Brayden Miller 2024 IHSAA State Boys Champ

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to another episode of from the Cart Path. I'm your host, Trent Roberts. When we created this podcast, our goal was to make sure we highlight our top junior players in the state of Indiana. We are doing that this week and I am excited that Braden Miller, our defending state champion on the boys side, will be joining us for our conversation. Every player will have a different journey and today we get to hear about Braden's journey. I look forward to many more conversations like this with other great junior players. As a parent, we all want to see our kids succeed and watch them grow. I was able to speak to Darrell Miller, his father, and learn more about Braden. I can assure you this kid has the grit and determination to make it to the next level. His parents have sacrificed, supported and have shown him the way. Braden, all of us will be cheering for you as you continue your journey. And I'll be the first to admit I look forward to seeing this kid on Sundays on the weekend. One of my goals with this podcast will always be to ensure that players from Indiana are recognized. When I was thinking about who would be a great guest, many players from the state came to mind. Ashley Kirkland, Ady Coy, Ava Bunker, Taylor Snively, Alex Holder, Will Harvey, the Caesar brothers, and many more. This player stood out for many reasons. He's the defending IHSAA state champion. The boys state junior champion qualified for match play at the U.S. junior Amateur and won at these additional tournaments in 2024. Golf Week at Purdue 69, 67. Golf Week at Ball State 66 67. And a side note, I don't think I could put a scramble team together to shoot a 66, by the way, and two top five finishes at AJGA events, fourth in Michigan and third in St. Louis. He's currently ranked 47th on my favorite ranking system, the Universal Golf Ranking System. He's also ranked as the number one junior player in Indiana. And here's some additional data on him before we say who he is. And I guess everybody's already figured it out. When I looked at this data, it says he's a better player on days it rains than when it's not raining. He plays better in 10 to 15 mile per hour winds and he averages 4.6 on par fives. He maintains a 70 scoring average. And on the side note, that's a 69.1 average for competitive golf in Indiana. So it all began back in 2010 when Darrell took him to the golf course and he rode around with him in the golf cart. Played for about three holes, but I'm going to guess when we talk about this in a second, is those three holes made this young man one of the best junior golfers in the world. Let's welcome Braden Miller to the podcast. Braden, thanks for joining me and being our first player guest. [00:03:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:20] Speaker A: The Cincinnati. Realize what they're getting with you? [00:03:23] Speaker B: I hope, I hope. I mean, I'm really looking forward to it. They're getting a really hard worker. [00:03:29] Speaker A: So tell me about that process. I know it began back June 15, was it 2023? [00:03:35] Speaker B: Yes, sir. Yep. [00:03:36] Speaker A: Tell me about that first day and kind of how Cincinnati got to the table and how you went that direction. [00:03:42] Speaker B: Oh, boy. So first. First year opened up. First day, first day it opened up, woke up at like 6 in the morning, got 40 some phone calls within three, three hours. I mean, it. It was crazy. I mean, just. I mean, not really, no. I mean, I was kind of. I was kind of freaking out because I'm trying to schedule everything and I'm on. On the phone with somebody and another school's calling. I'm trying to, like, text them while on the, on the. On the phone with another school. It was. It was a mess, but it was pretty. It was pretty hectic first day. But a lot of schools sounded very interested in me, and a lot of schools wanted to keep talking to me. And as time went on, I had to manage talking to those schools, and I still had to manage my golf life. So I had to manage, like, how. How well I play in tournaments and everything. So first I'm gonna go into the tournament story here. So first tournament back after the first week of recruiting, all that stuff went through, and obviously, for a young teenager like I was. It's. It's going to be. It's really, really hard on you, and it's. There's a lot of pressure, Braden. [00:04:45] Speaker A: It is a lot of pressure. And it's a lot of stress on you as well. [00:04:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a lot of pressure. And to just. In June is such a big month for college coaches, because if you perform well in the month of June, they're going to. They're going to keep talking to you for the rest of the year. But I mean, if you play. If you play awful in that month of June, a lot of. A lot of the coaches are just going to walk away from you. And that's. That's what I learned after. So I played in the Western Junior Amateur. It was in Illinois. First. First tournament back after recruiting, and I went 81, 79. And I never really cried after A golf tournament and I cried there and because I just didn't think I was going to be able to commit anywhere. Like I just had that thought in your head. All the negative thoughts started to creep in and everything. And that's, I mean my thoughts did come true a little bit. A lot of the coaches stopped talking to me, coach stopped contacting me. So all those 40 school that talked to me on the first day, it maybe went down to 15 after that tournament. So yeah, it was pretty harsh. [00:05:39] Speaker A: It's like, that's brutal. [00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah, it's. That month of June is so big and I continue to struggle a little bit as I as, as I progress throughout the year. But then Indiana Boys State came up the stroke play, match play and didn't have the best showing there either. I mean it's still trying to handle like control everything. I mean I won it in 2022 and then go to 2023 and I lost in the round 16. [00:06:02] Speaker A: Real quick. You won that in 2022 when you're coming out of eighth grade? [00:06:07] Speaker B: Yes, I, I believe so. It was either, it was either, I can't remember it was either ninth or eighth. So. [00:06:13] Speaker A: So you were that kid in eighth grade that beat all the older guys and they were like, really? [00:06:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I'd be that this year either. But yeah, it's just like, it's just, it's really harsh on you and it's, it's kind of opens up your eyes a little bit and yeah, I think once, once that recruiting process hit, it really matured me as a person. I mean it really made me think stuff through and take big responsibility role. But as it went on, I tried to set up my first official visit with Liberty. Liberty University in Virginia. Little Christian School. Yes. But I just, I didn't, I didn't want to go far from home. Like I, as I, as I thought on and as time went on, I just didn't want to go far away from home. [00:06:55] Speaker A: Now, real quick, when you first started the recruiting process, did you think you wanted to go farther away from home? [00:07:01] Speaker B: So. No. No. [00:07:02] Speaker A: Okay. [00:07:03] Speaker B: But, but it was just like when I got all those calls first day, it was, I mean, I was like, Auburn called me, Stanford called me, Wisconsin called me. All. I mean, I mean every, almost every school in the Power 5, you can think of that they called me and I was like, it's pretty cool. Texas Tech, all those schools. I'm like, it's pretty cool. It was pretty cool. They'd get all those phone calls and I was like, I was Kind of considering it. And once I tried to set up my visit with Liberty in late July, and then at that time I kind of realized I'm like, I just want to stay a little bit closer to home. So I canceled that visit with Liberty. They were pretty upset about it. They. I mean, pretty. Pretty harsh phone call. They were pretty upset about it. But then the next week, I set up my visit with Iowa, the Hawkeyes, and Nice. That. That was a great visit. I mean, I took my visit there. That was a great visit. I. It was a really hard decision. And then, like, it was like three days later, I set up my visit with Cincinnati, went there, and I really fell in love with the coaches there. Like those. They're. I mean, there's not another coach like Coach Martin. I mean, I just. He's. He's unbelievable. The way he talks to you, the way he develops players, the way he, like, treats his players and treats them like family. And that's kind of what really decided me on Cincinnati. Back to the recruiting. I mean, trying to play through all this. I mean, I never thought I was going to go to Cincinnati, and Cincinnati was. Cincinnati didn't even call me first day. So I didn't think. I didn't think I was going to go there. I really wanted to go to Purdue, but never called. So shout out to Purdue, but it's okay. [00:08:30] Speaker A: Great job, Purdue. [00:08:31] Speaker B: I committed super early. I committed. When did I commit? Do you know? By chance? I think I committed. October. End of October. End of October. I think of your junior year. Yeah, that's pretty early for. [00:08:43] Speaker A: But do you think committing early changed everything for you? For your game? [00:08:47] Speaker B: No, for my game. It made everything better. Right, right, right. When I committed, I started. I hit the gas. Everything just. Everything went off. I started playing like my old self again. I mean, I just started. I started winning again and golf started to become more fun. Like I. There was just no pressure. Once I committed, it was just set sail. I was playing with house money. That was a bunch of my. That's what my coach liked to call it. But before I committed, it was just, gotta. Gotta play good in this tournament. Gotta play good in this tournament. Gotta perform well. Like in the Western Junior, there was. I think we kind of. There's like 22 coaches. First tee that followed me, first hole, and I doubled my first hole. All gone. All of them gone. And then I shanked. I. Hole two is a par three. Shanked my four iron off the second tee. Then they really disappeared. Then they're all gone. [00:09:29] Speaker A: It's Almost like a Roy McAvoy moment from 10. [00:09:31] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I know. Oh, yeah. [00:09:33] Speaker A: But probably should have turned your hat around and put the change in the other pocket. [00:09:37] Speaker B: Yeah. But Cincinnati, really. They. They stuck by me. They. They were one of those schools that were really loyal to me, and they never backed away when I played bad. They still believed in me when none of the coaches felt like they did. And that's what. That's what really set me on them, too. So another thing about Cincinnati. So Coach Martin, he was the. He was, like, the top ranked amateur golfer in the world. He. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:10:01] Speaker B: He. He was. He won the US Junior. US Junior AM Stroke Play and Match Play. He won the Western Junior Amateur, I believe. Went to Oklahoma, played on tour. Went into a playoff against Vijay singh in, like, 1995, the Buick Open. Lost in a playoff. But he's. [00:10:20] Speaker A: He got there and he performed well. [00:10:22] Speaker B: That's what I mean. Yeah. Then, like, I just. I really feel like he can develop me the way he is that he thinks he can. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Ultimate goal is to make Tour. I mean, that's. This. That's. This is my job. [00:10:35] Speaker A: You know, I. I had the luxury of speaking with Daryl last night. Your father. [00:10:38] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:38] Speaker A: He had a great quote, and I think you'll remember this is he told. [00:10:43] Speaker B: You. [00:10:46] Speaker A: Don'T go to the school that wows you. Go to the coach that wows you. [00:10:50] Speaker B: Right? Yep. [00:10:51] Speaker A: And I think for you, that was the right thing for what you're trying to accomplish. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Right. And a lot of people at school still give me a lot of crap about, oh, Cincinnati. But a lot of these guys never touched a golf club in their life. [00:11:05] Speaker A: What are they? [00:11:07] Speaker B: That's what I mean. A lot of these guys are like. They're. They're looking at the football team, obviously, the foot. I'm not going there for football. A lot of these guys. I mean, a lot of guys don't give a. Enough credit for people who play golf. And that's. That's what really upsets me, Braden. [00:11:20] Speaker A: They don't. I even remember being in high school back in the day. That's back in the early 90s, when I graduated in 93. It's the same thing. The funny thing that happens. And you're going to see this in five years after you graduate high school. [00:11:35] Speaker B: Yep. [00:11:35] Speaker A: When you come back and people know who you are and you make it to that next level, they're going to start playing golf. [00:11:42] Speaker B: Yep. Yep. [00:11:44] Speaker A: And then they're going to come to you, and they're going to say, I should have picked this up earlier. I don't know why I didn't play earlier. [00:11:51] Speaker B: Yep. [00:11:51] Speaker A: And it's going to happen. Your dad has probably told you the same thing. I see it all the time. [00:11:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:59] Speaker A: With young adults, they pick up golf. Why didn't I play this earlier? [00:12:03] Speaker B: Right. [00:12:03] Speaker A: And that's not my problem. Sorry. That you were set the bench on the football team all four years in high school, ended up at whatever school not playing anything. And here I am living my dream, going where I want to go fill. Fulfill my dream. Right. That's what you're doing. So let's. Let's go back in time. What's the earliest memory you have from playing. [00:12:27] Speaker B: From playing golf? [00:12:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:12:30] Speaker B: Oh, probably. Probably my first hole in one. My first three, so. [00:12:35] Speaker A: Oh, Jesus. [00:12:36] Speaker B: So first, first three hole in ones were at this small little course called Raccoon Run. It's right across the street from. It used to be right across the street from Stonehenge Golf Club in Warsaw. [00:12:45] Speaker A: Is that Denny Hempler's course? [00:12:47] Speaker B: Yep, Yep, yep. [00:12:48] Speaker A: Okay. [00:12:48] Speaker B: It was. Yeah. But yeah, so it's a neighborhood complex now, but. [00:12:52] Speaker A: Oh, man. [00:12:53] Speaker B: Yeah. It's sad. Yeah. But raccoon run, hole 17, I made a hole in one from. On that same hole three times in a row from three different tee boxes. Like all within. All within like two years. Three different tee boxes. Yep. I actually, I actually have the hole in one trophies right here. It's. So we got hole 17, 119 yards. Hole 17, 145 yards and then hole 17, 180 yards. [00:13:25] Speaker A: How old were you during all of these? [00:13:27] Speaker B: This was 20. 18. So 11 maybe. Yeah. 11, 12. Yeah. [00:13:35] Speaker A: What club did you hit in that? 115. [00:13:38] Speaker B: 115. [00:13:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:39] Speaker B: Does it say that was a seven? Nine. Yep. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Now it's like you're 64 degree right? [00:13:46] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. Yeah. [00:13:50] Speaker A: So three hole in ones there. How many hole in ones do you have? [00:13:53] Speaker B: I have 10. Yep. [00:13:56] Speaker A: Oh my gosh. What's your. Besides your first one, what's your favorite one? [00:14:01] Speaker B: Oh, okay. So Middle school conference. First first hole, first hole of the day. Drained it 170 yards. First first hole of middle school conference. Wallacea Golf club made it. Whole crowd watching me and I just. I made it drained. [00:14:18] Speaker A: It rained 10 hole in ones. You're 18 and how many? I know so many people like me that have been playing their entire lives that don't even have one. You know, funny quick story for me on this is my grandfather had three. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Yep. [00:14:35] Speaker A: And he left those balls to me. [00:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:38] Speaker A: When he passed Away. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:39] Speaker A: Basically as a joke, knowing that I didn't have one. Oh, it's harsh. Yeah, a little harsh. Still bitter. But I laugh about it every day. [00:14:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:49] Speaker A: And when I tell people that and it's just, it's just one of those things. But 10's great. Now tell me about that time when I was talking to your dad about the note of the game, your first qualifier. Tell me about how you felt like, I can do this on my own. Versus. [00:15:05] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:06] Speaker A: I need their help. [00:15:08] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Speaking of the Notre Bay qualifier, in that, in the practice round of that tournament, I made one. A whole eight. Oh my God. In the, in the, in the practice front of that qualifier. So just had to bring that up. But. So, I mean, obviously I hit it in the trees and he's, he's being a dad. He always wants to be, wants to be a part of it and like that's how every son, father, son relationship is. He always wants to like, tell me what to do and like. Because he's always right. Right. The son's never right. And obviously I don't, I didn't listen to him a lot of times. I listened to him a lot, but a lot of times I didn't. [00:15:45] Speaker A: But he turned out okay. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Yeah. But I just, I just wanted to do this on my own. Like, he, he told me to punch it out in the middle of fairway. I'm like, no, I, I have an opening. I mean, I gotta win. I mean, I gotta win this playoff. Well, I need to get to Louisiana. Right? [00:15:58] Speaker A: How big was that opening? [00:16:00] Speaker B: It was not very big. It was probably like, it was probably like six feet wide. [00:16:05] Speaker A: How old were you? 12? 13. [00:16:08] Speaker B: 13 probably. Yeah. [00:16:09] Speaker A: At 13 years old. A six foot wide gap in golf is like a thousand foot wide gap. Because we think we can do anything at that age, right? [00:16:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And then like my, my, the other kid I'm playing in the playoff, well, he's right down the middle of fairway and he had to play first. He puts it on the green to like 15ft. I'm like, oh. I'm like, I'm my chance. I mean, I could have punched out and just hit a wedge up there and maybe get par. But I, I really felt like I could have. I really felt like I could have pulled something there and I, I did. I mean, I hit that gap and that's one of the times that they think that I really stood up for myself and like in public like that to my dad. And he was like, yeah, I mean, I could, I. Then I Finally realized I could, like, do something like that. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Braden, you do realize, had you hit the trees and that bounced back in the woods, this would have been a totally different conversation. [00:16:58] Speaker B: Right? [00:16:58] Speaker A: Dad was right. Why did you do that? [00:17:00] Speaker B: Right. [00:17:00] Speaker A: And your whole car ride home would have been, why did you. [00:17:05] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yep. Yep. It's. It's. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Yeah. There's always two sides to the story, right? [00:17:12] Speaker A: So, favorite tournament win? [00:17:18] Speaker B: I'm looking around. Oh, I mean, definitely. Probably the high school. Probably a high school state championship. That's. That. I mean, it's not the biggest win of my career, but it's. It's my most favorite. I mean, it's just like playing for your school. You never. You never get to do that. You never get to play for your school again. I mean, unless you're in college, obviously, but it's a whole different story. A high school state championship. You. [00:17:43] Speaker A: That. [00:17:43] Speaker B: That lives on forever. I mean, nobody's ever going to forget that. That goes to, like, I go to Fairfield. Nobody's ever going to forget that at Fairfield, so. And it was kind of like a kick in the face to people who's been. Who have been, like, harassing me throughout all these years and saying that, like, golf's like, a sport and everything. Some people don't even call it sport. Some people call it a hobby. I mean, it's. It just. It makes me upset. But, hey, I. I was glad to win it. Yeah. [00:18:07] Speaker A: I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you. That kid can wash your car in 10 years when you pop up at the car wash back in Fairfield. Because here's my honest opinion on that. I hate when people treat golf like that. I've asked people before, what are the four sports that you watch on the weekends? [00:18:25] Speaker B: Yep. [00:18:26] Speaker A: What are those? [00:18:28] Speaker B: I mean, obviously, golf. I'm watching golf. I mean, who's. Who's not watching the Masters on Sunday or, like, the Waste Management this weekend? Who's not going to watch that? [00:18:36] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, we're people watching this weekend with the Waste Management. Let's not fool ourselves. It's golf. It's football. [00:18:47] Speaker B: Football, basketball, baseball. Yeah. [00:18:50] Speaker A: And people probably watch more golf on the weekends than they do baseball. [00:18:54] Speaker B: Right, Right. [00:18:56] Speaker A: So here we have one of the. A sport that has its own TV channel. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Yep. [00:19:01] Speaker A: All this other stuff, and people still make those comments, and I don't. I'll never get over it. I'm with you on that one. 100. And I think you can see that. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Yep. [00:19:10] Speaker A: So high school, not only did you win it, you Won it by four shots. [00:19:15] Speaker B: I won him before shots. Yep. [00:19:17] Speaker A: Now, the kid that took second, he kind of looked up to him. Tell me a little bit about your relationship with Aiden. [00:19:23] Speaker B: Aiden? Yeah. So I was a freshman and he won state my freshman year. And I was, I was right there to greet him after he won the playoff hole against Ryan Ford, my future teammate at Cincinnati. He beat Ryan in the playoff. And I was right there. I was congratulated him right away. And I texted him later that night. And I can pull up the text later instead of like, tell you about it, but I text him later that night. I'm just like, what do you do? Like, what. What are you doing? Because he was, he was, he was trending. I mean, he's committed to Baylor. I mean, who doesn't, who doesn't want to look up to this guy? And I just wanted to. I just wanted to pick his brain a little bit and ask him how he's getting so, like, accomplished at what he does. And he told me about, like, how, like, the exercise that he does, the practice he puts in. I mean, he had a mental. He had a mental coach. I mean, it's just, he had everything and that's what really. And he, and he said it's a lot of discipline. Takes a lot of discipline. A lot of people who don't work at, like, who don't. Who kind of fall off. A lot of people fall off. They don't have discipline. They don't, they don't want to strive for the long term stuff. And I really took his word for what he said and everything. And I've always asked him, I still ask him for advice to this day. And I mean, he's in Texas right now, so I mean, he. It's just, it's just nice to know that I have someone there that can, like, kind of mentor me and like, teach me the way. [00:20:46] Speaker A: It's not easy and. [00:20:47] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:48] Speaker A: Get to your level. It's trying to get better. Gets harder. [00:20:54] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:55] Speaker A: You know, as I told somebody, when you watch junior players that shoot 100, it's easy to go from 100 to 90. [00:21:03] Speaker B: Yep. [00:21:04] Speaker A: Then it gets a little bit more difficult to go from 90 to 80. Then it gets hard to go from 80 to 70. [00:21:10] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:10] Speaker A: And if you want to go lower than 70, it then becomes difficult. [00:21:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:16] Speaker A: The most difficult thing you can do because you need to work on those things that you don't want to work on. [00:21:22] Speaker B: Right? Yep. Right. And golf is one of those. I think golf is one of, like, the only sports that you can practice your tail off and you cannot get better. That's how, that's how golf is that. I think golf's one of the few sports that, I mean, football, you can, you can get faster, you can get stronger, but in golf, you can have the most perfect swing and you're not going to. You can't. You, like, you won't be that good. Yeah, it just depends how well you manage it and how, like you got. [00:21:50] Speaker A: To be able to get up and down. [00:21:52] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. And I just think golf's one of those sports that you can practice it so hard and for so long, but if you don't have one thing right, it's. It's not going to work out. [00:22:03] Speaker A: What's the best part of your game? [00:22:06] Speaker B: Definitely my irons. I can drive the ball. I mean, I used to be awful at driving. Like, it used to be so bad I would miss every fairway. I'd average like three fairways around. [00:22:16] Speaker A: Sounds like you pulled everything left. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. But driving's gotten a lot better the last two years. But irons have always been. Irons have always been good. I've always been able to hit the green, have a 15 footer almost every hole or closer. My worst part is probably chipping. Chip it. Like, I just don't. I think I take a little bit for granted. I play a lot of tournaments and I hit a lot of greens, so I don't practice a lot of chipping. And that's one thing I really gotta hit myself on the head for because I'm being an idiot. I don't know why I'm not chipping. Yeah, I feel like I'm gonna hit 18 out of 18 greens every round. But that's just not realistic. [00:22:56] Speaker A: Correct. So your dad made a comment about your putting that you always tuck your shirt under your right armpit. [00:23:04] Speaker B: Yep. Yep. [00:23:05] Speaker A: Why? [00:23:06] Speaker B: So when I was a little kid, I always had a problem with lifting my elbow up on my backstroke when I was putting. And when I would tuck my shirt in under my armpit, it would help me stay connected. And I don't need to do it anymore. I just do it. It's just always a habit. So, like, I line up my ball, go back and read it, and as I'm walking over the ball, I tuck my right shirt in. It's just, it's become a habit and it shows that. It's just always that little reminder. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Do you do the same thing on your iron shots? [00:23:32] Speaker B: Every, every, every shot. Tuck the right arm in. Yep. [00:23:35] Speaker A: Just kind of one of Those things that's almost automatic for you, right? [00:23:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just, it's just part of my routine now. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So let's talk. Let's talk about your parents. What are some of the things they have done for you to get you where you are? That's a lot. [00:23:50] Speaker B: My dad has taken off a lot of work to. I mean he sacrificed a lot of work to just take me to a golf, to a one day US Kids event. Who, I mean, to like spending a whole week with me at the US Junior. So I mean it's just like he's, he's sacrificed so much and they've spent so much money on me and I don't know, I'm just so grateful for it. I have the luckiest parents in the world and. Or I'm lucky to have. I don't even know how to say it. I'm not even sure I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm lucky to have the best parents in the world. [00:24:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that's a great thing for you to say. When he and I chatted, there's a lot of parents out there that they will do everything to provide. [00:24:39] Speaker B: Right. [00:24:39] Speaker A: Opportunity for you to have that success. [00:24:43] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. [00:24:44] Speaker A: Not every kid is going to go play D1. Not every kid's going to make it to tour. The percentages are low. However, this is a game where you have learned a lot about life. You've met a lot of great people. And I think that's a difference too. Yeah. [00:25:06] Speaker B: My mom, she was like, she quit her job to take care of me and she's taken me everywhere. And the days they can't take me, they like. I can tell they feel really bad about. They can't like, because. So I had to miss out on the Junior PGA Championship last year because I didn't. I had nobody to take me. And I could tell that that kind of affected them. I could tell they felt really bad because that's the tournament I really wanted to play in. But it's okay. [00:25:30] Speaker A: He still feels bad about it. But. But you know what? There's going to be more tournaments. [00:25:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. [00:25:36] Speaker A: I mean, there's going to be more opportunities. [00:25:38] Speaker B: It's not that big of a deal. [00:25:39] Speaker A: And here's the great thing now when after this summer, and I know it's going to be difficult for them when you leave for school, it's different. It's. They can go enjoy themselves now to watch. They have to. They're not going to have to take off as much time. They're not Going to. [00:25:56] Speaker B: Yeah. They don't. They don't have to schedule everything right around maybe, Right? Correct. Yeah. [00:26:01] Speaker A: Your dad and I even had a great conversation about how he wants to get more involved in the local community to help out other kids who want to learn how to get into the game. [00:26:11] Speaker B: That's, that's, that's, that's really. That's what I really want to do. I mean. [00:26:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:26:14] Speaker B: To. When I end my high school career, I want to, like. I don't want to be known for the way I played golf. I would just want to be known for the impact I left. That's, that's real. That's what I really want to do. And I have a little young cousin that kind of just got into golf a couple of years ago, and he's, he's, he's really. He's going to be really good. [00:26:33] Speaker A: And that's. [00:26:33] Speaker B: I'm. I want to help him out as much as I can. I just want to help out everybody else. [00:26:38] Speaker A: Now we got to get him to move down here to Hamilton County. So not only can he play great golf. [00:26:45] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:26:45] Speaker A: A team to back him up, Right. Yeah. [00:26:47] Speaker B: Right, right. [00:26:51] Speaker A: With all that being said, who are some of the other role models you've had? [00:26:56] Speaker B: I mean, my dad, obviously, he's. I mean, the man that I want to be when I grow up. Who else we got? I mean, Denny Hepler, the way he's. He's really. He's really helped me, so. He used to run a league at Record Run. I'd get dropped off at 7:30 in the morning and I'd get picked up at 5pm Play all day. [00:27:18] Speaker A: And I remember those days. [00:27:20] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. I mean, it was just all day. And I mean, for the things Denny has done for me, I mean, he's still. He still. He still provides a lot for me to this day. And the things he's done for me is like. It's. I hope. I hope to be like him someday. I mean, that's. He played on tour. He played in all three. All the major championships besides the Masters. I mean, the hardest tournament to get in. [00:27:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Denny would be on Mount Rushmore of Indiana golf. [00:27:45] Speaker B: Yeah. Yep. I agree. He's. He's been one of the greatest people that I've ever met. [00:27:51] Speaker A: Yep. He loves the game. I know of him because I grew up in Kokomo with Carrie Hungate. And I'm sure if you ask Denny about Carrie, they've got many stories together of different major events and stuff. [00:28:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:04] Speaker A: And Carrie, my favorite PGA Story is it's not Tiger, it's not John Daly, it's not the others. [00:28:11] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:12] Speaker A: It's. I remember going to the first PGA at Whistling Straits and Bo Van Pelt qualified. [00:28:19] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:19] Speaker A: And Kerry Hungate's playing at it. [00:28:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:22] Speaker A: And they were playing back to back. Here's a kid I played against in high school golf in Bo. And here's the guy that I grew up, that was my teacher. [00:28:30] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:31] Speaker A: And here I am at the PGA Championship. You know, over to my left as I'm walking down the fairways is all of a sudden you see a billion people walking down and It's Tiger and JD playing together. [00:28:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:44] Speaker A: And here's our group of 60 people watching these guys. You meet guys like Denny, it's more fun for you to go watch them than go watch the big names. [00:28:51] Speaker B: Yep. [00:28:51] Speaker A: Big names are cool, but the people, you know, there's a pride in watching. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. Right. [00:28:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Speaking of crowds. And I ask everybody about this. Obviously I've had one podcast. So now you're two. It'll be everybody. Crowd sizes. What are the crowd sizes like at the state tournament? [00:29:12] Speaker B: Oh, state tournament. Boys state tournament. [00:29:14] Speaker A: High school tournament. [00:29:15] Speaker B: Yeah. First tee. First tee is like. It's most people I've ever. The most people I've seen in one area. I mean, you got the putting green right here and the first tee right next to it. And there's just like so many people from the putting green. And so I was the first. First guy off at state. First. First tee time, 8:00. First guy. First guy to tee it up. And. Right. They finished the nafta. They finished the national anthem. And I'm the first. First guy to tee it up. And everybody's just watching. And like right when you tee it up, everything just goes dead silent. And it kind of. It kind of. It's really nerve wracking. My heart's never been pounding so much, but. And then obviously I blast it right into the trees and then. Yeah, but it's just. It's an unreal feeling. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Good. Or some of the guys that you're going to miss playing with. Let's talk about them. There's a lot of great junior players who are some of the junior players you're going to miss seeing on a weekend basis over the summers. [00:30:15] Speaker B: I mean, there's a lot of them. I mean, obviously Aiden. I already miss playing with him. I grew up playing with him and he's at Baylor now. Probably a lot of the guys in my grade, Jake Caesar, Peyton Blackard, Will Harvey, A lot of those guys, I mean, I grew up playing. They're like one of my best friends. I mean, I grew up playing with them. [00:30:36] Speaker A: This is a great graduating class for golf in Indiana. [00:30:38] Speaker B: Yeah, right. [00:30:39] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I look at the 2025 boys class with the rankings and the players and you start watching here in the next year or two, 2029 girls. That 2029 girls class is going to be equivalent in a lot of ways to where they all end up playing. Yeah, there are some really strong players already, and I think your class is going to be one of the strongest we've ever seen come graduated, graduating out of this state. And who are some of the up and coming players you see coming up behind you? [00:31:12] Speaker B: Carrier from Crown Point. I think he's a 2027. He's going to be a fantastic player. Who else? We got young Cooper Krupp from Middlebury, Indiana. I'll play against, I'll play high school golf with him this year. Against him. He's at Northridge. Just school. Right down the road. [00:31:33] Speaker A: If you guys were at the same school. [00:31:36] Speaker B: Oh, I know, I know. There's just, there's a lot of good kids. Kaden. I don't know how to pronounce his last name. Kaden Piernick. Piernack. [00:31:48] Speaker A: Your guess is as good as mine. [00:31:49] Speaker B: Yeah, he's. He's gonna be, he's gonna be a really good player. There's, there's a lot of them. There's a lot of good players coming up. Who you excited? That's good. [00:31:56] Speaker A: Who excited about playing with at Cincinnati? [00:32:01] Speaker B: Definitely, definitely Ryan Ford. Me and him have had some history about like, just like playing in the boys match play at the, at Purdue. So he was my round of four match the year I won in 2022. And to advance the match, I had to make like a 40 foot putt on 17, the par 3. And I trained it and there's a whole video for it and everything. I mean, just. [00:32:25] Speaker A: Do you have the video of his face when you hit it? [00:32:28] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, he's like. So he sticks it to like six feet and I have, I have to make this putt. If I miss it, it's over. And he's just standing right next to the hole and you can see him bow his head and I mean, he couldn't do. I mean, he's just. But he's such a, he's such a good guy and I can't, I can't wait to get back with him. [00:32:45] Speaker A: Yeah. I tell you, we play a sport that Everybody loves to play together. They like being around each other on the course. And then when it turns to match play, it's different. [00:32:59] Speaker B: Oh, it's. It gets there. Oh, yeah, it gets. It gets tense. [00:33:02] Speaker A: Yeah, It's a mind game. [00:33:03] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:33:04] Speaker A: So what are some of the things. If you can give some of your tricks away, what are some of the tricks that you do in a match play that gets under the skin, that causes the other players not to play well? [00:33:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So I've kind of like built this reputation of myself that, like, I'm a talk. I mean, I'll talk, I'll have fun. I'm just out there to have fun. I'm not taking anything, like, too serious. I mean, obviously we're all trying to win a golf tournament, but, like, it's not that deep. It's just. It's junior golf or just like, you can still. You can still be serious while having fun at doing what you love, right? Yeah. And a lot of people love playing with me because they like talking to me and they like. They just like. They just like having fun. They just like enjoying the round. I mean, you get four hours, four and a half hours, maybe more, with a bunch of guys that you have grown up playing with. And you're not gonna get this in. I mean, I'm not going to get this in eight months. That's never going to happen again. We're all going to be spread out across the country. But during match play, I mean, I won't talk. I won't say a single word. I'll just. I'll zip it. And they're like, kind of like, what's going on here? I mean, I'll just. I'll just be quiet and I mean, they'll try and talk to me and I'll just be like, really dry with my response, and I won't really talk to them. [00:34:20] Speaker A: You know what? You have to do that. It's different. Yeah, it's not. I'm not playing the course now. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I know. Another thing is. Yeah, Another thing is that they. I'll give them. I'll give them a couple putts, like at the beginning. I'll. I'll let them just pick up those two, three footers. Right. And then when. When it comes down later in the match, I'm going to make them putt it because they haven't putted them. They haven't put him the whole round. And I'm gonna make them putt it. And they use. Most of the time, they end up missing 20, 24. And like our last year's match play at Purdue, I. So round of 64. I mean, I gave. I gave too many putts away. I mean, that. That all my rounds leading up to the round of four. Round of eight, 16, 32, 64. I. I cut it way too close. I. I was kind of like. Because I was playing. I was playing guys that statistically I'm better than them. Like, they're. They're all great players. They're all like, everyone there's a great player that makes match play. But, like, I thought. I thought it'd be an easy win, and it turned out like, it's not that way. So I had Jake Cedar the next morning in the round of four, and I had to, like, wake up a little bit. And that's when I kind of went to that little zone I have. And I wouldn't talk, and I just went by my routine and. [00:35:36] Speaker A: And he's a good friend of yours, so he's looking at you like, dude, he's like, why aren't you talking to me? [00:35:41] Speaker B: He came up here talking on the first tee, and I'm just like. So I grew my shoulders and nod my head, and I wanted. I ended up going like seven under that round. And then I play. Then I played Justin Hicks the next round, the championship round, and I went like six under on him. And every match went to hole 18 and the round of four and the round of the championship. It didn't make it past hole 16. I kind of woke up and kind of got in that zone a little bit. [00:36:11] Speaker A: It's different, though, right? [00:36:12] Speaker B: Yes. Right. [00:36:13] Speaker A: It's a lot of fun when you get in that zone. You're having a great time playing, and you're being you on the course and. [00:36:17] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:17] Speaker A: It's. You're out there to win. You're not out there to. Hey. Hey, Ryan. We're. We're buddies, but let's wait five hours, then we can talk. [00:36:25] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:25] Speaker A: Right now, I'm gonna give you a lesson on the course. A lot of great stuff. Braden. Braden, I. I thank you for your time. This has been a conversation. I've learned a lot about you. It's been fun. I look forward to actually getting your guys schedule. And I do want to say this. And I. And I hope Indiana golf and I. The coaches association was listening right now. I think it's a mistake that at the state preview and at the hall of Fame, we're not bringing some of the best players to these events. [00:36:59] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:00] Speaker A: It's. I get it. It's a team sport in the high school world, but I think we could give up one slot for the best players in the state. [00:37:08] Speaker B: Right. I agree. [00:37:10] Speaker A: I hope they hear because I see it in the men's game and I see it in the women's game. I wish they could do that. Because if we're talking state preview, you're the defending state champion. You should be at the preview. [00:37:22] Speaker B: Right. And then, I mean, there's a lot of really good players that get to miss out on two really good events. So those are two best events of the year, the hall of Fame and the State Preview. Besides sectionals, regionals, state. I mean, those are two biggest regular season events of the year. And. But like, I'm not playing in those, so I'm playing in the Wallacea Invitational. That's at Max Welton golf club. That's 6200 yards. I mean, I'm playing a bunch of nine hole matches. Do you. You guys play 18 hole down 18 hole matches, right? Yeah, we play nine. We. We don't. The only time we play 18 is invites on Saturdays. [00:37:58] Speaker A: You know, and I'll say this because it's getting out now who I am and what I'm doing. We're blessed in this area to be in Hamilton county. And we'll even add in Zionsville. They're not Hamilton county, but we're all in the same conference. We're in the other. And so if you look at the boys top four from their conference tournament and the girls top four from the conference tournament, it's the same stop. The same top four, four at state as teams. We're lucky down here. [00:38:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:38:34] Speaker A: There's a lot of great individual players across the state, and we forget that y on both sides of the table, the boys and the girls. [00:38:47] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:47] Speaker A: And I wish we could find a way to do something to bring some of those best players to these events to celebrate the best players. [00:38:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:38:58] Speaker A: So with that, Braden, thanks for your time and I look forward to seeing you play. [00:39:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you. I appreciate it. Good luck to you guys too. [00:39:08] Speaker A: Thanks. [00:39:18] Speaker B: Da da da da da da da. [00:39:23] Speaker A: Da da da da.