Eric Steger, 2025 Indiana PGA Player of the Year

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome because you are now listening to from the CART Pass with your host Trent Roberts bringing you tips, support and player recognition and education with the experts for parents and junior golfers in Indiana. This is from the CART Path with your host Trent Roberts. Hey, this is Trent Roberts with From the Car Path and I wanted to thank our friends over at On Demand Staffing where that's the go to place to find your staffing needs. I know some people over there and they have been nothing but great during this time of becoming one of our sponsors and they want you to know that they don't want you to be a hiring zero. Let the hiring heroes get to work for you. Find more at On Demand Staffing. DOT Jobs. We are back for our third podcast of 2026 and we have a extremely awesome person joining us tonight and I'm more than excited to have him because I've gotten to know him over the last six, seven months and watching him do some instruction with my daughter and we got to watch him kind of grow over the last year on the course and off the course where he was top 10 at the PGA Club Pro. That qualified him for Quell Hollow last year at the PGA Championship and then he was awarded with being one of the top instructors in Indiana by Golf Digest and not to mention being awarded the FTCP Top Coaches Award for Girls High school last year as well. There's been a lot of great awards and then Indiana PGA Pro of the Year. So Eric, you know when we did the pre song, it was record year. I kind of feel like that's what it was for you. We've seen your wife get her promotion. It's been a record year for the Steers for 2025. What was your favorite memory? [00:02:13] Speaker B: Thanks Trent and Elijah for having me. I'm excited to talk golf with you guys today. 2025 was a whirlwind for sure, full of new experiences. It was my first time ever at the National Club Pro and my parents decided to come down and experience that in Florida. Get escaped some of the weather here in April and I decided to have my dad on the bag to caddy. We both he had, he has played in it before. He's a lifelong PGA member, three year PGA Tour member, but it has been a long time since he's been there so I really didn' know what I was getting into. It was my first one and so I thought it'd be a great time to have him on the bag and it was an easy walk. So I would say, you know, experiencing those four rounds with him at Port St. Lucie PGA Golf Club and playing good golf with him on the bag. It was kind of wild. Like, growing up, I'm a very superstitious human, and like, there were a couple times where I was in middle school, grade school, high school, and he would show up and I would all of a sudden start playing poorly. [00:03:13] Speaker A: And. [00:03:13] Speaker B: And so it was not uncommon for him to, like, hide in the pine trees to watch me play golf and to kind of come full circle, have him on the bag and qualify for my first ever PGA Tour event in a major championship at that. It was really special moment for us on that 72nd hole when I was able to grind it out and figured. Figured out that had qualified. It was a really cool moment. [00:03:35] Speaker A: When did you realize that you had qualified? [00:03:40] Speaker B: It was a weird. It was a weird day. I started in second place in the top 20 qualify, and I had a huge cushion, like, seven shots. And so the front nine went fine, but I started to seriously leak some oil on the back. And luckily for me, it was just. It wasn't just me. It was an incredibly tough day. So I. I knew when I had finished that I still had a couple shots to go. Um, I. I only ended up making it by two, but it was an incredibly tough day, and I didn't play my best, but I fought hard. And that embrace on the 18th green was really cool. A little bit of mixed emotions with how I had played that day, but also, like, kind of stunned, like, okay, like, I'm going to the PGA Tour, and then. And in two weeks, I'm playing in a major championship. Like, what? Like, this is wild. And so after I signed my scorecard, it kind of hit me, and it really hit me. On the plane flight next morning, I'm like, okay, you know, what's the day today? When's this tournament? 13 days from now, I'm going to tee it up. Like, what are we going to do? What are we doing here? But it was really cool. I had to be up there. It's one of my favorite moments. For sure. [00:04:44] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. I think my questions would come from just your overall experience at the pga. I think the PGA for me is one of the tournaments in the world with, like, the greatest backstory. Obviously one of the four majors, but, you know, all the way back, even when it was a match play tournament, to now being struck play, very historic event. So I just want to, like, hear what your experience was. Teeing it up in one of the four biggest tournaments in the world and walking alongside the Best players like that. [00:05:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it was. It was an awesome week from top to bottom. The PGA Tour did an unreal job with hosting us. I was actually got in on Sunday because of the incoming bad weather. So I was able to play 18 holes on Sunday and then a weird only 18 more holes for the first. The next three days. But just overall, it was tough the first couple days to not admire who I was amongst. You know, I'm 36 and spent almost 10 years trying to make to the PGA Tour and watched all these guys that I'm now in the locker room with. You know, like, Spieth is my locker buddy. Like, well, not buddy, like locker mate. Like, just. Just based on alphabetical order, you know, Scheffler. And they're all, like, right next to me now. And it's like, okay, you know, Sunday and Monday, it was really hard for me to not, like, admire putting next to Jordan Spieth and Chipping next to Justin Thomas. Like, how do I. I was really out of my comfort zone. And then Tuesday, I was like, okay, you know, let's. Let's put our big boy pants on here and let's get in tournament mode. Like, you know, yes, it's cool that I'm with these guys, but, like, I'm also trying to beat your butt. And so Tuesday, Wednesday, was able to kind of narrow that focus and. And enjoy myself. It was nerve wracking as I'll get out on the first. On the first tee, that first tee shot on Thursday. But, you know, I would have liked to have played better, but for my first time on that stage, you know, I didn't make any double bogeys, and I didn't kill anybody in the gallery. So it was a. It was a pretty. It was a good win for that week, for sure. [00:06:43] Speaker A: Well, did you know that Jeff Sealey got Vegas to put a bet out there for him with Michael Block versus you? I saw that, you know, and I should have put my money down, but I didn't know how to do it. Get it over there. I didn't trust Jeff taking my money to put the bed in at that. [00:06:59] Speaker B: That makes sense. Yeah, it was wild. Vegas had a lot of faith in me compared to Block. Like, they put a lot of stock in my past playing Korn Fury in those days. Like, even though it was my first time on the PGA Tour, they had me, you know, I maybe even as a little bit of a favorite, which was wild. And I ended up. I ended up winning a bunch of Harbor Trees guys some money. So it Was a lot of fun. [00:07:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's pretty funny. I was laughing when I got that text. I'm just like, how did you pull this off to begin with? And I'm not giving you any of my money. Those are the two things that kept into my mind when I saw that. So I was just kind of laughing there. That experience alone, you kind of talked about seeing those guys for the first time. Who were some of the guys that were cordial with you that you just were like, wow, I can't believe they're actually speaking to me. [00:07:48] Speaker B: They were all super nice. I really only had one bad experience, and I don't really want a name drop. [00:07:58] Speaker A: That's understood. [00:08:00] Speaker B: But literally everybody else was thankful that I was there. I was fortunate to actually run into Scotty Scheffler's parents and talk with them on the back porch for just us two and three for a couple minutes. And they were like, you know, it is amazing that you guys get the opportunity to come out here and showcase your talents. You know, what you do for the industry is often overlooked. And, you know, for you to be out here and earn your way here and play amongst these guys, like, enjoy it because you've earned it. And so I would say a majority of of my time amongst the players was nothing but good experiences. I had a lot of locker room talk. Unfortunately, weather played a huge part in the week. It's. It was a 7700 yard course, but unfortunately we got 3 to 5 inches of rain between Sunday and Wednesday, and so it was borderline whether we were going to play ball in hand on Thursday and we ended up not. So there was a lot of time spent in the locker room kind of confined amongst players. But I was extremely happy with, you know, how that aspect of the week went, for sure. [00:09:05] Speaker A: How do you prepare for, like, playing that course with that weather? How much preparation of time goes into. [00:09:13] Speaker B: That on the front end? I definitely spent a lot more time using my long irons here at home. And, you know, whether it was just teeing off with them, playing with them, and just getting more comfortable using them into the greens. I had the same amount of four irons into par fours each day as I did wedges. And it was. It was hard. And, you know, just. The mindset has to change. You know, expectation management has to change at home. You know, in a lot of these Indiana PGA courses that we're playing, I have a lot of wedges in and they're short. But now, you know, center of the green is your Friend, when you're hitting five irons and six irons and even seven irons is, the tough part was the greens had a sub air system under it. So it was the same sub air system as Augusta national has. So although we were hitting it in the fairway and it was almost plugging, the greens were firm and fast. And so that made that, that, that, you know, competition aspect of it even harder. It's like, okay, you know, Yes, I have 205 yards in, but also I have to land this short of the pen to try to even get it close. And so it made you kind of think outside the box a little bit. And, you know, instead of point and shooting with a nine iron and, and less, now all of a sudden we're hitting four irons and trying to play for choir. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Elijah, you have something for sure? [00:10:32] Speaker C: Yeah, I would kind of kind of going off that. Obviously you're a very experienced player in both college and then events around Indiana. You're an Indiana and Indiana Open champion. What was kind of like the difference in, like, the atmosphere, overall feelings, or kind of like the smaller details that you noticed between playing high level events here in Indiana or even on the Korn Ferry Tour and then playing in. [00:10:53] Speaker B: A major, everything just is heightened in terms of awareness, in terms of importance. Even the jump from Korn Ferry to the PGA Tour. My sample size on the PGA Tour is super small. It was my first event and it was a major. 99 of the top 100 in the world were there. And so everybody, I don't wouldn't say was on edge, but was super serious in all business. Monday, Tuesday, you saw a lot more joking around, especially in the locker room on the range between players. But, like, once Wednesday hit, it was horse blinders on. Everybody was doing their own thing. They were with their coaches and their team. But I would just say the biggest difference was just the tension amongst everybody. Everybody, you could tell, everybody knew, is important. Yeah, the stress was higher. The amount of fans over there was insane. And so I think just the stage that you were on, you know, elevated everybody's. I don't want to say mood, but just maybe the level of care. Like some things that you might not worry about, you know, the John Deere, maybe you're a little bit more worried about, you know, teeing it up for Quail Hollow. And for me, you know, just being around those guys and seeing how they prepare again. I had done it on a smaller stage on Korn Ferry a long time ago, five or six years ago. But, like, being around Them kind of opened up my eyes and helped me kind of almost remember to how I used to prepare back in the day. [00:12:22] Speaker A: What was that moment like for your family and their preparation of planning everything down there for you? [00:12:30] Speaker B: It was awesome. So I had over 21, like, family and friends come from three different states. I had guys fly down. I had about 8 to 10 of my best friends fly down. It was wild. Like I said earlier, from the moment I stepped off the 72nd green at the National Club Pro, I had 13 days to figure it out. I had 13 days to figure out accommodations, a caddy, tickets, car, pickup, practice rounds, like, what I had access to. And so it was an absolute whirlwind. I think hopefully if I can get back there, I'll be a little bit more prepared for it now. But it was a ton of learning, and I'm super thankful for my wife. She took so much of that off of my plate and dealt with a lot of the behind the scenes part so I could somehow try to figure out how to elevate my game in the next 13 days, at least mentally. But it was a whirlwind for sure. It was a lot of learning and just kind of learning as you go. And, um, like I said, hopefully we can get back there in the future and be a little bit more prepared. [00:13:33] Speaker A: It sounds like her sports management background, working at the NCAA was like, the best thing you could have had to prepare. [00:13:40] Speaker B: Exactly. She crushed it. There was things that she was doing that I would have had absolutely no idea how to do. And so, like I said, super thankful that she's in my corner and was able to handle a lot of that admin stuff because I certainly did not want to and probably didn't know how to. [00:13:56] Speaker A: What was it? Kind of like signing flags for kids and other people there. [00:13:59] Speaker B: It was awesome. It was hilarious. I was thinking about that today, actually, like, just thinking about the year and where it is next year and how cool would be to be back. But, like, a lot of those kids and even adults, like, I signed plenty of adult flags too. Like, sure. You know, my. My autograph is not near insignificance to Scotty's, but, like, these kids were like, just trying to fill up their flag. And so I had to, like, it sounds weird coming from me, but, like, I had to, like, cut people off just to, like, just to get to where I was trying to go, especially starting on the back, going from 18 to 1. Like, I took some time in middle around, which was kind of funny and cool, but, like, you Know, the fans really showed out and you know, like I said, I had a good group. I had the PGA paired up, paired me with Eric Cole and Cam Davis. Normally the PGA of America guys kind of get later and super early tee times, the non TVT times, but they're. They paired me with those two. Just based on, I think there was only, like, there's only been seven or so father son combinations that have both PGA of American members that have both played. And so that played. I'm one of them. Eric Cole, Cam Davis's dad, played Laura Baugh, Eric Cole's mom, played in the women's pga. And so that's kind of why they paired us up and why I got a little TV time, even though there weren't terribly many highlights throughout my rounds. But that was nice of them and it was, it was really cool. [00:15:38] Speaker A: I think there was one highlight of you doing a chip shot. [00:15:41] Speaker B: Yes. So super scary, drivable par 4 dog kind of straight water left and I drove it up near the green and, and chipped it, you know, within six feet or so. Of course I missed it, but the chip was on tv. Thankfully, the putt was not. [00:15:57] Speaker A: Eliza, you got anything? Yeah. [00:15:59] Speaker C: Eric, I'm kind of interested as a high school golfer myself who plays at a relatively high level of competition, at least I'm kind of interested in your path through high school. We talked about your days at Ball State before we started recording of just what kind of led you to professional golf. [00:16:14] Speaker B: Right. So I went to Noble Soul, and prior to high school I was a baseball player and super into baseball travel, baseball and play all the way up till I was about 13 and quit baseball finally and focused on golf, was behind the eight ball in terms of abilities and just worked hard to get to where I did. But I honestly just started playing in all the IGA events and I think it's super important for anybody to try to mix in local events along with national events. It's important to learn how to a go low. And Trent knows this. Like, the courses here that you're going to play here are not what they are on a national level. And I've experienced that too. And it's important to learn how to go low and it's important to learn how to win. And it honestly doesn't matter whether you're beating 20 people at a course 20 minutes away or in a different state. Winning is winning and the pressure is still there. And so if you can start at the local level and learn how to win and learn how to beat all the buddies and all the guys in the state. I would encourage people to play in these local events and learn that and also mix in the national events because that's where you really get to. To test your game against people that you're going to play with in the future and in college and hopefully pass that. I was lucky to make a couple USGA juniors and, and, you know, learn. I didn't make either cut, but I learned so much about my game, what I needed to work on, eventually made a couple usams and then started to play really well, Made both of those cuts, but got smoked and match play. Okay. So I learned, you know, what I need to do little bit better. What are these guys that are beating me doing well and better than me. Now I can go home and learn and practice on what I need to work on. And. And that's how you kind of keep getting better and keep your trajectory going. But it all starts with, you know, can you go out and beat most of the people in your backyard and in your state? And there's only a couple ways to figure that out. And, and you know, you see, you see it a lot in my teaching, like, competing is the best way to get better. You know, you can, and you can learn and you can hit balls and putt as much as you want, but, you know, put your money where your mouth is and go compete, however big the level is. [00:18:31] Speaker C: Oh, I just think. I think the earlier comment about the baseball to golf transition is just so funny because I think that's just the trend that I have many friends, like 10 to 15 guys that are all baseball their entire lives, and they kind of reach a point where I think people realize that baseball, like, isn't the lifelong game that golf is. And kind of the switch to baseball to golf just like a lot of the same mechanics. So I just think that. I think that that's really interesting. [00:18:56] Speaker B: Yeah, right. And it's just, especially at the middle school and kind of the teenage level, like, I almost feel like baseball, the sport as a whole overdoes it. Like 70 games in a summer. And the doubleheaders, like, ridiculous. It's so much. And I frankly quit because I was burnt out. And I was a big kid growing up. Like I was a third baseman and could hit like I was decent, but I had no interest anymore playing just. I was just tired of that constant running and that buzz. And so golf is obviously a little bit slower pace. And it was. Had the chance to play in my backyard living and growing up at Pebblebrook. So Ultimately, you know, I taught a kid tonight that as a freshman up in Kokomo and he was a baseball player as well and just quit. And this past year and is starting, he's a freshman, he's going to start to take it seriously. And you know, it's not a, you know, that trend is not accidental, I don't think. I think it's just the pace in that sport and how much they're pushing this. [00:19:54] Speaker A: Well, it's a funnel system is how many kids are playing certain sports, whether it's girls who all start off in soccer, they end up going to other sports. And I think baseball is one of those for the guy side where you go to Mount Vernon or Noblesville or HSC where you got 100, 200 kids coming into the freshman year thinking they're going to make the baseball team. And that's kind of already been determined on who's going to be making the teams before those kids even show up. And it's like a lot of these kids are realizing that, going, I enjoy doing this other sport, let's go do it right. And they've got the determination, they got the work ethic and being an athlete's being an athlete 100, period. [00:20:35] Speaker C: So there's like a little bit, a little bit of personal experience here. But just like when you're a 10 or 11 year old kid, it's not like the cool necessarily the coolest thing in the world to say you play golf. Whereas like baseball is more like, like a guy sport. But I think that kids just naturally get older and kind of going out to the course and spending time with your buddies and stuff like that starts to look a little bit more appealing to most guys. [00:20:57] Speaker B: Right. And you know, especially at that age and, and as you continue in those team sports, like politics comes into play, coaches starts playing favorites and then all of a sudden, you know, you feel like you're working and probably are working just as hard as everybody else, but not getting picked to play. And so that's where golf's kind of nice is like, you know, there's nothing more cut and dry than golf. Like especially, you know what I loved about playing for Mike Fleck at Ball State? Like I was lucky enough to fall into a situation where they graduated four seniors the year I came in and you know, he was cut and dry. If you're shooting the scores, you're going to play, there's no favorites. I don't care how big your scholarship is or not, you know, you are going to play if you're shooting the scores. And that, you know, is once you get a little bit older and you actually do start putting the work into whatever sport it is, you want the chance, right? You deserve the chance. And so that's, I think, part of the reason why they're switching to golf. Because, you know, what coach is going to not play a kid that's not shooting the scores. And so numbers don't lie. Exactly. Right? [00:21:55] Speaker A: That's. I. I'm with you, Eric. It's one of the sports. It's the truth is what you go shoot is printed. It's out there. You can't lie about it. You can't have a bad day. You know, if I'm on a baseball team, I could have a bad day out there. If I'm on the basketball team, I could go 0 for 5. They could put me on the bench for a little bit. But if I'm out there, start off double, double. I've got to figure it out and get my game going again. It's just. It's the toughest mental sport I've ever seen. And I think the numbers don't lie. Like I said earlier now, now kind of transitioning a little bit. I know that you've gotten an instruction over the past. I don't know how long it's been. A couple years, three or four years. What's that transition been like for you and how have you kind of gone about that? [00:22:43] Speaker B: Right. So ultimately, I was kind of forced into it. 2020. I had just come off losing my Korn ferry status in 19. Covid happened in about March, I think. And I had retained full PGA Latin America and was planning on playing a full year down there. We played one event in Mexico, played fine, top 25, came home for a week off. And during that week off was the week during the players where they played one round and then they canceled it. And that cancellation of that tournament essentially canceled the professional golf umbrella under the PGA Tour for almost over a year. And so just almost overnight, I went from having a sense of direction, a sense of, you know, meaning I don't want to say worth, but, you know, income. And then it was gone. And so for the next couple months, I was in a weird place mentally. It was tough. But I decided to get into the PGA of America. It had always kind of been on my mind, but never even close to being serious. But, you know, by joining the PGA of America and, you know, going through the professional golf management program, that allowed me to play in local events, and it allowed me to get in the business. And so for 2020, in the summer I went up to Trent. I know you're a cooking guy. [00:24:04] Speaker A: I worked. [00:24:05] Speaker B: I worked at Wildcat Creek in the summer of 2020 just to get my foot through the door. My dad, my dad was the head pro at Pellbrook for 25 years almost. And I knew he was awesome, but just based on the hours that he was working, I knew I didn't want to be in the shop. And I also felt like I had a lot more to offer just given my past rather than just being in the shop. So I worked in the shop in the summer. Didn't really like it. Like I knew I would, but also just taught on the side. And so in the winter of 2020, I started working at the academy at Pebblebrook. And then in the summer, summer of 21, I started, you know, full steam ahead with my own students and building my book of students like that. And that's kind of just organically how I got into teaching and coaching. Eventually they unfroze, basically. They froze everybody's status. And eventually I just decided to not go back out and play. Even though I still had full Latin, I basically just surrendered it. And I was loving what I was doing. I could still compete on a smaller level, but also, you know, create my own schedule and be a dad at the same time. [00:25:10] Speaker A: That's right. You've got Hudson and Savannah. That's right now. And hopefully someday they pick up the game. [00:25:16] Speaker B: That's right. Two crazy six and four year olds. They go out to me with me a lot at Pebblebrook and they love hitting on the range and just make it fun and having good experiences and we'll see. We'll see where it takes them. [00:25:29] Speaker A: Well, I remember you kind of talk about that, just going on the range and going at the golf cart with you. I remember doing that with Sophie and Mackenzie. And I love pulling out those old videos when they first started swinging clubs and. And Sophie was the one that always wanted to go find the biggest club. And we've got videos of her swinging the club and falling down on the ground. And those are the ones that crack me up. Those are the memories. Even with McKenzie, we were living. We just had moved here from Chicago and I told my wife, I go, where's Mackenzie at? She goes, I don't know. Next thing you know is she's running in the house. Cause she had just hit a golf ball and it went across the street and it almost hit the people's house. And it's like you're upset, but at the same time I'm going, hey, we got something here. It's pretty nice. Which club did you hit? You know, it's. You get pretty proud of those moments at the same time. So you're at that phase where it's fun to watch them learn everything and get in that cart with you. Now, when it comes to instruction, what do you think your specialty is? [00:26:29] Speaker B: That's a great question. I teach all aspects of the game. As you know, I really love and enjoy putting. I've been fortunate in my past to be taught from several, you know, world renowned and some of the best in the country. Kevin Weeks up at Cog Hill. Mike Shannon used to be at Sea island, he's now at TPC Sawgrass. And I took full swing lessons from Scott Hamilton down in Atlanta, who's a tour coach. All of them are tour coaches. And so I was able to really learn a lot. Basically for five straight years, 2015 through 20, I was seeing all these guys and so I, I learned a lot while I was playing professionally and, and I enjoy teaching it all. I enjoy teaching all levels. But I, for some reason, I love putting. It's one of the best parts of my game and I just really enjoy help putting those pieces together and, you know, watching that putter swing from start to finish. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Absolutely. Elijah? [00:27:37] Speaker C: Yeah. I would kind of ask what your kind of philosophy is as a teacher. If you get a kid one to two years into playing, they're kind of self taught and they start coming to you for lessons, what's your philosophy? To kind of help them progress towards becoming a competitive player. [00:27:53] Speaker B: Right. Great question. The kid tonight from Kokomo, he had been, he's been playing for about a year. And I think it's really important as an instructor to understand some key aspects about each student. Where are they on their, where are they on their golf journey? Like you just mentioned a year or two? What are their goals? Physical limitations, how do they learn and process information? You know, where are they right now, what are their current struggles and you know, where are they hoping to go is kind of how I start. I think there's a couple key aspects that I really like to look at. You know, the takeaway is obviously super important. Our setup, grip, alignment, stance, posture are kind of the low hanging fruit. How are, how is our body moving, you know, today with all the technology and, you know, using ground forces? Are we just lifting that club up? Are we getting behind it? I like to just kind of check off some boxes as we go and really just see where they are on that journey. Once we get their swing in a relatively repeatable place, you know, you'll hear me say a lot. My students will hear me say stock shot a lot. You know, it's very rare for the best in the world to. To work it both ways. A couple guys on the PGA Tour will do it. Rory, J.T. there's others, but most of them, 80% of them are going to hit the same shot every single time. And so once we get that swing in a repeatable spot, I kind of don't really care what it looks like. And I'm not here to build a perfect looking swing. I want you to be able to repeat it every single time, whether it's putting, full swing, whatever. And once we get in that spot, I like to take it out to the golf course. The other part of my favorite thing to teach is kind of just player development in general, course management. I think personally, students and players, especially your age in middle school, can shave off more shots on learning how to get the ball around the golf course than you ever can, making your swing look pretty. And so playing lessons are probably one of my favorite things to do. And that's kind of the unique part about pebble work, is that we have 36 holes in almost any given day of the summer. There's always a spot for me to fall in. And, you know, whether it's an hour lesson or 90 minutes or whatever, we might work for 10 or 15 minutes, warm up, get our swing where we want it to, and then go play. And oftentimes I'll go play with them, which I think brings a little bit of credibility for me to talk about my shot in my process. Where's my target? You know, lie, identification, wind. You know, it's so common for kids. I'm not knocking you, but like, right around your age to shoot with their laser. 150 club, 150 yards. All right, well, that's my 150 club. Doesn't matter where the pen is, doesn't matter what the wind's doing, doesn't matter how firm the greens are. I'm gonna hit my 150 club. And, you know, once kids can start to identify the lie, think about landing it in a certain place and actually playing away from pins and playing away from trouble. That is how I think you are going to lower your scores the fastest for sure. And so I would really love to spend time out on the golf courses as much as I can, and with almost no limitations. At Hillbrook, it's Where you'll find me a lot. [00:31:08] Speaker C: I love that as a. You said that you kind of favorite part of the game to coach is putting. I think putting is probably the most important part of the game because it's how you get in the hole, but it's also probably the most like touchy and fickle. What kind of balance do you find between guys that kind of are more like, I don't really know how to say this, but like feel putters and like our confidence and might not have like the greatest mechanics or like ideal putter for them, but or between finding like the perfect mechanical stroke, the right setup and all that. [00:31:39] Speaker B: I think putting overall is just a great blend of the mental game and also setup. I think it's really, it makes putting is a lot easier to go well when you're focused on the right things and you're doing and setting up the same every single day. That's why I tell almost all my kids, get a mirror. Okay, we need to get a mirror. The best in the world are spending not hours, but they're doing the mirror every day. 10 to 25 balls before each round. At least a meaningful round in a tournament. If we can get our eyes and shoulders in ball position, set up in relatively the same spot every time, it's going to make putting, especially speed control, immensely easier. And from there it's, you know, what are we focusing on? Are we focusing on our speed or are we focusing on making it right? You'll hear me, a lot of students, you'll hear me say, you know, process based thinking versus result based thinking. And it took me a long time to kind of figure out the harder I and the more I wanted to make this putt, the harder it became. And I really started to take off with the short game in putting. Personally, about junior year of college, I've been lucky to work with a couple great mental coaches. Dr. Rob Bell, local guy, Dr. Bob Winters, who's more of a tour aspect mental coach. Um, and it's all process. And the more that we can focus on what we're doing in the moment and not where we want to go, the easier it becomes. And so I would, I would tell anybody whether you're coming to see me or not, you know, we need to try to do the same thing every day. We gotta have our eyes in relatively the same spot. Shoulders and body lines have to be similar and you know, if we can get our setup, you know, relatively the same spot each time, um, you're going to make more putts once you Learn how to get the ball to go where you want it to with the mind as well. [00:33:33] Speaker A: I think, like you said, it's mindset, it's process, it's routine. And I think you were talking about being superstitious early on in the podcast. And I'm one of those that all of us golfers are probably more superstitious than anybody else in any sport because just depends on how the day goes, where the club's putting the bag the proper way. Did I do my warmup properly? Did I hit too many balls? Did I not hit enough? Why didn't I hit that last driver perfect? Why did I leave the range with the last bad shot? It's just the things that stick in your head. Because it is such a mental game that we let get to us rather than just go through our process. Right. Routine. Process is big. Now, going to personal side here for you. I've noticed a lot of fun photos on your Instagram page lately, from catching fish to hunting to the Tyler's Performance Institute, which I think Elijah would be a little jealous of because he's a, he's a Scotty guy as well. [00:34:32] Speaker B: Yes. [00:34:32] Speaker A: And then most recently, you were at the national championships for volleyball. When do you and your wife have downtime? Number one? Number two is what were some of those favorite off the course moments this year? [00:34:48] Speaker B: That's a great question. Number one, it's, I don't want to call it seasonal, but our downtime is kind of seasonal. And even then, you know, her slow time is in the summer when, when school's out and athletics aren't happening. And my busy time is kind of in the summer. So just having great time management, you gotta, you gotta make time for it, honestly. And, you know, being married, like, it's really easy. Just get in the mundane routine and just kind of do the same thing. But. And also maybe forget a little bit about, you know, the fun times you had together before kids and before life got busy and so just, you know, making time for it, even on these championships. Like, so my wife's director of championships for the ncaa, in charge of the partnership between ESPN and ncaa. So all the TV aspect behind it. And so she travels a fair amount. She's. She claims that, you know, it's the shiny side of the coin. She gets the crown, national championships for a living. She loves it. It's a great job, and they treat her great. And she, she's been doing it for about 13 years, I think. But like, for instance, we went out to Kansas City for two days to the Women's National Volleyball Championship, D1. And you know, there's always people there that are willing to watch the kids, which is great. So we'll go have dinner, we'll have little moments like that where we can just escape the madness for a little bit, even if it's just for an hour or two. Second question. [00:36:09] Speaker A: You were just out in Florida, weren't you? And you cut. I saw someone in the family catch something pretty big. [00:36:14] Speaker B: Yeah. So my family, we've been fortunate enough to. We take an annual vacation down to the Florida Keys each, each year we go to Islamorada. We don't own a house, but we just rent a big house and everybody brings their families and we all pile in. Four or five bedroom house on the ocean. And my dad has a small fishing boat he keeps down in Fort Myers. And so they drive down, drive through Fort Myers, pick up the boat and trailer it down. And so they go for about five or six weeks. We went for about 12 days. And so just kind of a combination of family time, swimming, dudes, do some fishing, do some spearfishing. And so we've been doing that for, I think this year was like our 28th year. And so my dad was originally from Florida, had a bunch of grandparents in Florida at one time. And so that's kind of what brought us down there. And so even when I was playing full time, like Korn Ferry and stuff, that time is my time to just totally disengage from the game of golf. You know, it's busy with students, are traveling, so I'm not terribly missed during that time as a coach. But for me personally, like, that was my time to just put. I will literally put my clubs in the basement and I don't want to look at them and I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about the schedule. I just want to go unwind and, you know, fish and hang out with my family and be on the water, which is one of my two true loves. And, and truthfully, I found that when I come back, I'm hungrier than I was when I left. I'm ready to get back, I'm ready to go play, I'm ready to grind, and I'm ready to get back to my students and help them out as well. So it's just something we do annually. We've been going to the same area in Islamorada for a long time. And so we kind of have like the fishing spots and techniques dialed down, dialed in. And some of Those videos you call, like, we were catching sailfish and grouper and snapper and all that. [00:38:05] Speaker A: And nothing better than having some good grouper. [00:38:07] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. And so we caught a couple this year, and it's just a good time to get away with family and get away from, you know, the game of golf for a hot second. [00:38:19] Speaker A: You've been instructing now for a few years since, you know, 2020, 2021. Ish. What have been some of the most proud moments as an instructor for you? [00:38:30] Speaker B: Just. And it kind of doesn't matter. I'm not a result person. I try to hear it again, you know, live in the process. Live now. I'm not super worried about the future. How are we going to get there is what I'm worried about. And so. But there's nothing better than getting a text either from a student or a parent, you know, saying, you know, my son or I did this. And, you know, we had a moment today because in this game, we lose a lot. You know, each tournament, you know, whether there's 50 kids or 156 kids, like, it's so rare to win. And so getting the texts from kids and parents saying, I achieved this, I felt this, and you had a hand in that. It's kind of. I tell people, like, you know, and I've told you guys, like, I was searching mentally a little bit when I pretty much quit playing overnight. But the. The high that I used to get when I would achieve something myself, you know, you know, a great score, a great win or whatever, that same. Those same feelings and that same high I now get when. When my students do something, you know, all these, like, player of the years and, like, wins and stuff, like, it's fun. I love competing. But, like, truthfully, you know, there's very rare. It's very rare that I do something and achieve something in this game that really means something. Like, obviously with my dad and the National Club Pro and playing in the pga, like, that was unreal. But most of the stuff I do around the state, I do because I love to compete and there's some money involved, but it's really all about the kids and what they do. And anytime, you know, like I said, I like to figure out their goals, and anytime, we can cross off some goals on their checklist, that is what it's all about. And honestly, that. That's, you know, whether it's, you know, a guy that just wants to enjoy social golf with his buddies more or this, this person set out to go Get a college scholarship and now they're there. Like that is literally what it's all about for me. And just juggling, you know, that and family life and, you know, a little bit of my own game is kind of where I am. [00:40:30] Speaker C: Yeah. I guess my last question would kind of be something that I could apply to my own situation and other guys like me that I know kind of wanted the same thing. What would. If you could go back and Talk to your 18 year old self like right before, kind of like end of high school golf and like right into before you started college golf. What's the, what's the first thing that you tell yourself? [00:40:48] Speaker B: That's a great question. [00:40:49] Speaker A: I'm just glad you can remember back to 18, Eric, because I can't. [00:40:53] Speaker B: I am there. I can still get back to 18. And it's such a crazy time in high school. Like so much mental focus is put into caring about what other people think and kind of caring a little bit too much again about results and in the future. And it kind of goes back to, you know, the start of a golf round. Like if we're thinking about what we're going to shoot today and how am I going to get through playing with this number one person? Guess we're not thinking about ourselves. Right. And so if I could tell myself or you or any of anybody in that age category anything, I would tell you to care less about what other people think and do what you think is important with horse blinders on. You know, do work on your part of the game that you think you need to do, not what someone else on your team is doing. And I would tell yourself to self evaluate often when I started to get really good, good and is a relative term. But when I started to improve, I really did a great job of looking inside myself and learning what I did poorly that day. And it's so easy to just get focused on, you know, did I shoot the number I wanted to today or not? Okay, well, if I did great, if not, why? And it's so easy to just go home frustrated and say, well, it'll just be my day the next day. But you know, if we're not learning, if we're not learning why we failed and we're not learning how to get better, then we're probably just going to make the same mistakes. So if you can continually learn about yourself, Elijah, and about your golf game and try not to make the same mistakes over and over again, you're going to beat out so many of the people and just, you know, stay true to yourself. You know, whether whatever level it is, high school, college, it's really easy to kind of change your core being when you get to a new level, whether it's high school to college, college to pros, pros to corn fury. It's a reason why guys get out to, you know, once you get a certain level, you get everything for free and whenever you want it, no matter what it is. And guys will get out there and start changing from what brought them there, and then all of a sudden they're lost. Right. And so if you can, the more that you can stay true to yourself and stay in your own lane, like, like I say, the better off you're going to get and the. And the better you're going to get quicker. [00:43:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, thanks for that, Eric. [00:43:23] Speaker A: I'm quite thankful that you decided to come on and join me because I've been a big fan of what you've done, what you're doing and who you've been. But also I'm a big fan because of what you've done for my family and what you've done to help grow Sophie's game. So I thank you for coming on. Elijah. I love having you because you brought some great questions tonight and it's good to have a great sidekick with me as we continue to do more of these. Eric, thanks for your time. [00:43:50] Speaker B: Absolutely, boys. [00:43:51] Speaker A: Thanks, everyone. [00:43:52] Speaker B: Thank you. Thanks for listening to this episode of. [00:43:58] Speaker A: From the Card Path with your host, Trent Roberts. Please be sure to like and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so that you never miss an episode.