February 12, 2025 • 39 mins
Newly minted pros Christine Wang and Amari Avery swing by the Par-Tee to talk about their standout collegiate experience at USC, get real about what it's like to be a young women in a male-dominated sport, and share the biggest surprises they’ve encountered from their pro careers. Plus, we find out who's most likely to hit up the club versus who is more likely to throw their clubs.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
These waters are for you guys to drink too. By
the way, if you wanted to just like snap it
just so that we can uh, we don't hear the crack.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
On them nothing, bro, that's so funny.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's actually my pet peeve. What Yeah, I know. I
don't love a SMR either, Like no, I like a
SMR videos. But when when especially makeup like Influenial, they
do like the no, no, we don't got to do that.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I like the visual stuphomore like maybe like cut sand.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah I could do like that. Also, like if your
nails are ratchet, I can't do the ASM. I'm like, yeah,
great though, I just got it done. Yeah, yeah, it's
giving engaged. Yeah it maes that.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I got age on top of you guys.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm just trying to hang with the gen zers, all right,
Christine Amari, welcome to the party. So I tell you
both here. Did you know that was the name of
the podcast?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, good, I'm so glad you guys do that. So
for those of you who are listening tuning in, if
you don't know who Christine and Amri are, well, firstly,
you better get to know them because they are already
on the way to the big leagues. Okay, they are
former teammates at USC and if you don't know, USC
is one of the top golf programs in all the US,
so it's a big deal. You may have seen Christine
(01:24):
on social media killing it, documenting her a collegiate journey
to now her professional journey. You may have seen a
Mari on TV already having a start on the LPGA.
So both of you welcome. I'm so happy that I
have you two in one place. Heart rates are nice
and low. Right, we're all said, we're chill. You just
through LA traffic to be with me. I appreciate you guys.
(01:45):
So typically I actually begin my podcast with how I've
met my guests. However, we just met five minutes ago,
so that will not be the storyline. So I want
to actually dive into you both. And so it was
a fun rapid fire. Who's most likely too? Yeah, you're
gonna like my questions? So who is most likely to
be late to practice?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Christine?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Really?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Is that why you relate today?
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Too soon? Shuts fire? Take okay, my bad? Okay. Next,
who is the better golf fits Amri?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Who has the better music playlist.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
We have very different music tastes. There's some crossover.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, she's like super mega Taylor Swift. I do love
a Taylor Swift, and I'm more like.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Rap hip hop a.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Little bit. Yeah, but I dip into a little of
the R and B.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, I like that she's like.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
But I also like like Kendrick Lamar Brianna. You like
that too, I do it?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Okay, to each their own, all right, we like it,
so neither okay. Who was most likely to date another
athlete here, Okay, he's a golfer, We love it.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Who gives the best life advice Christine. Oh, she's got
like this grandma vibe about her.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Not the grandma vibe, okay. Most likely to correct someone's swing.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I don't like to say things. Come on, I don't
like to say.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
I just think it's like not my place.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah yeah, as a chair, yeah to the men, okay.
Most likely to clap back at someone who corrects their swing, Amori,
yeah me, okay, yeah, all right, that's fair. Most likely
to go viral on TikTok Christine, you know. Most likely
to post a thirst trap. Wow, the silence was loud, guys,
(03:36):
I'm cuffed.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Man thirst trap and be coughed with the boyfriend's approval.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, okay, okay, we like that answer. Most likely to
get kicked out of the club, Christine, that's funny. Okay.
Most likely to throw their golf club. I'mori, I get it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I've broken a few.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I've seen that happen.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Oh, we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. Okay.
Most likely to give someone a fake number, Christine.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Yeah, okay, most likely to lose their Phoneine, the last one.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Who is a better hype woman?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Yeah, Christine, as besties should Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I thought that was pretty even. I didn't really know
what to expect, but I got to get to know
you guys, all right, So we have to start from
the very basics. I'm sure you guys get this question
all the time. But how old were you when you
began golfing? And how did you guys get into it?
And we can start with Christine.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I started golfing when I was seven. My whole family
were all athletes, so my parents just wanted me play something.
And there was a golf course by our house. And
they're like, rich people play golf. Okay, we're real, Yeah, no,
I also just really liked it, Like I had a
really good coach when I first started, and yourself.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I was three years old when I started playing go,
and my dad got me into it because he was
very heavily influenced by Tiger Woods and he thought it
was really cool that an African American golfer was also
mixed twas honestly changing the sport.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And he saw a little bit of talent with me.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
So he's like, figure start with me, and then he
got my little sister into it and ever since it's
been great.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I love that. So you basically had like you had
a partner to just sing with, like growing up. Yes,
we mentioned off camera that were kind of like a
generation apart, not to throw my age in there, because
I like to be a gen zer at heart. I'm
young at heart. But for you guys growing up being
a female golfer, how was it for you both? Like
did you have friends? Were there more girls? Were you alone?
(05:40):
Were you wearing boy clothes? Like? What was it like
for you guys? Amari?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I feel like I was very girly growing up.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Actually, my dad used to like style me all the time,
Like you would braid my hair I would have like
three braids in my hair, so I always felt like
pretty girly and he like dressed me really cute.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But honestly, there wasn't really a lot of girls golf.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
I feel like, I mean, it's definitely all which is great,
but definitely starting out, it was a lot more guys.
Like especially practicing on the course, it was definitely all boys.
And I just feel like I've always grown up around guys,
like playing with them and like learning from them. So
it's nice to see now that there's definitely more of
a push for women's golf.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
But it makes you better too, just training with the
guys at the same time, right, Yeah, it feels.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Great beating them too.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
We'll talk about that too, how about you, Christine?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Yeah, I would say, I like my parents try their
best to style me, maybe not as fashionably as mister
and the King. Yeah, I wore a lot of tennis
clothes growing up, playing with a lot of boys as well,
a lot of co ed tournaments when I was younger,
But it got better when I got to middle school.
In high school, we start playing like the A j
GA and stuff. Because like when I started meeting more
(06:42):
girls and being started getting more fun.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And where was where were you raised? Where were you born?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
So Beyonce and you're too swift, Okay, that's wild, Okay, No,
but I do love that. I feel like, So I
grew up in so Cal, yell Cal, and I feel
like there's a lot more golf in Socol, So I
can't imagine. Yeah, in Houston, there must have been like
was there even any other girls to compete against growing up?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
There was a few. There was definitely a few, but
it was like you would see the boys division has
like I don't know, like one hundred people in it,
and the girls division had like ten.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like it was a big, small feel. And so then
you both clearly started playing high level golf at a
very young age. I assume traveled a lot, and I
assume around like maybe thirteen fourteen, fifteen years old. That's
when the recruiting process started to happen. What was that
recruiting process like for the both of you?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So for me, nobody I knew played college golf, So
it was all like discovery for me, Like I had
no idea what I was doing, how to email coaches
and stuff. I had to like google all of it, wow,
which didn't yield very many answers. But I figured it out.
I got better at it the more I did it
and stuff, and I don't know, I just started playing better.
So coaches started noticing and they started emailing me back. Yeah,
(08:00):
I didn't really. I didn't commit to USC until I
was almost a senior in high school, which was very
late for then because back then there wasn't the new
rules that there are now where you have to wait.
I think, yeah, so back then, I was like, I think,
like the last person in the top like one hundred
that was still uncommitted, who wasn't turning pro immediately.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
And I got it for you, Mari.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Yeah, I feel like my recruiting process was very similar
to a lot of other girls. I was very fortunate
to have a lot of coaches watching me, had a
lot of teams watching me when I was like twelve thirteen,
so I was right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I feel like I had like half the pack twelve
watching me. So I'm like, oh my god, like this
is crazy, but I was so cool.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I was like so excited to see like USC out
there obviously, like Stanford, UCLA, like all these SOCl schools
and like this is awesome, like they're watching me. And
then I don't know, Actually I was planning on turning
professional when I was out of high school, and then
obviously the pandemic hit and it kind of changed everything
for me. It helped kind of helped me like reevaluate
my life and kind of look at it different ways
as the golf And I'm so happy because I'm like
(09:03):
I got to go to school and really like go
through the recruiting process because I wasn't planning on doing it,
Like I honestly wasn't responding to schools.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I wasn't really paying attention to coaches. And then I
don't know.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Like I started talking to USC, I started talking to
a couple other schools, and I was like, well, I'm
gonna keep the list short because I'm not really sure
what I want to do. And then at the end,
I was like, I really like fell in love with
the program. I really love Justin And then I never
got to see the school like maybe some other recruits did,
just because I was during the pandemic and I had
to see it through FaceTime.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So oh that's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, I had to see the face time.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
I had to look at the golf course that we
played at now Rolling Hills, like all like just all
through pictures and FaceTime, and so I kind of had
to make my judgment based off of the coaches and
how I felt about them.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And I think it was really cool to kind of just.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Go through that process.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
It was different than most but obviously very similar that
I got to talk to a lot of coaches.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, I guess I didn't even think of that, Like, yeah,
you had to commit essentially during the pandemic you the time,
which is not exactly ideal. I'm aria out here playing
hard to get, but I in school, I feel like
recruiting to me, it's like dating, right, talking of a coach,
they're into you. Then you see that their rosters fill
and I'm like, oh, I just got cheated on. What's up?
(10:10):
What's going on? So I think it's just like a
very much.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Verbal verbal commitment is like the engagement. Yeah, and then
when you sign, it's like when you.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Like, it's like signed delivery, no back and out. I
didn't get a ring for it, but it's fine that
we did, though. You guys did get a ring. If
you don't know what they're talking about they did win
their Pack twelve championship in twenty three and they were
teammates and they both they both killed it. We will
get there, so you both committed to USC. What essentially
led to that decision.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I really felt like it came down to, honestly, like
growing up in Soca, I really wanted to stay close
to home. I really fell in love with the program,
love justin honestly, through my entire recruiting phase. He was
there every single tournament, like I can't say that really
about any other.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Coach, Like he was there at qualifiers.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
The smallest events like that, Like if I was a coach,
I probably wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Go too and he was there.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
He was there, and he really made me feel like
I was going to belong on this team. And honestly,
he showed me during one of our facetimes in a PowerPoint.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
He showed me like.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
He showed me all.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
The players he had and how their rankings have gotten
considerably better over the time that they were at USC.
And the one that stood out to me was Gabby
Ruffles and at the time, like she was huge, like
she had just won the USM and seeing that her
ranking coming into school was very low, and then she
was number one or number two. I was like, yeah,
this is where I'm going. Like, if you can get
(11:34):
her that good, then he can get me that good.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
So I want to go there.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I love that. I love that the golf program in
itself just like made you better because it's like, I
think it's a very unique dynamic that golf is an
individual sport. And then you were homeschooled too, so there's
a lot of changes. Right, So golf is an individuals
It's okay, you're good. Now you went through it, and
you now take this individual sport, you put it in
a team. You have your own coaches. You now have
(11:59):
different coaches taking girls from around the US and you
just put them in a pot and you just hope
it all mixes together. So that being said, how did
you guys get along with your teammates? But did you
guys even know each other before?
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You know what I was gonna say, a lot of
people don't know this, but I've been trying to convince
Amari to come to USC ever since I committed. So
I committed like somewhere between basically my junior and senior
year of high school, and then I was like a
Mari usc it is the way to go. I like,
I've been whispering in her ear. A lot of people
don't know this, but I didn't know Amari. We played
(12:32):
a lot of golf.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
We played a lot of golf.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah, yeah, she was and she was the reason, like
my dad will tell the story like till the end
of time. We played in an Aga, what do you
call it, like a match.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Play match plays East versus West.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Okay, that's called the Wyndham Cup. And she was my
partner for the day. And I was throwing a fit
because I hit my drive into a bunker.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
And I felt mad for her playing alternate shot so
she hit't in the bunker. I had to hit the shot.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah, So I was mad because I hit a bad shot.
And then I was also mad because I felt bad
for her.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But I hit.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
And she just like she just gave me like words
of encouragement, told me like it's okay, Like I have
to hit the shot, it's not you. And so honestly,
ever since then, I was like, yeah, like she's a
really cool person and we got to play a lot
of golf.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Together, so that makes sense. And then how was it
for you? Guys meshing with the rest of the team
was the smooth sailing, because I could tell you some
of mine, Mine was not what I thought it was
gonna be. Can I just I'll just interject and say
that when I was committing to my university, I played
for Calsey Fullerton and my coach at the time was
Pearl sin and I asked her. I was like, so,
is there any drama on the team? And she was like, oh,
(13:35):
girls are a sweet heart. Let me tell you first
of all, my four years could have been a TV show.
That shit was crazy. Okay, the highs lows you know,
being a college athlete. So how was that dynamic for
you guys and the team?
Speaker 5 (13:50):
I mean, I'll say this, I think when it comes
to any girls golf team, whether it's high school, peewee
or college, like.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
There's always gonna be drama.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
I feel with girls like, no matter how close you are,
there's gonna be drama for sure. But I think I'm
just saying this for myself, but I think we're seeing
can say the same. I think we really had a
great group of girls that really liked each other. And
I can't say a lot for the past USC women's
golf team. But the scene that we were on, I
felt like we all really got along and we really
like respected each other and loved each other. So m
(14:21):
I think that kind of goes to show that, like
there's a lot of love there, and I think there's
no there's there's definitely gonna be clashing of heads at
some point for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah. I mean if you put nine group girls together,
all from different places, all with very different personalities. Yeah,
I don't want to say forced to be together because
of golf, but like a little bit, a little bit right,
like otherwise if it wasn't for golf, some of us
might have never crossed paths. You know, we're so different,
things are gonna come up. But yeah, it was. It's weird.
When I first went to USC, it wasn't as close
(14:51):
as we were we left, But that was also because
I started during COVID, like I started in twenty twenty.
Oh that's true, So it got like we got closer
and closer every year, which I don't know mean, and
the other girls who are seniors with me was really
proud of because that's what we wanted.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So then how was it when it came to qualifiers?
I'm sure. I'm sure it was competitive, Like, you guys
can all besties off the course, but when we're on
the course, So walk us through if you guys don't
mind breaking it down for the listeners, like what is
a qualifier? What does that even mean? And how did
it go for the both of you?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, so only five girls really usually travel to tournaments
and there's a team of nine, so you have to
go through a process of like playing many different rounds
to see who earns a spot on the travel team.
Sometimes there were spots that was exempt, like for example,
if you played well last week or if you've just
been playing well in general recently, But most of the
(15:43):
time there's qualifying for at least a few spots. Yeah,
qualifying is intense.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I can't even imagine, Like, you guys are the top school, right,
so it's like every qualifier must feel like a mini
tournament of that. Ray, Yeah, I think that was.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
More stressed out for qualifiers. I get because us you're
at the tournament, You're already there. I made it, I've
already made it, right, But at the qualifiers when we're playing,
I would say that we had a really good way
of balancing, like when we were playing, we were very competitive,
Like we played our little hearts out, you know, on
the course at five point thirty in the morning, but.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Early wake up.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, you know, but on the way back, like a
Mari and I used to carpool together. I used to
carpool with other teammates as well, Like on the way back,
like let's say we had a bad hole, we would
still like talk about it, talk about how we could
improve on that, what we did wrong. Like, yeah, it
went back to being friends, right, right, Like it was
a yeah for us at least like on our team.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean sure, there's definitely like no animosity afterwards.
I mean there might be a little bit like obviously
you're competing, Like like you said, this is an individual sport,
Like it's not natural for us to be on a team, right,
but when you're competing for a spot, obviously everything goes
out the window.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
When you're on the course, you're not really friends anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
But I mean, I mean you still have a couple
of laughs on the course, laugh at each other's scores,
and then an hour goes by and we're friends again.
But I mean, I definitely think qualifying is it's supposed
to be intense. There's no gimmis. I mean, oh yeah,
And I definitely, I definitely think you can feel like
that if you're you know, one of the top players
on the team, like I was fortunate enough to go
to pretty much every event, but I still had to qualify.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I still had to give it my all.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
And even when I was exempt, like there was no like, oh,
you're just kind of playing now, like no, Like I
was still trying to I was still trying, like I
wanted to beat everybody, even if I already had a spot.
So I think it's meant to be like, that's meant
to be intense because you want to bring the best
of the best to the to the tournament.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So I assumed that you both were on scholarship at USC.
I was at first okay, and then I was not.
And I mean, I think it's a really interesting conversation
because I think one of the common things that people
say is that, oh, women's golf is the easiest sport
to get a scholarship, And I think, honestly, I don't
think absolutely not, you know, and so and so for yourself,
(18:15):
I assume you were on Yeah, I was a full yeah, yeah,
and so fun. Fact, for those that are listening in
for D one Women's College Golf, you are granted six
full ride scholarships. It covers everything from tuition, your life,
and then the other scholarships. You can split it up.
You can get a fifty percent scholarship twenty percent. Did
you ever use academic to also like combat? Yeah, so I.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Had a fool my first year, and then I had
partial base like split between academic and golf the rest
of the years.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
So how was it for you balancing school and golf?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
For me, I actually didn't know I wanted to play
professional golf until my junior year basically, So before that,
I was all for the books, all for the school.
I've always liked school. I like, I don't know, I
took way too many classes to.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Say, I don't know how you did that.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah, like I got I mean, I got my master's
degree and my undergrad in like four years just for
like I don't know what I w I mean, like
I have, I'm not using it. At first. It was
way more school heavy, right, Like I didn't really not
that I can't say I didn't care because ones qualifying
and came to you know, like I was you know, playing,
but I definitely put more emphasis on school until one
(19:28):
day I was like, you know what, I kind of
want to play, like, you know, after school, Like I think,
like I imagine myself not playing golf every day, and
that was a really scary thought. And when that flipped,
it became more of like golf was the main focus.
So balance was always I mean, being a student athlete,
balance is key anyways, Like.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It's hard, but it is key. Yeah. And then for yourself, Amari,
how was school and this is a sage space it
is okay?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Ami Amori started off you know where she started off
right mean, and she just thought better and better every
single year.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, but that was.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Priority.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Oh yeah, Like.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
I always say this, but like coming into school, like
I said, I wanted to turn pro.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I wanted the whole thing. So I didn't.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Really like care about school. Like I was like, I'm
not coming here for school. I'm getting a full ride
scholarship to pay off in to do it at the
very best level that I can.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And after that first semester, let me.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Tell you, let me tell you, Okay.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
All right, So I won three times in my first
like I love that slay. The grades were not slaying.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Let's just say that.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I was.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Let's just say I was on academic probation after the
first semester, so I had like a weekly bi weekly
check in with an advisor and like a tutor. Yes,
and I had multiple tutors and that next fall because
I came in the spring that next fall, I don't
think I've seen that many books. I've never typed that
many words ever in my life. But like they they
(21:12):
had me on a very.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Tight leash like at USC. But you know, like that's
to be expected.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
I mean they you're not being invited to the school,
You're not being paid to go to the school to
just play off like you're you're a student athlete and
the student comes first. That was ingrained into my head
from that fall on.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
So did that attribute to you turning pro a lot sooner?
Just like I don't want to be I don't want
to do school anymore. I think I'm ready for to
turn professional. Was that part of it? Well?
Speaker 5 (21:37):
You know, the thing is I actually really came to
like school, Like I actually liked going to class, I
like doing like I like doing my homework. I would
actually tell my teammates, like the stuff that I was learning,
like I actually really liked it, and but it really
did come to a point where I'm like, you know what,
like I feel like I did everything that I need
to do here justin really helped me, you know, become
the player that I am. And I don't know how
much further he can take me or the program can
(21:58):
take me, and I think it's time for me to
kind of play the pro life.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So yeah, yeah, I love that for you. Okay, Well
before we even jump into the professional golf stuff to
where you guys are now, I would love to hear
your guys thoughts on the NIL because that became a
thing when you guys were in college. That's not something
that I had, and I always wonder like is it
a good thing? I mean, in hindsight, I think it's
a good thing, but I think it also adds a
lot of pressure too. So how was dealing with the
(22:22):
NIL for you both? Did it affect you? Did you
get deals? Christine?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, I think NIL is a good thing because I'm
not what do you mean by pressure?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So I think what's really unique and like there's a
lot more new studies kind of coming out on the NIL,
especially for women's athletes and now puts additional pressure to
now be a persona, to now essentially be famous outside
of your sport. That sometimes I think that newer athletes
are focusing more on that as opposed to just your ability, right,
(22:53):
like okay, now you want to be an influencer versus
your you know, being a professional athlete, Like what are
you here for? You know? So I think it's an
overall positive, but I think for some it can also
add this just like you know, out of pressure, you know, I.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
See what you mean. I I feel like in AL
is a good thing overall. I think I think that
it really I mean, if you don't turn professional, even
if you like just play college and then you graduate
and you do whatever great job you do, like you
still need to learn how to sell yourself and like
show who you are and like, you know, show that,
Like being in student athlete is very like this awesome thing.
(23:27):
And I feel like an AL has been a really
good thing for showing people who don't really understand college
sports how it really works, what work we have to
put in to keep up with everything else in our
lives and such. And I also feel like a lot
of people opted out of vinile, like not like it
isn't like a.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Oh I opt out.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
It's just like they just choose not to put themselves
out there as much on social media. Right, I personally did.
I thought it was the most fun thing ever. I mean,
I've always been someone who liked posting videos. Shogs, like
even before in Aisle was a thing which happened when
I was a sophomore.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, I got deals. Yeah I got paid. I didn't
get paid.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I thought everyone told me it was impossible. Everyone told
me was impossible because I was a golfer and only
football players and basketball players are able to get anything.
Maybe if you're like a golfer, but a boy. Right,
there's a lot more male brands, right, And I was
just I didn't really believe that, and then obviously I
was right.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, So yeah, I got.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Paid, and I feel like it's been it's been a
really good thing for me. It really helped me in
my transition to turning pro as well. Right, So, right,
and then how about for you a Mari, what was
that like? Now you're balancing school, you're balancing trying to
be you know, the best player on the team, and
now you're dealing with contracts all of a sudden, were
you dealing with that?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Like yourself, you're a business girlly, now how it deals? I,
Like she said, I think NIL is overall very positive thing.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
I think that student athletes put in a lot of
work and they really should be paid for that work.
I mean, it's it's a hard it's a job to
be a student athlete. You're not just doing your sport,
You're also having to maintain your grades, which is something
that obviously.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I learned down the road.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
But yeah, I was very fortunate to have a few
ANIL deals that were pretty significant, and like Christine said,
like it didn't feel like a very welcoming space at first,
Like it really felt like, yeah, you have to play
football or you have to play basketball, and on top
of that, you have to be the star. But I,
like I said, I was very fortunate. I got to
(25:30):
partner with my favorite brand in the world, Nike, and
I love it, so I'm very excited. And yeah, that
led to more and more deals and it was really cool.
Like I felt like kind of like this crazy like
girl an IL girl on campus that like played golf,
but like she has an IL.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It felt weird, but it's it's.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
Really cool, and I think that student athletes should get
those kinds of deals because it's awesome and honestly, it's
awesome to be a student athlete.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, So let's talk about professional golf.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
How has the journey been so far for the both
of you? I think you guys have played in quite
a few events already, and you both just from professional
last year. You have you have status on EPSOM. Christine,
how has.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
It been very different than what I expected?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Really?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
That is for sure, it's a lot of golf. I
know that sounds silly, but before, like when we played
as a junior or in college, we would go to
a tournament one practice round, two or three days because
we played thirty six holes the first day, right, so
two or three day tournament and then we go back
to school and we're back to being a student, right right.
(26:52):
But now we get to the golf course on like Monday,
and then we're there, yeah, and it's Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and then like I'm still like it's still this tournament.
I'm still hitting the same course, Like yeah, so yeah,
it's a lot of golf. We only got to play
a few events this summer. In February is when our
first full season will start, so that'll be really interesting.
(27:14):
But I'm really glad we played this like like half
season sort of in the summer, just to get a
good feel for it, because wow, it's a it's very
different in college, Like we had our coaches get the
hotel for us, food, you know, travel, everything was already
taken care of, even what we wore, what time to
get to the airport, right, everything was taken care of.
Now I have to do it by myself. I had
(27:36):
book it myself for myself. Yeah, so yeah, it's it was.
It's very very different.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Mm.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Was there much of a learning curve you'd say, I'm.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Percent like I think, you know, leading up to leaving
school and turning professional, I was kind of like thinking
in my head like, Okay, how's this going to be.
Already know it's going to be hard, but then you
get out there and you're like, oh.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
My gosh, this is not what I was thinking.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Like, I knew it was gonna be difficult with you know,
traveling and you know, making all of your arrangements, and
then on top of that playing really good golf and
it's like, Okay, let's reevaluate here.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
The golf is almost like the easier part because golf
is still golf. Sure, good golf is still good golf.
A birdie is still a birdie. But now everything around
golf and traveling is what got really.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Rough, right, fell up to you. It's a very individual
sport and in this case, right, So yeah, I was
able to chat with angel Yan on our first episode
and we had a ball, but she also showed me
like the real size of professional golf, right, and how
much you are independent, you are paying for it yourself.
So I'd love to hear from both of you. How
are you both supporting yourselves in your professional journey?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Well, for me, I have I am very fortunate from like
my social media and stuff. I've got a few sponsors.
I like Feathery, they are like my clothing sponsors. They
have been very supportive of me. I have a few
like just family they're very supportive as well. That's yeah,
It's it's tough. Like I feel like there's so many
(29:06):
really great golfers out there, but not everyone can play
professional golf for one reason or another. So I'm very
lucky to, you know, have the chance.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
To and for yourself, Amori.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I would say the same. It's definitely family and sponsors.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Yeah, I like I said, I'm very fortunate to be
with a brand like Nike. They're they're a big supporter
of mine, and also with Lexus and Taylor made like
they they're the reason why I'm playing golf. I'm playing
professional golf, So love them. I think they're they're great supporters.
And of course my family, like they're always going to
be there for me, whether whether it's financially or just
you know, being emotionally there. So yeah, and you know,
(29:40):
it's not all sunshines and rabels like everyone makes it
out to be. But at the end of the day,
it's it's really something that I want to do and
I want to be a part of. So no matter
how grueling it can be, sometimes I really am having
the time of life good.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
I was just gonna check out, like, are you guys
are having fun?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Having good time? Are we balancing our personal lives?
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Are?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I think it's like I see a lot of I mean,
I graduated with like everyone in my class, right, so
all my friends, the ones who are working like a
nine to five or like nine to n I like,
but it's like, it's like, golf is still a job
at the end of the day, but I cannot pick
a better job, living a life.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Like your office. This is my So have either of
you had any pinch me moment moments since turning professional?
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I played a Monday qualifier for LPG event and right
behind me was Nelly Korda. When I like saw her
tea off and then I like I ted off and
then she teed off like right behind me. I was like, what,
it's so weird, like usually on a little screen.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Yeah, yeah, and then have that for you.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Mark.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I honestly, I haven't really had any pinch me moments.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I wouldn't say I I definitely at the end of
the year, once the season was wrapped, I was like,
oh my god, like I'm really a pronoun because like
I mean, I I mean we basically went from Nationals
in May and then went straight into the first event
three like like three weeks or later.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Yeah, like we were already at our first steps in
an event, and I was like, okay, so not in
college anymore.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
My dad's with me actually for the.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
First time in months. Yeah, on the course, and he's
catting for me again like old times. So yeah, it
definitely didn't hit me until after where I was like, okay,
like this is this is.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
The new life now.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
But honestly I love it. I I can't wait for
my first pinch mean moment.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Oh yeah, when I got my first check, I was
gonna say.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I wouldn't want to assume when you guys got your
first check that would.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Have to be a pinching moment when I like, when
I saw that I made my first caught, Yeah, it
was the most exciting thing ever. Yeah, because then I
saw my bank cowgo.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
And I was like, yes, we love to see that. Okay,
So shifting gears here. You know, as I mentioned earlier
and we talked about, well, like women's golf has grown
a ton. There's been a huge movement, especially since the pandemic.
So seeing from where a golf was when you guys
were first starting out to where it is now. On
a scale of one to ten, how would you say
woman's golf is doing in terms of being welcoming welcoming?
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I would say a nine.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's really good.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I feel like everyone's like, if you're a girl who's
like golf, I'm sure you can attest to this, Like,
I am happy to like encourage anyone, any girl to
play golf. I think everyone should play golf.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I like that rating. Yeah, I think it's very generous.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
I think that, Yeah, do you disagree.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
I don't disagree, but I wouldn't give it a nine.
I'd probably give you like seven and a half or yeah, okay,
I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
I think that people are like a nine.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
Yeah. I mean there's there's always room for improvement. I
mean it's gonna take a long time.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Yeah, it's not gonna be like exactly the men's tea. Yeah,
like yeah, league anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yeah, I mean the hope is to obviously get there.
I will say that. I mean I would agree, I
would probably give like a seven. Yeah, in my opinion,
just because not that long ago. No, as you should
the world, right, so not that long ago. Oddly enough,
I had a Marshall come up to me and tell
me that you need to go tee it up on
the children's teeth. Like we're not even talking about the
(32:56):
forward red teas. I'm talking about the yellow that the
one that's like in the fairway. And I thought, I'm like,
if you're looking at my outfit and my I was
gonna say, they just like, look at your outfit. I'm like,
you didn't think that I look like I knew what
I was doing. I was like, bro, that's crazy. Luckily
I stuck it and he then clapped for me, and
I was very upset with him. I then reported him
and I posted about it and I made a scene.
But yeah, as you should.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
You have to because otherwise they think it's okay. And
it's not just Marshals, it's like other players. Like some
I'll go to like a public course and I am
paired up with some random three guys and they're like,
I this happened like over the summer when I was
here in LA. They were like, Oh, I don't like
really want to play with that girl, Like can we
just go three of us alone for like right now.
(33:40):
I was like, Hey, like, I don't really want to
play with you either, but yeah, I think you just
assumed that I didn't play.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
I think I think one of the best feelings is
just like showing them off, like a mic drop moment
I would imagine with how far you hit it? And
I like, bitch, all right, Yeah, I won't say anything anymore. So,
so what do you think is something that can make
it less intimidating for women if you can give like
quick advice for any woman who are just wanting to
get into it. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
I don't really feel like it's super intimidating for the
you know, women's golf space. I think it definitely does welcome,
you know, little girls and boys to play.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
But what's tough is getting little girls to stick with it, yes, right,
because like getting them into it, like introducing them. I
think there's so many programs like girls Golf First Teas
that's there, but getting them to stay with it is
tough for me. I remember it was even tough I
wanted to play soccer when I was growing up because
like none of my friends played golf, right, so, like
(34:37):
there's no other girls. I feel like if you can
keep those programs continuing when you get older.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Yeah, And I think I think you kind of have
to make the sport a little bit more interesting, like
something fun to watch. I think a lot of times
when you think of golf, you think of the PGA Tour.
Like no one, I'm sorry, like no one's thinking of
big Girl. I mean, we all want to be there,
we all want to get to the LPGA Tour, but
sure none's thinking of that when you first look at
a golfer, like watch TV. So I think you have
(35:05):
to make it more interesting for girls, for girls to watch,
because I like, like you said, you can always introduce
people to the sport. You can always introduce the young
girls to the sport, but it's them sticking with it,
finding it interesting, wanting to be the first to do this,
or the first to win three majors in a row
or whatever, like you know, like you want to make
it interesting and not just like.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
A oh, it's just golf, right, Oh, which is boring.
Speaker 5 (35:25):
Because I've heard so I've heard so many different people
say that, like girls, guys, anybody between, Like everyone says
that like about golf and how it's boring, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Like, well, it's really not.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
It's not boring.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Yeah, Like you know, you have to showcase certain people
and that where that's where it kind of all comes
to social media and personalities, like exactly, you know, if
you're not making a big star out of some of
these players, then what.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Are we doing?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Golf needs more characters. Yeah, that's like women's women's golf
needs more characters, and I just I mean, I'm sure
I think you and Angel talked about that too or
a lot. Yeah, every day. I mean like that's I'm mean,
that's a whole thing with like my social media. I
always want to make it seem make go off seem
fun for little girls like that. If that, if there's
a goal, if there was any strategy in what I pose,
(36:08):
like that would be what it would be, right, Like,
I want to make golf seem cool.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, because it is cool. So I'm really looking forward to,
especially you two, being a part of that journey, changing
the game, Amari posting more and showing her personality like
she is right here, got to day, it's going up today.
There you go, She's got something happen and be sure
to tune in. That's right. So okay, before we end
the podcast, I do want to end on a much
more lighter fun note. So let's talk about it. Golf
(36:34):
ex What do you got for me? Slow play?
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Yes, absolutely, yeah. Dirty towels really like overally dirty towels,
like something that like, come on, that's that's dirty your club,
it's not cleany. I don't know why that bothers me.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
What about white pants on guys?
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Okay, I don't mind it.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I don't Yeah, they got to be fit. Yeah, they
make that much. I'm not trying to try my bad Okay, okay,
what about club twirling? Love it?
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Okay if you if you can do it, you can
do it.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
If you do what I do.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
We're like wiggles and like, yeah, we cannot end this
podcast without talking about her.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Terrible. You can't club tool, Christine? What do you mean?
It's so sad. It's just like a pinch of the finger.
You know, maybe it's going the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I know, I like, I do, I go like this.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I like you support it with the you know, the
bottom hand.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
You can show me later.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
Okay, you know it's not terrible, but it does need
some improvement.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Okay, what about I mean it's a golfic for me
when people say it's a good shot before the ball lands.
Oh really Yeah. If it's not good and they say
good shot, I'm like, bro, you try to mess with me.
That's like I don't like that or like the person.
And maybe this is too specific, but like like let's
say you're putting on the green right and I can
feel the person moved before my stroke is done. I
(38:01):
don't know. It's a very particular thing, like there are
people who are like already ready to go, and I'm like,
unless you're completely like at the back of my head,
don't move, I'm not. I don't want to see your
shadow like I would.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
I wonder if that's a women's golf thing, because I
just I just came from watching a men's tournament and
I'm like, all the guys, there's three guys in this group,
and all three of them are in like a ten
feet like ten foot radius of each other. There's like
one on the other side of the cup and then
one in front of the guy. And I'm like, do
you guys not like see this this guy right here?
Speaker 2 (38:29):
But women's golf.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
I'm like, if if anyone's a blade of grass, yeah,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Well, yeah, both of you. Thank you so much for
joining the party. That was a lot of fun. Where
can everyone find you and follow you?
Speaker 5 (38:46):
All?
Speaker 3 (38:47):
My social media's are at the Christine Wang a copy
for Michelle when I was.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Like, I'll tell Michelle that.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
She's big time Michelle the party, yes, or we're gonna
try and get her on.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
But she's kind of busy being a mom right now. Now.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
When I was a I like made my Instagram account
and I saw Michelle Wee was the Michelle Wee, so
I was like, I'll.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Be the Okay, well, I'll be the boring a Mari
underscore aver.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
That's where you can find a Mari.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Y'all find me there.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Well, that is all that we have for you today.
Till next time.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Bam mm hmmmm hmmmm.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Welcome to the Party with Tasha Allen is an iHeart
Woman's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
I'm your host, Tasha Allen. Julia Weaver is our lead
producer and showrunner. Our executive producers are Christina Everett and
Jesse Katz. Special thanks to Jess McAllister and the teams
at GERSH and Catalyst nine. Listen to Welcome to the
Party with Tasha Allen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(39:52):
or wherever you get your podcasts.
These waters are for you guys to drink too. By
the way, if you wanted to just like snap it
just so that we can uh, we don't hear the crack.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
On them nothing, bro, that's so funny.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
It's actually my pet peeve. What Yeah, I know. I
don't love a SMR either, Like no, I like a
SMR videos. But when when especially makeup like Influenial, they
do like the no, no, we don't got to do that.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
I like the visual stuphomore like maybe like cut sand.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Yeah I could do like that. Also, like if your
nails are ratchet, I can't do the ASM. I'm like, yeah,
great though, I just got it done. Yeah, yeah, it's
giving engaged. Yeah it maes that.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I got age on top of you guys.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm just trying to hang with the gen zers, all right,
Christine Amari, welcome to the party. So I tell you
both here. Did you know that was the name of
the podcast?
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, good, I'm so glad you guys do that. So
for those of you who are listening tuning in, if
you don't know who Christine and Amri are, well, firstly,
you better get to know them because they are already
on the way to the big leagues. Okay, they are
former teammates at USC and if you don't know, USC
is one of the top golf programs in all the US,
so it's a big deal. You may have seen Christine
(01:24):
on social media killing it, documenting her a collegiate journey
to now her professional journey. You may have seen a
Mari on TV already having a start on the LPGA.
So both of you welcome. I'm so happy that I
have you two in one place. Heart rates are nice
and low. Right, we're all said, we're chill. You just
through LA traffic to be with me. I appreciate you guys.
(01:45):
So typically I actually begin my podcast with how I've
met my guests. However, we just met five minutes ago,
so that will not be the storyline. So I want
to actually dive into you both. And so it was
a fun rapid fire. Who's most likely too? Yeah, you're
gonna like my questions? So who is most likely to
be late to practice?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Christine?
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Really?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Is that why you relate today?
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Too soon? Shuts fire? Take okay, my bad? Okay. Next,
who is the better golf fits Amri?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
What?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Okay?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Who has the better music playlist.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
We have very different music tastes. There's some crossover.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, she's like super mega Taylor Swift. I do love
a Taylor Swift, and I'm more like.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Rap hip hop a.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Little bit. Yeah, but I dip into a little of
the R and B.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, I like that she's like.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
But I also like like Kendrick Lamar Brianna. You like
that too, I do it?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Okay, to each their own, all right, we like it,
so neither okay. Who was most likely to date another
athlete here, Okay, he's a golfer, We love it.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Who gives the best life advice Christine. Oh, she's got
like this grandma vibe about her.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Not the grandma vibe, okay. Most likely to correct someone's swing.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
I don't like to say things. Come on, I don't
like to say.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
I just think it's like not my place.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yeah yeah, as a chair, yeah to the men, okay.
Most likely to clap back at someone who corrects their swing, Amori,
yeah me, okay, yeah, all right, that's fair. Most likely
to go viral on TikTok Christine, you know. Most likely
to post a thirst trap. Wow, the silence was loud, guys,
(03:36):
I'm cuffed.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
Man thirst trap and be coughed with the boyfriend's approval.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yes, okay, okay, we like that answer. Most likely to
get kicked out of the club, Christine, that's funny. Okay.
Most likely to throw their golf club. I'mori, I get it.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I've broken a few.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
I've seen that happen.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Oh, we'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. Okay.
Most likely to give someone a fake number, Christine.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
Yeah, okay, most likely to lose their Phoneine, the last one.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Who is a better hype woman?
Speaker 5 (04:17):
Yeah, Christine, as besties should Okay.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
I thought that was pretty even. I didn't really know
what to expect, but I got to get to know
you guys, all right, So we have to start from
the very basics. I'm sure you guys get this question
all the time. But how old were you when you
began golfing? And how did you guys get into it?
And we can start with Christine.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
I started golfing when I was seven. My whole family
were all athletes, so my parents just wanted me play something.
And there was a golf course by our house. And
they're like, rich people play golf. Okay, we're real, Yeah, no,
I also just really liked it, Like I had a
really good coach when I first started, and yourself.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
I was three years old when I started playing go,
and my dad got me into it because he was
very heavily influenced by Tiger Woods and he thought it
was really cool that an African American golfer was also
mixed twas honestly changing the sport.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And he saw a little bit of talent with me.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
So he's like, figure start with me, and then he
got my little sister into it and ever since it's
been great.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I love that. So you basically had like you had
a partner to just sing with, like growing up. Yes,
we mentioned off camera that were kind of like a
generation apart, not to throw my age in there, because
I like to be a gen zer at heart. I'm
young at heart. But for you guys growing up being
a female golfer, how was it for you both? Like
did you have friends? Were there more girls? Were you alone?
(05:40):
Were you wearing boy clothes? Like? What was it like
for you guys? Amari?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I feel like I was very girly growing up.
Speaker 5 (05:46):
Actually, my dad used to like style me all the time,
Like you would braid my hair I would have like
three braids in my hair, so I always felt like
pretty girly and he like dressed me really cute.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
But honestly, there wasn't really a lot of girls golf.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
I feel like, I mean, it's definitely all which is great,
but definitely starting out, it was a lot more guys.
Like especially practicing on the course, it was definitely all boys.
And I just feel like I've always grown up around guys,
like playing with them and like learning from them. So
it's nice to see now that there's definitely more of
a push for women's golf.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
But it makes you better too, just training with the
guys at the same time, right, Yeah, it feels.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Great beating them too.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
We'll talk about that too, how about you, Christine?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Yeah, I would say, I like my parents try their
best to style me, maybe not as fashionably as mister
and the King. Yeah, I wore a lot of tennis
clothes growing up, playing with a lot of boys as well,
a lot of co ed tournaments when I was younger,
But it got better when I got to middle school.
In high school, we start playing like the A j
GA and stuff. Because like when I started meeting more
(06:42):
girls and being started getting more fun.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
And where was where were you raised? Where were you born?
Speaker 3 (06:49):
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
So Beyonce and you're too swift, Okay, that's wild, Okay, No,
but I do love that. I feel like, So I
grew up in so Cal, yell Cal, and I feel
like there's a lot more golf in Socol, So I
can't imagine. Yeah, in Houston, there must have been like
was there even any other girls to compete against growing up?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
There was a few. There was definitely a few, but
it was like you would see the boys division has
like I don't know, like one hundred people in it,
and the girls division had like ten.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Like it was a big, small feel. And so then
you both clearly started playing high level golf at a
very young age. I assume traveled a lot, and I
assume around like maybe thirteen fourteen, fifteen years old. That's
when the recruiting process started to happen. What was that
recruiting process like for the both of you?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So for me, nobody I knew played college golf, So
it was all like discovery for me, Like I had
no idea what I was doing, how to email coaches
and stuff. I had to like google all of it, wow,
which didn't yield very many answers. But I figured it out.
I got better at it the more I did it
and stuff, and I don't know, I just started playing better.
So coaches started noticing and they started emailing me back. Yeah,
(08:00):
I didn't really. I didn't commit to USC until I
was almost a senior in high school, which was very
late for then because back then there wasn't the new
rules that there are now where you have to wait.
I think, yeah, so back then, I was like, I think,
like the last person in the top like one hundred
that was still uncommitted, who wasn't turning pro immediately.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
And I got it for you, Mari.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Yeah, I feel like my recruiting process was very similar
to a lot of other girls. I was very fortunate
to have a lot of coaches watching me, had a
lot of teams watching me when I was like twelve thirteen,
so I was right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I feel like I had like half the pack twelve
watching me. So I'm like, oh my god, like this
is crazy, but I was so cool.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I was like so excited to see like USC out
there obviously, like Stanford, UCLA, like all these SOCl schools
and like this is awesome, like they're watching me. And
then I don't know, Actually I was planning on turning
professional when I was out of high school, and then
obviously the pandemic hit and it kind of changed everything
for me. It helped kind of helped me like reevaluate
my life and kind of look at it different ways
as the golf And I'm so happy because I'm like
(09:03):
I got to go to school and really like go
through the recruiting process because I wasn't planning on doing it,
Like I honestly wasn't responding to schools.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
I wasn't really paying attention to coaches. And then I
don't know.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Like I started talking to USC, I started talking to
a couple other schools, and I was like, well, I'm
gonna keep the list short because I'm not really sure
what I want to do. And then at the end,
I was like, I really like fell in love with
the program. I really love Justin And then I never
got to see the school like maybe some other recruits did,
just because I was during the pandemic and I had
to see it through FaceTime.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So oh that's so interesting.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, I had to see the face time.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
I had to look at the golf course that we
played at now Rolling Hills, like all like just all
through pictures and FaceTime, and so I kind of had
to make my judgment based off of the coaches and
how I felt about them.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And I think it was really cool to kind of just.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Go through that process.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
It was different than most but obviously very similar that
I got to talk to a lot of coaches.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, I guess I didn't even think of that, Like, yeah,
you had to commit essentially during the pandemic you the time,
which is not exactly ideal. I'm aria out here playing
hard to get, but I in school, I feel like
recruiting to me, it's like dating, right, talking of a coach,
they're into you. Then you see that their rosters fill
and I'm like, oh, I just got cheated on. What's up?
(10:10):
What's going on? So I think it's just like a
very much.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Verbal verbal commitment is like the engagement. Yeah, and then
when you sign, it's like when you.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Like, it's like signed delivery, no back and out. I
didn't get a ring for it, but it's fine that
we did, though. You guys did get a ring. If
you don't know what they're talking about they did win
their Pack twelve championship in twenty three and they were
teammates and they both they both killed it. We will
get there, so you both committed to USC. What essentially
led to that decision.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
I really felt like it came down to, honestly, like
growing up in Soca, I really wanted to stay close
to home. I really fell in love with the program,
love justin honestly, through my entire recruiting phase. He was
there every single tournament, like I can't say that really
about any other.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Coach, Like he was there at qualifiers.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
The smallest events like that, Like if I was a coach,
I probably wouldn't.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Go too and he was there.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
He was there, and he really made me feel like
I was going to belong on this team. And honestly,
he showed me during one of our facetimes in a PowerPoint.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
He showed me like.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
He showed me all.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
The players he had and how their rankings have gotten
considerably better over the time that they were at USC.
And the one that stood out to me was Gabby
Ruffles and at the time, like she was huge, like
she had just won the USM and seeing that her
ranking coming into school was very low, and then she
was number one or number two. I was like, yeah,
this is where I'm going. Like, if you can get
(11:34):
her that good, then he can get me that good.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
So I want to go there.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
I love that. I love that the golf program in
itself just like made you better because it's like, I
think it's a very unique dynamic that golf is an
individual sport. And then you were homeschooled too, so there's
a lot of changes. Right, So golf is an individuals
It's okay, you're good. Now you went through it, and
you now take this individual sport, you put it in
a team. You have your own coaches. You now have
(11:59):
different coaches taking girls from around the US and you
just put them in a pot and you just hope
it all mixes together. So that being said, how did
you guys get along with your teammates? But did you
guys even know each other before?
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (12:10):
You know what I was gonna say, a lot of
people don't know this, but I've been trying to convince
Amari to come to USC ever since I committed. So
I committed like somewhere between basically my junior and senior
year of high school, and then I was like a
Mari usc it is the way to go. I like,
I've been whispering in her ear. A lot of people
don't know this, but I didn't know Amari. We played
(12:32):
a lot of golf.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
We played a lot of golf.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
Yeah, yeah, she was and she was the reason, like
my dad will tell the story like till the end
of time. We played in an Aga, what do you
call it, like a match.
Speaker 3 (12:44):
Play match plays East versus West.
Speaker 5 (12:46):
Okay, that's called the Wyndham Cup. And she was my
partner for the day. And I was throwing a fit
because I hit my drive into a bunker.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
And I felt mad for her playing alternate shot so
she hit't in the bunker. I had to hit the shot.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah, So I was mad because I hit a bad shot.
And then I was also mad because I felt bad
for her.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
But I hit.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
And she just like she just gave me like words
of encouragement, told me like it's okay, Like I have
to hit the shot, it's not you. And so honestly,
ever since then, I was like, yeah, like she's a
really cool person and we got to play a lot
of golf.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Together, so that makes sense. And then how was it
for you? Guys meshing with the rest of the team
was the smooth sailing, because I could tell you some
of mine, Mine was not what I thought it was
gonna be. Can I just I'll just interject and say
that when I was committing to my university, I played
for Calsey Fullerton and my coach at the time was
Pearl sin and I asked her. I was like, so,
is there any drama on the team? And she was like, oh,
(13:35):
girls are a sweet heart. Let me tell you first
of all, my four years could have been a TV show.
That shit was crazy. Okay, the highs lows you know,
being a college athlete. So how was that dynamic for
you guys and the team?
Speaker 5 (13:50):
I mean, I'll say this, I think when it comes
to any girls golf team, whether it's high school, peewee
or college, like.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
There's always gonna be drama.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
I feel with girls like, no matter how close you are,
there's gonna be drama for sure. But I think I'm
just saying this for myself, but I think we're seeing
can say the same. I think we really had a
great group of girls that really liked each other. And
I can't say a lot for the past USC women's
golf team. But the scene that we were on, I
felt like we all really got along and we really
like respected each other and loved each other. So m
(14:21):
I think that kind of goes to show that, like
there's a lot of love there, and I think there's
no there's there's definitely gonna be clashing of heads at
some point for sure.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yeah. I mean if you put nine group girls together,
all from different places, all with very different personalities. Yeah,
I don't want to say forced to be together because
of golf, but like a little bit, a little bit right,
like otherwise if it wasn't for golf, some of us
might have never crossed paths. You know, we're so different,
things are gonna come up. But yeah, it was. It's weird.
When I first went to USC, it wasn't as close
(14:51):
as we were we left, But that was also because
I started during COVID, like I started in twenty twenty.
Oh that's true, So it got like we got closer
and closer every year, which I don't know mean, and
the other girls who are seniors with me was really
proud of because that's what we wanted.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
So then how was it when it came to qualifiers?
I'm sure. I'm sure it was competitive, Like, you guys
can all besties off the course, but when we're on
the course, So walk us through if you guys don't
mind breaking it down for the listeners, like what is
a qualifier? What does that even mean? And how did
it go for the both of you?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, so only five girls really usually travel to tournaments
and there's a team of nine, so you have to
go through a process of like playing many different rounds
to see who earns a spot on the travel team.
Sometimes there were spots that was exempt, like for example,
if you played well last week or if you've just
been playing well in general recently, But most of the
(15:43):
time there's qualifying for at least a few spots. Yeah,
qualifying is intense.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
I can't even imagine, Like, you guys are the top school, right,
so it's like every qualifier must feel like a mini
tournament of that. Ray, Yeah, I think that was.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
More stressed out for qualifiers. I get because us you're
at the tournament, You're already there. I made it, I've
already made it, right, But at the qualifiers when we're playing,
I would say that we had a really good way
of balancing, like when we were playing, we were very competitive,
Like we played our little hearts out, you know, on
the course at five point thirty in the morning, but.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Early wake up.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Yeah, you know, but on the way back, like a
Mari and I used to carpool together. I used to
carpool with other teammates as well, Like on the way back,
like let's say we had a bad hole, we would
still like talk about it, talk about how we could
improve on that, what we did wrong. Like, yeah, it
went back to being friends, right, right, Like it was
a yeah for us at least like on our team.
Speaker 5 (16:38):
Yeah, I mean sure, there's definitely like no animosity afterwards.
I mean there might be a little bit like obviously
you're competing, Like like you said, this is an individual sport,
Like it's not natural for us to be on a team, right,
but when you're competing for a spot, obviously everything goes
out the window.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
When you're on the course, you're not really friends anymore.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
But I mean, I mean you still have a couple
of laughs on the course, laugh at each other's scores,
and then an hour goes by and we're friends again.
But I mean, I definitely think qualifying is it's supposed
to be intense. There's no gimmis. I mean, oh yeah,
And I definitely, I definitely think you can feel like
that if you're you know, one of the top players
on the team, like I was fortunate enough to go
to pretty much every event, but I still had to qualify.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
I still had to give it my all.
Speaker 5 (17:16):
And even when I was exempt, like there was no like, oh,
you're just kind of playing now, like no, Like I
was still trying to I was still trying, like I
wanted to beat everybody, even if I already had a spot.
So I think it's meant to be like, that's meant
to be intense because you want to bring the best
of the best to the to the tournament.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
So I assumed that you both were on scholarship at USC.
I was at first okay, and then I was not.
And I mean, I think it's a really interesting conversation
because I think one of the common things that people
say is that, oh, women's golf is the easiest sport
to get a scholarship, And I think, honestly, I don't
think absolutely not, you know, and so and so for yourself,
(18:15):
I assume you were on Yeah, I was a full yeah, yeah,
and so fun. Fact, for those that are listening in
for D one Women's College Golf, you are granted six
full ride scholarships. It covers everything from tuition, your life,
and then the other scholarships. You can split it up.
You can get a fifty percent scholarship twenty percent. Did
you ever use academic to also like combat? Yeah, so I.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Had a fool my first year, and then I had
partial base like split between academic and golf the rest
of the years.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
So how was it for you balancing school and golf?
Speaker 3 (18:49):
For me, I actually didn't know I wanted to play
professional golf until my junior year basically, So before that,
I was all for the books, all for the school.
I've always liked school. I like, I don't know, I
took way too many classes to.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Say, I don't know how you did that.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah, like I got I mean, I got my master's
degree and my undergrad in like four years just for
like I don't know what I w I mean, like
I have, I'm not using it. At first. It was
way more school heavy, right, Like I didn't really not
that I can't say I didn't care because ones qualifying
and came to you know, like I was you know, playing,
but I definitely put more emphasis on school until one
(19:28):
day I was like, you know what, I kind of
want to play, like, you know, after school, Like I think,
like I imagine myself not playing golf every day, and
that was a really scary thought. And when that flipped,
it became more of like golf was the main focus.
So balance was always I mean, being a student athlete,
balance is key anyways, Like.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
It's hard, but it is key. Yeah. And then for yourself, Amari,
how was school and this is a sage space it
is okay?
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Ami Amori started off you know where she started off
right mean, and she just thought better and better every
single year.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, but that was.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Priority.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Oh yeah, Like.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
I always say this, but like coming into school, like
I said, I wanted to turn pro.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
I wanted the whole thing. So I didn't.
Speaker 5 (20:22):
Really like care about school. Like I was like, I'm
not coming here for school. I'm getting a full ride
scholarship to pay off in to do it at the
very best level that I can.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
And after that first semester, let me.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Tell you, let me tell you, Okay.
Speaker 5 (20:37):
All right, So I won three times in my first
like I love that slay. The grades were not slaying.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Let's just say that.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I was.
Speaker 5 (20:49):
Let's just say I was on academic probation after the
first semester, so I had like a weekly bi weekly
check in with an advisor and like a tutor. Yes,
and I had multiple tutors and that next fall because
I came in the spring that next fall, I don't
think I've seen that many books. I've never typed that
many words ever in my life. But like they they
(21:12):
had me on a very.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Tight leash like at USC. But you know, like that's
to be expected.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
I mean they you're not being invited to the school,
You're not being paid to go to the school to
just play off like you're you're a student athlete and
the student comes first. That was ingrained into my head
from that fall on.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
So did that attribute to you turning pro a lot sooner?
Just like I don't want to be I don't want
to do school anymore. I think I'm ready for to
turn professional. Was that part of it? Well?
Speaker 5 (21:37):
You know, the thing is I actually really came to
like school, Like I actually liked going to class, I
like doing like I like doing my homework. I would
actually tell my teammates, like the stuff that I was learning,
like I actually really liked it, and but it really
did come to a point where I'm like, you know what,
like I feel like I did everything that I need
to do here justin really helped me, you know, become
the player that I am. And I don't know how
much further he can take me or the program can
(21:58):
take me, and I think it's time for me to
kind of play the pro life.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So yeah, yeah, I love that for you. Okay, Well
before we even jump into the professional golf stuff to
where you guys are now, I would love to hear
your guys thoughts on the NIL because that became a
thing when you guys were in college. That's not something
that I had, and I always wonder like is it
a good thing? I mean, in hindsight, I think it's
a good thing, but I think it also adds a
lot of pressure too. So how was dealing with the
(22:22):
NIL for you both? Did it affect you? Did you
get deals? Christine?
Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, I think NIL is a good thing because I'm
not what do you mean by pressure?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
So I think what's really unique and like there's a
lot more new studies kind of coming out on the NIL,
especially for women's athletes and now puts additional pressure to
now be a persona, to now essentially be famous outside
of your sport. That sometimes I think that newer athletes
are focusing more on that as opposed to just your ability, right,
(22:53):
like okay, now you want to be an influencer versus
your you know, being a professional athlete, Like what are
you here for? You know? So I think it's an
overall positive, but I think for some it can also
add this just like you know, out of pressure, you know, I.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
See what you mean. I I feel like in AL
is a good thing overall. I think I think that
it really I mean, if you don't turn professional, even
if you like just play college and then you graduate
and you do whatever great job you do, like you
still need to learn how to sell yourself and like
show who you are and like, you know, show that,
Like being in student athlete is very like this awesome thing.
(23:27):
And I feel like an AL has been a really
good thing for showing people who don't really understand college
sports how it really works, what work we have to
put in to keep up with everything else in our
lives and such. And I also feel like a lot
of people opted out of vinile, like not like it
isn't like a.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Oh I opt out.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
It's just like they just choose not to put themselves
out there as much on social media. Right, I personally did.
I thought it was the most fun thing ever. I mean,
I've always been someone who liked posting videos. Shogs, like
even before in Aisle was a thing which happened when
I was a sophomore.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
Yeah, I got deals. Yeah I got paid. I didn't
get paid.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
I thought everyone told me it was impossible. Everyone told
me was impossible because I was a golfer and only
football players and basketball players are able to get anything.
Maybe if you're like a golfer, but a boy. Right,
there's a lot more male brands, right, And I was
just I didn't really believe that, and then obviously I
was right.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yeah, So yeah, I got.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Paid, and I feel like it's been it's been a
really good thing for me. It really helped me in
my transition to turning pro as well. Right, So, right,
and then how about for you a Mari, what was
that like? Now you're balancing school, you're balancing trying to
be you know, the best player on the team, and
now you're dealing with contracts all of a sudden, were
you dealing with that?
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Like yourself, you're a business girlly, now how it deals? I,
Like she said, I think NIL is overall very positive thing.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
I think that student athletes put in a lot of
work and they really should be paid for that work.
I mean, it's it's a hard it's a job to
be a student athlete. You're not just doing your sport,
You're also having to maintain your grades, which is something
that obviously.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
I learned down the road.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
But yeah, I was very fortunate to have a few
ANIL deals that were pretty significant, and like Christine said,
like it didn't feel like a very welcoming space at first,
Like it really felt like, yeah, you have to play
football or you have to play basketball, and on top
of that, you have to be the star. But I,
like I said, I was very fortunate. I got to
(25:30):
partner with my favorite brand in the world, Nike, and
I love it, so I'm very excited. And yeah, that
led to more and more deals and it was really cool.
Like I felt like kind of like this crazy like
girl an IL girl on campus that like played golf,
but like she has an IL.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
It felt weird, but it's it's.
Speaker 5 (25:46):
Really cool, and I think that student athletes should get
those kinds of deals because it's awesome and honestly, it's
awesome to be a student athlete.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, So let's talk about professional golf.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
How has the journey been so far for the both
of you? I think you guys have played in quite
a few events already, and you both just from professional
last year. You have you have status on EPSOM. Christine,
how has.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
It been very different than what I expected?
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Really?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
That is for sure, it's a lot of golf. I
know that sounds silly, but before, like when we played
as a junior or in college, we would go to
a tournament one practice round, two or three days because
we played thirty six holes the first day, right, so
two or three day tournament and then we go back
to school and we're back to being a student, right right.
(26:52):
But now we get to the golf course on like Monday,
and then we're there, yeah, and it's Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and then like I'm still like it's still this tournament.
I'm still hitting the same course, Like yeah, so yeah,
it's a lot of golf. We only got to play
a few events this summer. In February is when our
first full season will start, so that'll be really interesting.
(27:14):
But I'm really glad we played this like like half
season sort of in the summer, just to get a
good feel for it, because wow, it's a it's very
different in college, Like we had our coaches get the
hotel for us, food, you know, travel, everything was already
taken care of, even what we wore, what time to
get to the airport, right, everything was taken care of.
Now I have to do it by myself. I had
(27:36):
book it myself for myself. Yeah, so yeah, it's it was.
It's very very different.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Mm.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Was there much of a learning curve you'd say, I'm.
Speaker 5 (27:47):
Percent like I think, you know, leading up to leaving
school and turning professional, I was kind of like thinking
in my head like, Okay, how's this going to be.
Already know it's going to be hard, but then you
get out there and you're like, oh.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
My gosh, this is not what I was thinking.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Like, I knew it was gonna be difficult with you know,
traveling and you know, making all of your arrangements, and
then on top of that playing really good golf and
it's like, Okay, let's reevaluate here.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
The golf is almost like the easier part because golf
is still golf. Sure, good golf is still good golf.
A birdie is still a birdie. But now everything around
golf and traveling is what got really.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Rough, right, fell up to you. It's a very individual
sport and in this case, right, So yeah, I was
able to chat with angel Yan on our first episode
and we had a ball, but she also showed me
like the real size of professional golf, right, and how
much you are independent, you are paying for it yourself.
So I'd love to hear from both of you. How
are you both supporting yourselves in your professional journey?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Well, for me, I have I am very fortunate from like
my social media and stuff. I've got a few sponsors.
I like Feathery, they are like my clothing sponsors. They
have been very supportive of me. I have a few
like just family they're very supportive as well. That's yeah,
It's it's tough. Like I feel like there's so many
(29:06):
really great golfers out there, but not everyone can play
professional golf for one reason or another. So I'm very
lucky to, you know, have the chance.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
To and for yourself, Amori.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, I would say the same. It's definitely family and sponsors.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
Yeah, I like I said, I'm very fortunate to be
with a brand like Nike. They're they're a big supporter
of mine, and also with Lexus and Taylor made like
they they're the reason why I'm playing golf. I'm playing
professional golf, So love them. I think they're they're great supporters.
And of course my family, like they're always going to
be there for me, whether whether it's financially or just
you know, being emotionally there. So yeah, and you know,
(29:40):
it's not all sunshines and rabels like everyone makes it
out to be. But at the end of the day,
it's it's really something that I want to do and
I want to be a part of. So no matter
how grueling it can be, sometimes I really am having
the time of life good.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
I was just gonna check out, like, are you guys
are having fun?
Speaker 3 (29:54):
Right?
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Having good time? Are we balancing our personal lives?
Speaker 5 (29:57):
Are?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (29:58):
I think it's like I see a lot of I mean,
I graduated with like everyone in my class, right, so
all my friends, the ones who are working like a
nine to five or like nine to n I like,
but it's like, it's like, golf is still a job
at the end of the day, but I cannot pick
a better job, living a life.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Like your office. This is my So have either of
you had any pinch me moment moments since turning professional?
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I played a Monday qualifier for LPG event and right
behind me was Nelly Korda. When I like saw her
tea off and then I like I ted off and
then she teed off like right behind me. I was like, what,
it's so weird, like usually on a little screen.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Yeah, yeah, and then have that for you.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
Mark.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
I honestly, I haven't really had any pinch me moments.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I wouldn't say I I definitely at the end of
the year, once the season was wrapped, I was like,
oh my god, like I'm really a pronoun because like
I mean, I I mean we basically went from Nationals
in May and then went straight into the first event
three like like three weeks or later.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
Yeah, like we were already at our first steps in
an event, and I was like, okay, so not in
college anymore.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
My dad's with me actually for the.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
First time in months. Yeah, on the course, and he's
catting for me again like old times. So yeah, it
definitely didn't hit me until after where I was like, okay,
like this is this is.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
The new life now.
Speaker 5 (31:15):
But honestly I love it. I I can't wait for
my first pinch mean moment.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Oh yeah, when I got my first check, I was
gonna say.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I wouldn't want to assume when you guys got your
first check that would.
Speaker 3 (31:26):
Have to be a pinching moment when I like, when
I saw that I made my first caught, Yeah, it
was the most exciting thing ever. Yeah, because then I
saw my bank cowgo.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
And I was like, yes, we love to see that. Okay,
So shifting gears here. You know, as I mentioned earlier
and we talked about, well, like women's golf has grown
a ton. There's been a huge movement, especially since the pandemic.
So seeing from where a golf was when you guys
were first starting out to where it is now. On
a scale of one to ten, how would you say
woman's golf is doing in terms of being welcoming welcoming?
Speaker 3 (31:56):
I would say a nine.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
That's really good.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
I feel like everyone's like, if you're a girl who's
like golf, I'm sure you can attest to this, Like,
I am happy to like encourage anyone, any girl to
play golf. I think everyone should play golf.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
I like that rating. Yeah, I think it's very generous.
Speaker 3 (32:13):
I think that, Yeah, do you disagree.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
I don't disagree, but I wouldn't give it a nine.
I'd probably give you like seven and a half or yeah, okay,
I think that's fair.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
I think that people are like a nine.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
Yeah. I mean there's there's always room for improvement. I
mean it's gonna take a long time.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Yeah, it's not gonna be like exactly the men's tea. Yeah,
like yeah, league anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Yeah, I mean the hope is to obviously get there.
I will say that. I mean I would agree, I
would probably give like a seven. Yeah, in my opinion,
just because not that long ago. No, as you should
the world, right, so not that long ago. Oddly enough,
I had a Marshall come up to me and tell
me that you need to go tee it up on
the children's teeth. Like we're not even talking about the
(32:56):
forward red teas. I'm talking about the yellow that the
one that's like in the fairway. And I thought, I'm like,
if you're looking at my outfit and my I was
gonna say, they just like, look at your outfit. I'm like,
you didn't think that I look like I knew what
I was doing. I was like, bro, that's crazy. Luckily
I stuck it and he then clapped for me, and
I was very upset with him. I then reported him
and I posted about it and I made a scene.
But yeah, as you should.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
You have to.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
You have to because otherwise they think it's okay. And
it's not just Marshals, it's like other players. Like some
I'll go to like a public course and I am
paired up with some random three guys and they're like,
I this happened like over the summer when I was
here in LA. They were like, Oh, I don't like
really want to play with that girl, Like can we
just go three of us alone for like right now.
(33:40):
I was like, Hey, like, I don't really want to
play with you either, but yeah, I think you just
assumed that I didn't play.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
I think I think one of the best feelings is
just like showing them off, like a mic drop moment
I would imagine with how far you hit it? And
I like, bitch, all right, Yeah, I won't say anything anymore. So,
so what do you think is something that can make
it less intimidating for women if you can give like
quick advice for any woman who are just wanting to
get into it. I don't know.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
I don't really feel like it's super intimidating for the
you know, women's golf space. I think it definitely does welcome,
you know, little girls and boys to play.
Speaker 3 (34:16):
But what's tough is getting little girls to stick with it, yes, right,
because like getting them into it, like introducing them. I
think there's so many programs like girls Golf First Teas
that's there, but getting them to stay with it is
tough for me. I remember it was even tough I
wanted to play soccer when I was growing up because
like none of my friends played golf, right, so, like
(34:37):
there's no other girls. I feel like if you can
keep those programs continuing when you get older.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Yeah, And I think I think you kind of have
to make the sport a little bit more interesting, like
something fun to watch. I think a lot of times
when you think of golf, you think of the PGA Tour.
Like no one, I'm sorry, like no one's thinking of
big Girl. I mean, we all want to be there,
we all want to get to the LPGA Tour, but
sure none's thinking of that when you first look at
a golfer, like watch TV. So I think you have
(35:05):
to make it more interesting for girls, for girls to watch,
because I like, like you said, you can always introduce
people to the sport. You can always introduce the young
girls to the sport, but it's them sticking with it,
finding it interesting, wanting to be the first to do this,
or the first to win three majors in a row
or whatever, like you know, like you want to make
it interesting and not just like.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
A oh, it's just golf, right, Oh, which is boring.
Speaker 5 (35:25):
Because I've heard so I've heard so many different people
say that, like girls, guys, anybody between, Like everyone says
that like about golf and how it's boring, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Like, well, it's really not.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
It's not boring.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Yeah, Like you know, you have to showcase certain people
and that where that's where it kind of all comes
to social media and personalities, like exactly, you know, if
you're not making a big star out of some of
these players, then what.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Are we doing?
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Golf needs more characters. Yeah, that's like women's women's golf
needs more characters, and I just I mean, I'm sure
I think you and Angel talked about that too or
a lot. Yeah, every day. I mean like that's I'm mean,
that's a whole thing with like my social media. I
always want to make it seem make go off seem
fun for little girls like that. If that, if there's
a goal, if there was any strategy in what I pose,
(36:08):
like that would be what it would be, right, Like,
I want to make golf seem cool.
Speaker 1 (36:12):
Yeah, because it is cool. So I'm really looking forward to,
especially you two, being a part of that journey, changing
the game, Amari posting more and showing her personality like
she is right here, got to day, it's going up today.
There you go, She's got something happen and be sure
to tune in. That's right. So okay, before we end
the podcast, I do want to end on a much
more lighter fun note. So let's talk about it. Golf
(36:34):
ex What do you got for me? Slow play?
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Yes, absolutely, yeah. Dirty towels really like overally dirty towels,
like something that like, come on, that's that's dirty your club,
it's not cleany. I don't know why that bothers me.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
What about white pants on guys?
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Okay, I don't mind it.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
I don't Yeah, they got to be fit. Yeah, they
make that much. I'm not trying to try my bad Okay, okay,
what about club twirling? Love it?
Speaker 2 (37:06):
Okay if you if you can do it, you can
do it.
Speaker 3 (37:09):
If you do what I do.
Speaker 5 (37:11):
We're like wiggles and like, yeah, we cannot end this
podcast without talking about her.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Terrible. You can't club tool, Christine? What do you mean?
It's so sad. It's just like a pinch of the finger.
You know, maybe it's going the wrong way.
Speaker 3 (37:26):
I know, I like, I do, I go like this.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
I like you support it with the you know, the
bottom hand.
Speaker 3 (37:34):
You can show me later.
Speaker 5 (37:35):
Okay, you know it's not terrible, but it does need
some improvement.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Okay, what about I mean it's a golfic for me
when people say it's a good shot before the ball lands.
Oh really Yeah. If it's not good and they say
good shot, I'm like, bro, you try to mess with me.
That's like I don't like that or like the person.
And maybe this is too specific, but like like let's
say you're putting on the green right and I can
feel the person moved before my stroke is done. I
(38:01):
don't know. It's a very particular thing, like there are
people who are like already ready to go, and I'm like,
unless you're completely like at the back of my head,
don't move, I'm not. I don't want to see your
shadow like I would.
Speaker 5 (38:11):
I wonder if that's a women's golf thing, because I
just I just came from watching a men's tournament and
I'm like, all the guys, there's three guys in this group,
and all three of them are in like a ten
feet like ten foot radius of each other. There's like
one on the other side of the cup and then
one in front of the guy. And I'm like, do
you guys not like see this this guy right here?
Speaker 2 (38:29):
But women's golf.
Speaker 5 (38:30):
I'm like, if if anyone's a blade of grass, yeah,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Well, yeah, both of you. Thank you so much for
joining the party. That was a lot of fun. Where
can everyone find you and follow you?
Speaker 5 (38:46):
All?
Speaker 3 (38:47):
My social media's are at the Christine Wang a copy
for Michelle when I was.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
Like, I'll tell Michelle that.
Speaker 5 (38:56):
She's big time Michelle the party, yes, or we're gonna
try and get her on.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
But she's kind of busy being a mom right now. Now.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
When I was a I like made my Instagram account
and I saw Michelle Wee was the Michelle Wee, so
I was like, I'll.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Be the Okay, well, I'll be the boring a Mari
underscore aver.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
That's where you can find a Mari.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Y'all find me there.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Amazing.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
Well, that is all that we have for you today.
Till next time.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Bam mm hmmmm hmmmm.
Speaker 1 (39:31):
Welcome to the Party with Tasha Allen is an iHeart
Woman's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
I'm your host, Tasha Allen. Julia Weaver is our lead
producer and showrunner. Our executive producers are Christina Everett and
Jesse Katz. Special thanks to Jess McAllister and the teams
at GERSH and Catalyst nine. Listen to Welcome to the
Party with Tasha Allen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(39:52):
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Tisha Alyn
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