If You Think You’re Working Hard, Work Harder! | Bob May

This is the I Want to Play College Golf podcast. We talk to those who coached and those who have played college golf, so you can learn what it takes to be a college golfer. Are you ready to tee off? Let's go.

My name is Bob May my profession which would be PGA Tour player, golf instructor,

thank you. And so for the first question, how did you get started with golf?

I got I got involved in golf. Probably when I was about seven years, about six or seven years old, I stayed with my aunt, and she introduced me to the game. I come from a non golfing family from my mom, dad are not not golfers. My aunt was.

That's cool. What age should you start around?

Well, I started playing competitive golfer took it serious when I nine years old. Oh,

okay. That's cool. So that's when you started getting hooked onto the game, sort of

Yeah, I quit playing all other sports when I was 11. So I quit playing soccer and baseball when I was 11. And just played golf home like,

Oh, that's cool. And if you can remember, what was your typical day, like in your junior career?

Well, I mean, my typical day Junior career, you know, it's a lot different than a lot of a lot of kids these days, because we didn't have the distraction of of electronics like you all do. So my day when I was basically about 12 years old is a typical day on the weekend. You know, when I could get to the golf course when I get there about 730 in the morning, and I would probably come home close to about four o'clock in the afternoon.

Oh, that's long.

I would hit balls all day long. You know, not being from a golfing family. There was a driving range pretty close to my house, my parents would drop me off at it, and I just hit balls all day long.

Oh, that's cool. Oh, you must have really liked?

No, I loved it. Yes.

And during your junior years, you had a great number of successes. Looking at your record, you won so many ajga tournaments, and you even won the tournament of champions, how'd you get to that top level?

Well, I think the top level was, you know, obviously, just just practice a lot of practice. A lot of concentration. You know, on my practice, I think, you know, a lot of kids don't concentrate enough when they practice. You know, so I took the game very serious. I think a lot of it came stemmed from, from my instructors that I work with, that they taught me. So, you know, I didn't waste my time out there, I was always working on on something, or some kind of golf shot. So I think, you know, at a young age, when I was probably 1213 years old, like, I could work the ball both directions. And it was just, it was a game I fell in love with, you know, I came from a non golfing family. So I wasn't pushed into the game. It was something I chose. And so I think that was kind of a big difference for me, as opposed to a lot of kids. Is it the game that I actually chose to play?

Oh, that's cool. And how was your experience at the Tournament of Champions?

Oh, my, you know, the tournament champions was a great Junior tournament for me. The weird thing is, you know, I was only 15 years old. It was actually I wasn't even 15 yet. I was 14, I believe, might have been 50. I got a special exemption into it. And, and I was sick. So I flew to Georgia, stay with a family I didn't know fighting a cold, and then went out and won the biggest, you know, ajga tournament, you can win. So I flew from Southern California where I lived all the way to Georgia. We played horseshoe Horseshoe Bend in in Georgia, and ended up ended up winning the golf tournament there.

Oh my God, that's, that's so cool. And in 1984, you were also the youngest qualifier in the US amateur. Can you tell us about that experience?

Yeah, you know, it was just again, you know, a lot of practice. I had success on the golf course that I that I was qualifying on it. And, you know, just a lot of preparing, you know, you don't just prepare for one event you prepare for your whole year. And I think a lot of people are just preparing for certain events and they put too much pressure on themselves, where when I prepare I'm preparing for everything. I play in it didn't matter. If it was a US amateur US Junior, our LA City Junior, or just a local junior tournament, I always wanted to play the best I could in matter if it was a big tournament or a small tournament. And I took that same thing on through my amateur career in my professional career, I didn't. I didn't focus harder on majors than I did. On tour, they were all important.

Oh, that's cool. How'd you feel being the youngest there?

I was fine with it. You know, I had, I had a lot of confidence in my game. And so therefore, when you're playing with confidence, you don't really think about this player or, or, you know, I'm not supposed to be here kind of deal.

And how did you manage to balance school and golf?

You know, I was never a great student. So, you know, I tried to get my schoolwork done as fast as I could. And, you know, then then go play, you know, go play golf or go to tournaments. I don't think school was as time consuming as it is now. But, you know, I think school school can be a little tougher for you kids now. And but you know, you do have, you guys do have better technology that to help you with it. Where we had a Cyclopedia is that we look stuff up on and then How often were those updated, you know, often, now you have it on your phone, it gets updated monthly, all your information you're looking for. So you do that you do have to be able to organize your time to be to be a good golfer, because when you're on the golf course, you have to be thinking golf only you can't be thinking about schoolwork, boyfriends, girlfriends. You got to be strictly focused on the game.

Yeah, that's great advice. And you went to Oklahoma State University. Just to clarify, did you get a golf scholarship there?

Yes, yes.

Can you tell us about that process? Well,

the process to get the scholarship there was, I was the number one recruit coming out of my class. So it was basically, my whole decision was to find a school, that I would have the best chance of winning a national championship. And that that's basically, you know, I was going to school to try to better my golf, because I knew I wanted to be a professional golfer. So I wanted to go to school that was very golf oriented, and a school that I could, you know, possibly if I'm gonna go spend four years there that I have a chance to win a national championship.

And how was your experience there?

It was good. It was a good experience. You know, it's quite a ways away from Southern California quite a bit different than Southern California.

Yeah, already. There's like, the Midwest.

Yeah, I mean, there's only one other player from Southern California that went there before before me, and that was John O'Neill. And then I ended up going there. And then Chris headland went there. And then we had Rickie Fowler, we had Hunter mayhem. There's quite a few of Southern California kids that have gone there now.

Oh, my God, that's really cool. And you're also named all American many times. How do you manage to get to that level?

Well, I mean, there again, you know, you get to that level by practicing. And, you know, I see a lot of kids practice, but I don't know how much they're paying attention. You know, they've got headphones in, they're hitting golf balls, listening to music. To me, that's not practicing. That's just, you know, doing a physical exercise. To practice. You need to really focus and be focused, you can't have other things going on, to practice. You know, I see a lot of kids these days practicing with headphones and stuff like that. And I don't agree with that, you know, first thing is you're practicing in an atmosphere that are creating an atmosphere that you'll never ever play in or let you play with headphones in. And so therefore, why are you practicing that way, you're never going to be able to duplicate that in a tournament. When you practice you should be practicing just as if you're playing in a tournament. And I work with, I don't call it, you know, have you been practicing, because you want to rehearse exactly everything you're going to do in the play right? When you get to the play. So when you're on the driving range, you should be rehearsing exactly the way in which you're going to play on the golf course. And so, most all my competitive kids, I kind of teach them to rehearse, let's, let's do some rehearsal. And so, when they're when they're out there, they should be rehearsing in that practicing.

Oh, that makes perfect sense. And obviously, you won many tournaments during college. Can you tell us some of your favorite ones?

Obviously, probably the first one I won was at Austin, Texas, and in a beat and a good friend of mine, Dudley Hart, who plays on tour. And, you know, it was it was it was a fun tournament to win. You know, the best ones was winning at the basic flipping, pretty view now, which the woman in South Carolina and it got me on the front cover of golf rolled back while I was in college, so that was kind of neat. Oh, that's really

cool. And you got into the US amateur again, how did you stay on track and accomplish this?

Again, just practice the I mean, golf consumed my life, you know, Golf was was basically my focus. It was something that I played and I always got positive feedback from, so therefore it just consumed me.

Oh, that's nice. And just curious. Like, how much time do you spend on each part of the game?

You know, I don't I really don't break it down that way. I practice what I feel like that moment. Might be short game Sunday's might be. I don't try to neglect any part of the game. I try to practice the eight for me with basically from eight o'clock in the morning. A lot more in the afternoon.

Oh, that's cool.

All day process.

You're also in the British amateur? Can you tell us about that experience?

It was fine. You know, I played in that after I played in the walker cuff. So it was a good fun time in my career.

And in 1991, you played in the walker club with Phil Mickelson and Damon duel how'd you get there?

Dean was just the overall points and performance throughout the previous years amateur golf.

Oh, so it's based off of the amateur rankings. Oh, okay. Thank you. And what do you do to prep for it?

Was that what he said earlier? All my tournaments the same way I don't do anything special for any tournament it's a big tournament being the reason is alarm is the best I could do. So therefore, he alternates

and how was the walker pub experience

you got basically Great Britain against you know, the players from Great Britain and Ireland. And then you got the players who are over there and we played on a full sail links golf course at court morning. And it was it was it was a great week. You know, we got a lot of fun over there for the for the whole week that we were there.

Oh, that sounds really fun. And that same year you turned professional? Can you tell us about your whole journey?

Well, right after I got done British amateur. I came home and turned professional and with the tour school tour card spot went over to Asia, Asia. Oh, oh, that's when I came back from Asia. You know, I started playing the whole time, which is down the ferry tour.

Oh, That's cool.

I just flew back from from Europe from fitting the British masters. And so when I got to Louisville, I was kind of tired. But staying with some people I didn't know again friends, though became friends now. You shall show 72 The first day, which was okay, that's been great. And then, you know, proceed to shoot 366 is to turn it into a good fun weekend.

Oh, oh my god. That's so good. And obviously, you have many experiences as a professional, what is some advice you would tell young junior golfers aspiring to turn pro?

First thing into working hard, they need to work hard. I would say you know, one you got to you got to find someone that you believe in for these kids. But I just think when they practice that need to be more focused, you know?

Oh, that's some great piece of advice. And now you have a successful Golf Academy at TDC Las Vegas, what's your coaching philosophy?

My coaching philosophy is, is a method that was taught to me and it's swinging and handled on the club head. So it's a philosophy that we are always focused on the handle, and moving the handle of the golf club. Because that's where we're connected. So whatever I do with the handle has a direct effect on the club head, which therefore has a direct effect on the golf club. So that's why we that's why we That's why I teach that and it's the same method I use when I was on tour that was taught to me by Eddie marrons. And, you know, I also worked with Tom Sargent, and a little bit with Butch Harmon.

Oh, yeah.

Those are the three guys I've I've worked with in my career, but Tom Sargent, in any marriage are the ones I work with the most.

Oh, that's, that's great. It makes it sound so simple. And when you are like, I know, you already answered this earlier, but for juniors, do you recommend them to biding their time for putting to be in full swing? Or just like do as they think?

You know, some people are focused enough, you know, that they'll say they get everything fine. And then the parents like, No, you didn't you didn't do this at the other. So, you know, someone that's, that's paying attention, I think they know what they need to work on. But sometimes, they don't know what to work on. So therefore, if they had a plan that they should do this, this and this this day, and this this that day, it could help them. Absolutely. But you know, I was never that disciplined, I was just dropped off the golf course. I just worked out whenever I felt I needed to, but I never neglected any any part of the game. Oh,

okay. That makes great sense. Besides not practicing efficiently, what is another mistake you see commonly in junior golfers?

Kids, kids, maybe playing the game for their parents and not for themselves? You know, this is something if you want to be successful, you gotta have to want it yourself. If they don't want it themselves, it's gonna be very hard to be successful at it.

Oh, that's, that's great insight. How does someone improve their golf game? Besides like practicing a lot?

Well, I mean, there's no way to improve your golf game if you don't practice. Now, if you practice a lot, and you want to get better when you're practicing, have a good structure practice program. But also, you know, you should be working out on the side, you're going into the gym and working out and getting stronger. So that you know, when you start hitting a lot more balls your body gets, take the abuse of the twisting and turning.

Oh, okay. Thank you for that. And what do you believe college coaches look for in a player?

Well, I mean, the most thing they're going to look for is their schoolwork. You know, what are your scores, that's what they're going to be concerned about, or their their scores. I think also be concerned about their grades and what kind of person they are. But when it gets down to it is you know

How? Okay, that's great. And how should a junior approached the game? Or what mindset should they have?

The mindset should be they need to play the game needs to be played between them and the golf course and not them in their opponents because they can't control what their opponents are doing.

Yeah, that's that's a great mindset. And just curious, how did you build up your ajga resume and get to the top?

Well, my resume was built by my performance. So you know, obviously, as I played it and got better and better and one more term, it's that's the resume was basically built.

Oh, so juniors, just the plan, lot of qualifiers. And then when tournament

that we didn't have qualifiers back then, oh, oh, no, they didn't have qualifiers back then it was just, you know, there was probably about a 80 to 100 of us kids that flew all around the country playing these events. And that was

it. Oh, so it's like by invitation? Yeah, well, kind

of Yeah, invitation. And then parents that were serious enough about sending their kids all around the country to play? Well, it wasn't as it wasn't as big of a sport when I was playing. Now you have go through it through different tiers of ajga. So you know, obviously, the one I played at was the highest level, but that's all we had. So it was it was just taking the best players, pretty much from two players out of almost every state that you know, that would want to play and then putting this all together, there'll be but it'd be one to two players out of every state, you know, California to have six or seven, Texas would have seven or eight, Florida would have a lot. So it's basically just taking the best juniors throughout the country from their cheer up programs in their state and

in the play. Oh, that's really cool. I didn't know HCG changed that much.

Yeah, it's changed a lot.

And what's your secret sauce of advice for golf and life in general?

Well, I mean, first thing is, it's great just to play golf, these kids need to understand that that's great. And they need to also understand that very few of them are going to make it to the professional level. So you know, the first thing is, make sure you love the game that you're gonna try to play it at that level, because it's a serious commitment. And it's a commitment that you tell your parents, I want to be a professional golfer, and they start pouring all this money into it. And then you're like, well, that's not really what I want to do. I mean, so when you make that decision, make sure it's really what you want to do. Because it is a commitment. It's a lifestyle. And if you want to be good, it's a lifestyle that you're going to sacrifice a lot of spending time with your friends and in doing all that. But you know, if you make it, it's a great, it's a great fun ride.

Oh, yeah, that's some great piece of advice. And finally, we're coming to an end, what advice would you give to parents and junior golfers?

First thing I tell I tell parents is, you know, don't push their kid into the game, if they want to do it, introduce it to him. And if they want to do it, that's great. But let it be their decision. Because if it's not, the minute they get away from you, they're not going to quit the game. So I would say introduce him to him. If they want to play, give them the opportunities to go to the right places to get the right instruction. And, you know, if they're doing good, don't push them harder. Just let them keep on going. And just keep on giving them the means to go harder if they want to push themselves harder. But the minute you start coaxing them in a direction, and it's not going to turn out good.

Yeah, so yeah, definitely. If you don't like the game, then you're not going to be good at it. How involved do you think parents should be in their kids game?

I don't. I mean, I came from parents that weren't involved at all, as in they were there for support, but that was it. They didn't tell me I need to do this. I need to do that. I need to do this. You know, when parents get that involved, I think that's when the kids start, you know, losing interest.

Okay, so like minimum involvement,

sort of? Well, I would say there The parents are a support team more than they are anything else.

Okay, thank you for that. And thank you so much for letting us interview you. You got it? No problem. Have a good night.

You too.