year for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So like, so I bring that those up. Looks.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I remember the sixty three I remember like talking to
Dad afterwards and like all of that, like you know,
people a lot of the times I think they see
like they see the in and they don't rec they
don't realize all the stuff that happened before and prepared
you for that. And obviously having known you for so long,
I've seen a lot of the grind and the two
hip surgery rehabs and like all that stuff that you've
(08:13):
gone through. When you're playing the eighteenth hole, you've put
it in the woods twice. Like what sort of like
did all of those experiences you feel like just kind
of led to that point where you were able to
handle it?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Was you know, how does that kind of relate?
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I think I think to some aspect where you know,
I think part of it to start the year this
year is I'm just really happy that I get to
play the full season. Last year, I played really well
and only got into half the event, so you know,
(08:51):
didn't really have the opportunity to chase top ten. Versus
this year having full status, I'm like, Okay, you know,
I have twenty opportunities this year. I have a full
season to be able to chase top ten, really chase
my LPGA Tour card for next year. So I think
(09:12):
there there's definitely just a lot of gratitude for everything
that I went through in that of them just being
able to know how lucky I am to get a
start at the at the beginning of the season. And
so it does. It does take a little bit of
pressure off in those situations as well as you know,
(09:36):
I caddied a lot last year for a couple of
my friends, and so they got into positions where they
were on the cut line, or I caddied at Q
school and the pressures the pressure is so high there,
or you know, we did, we got into contention a
couple of times. And so having those experiences in many
(10:03):
different forms definitely definitely puts it into perspective. And you know,
I know that I can handle the situation.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah, I mean, and you clearly did so. So seventeen
feet what do you do?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Do you make it? You tap it?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So yeah, so I you know, I just leave it,
you know, six inches above the whole. We thought it
was going to break more than it did. It just
stopped turning, but had a nice easy tap in. Put
it into a playoff. We ended up going back to
play eighteen three times, sudden death playoff and first playoff
(10:47):
hole we both missed the green in two. She puts
it tight. I put it to twelve feet. I drained
the pot for bird eight. She taps in for Bardie.
We go back. She's got to punch out of the
trees off her tee shot. I just missed the green
(11:09):
until I chip onto eighteen feet. She stuffs her webshot.
So again I got it. I have to make this pot,
drain it again. We go back, and then she's got
to chip out from the bunker. I just missed the
(11:31):
green again. Hit a good chip to about six feet.
She puts her wedge to twenty five feet, puts it
up to about three three and a half feet above
the hole. I'm six feet above the hole. Put it,
you know, three about three feet by. At that point,
I wasn't leaving that pot short. I knew, I knew
(11:52):
I had. That was for the wind, So yeah, it
was not being lagged up there. But then I got
to go first with the with the three footer I
had uphill. I drained it, and you know, I really
thought we were going to a fourth playoff whole at
that point. You know, she had she had been playing
(12:13):
really solid. She had been putting really well, so I'm like,
we're going to another one. I fully accepted it and
she just missed it, and then that just solidified it
right there.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That was That's amazing. Yeah, the mental tough I always
tell this story. I don't know if I've ever told
you this story, but when I in the earth, this.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Is like I said, doing this shoot almost fifteen years
and I always you know, there's obviously been a ton
of good players that have come through, and I'm always
the longer I've done it, I've become very aware the
best athletes oftentimes aren't the ones that make it, you know,
to winning and having success, a lot of it comes
down to between the years.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
And I think so one of the tests I don't
know if you remember this early on, as I'd put
a stack a sled on one end with heavy weights
and then the other one would have like one plate
or nothing, and it would basically like, hey, push it
down and then light one to come back. And you're
one of the I believe three people who I had
to tell to stop because I basically I don't tell
you like how many do it?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
I'm like, just go. And there's been so many men
and women who will.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Just like like they're just like I'm done, I'm gonna puke,
I don't feel good whatever. But the number it is
every single person that I've had to tell to stop
doing it because they're either pushing from bloodied knees or
it's like all right, like you're good, Like we know,
I know you're not stopping on your own volition. Though
every single one of them has made it in some way,
(13:43):
shape or form, you were actually the last one that
needed to fully solidify that quote unquote test for me.
So I don't know it's bliget or not, but it
just for me was always telling of how tough somebody
was between the years. And you know, you've obviously had
the speed for so long that you're always one of
the longest per people out there. And I just loved you.
(14:03):
Obviously we flown in the same club your dad does.
Whenever we go play.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I'd always love it. Do you see how far that
smithe girl hits the ball? She hits it past me?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
So, so what's it been like, you know, since the win? Obviously,
because that now you win, that does that automatically gets
you to the final.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So what happens now for you?
Speaker 3 (14:24):
Basically, Yeah, so basically, I mean, we obviously have we
have seventeen more events left. We played two more in
Florida back to back weeks after, so you know, I won,
but had to go right back and play again the
next week. So I'd say, you know, that's that's definitely
(14:44):
the hardest cut to go make is right after a win,
you know your game's feeling good, but there's so much
that you are you know, dealing with emotionally in the
in the next couple of days after winning, you know,
I so many texts to go through, so many messages,
and it was finally by the time the first round
(15:05):
world around, I'm like, oh, I got to go play again.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah. What was the hardest part about that? Immediate?
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Was it like dealing with the texts with their media requests?
I mean, what did you what sort of stuff did
you have to deal with?
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Yeah, so definitely some media, a lot, a lot of
messages to go through where I you know, kind of
felt like I would start to get through them and
then I would just get a whole another slow of
them where you know, part of it was okay, this
is this is awesome, and I really appreciate hearing from
(15:40):
everyone and all the support, but in some aspect, I
was like, I need to go practice still, Like, yeah,
I played great this week last week, but this course
that we're playing this week, the conditions are brutally hard.
But I got to go practice, Like I need to
just turn off my phone and put it away. But
(16:03):
but yeah, so that it. It was definitely an especially
having a three whole playoff. I was exhausted because there,
I mean, the adrenaline level was so high for so
long that by the time I and then I had
to drive up to Jacksonville that night, and so by
(16:27):
the time I got done with my drive, I just
crashed because there was nothing left in my body.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So that so then what So then the rest of
the year, I like, talk to the status.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I think a lot of people listening they don't they
don't understand status and the grind. And I mean, honestly,
it's half the players still struggle to understand what the
statuses are.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
So so where where What does that wind do for you?
And then what does the rest of the season look like?
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So the wind gives me five hundred points, and so
at the end of the season, the top fIF fifteen
on the points. Let's get LPGA Tour cards. Top ten
is better because it is full LPGA status. Eleven to
fifteen is conditional and you can go improve it at
(17:13):
final stage of Q School. So really the goal at
the end of the day is to be top ten,
even though they are giving out those additional five cards.
And so last year, I think it was about eleven hundred,
twelve hundred points something like that that got you into
top ten, in about nine hundred and two thousand that
(17:38):
got you into top fifteen, So definitely puts getting those
five hundred points from a win this early in the
year puts me in a really good position to be
able to go get my card, where it's just it's
a really big headstart and then it's just stringing together
(17:59):
a lot of a lot of good events from here
for the rest of the season. But either way, I'm
gonna have, like I don't want to be back on
Epsen next year, but I would have full status at
this point because top eighty retained their full status, and
(18:20):
last year top eighty was probably about three hundred points
maybe something around there. So it is it's it's at
least comforting knowing that I don't I don't have to
go back to Stage one of Q School. More than
(18:42):
likely I won't have to go to stage two because
top thirty five gets you into stage three and that
was the cutoff for that was about five fifty last year,
which through three events, I'm at five twenty nine, so
that it it definitely puts me in a really good
(19:03):
position to be like, Okay, I have the comfort of
knowing I'm putting myself in a really really good position
to get my card for next year for sure.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
And my last question for we got to talk a
little bit fitness. I got some interesting stats from when
you were younger that I'm curious. We'll play a little
little guessing games guess where you were. But the you
know what is like just for context, everyone listening, like
if you make a cut and finish dead last post,
like after the cut, like, how many points is that
and like.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Just like so that would be probably I think it's
about two or three points. So top five it goes
like five hundred three twenty two thirty, like one fifty,
(19:54):
and then maybe like about one ten, one twenty one,
like anywhere from one hundred to but a lot of
times that gets split up a lot because of ties,
So it's it's the same as with pay out for
perse that whatever. However many places are tied, they take
(20:15):
those that combined total points and divide it by how
many are tied, so it you really, you really get
screwed a lot of times. If you know, you finish six,
that's a good amount of points, but there's seven people
tied for.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Sex, so you get like ninth ninth place points.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Kind of exactly. So that's where there's a very big
drop off once you get past top ten. That's when
you start seeing it where it's like, Okay, it's gonna
be hard to make big, big jumps after top ten.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
So what you know, just in your experience, what's the
biggest difference from finishing top ten versus just making a cut.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
I think I think a big part of it is
mentality of, you know, trying to chase the win every
week that I think there are a lot of people
that are worried about making cuts. And I was in
that category for a while, especially my rookie year, because
if you don't make a cut, you don't get paid,
(21:33):
and so everybody a lot of people sit there and
they're like, oh, well, I'm really stressed about the cut,
my game's not where I want it to be. I'm
really worried about whether I'm making a cut or not
this week. And typically a lot, I mean, there are exceptions,
(21:55):
but a lot of the time when you have that mentality,
you're going to be sitting near the cut line every week,
just because that's that's where your eyes are when you're
looking at a leader board versus if you're looking if
you're chasing the wind, your eyes are always chasing the
top of the leader board, and so you're seeing, oh, well,
(22:18):
you know the cuts at plus two, but the leaders
at minus eight. Well, if I'm shooting for minus eight,
even if my game doesn't feel as sharp, i might
be falling in that minus four minus three category, right,
And I mean, I think it's just it's also just
(22:40):
keeping balls in play, keep being balls in play, giving
yourself a lot of birdie looks because all the players
are out here good enough to be able to convert them.
A good chunk of the time that it's just okay,
how many times, how many times can I give myself
a birdie look?
Speaker 1 (23:02):
The more shots on goal, you'll make more of.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Them, exactly, And like for me, that biggest focus is
how many Birdie looks can I give myself on par fives.
If I can play the par fives minus seven are
better for the week, I'm going to be up there.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, well that's where length comes in. So that's a
great segue into speed. And I think one of the
interesting things we've seen, particularly in the women's side of
the sport, has been you know, I think there's a
lot of talk on the men's side, particularly you know,
anyone listening who's over the age of fifty, that mobility
is a problem for most women. Mobility is not generally
(23:43):
the problem. You obviously had some hit mobility things that
we had to address early on. But you know, the
strength side of it is tends to be like the
big I was kind of I always called kind of
like the kevlar armor for women in terms of keeping
them healthy so they don't get her but also allowing
them to swing faster. So, you know, I think it's cool.
(24:05):
I'd be curious to see if you know at this
point absolutely we've always You've always been also big into weightlifting,
so squatting, deadlifting, bench pressing, So I thought would be
fun to if you could guess where your so if
we say, like, what you're current bench pressed? Do you
know where you're where you're at at this point? Do
you have any guesses what your max was when you
(24:27):
were this is back in twenty Yeah at the exact date.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah, I might need the date that I that's.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Uh so October sixteenth, twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
K how old were you?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah, bench would have been I think right around the
one twenty mark.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Ninety five really yeah, ninety five pounds?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
We go all right, so let's go uh oh for
one you were, well, we could do we could do
this like, you know, closest without going over style.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
But uh so let's go dead left. Any guesses.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
It's gonna be under.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
What is it now? What are you now?
Speaker 2 (25:19):
It's at two seventy now, so for all you, for
all you men listening right now, what is it?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Seventy to seventy? Okay, just just want to make sure
they heard that.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
I didn't reach two twenty five until college, so it's
probably one eighty.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Five one thirty five.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
That still had to be on the back end of
recovery though.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Oh yeah, I mean we're coming out of her recoveries.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, but you got you got actually here, so your
best was one thirty five for six, which would have
an estimated at one fifty seven.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Okay, hey, yeah, I was gonna say, what one thirty
five max doesn't make sense?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
Yeah, no, you're one fifty seven predicted. So yeah, we
were still doing higher reps there. You crossed the two
hundred mark. In June of twenty twenty, you were over
two hundred. Don't worry. I have your I have you
at all. I'm looking at our data sheets, so I
just have it. Yeah, by your last name. Your mom
is right above you. You crushed her. You lifted way
(26:25):
more than your props.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
That's good, all right. What about squat.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
So right now it's front front squad only at one
seven day.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, so we have your front squad numbers here.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
From that's front squad.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Okay, so I got front squad from November of nineteen.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
November of nineteen, that's again, and that's that would have
been pretty pretty full recovery. But that's you know, back
that was coming back from college freshman.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
Year one seventy now one.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Max one or not.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
I think this is this is fun for me just
to see your face, but I think it's really cool
for like, hopefully I want to make a point for
everyone listening, like this is such a long process to
get stronger that you have gone through, and you know,
I think people don't I think realize how strong a
lot of the women are on tour and how fast
that they swing, and what you're capable of. And it's
(27:45):
actually just making this point on another platform that to
swing the club one hundred you're between what one O five,
one ten generally coursewise at this point.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
It's like what one o eight to one to wait
on the range, So probably sitting at like one ten,
one twelve on the court twelve.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Okay, yeah, I wanted I was trying to pump you up.
I guess say low so you could tell me I was.
I don't want to I didn't want to go high.
But you know, I think that's to swing one hundred
and ten miles an hour. Whether it's you or a
guy on tour, or or somebody in the on the
senior or a sixty five year old person listening right now,
(28:26):
the raw like physical capability or the absolute amount of
force that needs to be produced is exactly the same.
And so having those strength numbers, having that ability to
produce that force is so important and particularly free with
your you know, the history of the hips and those
sorts of things that you had when you were younger,
which I know it was a lot of fun for you.
(28:46):
But uh, but if I guess the kind of the
last pause I wanted to get into is obviously you're
traveling now full season. You got a lot of events.
How are you staying in shape and kind of taking
care of your body on tour while you're on the
road in different places and all over the place.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Well, so I think the biggest perk is the fact
that we do have pts available for us every week.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
And Alex are you without he going.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
To Alex's LPGA. He will be out at one event
this year for.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Us, all right, so you'll see him next year then
mm hmm. It's like four more events and then when
when do they just put you on the LPGA? How
many more events you got to?
Speaker 3 (29:25):
What we we actually don't have the battlefield promotion like
uh like corn Faery does with PGA.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
That means to change to change.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
But but yeah, so fortunately we have we have pets
every week fifteen fifteen minute appointments, so can be a
little short if you have a lot of issues going on.
But but it's you know, I'll go in a couple
of times a week just to make sure that everything
(29:59):
is staying in chat. Unfortunately, learned learned a lot from
Chris that I know exactly what to tell him every week.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Those pets are so lucky to have you walk in
because you're like, hey, I need to check my left
iliacis my right uh?
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Right?
Speaker 1 (30:15):
So I was like, but I think that's too. That's
an important point for.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
People to realize, like one of the greatest gifts that
you can get is understanding how your body works and
to kind of be your own mechanic. And I think
that's going to be a huge part of your success
long term in your career.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, we're there. There's the occasional thing that does throw
me for a loop and I'm like, uh, what's going on?
Speaker 1 (30:37):
But I haven't gotten one of those texts in a while.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
I actually did. I did throw out my back the
week after Christmas. Took a solid six weeks to uh
to get better, and it was everything was a mass.
Uh almost almost harniated a desk. It was quite bad.
But but so fortunately, Yeah, so we have we have
(31:08):
pets that I get to go in every week and
they are able to do everything. So most of the
time I'll go in and get needled because I know
that's the most effective for me, and for a fifteen
minute appointment, it is the most time effective method that
(31:29):
they can use, especially to get the greatest benefit from
walking out and immediately feeling better. So that's a big
part of it. And then they also will set us
up with a gym, a local gym every week, and
that really helps from being able to go in to
(31:52):
a solid gym that isn't just hotel with a couple
of dumbbells and a treadmill, and be able to get
in my work apps that I need to get done,
because that's at the end of the day, Like Chris said,
the biggest injury prevention method that I can use. The
(32:13):
stronger my body is, the less likely I'm going to
get injured because I am so mobile, especially in my
back and shoulders.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
I'll never forget some of those videos Robert would send
me and your back would be like like it was
like Exorcists, like like how much you could turn with wild.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
It hasn't changed all hurt, It just hurts a little more.
Getting this just hurt some way.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
You're getting old now what so? Like how often are
you going to the gym? Do you have like do
you typically travel on Monday's?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Workout? Specific days of the week do you how do
you typically work it?
Speaker 3 (32:51):
So part of it depends on pro am what which
proram I'm in, because we have two pro ams every
week when and Thursday, So it depends on which one
I get placed, and it's random, so that that's a
big determiner. And then my tea times Friday Saturday also
will determine which day I go. But I try to
(33:13):
get in three days a week every week that we're
on the road. If I'm flying, it won't be Monday. Typically,
if I'm driving, I'll try to get and it's not
too long of a drive. I'll try to get in
something Monday, just to try to get the body a
little bit looser. But flying usually just ends up taking
(33:36):
up the whole day and then I still have to
get in the car and drive, you know, two hours
after I land in the airport.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
You don't you guys don't general They don't put you
in the big like connecting it to the major airport
areas at all.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
But yeah, so then two Tuesday is usually the first
day of the week, and then if I'm in the
pro am Thursday, it'll be Wednesday. If I'm in the
program Wednesday and I'm in the afternoon on Friday, it'll
be on Thursday. And then after whichever day I have
(34:18):
a morning round, just because I know that that's going
to be the most time effective where Okay, I have
a morning tea time, I'm done earlier, and then I
don't tee off until late, so I have a ton
of time to kill.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Yeah, for sure, that's awesome. That's super HELPLICU.
Speaker 2 (34:36):
I think a lot of people don't understand like life
on tour and how you get the workouts in and
like how tough it is and those sorts of things.
But but I'll say, I want to respect your time here.
I know you probably gotta go practice. So I want
to thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
Riley.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
It's been as a from like a personal side, it's
been so fun to watch you grow up and finally
get that first one and that uh it's kind of
I think as as you do this for a while,
you see a lot of kids come in and you're like, oh,
they could be really good, and most of them never
pan out.
Speaker 3 (35:09):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
And it's always been there's been a probably only two
or three that when someone will ask me, they'll be like,
because you know, you know how it is that at
the clubs, right, Hey, how she good? Like she's great, right,
And a lot of times you'll be like, oh, yeah, yeah,
they're good, they're good, but in your mind you're like.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah, no, way they make it. They're too so off right.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
But I'll never whenever they would say it about you,
and I'd be like, oh yeah, yep.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yep, she'll be on torp. Yep, she's got it. She's
got the it.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
That different, right, And it stepped between the years, and
I think, you know, hopefully for everybody listening, like just
listening to Riley's story about the physical side, but also
hopefully you guys take a lot from what she went
through to win and the mental side of it, and
the mental it's not just physical strength. You know, if
you can deadlift two seventy, you probably whatever the equivalent
brain is is like five hundred or something. And I
(35:57):
think that's just an I think that's probably the most
under talked about, underrated side of the game that I've seen.
I don't know if you've seen the same thing on
top of it.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Yeah, I mean it's once you get once you get
to this level, and even the elite college players, everyone's
got the physical skills. Everyone. Everyone can hit a drive
where they need to, They can hit an iron shot close,
they can hit wedges close, they can make pots, and
(36:31):
but it's just it is the ability, you know, to
adapt and just to really really be able to, you know,
figure it out when when things aren't going well, or
you know when when you're on the road for four
weeks in a row and you're lonely, you miss home,
(36:53):
your game's not feeling good, you've missed three cuts in
a row. Okay, what are you going to do that
fourth week? How are you gonna adjust and go play?
Because at the end of the day, it's it is
our job and that can wear on wear on you sometimes,
but it's how can you handle handle everything getting thrown
(37:17):
at you and being overwhelmed and and still just go
play golf? Sure?
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Very wise words hope, uh hope help you guys all
listen and kind of take that to heart.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
So Riley, we're people.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
If people want to follow you this year kind of
follow your progress, uh, you know this year and then
as you go to the next level, Uh, you know,
what's the best place for them to kind of keep.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Up with it.
Speaker 3 (37:42):
So obviously on epsentur dot com, we got all our
lives scoring on there. And then my Instagram is Riley
Underscore Smith getting better at posting on there a little
bit more frequently.
Speaker 2 (37:59):
Say now that you're winning, you got to you gotta
gotta get more a social make more money that way.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yeah, it hasn't always been my greatest skill, but you know,
trying trying to get better at that. But you know,
epsentur is really good at being able to keep up
with all of that. Their instagram is really good at
keeping up with what's going on with our schedule as well.
(38:26):
So I think, right right now, those are the two
two biggest ways awesome.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Yeah, we'll make sure we put that in the show
notes for you guys so you can you can file
follow Riley and and I obviously on a personal look
forward to the next time you're back up here. I
know we got a big rematch that needs to occur. Well,
maybe that'll go extra holes. I hope not. Based on
your track record, I hope. I hope it just ends
in eighteen.
Speaker 3 (38:48):
But but right you know, Chris, might it might end
at you know, like thirteen. This scour around.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Oh wow, wow, shots fired across the bow. So ay, Riley,
thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
I can't thank you enough, and everyone listening, thank you
so much for hanging out with us here on the
Golf and the Spom Squad.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
And we'll catch you in the next episode.
Speaker 3 (39:06):
Thanks for having me, Chris,
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