June 5, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode of Chatter That Matters, as the RBC Canadian Open is minutes away from teeing off, I sit down with PGA Tour winner and Canadian golf icon Corey Conners. From his roots in Listowel, Ontario, to competing on the world stage, Corey’s journey is a testament to discipline, humility, and perseverance.
Corey discusses his childhood passion for hockey and golf, the connection between math and mindset, and how fatherhood has altered his perspective on life and legacy. He also shares what it means to represent Canada in the Olympics and Presidents Cup, and the pride he feels wearing both the Maple Leaf and RBC shield.
This episode isn’t just for golf fans—it’s about what it takes to chase your dreams and stay true to yourself along the way.
I close with three takeaways from our conversation, and Mark Soder from RBC joins me to discuss why Golf matters to you, to me and to RBC.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
In golf, consistency is everything.
And it's not just in your swing, but it's your mindset, your preparation,
how you carry yourself through triumph and adversity. You kind of have to think your
way through it and, you know, never get too high or low and never
think things are too far off, kind of plan out where I want to get
(00:25):
to or what I want to feel and dive a little deeper in in my
brain and understand those things, I think is, you know, something that I've been good
at and something that's very helpful. My guest today, a chatter
that matters, embodies all of that and more, Corey Conners from Listowall,
Ontario. If you're a golf fan, you say that's a guy with a
precision swing, determination. If you're Canadian, you'd
(00:46):
say that's one of our top athletes. And I imagine if you happen to be
a friend of Corey Conners, you'd say, he's someone in my life that
has authenticity, and kindness
and someone who deeply cares. I can make it sometimes for my dad, you know,
if I get a little frustrated on the golf course to say, you know, there's
there's other things other things you can do, you know. It's it's not very
(01:09):
helpful to get frustrated. It's not very helpful to beat yourself up. I
think those those things are are gonna be great to pass on.
But this show is more than just how this kid from a
small town now plays on a world stage. Coy
Carr's day indeed has arrived. He's a
winner on the PGA tour. We'll learn about discipline,
(01:32):
resilience, belief in your craft, the importance of
values that ground you, and why chasing greatness
is a game worth playing. One
shot, one moment at a time.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. Thank you for listening to Chatter That Matters presented
(01:54):
by RBC. If you can, please subscribe to the podcast.
And ratings and reviews, well, they're always welcome and they're always
appreciated.
Corey, how are you? Good. Thanks. How are you? Good. Thanks for joining me. A
big fan and, honored to have you on the podcast. You got it. You
know, a great story, the small town kid that makes big. Tell me a little
(02:16):
bit about your background in Listowal, Ontario because I from what I
understand, you weren't just a golfer. They, there was a nod that you could actually
make the show in the NHL as well. The NHL might have been a a
little optimistic, but, was a really good hockey player, an avid hockey
player growing up, and was the captain of our, local high
school team. Loved playing sports. Golf was a
(02:38):
favorite and something that I excelled at from a young age, but, you know, really
proud of the town I grew up in. Got a lot of support from, you
know, everyone in the town to help me get to where I am, and, it's
a special place to grow up. Where I'm a little confused is every golfer
I play with that came out of with a sort of hockey has a horrible
swing, but you have one of the best swings on the course. So how did
(02:59):
you combine the two sports? Because to me, the mechanisms are are completely
different. You know, I think there's a few, things that work well in in both
motions, but probably learned, you know, the golf swing early enough that,
maybe the golf swing crept into my shot in hockey, which could have been a
little bit better. I always shot it okay. But, I think learning the
proper fundamentals and the golf swing from a young age was definitely helpful. And,
(03:22):
you know, I don't think I had too much influence from, from my hockey. Age
four, your first time on. Your your parents are avid golfers. Before we
get into your parents, do you remember the first time
you walked on a golf course, what it was like? I think, when I
was seven, years old, it's kinda when I first remember going
out there. You know, I remember getting a nice set of clubs, and I remember
(03:44):
getting a a bag tag being officially a member at the the Listowel Golf
Club. This RBC Community Junior Golf, which I love the fact to go
to these equity deserving neighborhoods and get kids that probably never even thought of
golf as something to do. And I always imagine what it's like for
them to walk on because, you know, it's not asphalt with
basketball nets. It's not a soccer field. It's something, you know,
(04:06):
completely different than anything you've ever configured in terms of, in
terms of a sports field. Yeah. I was fortunate to have access to a golf
course and and, you know, certainly remember love loving the the field
of play, if you want to call it that, just spending time outdoors.
There was pretty much endless possibilities for for me when I was a
kid, you know, walking onto the golf course. So definitely, I was fortunate
(04:28):
to be introduced to the game at a young age, but also fortunate to to
have a place that I could, could go. You know, I'm a real junkie of
sports biographies and the people that actually make it to the top because we all
know how tough that gauntlet is. And very often, underpinning
it is parents that care, sometimes parents that over
parent. Just getting a sense of your parents, their involvement
(04:50):
in what turned out to be obviously, where you become one of the best in
the world. You know, they were always really supportive of me and and provided me
with some opportunities. I don't think they ever pushed me. They
just wanted me to to be a kid. They wanted me to enjoy what I
was doing. They certainly weren't pushing me to get onto the golf course. You
know, I was the one, you know, asking, you know, if I could could go
(05:11):
play, practice, you know, spend all day out there in the summer. I was able
to kind of fall in love with it organically and, you know, still certainly love
it that today. When did you know as a young kid
that you had talent? You weren't just, you know, one
of the good golfers at the club, but there might be something very
special inside that swing and attitude. I think it happened pretty early. The
(05:32):
first tournament that my parents entered me in was a qualifier to for the
US Kids World Championship. I think I was nine years old and, I won
the qualifier. I had never really compared myself against other kids
my age, up to that point. There wasn't a ton of
other junior golfers in the local area. You know, I was playing
with my dad a lot and and his his friends as a as a youngster.
(05:55):
At that point, I got to play in the the US Kids World Championship. I
remember going to Jekyll Island, Georgia. Did reasonably well,
gained probably some confidence from that and continued to to work at it.
Throughout the rest of my, like, junior golf career, you know, I never foresaw
myself as being where I am today, to be honest. There was always other kids
that were a little bit better, but I would say my consistency was always
(06:17):
there. Didn't win a lot of events, but it was always kind of knocking
around and solid finishes. And you go to Kent State
and a lot of times, you know, you read about these athletes that just so
consumed by sports, but you're studying actuarial
math, and you're two time academic all American. I
mean, what do your parents talk about when they're bragging about you? Your golf or
(06:39):
the fact that you actually went down? I mean, actuarial math, to me, I just
smiled and I said, this is so interesting that both sides of you seem to
be roaring through that body. I wouldn't say I loved school, but I
was always, you know, fascinated by certain subjects and pretty dedicated
to to those. I started in a science program, actually, biochemistry,
and I'm a twin. My twin sister is a doctor, so she, you
(07:01):
know, took that route. But the lab time at Kent State, you know,
wasn't great. I did switch after a year or two
into, the actuarial math. Had some great
classmates. The golfers, we miss a lot of school. I think the most
school missed of any student athlete, you know, had supportive
teachers and professors and, and other classmates when we would
(07:23):
study together would kind of kind of help bring me along. But I think for
me, math, once you kind of understand a a concept, you
don't have to study it a whole lot. You can kinda problem solve and, just
the way my my brain thinks through things, I guess. And I was able to
pick it all up pretty quickly. Have you found that sort of that gray matter
that allows you to take a complex subject like math and break it down to
(07:45):
a language that you can comprehend? Does that apply to sports?
Yeah. I I really think so. I I think I've always been a pretty, you
know, relaxed and and patient person, and nothing stresses
me out too much. And, you know, when learning challenging subject matter, you kind of
have to think your way through it. And, that's kind of always where where I'm
at with my golf game too, you know, never get too high or low and,
(08:05):
you know, never think things are too far off. You know, I'm always
kind of able to think think through different, you know, situations
or kinda plan out where I wanna get to or what I wanna feel and
my fundamentals and mechanics of of the swing. There's there's kind of a,
you know, reason behind everything and and being able to dive a little deeper
in in my brain and understand those things, I think is, you know, something that
(08:27):
I've been good at and and something that's very helpful. As you look at your
competitors on the tour, I was watching a episode with, Bryson DeChambal,
and he's talking about how he applies physics to his golf swing. Do you
see that kind of on the tour, you have people that are much more free
thinking and much more disciplined? Is that kind of how it breaks out? Or
is there any kind of segmentation that you'd see even with the way people work
(08:48):
out in the gym or they're on the on their practice sessions? I think there's
kind of people are on, you know, sort of either end of the spectrum. You
know, grew up, you know, played college golf against Bryson and some amateur golf in
in professional ranks as well. And I think he's at, certainly, one end of
the spectrum where he's very scientific about his approach. I'd say it's
not overly common. I think a lot more people are sort of feel based
(09:10):
and and feel oriented. And, you know, despite my the the
way my brain thinks, I still think, you know, deep down, it's kind of
a feel, situation for me and, you know, not overly scientific
in in my approach. You first came on the map coming in
second of the US Amateurs. That must have been something quite
special. It's a pretty big stage, you know, the biggest amateur golf
(09:33):
event in the world. The year prior, I'd, lost in
the semifinal match, so it was really close to to making it to
that final match like I did, in 2014. Something
about those couple events, I think, really, you know, gave me confidence having
performed well. I remember matches in those two years beating the likes
of, you know, Patrick Rogers, top player in the world, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm,
(09:55):
Denny McCarthy in the semifinal match to make it to the final in in 2014,
you know, all PGA Tour players. And my confidence sort of
grew, a little bit through, my time at Kent State. Started
winning some events and, you know, it was an all American and, you know, ranked
pretty highly in the the amateur golf rankings. So For people who don't
follow golf, I mean, one of the the tickets that you get for winning
(10:17):
the US amateur coming in second is a chance to play in the masters.
It's a pretty special perk, and a nice consolation prize for for being the
runner out there. And you played Augusta before that? Or
so I got an invitation or they send a letter to you, in the
late fall. Gives you some information if you wanna go play the golf course.
So, might have been two or three days later, I hopped in the car with
(10:39):
my dad. They allowed me to play just, you know, by myself with a local
with a club caddy, and my dad was able to walk around. So I did
go and and play the golf course a handful of times before the
tournament. Yeah. First time getting in there, you know, was was pretty special.
And, you know, I was driving a an old car at the time and just
imagining how many cars they turn away at the gate at Magnolia Lane, and you
(11:01):
know, they see just another one coming to to turn away, but it's a
magical place. And, you know, I've been fortunate to have qualified for many
masters now, and it definitely never gets old. But I'll always remember, the first
one. And and being an amateur, playing in the masters, there's kinda some
perks as well. I got to stay in the Crow's Nest, which is Top Floor
of the clubhouse, kind of above the Champions Locker Room and all the
(11:23):
history and One of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and I I had
a chance to walk it. And, I was amazed at the
elevation you don't appreciate on TV. It is crazy, the undulation there. And,
you know, one of the things that shocked me was how open the property was,
like, from the clubhouse, the first tee area is kind of the the high point
on the property, and you're looking down, you can actually see quite a few holes.
(11:43):
But, yeah, the tenth hole was was shocking for me. It's I think you could
put on a pair of skis there and and ski down it, then much like
the eighteenth right beside it. And so your debut in the professional league was
the RBC heritage. Did you sign with RBC yet by the time you played that,
or was that just all gonna come together then? So RBC was a
partner of the national team program with Golf Canada,
(12:05):
that I was fortunate to be a part of and, you know, had some connections.
I I wasn't an RBC ambassador, at the time, but being a
Canadian, I think, helped. And, you know, their connection to me through
Golf Canada, playing in the Masters and then making my pro debut at the
RBC Heritage the following week was was really special. Got a taste of the
PGA Tour early, didn't have much success, but was,
(12:27):
was really hungry to sort of earn my way out there and and was able
to do that pretty quickly. Like, I would imagine getting on that
PGA card. There's a lot of imposter syndrome at the beginning
because you're looking around and there's a lot of talent and there's a lot of
talent behind you that wants that card. I mean, it's it's gotta be one of
the greatest pressure sports. I mean, you're not signed for a ten year contract
(12:47):
with guaranteed income. You're kinda that eat what you kill mentality. I
know it's changed a little bit, but what was it like the early days? You
know, getting a taste of it early, you know, then earning my way there. I
I did have a sense of belonging and gained confidence through the ranks
knowing that I could, you know, compete, you know, on the PGA Tour having earned
my card, and it's different. There's no nothing guaranteed. You know,
(13:09):
you're you're playing for your livelihood. And I I was good at looking at sort
of the big picture, you know, it wasn't, you know, each shot wasn't the most
important shot in the world and each day wasn't the most important round in my
life. You know, I was gonna get lots of opportunities. I I could just trust
my game and trust the process of, you know, doing what I do and, you
know, felt like I could have the consistency that that I've
(13:29):
had, you know, stay out on the PGA tour for, for many years. And my
games continue to be refined and, you know, the consistency is still there, but
definitely at a higher level. 2019. There's no guarantee
just because you have your PGA card, I guess. So take me to the Valero
Texas Open, because I understand you're only the fifth person in history
to get in on a Monday qualifier, then walk out at the end with the
(13:52):
trophy. I had a PGA Tour card. My status, you know, it's kind of
all goes off a priority ranking. I was fairly low on the priority ranking
list. I'd actually had a quite a good season up to that point, but I
couldn't sort of, you know, better my status by, you know, doing that. I
had already finished second and third in in some events, played in the Players
Championship, you know, the flagship event on the tour, played in the Arnold
(14:14):
Palmer Invitational, you know, played in the Genesis Invitational. So I'd played my
way into some of the bigger events, but, the Valero Texas Open, you know, just
being a sort of called a standard PGA Tour event, you know, there's a lot
of guys ahead of me trying to get in the field there, and there was
an other the only other way to qualify for it was to go to the
Monday qualifier, which, you know, there's 80 players playing for
four spots. And I was able to get one of those spots, and I
(14:36):
think because I had had success, on the tour
up to that point, you know, playing in that Monday qualifier, there wasn't a lot
of pressure. It wasn't do or die. Whenever you qualify, you have to
have pretty special round. And I just tried to keep that mindset through the
tournament and knew I was playing well. The rest, I guess, is
history. How do you hold it together on that fourth day
(14:57):
when you know that you've got a shot at the victories, your first one?
Your first one's gotta be one of the the hardest one. Yeah. It's definitely a
big hurdle to get over. You don't know if you kinda have it in yet.
It's hard to win. I had a really up and down day that day. I
made 10 birdies, throughout the day. I started with four birdies in the
first five holes, then made four bogeys in a row on six through
(15:19):
nine back to even par and and, you know, added six more birdies on the
the back nine. Was able to to birdie the seventy first
hole to seventeenth there, on Sunday and give myself a three shot lead
going out into the last. Yeah. You know, it's not over until the ball goes
into the hole, but it was nice to have a little bit of a a
cushion there and tried to take it slow one step at a time. And
(15:39):
it was definitely, a special feeling. I'm always curious as a
fan, what is like on the eighteenth hole when you've got a two or three
stroke lead? Are you relaxed, or is even more tension within you?
Because, you know, if you chili dip it or slice it into the woods or
something, or is it just you just as an a professional athlete, you go, this
is just a shot? I think there's a bit of both sides. You know, it's
(16:00):
just a shot, and I'm pretty good at that. But there's definitely, you know, some
thoughts there on on thinking of how, you know, how it's possible to to
screw things up, just try and execute the golf shots, you know, keep your
mind present. And I was able to do that. What role does
the caddy play in all of this? Because it is one of
the most interesting sports in the sense that you have a
(16:22):
friend, a a fan, somebody that's not not afraid to dress
you down if they think they're going the wrong way. I mean, that whole relationship
to me is a really unique dynamic in golf. Yeah. It sure is. And I
think it's, you know, it's an important role. You have to I've had
a couple different caddies through my career and both, you know, been
great guys to be around, easy guys to get along with.
(16:43):
They're really professionals, you know, they they have to work hard. I rely on, you
know, my caddy for a lot of details and, you know, a lot of advice
out there throughout each round. And even more important, when you're
in contention or you're trying to win, you know, you gotta be making the right
decisions and, you know, having someone you can communicate with and a
relaxing presence around you is is really, really helpful. So this team of
(17:04):
Canadian golfers that wear both the Maple Leaf and the RBC Shield
is quite something. And in your case, that took you twice the
Olympics and then also being a member of the Presidents Cup. What's it like to
play for Canada? It's really special. Growing up as a junior golfer,
getting to play on the national team and some international events and through my amateur
career was really amazing. It's, you know, proud Canadian and
(17:25):
it's pretty awesome to put on the Canadian flag and carry the
Canadian bag, represent, you know, a great country. Really lucky
and and fortunate to have qualified for the Olympics a few times, you know, to
represent Canada on the International Presidents Cup team, twice now.
Grew up, you know, watching the Olympics, winter and summer,
and, it wasn't really something golf wasn't a part of the Olympics, so it wasn't
(17:47):
something I ever thought was, you know, gonna be possible. But once it got added
into the Olympic games in, 2016, it was a big goal of
mine. I thought it would be be really cool and gonna be definitely working hard
over the coming years to to qualify, for the Olympics again
in in 2028. I often equate professional
sports almost to that. You know, when you leave elementary school, you go to mid
(18:10):
school and then high school. It's almost like you go in as the rookie. When
do you become the veteran? When do you people start looking to you and saying,
you know, Corey, we need not just your capabilities
on the course, but also that leadership. Yeah. I think it just kinda happens
because it's who you are. I'm I'm a fairly quiet person, but,
you know, I do recognize certain situations, you know, where I do have some
(18:31):
experience and can can share that. You know, I've had close friend
Taylor Pendras get on the PGA tour over the last couple years and, you know,
tried to give him some advice. He played in his first masters this past April
and played some practice rounds with him and tried to share some of the things
that I had learned, some of the things that I had felt and
be a leader in some respects. But you know it's an
(18:53):
individual sport for the most part and apart from these team
events. You know the team events I've been a part of on the President's Cup
I think there are some some leadership guys, the the captains
are all successful players, they've been successful on international
teams and, successful in in their golf careers. And, you know,
think of a guy like Adam Scott who's played on so many international presidents cup
(19:15):
teams. And he is a guy who has definitely taken a leadership role and more
vocal than than a lot of other guys and and really helpful and,
really lucky day that he's part of the team.
We come back, Corey Conner and I talk about what's next, my three takeaways,
and then Mark Soder joins the show to talk about why golf matters.
(19:39):
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. RBC has been a long standing supporter of golf
in both Canada and The United States through their title sponsorship of the
PGA Tour's RBC Canadian Open and RBC's Heritage
Tournament, as well as key partnerships with the Heritage Classic Foundation Golf
Canada and the PGA of Canada. Combined, RBC
golf tournaments have raised over 35,000,000 to help
(20:02):
communities thrive. But did you know about RBC Community Junior
Golf? This is an initiative led by RBC in partnership with
Golf Canada that's building greater diversity and equity in golf
by providing affordable access for youth from equity deserving communities
across Canada. To date, RBC Community Junior Golf has
engaged more than 20,000 youth participants by providing first
(20:24):
tee programming at no cost and subsidizing green fees
through youth on course. Who knows? One of those kids might be
the next Nick Taylor. For the eagle. For the win. To the
cap. Taken. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The
trial is over. The trial is over. Nick
Taylor with the eagle. The 2023 RBC
(20:47):
Canadian Open champion. He's an icon now in this
country. Supporting Canadian youth? Well, that matters to you, to
me, and to RBC.
I knew I was gonna give myself many more chances. I've had a lot of
good finishes and learned a lot over the last few years and have a lot
of confidence in my game. It's just a matter of time. Just keep pecking away
(21:09):
and wasn't expecting to happen this week, but, Corey
Carr's day indeed has arrived. He's a
winner on the PGA tour. Joining me is Corey
Connors. If you're a golf fan, you'll know him for his precision golf striking ability,
athletes. And if you're fortunate enough to have him as a friend, chances are you'll
(21:32):
say he's one of the most real, authentic, hardworking, and wonderful
people you've ever met.
The narrative that's certainly presented to the golf fan
is that everybody's competitive on the course, but off
the course, there seems to be a lot of camaraderie. Is that fairly consistent
that more often than not, everybody supports everybody until
(21:54):
it's time to tee off? A lot of guys on the PGA Tour have a
good relationship and, you know, are are friendly. You know, that can
maybe change when you're in the the heat of competition, but the culture on the
PGA Tour is excellent, and the culture in pro golf is is great
where guys are supportive of one another. What advice can you give
to the people listening about when things don't go your way?
(22:15):
I like what you said earlier that, you know, I try to manage the highs
and lows because obviously when it doesn't go your way,
you've got cameras on you, you've got fans watching you. I mean, you're
in the public domain, but how do you frame it, and and how can we
learn from that? For golfers, we're we're used to losing. You know, we
lose more than probably any other, athlete because it's it's
(22:37):
very difficult to win. I guess apart from maybe Scottie Scheffler seems to win quite
often, but there's certainly a lot of disappointments.
But you can also find positives in in those. You can learn lessons.
I've always been pretty good at, you know, whether it's a great week
or or a really bad week or or an average week of of kind of
making some notes and, you know, assessing things. You know, there's there's always some things
(22:59):
I can find that I did well. There's always some things I can find that
I would like to do better. You know, if there's a lot of things I'd
like to do better, I need to to make a plan and, you know, be
excited about trying to do those better next time and and be proud of trying
to improve on those. I think that can be used in life and
for, you know, many different professions where, you know, know, there's always gonna be some
setbacks and some disappointments. Try and learn from them and and then really
(23:22):
enjoy the successes that will come, if you you keep working
hard. Becoming a father and two with two children, has that
changed anything in terms of your priorities, your
approach to the game, your approach to life? I feel like everything I do
is is for my kids now. I, you know, feel
really lucky to to be a dad to to two great, young
(23:45):
kids, and now I've got a great wife who's always been really supportive.
You know, we've known each other for a very long time, and she's been been
kind of through it all with me. She's a lot more emotional
through through the highs and lows, so maybe she could, could learn some of those
lessons. But being a dad's amazing. You know, it allows
me to separate golf and and life and do whatever I need to do for
(24:06):
the kids off the golf course. And, you know, when I'm playing, certainly, you know,
playing for them. What lessons did you learn from your mom or your dad that
you're hoping to to bring to your kids? You know, being really supportive
of whatever I wanted to do. That was something that I really appreciate now from
my parents. Gave me opportunity to do what I wanted,
provided some, you know, direction and and guidance there. Always just
(24:27):
making sure that I was happy. Gave me freedom when when I needed it,
you know, they reined me in when when I didn't. I even think of
sometimes my dad, you know, if I get a little frustrated on the golf
course, you know, he would just say, you know, there's there's other things other things
you can do, you know. It's it's not very helpful to get frustrated.
It's not very helpful to beat yourself up. I think those those things are are
(24:49):
gonna be great to to pass on and, you know, have a positive outlook and
and try and have fun with everything that you do. And who do you look
up to on the tour in terms of being that
ambassador to the game? Not just not so much just their talent, but you just
go, that individual embodies what I believe the game of golf is all about.
Someone that I've always had a lot of admiration for is Rory McElroy.
(25:10):
He he's pretty outspoken, trying to help grow the game
of golf when he doesn't have to be. He's obviously an incredible talent,
but I think he's been a great ambassador for the game. He kinda puts himself
out there. You know, this is very helpful to the game and something that I
admire. The PGA Tour, obviously, it went through a big
stress test over the last couple of years with Liv. And and yet now
(25:32):
the commentators are kind of saying, you know, these championships are really
showing the difference between the PGA players that play every day and
the most competitive situations and those that don't. How do you think this will
all resolve? Or do you have any idea how this will resolve so that it's
good for the game, good for the fans, and good for the players? I will
say that I think the PGA Tour is in a great place, continuing to grow,
(25:53):
continuing to get better, you know, the tournaments we play week in and week out
are, you know, against a lot of the best players in the world. Certainly, you
know, miscompeting against some of the guys, some of the players on the LIV
tour. I think some of those guys would help grow, golf on the
PGA tour, but they've been doing a great job finding a way to to
grow. I think the, you know, the product is as entertaining as ever and and
(26:14):
competitive as ever. The lessons in life that
you can get from the golf course, you You know, and I go back to
RBC Community Junior Golf sort of make trying to make golf more
inclusive because a lot of parents might not think of golf as a
natural sport. You know, it's kind of that almost white privilege sport,
but RBC is trying to counter that. What lessons in life can we
(26:36):
get off the golf course that we can apply to everyday life? It's awesome to
see, you know, RBC. They do so much for golf and and then, you know,
investing in the grassroots and getting more kids into the game. But there's so many
lessons that you can learn, you know, whether it be organization, disciplines,
you know, work ethic, the first TEE program coming to Canada
as well. They've, you know, they've got a number of pillars of of lessons that
(26:58):
are, you know, great for every kid to learn in in golfing in
life. Now, I'm hoping as I continue to to grow in my career,
I can, you know, be a part of some of the the giving back as
well and and try and get more kids introduced to the game.
My wife and I are trying to do that in our our community a little
bit already, and it's definitely exciting to to see young kids have fun with
(27:19):
golf. RBC Canadian Open coming up. It must be one of the most
exciting tournaments for you to play because it's you're certainly a fan
favor. It's always so much fun coming back and playing the RBC
Canadian Open front of the Canadian fans. You know, Canadian fans are the
best. They're they're really well traveled and seem to have Canadian supporters everywhere
that I play, but none more than the the home event.
(27:41):
The fifth major, if you call it, on on the on my schedule,
grew up watching that, attending it, being able to just see it up there and,
you know, being one of the top Canadian golfers and and someone that everybody out
there is rooting for is a special feeling. And I've done a good job or
a better job, I think, the last two years sort of feeding off the crowd,
their energy. They all want me to do well and can kinda use, cheers to
(28:01):
my advantage and hopefully, get myself in the mix.
You know, I always end my podcast with my three takeaways. And the first one
is really how you embody the narrative of how Canadians want to
be thought of. In a time where we're very divided as a country, what knits
us together is when we see our athletes and our celebrities acting
with such integrity and grace. We could take that
(28:23):
back into our own lives instead of always being forward against. So I I
appreciate your, just your attitude and approach. I love the the the sense
of highs and lows because, especially today's
world, I mean, we are on a roller coaster. And I think finding a
midpoint at times is some of the best advice because you can't
predict either how high or how low it's gonna happen, but at least finding some
(28:45):
footing. And as you said, even at the end of a game to look at
what you did well and what you did bad, but both of them matter.
And then just the third thing that you we just talked about when you talked
about the sense that there's so much to learn and maybe that we sometimes
just get so caught up in the in the excitement of sport and the leaderboard.
But when you step back and realize that all began with a four year
(29:07):
old who became a nine year old and won his first tournament and then went
on to study for some crazy thing, actuarial math to be an all
American. And now where you are, it's a hero's journey and
I'm, I'm really looking forward to the Open and I've got
you in my pool, so don't screw up. Yeah. No pressure. Thanks very much. I
think, you know, those are all amazing takeaways. Just a normal guy who
(29:28):
grew up in a small town in Southwestern Ontario and and I worked hard and
tried to chase my dreams and, fortunate to to be living it.
We're living it with you. So I appreciate you joining me in Chatter the Matters,
Corey. Yeah. Thanks, Sonny.
So welcoming back to the show Mark Soder. He's the director of brand marketing at
RBC, focusing primarily on the golf program.
(29:52):
And we were talking, before we turned on the camera, and
your friends are questioning why you don't play better golf and you'd had to let
them know that it's actually a a full time job. This isn't just an
opportunity to take the sticks out in the course. Yeah. You're right. I, I do
wish I got out a little bit more, but get to be at beautiful golf
courses through the work lens. We're not not actually swinging as much as I'd like
(30:13):
to. Golf is such an important part of your platform
at RBC. And I guess the first question a lot of listeners would have is
why golf and not hockey or one of the other sort of sports
that are attention grabbing? We have been invested into golf for nearly
two decades. Our primary objective is actually US awareness.
We're not, retail bank in The United States. And when you
(30:36):
look at who our core consumer, our core audience is in The
United States. And the ecosystem that we could build within golf from
media objectives, from awareness building objectives, from client hosting objectives,
golf really bubbled up as an attractive sport, an
attractive platform to invest and grow and and do what
we needed to do. And as you talk about that ecosystem, I mean, one move
(30:58):
on the chessboard, I should say, on the golf course that you made was the
sense of actually sponsoring events. RBC Canadian
Open, I get, but you're also involved with the heritage as well. What's
the rationale behind putting your name on a tournament?
For people listening, how do you measure success? We
measure the RBC logo on all of
(31:20):
our ambassadors' patches on their sleeve with, our logo
is all over the tournament from pin flags to tee
backs, to encores to the hospitality tents. And
we, along with our agency partners, measure to the second,
what type of TV exposure, duration, clarity,
etcetera. And through the system, the algorithm, we can
(31:43):
compute what the return on that is. And another big component, and we talk
about that ecosystem and what it does not only from a media and the media
volume that we get through through the contracts of the thirty second spots,
but also who we are hosting on-site and just that
that client and through the whole week of programming, what that means to our
business and our advisors and executives on-site. You know, Corey Conners is on
(32:05):
the show, as you know, and he wears the RBC shield
proudly. I should tell you that, he speaks so highly of
this partnership. He really does feel it's a partnership versus a sponsorship.
Talk to me a little bit about that strategy as well because I've invested in
these tournaments, but I'm also have this sort of team RBC.
How do you choose the kind of talent that you're after? And
(32:28):
what's the relationship besides the exchange of a shield and money
that you deem to be time and money well spent? This year, we have
11 ambassadors across both LPGA and the
PGA. They are a part of the family,
ensuring that their core values align
with RBC's core values is a big component
(32:50):
of of what we do. And Corey Conners has been
an amazing addition to the team, speaks so highly of of
the partnership. We're aligned with his values. He
is, a wonderful player and an incredible ambassador
and does some some incredible moments with our executives and and
guests that makes our platform so special from a hosting and
(33:13):
hospitality perspective. One part of your platform that many aren't aware of, but
I am so proud of this RBC Community Junior Golf.
It's saying to the people that are involved with it, golf is for everybody,
not just being a somebody. This is an area of our our
platform that we're really proud of. The
objective of this platform was to to put clubs in
(33:35):
hands of kids for the first time, underrepresented communities and kids that would
maybe otherwise never get the chance to play golf.
And we know inherently the values, the life
lessons, those moments in time with your parents and your family,
growing up on a golf course, what those life lessons can bring you.
So what we learned going through even COVID
(33:58):
was forty eight percent of new entrants to
golf were from the BIPOC community. We've engaged
together with our partnership with First Tee and Youth On Course, we've engaged over
50,000 youth from coast to coast and
introduced them to to the game and hopefully a game that they fall in love
with and and stick with for a lifetime. So Mark, last
(34:20):
year I talked to a lot of people and I'm always fascinated by stats.
But one that stood out was when I talked to you and you
let me know that golf wasn't just for a handful. In fact, the momentum behind
golf in Canada, it's one of the fastest growing sports. Are we still seeing
that? There's a a lot of growing momentum behind the
game, which is exciting. And as an industry,
(34:42):
this sport matters to Canadians. There's
over 2,000 golf courses in Canada.
Golf as an industry employs over
300,000 Canadians. And when we talk about charity,
when we talk about, not just in golf, when we talk about charity across the
board, there's over $300,000,000 raised
(35:03):
in Canada for various great
objectives and causes. And golf is the vehicle
that helps bring those stories and those dollars, to fruition.
So golf in Canada matters. You know, Mark, it's interesting
how this all started a couple of decades ago to build some awareness
in United States and has become such beautiful momentum
(35:26):
for society and for the RBC branch. So it's, let's teeing
it off. We got the Canadian open coming up. We'd love to see another Canadian
sink another 92 foot putt to win it. You can't buy that kind of,
excitement. Good things come to good brands and good people. So thank you for joining
me. Appreciate it. Thanks, Tony.
Once again, a special thanks to RBC for supporting Chatter That
(35:48):
Matters. It's Tony Chapman. Thanks for listening, and let's chat soon.
In golf, consistency is everything.
And it's not just in your swing, but it's your mindset, your preparation,
how you carry yourself through triumph and adversity. You kind of have to think your
way through it and, you know, never get too high or low and never
think things are too far off, kind of plan out where I want to get
(00:25):
to or what I want to feel and dive a little deeper in in my
brain and understand those things, I think is, you know, something that I've been good
at and something that's very helpful. My guest today, a chatter
that matters, embodies all of that and more, Corey Conners from Listowall,
Ontario. If you're a golf fan, you say that's a guy with a
precision swing, determination. If you're Canadian, you'd
(00:46):
say that's one of our top athletes. And I imagine if you happen to be
a friend of Corey Conners, you'd say, he's someone in my life that
has authenticity, and kindness
and someone who deeply cares. I can make it sometimes for my dad, you know,
if I get a little frustrated on the golf course to say, you know, there's
there's other things other things you can do, you know. It's it's not very
(01:09):
helpful to get frustrated. It's not very helpful to beat yourself up. I
think those those things are are gonna be great to pass on.
But this show is more than just how this kid from a
small town now plays on a world stage. Coy
Carr's day indeed has arrived. He's a
winner on the PGA tour. We'll learn about discipline,
(01:32):
resilience, belief in your craft, the importance of
values that ground you, and why chasing greatness
is a game worth playing. One
shot, one moment at a time.
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. Thank you for listening to Chatter That Matters presented
(01:54):
by RBC. If you can, please subscribe to the podcast.
And ratings and reviews, well, they're always welcome and they're always
appreciated.
Corey, how are you? Good. Thanks. How are you? Good. Thanks for joining me. A
big fan and, honored to have you on the podcast. You got it. You
know, a great story, the small town kid that makes big. Tell me a little
(02:16):
bit about your background in Listowal, Ontario because I from what I
understand, you weren't just a golfer. They, there was a nod that you could actually
make the show in the NHL as well. The NHL might have been a a
little optimistic, but, was a really good hockey player, an avid hockey
player growing up, and was the captain of our, local high
school team. Loved playing sports. Golf was a
(02:38):
favorite and something that I excelled at from a young age, but, you know, really
proud of the town I grew up in. Got a lot of support from, you
know, everyone in the town to help me get to where I am, and, it's
a special place to grow up. Where I'm a little confused is every golfer
I play with that came out of with a sort of hockey has a horrible
swing, but you have one of the best swings on the course. So how did
(02:59):
you combine the two sports? Because to me, the mechanisms are are completely
different. You know, I think there's a few, things that work well in in both
motions, but probably learned, you know, the golf swing early enough that,
maybe the golf swing crept into my shot in hockey, which could have been a
little bit better. I always shot it okay. But, I think learning the
proper fundamentals and the golf swing from a young age was definitely helpful. And,
(03:22):
you know, I don't think I had too much influence from, from my hockey. Age
four, your first time on. Your your parents are avid golfers. Before we
get into your parents, do you remember the first time
you walked on a golf course, what it was like? I think, when I
was seven, years old, it's kinda when I first remember going
out there. You know, I remember getting a nice set of clubs, and I remember
(03:44):
getting a a bag tag being officially a member at the the Listowel Golf
Club. This RBC Community Junior Golf, which I love the fact to go
to these equity deserving neighborhoods and get kids that probably never even thought of
golf as something to do. And I always imagine what it's like for
them to walk on because, you know, it's not asphalt with
basketball nets. It's not a soccer field. It's something, you know,
(04:06):
completely different than anything you've ever configured in terms of, in
terms of a sports field. Yeah. I was fortunate to have access to a golf
course and and, you know, certainly remember love loving the the field
of play, if you want to call it that, just spending time outdoors.
There was pretty much endless possibilities for for me when I was a
kid, you know, walking onto the golf course. So definitely, I was fortunate
(04:28):
to be introduced to the game at a young age, but also fortunate to to
have a place that I could, could go. You know, I'm a real junkie of
sports biographies and the people that actually make it to the top because we all
know how tough that gauntlet is. And very often, underpinning
it is parents that care, sometimes parents that over
parent. Just getting a sense of your parents, their involvement
(04:50):
in what turned out to be obviously, where you become one of the best in
the world. You know, they were always really supportive of me and and provided me
with some opportunities. I don't think they ever pushed me. They
just wanted me to to be a kid. They wanted me to enjoy what I
was doing. They certainly weren't pushing me to get onto the golf course. You
know, I was the one, you know, asking, you know, if I could could go
(05:11):
play, practice, you know, spend all day out there in the summer. I was able
to kind of fall in love with it organically and, you know, still certainly love
it that today. When did you know as a young kid
that you had talent? You weren't just, you know, one
of the good golfers at the club, but there might be something very
special inside that swing and attitude. I think it happened pretty early. The
(05:32):
first tournament that my parents entered me in was a qualifier to for the
US Kids World Championship. I think I was nine years old and, I won
the qualifier. I had never really compared myself against other kids
my age, up to that point. There wasn't a ton of
other junior golfers in the local area. You know, I was playing
with my dad a lot and and his his friends as a as a youngster.
(05:55):
At that point, I got to play in the the US Kids World Championship. I
remember going to Jekyll Island, Georgia. Did reasonably well,
gained probably some confidence from that and continued to to work at it.
Throughout the rest of my, like, junior golf career, you know, I never foresaw
myself as being where I am today, to be honest. There was always other kids
that were a little bit better, but I would say my consistency was always
(06:17):
there. Didn't win a lot of events, but it was always kind of knocking
around and solid finishes. And you go to Kent State
and a lot of times, you know, you read about these athletes that just so
consumed by sports, but you're studying actuarial
math, and you're two time academic all American. I
mean, what do your parents talk about when they're bragging about you? Your golf or
(06:39):
the fact that you actually went down? I mean, actuarial math, to me, I just
smiled and I said, this is so interesting that both sides of you seem to
be roaring through that body. I wouldn't say I loved school, but I
was always, you know, fascinated by certain subjects and pretty dedicated
to to those. I started in a science program, actually, biochemistry,
and I'm a twin. My twin sister is a doctor, so she, you
(07:01):
know, took that route. But the lab time at Kent State, you know,
wasn't great. I did switch after a year or two
into, the actuarial math. Had some great
classmates. The golfers, we miss a lot of school. I think the most
school missed of any student athlete, you know, had supportive
teachers and professors and, and other classmates when we would
(07:23):
study together would kind of kind of help bring me along. But I think for
me, math, once you kind of understand a a concept, you
don't have to study it a whole lot. You can kinda problem solve and, just
the way my my brain thinks through things, I guess. And I was able to
pick it all up pretty quickly. Have you found that sort of that gray matter
that allows you to take a complex subject like math and break it down to
(07:45):
a language that you can comprehend? Does that apply to sports?
Yeah. I I really think so. I I think I've always been a pretty, you
know, relaxed and and patient person, and nothing stresses
me out too much. And, you know, when learning challenging subject matter, you kind of
have to think your way through it. And, that's kind of always where where I'm
at with my golf game too, you know, never get too high or low and,
(08:05):
you know, never think things are too far off. You know, I'm always
kind of able to think think through different, you know, situations
or kinda plan out where I wanna get to or what I wanna feel and
my fundamentals and mechanics of of the swing. There's there's kind of a,
you know, reason behind everything and and being able to dive a little deeper
in in my brain and understand those things, I think is, you know, something that
(08:27):
I've been good at and and something that's very helpful. As you look at your
competitors on the tour, I was watching a episode with, Bryson DeChambal,
and he's talking about how he applies physics to his golf swing. Do you
see that kind of on the tour, you have people that are much more free
thinking and much more disciplined? Is that kind of how it breaks out? Or
is there any kind of segmentation that you'd see even with the way people work
(08:48):
out in the gym or they're on the on their practice sessions? I think there's
kind of people are on, you know, sort of either end of the spectrum. You
know, grew up, you know, played college golf against Bryson and some amateur golf in
in professional ranks as well. And I think he's at, certainly, one end of
the spectrum where he's very scientific about his approach. I'd say it's
not overly common. I think a lot more people are sort of feel based
(09:10):
and and feel oriented. And, you know, despite my the the
way my brain thinks, I still think, you know, deep down, it's kind of
a feel, situation for me and, you know, not overly scientific
in in my approach. You first came on the map coming in
second of the US Amateurs. That must have been something quite
special. It's a pretty big stage, you know, the biggest amateur golf
(09:33):
event in the world. The year prior, I'd, lost in
the semifinal match, so it was really close to to making it to
that final match like I did, in 2014. Something
about those couple events, I think, really, you know, gave me confidence having
performed well. I remember matches in those two years beating the likes
of, you know, Patrick Rogers, top player in the world, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm,
(09:55):
Denny McCarthy in the semifinal match to make it to the final in in 2014,
you know, all PGA Tour players. And my confidence sort of
grew, a little bit through, my time at Kent State. Started
winning some events and, you know, it was an all American and, you know, ranked
pretty highly in the the amateur golf rankings. So For people who don't
follow golf, I mean, one of the the tickets that you get for winning
(10:17):
the US amateur coming in second is a chance to play in the masters.
It's a pretty special perk, and a nice consolation prize for for being the
runner out there. And you played Augusta before that? Or
so I got an invitation or they send a letter to you, in the
late fall. Gives you some information if you wanna go play the golf course.
So, might have been two or three days later, I hopped in the car with
(10:39):
my dad. They allowed me to play just, you know, by myself with a local
with a club caddy, and my dad was able to walk around. So I did
go and and play the golf course a handful of times before the
tournament. Yeah. First time getting in there, you know, was was pretty special.
And, you know, I was driving a an old car at the time and just
imagining how many cars they turn away at the gate at Magnolia Lane, and you
(11:01):
know, they see just another one coming to to turn away, but it's a
magical place. And, you know, I've been fortunate to have qualified for many
masters now, and it definitely never gets old. But I'll always remember, the first
one. And and being an amateur, playing in the masters, there's kinda some
perks as well. I got to stay in the Crow's Nest, which is Top Floor
of the clubhouse, kind of above the Champions Locker Room and all the
(11:23):
history and One of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and I I had
a chance to walk it. And, I was amazed at the
elevation you don't appreciate on TV. It is crazy, the undulation there. And,
you know, one of the things that shocked me was how open the property was,
like, from the clubhouse, the first tee area is kind of the the high point
on the property, and you're looking down, you can actually see quite a few holes.
(11:43):
But, yeah, the tenth hole was was shocking for me. It's I think you could
put on a pair of skis there and and ski down it, then much like
the eighteenth right beside it. And so your debut in the professional league was
the RBC heritage. Did you sign with RBC yet by the time you played that,
or was that just all gonna come together then? So RBC was a
partner of the national team program with Golf Canada,
(12:05):
that I was fortunate to be a part of and, you know, had some connections.
I I wasn't an RBC ambassador, at the time, but being a
Canadian, I think, helped. And, you know, their connection to me through
Golf Canada, playing in the Masters and then making my pro debut at the
RBC Heritage the following week was was really special. Got a taste of the
PGA Tour early, didn't have much success, but was,
(12:27):
was really hungry to sort of earn my way out there and and was able
to do that pretty quickly. Like, I would imagine getting on that
PGA card. There's a lot of imposter syndrome at the beginning
because you're looking around and there's a lot of talent and there's a lot of
talent behind you that wants that card. I mean, it's it's gotta be one of
the greatest pressure sports. I mean, you're not signed for a ten year contract
(12:47):
with guaranteed income. You're kinda that eat what you kill mentality. I
know it's changed a little bit, but what was it like the early days? You
know, getting a taste of it early, you know, then earning my way there. I
I did have a sense of belonging and gained confidence through the ranks
knowing that I could, you know, compete, you know, on the PGA Tour having earned
my card, and it's different. There's no nothing guaranteed. You know,
(13:09):
you're you're playing for your livelihood. And I I was good at looking at sort
of the big picture, you know, it wasn't, you know, each shot wasn't the most
important shot in the world and each day wasn't the most important round in my
life. You know, I was gonna get lots of opportunities. I I could just trust
my game and trust the process of, you know, doing what I do and, you
know, felt like I could have the consistency that that I've
(13:29):
had, you know, stay out on the PGA tour for, for many years. And my
games continue to be refined and, you know, the consistency is still there, but
definitely at a higher level. 2019. There's no guarantee
just because you have your PGA card, I guess. So take me to the Valero
Texas Open, because I understand you're only the fifth person in history
to get in on a Monday qualifier, then walk out at the end with the
(13:52):
trophy. I had a PGA Tour card. My status, you know, it's kind of
all goes off a priority ranking. I was fairly low on the priority ranking
list. I'd actually had a quite a good season up to that point, but I
couldn't sort of, you know, better my status by, you know, doing that. I
had already finished second and third in in some events, played in the Players
Championship, you know, the flagship event on the tour, played in the Arnold
(14:14):
Palmer Invitational, you know, played in the Genesis Invitational. So I'd played my
way into some of the bigger events, but, the Valero Texas Open, you know, just
being a sort of called a standard PGA Tour event, you know, there's a lot
of guys ahead of me trying to get in the field there, and there was
an other the only other way to qualify for it was to go to the
Monday qualifier, which, you know, there's 80 players playing for
four spots. And I was able to get one of those spots, and I
(14:36):
think because I had had success, on the tour
up to that point, you know, playing in that Monday qualifier, there wasn't a lot
of pressure. It wasn't do or die. Whenever you qualify, you have to
have pretty special round. And I just tried to keep that mindset through the
tournament and knew I was playing well. The rest, I guess, is
history. How do you hold it together on that fourth day
(14:57):
when you know that you've got a shot at the victories, your first one?
Your first one's gotta be one of the the hardest one. Yeah. It's definitely a
big hurdle to get over. You don't know if you kinda have it in yet.
It's hard to win. I had a really up and down day that day. I
made 10 birdies, throughout the day. I started with four birdies in the
first five holes, then made four bogeys in a row on six through
(15:19):
nine back to even par and and, you know, added six more birdies on the
the back nine. Was able to to birdie the seventy first
hole to seventeenth there, on Sunday and give myself a three shot lead
going out into the last. Yeah. You know, it's not over until the ball goes
into the hole, but it was nice to have a little bit of a a
cushion there and tried to take it slow one step at a time. And
(15:39):
it was definitely, a special feeling. I'm always curious as a
fan, what is like on the eighteenth hole when you've got a two or three
stroke lead? Are you relaxed, or is even more tension within you?
Because, you know, if you chili dip it or slice it into the woods or
something, or is it just you just as an a professional athlete, you go, this
is just a shot? I think there's a bit of both sides. You know, it's
(16:00):
just a shot, and I'm pretty good at that. But there's definitely, you know, some
thoughts there on on thinking of how, you know, how it's possible to to
screw things up, just try and execute the golf shots, you know, keep your
mind present. And I was able to do that. What role does
the caddy play in all of this? Because it is one of
the most interesting sports in the sense that you have a
(16:22):
friend, a a fan, somebody that's not not afraid to dress
you down if they think they're going the wrong way. I mean, that whole relationship
to me is a really unique dynamic in golf. Yeah. It sure is. And I
think it's, you know, it's an important role. You have to I've had
a couple different caddies through my career and both, you know, been
great guys to be around, easy guys to get along with.
(16:43):
They're really professionals, you know, they they have to work hard. I rely on, you
know, my caddy for a lot of details and, you know, a lot of advice
out there throughout each round. And even more important, when you're
in contention or you're trying to win, you know, you gotta be making the right
decisions and, you know, having someone you can communicate with and a
relaxing presence around you is is really, really helpful. So this team of
(17:04):
Canadian golfers that wear both the Maple Leaf and the RBC Shield
is quite something. And in your case, that took you twice the
Olympics and then also being a member of the Presidents Cup. What's it like to
play for Canada? It's really special. Growing up as a junior golfer,
getting to play on the national team and some international events and through my amateur
career was really amazing. It's, you know, proud Canadian and
(17:25):
it's pretty awesome to put on the Canadian flag and carry the
Canadian bag, represent, you know, a great country. Really lucky
and and fortunate to have qualified for the Olympics a few times, you know, to
represent Canada on the International Presidents Cup team, twice now.
Grew up, you know, watching the Olympics, winter and summer,
and, it wasn't really something golf wasn't a part of the Olympics, so it wasn't
(17:47):
something I ever thought was, you know, gonna be possible. But once it got added
into the Olympic games in, 2016, it was a big goal of
mine. I thought it would be be really cool and gonna be definitely working hard
over the coming years to to qualify, for the Olympics again
in in 2028. I often equate professional
sports almost to that. You know, when you leave elementary school, you go to mid
(18:10):
school and then high school. It's almost like you go in as the rookie. When
do you become the veteran? When do you people start looking to you and saying,
you know, Corey, we need not just your capabilities
on the course, but also that leadership. Yeah. I think it just kinda happens
because it's who you are. I'm I'm a fairly quiet person, but,
you know, I do recognize certain situations, you know, where I do have some
(18:31):
experience and can can share that. You know, I've had close friend
Taylor Pendras get on the PGA tour over the last couple years and, you know,
tried to give him some advice. He played in his first masters this past April
and played some practice rounds with him and tried to share some of the things
that I had learned, some of the things that I had felt and
be a leader in some respects. But you know it's an
(18:53):
individual sport for the most part and apart from these team
events. You know the team events I've been a part of on the President's Cup
I think there are some some leadership guys, the the captains
are all successful players, they've been successful on international
teams and, successful in in their golf careers. And, you know,
think of a guy like Adam Scott who's played on so many international presidents cup
(19:15):
teams. And he is a guy who has definitely taken a leadership role and more
vocal than than a lot of other guys and and really helpful and,
really lucky day that he's part of the team.
We come back, Corey Conner and I talk about what's next, my three takeaways,
and then Mark Soder joins the show to talk about why golf matters.
(19:39):
Hi. It's Tony Chapman. RBC has been a long standing supporter of golf
in both Canada and The United States through their title sponsorship of the
PGA Tour's RBC Canadian Open and RBC's Heritage
Tournament, as well as key partnerships with the Heritage Classic Foundation Golf
Canada and the PGA of Canada. Combined, RBC
golf tournaments have raised over 35,000,000 to help
(20:02):
communities thrive. But did you know about RBC Community Junior
Golf? This is an initiative led by RBC in partnership with
Golf Canada that's building greater diversity and equity in golf
by providing affordable access for youth from equity deserving communities
across Canada. To date, RBC Community Junior Golf has
engaged more than 20,000 youth participants by providing first
(20:24):
tee programming at no cost and subsidizing green fees
through youth on course. Who knows? One of those kids might be
the next Nick Taylor. For the eagle. For the win. To the
cap. Taken. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The
trial is over. The trial is over. Nick
Taylor with the eagle. The 2023 RBC
(20:47):
Canadian Open champion. He's an icon now in this
country. Supporting Canadian youth? Well, that matters to you, to
me, and to RBC.
I knew I was gonna give myself many more chances. I've had a lot of
good finishes and learned a lot over the last few years and have a lot
of confidence in my game. It's just a matter of time. Just keep pecking away
(21:09):
and wasn't expecting to happen this week, but, Corey
Carr's day indeed has arrived. He's a
winner on the PGA tour. Joining me is Corey
Connors. If you're a golf fan, you'll know him for his precision golf striking ability,
athletes. And if you're fortunate enough to have him as a friend, chances are you'll
(21:32):
say he's one of the most real, authentic, hardworking, and wonderful
people you've ever met.
The narrative that's certainly presented to the golf fan
is that everybody's competitive on the course, but off
the course, there seems to be a lot of camaraderie. Is that fairly consistent
that more often than not, everybody supports everybody until
(21:54):
it's time to tee off? A lot of guys on the PGA Tour have a
good relationship and, you know, are are friendly. You know, that can
maybe change when you're in the the heat of competition, but the culture on the
PGA Tour is excellent, and the culture in pro golf is is great
where guys are supportive of one another. What advice can you give
to the people listening about when things don't go your way?
(22:15):
I like what you said earlier that, you know, I try to manage the highs
and lows because obviously when it doesn't go your way,
you've got cameras on you, you've got fans watching you. I mean, you're
in the public domain, but how do you frame it, and and how can we
learn from that? For golfers, we're we're used to losing. You know, we
lose more than probably any other, athlete because it's it's
(22:37):
very difficult to win. I guess apart from maybe Scottie Scheffler seems to win quite
often, but there's certainly a lot of disappointments.
But you can also find positives in in those. You can learn lessons.
I've always been pretty good at, you know, whether it's a great week
or or a really bad week or or an average week of of kind of
making some notes and, you know, assessing things. You know, there's there's always some things
(22:59):
I can find that I did well. There's always some things I can find that
I would like to do better. You know, if there's a lot of things I'd
like to do better, I need to to make a plan and, you know, be
excited about trying to do those better next time and and be proud of trying
to improve on those. I think that can be used in life and
for, you know, many different professions where, you know, know, there's always gonna be some
setbacks and some disappointments. Try and learn from them and and then really
(23:22):
enjoy the successes that will come, if you you keep working
hard. Becoming a father and two with two children, has that
changed anything in terms of your priorities, your
approach to the game, your approach to life? I feel like everything I do
is is for my kids now. I, you know, feel
really lucky to to be a dad to to two great, young
(23:45):
kids, and now I've got a great wife who's always been really supportive.
You know, we've known each other for a very long time, and she's been been
kind of through it all with me. She's a lot more emotional
through through the highs and lows, so maybe she could, could learn some of those
lessons. But being a dad's amazing. You know, it allows
me to separate golf and and life and do whatever I need to do for
(24:06):
the kids off the golf course. And, you know, when I'm playing, certainly, you know,
playing for them. What lessons did you learn from your mom or your dad that
you're hoping to to bring to your kids? You know, being really supportive
of whatever I wanted to do. That was something that I really appreciate now from
my parents. Gave me opportunity to do what I wanted,
provided some, you know, direction and and guidance there. Always just
(24:27):
making sure that I was happy. Gave me freedom when when I needed it,
you know, they reined me in when when I didn't. I even think of
sometimes my dad, you know, if I get a little frustrated on the golf
course, you know, he would just say, you know, there's there's other things other things
you can do, you know. It's it's not very helpful to get frustrated.
It's not very helpful to beat yourself up. I think those those things are are
(24:49):
gonna be great to to pass on and, you know, have a positive outlook and
and try and have fun with everything that you do. And who do you look
up to on the tour in terms of being that
ambassador to the game? Not just not so much just their talent, but you just
go, that individual embodies what I believe the game of golf is all about.
Someone that I've always had a lot of admiration for is Rory McElroy.
(25:10):
He he's pretty outspoken, trying to help grow the game
of golf when he doesn't have to be. He's obviously an incredible talent,
but I think he's been a great ambassador for the game. He kinda puts himself
out there. You know, this is very helpful to the game and something that I
admire. The PGA Tour, obviously, it went through a big
stress test over the last couple of years with Liv. And and yet now
(25:32):
the commentators are kind of saying, you know, these championships are really
showing the difference between the PGA players that play every day and
the most competitive situations and those that don't. How do you think this will
all resolve? Or do you have any idea how this will resolve so that it's
good for the game, good for the fans, and good for the players? I will
say that I think the PGA Tour is in a great place, continuing to grow,
(25:53):
continuing to get better, you know, the tournaments we play week in and week out
are, you know, against a lot of the best players in the world. Certainly, you
know, miscompeting against some of the guys, some of the players on the LIV
tour. I think some of those guys would help grow, golf on the
PGA tour, but they've been doing a great job finding a way to to
grow. I think the, you know, the product is as entertaining as ever and and
(26:14):
competitive as ever. The lessons in life that
you can get from the golf course, you You know, and I go back to
RBC Community Junior Golf sort of make trying to make golf more
inclusive because a lot of parents might not think of golf as a
natural sport. You know, it's kind of that almost white privilege sport,
but RBC is trying to counter that. What lessons in life can we
(26:36):
get off the golf course that we can apply to everyday life? It's awesome to
see, you know, RBC. They do so much for golf and and then, you know,
investing in the grassroots and getting more kids into the game. But there's so many
lessons that you can learn, you know, whether it be organization, disciplines,
you know, work ethic, the first TEE program coming to Canada
as well. They've, you know, they've got a number of pillars of of lessons that
(26:58):
are, you know, great for every kid to learn in in golfing in
life. Now, I'm hoping as I continue to to grow in my career,
I can, you know, be a part of some of the the giving back as
well and and try and get more kids introduced to the game.
My wife and I are trying to do that in our our community a little
bit already, and it's definitely exciting to to see young kids have fun with
(27:19):
golf. RBC Canadian Open coming up. It must be one of the most
exciting tournaments for you to play because it's you're certainly a fan
favor. It's always so much fun coming back and playing the RBC
Canadian Open front of the Canadian fans. You know, Canadian fans are the
best. They're they're really well traveled and seem to have Canadian supporters everywhere
that I play, but none more than the the home event.
(27:41):
The fifth major, if you call it, on on the on my schedule,
grew up watching that, attending it, being able to just see it up there and,
you know, being one of the top Canadian golfers and and someone that everybody out
there is rooting for is a special feeling. And I've done a good job or
a better job, I think, the last two years sort of feeding off the crowd,
their energy. They all want me to do well and can kinda use, cheers to
(28:01):
my advantage and hopefully, get myself in the mix.
You know, I always end my podcast with my three takeaways. And the first one
is really how you embody the narrative of how Canadians want to
be thought of. In a time where we're very divided as a country, what knits
us together is when we see our athletes and our celebrities acting
with such integrity and grace. We could take that
(28:23):
back into our own lives instead of always being forward against. So I I
appreciate your, just your attitude and approach. I love the the the sense
of highs and lows because, especially today's
world, I mean, we are on a roller coaster. And I think finding a
midpoint at times is some of the best advice because you can't
predict either how high or how low it's gonna happen, but at least finding some
(28:45):
footing. And as you said, even at the end of a game to look at
what you did well and what you did bad, but both of them matter.
And then just the third thing that you we just talked about when you talked
about the sense that there's so much to learn and maybe that we sometimes
just get so caught up in the in the excitement of sport and the leaderboard.
But when you step back and realize that all began with a four year
(29:07):
old who became a nine year old and won his first tournament and then went
on to study for some crazy thing, actuarial math to be an all
American. And now where you are, it's a hero's journey and
I'm, I'm really looking forward to the Open and I've got
you in my pool, so don't screw up. Yeah. No pressure. Thanks very much. I
think, you know, those are all amazing takeaways. Just a normal guy who
(29:28):
grew up in a small town in Southwestern Ontario and and I worked hard and
tried to chase my dreams and, fortunate to to be living it.
We're living it with you. So I appreciate you joining me in Chatter the Matters,
Corey. Yeah. Thanks, Sonny.
So welcoming back to the show Mark Soder. He's the director of brand marketing at
RBC, focusing primarily on the golf program.
(29:52):
And we were talking, before we turned on the camera, and
your friends are questioning why you don't play better golf and you'd had to let
them know that it's actually a a full time job. This isn't just an
opportunity to take the sticks out in the course. Yeah. You're right. I, I do
wish I got out a little bit more, but get to be at beautiful golf
courses through the work lens. We're not not actually swinging as much as I'd like
(30:13):
to. Golf is such an important part of your platform
at RBC. And I guess the first question a lot of listeners would have is
why golf and not hockey or one of the other sort of sports
that are attention grabbing? We have been invested into golf for nearly
two decades. Our primary objective is actually US awareness.
We're not, retail bank in The United States. And when you
(30:36):
look at who our core consumer, our core audience is in The
United States. And the ecosystem that we could build within golf from
media objectives, from awareness building objectives, from client hosting objectives,
golf really bubbled up as an attractive sport, an
attractive platform to invest and grow and and do what
we needed to do. And as you talk about that ecosystem, I mean, one move
(30:58):
on the chessboard, I should say, on the golf course that you made was the
sense of actually sponsoring events. RBC Canadian
Open, I get, but you're also involved with the heritage as well. What's
the rationale behind putting your name on a tournament?
For people listening, how do you measure success? We
measure the RBC logo on all of
(31:20):
our ambassadors' patches on their sleeve with, our logo
is all over the tournament from pin flags to tee
backs, to encores to the hospitality tents. And
we, along with our agency partners, measure to the second,
what type of TV exposure, duration, clarity,
etcetera. And through the system, the algorithm, we can
(31:43):
compute what the return on that is. And another big component, and we talk
about that ecosystem and what it does not only from a media and the media
volume that we get through through the contracts of the thirty second spots,
but also who we are hosting on-site and just that
that client and through the whole week of programming, what that means to our
business and our advisors and executives on-site. You know, Corey Conners is on
(32:05):
the show, as you know, and he wears the RBC shield
proudly. I should tell you that, he speaks so highly of
this partnership. He really does feel it's a partnership versus a sponsorship.
Talk to me a little bit about that strategy as well because I've invested in
these tournaments, but I'm also have this sort of team RBC.
How do you choose the kind of talent that you're after? And
(32:28):
what's the relationship besides the exchange of a shield and money
that you deem to be time and money well spent? This year, we have
11 ambassadors across both LPGA and the
PGA. They are a part of the family,
ensuring that their core values align
with RBC's core values is a big component
(32:50):
of of what we do. And Corey Conners has been
an amazing addition to the team, speaks so highly of of
the partnership. We're aligned with his values. He
is, a wonderful player and an incredible ambassador
and does some some incredible moments with our executives and and
guests that makes our platform so special from a hosting and
(33:13):
hospitality perspective. One part of your platform that many aren't aware of, but
I am so proud of this RBC Community Junior Golf.
It's saying to the people that are involved with it, golf is for everybody,
not just being a somebody. This is an area of our our
platform that we're really proud of. The
objective of this platform was to to put clubs in
(33:35):
hands of kids for the first time, underrepresented communities and kids that would
maybe otherwise never get the chance to play golf.
And we know inherently the values, the life
lessons, those moments in time with your parents and your family,
growing up on a golf course, what those life lessons can bring you.
So what we learned going through even COVID
(33:58):
was forty eight percent of new entrants to
golf were from the BIPOC community. We've engaged
together with our partnership with First Tee and Youth On Course, we've engaged over
50,000 youth from coast to coast and
introduced them to to the game and hopefully a game that they fall in love
with and and stick with for a lifetime. So Mark, last
(34:20):
year I talked to a lot of people and I'm always fascinated by stats.
But one that stood out was when I talked to you and you
let me know that golf wasn't just for a handful. In fact, the momentum behind
golf in Canada, it's one of the fastest growing sports. Are we still seeing
that? There's a a lot of growing momentum behind the
game, which is exciting. And as an industry,
(34:42):
this sport matters to Canadians. There's
over 2,000 golf courses in Canada.
Golf as an industry employs over
300,000 Canadians. And when we talk about charity,
when we talk about, not just in golf, when we talk about charity across the
board, there's over $300,000,000 raised
(35:03):
in Canada for various great
objectives and causes. And golf is the vehicle
that helps bring those stories and those dollars, to fruition.
So golf in Canada matters. You know, Mark, it's interesting
how this all started a couple of decades ago to build some awareness
in United States and has become such beautiful momentum
(35:26):
for society and for the RBC branch. So it's, let's teeing
it off. We got the Canadian open coming up. We'd love to see another Canadian
sink another 92 foot putt to win it. You can't buy that kind of,
excitement. Good things come to good brands and good people. So thank you for joining
me. Appreciate it. Thanks, Tony.
Once again, a special thanks to RBC for supporting Chatter That
(35:48):
Matters. It's Tony Chapman. Thanks for listening, and let's chat soon.
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