Chandler Phillips, a senior on the Texas A&M men's golf team, has enjoyed an abundance of success thus far as an Aggie. The Huntsville, Texas, native has his name written all over the record books, including the program record for career tournament wins and single season stroke average. In the interview, Phillips reminisces playing in his younger years, his journey to A&M, and his collegiate success. Â Read more about Chandler Phillips below.
Q: How did you start to play golf and at what age?
CP: "I was probably around five years old. My dad and my grandpa would play money games on the weekends. I'd go out there with them, they'd play with other guys. I'd ride in the cart and hit a few balls here and there. Within a year I was playing it all out. So it was a pretty fast process, but that's pretty much how it all got started."
Q: At what point in your life did you discover your passion for golf?
Chandler Phillips: "Pretty young, around eight or nine years old. I just loved going out to the golf course. I woke up and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play golf, and didn't want to do anything else. I played baseball, but I'd much rather go play golf over baseball."
Q: At what point did you realize you're a really talented golfer?
CP: "Well I started playing in competitive tournaments when I was 10 or 11 called U.S. Kid's Tournament in the Houston area or STPGA. I'd play well and win around a third of the one's I played in. At the time, it definitely didn't cross my mind that I could play college golf, but it showed me that I was good at what I was doing. When I was about 13 or 14, you start seeing college coaches at tournaments for recruiting, and that's when I thought it's time to start taking this a little seriously."
Q: What was your recruitment process like?
CP: "I wasn't one of like the top junior golfers, I'd say. I actually came on a visit, and this is the first place I came. I actually didn't consider any other places. There was some small D-II colleges here and there, but if I was going to play college golf it would be for a D-I school. So I came here on a visit, and Coach [Higgins] showed me everything. You could ask him this too, but he wasn't fully impressed by what I had done at the time. I guess you could say he felt like I had potential. Right after I came here on a visit, I won two or three tournaments pretty quickly and played really well. Soon after he said 'Hey you should come back so we can talk about a scholarship.'"
Q: Did that visit motivate you to pursue playing at Texas A&M?
CP: "For sure, when I came here, saw the campus, I went to a football game while Johnny Manziel was here, and I just thought that this is the place I want to go. It was a motivator, but it also just made everything click and helped me decide this is where I want to go."
Q: Do you ever sit back and look at your success here, and think about how at first it was only smaller schools interested in you. With the level of play you've achieved here, how does that make you feel?
CP: "I think about it often, but I don't let it change who I am. It's good to just kind of sit back, every now and then when I'm not doing anything, and think damn, I had a pretty good ride. It makes me feel good, and shows me that I've really went down the right road with everything. Almost, like I did everything right. I feel like I've gotten a lot out of college golf, because I know some guys that can't say that. They were really good at junior golf, and they went to college and got worse. It should be the opposite way, going from level to level to level. I feel like I've done that, because every year I was this good and then next year you could tell I went to another level."
Q: How do you keep raising the bar and continue your consistent improvement?
CP: "When I got here it was like any other sport. You have your people that you look up to, and I did as well. The older guys on the team were better than me, and I wanted to be as good as them. By the end of my freshman year I felt that any time of any day I could go compete with them, no problem. The next year it was pretty much Cameron Champ and I as the top guys on the team. We would play going back and forth, so he'd beat me on half the tournaments and the other half I'd beat him. We would motivate each other, and that year I played in what they call the Palmer Cup. It had the top 10 U.S. collegiate golfers and the top 10 European collegiate golfers, and they play a Rider Cup style match. I got to know the guys on my team and the European team, and not too long after that there were a few guys that were on my team that started playing professional golf. They were being successful, making a lot of money, and traveling, and that's what I want to do. I want to travel and go compete, and that's what motivates me. I just played with those guys, I know I'm as good as those guys, and they're being that successful? Alright, that's the motivation. Those guys went to Web.com, which is where they have to go before the PGA Tour, and play the season and get to the PGA Tour. On top of that, Cam and I talk to each other each week, and he's a great motivator. To see what he's done already, and thinking back when he played in college he went to the next level each year. He's the one who made it seem easy, even though I know it's not easy. He's definitely somebody to look up to, although we're almost the same age. He's like a brother to me, and I just try to go about it the same way he did."
Q: What's something Cameron Champ has taught you?
CP: "Cam is known for the long ball, he hits it forever. Well, I don't hit it that far, not many people do. He'd probably laugh at me if he reads this, but playing with him while I hit it out 290-295 and he passes me for 30-40 yards, but I'd still compete with him. That just showed me you don't have to hit it a long ways to compete and be good. That's a lesson I learned from playing with him."
Q: Did you ever envision your college career to become what it has?
CP: "Definitely not this. For me to have all the records Coach told me I have, especially considering this University's history, it's cool. However, I don't want to read it and think to myself I'm the baddest man to ever come through here. I don't want to let it get to me or anything close to that. I have thought about how there's a bunch of guys on the PGA Tour that didn't even win in college, and I've won seven times now. That just makes me feel good. Also, to compete with the top golfers in the world in college and not get ran over by them also is a good feeling."
Q: If you could play anywhere in the world where would you want to play?
CP: "I'd have to say, it's a place I've already played. If anybody asked me 'what's the best golf course you ever played on,' I'd answer Sage Valley. It's right on the border of Georgia and South Carolina, across from Augusta. I had never played on a course like this. You see magazine pictures of golf courses, paintings and unbelievable photos, well you can take a picture at any angle, anywhere on that course and have one of those. It's an unbelievable place, and they also have cottages out there to stay in. I played a tournament there the summer before my freshman year, and I played well. I got third out of the top 50 juniors in the world. Really and truly one of the reasons I think I played so well was because I was just in awe. I wanted to take full advantage of playing at this place. It was awesome; that would be my favorite place to go."
Q: What has your proudest moment been on the golf course?
CP: "The one that comes to mind is Viktor Hovland, who played at Oklahoma State last year at nationals. We played Oklahoma State the first round, and they ended up winning nationals. Out of all the teams that played them, I feel like we gave them the best run. We almost technically beat them, with three holes to go it looked like we were about to win. My proudest moment was when I was one down going on to hole 18, I had like an eight footer to win the hole and take it to the 19th hole. There were people everywhere, and I had never played in front of that many people. I was shaking and pretty nervous, because I knew I mattered regarding to the outcome of winning or not. I made that, and there was no question about it. The reason why that's one of my proudest moments was because I went 19 holes with Viktor, didn't get run over. To even have a chance to beat him in match play on his own golf course is pretty huge. He ended up winning U.S. Amateur this past summer, so he's going to play in the Masters, U.S. Open, the British Open and all that. I beat him here at regionals, and then to go there and almost beat him there with that putt was just awesome."
Q: How did you start to play golf and at what age?
CP: "I was probably around five years old. My dad and my grandpa would play money games on the weekends. I'd go out there with them, they'd play with other guys. I'd ride in the cart and hit a few balls here and there. Within a year I was playing it all out. So it was a pretty fast process, but that's pretty much how it all got started."
Q: At what point in your life did you discover your passion for golf?
Chandler Phillips: "Pretty young, around eight or nine years old. I just loved going out to the golf course. I woke up and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to play golf, and didn't want to do anything else. I played baseball, but I'd much rather go play golf over baseball."
Q: At what point did you realize you're a really talented golfer?
CP: "Well I started playing in competitive tournaments when I was 10 or 11 called U.S. Kid's Tournament in the Houston area or STPGA. I'd play well and win around a third of the one's I played in. At the time, it definitely didn't cross my mind that I could play college golf, but it showed me that I was good at what I was doing. When I was about 13 or 14, you start seeing college coaches at tournaments for recruiting, and that's when I thought it's time to start taking this a little seriously."
Q: What was your recruitment process like?
CP: "I wasn't one of like the top junior golfers, I'd say. I actually came on a visit, and this is the first place I came. I actually didn't consider any other places. There was some small D-II colleges here and there, but if I was going to play college golf it would be for a D-I school. So I came here on a visit, and Coach [Higgins] showed me everything. You could ask him this too, but he wasn't fully impressed by what I had done at the time. I guess you could say he felt like I had potential. Right after I came here on a visit, I won two or three tournaments pretty quickly and played really well. Soon after he said 'Hey you should come back so we can talk about a scholarship.'"
Q: Did that visit motivate you to pursue playing at Texas A&M?
CP: "For sure, when I came here, saw the campus, I went to a football game while Johnny Manziel was here, and I just thought that this is the place I want to go. It was a motivator, but it also just made everything click and helped me decide this is where I want to go."
Q: Do you ever sit back and look at your success here, and think about how at first it was only smaller schools interested in you. With the level of play you've achieved here, how does that make you feel?
CP: "I think about it often, but I don't let it change who I am. It's good to just kind of sit back, every now and then when I'm not doing anything, and think damn, I had a pretty good ride. It makes me feel good, and shows me that I've really went down the right road with everything. Almost, like I did everything right. I feel like I've gotten a lot out of college golf, because I know some guys that can't say that. They were really good at junior golf, and they went to college and got worse. It should be the opposite way, going from level to level to level. I feel like I've done that, because every year I was this good and then next year you could tell I went to another level."
Q: How do you keep raising the bar and continue your consistent improvement?
CP: "When I got here it was like any other sport. You have your people that you look up to, and I did as well. The older guys on the team were better than me, and I wanted to be as good as them. By the end of my freshman year I felt that any time of any day I could go compete with them, no problem. The next year it was pretty much Cameron Champ and I as the top guys on the team. We would play going back and forth, so he'd beat me on half the tournaments and the other half I'd beat him. We would motivate each other, and that year I played in what they call the Palmer Cup. It had the top 10 U.S. collegiate golfers and the top 10 European collegiate golfers, and they play a Rider Cup style match. I got to know the guys on my team and the European team, and not too long after that there were a few guys that were on my team that started playing professional golf. They were being successful, making a lot of money, and traveling, and that's what I want to do. I want to travel and go compete, and that's what motivates me. I just played with those guys, I know I'm as good as those guys, and they're being that successful? Alright, that's the motivation. Those guys went to Web.com, which is where they have to go before the PGA Tour, and play the season and get to the PGA Tour. On top of that, Cam and I talk to each other each week, and he's a great motivator. To see what he's done already, and thinking back when he played in college he went to the next level each year. He's the one who made it seem easy, even though I know it's not easy. He's definitely somebody to look up to, although we're almost the same age. He's like a brother to me, and I just try to go about it the same way he did."
Q: What's something Cameron Champ has taught you?
CP: "Cam is known for the long ball, he hits it forever. Well, I don't hit it that far, not many people do. He'd probably laugh at me if he reads this, but playing with him while I hit it out 290-295 and he passes me for 30-40 yards, but I'd still compete with him. That just showed me you don't have to hit it a long ways to compete and be good. That's a lesson I learned from playing with him."
Q: Did you ever envision your college career to become what it has?
CP: "Definitely not this. For me to have all the records Coach told me I have, especially considering this University's history, it's cool. However, I don't want to read it and think to myself I'm the baddest man to ever come through here. I don't want to let it get to me or anything close to that. I have thought about how there's a bunch of guys on the PGA Tour that didn't even win in college, and I've won seven times now. That just makes me feel good. Also, to compete with the top golfers in the world in college and not get ran over by them also is a good feeling."
Q: If you could play anywhere in the world where would you want to play?
CP: "I'd have to say, it's a place I've already played. If anybody asked me 'what's the best golf course you ever played on,' I'd answer Sage Valley. It's right on the border of Georgia and South Carolina, across from Augusta. I had never played on a course like this. You see magazine pictures of golf courses, paintings and unbelievable photos, well you can take a picture at any angle, anywhere on that course and have one of those. It's an unbelievable place, and they also have cottages out there to stay in. I played a tournament there the summer before my freshman year, and I played well. I got third out of the top 50 juniors in the world. Really and truly one of the reasons I think I played so well was because I was just in awe. I wanted to take full advantage of playing at this place. It was awesome; that would be my favorite place to go."
Q: What has your proudest moment been on the golf course?
CP: "The one that comes to mind is Viktor Hovland, who played at Oklahoma State last year at nationals. We played Oklahoma State the first round, and they ended up winning nationals. Out of all the teams that played them, I feel like we gave them the best run. We almost technically beat them, with three holes to go it looked like we were about to win. My proudest moment was when I was one down going on to hole 18, I had like an eight footer to win the hole and take it to the 19th hole. There were people everywhere, and I had never played in front of that many people. I was shaking and pretty nervous, because I knew I mattered regarding to the outcome of winning or not. I made that, and there was no question about it. The reason why that's one of my proudest moments was because I went 19 holes with Viktor, didn't get run over. To even have a chance to beat him in match play on his own golf course is pretty huge. He ended up winning U.S. Amateur this past summer, so he's going to play in the Masters, U.S. Open, the British Open and all that. I beat him here at regionals, and then to go there and almost beat him there with that putt was just awesome."