No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 1210: Talking Golf with Justin Hueber

Episode Date: September 18, 2026

On this bonus midweek episode, we’re sharing a conversation with Justin Hueber that originally aired as part of our Nest exclusive podcast series. Justin shares some fantastic stories from his experiences in college and the lower rungs of professional golf, and what led to his decision to step away from pursuing a PGA Tour card. Support our Sponsors: Titleist If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Nest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: No Laying Up’s community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It’s a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nolayingup.com/join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Newsletter here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://newsletter.nolayingup.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NoLayingUpPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about him? That is better than most. Better than most. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the No Laying Up podcast. Sali here, bonus episode edition. What you're going to hear today is a direct lift from the Nest podcast.

We did an interview with our friend Justin Hubert. Neil and DJ did this several months ago. We are, we're lifting this episode out, giving. this to you here on the No Laying Up podcast as an example of some offerings that we have in the Nest. If you're unfamiliar with what the Nest is, you can go to join.nolayingup.com. Find all kinds of great benefits that you get out of joining the Nest. For $90 a year, you support big projects. We do like Strapped and other special interest projects, but you also get exclusive access to the Nest member podcast. Behind the scenes videos,

you get access to the Refuge Message Board, 15% off the Pro Shop. You get a bunch of great offers from a lot of our partners as well, extra discounts from them as well. So join.nolingup.com. If you want to hear more episodes like this one with such a great interview, had a great chat with Justin. He has a ton to offer about his career and professional golf, getting into it, getting out of it as well. If you are looking for the conversation about regaining amateur status,

this is not it. That is a conversation to be had with the governing bodies. This is more about some highs and lows from his professional career, dealing with injuries, and just kind of a little bit of the, of the Huber story. Talked about hitting cups and all the ways he's been in a lot of our content as well. So I think you all enjoy this. And again, go to join.0.0 laying up.com. If you're looking for more offerings like this, we do two of these a month. There's a lot of great stuff in the catalog there as well.

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idea how to fit myself. So if you are anywhere below that upper one percent, of people of knowledge on this, I doubt you could fit yourself as well. So I've had a ton of light bulb moments of, you know, getting fit into all kinds of different bounces and grinds for my different wedges for different purposes. And not only that, but just understanding how my lie angles have a factor, what tweaks I should be making into weights and drivers and settings, all that stuff. Check out the fitting locator at titles.com to find a fitting near you.

They are going to help you get fit in things. It'll help your brain turn off in terms of wondering if you're in the right stuff. if you've made the right decisions because somebody else is making the decisions for you. Titles.com find a fit in your year. Here's our conversation with Justin Huber. My name is DJ here with my guy, Neil, who you just heard from Neil. Good afternoon. Hello.

Greetings. Ola Taurus. Good to be with you. Good to be with you as well. And of course, we're going to be joined today. We got a special one today. We're going to be joined by he's kind of like the adjunct professor of no laying up. You know, he comes, he goes.

He's always around. Justin Huber, our good friend, Hughes. What's going on? Gentlemen, pleasure to be here. And I love just being on call. You know, it's kind of 24-7 with you guys. I get a text. It's like, hey, we got to do this.

And happy to be a part of it today. Outside the bright lights of the film room, I would say you're the NLU version of Mr. John Gruden right now. You know, just breaking down tape with us, just a true knower. I love it. A ball knower in the truest sense. I might get you a laser pointer for Christmas. I think that would be a nice. Not real good right here.

Yeah, exactly. Get the white board out behind me. Start drawing some backs in the nose. I like it. Huber's calling in from the office, it looks like. The home office? The office? The office. The home office, Fort Wayne, baby.

In a regional vice president of operations office at the moment. She had to run. So I commandeered it while my cubicle is under construction. So I love it. Well, we're going to be talking cubicles. We're going to be talking real jobs. We're going to be talking pro golf. We're going to be talking all kinds of different things with our guy.

Former professional golfer, now amateur star out in the world of amateur golf. We're going to get to that. I got some questions about that. We're going to get all his feet to the fire there. Huge. For people who are maybe new, for people who maybe missed it the first time around, I was thinking back on this. How did you, how did our circles overlap here? But obviously down in Jacksonville somewhere, just general golf circles, I think.

It was. It was definitely, I actually thought about this the other day. Someone asked me, and you were with scratch at the time. You had the little house on the beach, and then you, no laying up, got stood up. And I remember Tron reaching out. I'd followed him. I don't know how it got connected. I'd have to go back in the Twitter sphere a bit. But I remember sending him a messenger. He sent me one about the BMW when I think he played with Chesson Hadley. This has got to be 20. 17 maybe. I think so, Mike, the franchise was caddying. Yeah. It was so hot. It was a million. But he got connected because I think he had just moved to Jacks and we played a practice round together. And that was kind of the trigger.

And then I just hanging out with you down there. Then you came on board. And then all the boys moved to Jacks at the Kill House for a little bit. And we had a good run there for a while. We did. A lot of golf, a lot of fun. I think a lot of people, again, are pretty familiar with you and your story. You know, from Indiana, pro golfer for a long time on a number of different tours.

And then, you know, in the last couple years, have left pro golf and moved into real life, real job, all of that stuff. So I think we're going to talk a little bit about that today. But Neil, you got anything kind of off the jump? You want to, yeah, I actually want to start before. I know, like, you were the, you know, close. Class zero of the young hitter program. People know all that. I'm actually curious here.

I don't know your college career. All right. And so the question I would have, it's when I asked some of these kids in the U.S. National Development Program, when did you know you were a dude? Like at what age? So I played other sports in high school as well.

Played basketball, high jump for track, my senior year, and kind of just grew up playing all the sports. And then when we moved to Indiana, golf became like a bigger pass. I grew up in Arkansas, and we were members of this, I call it the country club. It was our country club, it might still exist. It was a little nine-holer, had the pool, summertime.

We'd go to the pool. You get the little whistle blow where the lifeguard has to take a break and you'd go over to putting green. Yeah, it was like I'd walk over to putty green barefoot shirtless. And I remember, I'll never forget it. I got some slasinger balls. And I thought, like, I was big time. I had the cat, had the cat on the ball. I'm like, I'm the man.

And, you know, kind of dominated the local junior circuit down there in Arkansas. At the pool or beyond the pool? Both. It was all the above. Little league field, it didn't matter. I was getting snow cones after game winning walkoffs, you know. No, and so we moved up to Indiana and moved on a golf course. And that was kind of the trigger there.

So I spent my summers. I just walk up to the course and. practice all day. I remember I'd get two extra large bags of balls and I'd go out there and hit them all. Then I'd go chip on the little chipping green. And then I'd go play nine holes or 18 holes and go home. It was like darn near sun up to sundown type deal in the summer. And then high school, I was really young for my grade. So I started college at 17, which at the time I didn't think twice about now, looking back if I would have had maybe a couple more years of development and been one of the older kids could have been a different story but glad that my path kind of took me where it did so i finished

second interstate tournament my senior year kind of i don't want to say i got bone but got a little bone we were there with the team the individuals tee off early we in the first day we were tied for the lead so we have i got the last tea time of the day individuals go off in the morning some kid goes out plays a nice round before it gets real windy in the afternoon it blows like 30 miles an hour and just kind of grinded my way in. So finished runner up there, but I went to, the goal with college was, I had a good buddy here, Kyle Pearson's his name, and we wanted to be a package deal. And so we were like, hey, let's go to play college golf together.

Wherever we can both go, let's go, and we'll be roommates. It'll be a blast. And they just so happen to have a tournament at the course that I lived on for the GLVC, which is the Great Lakes Valley Conference, where I ended up, playing and the University of Indianapolis coach was out there and I walked around met him and Ken Partridge was his name. So long story short, I, me and my buddy Kyle signed with the University Indianapolis and signed early. It was awesome. Coach Ken Partridge, he was 70 years old. He'd been there for 40 years. We called him coach too because he wore a toupee like you'd see him bald. Then the next day

he'd have this luscious comb over. Gosh and so that was kind of, Once I realized I was going to play college golf, it got a little more serious. It always kind of was, but I didn't play any of the big AGAGA stuff. I qualified for two U.S. juniors, and that was kind of the springboard. I played the first one at Olympic Club, shot 1,000. And I just, I'll never forget the 17th hole. I tried to hit a six iron out of the rough, and I hit it like 10 feet. And Brian Harmon shot like 65, 66, and stroke play.

And I was like, well, I'm clearly not good enough. Um, it's like, I've ingrained in my memory, him sitting in the clubhouse during a fog delay, just taking a nap and he's tiny. He like fits on the chair. He's like laid on a chair. Oh, God, he was such a dude in the Georgia golf scene. That was T.C's year. I mean, I remember it was just his name was all over every. I mean, he wasn't playing a lot of southeastern stuff at that point. But it was like Brian Harmon was the dude. I don't want to say he could have won on tour at that time, but it's kind of how it felt. Even him. like early college was just like oh my god that guy's terrifying i watched him hit wedges on the range this is another thing we're at olympic club i'm walking past him he's hitting wedges and i kid you not he hits the flag stick on two out of three shots from like 100 yards and i'm over there just like hoping i'm not going to chunk this thing like there's georgia coached oklahoma state coach and i'm just little dude from indiana of high school this would have been junior year yeah yeah um and i quite qualified for it again the next year made match play out in Massachusetts at Long Meadow and Springfield

Mass. And that was one where I showed up, you know, Ricky Fowler's there, Peter, or Sam Saunders was there. He shot like 64 in stroke play and set the course record. And I was just like, what is happening? So, yep, made it to match play then. And that was kind of like the moment where, hey, you know, I can hang. top 64 juniors in the world type deal. I thought I was going to go beat Juan Pablo Candela and won the first hole, and that was the last hole I won, I think, that day. Juan Pablo said not so fast.

He said, no, no. He said, no mas. Nice kid, played at Purdue. But then, so fast forward, then I go to college. In my freshman year, I make the all-freshman team for Division II. I was like one of the top five freshmen up for freshman of the year. And I didn't win, but I just like played really good every event.

So that was super fun and encouraging. And I was like, all right, maybe you got to, you know, make something out of this. My sophomore year hit a little slump. I won one event and just wasn't having as much fun. Scoring average went up a little bit and compared to freshman year. And then somehow turned it around junior and senior year. 10 times my last two years of school, was a second team All-American junior year, and then a first team All-American in my senior year.

And yeah, that was the springboard. And I said, I went to school to be a biology major, was going to do pre-med. And then after skipping several lab classes and getting a D in biology freshman year, first semester, I was like, you know, I'm going to try this golf thing. I don't know if the doctor thinks for me. and might regret that a little bit now. Just, but no, it was, it was kind of the, that was that junior year, went in four times, kind of gave me the confidence and then taken it into senior year.

And I kind of broke every school record that year. And did you ever, that was it? Well, first off, so you may, I mean, you make match play the U.S. junior. Did any bigger schools come sniffing around? So I had already signed by that point. I had signed. That doesn't mean shit these days. Not these days.

Back then it did. Huge words as strong as oak. Yeah. It's, you know, no, I wanted to go to IU or Purdue. Yeah. That was kind of the thing. And, you know, it's one of those deals where AJGA mattered a lot back then. We still does.

Talking to Chris Zambrie. He's like, I mean, it's got to be playing AJGA. circuit or we're not going to see you. Yep. And I just never did that. Didn't play a single one. And my dad later in life was like, man, I'm sorry I didn't do that. And I'm like, it doesn't matter. Golf's a unique sport where now it's a little different with the PJ Tour

or you and stuff. But back then, it didn't matter where you played. You had to go beat everybody. You had to go shoot the scores. And if you shot the scores, they couldn't keep you out. So a little different setup back then than it is today. and it was great because I played every event, every round my entire college career and gained a lot of confidence doing that. What about when you were in college?

Any thought of transferring somewhere south, year-round golf school? Back then you had to sit out. Yeah, that's true. You couldn't just transfer. So it was a – you kind of made your bed and coach Toup left after my freshman year. and we got a new guy in, and we had a great time there. Our team was good. We went to nationals, my junior and senior year,

finished top 10 at the national championship, which was pretty impressive for a northern school. Played with Willie Wilcox, my junior year at the national championship. That was a treat. Yeah, the wave god, baby. No, it's, I don't have any regrets about going to you, Indy. It was, you know, did it prepare me the best for playing on tour? no, but it also allowed me to get a lot better and gain a lot of confidence.

So it wasn't, it was a little different college experience than what our good buddy, Luke Guthrie had at Illinois. But I'd argue I probably had more fun. Sure. So what is that? Was there any hesitancy in turning pro? Was it always going to be turning pro or was it kind of once you hit that junior year probably? Like, you know, it's all clicking. Yeah, that's when it kind of triggered.

You know, I changed my major to sports marketing, going to school, not sure what I wanted to do. And then once it started to kind of click, I said, you know, I think I might have a chance at doing this. And then just kind of reaffirmed the confidence. But I tell you what, I turned pro. I missed Q school that first year, that first winner. I tried it. Didn't make it out. And it was a little more, I think it was a little more challenging back then to advance through the stages.

Like there were less spots. but I then played the Hooters tour and as I swear as my first event I showed up and the winner was 30 under and you know I I shoot like 70 71 or something like that and missed the cut and I'm like oh my gosh like what who's Jeff Kor who's Brandon Brown like who are these guys and it just bull lidsing it yeah exactly Teddy P played at Ocala gosh shot a million of under. I shoot like 84 the second round, like just ejection. And it's it was a reality check. And so I found all these damn birds. What the hell? It was I remember like going back to my hotel and I was like, well, you got two options. You either better get really good or you need to be done with this

because this is this is tough. They just, it was like, and I had this had a conversation with a guy a couple days ago about this. Like college, you shoot 70, it's pretty good. You average 70. I think I average like 70.1 my senior year maybe. That's pretty good. You go to the Hooters Tour and 70-70 misses the cut most weeks. So it was like, how do I figure out how to turn 70 into 68?

And then how can I shoot, turn one of those 68's into a 66? And then it became, how do you turn one of those 66, into a 65 or 4 and then turn those 70s into 68's to be able to compete. And I just, I don't know how much I was really maturing, but I just progressively kind of figured out how to do that and get more comfortable being four or five under par and realizing like, I got to keep my foot on the gas. This is not, oh, I'm 400 through 7. Now let's just try to get it in the house all the way from 7.

Just tap those breaks. I'll just touch the brakes just for a set. You don't get going too fast. Yeah, we don't even get going down. downhill too quick here. That top side lob. Shoot. But no, it was, it was an adjustment. So I spent the first like three years just trying to figure out how I could make it work. You know, it was paycheck to paycheck. You pay check. You pay your entry. You hope to cash enough check to pay your next entry. That's that was the reality of it and was able to do it and then made it at a, made it to

final stage of Q school in the end of 2013. So three years out of school was kind of when I first had that little breakthrough in professional golf. And, you know, that didn't go great. Had made a final stage played out at La Quinta at PGA West. And it was six rounds then. And through four rounds, I was inside the number. Like, played nice the first four rounds.

And then the last two just failed. Very, very mediocre. It was awful. It was awful. And that was the same. Well, sorry, go on. I was just to say, that was the same year that JT made it to final stage of Q school and through four rounds was not inside the number. And then he played his way in the last two.

I played his way out. That's kind of the difference in our career trajectories. Sure. That's really the only difference. I don't know, but some of it is just like, like, correct me if I'm wrong, though. What I see these numbers on Monday qualifiers and on Corn Ferry, are these courses set up for birdie bonanza? Like compared to the pro tour?

Dude, you know what I'm saying? It just seems like a different brand of golf that you have to be comfortable being Jacques Cousteau out there. You do. It's the, in my opinion, the only thing that makes a golf course hard is firm greens and rough. Like you could, the length is, length doesn't matter with matters only, you know,

if there's like penalty to hitting it offline. It's firm greens and rough, and the corn fairy just doesn't get that very often. Only a handful of times a year do you really get that? It's probably where we're playing, you know, kind of southeast, a lot of bent grass in high heat, so you've got to keep them kind of wet. It's set up to throw darts.

At least it has been when I played. I'm sure it's maybe a little different now. I saw a couple weeks ago. Even BMW, normally that was, high 20 unders and coals won by four last week or whatever it was or five but you know 15 under so maybe they're trying but that's that's really a course's only defense in my opinion is just firm greens with with rough to where you can't get it close out of the rough in uh in those many tour days that you're talking about and and trying to turn 70 to 68 into 64 like I'm sure it's a

million things I'm sure a lot of it's mental but what was the what was the one two three things that you would most credit for being able to do that? It was, I'd say one, two, and three were all mental. It was just a mentality that as soon as I finished the hole, I had to tell myself I had to go make birdie on this one. It was never, it was, you couldn't get caught up in what, and what you were for the day. It was, you know, if you birded the first four,

it's just like I'm starting a new round here. And I got to go try to figure out of make birdie. And once that kind of clicked, it was easier for me to get comfortable doing it. Before it felt like I remember I used to shoot a bunch of 68's, and it was like, I can't shoot 67. I'll get to five and I'll birdie, or a bogey one of the holes coming in,

or I'll birdie the last to get to four, but I couldn't get to five. And then all of a sudden, I remember I skipped 67, and I started shooting 66 a bunch. It was like the mindset somehow triggered, and then I would get to five, and I make a birdie coming in and get to six. And it's just being,

in that position. It was truly just a mental hurdle of not being comfortable at three or four under. And it took some learning. I definitely made some doubles coming down the stretch trying to make birdies, but it was worth it to try to force myself to stay aggressive and keep it going. Very interesting. It's so, it's just, it's funny how relatable. There's so many people listening to this right now that are like, that's me, but with 89 instead of 90. Yeah. 75 instead of 76 or yeah. Well, I struggle, Hubert, with that mindset is I struggle with almost like the percentages

of it. Like, you know, I've been using the Arcos and you see like your birdies per round and you start to think like, you know, I made two early and then I make a double. It's like, well, then, you know, there's just like little voice in my head that's like, well, the numbers are telling you that like you don't normally make more than two around. So you kind of... You should just be out of wasted. Yeah.

You kind of wasted those. And then like, there's the putting. You know, I'll make a few 10, 12 footers on the front nine. And I'm like, I'm bad at being like, you know, the numbers say that I'm only going to make 40% of these. So I will, I honestly start to think about that like late and around where I'm like, I already cashed these. Yeah. I'm burned up. The numbers say I only got so many of them.

It's just, I need to just not think like that. It's a, it's truly. I used to get in trouble when I was playing professionally of being timid. I would like and it would last for two to three holes. As soon as I did something bad

or hit a really weird one, whatever it was, it was like my brain would trigger and be like, okay, now you got to like... Now you're allowed to get aggressive again? But like not allowed to get aggressive. My brain went to like, you need to play two or three holes

very conservatively and not blow up. Yeah. And I had, I used to work with a sports psychologist and he's like whenever you feel that I want you to be so overly aggressive that it's almost reckless to like trigger myself back in and so I started doing that and it would be like whatever 280 over water and it's like I'm gonna hit it like I'm gonna go baby and it would help like in the if I didn't pull it off it was a it was easier for me to accept than if I was trying to be if I was timid and then hit a bad shot I couldn't handle it.

that. Like if I went to, it's the worst. If I went to play it smart or do something like that and made a bogey, I would be irate. But if I tried to hit a good shot, tried to do something special and didn't pull it off, could accept it way, way, way easier. All right. I'm wired that way too. I might take that one with me.

Yeah. Because I think the worst feeling in golf is the poorly executed iron off the tee or layup shot, which I just have such a knack for that being the bad. I'm like what the f man I was trying to play smart and in the iron off the tea thing gosh if you stuck a flag in the middle of the fairway you would never miss a fairway off the tea but it's when you have this vast area to hit your iron you my brain goes I'm not gonna miss the fairway I'll hold it left rough by a foot and it's it's the most frustrating thing so it's getting your mind to like if you got a guy that's trying to break 80 for the first time and you know he's five over with three to go, don't start hitting iron off the tea. Like send it. Get it down there. Like stay, you have to stay aggressive in your brain to not let those thoughts kind of win.

Getting into your actual pro career, I mean, what were your, what were your expectations? What was your, what was your goal for your, your pro career? Were you, did you flip the switch saying, I'm going to go be the number one player in the world for you, what was your mentality like? that that was never it it was kind of I just wanted to keep getting better I wanted I wanted to I wanted to win a professional event I'd won a pile as a junior one in college and I wanted to win and I didn't care what it was like if it was a one day or whatnot and I couldn't do it like I won some qualifiers or whatnot but like actual like one two three day tournaments and I just like couldn't get over the hump and that was the goal because like I have to win as a professional no matter where it is and then obviously the goal is to to play the PGA tour. I still get bummed out a little bit watching the guys on TV of like, man, I never got that feeling once of teened up in a PGA tour event.

That's a frustrating thing for me. But the goal was just to keep getting better and make a living out of it. I loved it. I wanted to do it. It didn't work for as long. I thought I would do it forever. I was kind of the thing once we transitioned here to like post-golf career that was enlightening.

was I just thought I would always do it forever, and it scared me to not do it. That was probably a big motivating factor to keep playing as well. What was that's a good one? Sorry, Deeds, go ahead. No, we might have been saying the same thing. What was the fear on that front? You know, scared you to not do it.

I just, I probably had too much tied up into me thinking, I don't know, me thinking that I was good enough or should deserve to be out there, should be out there. And what happens if I fail at that? And like holding on to it until I make it happen. And then I kind of had the epiphany that, you know, you don't have to do this forever. Whatever I do next, I don't have to do forever. And that was kind of probably the biggest weight off my shoulders those last few years.

You could also argue, though, the attitude that you didn't have a backup plan is why you got so far. For sure. I mean, my question was he, what was your first win? Like, when did, when did that first goal? When did you knock that one off? 2015, okay. In Mexico on Latin America. Yeah, national open winner. Yeah, names on the, names on the trophy that they win at Vodonté you. Can't take that away from you. Come on, baby. Sandwiched in between old-time PGA guys, then it was nationwide Latin America for a short bit. And then now back to the PGA tour. And but my name's names on that one uh that was a fun one that was like you would talk about like a spark um that was that was the spark in my professional journey was getting that done i'd played good for three

days that sunday my dad's on the bag um pretty awesome he comes down to caddy for me he had just not long removed from first go around through all his can't answer treatments and got him out there. And I'm like playing nice and I cannot get a put to go in through like I think of the 11th holes is par five. My second shot hits the flagstick. Like and ricochets off to like 20 feet and I three putt. Miss like a two and a half footer for birdie. And I had lift out the eagle putt that lift out the birdie putt and I'm about to lose it. And he's like, I can't, I wish I could remember the exact words he said. But he was like, you're doing everything right. just keep doing it and go on play decent couple holes there and then i birdie 15 16 and eagle 17

um with just like awesome golf shots um you know hit a darn near drove the green on 16 flicked it up a few feet, 17 hit a nine iron in. I hit this like massive drive. Hit a nine iron to a back left pin to like 10 feet make it and then go to 18. And now I got a one shot lead and I stripe it down the fairway, hit it right where I was looking on the green, left my first put from like 25 feet, like three feet short. And I'm looking at this put. This is as vivid as it gets for me. And I'm looking at it and it's dead straight. Like there is no movement and I'm just like all you have to do is hit it solid.

like if you do that you can't miss this and the feeling when I made contact and I knew immediately off the face that it was in and like there's like the picture of me I gave it like the fist pump whatever like I it made contact and started a fist pump type deal because it was just a no doubter and that feeling was just

it was like I finally did it I beat everybody like I I say like I used to but like I used to I used to have that feeling that I was going to heat up and just felt like I could beat everybody. That did more for me than anything in the pro world. Hell yeah. And I also, for the listers, I want to say, one of my favorite facts about

Hubert is that he's got a photographic golf memory. For sure. Not only can he remember every shot that he's ever hit. He probably can remember the shots that I hit when I played with him. It's crazy. I wish it translated into other facets of life. It's so sick, though. It's such a, it's so, so sick.

I yeah it's it's kind of dumb to be honest the things that I the things that I forget around the house that my wife's like like I left I left my my breakfast that I take to work sitting on the locker where I put it every day and just I'll just walk out without it and then she calls me like two minutes later she's like your breakfast still sitting here I'm like sure is just totally forgot but I can I can remember chip shots I hit in high school 20 years ago. Well, it helps when you're good.

Yeah, that's true. I mean, I got friends that stink, and I'll be able to remember, like, there's shots from the round we just played. How do you remember that? I'm like, well, you also, like, you shot like 99. So it's like, you got a lot of them to think about. It's a lot harder to track that. It's a storage. It's a point.

It's a really a RAM situation. I want to talk about the grind a little bit. So you win that. down on the corn fairy tour you spend what five six years out there yeah i played that year in latin america and finished in the top 10 on the money list that was the year i got to play with coocher which was pretty fun back and listen to humor's first appearance on the nolia podcast for some some great stories on that front that was that was a fun one um so you motherfuckers oh shoot and then uh so i got back i got to final stage that year

and crumbled the last round, like, in a true sense. It was at PGA National. I'm playing in the final group in the third round, and this is a four-day event. So I'm in third place through two days. And don't play great the third round. Fourth round, I'm sitting in, I don't know, 20th, 30th, something like that.

Like, all I got to do is go out and play solid, and I'd bogeied my way around the bear trap. So I end up with a conditional stat. us go back to South America the first of end of the year in Columbia and wife on the bag and I win by five it was a

it was one of those weeks that didn't really make sense I didn't make a bogey till whole nine the final round and it's because I drove it in a divot so I had gone whatever 62 holes boge for you to start the tournament it was just like

I drove it up a gnat's ass and it was at like six times thousand feet elevation and i was hitting it so far and so straight just like every fairway it my numbers were dialed in um and that was super fun and then the grind kind of kicked in after that so i got a sponsor invite to Louisiana maybe because i had status made the cut the chitty macho felled back in the chitty macha you want to talk about a great spot man i love that place um so then then play out the rest of that year on the corn ferry very mediocrely.

Don't keep my card. So then I go back to South America that second half of the year. So I played two events the first half of that year on Latin because we had a week off and I played the Dominican event. So through the first half the year with only playing two events, I'm still like 10th on the points list because I won and finished like 10th and the other one. So I'm like, after not keeping my card, I got to go back to South America. and try to end the year in the top 10 and play the last like six events or whatever

played all right and finished in the i don't know what i ended up finishing 14th 15th maybe i really don't remember which got me to second stage and so go to second stage i win second stage um that's another fun one the second round there was video game golf for me it was arguably the best round of golf i've ever played um i can i could take you through it but we don't even do that today but I mean it was like there was I got done I can't remember this guy's name that I played with but when we shook

hands on 18 he was like I feel like I just watched a video game like I was watching Tiger Woods on the A sports like it was it was point shoot every drive was perfect I birdied I think eight of the last 10 and just like yeah where was it

Southern Hills down there in Brooksville Florida okay they play the qualifier for the vowspar there they used to yeah the greens were new so they were kind of firm and it was just like dart after dart after dart and made every you know eight to 12 footer so if you win second stage does that get you like it it does now not not when I did it yeah so go to final stage and then this is where the injuries kind of kicked up I withdrew from final stage because of my back so I had like the worst conditional number and deep on the grind here. So now I'm like, I got to get healthy. I got to get stronger or whatever. And I go down the workout rabbit hole, get a trainer there in Jacks,

and start to like rebuild it back up. And I get really strong. I go out and play a Monday qualifier in Louisiana for my first attempt since I withdrew from final stage and open the front nine and nine under. And was like, oh, baby, dad's back. Yeah, you're going to talk about tough mentally is when you shoot nine under on the front nine figuring out what you're supposed to do on the back nine in a qualifier And I and to my like that credit of what I was talking earlier

I kept hitting driver it was like I could punt but I'm gonna keep it going and I got to What was I 11 through 14? I think it was 11 under through 14 and then and then and then and Yeah You've got a little weird down there You started seeing things Things were getting weird I see as smelling colors It was crazy

No I I knocked it on in two on 15 A par 5 and three putter for par And I was like Because at this point I'm thinking 59 And then 16 Yeah sure 16 was like semi-drivable

And I could have just laid it up But I was like This is my last chance It's like if I if I can birdie this, then we can still shoot 59 and didn't make birdie. And so then 17 and 18 is when I went to punt. And I punged and I bogeyed the last two to shoot nine under and cruise win the qualifier. But no problem with that. Yeah.

It was it just I've like missed the green on purpose on the last hole to not hit it in the water. It's like I have from left edge of the green to the parking lot, like just hit it over the. there. Yeah. But yeah, then, and that kind of sprung boarded me in 2017 then. So that year had conditional from being a final stage, Mondayed in there, made the cut, and reshuffled in. And then I kind of, I would say, got hot.

Played really nice that year. That was, I think I was number one on the corn fair. Yeah. Yeah. I was like number one on the all around. for the year. Like I scoring average was low. I finished like top,

I had top 25 a bunch, maybe top 20 a bunch. It was just like, that was like when it started to click of just going out and shooting 67 and finishing tournaments at 15 to 20 under par consistently.

Made it to the finals that year. I think I finished like 50th-ish on the points list or the money list then. with missing the first quarter of the season because of conditional status. Played in 18, and so I didn't get my card that year. That was where you had to get it through the finals, the Corn Ferry Finals. There were no PJ Tour cards at Q School and didn't get it done there. And then 18 had another good year with a couple top fives.

And I would say I was close to getting my card. but I don't remember what I needed, but until Cleveland in the finals, I had a good shot there and let that one get away, hit an iron off a tea, back to the original conversation. That one still chaps my ass to this day.

Gosh, an idiot. But, yeah. What was your best corn fairy finish? Third in Savannah, right before DJ's birthday party. It was Sunday before we, we headed up to where Randy Moss made an appearance. That's right.

What a, what a two weeks of golf history there. What, I mean, that arguably my two greatest weeks of my golf life were Savannah, Georgia, and then your birthday. How about that? Right. I remember you had that crazy, crazy great Sunday. And then, yeah, hit the road and drove up. Yeah. It was awesome.

That was great. Well, okay. And then the surgeries, yeah. Yeah. And then it gets injuries and fighting back and injury again. What do you think the injuries were, was it wearing tears, a hip, right? Yeah, both hips. Yeah.

The doctors say that it happens when you are having a growth spurt and you're making the same repetitive motion over and over and your body produces more bone. So my ball joint had extra bone growth on it. My socket had extra bone growth growing down the side of it. and then making that motion over and over ended up with a horn labrum and both hips where they have to go in and shave the ball down, shave the socket down and reshape everything. And had my right one done in the beginning of 2019 and then had my left one done in the beginning of 2022. What's the actual like when you are healthy, when you are playing,

what do you remember most about kind of the non-golf elements of those years? Shoof. I mean, it was so focused on golf. Like, I had it really good. Living in Jacks, getting to practice at TPC, playing every day that I was home. We could play first off in the morning. I got married in 2014 right at the start of when, like, things started to take off. She would travel with me to the fun ones. I miss, like, the freedom and camaraderie, like, having buddies and jazz. Jacks on an off week and, you know, I'd just, we'd go play 18 in the morning, go eat lunch, and then we'd go practice and play fun practice games in the afternoon. And it was, you left happy every night. And that was a, that's, that's the thing I missed the most. Yeah. Gosh, it was good.

When did the, I'm taking a trip down memory lane right now in my mind. It was, it was fun. You're talking about the bus scrap view. I think about freedom of that guy here in a minute. When the kids come along, I kind of think about my Jack stays the same way. Yeah, exactly. Then the kids coming. It changed everything for the better, but also made things significantly more difficult.

I'll never forget leaving the airport in Jacks. And Jack, my oldest son, Jackson was maybe two at the time, probably one and a half, something like that. and Sarah and him drove me to the airport and he I'd tell like open the door to tell him by and he just sticks his arms out and he's like like for me to get him out of his car seat and I was like buddy I I can't take you like you have to stay here and he started to cry and I just shut the door and I walked into like the terminal and I was like well that sucked and then I sit in there like this is probably going to get significantly harder and then we have a link of and same kind of deal. And at that point, you know, with the injuries and whatnot, I kind of told myself, like, my family's way more important than my dream of playing the PGA tour. I would love for them to be a part of my journey on the PGA tour,

but I'm not going to sacrifice my family for making it to the PGA tour. Well, it's just so hard with the momentum coming off an injury. You've been at it for so long. just like there's just a new dudes every year you know yeah like like just they just kept getting better to fresh recruits that are hitting it farther now oh shit yeah that's that's just mentally exhausting and i'm sure it's hard to grind when you're like golf game's not good and i'm not with my family is a tough yeah it's a lot tougher to stomach the bad days i'm sure it was i remember like missing cuts and just wondering like what am i missing at home when i miss this cut like i i should

should be home and then when you play well you know it's rewarding for a short amount of time but you want them to be there to to share it with and then you're just by yourself and you're like well this kind of sucks um could go to chippole and think about you're 67 just get a double double meat burrito and throughout my sorrows of sour cream oh pinch outs are out it's uh i like i'm fortunate that I had a lot of good buddies. Like I was able to make a lot of friends. I wasn't the guy out there that was a loner and, you know, just grinding at the range late every night by himself, eating dinner by himself. Like the thing I missed the most was that friendship from Monday to Wednesday. Like, give me a Tuesday practice round with my boys and a fun dinner after that. And just that Wednesdays,

we'd go play other nice courses in the area if we weren't in the pro am and like that that's the you want to talk about like the peak of professional golf like that was it right there um and i think that's when i realized like maybe this isn't for me if i'm enjoying tuesday and wednesday more than thursday to sunday like maybe i'm not a sociopath yeah maybe i should become an influencer this is i need to figure this out so well i do remember i'll remember for the rest of my life at Pacific Grove, Max Homa came out, watched me smother one into the left trees and lose to my brother. And we went out at this Mexican restaurant after Italians. I can't remember. We went somewhere in Pacific Grove and I was all butt hurt. And he's like, dude, cheer up.

You don't even have to play good. Like you get to play golf for a living. You have to play good. You kind of got it made man. And I was like, God, good point. He's like, imagine how I feel if I did that. I'm like, that's a great point. I've never forgotten that. It's true. Like the pressure of it, it wasn't like pressure of the moment that got to me. It was the pressure of like me supposed to be enjoying this when I really wasn't enjoying it. If that makes any sense. I've got it made sense. You know, yeah, you just get so down on yourself when you're getting mopey.

Like what's wrong? Yeah. There's nothing harder than the I should be happier feeling. Yeah. I called my wife from the Denver airport. And I probably shared this story before, but I played, this was post-COVID, my first year back from surgery.

And I just played well in Utah the week before. It was like 13th. But I was like in the lead with four to go, but the leaders were behind me. I shot like 29 on the front or something dumb, 30. and it vaulted up there and didn't finish it off as well as I'd like following week I'm in Colorado make the cut on the number, shoot 64 on Saturday

and vault myself up into the second to last group and that Sunday I didn't want to go to the golf course and I had no explanation why I had no interest in going and playing a tournament round and was like this is a problem like you've got yourself up next to the lead and you don't want to be there so I drive the course sit in my car for a little bit and I'm like I don't even want to go warm up go out there and I just I felt awful like you should it was like started from early in the day of like you should

be thriving right now like you're clearly playing well you should be loving this moment and I had no interest in being on the golf course and drove to the airport. We were supposed to fly to San Antonio for the next two weeks. And I was like, I'm going home and changed my flight, called my wife from the airport. And I was like, I don't know if I can do this anymore. Like, that makes so little sense that this is what I worked for. And I had no interest in being out there today.

And that was kind of the start of the, I don't know what you want to call it, the transition. I kept playing it out that year. feeling though was that was that homesickness was that like it there's like the joy was sucked out of it and i don't have a really good explanation as to why it's just like you should look you should this is what you worked for you should be just eating this up even if i was nervous like good but i was just like anxious to the point that like i didn't want to do it and i fought through that because it was still that mindset of, you know, this is what you're supposed to do. This is what you've done your whole life. You've got to keep going. And, you know, I drug it out there for a little longer than I

probably should have. But that final round in Q school in 2022, my dad was going through his cancer stuff out in Nebraska. And that final, my final professional golf event was that second stage in Alabama and it was the most freed up I've ever been to play golf in my life and I don't know if it's because I knew that this was my last shot if I didn't make it I was going to be okay and I'd come to terms that like I don't have to do this forever let's go and try to enjoy yourself and it was awesome like what like in terms of me ending my pro career is the best experience I've ever had to not succeed at something yeah and I was like fired up for the last round round, ready to go. I shot what I end up shooting six under, five, six under, made one bogey,

birdied 17, knowing that I needed to make a late run and hit two really good shots on 18 and just missed a pup. And like I got all the congratulatory text afterwards because it looked like I was going to make it. And in my heart, like I knew that I wasn't. I called my wife walking to the truck and I was like, I think that was it. Like that's the that's the last. last round where we're gonna we're gonna play but i had a heck of a time doing it and i'm okay and i just drove back to jacksonville like seven hours and missed it by one and that's when the real world started like a fucking bob jones shit right there exactly it was i wish i could bottle up that feeling like it felt so good to know that i didn't have to do it forever yeah that's the only thing i can

equated to it was like this literal weight just completely gone and i said you know what go have fun give it your best you're really good at this and if it doesn't work we're going to go figure out the next steps and it's the most well there's power and making decisions you know like and that is freeing on like going on offense with with something like that that's yeah fascinating what would be uh like if there's somebody else you know if you're talking to yourself from from five years ago, what's like the question that you think would be clarifying for that person? You know what I mean? Like the, like trying to identify that, that feeling in Denver. Like what, trying to, trying to get to the answer quicker, you know?

It just, I wish I could have removed myself from the situation I was in and been like, dude, you're going to be okay. Like you don't have, like, it's, it's the adage of like, I didn't have to do it forever, but it was so ingrained in my brain that I was going to have to do it forever, that it just added this extra weight. And I wish I could have just had that conversation with myself in 2019 when I had my first surgery that like, hey, if you don't come back and you aren't as good as what you were before, it'll be okay. But I had, I carried so much weight during that rehab process of like, what happens if I suck? What happens if I hit it left now? What happens if this? What happens if I put the left miss in play? Yes, it was like, and then the left miss came in play. It's like I wielded it into existence.

I could tell you, you could still live a long and productive life with the left miss. That's okay. Yeah. It still would happen. No, it kept me up at night. Legit, I would wake up. I'd have bad dreams that I hit a ball out of pounds and a tournament that I had to play. in like two years like in Omaha the next year like you just hit it out of bounds on 14 how'd

you hit it out of bounds on 14 it's not even out of bounds there um just like weird mental stuff like that that just it sucked the joy out of actually competing um but i kid you I found my journal from like six years ago two days ago when I got a new truck shout out shepherd by the way um that's for former sponsor who knows that's a deep But I found my journal from six, like it's literally from six years ago where I'd written in there. And it was describing everything we've just talked about. Like, why don't I want to be out there? I can't figure this out.

And it brought back some like scars of like, holy cow. Like this has been six years. And I'm thankful that I've passed that now. But like that was a dark time in terms of. my golf career and i do regret that i never played a pj tour event i would love to play one just to get that feeling but if i don't you know it's i'm okay and how close to you come on the u.s open i played two i played two two sectional qualifiers um i never did the local one for a lot of years because it always coincided with a corn fairy week um

and but I played a played one in Memphis had a rain delay with two holes to go and I was one outside the number come back out after the rain delay it's almost dark play 17 or my 35th hole make par go to my last hole it's like 220 fading light back right pin and I lace this four iron dead at the stick and I hear it go click and I'm like oh my gosh like did I just make a hole in one to make it into the U.S. open? Am I about to win the U.S. I'm like, this is it. So I'm walking up there. And I probably shared it on this before, but like I'm trying to contain my excitement because I'm like,

I just made a one to qualify the U.S. I'm like, I'm going to be on the news. Like this is elite. This is what like books are written about. Yeah. No, hit the sprinkler head on the fringe in line with a stick. And I was on the chipping green 40 yards over.

the green made double. Oh, it was tough. Yeah. So that was as close as we, that was as close as we came. Well, I bring it up because I'd like to see you keep the dream alive with between the mid am and the US open. It would be fun. And listen, like, is it a bummer for me that that guys like you got their amateur

status back? Does it kill my dream? Yeah, maybe, you know, but that's fine. I can live, I can live better. You can still do it. My point is you could still do it. Like you can keep that. I know it would be like you played on the PGA tour, but you could play in a PGA tour event.

Yeah. I would love the the U.S. Open would be just so special. I tried the qualifier this year. That was my first round of golf of the year. Sure. Outside of a five-man scramble wasn't my best, you know, preparation. So it didn't make it through the local one. Actually, similar story.

I had to birdie the, I think I needed to birdie the last two. maybe just Bertie one of the last two and then I rinsed it in the pond on 17 and there was lightning and so I drove home. But no, I'd given myself a couple more years to try this kind of mid-am thing before kids sports get too crazy and just life in general.

So I played a mid-am event out in Virginia this year at the beginning of May and that was incredible. Just experience. of all of it. It was mid-ams and senior AMs and we played Kenlock and I can't sing the praises enough of that place. Like it was spectacular.

Played 51 holes even par. Played three holes in 10 over. I think is what it was. Or 9 over. Yeah, it was 10 over in those three holes. Made a quintuple my first round and then a double and then a triple.

So, but just miss. Just barely, you know. I think I got some wagger points though, which is a big deal right now. I think I'm moved up in the mid-4,000s. So we're, you know, we're trending. Little goals, yeah. Yeah.

So no, it's what then go ahead, Dej. No, I was just going to ask about a transition to civilian life and what that's what that's been like on the non-golf front. It's been, I think people still have this conception that like I play golf all the time um i practice all the time that like i just maybe i could but i choose not to i would say um you know i play maybe once a week and haven't had a range session yet this year it's just kind of i think we're in a similar boat there huber a lot of people like you must play a lot of golf let me let me let me bring it back to reality no it's you know it's you know i got it not only that but the

little golf that I do play is usually on camera. Yeah. So you see all of it. Yeah, which is kind of tough. But I do think like I, what I love for you is one, you take good care of yourself. So like you're, uh, you know, I think you have a long horizon on golf and you mentally you've been Jacques Cousteau, which is something that I, that's what I really struggle with. It's just like the, the, the, the mental block of, I don't even know what it's like. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, I can't. can't get there mentally to go that low. Like I could, but I got to, I'm going to have to work really, I'm going to have to work a lot harder at it where I think, uh, you know, a freed up Huber with some free time and a practice plan could, could, you know, could get. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to.

I got the USAM qualifier in July. Um, I was exempt through the first round. They had one up here in Fort Wayne. Tony Romo made an appearance up here in Fort Wayne played the qualifier. Um, but now I'll play my. But now I'll play my final stage of that in mid-July. And that's always been a bucket lister. I never got to play it as a kid.

I'd love the opportunity to play the US AM. And then the mid-am at the end of September up in San Bally's. Can't wait. I know. Give me one. We're going to have a lot of working stiffs listen to this podcast. Give me one. Like I didn't realize X, Y, or Z about corporate life.

It's just, wow, this is how you guys live. You guys do this all the time. You guys do this every day? Holy smokes. Just like the concept of like, it just never stops. Like the vacation is not worth taking because of the catch up afterwards. It's just my life was a vacation before. Like there was no extra work.

It was just practice and get better. Now it's like, you know, I'm gone for three days and I have 200 emails to sort through and 50 people to call back. And I'm like, holy cow, like maybe I should just not take a vacation. It's just, it never stops. But it's okay. Like, it's the reality of it. And, you know, I'm fortunate to be where I'm at and having a good time doing it.

Yeah. I maybe wish I could play more tournaments or whatnot. I had to turn down. I got in the national singles at National Golf Links of America. I was on the wait list, got in last week, and I think it's next week. I had to turn it down just because work and life, which is okay.

But like, that's a, the, the adulting in me has to be somewhat responsible physically and, you know, work-wise. Are you coaching still? Yep. So we got regionals tomorrow. I didn't even test you boys. For those that don't know, coaching, coaching, well, what's the deal? Leo High School, the high school that I played at, I'm our volunteer assistant, but we set

the school record last Friday wearing our Nolang up shirts that we got last year. And shot 278. We won sectionals by 40s, the fourth lowest score in Indiana history at sectionals. We got some dogs We got some dogs We got some talent I've said it all year What kind of jewels you dropping on these kids?

Oh just little nuggets All the time Hit driver everywhere Send it Like whenever you're nervous Fucking ears back Just And what's interesting

Is kids nowadays Like they're driving range golfers They're track man And driving range swings And it's like Trying to teach them like you don't have to hit a full nine iron from 145 into the 20 mile an hour wind and just shoot it up in the air like hit a golf shop like you start like play the golf course um and that's been fun to kind of try to pour into them and uh yeah we had three guys watch watch i'll catch you yo coach he's gonna show you something right here you watch coach you're talking to the third person yet you know coach back in my day coach you know coach could really make you know coach could really make you I call myself dad.

I'm like, dad, dad still got it. It's been a ton of fun with those guys. So we got a regional tomorrow. If we make it, they'll be into the state tournament four years in a row, which is kind of insane in Indiana because it's not class specific. It's all classes together. And I don't know what the stat was, but there's only been a few teams from public schools smaller than a thousand kids make it to the state finals and finish in the top 10.

And our team has done it like eight out of the 10 occasions of all time type deal. So we got some hitters. And it's been it's been a ton of fun. So coaching that coaching Jackson's baseball team. We got pitching machine going on right now. Playoffs start next week. So we're really ramping up. We're eight.

We're nine, one and one on the year. Jackson snagged a backhander at pitcher last night. Just guy rips a liner, shoots his glove to the side, picks it up, like out of air. I'm going nuts. The team's going nuts. Kids can't believe it. Just a lot of things at the moment. But it's really fun.

Yeah. God. That's great. I got to say one thing here. I took the finance team out to lunch today, just a little team building activity, you know. We got a new VP of finance, so wanted to get the squad together and sitting there, standing ready to order my food, guy walks up to me, goes, are you Justin Huber? I'm like, yeah, and he's like, ha, I love the no laying up stuff. Did you lose the Mexico?

No way. Yeah. I kid you not, today of all days. You're a national open winner? Yeah. It was like, everyone in my office that was there, they were like, what was that about? I'm like. Yeah, I moonlight as an influence.

Don't worry about it. It's not a big deal. The other thing I do with these guys. It's just a sponsor engagement. It's still going. It's weird. It was really funny. He was like,

I love it, man. I love you. And I said, well, are you a Ness member? Because there's a Ness pod. He's like, maybe I'll have to sign up.

So maybe I got another one on. Maybe I got another one. Inc. Yeah. Commission checks. Yeah. Exactly. It's negotiated.

Or we're going to have, we're going to have plenty more hitting cups coming out this year. I'm very excited for that. Those were a blast. to do those. What do you like about what do you like about that? Why do you like sitting and watching bad golf bad golf on TV and talking about it you could be doing what your time you you don't have to be doing that. I love watching how other people try to play like it's fascinating to me seeing how people think about a shot

or seeing how they read a putter think about a chip shot like it's that whole the whole mentality of how you approach what's in front of you is one of my favorite things and getting to do it watching you guys has been a treat especially with you, Dej. I mean, that's, I haven't laughed that much in a long time. I know it's, uh, at Ben and Sali's expense on the last one, but, um, it's just, it's just a ton of fun. I could do that all day. That's great. We got, uh, we got a couple. If you got a second. I love this. Drew drew through a couple of rapid fires, uh, in here of just, just kind of some superlatives from your, from your pro golf career that I really enjoyed. He wants to know saddest range bucket you've ever hit and saddest in terms of

like, I can't believe this is the rage. This is where we're hitting balls. Like what? I wish, can I put a picture on the screen right now? Because I'm sure I have it. Yeah. Uruguay. I'll send it to you guys. You can, you can update this. I mean, you want to talk about this was. I'm going to paint this picture for you real quick. This range sits at like a 15 degrees slope forward. So you're hitting off a down slope. There's like 17 blades of grass

on the range total. And where you're hitting it to is just like sparse grass and sand. And there's guys out there with football helmets on and sticks with a bucket at the end that are picking up

your range balls. I mean it's like, it's literally seen from a movie and like I walk up there and I'm like what are we doing here and they're not like normal range balls it's like your muni range balls that you get a nitro in there you get a jet fuel you get a laddie you get it's just a dealer's choice of colored balls with guys and and not even like go ahead and get loose my dad you're on the not even like the you know like a line men's face mask this is like the old school like Johnny Unitas single low I'm like what are we doing here. That's the saddest spot I've ever hit balls. And I honestly don't know if it'll ever be

topped. I mean, it was just, it was unique. You're going to have to send that picture. Yeah, I'll fire it up right after this. Let's do, let's do best and worst tournament meal. Best one, BMW championship and went to, this was awesome. So Trey Mollinax had won the week before in North Carolina. And J.T. Poston had finished like a third or something like that to like kind of get his status. So we had a celebratory dinner at Hall's Chop House in Greenville. And I'll never forget this. They let us eat free at Halls that week.

And so we got like 20 guys rolling into like the wine room at Hall's Chop House. Just like Jonathan Bird was there. I mean, just like we're about to have a feast. waiter comes in, gives us this spiel. This is the top 1% of the top 1% of the beef in America. These are the three ranches it's from. You can pick, yada, yada. And at the end, he gets done with all this stuff.

And Jonathan Byrd's like, hey, just, FYI, like, we're with the tour, and we can, I believe these cards allow us to eat for free. The waiter laughs. Like, he's like, like, things we're joking. And then we're like, no, like, we're serious. So he's like, hold on. So he goes back, manager, whatever comes in. He's like, yeah, you guys are good.

Do you get to eat for free? And so I'm ordering. I got a 14-ounce bone-in rib-eye with a lobster tail, Oscar sauce on my fillet. My meal alone had to be like $250. I'm getting desserts, all the sides. I literally, and so we had to pay for the drinks or whatnot, but I think Trey's agent picked that up.

literally ate and drank for free the entire time get back to my hotel i got to wake up for a practice round in the morning and i am almost about to throw up because i'm still so full from the night before like it was i had to eat like 4 000 calories at that meal but it's it's an all-timer i mean it was it was spectacular that's the best one for sure um sorry i get i get on a little tangents here. Worst one. It's got to be somewhere in South America. Probably.

I'm going to go with probably Buenos Aires at the Jockey Club. Ordered the grilled chicken for lunch. And it came as like a just a piece of grilled chicken with no seasoning on a bed of arugula.

And I'm like, That's the grossest thing I've ever seen in my life. Like I spent two weeks in Argentina and it just, yeah, it's a lot of just like it's meat and tomato and lettuce. Yeah. And I don't eat well, but it's like not much. Typically, yeah. You want a sauce. Yeah, we don't really do that.

Yeah. Can I get some ranch, a little French combo maybe, a little honey mustard for this? No, here's your dry arugula in a plain chicken breast. It just that whole, that's, that was the week that I ejected after that flew home on a Friday or Thursday night. But yeah, that's, that's probably the low. Let's do, uh, let's do best player you, best player you saw out there in person. Gosh, Sung Jay was good.

He was just kind of different. You know what's funny about that? I, we asked Max that question in like 2019. He said that I was like, who's a guy that hits it? Nobody talks enough about. He said, Sun Jai. It was told me that in the kill house years ago. He was the only player I've ever seen that I've ever played with.

that hit every iron to the flag. Like, he was trying to make every iron from the fairway. And if it didn't get hole high, he was angry. And like, I'm like trying to plod, keep it below the hole. He'd fly the green from like 180, be perfectly fine with it to a backpin and just flop it up there and tap it in for par. And I would be like dog cussing myself. I mean, he was just like, it was, it was really impressive. Why can't, I mean, Goddy, because he, we did.

beginning of the year, I think he was the guy that fell the farthest in the rankings. I think he went from like he had an injury. He had a weird little wrist injury during his tenure in the service. Too many pushups, maybe. Yeah, I'm not sure. Neil, you got any others? No, I think that's what's the, what's the, wait, no, you kind of answered that already. Like your eight, your apex of golf was that, uh,

God, what did you say the second round qualified when the guy said you're playing video game golf? Yeah, I always think that's funny. Good question for us. Like, what's the best round you've ever played? Yeah. So you answered that question. That was a fun. That 10 hole stretch was pretty special.

Well, I look forward to doing more videos with you, having you on the pod, doing all kinds of, all kinds of fun stuff to come. Seeing you more in person. It's good being in the Midwest with you. Yeah. I want to finish with one thing. I got the new tideless woods yesterday. Yeah. Took the three wood out.

The driver came while I was at work, but I had the three wood. First or third hole the day, hit a decent one. It was like 280, wasn't sure how it was going to be. First swing with it, hadn't hit a range ball with it. Hit it pretty decent, just right of the green. Next hole or two holes later, it's 260-yard par four with wind in off the right, and it dog legs left around this giant tree and a pond up front. And I was like, well, what better time to try this?

So slung hookup my 16 and a half degree and probably a 40-yard hook to about 15 feet from 260. And it was like, okay, this club will play. This club will play. Watch coach now. Yeah. Don't sleep on bad. The driver is going to get a lot of run as it very much should. The fairway medals are so good. And the offset color, it just looks like something.

that we would play in like 15, you know. Exactly. Like reminds me of my childhood. It's so cool. I love the new. What ball are you playing, Heber? The X. Yeah.

I like the spin. I need the spin. I want it to spend as much as possible. And then just figure out. You're one of those guys that can downshift when he needs to. Nice to hide it. Whatever. It's the course that I play here most of the time.

I mean, the greens are typically a 12, 12, and a half and they're firm and they're not big so if you don't spin it i honestly don't know why anybody plays that place um that's above like a three handicap because you just you can't hit a green regulation you just chip all day um even for me like seven iron on some of the par three's it's you know it releases 20 feet minimum even on a flush one so i'd try to get as much as possible out of the ball that way i can kind of like with my driver i can have less loft on it, have it look more fady, but still get the ball to spin enough to stay in the air.

Yeah. Even this, even this is fun to listen to talking. For real. I thought I was just doing the same thing. As a non-gearhead, I'm like, oh, man, that's interesting. It's, spin is one thing that you can't get enough of. You just figure out ways to take it off. I've had so much success with this left dash.

Less spend for me off the T. It doesn't, I still get the check around the greens. I mean, it's just been like, you know, I don't know enough to know, but it's like, God, I feel like the numbers would, it's, it's really made my, my driving game a lot better. Yeah, because you're probably, what's your driver set at? Like, do you know how many degrees? So, yeah, mine's, mine's like eight. Because I want that toe open to look fady.

I don't want to see a bunch of the face because then it looks like it's going to draw. So I want that to have a little loft and then put. play a spinnier ball to get my number right. For you, you may want a little more loft to get it in the air and then have it knocked off on the on the ball flight. Exactly right. Yeah. It's just a it's a preference thing.

But within what with irons though, like I can't spend that left dash enough with a five iron to ever get it to stop out here. It's just going to be lower and you know, 4,000 RPMs instead of 5,000. See, that's the 401 class. For me, I'm just like, can I hit this five iron? flush. Can I get this airborne? Yeah. It's more like can I hit the fairway so that I could have the five iron into the degree. Exactly. Why don't we start there? Yeah. Well, Hughes, this is great, man. As it always is, great to catch up with you. And I appreciate you sharing more of the story.

You got it. I appreciate you boys having me on. I look forward to the hitting cups here in the future. And I got to get up to Sand Valley with you here soon. We got to make it. Can't wait. All right. All right. Neil, appreciate you, buddies. Yeah, good to see you. Later, boys.