00:00So I've been told some stories about your, I guess, first impressions when you got to Auburn and really just
00:07like how you ended up on the team.
00:09You said you move to Prattville. You're quickly on the team by February in Auburn.
00:13So how did you end up on a team like Auburn this quickly? What happened?
00:18Was there just a tryout of sorts or was Kleiner already like was already on the radar?
00:23Did you go play with the team? What happened here?
00:25Yeah. So I guess, so I moved in, moved to America.
00:30It would have been November of my junior year of high school, the way it works.
00:34I was actually already done high school in Australia, but I came over and that means I guess I had
00:38like five months of my junior year left and then my whole senior year of high school.
00:44And I came in, I didn't like, I played basketball, like, and then I was going to play a couple
00:50like qualifiers.
00:52I made it through like the Thursday for the Honda Classic at the time or something.
00:56Oh, wow. Okay.
00:57And then like, didn't get through the Monday.
00:59And I, I didn't really have a clue of what college golf was like in Australia.
01:03It's not pushed very hard. Like I didn't know anything.
01:06It's like, I'm just going to go try and play golf.
01:08And then I played nine holes with just a guy at the RTJ.
01:15I played well, but I didn't think anything of it.
01:18What did, like how well, like, are we thinking like you shot 65?
01:21Like I played, it was just nine holes.
01:23I think I shot like four, I shot like four under for nine holes, five under for nine holes, which
01:26is like, I think it's good, but it's like, it's nine holes.
01:29Like, sure.
01:30Whatever.
01:30And I, he was a, he's a teacher at a local high school and he ended up being at a
01:36conference that Kleiner, Coach Kleiner was speaking at.
01:41What are the odds of this, man?
01:42Like introduced himself to Kleiner, then sent him an email.
01:46Um, like he said, he actually sent it to Coach Kleiner and a couple other coaches at Auburn University.
01:52So I just like went on Instagram as teenagers do.
01:56I was like, Auburn men's golf.
01:57I was like, oh, 30,000 followers.
01:59That's kind of cool.
02:00They got to be pretty good, right?
02:02And then I saw like SEC and I was like, okay, I know that's good.
02:05I was like, okay.
02:06Yeah.
02:07Then we went out for an unofficial visit, me and my family.
02:10And then I ended up playing at the RTJ in Auburn that afternoon because we were just going to go
02:15play it because we were able to like, if you're a member at one RTJ, you're old.
02:19Right.
02:19So me and my siblings were just going to go play.
02:22The trail card.
02:23And then I ended up, exactly.
02:25And then I played with the team that day.
02:29I played with a couple guys.
02:31They were actually already going out there for qualifying.
02:33So I ended up playing with a couple of guys.
02:34And then I shot 64.
02:37Stop.
02:38And the coaches were watching.
02:41Were you nervous at all?
02:43You were like, all right.
02:44It's kind of whatever.
02:46Honestly, I didn't know enough.
02:48Like if I knew more, 100%, I would have been terrified.
02:51But like, I just didn't know enough for them to be like, I don't know, I wasn't scared or anything.
02:59And then I think they just like, I said bye to the coaches and everything.
03:04And then they got me back for like an official visit, I guess.
03:08I bet they did.
03:09I'm sure they're like, we're going to bring this guy in who just shot 64 and dusted the entire team
03:15in qualifying.
03:16I should take one of the guys beat me.
03:18I'm not going to lie.
03:19I think someone shot 63, I think.
03:22But yeah, and then I got an offer like, I guess, a week and a half, two weeks after that
03:27in coach's office.
03:28And I remember my dad was to my right, my mom was to my left.
03:32I kind of like looked both ways.
03:33I was like, yeah, I'll commit.
03:36What else do I have to lose?
03:38I mean, this is all I know at this point.
03:40Exactly.
03:41And I wasn't really planning on going to college for like education either.
03:45Like, that just wasn't really something I had thought of yet.
03:48And I mean, obviously, it's an incredible way to get an education as well on top of being able to
03:53play golf.
03:55And like, it's an hour from my home.
03:57Like, literally everything about it was perfect.
03:59And the more and more like I'm here and I'm able to realize like how blessed I am every day,
04:06it's like, yeah, that kind of instinct.
