Brandon Smith is a junior from Frisco, Texas, on the Texas A&M men's golf team. Son to the former pro golfer, Bruce Smith, Brandon is hopeful for a professional golf career as well. In the interview, Brandon touches on how he spends his free time, the mental side of the game, and some of his favorite moments. Read more about Brandon Smith below.
Q: What's your favorite thing about College Station?
Brandon Smith: "Well there's less traffic than Dallas. I like it down here, because everything is so close. Especially during the summer here, when all the students are gone. You can't go anywhere without being 10 minutes away from where you're trying to go next, as opposed to having to drive 30 minutes to an hour anywhere you're trying to go. The small town atmosphere, being able to zip around, go wherever and the facilities are great here. Everything here is given to you and you just got to take advantage of it. In the summer it's nice to go golf, hop in the pool for a little bit, and hang out with your buddies at Northgate. Doing that on a daily routine is nice, being able to chill here during the summer."
Q: At what point in your life did you realize your passion for golf?
BS: "When I stopped playing hockey, because golf was kind of the only thing I had left. I've lived down here since I was in 4th or 5th grade, while my dad was the head pro over at Pebble Creek right down the road. That was back when I was still playing ice hockey, but he'd bring me out there a couple times a year or so, and some of the A&M golfers would be out there practicing. There were guys like Jordan Russell back in 2008 and 2009. So I was inspired by just seeing those guys out here working on their game, knowing they're on the national stage, and they ended up winning a national championship. Just seeing that led me to establish that as a goal and dream to one day get here. Now that golf ended up being the route that I took, that's something I've always looked back on using it as a driving force to keep getting better."
Q: Who has had the biggest influence on your golf career?
BS: "My dad, definitely, because he instilled that work ethic in me ever since I was a little kid. Since I've been here it'd be one of the former players, Andrew Parr. My freshman year was pretty rough, I came in with a back injury my first semester. I had to redshirt because I couldn't play throughout the fall and in the spring I could barely break 90, so I didn't have a lot going for me then. I talked to Andrew Parr during that spring semester, and I've had a great relationship with him ever since. He's been able to help me with the positivity on the course, making sure I keep my head up and to look forward no matter what's happening on the course. As much of an emotional guy I am, I used to be worse. He's helped a lot in that aspect of the game, and he's a huge reason I've grown as much as I have since I got here."
Q: How do deal with the mental side of playing golf?
BS: "As of lately it's been a little tougher than some of the other times I've had in the last year. Actually, in this past spring I felt like I had a pretty good grip on the emotional swings throughout the competitive golf rounds I've been playing. I think the main thing for me is realizing a month from now, I'm not going to look back and worry about a golf shot that I hit. So walking down the fairway for my next shot, why should I be thinking over it then? I've been putting it into perspective a little bit, thinking it's just a game.
Although we put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's something we want to succeed in. It's easy to put pressure on yourself out there, thinking 'oh, that was a bad shot, and now this is going to affect the overall score for the team.' If you think like that it's just going to lead to worse and worse negative thoughts, and it's just a domino effect from there. You just have to find something good you did in the shot, even if it's a shank. I'd just think about how committed I felt on my shot or how comfortable I felt over the ball. I at least think of something to build off positively to keep me somewhat static on the course."
Q: Coach J.T. Higgins said you've really grown over the past couple years. Could you elaborate on that?
BS: "You just get so many opportunities here at A&M as a student-athlete and honestly even as a student. Your coaches want you succeed more than anybody. I'd probably say even more so than my parents. They're always here for you, there doors are wide open 24/7, and I just try to take advantage of their wisdom and knowledge in the game. I have a dad that's played golf for probably 90-percent of his life, so he's also somebody I've always looked up to and go to for advice. Ever since freshman year when I got here I felt like I had a pretty decent idea on what hard work was. You know freshman year will teach you a lot of things, and I definitely learned that the work I was putting in high school wasn't even close what the other guys were putting in. Therefore, I had to take my work ethic to the next level and went from there."
Q: What is your proudest moment on the golf course?
BS: "Making match play last year in the NCAA's Tournament. I remember Coach walked with me for pretty much every single hole last spring. We were walking down the 9th fairway but it was my 18th hole in the fourth round of NCAA stroke play, and we were kind of backed up a little bit. We were waiting about 260-yards out on the fairway looking at the green and there was a bunch of people. All the teams that had already finished up were up there on the green with a big ole' screen leaderboard up there on the left. We were watching Andrew Paysse, who graduated last year, finish up and he had a 20-footer to give us a shot inside the top eight cup line and break inside of the tie with Vanderbilt. He drained it and the place went nuts. We were debating between laying it up or going for the green, so once he made it Coach told me 'we're laying it up, making par, and going to match play.' So we laid up, hit 600 down the fairway, flipped the wedge up there and had two putts for par. I was taking my first putt three-four-feet behind, and it was a pretty nerve-racking putt coming back to make sure we were in for match play. I made it and walked off the green, and Coach told me, 'you realize what you just did right?' I had no idea and he was like, 'you're an All-American now because you finished top 15 in the NCAA Championship.' That was a pretty cool moment for me. I just remember a huge smile on my face, and looking around and taking in the moment. I knew at the time we made match play, and everybody was in a great mood.
Something that has crossed my mind since then, I remember my freshman and sophomore year I always liked being the last guy out here practicing. I love to practice, and I love to feel like I'm the guy working the hardest, making sure I'm not leaving anything out there. I remember one time specifically the former women's golf coach, Trelle McCombs, was leaving her office out for the day. I was the last guy in the facility hitting chips on the practice putting green, and she said 'that's what All-Americans do. They stay out here all night and chip n' putt.' That was back when I was injured and couldn't even sniff the lineup. So it was pretty cool to think that there were people who believed in me, and eventually I was able to achieve that status."
Q: What's your favorite tournament you've played in since arriving to Texas A&M?
BS: "That's tough, because there's so many good ones. I think my favorite golf course to go to would probably be the Floridian, down in Florida. I've only been once before this season, but the time I went it was in immaculate conditions. It's a place where a lot of Tour players go to practice, because it's a great golf course and its conditions are always perfect. However, my favorite trip has got to be Hawaii, because you're there for a whole week and you feel like you're in paradise."
Q: If you could play anywhere in the world where would you play?
BS: "The Augusta National Masters because of the history behind the event. I've always had a dream of walking up the 18th fairway with my dad behind the green. At the Masters that's a dream I've always had, and hopefully I can make that dream come true. It's something I think about all the time, because it's such an awesome place. I've never even been there, but seeing it on TV it looks unbelievable."
Q: What's your favorite thing about College Station?
Brandon Smith: "Well there's less traffic than Dallas. I like it down here, because everything is so close. Especially during the summer here, when all the students are gone. You can't go anywhere without being 10 minutes away from where you're trying to go next, as opposed to having to drive 30 minutes to an hour anywhere you're trying to go. The small town atmosphere, being able to zip around, go wherever and the facilities are great here. Everything here is given to you and you just got to take advantage of it. In the summer it's nice to go golf, hop in the pool for a little bit, and hang out with your buddies at Northgate. Doing that on a daily routine is nice, being able to chill here during the summer."
Q: At what point in your life did you realize your passion for golf?
BS: "When I stopped playing hockey, because golf was kind of the only thing I had left. I've lived down here since I was in 4th or 5th grade, while my dad was the head pro over at Pebble Creek right down the road. That was back when I was still playing ice hockey, but he'd bring me out there a couple times a year or so, and some of the A&M golfers would be out there practicing. There were guys like Jordan Russell back in 2008 and 2009. So I was inspired by just seeing those guys out here working on their game, knowing they're on the national stage, and they ended up winning a national championship. Just seeing that led me to establish that as a goal and dream to one day get here. Now that golf ended up being the route that I took, that's something I've always looked back on using it as a driving force to keep getting better."
Q: Who has had the biggest influence on your golf career?
BS: "My dad, definitely, because he instilled that work ethic in me ever since I was a little kid. Since I've been here it'd be one of the former players, Andrew Parr. My freshman year was pretty rough, I came in with a back injury my first semester. I had to redshirt because I couldn't play throughout the fall and in the spring I could barely break 90, so I didn't have a lot going for me then. I talked to Andrew Parr during that spring semester, and I've had a great relationship with him ever since. He's been able to help me with the positivity on the course, making sure I keep my head up and to look forward no matter what's happening on the course. As much of an emotional guy I am, I used to be worse. He's helped a lot in that aspect of the game, and he's a huge reason I've grown as much as I have since I got here."
Q: How do deal with the mental side of playing golf?
BS: "As of lately it's been a little tougher than some of the other times I've had in the last year. Actually, in this past spring I felt like I had a pretty good grip on the emotional swings throughout the competitive golf rounds I've been playing. I think the main thing for me is realizing a month from now, I'm not going to look back and worry about a golf shot that I hit. So walking down the fairway for my next shot, why should I be thinking over it then? I've been putting it into perspective a little bit, thinking it's just a game.
Although we put a lot of time and effort into it, and it's something we want to succeed in. It's easy to put pressure on yourself out there, thinking 'oh, that was a bad shot, and now this is going to affect the overall score for the team.' If you think like that it's just going to lead to worse and worse negative thoughts, and it's just a domino effect from there. You just have to find something good you did in the shot, even if it's a shank. I'd just think about how committed I felt on my shot or how comfortable I felt over the ball. I at least think of something to build off positively to keep me somewhat static on the course."
Q: Coach J.T. Higgins said you've really grown over the past couple years. Could you elaborate on that?
BS: "You just get so many opportunities here at A&M as a student-athlete and honestly even as a student. Your coaches want you succeed more than anybody. I'd probably say even more so than my parents. They're always here for you, there doors are wide open 24/7, and I just try to take advantage of their wisdom and knowledge in the game. I have a dad that's played golf for probably 90-percent of his life, so he's also somebody I've always looked up to and go to for advice. Ever since freshman year when I got here I felt like I had a pretty decent idea on what hard work was. You know freshman year will teach you a lot of things, and I definitely learned that the work I was putting in high school wasn't even close what the other guys were putting in. Therefore, I had to take my work ethic to the next level and went from there."
Q: What is your proudest moment on the golf course?
BS: "Making match play last year in the NCAA's Tournament. I remember Coach walked with me for pretty much every single hole last spring. We were walking down the 9th fairway but it was my 18th hole in the fourth round of NCAA stroke play, and we were kind of backed up a little bit. We were waiting about 260-yards out on the fairway looking at the green and there was a bunch of people. All the teams that had already finished up were up there on the green with a big ole' screen leaderboard up there on the left. We were watching Andrew Paysse, who graduated last year, finish up and he had a 20-footer to give us a shot inside the top eight cup line and break inside of the tie with Vanderbilt. He drained it and the place went nuts. We were debating between laying it up or going for the green, so once he made it Coach told me 'we're laying it up, making par, and going to match play.' So we laid up, hit 600 down the fairway, flipped the wedge up there and had two putts for par. I was taking my first putt three-four-feet behind, and it was a pretty nerve-racking putt coming back to make sure we were in for match play. I made it and walked off the green, and Coach told me, 'you realize what you just did right?' I had no idea and he was like, 'you're an All-American now because you finished top 15 in the NCAA Championship.' That was a pretty cool moment for me. I just remember a huge smile on my face, and looking around and taking in the moment. I knew at the time we made match play, and everybody was in a great mood.
Something that has crossed my mind since then, I remember my freshman and sophomore year I always liked being the last guy out here practicing. I love to practice, and I love to feel like I'm the guy working the hardest, making sure I'm not leaving anything out there. I remember one time specifically the former women's golf coach, Trelle McCombs, was leaving her office out for the day. I was the last guy in the facility hitting chips on the practice putting green, and she said 'that's what All-Americans do. They stay out here all night and chip n' putt.' That was back when I was injured and couldn't even sniff the lineup. So it was pretty cool to think that there were people who believed in me, and eventually I was able to achieve that status."
Q: What's your favorite tournament you've played in since arriving to Texas A&M?
BS: "That's tough, because there's so many good ones. I think my favorite golf course to go to would probably be the Floridian, down in Florida. I've only been once before this season, but the time I went it was in immaculate conditions. It's a place where a lot of Tour players go to practice, because it's a great golf course and its conditions are always perfect. However, my favorite trip has got to be Hawaii, because you're there for a whole week and you feel like you're in paradise."
Q: If you could play anywhere in the world where would you play?
BS: "The Augusta National Masters because of the history behind the event. I've always had a dream of walking up the 18th fairway with my dad behind the green. At the Masters that's a dream I've always had, and hopefully I can make that dream come true. It's something I think about all the time, because it's such an awesome place. I've never even been there, but seeing it on TV it looks unbelievable."