Through the Srixon Ambassador program with Nextgengolf, I participated in an exclusive Srixon/Cleveland Golf shadowing opportunity at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Matt Weinberger, COO at Nextgengolf, helped connect me with Michael Jolly, who works in Player Development at Srixon Golf, for a day full of incredible experiences.
After meeting Michael, we made our way to the driving range and ran into Patrick Reed. Just last week I was watching him battle to earn a spot in a playoff at the Valspar championship, and here I was giving him a casual “what’s up” in passing. After sitting around the range for a bit, we made our way over to the trailer where I was able to not only see an endless supply of heads, shafts, and grips, but also learn how much work goes into preparing each player’s equipment for the tournament. I was also able to talk extensively with Srixon Tour Representative Jeff Burleigh who gave me incredible insight into the progression of Srixon as a company over the last decade.
After hearing that Billy Hurley was on the putting green we headed over there to meet him. Billy has always been an inspiration to me. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 2004, he served in the Navy for 5 years before turning pro and eventually winning the 2016 Quicken Loans National. It was incredible for me be able have a casual conversation with someone I look up to both as a golfer and a person. After a little while we let Billy get back to practicing and headed back over to the driving range to meet some more Srixon players. After sharing some laughs with Smylie Kaufman I headed over to the far end of the range to watch Tiger Woods hit. The sound of his ball striking and the sight of his ball flight are incredible.
However, the moment in the day I truly won’t forget is a conversation I had with Russell Knox. Russell was talking about a dinner conversation he had with the great Jack Nicklaus. Often times, when players are waiting on an important shot coming down the stretch, they pace around and take lots of light casual practice swings. But Jack said he would always stand perfectly still, look around, and think to himself, “How cool is it that all of these people came out to watch me play golf.” That was the mentality I tried to maintain in my experience that day. Rather than get caught up in meeting a plethora of players, which I was able to do anyway, I focused on just looking around and thinking to myself, “How cool is it that I have the opportunity to be here.”
Meeting and talking to a slew of golfers including Billy Hurley, Smylie Kaufman, and Keegan Bradley was incredible. However, an equally valuable experience was learning more from Michael and Jeff about the incredible brand that Srixon/Cleveland Golf is, and what drives their excellence. I cannot thank Srixon and Nextgengolf enough for an incredible experience, and I look forward to using my new knowledge to share the value and quality of the Srixon/Cleveland brand.
