Brian Smock is the Head Pro at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course here in Coronado. He will head to North Carolina August 10th through the 13th to play at the PGA Championship, hosted at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. I had a chance to sit down and talk with Brian about his life, his love of golf, accomplishments, and what’s up next for him.
He comes from a generational Coronado family. His dad graduated from Coronado High School in 1965 and he graduated in 1991. His uncle played on the PGA tour, so Brian was able to go out and watch his uncle compete in tournaments around the area. While he played multiple sports, he really started playing golf around the age of twelve. He would go over to the Coronado Municipal Course to play golf and take lessons (much like the kids he is teaching today). During his last couple years at CHS he began to focus only on golf. I asked him what was his draw to golf and he replied, “I liked that it wasn’t a team sport, you could make your own time, it is all on you, and you didn’t have to rely on others to play catch.” Brian earned a scholarship to play golf at the University of Texas, El Paso, where he attended for two years, then went on to finish at Fresno State. He played golf throughout his college career, and he realized then that he wanted to pursue a career in golf.
Brian played golf for 19 more years. For seven years he played in what he called the “minor leagues” of golf, and the the last 12 years he played in the Web.com tour, which is the league just below the PGA tour. He was ranked in the top 250 golfers in the world, and also ranked one of the top 100 golfers in the United States, which he names as two of his greatest accomplishments in golf. He stopped playing professional golf five years ago. He was away a lot, and wanted to be home for his family; and sought to move on to a different aspect of the sport that he loves and had dedicated his life to.
He was then able to redirect his passion to more of the teaching and managing side of golf. He went back to school to become a teaching pro. In talking to him, the job is quite a bit more than walking out to the driving range or putting green to teach the basics, and more than hanging out in the pro shop and “folding sweaters,” he stated. In the years that followed his decision to become a teaching pro, he had to learn about how to teach golf, golf course management, how to run a tournament, food and beverage management, accounting, policy and procedures, and such. In September of 2016, it was agreed upon by the City of Coronado that Brian would become their new Head Pro at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course. He has been very involved in the Junior Golf Program since taking over. He teaches a wide range of golfers from junior golfers to adults learning the game, to men or women that want to start up the game since retiring. I asked him if he still learns anything about himself or his own personal game since becoming a teaching pro. “It really has upped my game, I don’t practice everyday or play as much as I did when I was playing for a living. The ways that you have to explain things and make sure that it resonates with people is important. Sometimes I have to say the same thing or show the same things five different ways, because not everyone learns the same way. That is the tougher side of it, that is the challenge. It really is a challenge, you feel good after a great day of teaching. People are getting better, and people are progressing….. I don’t feel like I work here, because I love what I do here everyday.”
Getting back to his next adventure…the PGA Championship. To qualify to go to the tournament you must be a class A PGA Professional. Brian began working on his apprenticeship three years ago (this is basically a business degree in golf). There are three levels involved and each level takes about a year. You get a broad overview of the golf business. So really the teaching side is a small part of that. After you become a class A PGA Professional, you are then eligible to compete in the PGA Professionals Championship, this past month it was held in Bend, Oregon. The tournament is played like many other tournaments, it starts Thursday and ends Sunday. You need to finish in the top 20 to move on; Brian finished ninth. He talked about how that tournament went: “I kind of had a sluggish start at the beginning, but had an incredible second round, I shot 64. Then the last couple of days I didn’t play my best but the course was playing tough. It was pretty pressure-packed with the top 20 looming over you. On Sunday I was feeling fine. I was in the third group, and in sixth place. I ended up having a good day. Golf has been secondary for me lately as I have been so busy getting things going at the golf course, so I was very happy with my placement at that tournament.” He has been busy with the new business plan, the pro shop remodel, dealing with start up costs, basically starting a new business. With all of that going on he placed high enough to compete in the PGA Championship, which is quite impressive. When asked about how he feels about the PGA Championship he said he is planning to get to North Carolina, have a couple of practice rounds, then relax before Thursday. He really wants to not overdo it, it will be more of the mental side of the game for him to get prepared for this. His brother is going to be his caddy for the tournament, and his family will be there close by for some fun and support. “I expect to play well. I am going up against THE best players in the field. As a club pro where your focus is the people who golf here, running the business, and then the next week you are playing against the top 50 players in the world….it’s going to be a little different. I am looking to play well, I don’t expect to win, but I do feel like I will have a good showing.”
An interesting fact about Brian is that his legacy remains at Coronado High School to date. When he was a student there, he had a goal to win the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) Championship. He said that he was the last person from Coronado to win that championship, and that was 26 years ago. He states, “That was so fulfilling to win that. It was at the end of my senior year. So just before graduation I won it, that was super cool.” In talking about all of his achievements in his career, he has worked so hard and is very proud of his accomplishments with regards to international standings, his domestic standings, and all that he has done to get the golf course up and running. All of these years playing and he can still say he did it, and still does play golf, because he truly loves the game. He never played for the money or the standings, he played because he wanted to do it. He has become such a wonderful role model for his children. By him pursuing his life long dream of having a career in golf and as a golf pro, he is teaching his children to follow their hearts, and that is pretty special. He continued to talk about the next big things that he wants to fulfill, which are the championship, continuing to refine the golf course and management thereof, making sure that the players that play there now and in the future know they are appreciated, keeping up with the latest trends, and continuing to build on what they have there.
With Brian being so involved in junior sports, I had asked him what advice would he give to someone who wanted to take up the sport. In talking with him I learned that his nine year old, after watching his dad play, has taken to the sport. He also has a six year old daughter that is showing interest in the sport. What was neat was that he knows that this is his career and what he loves, but stated that it was important not to push your kids into a sport if they are not into it. “When your children start to show interest in something that you are passionate about, it is pretty special to watch.” As far as the advice, he said, “You need to give yourself time and that doesn’t happen overnight. That is a tough concept to get when you are 14, 15, or 16, but as you get older that concept gets a little easier to understand. It is a long haul, and golf is a process. You have to work hard and have patience…..The game teaches you a lot. When I was 12 and I first took it up I was a pretty rambunctious, punk kid and the game teaches you that you have to have some decorum. You are down here around adults so you have to mind your manners, and use etiquette. It really is a good game for kids to learn.” He continued to state that with golf there is personal accountability, a sense of pride in individual accomplishments, learning etiquette, and knowing and obeying the rules. What I loved the most is that he said that you play a round of golf in about four hours, and that is such a neat time getting to talk to the people you are playing with and getting to know them. With kids it is important that they can have conversations face to face with any opponent whether it be another gender or a person that is younger or older than they are. It is a great skill to have once you get out in the work force. Golf is a life skill that will help you learn to develop relationships, and help with decision making that could be beneficial in the future. He loves that golf is not an exclusionary sport. “The City of Coronado and San Diego Port Authority have done a a great job at keeping the prices reasonable so that anyone can come out here and play. When I was a junior golfer it was about $25.00 a month to play, and now it is about $40.00.”
Thank you Brian for all that you have done to make positive changes to the golf course, and the junior golfer program. We wish you the best of luck at the PGA Championships (click here for tee times, television schedule and live stream links) and future accomplishments at the golf course.
UPDATE August 9, 2017:
Talented Flock Gathers at Quail Hollow
Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America
