The Athletes Podcast

Mac Boucher - #279 - From Self-Taught Swing To Global Golf Creator

• David Stark • Season 1 • Episode 279

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0:00 | 36:29

We sit down with Mac Boucher to unpack how a self-taught swing, bold shot shapes, and a course-first creative style turned golf into a joyful career built on intention and integrity. Mac shares strategies for pressure, boundaries with haters, and advice for athletes who want longevity.

• curving the ball to control the miss
• building a brand that prioritizes long-term partners
• balancing pressure, performance, and public scrutiny
• learning on the course instead of living on the range
• using creativity to make the course the star
• recovery basics and keeping golf a happy place
• supporting peers and calling out toxic behavior
• advice for young athletes to chase passion, not clout

“Shout out to PERFECT Sports, sponsor of this episode”


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SPEAKER_01:

No, so for me it's like curving the ball helps me control my miss. I think so it's it's more of like a strategy to help me around a golf course rather than just because it looks cool or like it just worked for me, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

You're the most decorated racquetball player in US history, world's strongest man from childhood passion to professional athlete, eight-time Iron Man champion. So, what was it like making your debut in the NHL? What is your biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes? From underdogs to national champions. This is the Athletes Podcast, where high performance individuals share their triumphs, defeats, and life lessons to educate, entertain, and inspire the next generation of athletes. Here we go. Mac Boucher on the 279th episode of The Athletes Podcast, King of the Sling. It's been, man, a couple years that I've been working on getting you on the show as arguably one of the most sensational, entertaining golfers in the golf space around the world, having amassed, you know, millions of followers across social media now at this point. First question I gotta ask: who's winning in a golf match between you and your grandmother? Because I heard she's a pretty good golfer, dude.

SPEAKER_01:

She was, yeah. Back in her day, she was uh she was a nice kind of the one who got me into it. Couldn't play a ton now due to some hip stuff and whatnot. But uh she she could rep. So I would say I would get her now, though.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, hey, fair enough. I had to start it off with an easy one for you. But what wasn't easy was seeing you the first day of the fairway long drive tour and not being able to get a range session in with you, see this sling a couple, but hey, we saw you at the end at Cabot. Uh, that was pretty cool to say the least. You have been basically building an insane brand over the past half decade, full decade when it comes to your full pro crew. Dude, for those who are just learning about Mac Belger for the first time, how would you describe your golf game? How would you describe what you do now on the internet, entertaining fans, maybe chirping back to a couple people as well?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, for me, it was uh I've always played kind of the same way. I was self-taught. So it just I play golf in a way that feels natural to me. Probably doesn't fit the mold of most golfers, but I kind of like to use my, I guess, athletic ability to get the ball around. I think that's uh a thing a lot of people could probably benefit from rather than being super technical. But yeah, I was doing the same stuff before I started filming it, and it just kind of translated it to what I'm doing now.

SPEAKER_00:

So I was doing some research, doing some digging, trying to get some dirt on you. I heard you grew up playing on some smaller courses, some shorter courses, which probably led to you being able to have some fun around the greens, hit some fun shots. Any courses that come to mind immediately when you think of ones that you are your favorite these days?

SPEAKER_01:

Favorite now, obviously Jack's Point, New Zealand, Bear Mountain, Muskoka Bay. I say those ones just because they're a large part of the reason why I'm doing social media now. They they look scenically good, they're fun, and it's just yeah, ones who I spend a lot of time at currently and never really get too boring for me.

SPEAKER_00:

And I also imagine what doesn't get too boring is taking a foot-long divot in front of Tony Final in a pro tournament. I have to ask, I don't want to dig at you right away, but tell me what was going through your mind when that happened.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that was when I was playing professionally. I got I was playing PJ Tortana back in the day, back when I wasn't a chop. And uh we were playing a practice run. I was playing a practice run in the Calgary event. I think it's called like Country Hills. Yeah, Country Hills in Calgary, just not Calgary. And it was pouring rain, super wet. I went out for a practice run just by myself, and Tony Finao was on the first tee, so I ended up joining him for a few holes. And I was a little bit nervous, obviously knew who Tony was. He was like the superstar in PJ Career Canada back then, was winning everything, and did a practice wing and just took like a foot-long driver divot, which was yeah, settled in after that though.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, you know how we are settling in right now after that team Canada victory. Ole dying at quarter finals. That was way too close for comfort, man. I'm literally sweating right now. What do you think of that?

SPEAKER_01:

That was too stressful for quarters. I mainly just want to watch more hockey. And I think if they lose that game, then I'm I'm not watching any more hockey the next week. So yeah, it was pretty it was I turned it off when they scored that third goal. So glad they got it done, and hopefully they can pull it together for this next round.

SPEAKER_00:

Dude, I was legitimately like this podcast probably won't go very well. You and I are both gonna be dejected as all heck if this is a loss. But hey, you know what? We're positive right now. We're jamming. I've got energy right now. I can't even compose myself at this moment. But I feel like you also have dealt with first tea jitters. I was talking with Briggsy, who you may know, shout out to Kaylin Briggs, yeah, who mentioned that you may or may not have a little pre-round tradition that doesn't occur anymore, but maybe a little a shot of something before round. Now that you've got to do it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so that was a funny story. Essentially, I don't drink. Anyone that knows me knows that like very seldom we drink. Yeah, I actually have my own beer, which is kind of contradictory to what my beliefs are. But when I had I had wrist surgery in 2016, I had like pretty bad ligament damage in my right wrist. And through that, I used to be very steep on the golf ball. And because it was so painful and I didn't want to have the surgery, I started like trolling out my divot and not being steep at all, which is where that big hook came from. But because of that, under the gun, I started having these massive, it was like a swing yet where I would hit it 90 yards left when I was nervous. So before tournaments, I read online that you're at your peak athletic ability when you're like one one shot in or something, or two shots.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So first T of what now is it? Vermont open or New Hampshire open, one of the two. Really scary first T shot. Went and bought a bottle of Tito's the night before and started taking some shots before or at breakfast, at constant breakfast at like my best western. I didn't feel anything. And I'm like, this is bad, like this isn't helping. So I took a little bit more on the driving range and I got to the first tea and I was fully loaded, couldn't even get my golf ball, like seeing 15 different things at once. Really blurry. And I'm like, this isn't this isn't what I wanted to do. So that that tradition didn't last long.

SPEAKER_00:

We've uh we've referenced that study by golf digest a couple of times. I think it doesn't matter what handicab you are, whether you're a 20, 10, 5, or plus two, everyone at that two to four beer range typically gets in the slot, you know? As uh Sean D69 would say slotted. I know you've been creating content with him. Yo, how much fun do you get to have on the golf course because of this, dude?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, I'm I've always had fun. I think for me, I play golf because I love it. I don't play it because I have to, or like it's a chore, I guess. I enjoy going out and filming content. I enjoy going out and playing, not filming content. It's just kind of my happy place. Anyone that knows me knows that it's like uh I should probably find some other hobbies because I don't really do much else.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we well, we originally actually met at Bear Mountain where you were filming some content. We saw you after the round at the beginning of that fairway tour, like I mentioned, got you some fairways. Uh, hopefully those went down or some friends took those down at some point.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the back shop kids loved it. They were they were stoked.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice, nice. Hopefully, they're all plus uh about nine the age of 19 years old. So we'll keep that you do. But you know, I I I always am curious. You mentioned you use your athleticism in the sport. A lot of people look at golf, they're like, ah, these guys not necessarily athletes. I'm here advocating for the fact that I would say golfers are some of the best athletes, despite not maybe looking like the traditional athletic space. Can you maybe talk about some of the sports you played growing up as well that maybe contributed towards this? Or have you always just been golf straight from the limb?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I picked up golf pretty late in a end of high school. I I was a swimmer, I played hockey, I pretty played pretty much every sport. I was super hyperactive pretty much in everything. Always felt like I had pretty good hand-eye. And then when I they found a cist to my brain when I was like 17, and essentially I had to give up all high impact sports, like taking a hit in hockey or kind of getting my heart rate too up will give me these like migraine headaches. So it's actually why I started golfing, it was more of like a lower impact sport on the noggin. And then, but yeah, I'd say because I had an athletic background, I think it helped with just like hand-eye and that kind of thing, which I think goes a long way in golf.

SPEAKER_00:

Dude, the most underrated aspect of it, because people have no idea what goes into hitting this golf ball. They equate it to baseball and they say, Oh, the baseball's moving, whereas the golf ball is staying still. Yo, that's a pretty small surface that you got to hit off of. Sometimes you're swinging Tailor made brand new clubs that you got to get used to. What's what goes into some of the work that you got? You got the lefty golf game with Primo apparel, you got Tailormade clubs. Like, talk about the brands that you get to work with because of this impact that you have on the social media side.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, it's I've been pretty lucky with it. For me, I've always wanted to build like these relationships. I've been with Gathermade since I was a club pro at Wooden's Tex, North Bucks, or Toronto there. And then it kind of just they've stayed with me through like my progression of you know, playing professionally and social media. So it's been a cool relationship to kind of develop and build over time. And I think for me, it's like I guess that's probably my biggest pinch me from all this is all these cool brands that I work with now, BMW, Adidas, TailorMade, Primo, just like I just signed with Bushnell and Foresight. No big deal. Yeah, so I've got, I think for me, I've like I pride myself on the fact that I have some very good, well-established brands in the industry, which is pretty cool. And I stay with them for a while. Like most of my relationships are multiple year, not just like a quick turnover, which is honestly one of my biggest pet peeves in in the social media space, people just chasing the next big paycheck and jumping around brand to brand because you see the lot. And I think it's uh it doesn't build good relationships with these brands, and that stuff gets around quick.

SPEAKER_00:

Transactional churn and burn. Not many people in the game like us, six and a half years, 279 episodes. You know, this will probably be the first of many times we get to chop it up. I know we're gonna get a Dolph Range session in at some point where I'm gonna try and sling it half the distance you do. Yo, I I I do have to ask, I've heard some stories about you driving through the night to be able to go before pro events. Was that a money reason? Was that a tradition reason? Was that just getting there on time, like the fairway tour?

SPEAKER_01:

I used to drive a lot. It was like my saying like I would just yeah, drive through the night to get places all the time. I know I drove, I think I drove to Vermont the one year. I was somewhere else, had to be in Vermont for like a tournament the next morning. So I drove through the night, slept just in the parking lot for a couple hours and then teed up. But then I think the first time I happened, I was flew into New Zealand. I was playing the Monday qualifier from New Zealand Open. And the website had all Monday qualifiers are on Mondays, but for some reason it said Tuesday, but the date was the Monday, so they had a mix-up online. So I booked a flight from Australia that got into Christchurch at like, I think it was 11:30 at night on the Sunday night. So I thought I would have the entire day on Monday to prep for this qualifier on Tuesday. Turns out landed, realized that it was actually the next morning my tea time. So I had to drive like six hours through the mountains of New Zealand on the opposite side of the road with the stick shift car to make that tea time. And then I ended up actually losing the playoffs that year to get through. So I think I work better when my expectations are low.

SPEAKER_00:

I've heard you say that on the in the past on previous, I don't know whether it's social clips, podcasts. Like, can you talk about the pressure that's associated with golf and how you handle that as an athlete now that's maybe not competing at like the PJ Tour level, but you're still putting it on shows, you're competing at events across the world. Like, how do you handle that?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it's arguably more a pressure now because before going and playing the Vermont Open with no one cares what I shot. Like, I'm not gonna have guys researching being like, what did Mac Boucher just shoot in the first round Vermont Open? Like, no one cares. So before I played with no pressure in the sense that I could score whatever I wanted, it didn't really matter if I shot 85, wake up the next day and it the world forgot about it. But now social media, everyone, you have that small niche amount of people that are maybe it's jealousy. I don't really know what it is. I don't really know where people hate from. It would be something I would love to learn where this like current world is where people just love to see people struggle. It doesn't even matter if they don't know them, they just want to see people suffer. So now it's weird because I obviously I go do like pro am in front of a bunch of people, like I guess the Wentworth one and BMW BMW every year in England, it's got it's like major crowds. Like the the players even say this is like playing in a major, and you hit a bad shot, and you're like, this could like somebody films that they send it to all their buddies, all of a sudden you look like an idiot. So it's just more pressure. I've learned to not care as much. It used to maybe get to me a little bit more, but golf's hard. You're gonna hit bad shots. Can't really forget about it, I guess, or you have to forget about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I can definitely confirm that golf is hard, and I can definitely confirm that you'll hit bad shots because I hit many of those every single round. Uh Tyson Feist can confirm that. Predator Ridge, I just about decapitated someone on the tenth hole. Not the proudest moment. Yeah, but hey, you know, we keep swinging, we keep swinging it. That's it. When when you are out there on the course with a Sarah Winter, for instance, and you're filming content for BMW, for Adidas, how do you look at this moment and think, okay, how can I expand on just playing golf with the two of us? Because you obviously are super creative, you're able to add a lot of gumption to the game. You get some sick backdrops. Are you consulting other creators, or is this coming from Mac Boucher's mind?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I've always tried to stay in my lane. I think there's a lot of people who build brands based on almost copying other people in this industry or like stealing other people's ideas and running with it. And I think for me, it's important to stay in my lane. I've always stayed in my lane. I think my videos are more I try to make the golf course the show or star of the show, and I'm just the prop that's in it showcasing it. I think that's kind of the model that I've especially tried to go to the last couple of years, just because I feel like there's more longevity in that. People are gonna want to see people want to see a cool looking golf course. They want to see that that will always be timeless.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

When if you're just relying on like a personality or something that's kind of fake, I feel like it that wears off when the next new shiny thing shows up. So for me, I think it's just being consistent. I'm a pretty creative person. I've always been pretty creative. So kind of having an eye for it, I think, has been a bonus for me. I kind of just go out there and maybe see things a little bit differently than others. But yeah, I definitely try not to like really ask other people. I kind of just do what makes sense to me.

SPEAKER_02:

I remember just the other day an athlete came in and he hit like like three or four PRs in a lift. And he's like, Well, I didn't just start taking creatine like two weeks ago. And I was like, there you go. So it's literally a natural steroid.

SPEAKER_00:

I know it's crazy. I saw you reposted Perfect Sports. Shout out to the sponsor of this episode. Yeah, it's the most researched supplement in the world now and has been probably for decades. Long time. Used to be just the bodybuilder's thing, and now it's like literally, whether you're 15, 55, or 85, realistically, you should be taking creatine in some way, shape, or form. Consult your physician. I'm no doctor. But yeah, like you said, between the physical and mental benefits, why wouldn't you be taking it? And not to mention, I also, you know, only slept seven hours last night. And some of the research around sleep deprivation and then supplementing with creatine is absolutely absurd. Not out here recommending that you just take creatine and don't sleep. But when you have a late hockey game, you get back at 11, 12 o'clock at night, you're like, okay, hey, I gotta perform for this podcast the next morning, or I gotta perform for the game the next day. Maybe supplementing will support you. Yo, there's nothing like crushing a driver up cabot cliffs, 18, slinging it over the water off the left. Like 100%. There's there's something special about being able to shape the golf ball and do what you want, imagining a visualization, whatever you want to call it. Is that something that you practice growing up? Is that something that you work on? Do you have a sports psych? Like, is that something you've ever touched on?

SPEAKER_01:

No, so for me, it's like curving the ball helps me control my miss. I think most people in the golf industry, when you start really trying to like fascinate on trying to hit a perfect straight shot or like a small shape, you can bring in a double miss. And I think the double miss is what kills 99.9% of golfers. Even people who are chronic slicers, you might aim to hit your slice seven times out of 10. And then the three other times, it's like a straight double cross that goes 80 yards left. So for me, by working in extreme shapes, it allows me to control my miss. And generally I know where the miss is going to go. So I can plot myself around a golf course, knowing, okay, there's an OB down the left here. My miss with my big cut is left. So let's hook this one off the OB and miss it right where there's room. So it's it's more of like a strategy to help me around a golf course rather than just because it looks cool or like it just worked for me, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So for a brand new golfer who can't break a hundred, what's one skill they should focus on first?

SPEAKER_01:

Play a lot of golf. I think my thing is like don't sit on a driving range and beat balls. Get out there and like learn to score because I used to when I used to teach full-time, and that's what I was doing before this, is like I hated on range lessons. Like, I I think my bread and butter with like the course I was at in New Zealand was like, I would I would have members come up to me and be like, Can you just come play 18 holes with me and explain to me why you would hit a seven-wood bump and run instead of sandwich here? Um, why are you hitting a five-wood office tea instead of driver or whatever it may be to plot yourself around a golf course? I think if people understood their strengths more, then they would score better. And I think that's kind of what I always tell beginner golfers is go out and just play golf. Don't fascinate. You're never gonna be on the tour, probably. So don't worry about what it looks like. Just learn how to get it done, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

That was what was so nice at Cabot, having Patty there, Luke Redden, shout out to him and Misak. Unreal, having their insight around a golf course like that, both links and clips. Do you think through the golf game like you do? Is there like a simple checklist before every swing that an amateur average amateur golfer can can copy off you?

SPEAKER_01:

Not really. I'm I'm to be honest, I probably need to get better at more of like pre-shot routine and staying consistent, but ADHD on the golf course, where like I'm very fast. Anyone who knows me, and it's funny because I think people have this like thought that I'll be so slow because I'm filming every shot and stuff, but I'm probably the fastest guy to ever golf. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm extremely quick. So I sometimes think slowing down a little bit and having more of a thought process before I hit a shot is probably smarter. I kind of see ball, hit ball, and do it again. Like I don't I don't really put a lot of thought, which is probably a fault to my own for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

When you talk about filming, and I was something that you touched on earlier, but it's like, why do people feel the need to bring other people down when they're seeing success or you know, building a brand? And it comes from envy. You're never gonna have someone who's doing better than you coming down and chirping you, right? So I think it's a testament to the fact that you build something pretty incredible that people are envious of and they're jealous of and they wish they could have emulated. And I think it's also a fact that no one can do, or not a lot of people can do what you do, if any, right? And I think it that speed factor so that you're not impacting the game negatively is like something that people should be more aware of, so that they're like, hey, maybe let's boost this guy up and promote the fact that he's building a brand around playing golf, having fun with it, instead of trying to dig you down. Like, I don't know, it pains me to say it, but like a Gary Vaynerchuk, he's always talking about, he's looks at it as like, man, that person must be in such a bad place to be commenting on something negatively to your video that you're just posting about Bear Mountain and how sick it looks. Like, uh, what a tough place to be in.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that's the thing for me, is like I I've always been someone who like, hey, if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all. But like, I'm not sitting here pretending to be some superstar. I'm not sitting here pretending to be some like PJ Tour wannabe golfer that thinks I'm like I'm pretty self-deprecating. I'm probably self-depre too self-deprecating. I've been told by a lot of people that I need to like stop that. So for me, it's like it's a weird thing to have haters when anyone that knows me knows how little I take myself seriously, and how like I literally feel very grateful to be in the position I am today where I make social media videos for a living, playing recreational golf at beautiful golf destinations. So like I don't take any of it for granted. And I think for me, it's like it will never make sense to me how someone can hate someone for just kind of living their best life and not really bothering people by doing so.

SPEAKER_00:

But again, they're coming from a bad place. We could both agree on that. And hey, you know what? And they're they're obviously gonna at some point recognize the fact that man, maybe I screwed up and maybe I shouldn't have, which is something that you also do a good job of. And I think more people should be calling people out on socials when they are riffing into you, whether it's athletes, whether it's creators, I don't care what it is. I you are one of the few, if any, that actually will be like, hey man, that wasn't a cool thing to say.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and I think for me, it's like don't do it in a rude way. Like I have some people close to me that always harp on me for calling people out. And I think for me, it's like, don't necessarily I don't do it in a rude way. I do it to hold accountable, hold people accountable. And it's crazy how many people 360 when I do call them out. When they're shown that little bit of attention, people are like, why are you doing that? Just giving them attention. They want that attention. I'm like, no one wants that attention when they have 600,000 people gonna be like coming up with growth factor, slamming them for being a terrible person. funny i've had a lot of run ins with people like a pretty good story is a couple years ago a this guy was saying some really nasty things to me constantly like every video like just all these homophobic slurs and just random stuff that i'm like where are you going with this like what it where are you just m you're like making stuff up he would send me dms he would write comments so i clicked his profile and he was a fireman that worked at a fire station in chicago and had like his fire station listed in his profile and i'm like this guy's an idiot so i screenshot it or whatever went on to like his found his boss this is terrible so petty of me but essentially like I was like hey man like just so you know like you're it shows where you work in your profile like this is probably you might want to rethink what you're doing here like I have all these receipts of shit that you said to me like maybe smart enough and he blocked me like instantly blocked me sent me like this big thing blocked me and then I went from my private account and just sent him all the receipts and stuff and then he blocked me again. So I ended up making an email and sending it to like the fire chief at his thing I was like listen I don't like I don't want to ruin someone's life but at the end of the day if you're being that nasty someone you don't know online you're probably being nasty to other people in your life and these are the type of people that need to be held accountable and I think do I need to spend the time and waste my time doing this? No. But at the same time it's like if he's doing it to me he's probably doing it to 40 other people. So maybe he learns his lesson and then that shrinks that and whatever. So he ends up sending me this massive apology being like I'm going through a lot of stuff with my family right now like my wife just left me. I'm like it's a sob story I don't care that doesn't it doesn't give you a right to treat other people like that. So yeah it'll be something I always do I'm gonna get a hard time for it. Every time I do it people are like why do you give people attention but my hate's actually dropped significantly since I started doing it.

SPEAKER_00:

So dude I I feel like every time I see it I give you a thumbs up I'm like kudos to you man because again every athlete out there is dealing with it. Every person I talk to on this show has spelt it one way or another and you know you got to have some cojones at some point and say hey like that's not cool and maybe fix your attitude. You saw obviously that's a bit of a sob story there but like I'm curious has golf ever saved you in a sense pulled you through a hard season?

SPEAKER_01:

Honestly I'm like it's like my happy place. I say it's everyone if I'm if I don't have golf I'm like it's I there's other things I can do. I'm a big skier and stuff so go find him out and whatever. But for me it's like it's been such a large part of my life for like the last I mean essentially 10 years of my life ever since like finished school and then all of a sudden chasing summers pretty much being around golf 12 months of a year it's brought me some cool places. So I just I don't see a world where without like I could live without golf essentially like it's just such a a happy place for me to kind of free the mind a little bit. So I think everyone needs something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

So in Nicholas North round before and then ski after what's the what's the ideal day?

SPEAKER_01:

That that's my ideal day you just you just nailed it every every May or June during Whistler closing weekend I try to rip up the Whistler and ski in the morning golf in the afternoon for a couple days a fair amount up there take good care of me so they always bring me up and it's it's like my my dream getaway.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah and any film at the MW commercial and to see this guy on the way up and then you're checking a bunch of boxes right yeah exactly it's too easy.

SPEAKER_01:

Tell me about the creator classic what was that like yeah I mean it was cool the internet invitational it's it's an interesting dynamic. I mean it's very cool for the industry. I always say this to people and this might be a hot take I don't know if I have the personality online to like compete with a lot of those people it's a lot of people like really trying to crave for that attention or or I guess springtime right it's it's people with big personalities really trying to like get in front of the camera. I'm pretty quiet I'm pretty introverted and I kind of stick to myself so it's a weird place for me to be in it's I don't know if it'll ever feel comfortable but yeah it's uh it was it was cool. It was a cool just being around all those people that like in the industry that are are the biggest it's pretty wild.

SPEAKER_00:

You gotta get to a couple shots of birdie juice and yeah then you'll open up right yeah I don't even know I think I'm just wired to be pretty quiet and unassuming. Hey maybe that's because you just gotta swing the golf club and that does the talking for you right?

SPEAKER_01:

That's that's the plan for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah yeah I did hear another cool story about somewhere in Savannah where you were told and your team was told on a part five that you had to hit iron off the tee you proceeded to go driver driver off the deck and then get benched is this true true or false yeah my college coach hated me just because he didn't see he was very traditional very very traditional and I was self-taught and like had a driver off deck is more comfortable than trying to hit a five iron off the T.

SPEAKER_01:

Like it's just it's something that I and I I got into it with him. It was actually my first year and we were it was a qualifying round so our whole team was playing against each other for the first whatever five spots for the traveling team and I played really well. I think I came second on the team but I didn't listen to him and he benched me and didn't bring me to the uh first event and it was just like I tried to explain to him I'm like listen you try to give me a five iron I'm gonna hit it terrible and like I'm trying to like benefit myself and the team here like driver off deck is like a security blanket shot for me. Let me live and he was just not happy so yeah that that happened.

SPEAKER_00:

So what who's the guy on social uh DOD King or you in a match drivers nine walls strictly drivers who's taking home the cake I mean yeah I'm I would hate talking positively about myself but I think I would take him in a driver only.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I'm I'm pretty good with little finesse shots and stuff. He's pretty impressive though the guy can I do he's one of those guys that's very misunderstood in the industry. He he's got this persona and he gets a lot of hate and people are like this guy's a tool but in person he's probably the nicest out of everyone. He is just a great guy. So it's funny how like social media people have this image of how people are and then in person they're actually the total opposite good and bad. Yep he's he's one of those ones that look terrible but is actually great.

SPEAKER_00:

There's a lot that look great and are actually terrible so I can confirm that statement for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Any others that come to mind that you want to give a show I always like to give people an opportunity to highlight others in the space or in the game obviously the people that I'm probably closest with are like the Kiwi boys are great like the Kwans, the tacos those guys the exact same the thing that I always value is people who are the exact same off camera just good people. Kwan's always been great to me. You know Ryan Ruffles great guy I mean I'm I've been pretty close with Sarah just because we've kind of had the similar sponsors and stuff so Sarah's great we always kind of run ideas past each other and and that kind of thing in terms of like events. So there's look there's a lot of them I haven't spent a ton of time with some of the big ones I've filmed a video with Grant and Brian brothers and that but I haven't spent a ton of time with them so I don't a lot of them are great.

SPEAKER_00:

A lot of them I probably just kind of avoid was that was Luke getting lit up justified during that that was crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

No that was one thing I think I was so when that all thing happened the day that the the filming happened Kwan was I was the only one that really took Kwan's side out of the 48 people that were on site when we came back so I had to go back to the hotel after the morning matches. So Joey and I won our morning match and then I found out Kwan slept in missed the T Town blah blah blah everyone's beefing him everyone's going at him and then there was a lunch break and I had to go back to the hotel which was like a 20 minute drive down the road because I didn't stay on property and Kwan's like yo can I come with you like I just need to get away from this and I was like yeah absolutely like come with me. So I came we came back and walked into the Big Sear Lodge clubhouse where everyone was having lunch and that's when Ryan Whitney stood up and starts clapping. And it was the most awkward thing I have ever been a part of because I was the only one standing with Kwan. It was me and Kwan in the friggin' food line and everyone's just going at Kwan and I'm like this is awful. This is like this is so brutal and then obviously when they released the episode and all these people are hating on him and stuff I I was the first one to kind of openly step up for him on social media. I think I made a post yeah like I was like yeah like this is he one of the good guys in this industry the dude is an unbelievable sleeper. Like I've gone on trips with him and he'll have to give me a hotel key and wake him up because his alarm you'll hear his alarm from the hotel hallway and he's just not waking up. So it's one of those things I think if people looked more deep into it they would realize that it's maybe like a little bit of a sleep issue not necessarily a Kwan issue. But yeah it affected him I think yeah he'll admit that it it definitely bothered him and it was a it was a pretty dark cloud over him for a while and I think more people in the industry should have I'm glad I did and I think Ryan Ruffles ended up speaking up and then I think the Brian brothers wrote something as well to stick up for him because anyone that knows Kwan deep like on a deeper level knows how self-deprecating and he's not it came across like he was being cocky and I don't give a shit but it was also like his way of dealing with 48 people just going at him in a no like yeah most people would shut down in that situation. So I think it was it was shocking to me that more people didn't speak up and I think it bothered me big time. I was like this is where like splitting social media to like someone's actual emotions instead of hammering out reels using it for clicks to get clut more clout for yourself how about you stick up for the guy and like shut some shut some of the haters that are maybe judging it based on how the rest of the creators are dealing with it and not it just bothered me. So I don't think it was justified at all. It was a common mistake it was funny and if anything that made clicks for that first episode I actually not to keep talking about it but my Tailor made rap down in the States he messaged me he's like you're not gonna believe this I'm like what he's like his the their Google rap for Tailormade said that Luke Kwan was the most search name in sports on Google during that and that was during the World Series. So it was like it was like making huge news which for them it's great. It creates clicks it creates that drama but at the same time you gotta sometimes drop that and understand that it's someone's like livelihood and someone's well being that you're you're messing with at what expense right like that's a that's a tough one. Yeah luckily it happened to Kwan because I think if it was anyone else I think it would have affected them a lot more and it really bothered me because then there was other like cheating scandals and stuff that I don't think got nearly enough attention and they got kind of let off the hook when Kwan made a mistake and the cheating stuff should have actually been like whether it was a mistake or not should have been way more like could not agree more there also.

SPEAKER_00:

I was that's kind of why I was curious because I'm like this guy got lit up for weeks if not months afterwards and he's still getting lit up yeah and I I just was like this it didn't sit right so I wanted to hear it from someone who was actually there on site to confirm it. Well hey and it's like again this is a guy's livelihood and like when your family's being impacted when people like you're going to school and your kids are being taught like that's just not cool. And again I understand the social media the game that clicks but yo let's let's understand maybe time and place. Anyway I'm curious though because on that note if golf was stripped away from Mac voucher right now how would you handle it? What would you do? What professional sport would you be playing?

SPEAKER_01:

I would uh move to the mountains and be a ski bum I think okay high end ski bomb like a helicopter or a heli skiing like guide or something that uh I think that's like my other place that's like a happy place for me. So yeah I would say skiing 100% I would just chase winters and find my happy place that way.

SPEAKER_00:

Instead of chasing fairways you chase winters. That's sick dude I love it. I love it. I love it. Hey I I sincerely appreciate your time it's been fun chopping it up I can't wait to sling a couple on the range with you but I do have one question before we wrap up with our traditional one.

SPEAKER_01:

If someone could watch just one Mac voucher golf video and truly understand who you are, which one would you choose and why probably like one of the ones that I make as a like a yearly review of just like the scenic backdrops, some of the ball flights, calm music in the background kind of just I would say it's like golf ASMR with like a twist where it's like kind of cool ball flights mixed in.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's kind of that's where the place where I the videos I most enjoy making the golf that I most enjoy playing so I think that's a good representation of of who I am could not agree with you more as someone who's been following along your journey probably since prior to COVID but for sure since COVID it's been a pleasure to watch you travel around the world play the game of golf shut people up with your slings. The way we wrap up every episode as you know Mac is we ask our guests their biggest piece of advice for the next generation of athletes and someone who's got some experience both at the pro level traveling around the world dealing with haters I'm sure you've got a couple of gold nuggets for our listeners.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah I would say do it because you love it. Like you have to love what the sport you're playing and be dedicated. Don't do it because other people are forcing you to do it. And I think you see that a lot I've had experience with like a friend of mine used to play in the LPG tour and she like just hit this burnout because it was family pushing her to play golf and she didn't love love the sport and I think being in love with what you're doing and waking up every day and wanting to go practice and wanting to get better I think is always is so important. So I'd say that's 100% what I would say is find your passion and if it's it shouldn't feel like a job if you love it. And I feel like you have not worked a day in a while then if that's the case my man hey no I say that every single day I think it's uh obviously there's parts of it because I am quite introverted and I I'm not necessarily someone who loves attention and being the the middle of yeah just the eyes on me all the time it's something that I've that's probably my hardest work side of it but no it's uh it's a joke. I I play golf recreationally for a living so how can I complain?

SPEAKER_00:

Hey well we appreciate you coming on it's not a joke to us sincerely appreciate your time man I look forward to many others. Hey folks that's the pod thanks for tuning in we'll see you guys next week

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David Stark

Host