“Scott Stallings is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He quit all sports at the age of 12 except golf after going to the 1997 Masters and watching Tiger Woods dominate the field. In his 2022 season, he advanced to the TOUR Championship for the first time in his 12th season, finishing No. 29. He is involved in the Wounded Warrior project, and his biggest thrill in golf was teaching the sport to wounded veterans in the Army.”
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Brett Gilliland
Welcome to the Circuit of Success. I’m your host, Brett Gilland, and today I, you know, I’m pretty fired up when I’m on these things, but today as the golfer that I’m, I get to interview PGA guy Scott Stallings. What’s up, uh, PGA Guy? What’s up, Scott? How are you?
Scott Stallings
Good, man. How are you? Thank you for having me.
Brett Gilliland
Oh, thanks for being here. It’s, uh, it’s been, uh, it’s been a great year for Scott Stallings, hasn’t it? It’s been a pretty good year.
Scott Stallings
Yeah. And I would, to your listeners, uh, they need to understand your persistence and patience, uh, with my schedule and, uh.. You know, I, I was not trying to be elusive by any means, but my schedule is definitely, uh, very unique in my, I try to put all these things in, you know, one kind of timeframe.
So appreciate you bearing with me and..
Brett Gilliland
Absolutely.
Scott Stallings
To anyone, to anyone that listens. Like he’s definitely putting in the effort to try to get people on here. So, and I can definitely app-, I can definitely appreciate that.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah, absolutely. I, I call it pleasantly persistent. I’ve done that for 21 years, you know, building a business and, uh, spending two decades of, uh, you know, early on, especially man, when you’re calling people, you gotta stay pleasantly persistent in life, don’t you?
I think that American flag behind you says effort and attitude. So you don’t have the right attitude. You don’t put in the effort. And whether you’re on the PGA tour, you’re in wealth management, you’re making bourbon, whatever it is, uh, which we’ll talk about, you gotta put in the effort. I appreciate it, man. I appreciate you staying with us, but if you could just, you know, for our listeners, give us a little lay of the land, what, what Scott Stallings is about. What’s made you the man you are today?
Scott Stallings
Well, a lot of things have made me who I am today. Uh, probably, uh, my wife, my kids. Um, I’ve wifed Jennifer, we just celebrated our 15th year wedding. Yeah, that’s right, 15th uh, anniversary. Um, I have a, uh, six-year-old daughter, Millie and a nine year old son, Finn. Um, so, you know, as a, as a husband and a father kind of gives perspective on, you know, kind of keeping you grounded and, um, I, I have one of the best stories I have from, I mean, I just finished, I play on the P G A tour.
I know you’re just mentioned that, but I just had the best season of my career and one of my favorite stories of the, of the season is I played at the tour championship and my son came and he decided he was gonna watch every day, which is super weird for him. He’s like a nine hole kid, and like, I’m gonna go have some snacks. I’m outta here. Like, and so for whatever reason, he watched and I shot, I shot three over one day. I shot 73. And it was like real sketchy. Like it sh-, it could have easily been 80, but I mean, it was just kind of everywhere.
Brett Gilliland
One of those days.
Scott Stallings
And, and we had one of these pictures, we had a buddy of ours that does some social media and pictures for us. I like Finn, comes and gives me a hug, and it looks like this super, super sweet moment between a father and a son. And he said, you played so bad today.
Brett Gilliland
. . That’s awesome. You’re ready to snap your driver in half and he’s talking about how bad you’re playing.
Scott Stallings
Yeah. Nothing like a nine year old perspective to keep you grounded and understanding that, you know. Well, you know, while I am playing in one of the hardest tournaments in the world to qualify for and the fact that, well, there’s only 29 of us, and just kind of how we start, but, uh, a nice perspective to kind of understand that, you know, hey, I’m still dad. Uh, you know, and, you know, kind of what I do on the grass isn’t necessarily define me as soon as I walk out, but I was definitely one of my favorite stories from the season.
Brett Gilliland
That’s great. That’s great. Can you, I mean, I’m gonna dive in on some questions, just stuff that, you know, if I ever have an opportunity to talk to somebody like you, I just, I find that the, what I would call me, the, the pinch me moments, right? That you, you grow up. You were a, you know, Tennessee Tech, we talked about that before we started recording.
You know, I played at Eastern, you played at Tennessee Tech, same conference. Uh, obviously your outcome was a little different than mine on the golf. And, uh, but that’s okay. But anyway, we, you know, just those pinch me moments, man, when I get to go play a nice golf course. But you’re doing that, you know, every week that you choose to play on tour.
My question is that drive in down Magnolia Lane, man, for those golfers that know what I’m talking about, that masters, you make that turn in there, can you tell me what that’s like.
Scott Stallings
I mean, it’s definitely very surreal. Um, I had an opportunity to play, I graduated Tech in ’07 and I had an opportunity to go play in 2009, and I turned it down and everyone’s like, I, you know, you’re big time in Augusta. Like, no, like I think as a professional golfer, like that’s something that’s earned and not something that’s ever taken for granted. And who, who knew? I mean, I, I, I never knew if I was ever gonna have a chance to go and I ended up having a chance to go to the tournament, not play at the, the course, but you know, just kind of being there and kind of, I remember taking pictures of the golf course and, and kind of just in my mind, just imagine like watching guys prepare and different things like that.
And so 2011, I win my rookie year and I have an opportunity to go and Tennessee’s unique in the fact of like the starter on number one, toby Wilt is, is a, lives in Nashville and so they do a pretty cool, uh, trip for first time Nashville’s participants where they bring you and they give you a chance to like, I mean the whole experience. You stay overnight, you do everything and, and just sort of get you comfortable with just everything that is Augusta National. And you know, you earn the opportunity to play and participate in the tournament, but also, you know, if you don’t go and do all that other stuff, you’re, it’s hard to do both at the same time.
Enjoy the chorus, enjoy the tournament, but then you’re trying to play and prepare too. So it’s kind of hard to do both at one time. So they kind of do something to kind of help you get through that, which is amazing. And I remember the first time we got and got there at night, had dinner. Uh, kind of did our thing and then we were gonna play first thing in the morning.
And if, if people want to, you talk about your pinch me moment, one of the hardest prayers I’ve ever said in my entire life was in the back of the clubhouse the next day. And it was like a three hour frost delay. So you’re finally getting a chance to play, you know, get a, we’re gonna be there for two days. And I walk out and I’mlike we’re not playing today. I mean, like, you could just see the frost, like an inch thick and like, man, what’s gonna happen? So thankfully, you know, the frost burned off. We ended up having a beautiful day. But at the time, uh, you know, they, they were sending just cuz there’s so many people, they were sending people off one in 10.
Uh, which is kind of rare there, but I was, I wanted to play from number one all the way to 18 and kind of just get it over with. And as far as like my first round and then I was gonna go to work. Lauren Roberts, uh, was my playing host, you know, kind of show you around as far as, hey, you need to pay attention to this, which is incredible cuz I’ve had the chance to go and now a couple times with some different guys on their first time.
More just man, enjoy the course for the first time. Don’t think about playing the tournament. Just think about all you did to kinda get in in the opportunity that what it took for you to get to this moment. And then it’s like, all right, then we can kind of go to work and start thinking about all the different, all the other stuff that kinda goes into it.
But Lauren was with me, we get ready to hit and then there was this voice that was pretty recognizable that was behind me. Um, so this is December of 2011. And this guy said, son, here, it’s your first time. Let’s see what you have. And it was Arne.
Brett Gilliland
Oh, no way.
Scott Stallings
And I mean it was, there was four dudes on a tee box, me, Lauren Roberts, Arne, and this random person who I have no idea who it was cuz all I saw was him. And like I always joke that with a lot of guys, especially when they start struggling and stuff, the voices got real loud, real quick.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And the world started going fast. But I hit a good drive and um, uh, ended up having an opportunity to spend some time with him that night. Uh, he kind of held court and like the, you know, kind of up above and the top of the clubhouse that night before. Had a few drinks with him, got to hear some really, really funny stories. Um, and then, uh, then showing around playing April, playing the tournament. I go and Toby, who was the starter, he said, you’re more nervous in December or April.
I was like way more nervous in December. I said, I’m used..
Brett Gilliland
Yeah. Guess Arne.
Scott Stallings
Yeah. I mean, you’re standing four feet from Arne and there’s no one else. I mean, like, I’m sure he could hear every thought that was in my head. What I was thinking. So I mean the tournament, I mean there’s pressure and everything, but that’s a little bit more of what we’re used to.
Um, you know, sort of the, the openness is something that is, we’re something that we’re not used to. So, yeah. You know, but that was a long story for a short question, but I don’t shy away from, and, you know, any opportunity to get a chance to go to Magnolia Lane. Pretty incredible. I had a chance, my partner at Pebble Beach is a member.
Um, and another good friend of mine from Memphis is a member and had a chance to take a couple of my friends. Um, the last, you know, probably six weeks or so, I took my caddy and one of my best friends from home and uh, man, we had a probably one of the coolest trips I’ve ever been on my caddies, caddied in six masters that he is ever played, so..
Brett Gilliland
Oh my gosh.
Scott Stallings
And he, he played the back tees the first round. I mean, he’s a good, probably, you know, four or five handicapper, you know, doesn’t play much.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And we got on some of those back tees and he said, man, I like these holes way better when you’re playing.
Brett Gilliland
That’s awesome. That is incredible. Yeah, I’ve got a nice little bet. Won’t talk about the dollar amount, but it’s a, uh, a hefty bet with my best friend since third grade Derek, on who can get on Augusta National first. Whoever does it has to pay the other guy some cash. So that’s what we’re working for.
But, um, and so let’s talk more about them. So do you have those moments or, or when you’re a competitor, man, this is what you do for, for a living, right? This is your day job. Do you have that moment when you’re walking down the 18th hole and you’re like, holy smokes, name the course, right? AugustaNational, Pebble, wherever it’s at. Like, I’m doing this for a living.
Scott Stallings
Hmm. I’ve had some moments on the good side and the bad side of that. I remember, like I, I get my card in 2010 and then turned around and you know, this is when the season started in January. So basically you get your card in December. I got an Orange County National and then turn around and I’m a rookie at Sony and like I played the practice round, you know, I started off number 10 and I told my caddy like, man, number 10, it’s Sony. Like if the wind’s down at all, like, I mean, you drive the green.
Brett Gilliland
Hmm.
Scott Stallings
And I mean it, it’s honestly, not that like tight of an area to hit. Yeah. Um, and then we get up there and it’s like down off the right, like couldn’t it be any more perfect just to ship a driver up there on the green? And I got over it. I got that driver in my hand, I’m ready to go.
And this is the first shot ever on tour. And the starter’s like, and now playing his first ever professional event on the PGA tour, he announces my name and I’m like, oh no. And I, and then as much confidence as I had going into hitting the shot is as little as I had once he said that, cuz the lights got bright and the voices got loud.
I ended up hitting seven iron off the tee. And I mean, to go from driving the green to seven iron and I hit seven iron off the, off the tee, I hit a wedge to like 10 feet and I made birdie. So I made birdie. But still, like, everyone’s like, oh, that’s sweet, man. You made birdie your first ever haul tour. It’s like, man, I, I could not have wished out anymore than I already did.
Brett Gilliland
So my arms are like jello standing up there trying to hit.
Scott Stallings
And I mean, man, I’m, I’m like thinking I almost need to hit three wood. I’m so amped like, uh, you know, I might hit this thing 50 yards over the green. I’m so pumped up and I ended up hitting a seven iron, like a chunk pull down the left side of the fairway. And, uh, I mean, but that’s stuff like that you’ll never forget. And yeah, you know, I had a really rough start to my rookie year. I missed my first five cuts and then almost made the tour championship, ended up finishing like 40th. So kind of a, a full range of emotion. Kinda everything that goes into it.
There’s some really unique, everyone remembers their first time playing with Tiger. You know, the first time, you know, kind of being an event that he was a part of. Winning tournaments, different things like that. But, but having a chance to, you know, over, this is my 13th season on the PGA tour and I’ve had a very, very fortunate to have what I consider the best job in the world.
And, you know, I don’t necessarily take any day for granted. You know, I had some parts of my life where, you know, definitely it was some, the water’s got pretty muddy and didn’t really know what was what. And so I feel very fortunate to have some people come alongside me and, you know, push me in the right direction, kind of help me, you know, kind of understand what a healthy lifestyle looks like, and do a little bit better job of taking care of myself and all the different things so I can, you know, pursue a career for a long time and, and be the husband and father that my kids deserve. And my wife deserves, and, and to try to be a good steward of, of an opportunity that the game has, has given me. And I try to do whatever I possibly can to, to leave it better than I found it, and to use the opportunities that it provides to, you know, help create different environments and better environments for those kind of around me.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah. So let’s, let’s, uh, let’s spend some more time on that. I mean, you went from a guy, um, you know what I had in my notes here for my research, going from 252, 252 pounds down to like, what, 190, 195. I mean, what was that? Knock on the, knock on the shoulder, if you will, or that, Hey, man, let’s, let’s get your attention, because it’s hard to go from where you were to where you’re at now, right?
They call you one of the best shaped guys on tour. How did, how did you..
Scott Stallings
I wasn’t, I, I, I wasn’t in shape to now sort of in shape. That’s what I tell everybody. Yeah. Um, man, it was, you know, sort of a combination of just as long as, as long as I played good, I could do, excuse me, whatever I wanted. You know, there was not really, and it wasn’t like, man, I was like drinking, partying, whatever.
It wasn’t anything like that. It was just, I was, there was no plan. It was, I kind of ate what I, I traveled like, man, I, I got a good buddy of mine, uh, that has a sand. He is like, man, I rode all the rides. Like, I, if there, if there was a cool place to eat, if there was breakfast, lunch, dinner, you know, whatever. I mean, there was no habit in there that gave you any indication that I was a professional athlete. And, you know, people will kind of attribute that a bunch of different ways. But truly, man, I like my diet, my sleep, you know, my training, that was zero. Uh, you know, all those things, you know, were just, I was sort of like a ticking time bomb as far as just a kind of recipe for disaster.
And unfortunately, like I was the direct recipient of it, it was no one’s fault but my own. Um, you know, thankfully I had some people come around me. I was about 30 years old and I just was tired of feeling like crap and started asking some questions. And then, you know, everyone always says, man, you remember that?
Anybody that’s ever trained, anyone that’s ever tried to make that improvement in their life, when they go and it’s like, all right, I’m gonna do something. I got one of my closest friends, he just got some health insurance, uh, redone. He said, man, I saw, uh, I saw a number on the scale I hadn’t seen. They gave me a few months to kind of get it back together, and then I can reapply.
And he comes and he’s like gung-ho, like, man, he’s ready to run through a brick wall. And we give him this 20 minute workout and it literally just put him on the ground. And it was nothing like, nothing to where was that first moment? Like, you’re gonna get worse before you get better. I mean, there was getting worse and then there was what I did, which was literally having the wheels fall off.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
But I, I needed to have that, I needed to understand that, you know, I was my fault as far as how I got there. And, you know, this is it. Like, I don’t know if what you guys can see, but this is my body. This is all I get, and I need to be a good steward to that and, and take care of the things that it provides and, you know, put myself in a little bit better spot where it is at least a conscious effort to try to improve myself mentally, physically, you know, whatever that is each and every day to try to be better than I was the day before.
And, I didn’t do it alone. I had a bunch of incredible people, way smarter than me, kind of helped push me in that right direction and it kind of helped me to get to where I am today. I never set out to do the fitness thing ever, ever.
Brett Gilliland
So did they, did they come to you and like somebody you know and trust and respect and say, Hey dude, man, to have a long term success, you gotta, you gotta. Change this direction? Or was it more internally like you’re sitting there and you know, you’re like, crap man, I, I need to change what I’m doing here. And then you find..
Scott Stallings
A little bit more like that. And I had a really good guy, my trainer PT, Adam Curley, he, we worked together for a while and, you know, he sort of, kind of helped put me back together when I was coming back off the road. Um, And you know, kind of had a transition point in his life where he had an opportunity to go and travel with us, you know, on the PGA tour. And we always joked that when we first started working together, like his goal is to try to get me to go to the gym. Now it’s like, do you wanna practice today? Do like, alright you your workout’s 45 minutes, or you know, now it’s like the opposite. So he is like tampering. He said, man, I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum and you know, now we’ve kind of found like a good middle ground, so..
Brett Gilliland
Well that’s good. That’s good. So talk about that, about like, what is that fitness plan for you? Obviously when you’re traveling, I’m assuming when you’re on tour in the week, you’re, you’re still doing some things, but the harder workouts are done at home. So what does that look like for you? In- including, you know, sleep, uh, recovery. I think you wear a whoop bracelet. I wear one of those too. Those things are phenomenal information. Um, and, and so what’s that like for you that, that accountability, sleep recovery, all that?
Scott Stallings
Yeah, I tell people a lot. It’s not a matter if and when, it’s a matter of what time of day and that’s, that is applicable to everything. And, uh, like just cuz you can doesn’t mean you should. And there’s like, I got a lot of like these random one-liner zingers that just sort of stick with me. My one for 23 is, I don’t want to deal with problems that I inherited. I want to deal with problems that I created and, you know, people can, like, there’s pro-, like all problems aren’t bad things.
Like I was telling you about my travel, uh, earlier, like that travel problem that I have right now, it’s not really a problem. It’s a great thing. It’s something I work very hard to have the opportunity, but still, like, it’s still travel. It’s, you know, a long way from home and you know, kind of all the other different things that kind of go along with it.
But just managing it and kind of understanding, you know, and try to put yourself in situations where you at least have your hand on a little bit of everything. And you know, try to do your best to not be blind, decided by certain situations that you had nothing to do with. And that’s applicable for everything.
That’s life, family, relationships, business, golf, all sorts of things. And so that was kind of my goal for 23. You know, if it kind of stays outside that parameter, I really don’t want have much to do with it. And, you know, help me be a little more focused on the things that I, you know, with, with my family, with my life, with my career, and kinda all those different things. So, yeah.
Brett Gilliland
So that leads me to Mike Riley, uh, buddy of mine, Mike. He, uh, I asked some guys some questions and he said, well, how do you set your expectations for the year? And, and so let’s talk about that. But before we go into that great question. I wrote down, I don’t wanna deal with problems I inherited. I wanna deal with problems I created. That is phenomenal. So how did you come up with that? What’s that thinking? And then to Mikey’s point is how do you set those expectations for the year?
Scott Stallings
Well, that came out of a conversation with, uh, one of my really close buddies. Um, and we were talking about, we had a friend of ours, uh, get audited. And we somehow just a very long conversation about all the new IRS and I could care less about talking about all that, but just like, man, like, you know, professional athletes are just, you know, our pri- prime target.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And especially people that are independent contractors and you know, basically our entire life’s a write off in some way, shape or form. And, and I was like, man, I am, I am not getting, I am not dealing with an IRS person over something I had nothing to do with, and it just sort of manifested out of that, and I just didn’t ever thought about it again.
And the more and more I just found myself started. You know, different things and, and you know, I found myself being a part of conversations, uh, you know, on tour, you know, you bring up Liv, you bring up all these different things. Like, man, I have nothing to do with that. I have literally nothing to do with that, uh, you know, sort of my thoughts on it or one thing.
But, you know, at the end of the day that. I, that doesn’t mean anything, so I’m not really going to mess around with it. And it sort of just found to be more and more applicable and it just came to, I want to do, I wanna deal with problems that deal with me and not deal with anything like, you know, outside of what I’m doing on a day-today basis between my wife, you know, my family and my career, and kind of all those things are intertwined. That’s kind of how it started. And so now I figured out a way to make that applicable to everything.
Brett Gilliland
It’s a great quote, man. It really is. And so how do you, what’s that look like for you? Do you sit down in November, December, maybe now, whatever the timeframe is. And do you, I, I mean obviously you got a plan for next year. You gotta know when your plan and when the tournaments are and stuff. But do you have, like, are you a goal setter, a goal planner? And if so, how do you, how do you walk through that process?
Scott Stallings
Uh, yes and no. Um, a little bit more of like a mindset, and that’s kind of it. Like I, you know, like Aura will pick a thought or this and that, like 2022, uh, we called it, uh, the, the word was variance. And my stats analytics guy, Hunter Stewart, came to me in Napa in September of that would be ’21, kind of transferring, you know, kind of how the fall season goes into the regular season. And he said, you need to create as much variance as you possibly can in your game. He said, you know, you’re basically, you’re, you’re stagnant.
And he said, you’re a guy that’s gonna gain 2, 3, 4 shots a week. He said, you’re just getting your head beat in. He said, I’d rather you lose 10, gain 15 and net five over the course of the week where you’re gonna miss a cut by 12 and almost win. He said, that’s the guy that’s gonna make through a championship.
He said, you need to become more like that guy. And so that was kind of the idea. So I was with him last week, uh, in Carterville with my coach, uh, Scott Hamilton and we were just kind of talking a little bit about it and before you started recording, you know, have a couple different areas to improve as far as golf wise.
Um, but the same thing, like, you know, take a little bit more ownership of, of some of the areas that need a, uh, improve upon. But it’s not necessarily like, all right, I wanna win. I wanna make tour championship. I wanna have an opportunity to make, uh, a cup team. Like, if you’re on the PGA tour, those are not your goals. You’re doing the wrong thing.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
Like, so I think that stuff kind of goes without saying, but it’s like little intangible stuff. Like I went, uh, the, the previous year I wa in the, you know, short game area, I was losing strokes. Uh, very, very minuscule. But over the amount of time of volume of rounds that we play, I was losing strokes from basically like a quarter of a shot. It ended up being three quarters of a shot, a tournament from inside 30 yards, and transfer a year past By just changing a little bit of game planning, a little bit of strategy, and a little bit of practice. I ended up gaining two and a quarter, three shot improvement, and all I did was work on one area. So three shots over the course of 31 events is a lot.
Brett Gilliland
Well, and you look at even the money, right? I mean the, from the number one player in the world to the number hundred player in the world, you’re, you’re talking, you know, a stroke or two, right? I mean, that’s..
Scott Stallings
Mm-hmm.
Brett Gilliland
There’s not much difference. And that’s what people don’t think about is the difference in those, in those golfers and what it means to your family, you know, financially. So it’s a big deal. And before we started recording, you showed me you’re a TrackMan and all that stuff. And you were getting your, your variances, I assuming, dialed in to where you would talk about, you know, this sandwich game. So walk our listeners through that. What, what does that look like for you? How are you dialing in these wedges and what are you working on there?
Scott Stallings
A little bit of, it’s sort of a, like a practice goal of, you know, like this. I don’t know if this is technically a golf podcast or whatever, but if you have some golfers on there, I’ve got a very unique delivery in the fact that I don’t have a very big back swing, but I can hit the ball pretty far. You know, a little bit in the sense of like, You know, I have really long arms and sort of a relatively, you know, shorter frame, you know, relatively the length of my arms.
So it looks like I don’t take the club back very far, but when you deal with off speed shots and knock and, you know, sort of like not full. It’s a very, very small window in regards to like what’s full and what’s like half.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
Cause my back swing’s basically almost half as it is. So trying to develop a little bit better plan for like off speed shots like Pebble Beach, you know, not a lot of spin, you know, kind of getting ready, a lot of wind at Kapalua and kind of just developing a, like a little bit more of a game plan in a, in a, a template as far as you know how far certain clubs can go based off of, you know, sort of swing speed and a little bit of just, it’s not necessarily like I think on the course like, alright, I’m gonna swing at 80 miles an hour. But the more repetition and everything you go, it’s like, alright, I know what that feels like and I know how to fit these shots into these certain windows as I have, you know, kind of based off of there.
It’s kind of a different way to practice cause I don’t really have enough of a backswing in my full swing to sort of create what they call like a clock method. Um, cuz basically my backswing stops at about nine o’clock as it’s on a full one. So, um, just different things like that and, you know, kind of make, you know, figuring out ways to practice where, you know, be a little bit more creative.
And I’m not a range guy. I don’t like hitting balls, but I can sit there and kind of mess around on a TrackMan and, you know, kind of find little nuance things here and there as far as you know, maybe kind of pick up, you know, a little bit of more consistency in certain areas and, you know, kinda work around from there.
Brett Gilliland
So what advice, if any, maybe cuz you’re, you’re so darn good at golf, you probably don’t understand what the, the average Joes like myself and even higher handicaps, what we deal with. But what, what’s one thing you would tell us that we need to probably work on most? Uh, knowing we don’t have a lot of time to practice and all that stuff.
Scott Stallings
Work on your chipping setup because most people, they get the face right and the feet left to try to get the loft going on there. But really, if you look at the best players in the world, we put most, most of the best players in the world, when they come to chipping and pitching the ball, they go square to shut. Which means at least, so imagine like if you have your feet and your club face, like at some point they’re going away from each other.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
You’re trying to make the ball go straight. So you’re dealing with a lot of timing. And you’re dealing with a lot of slippage, like the ball kind of slides up the face, you know? So having a consistent, I got a really good buddy of mine, uh, a New England guy, and he’s like, man, I, you know, I, I finally kind of get my game into a spot. Then it gets cold and I kind of lose, like, gimme something I need to work on. So I just gave him some simple like chipping setup advice. He’s like, man, if you can learn to play from a square setup, And make where the ball contacts first. Especially people that deal with like winter golf and you know, coming out of like snow and everything when you go back and play, I mean, especially where you are, you deal with really cold weather, go back, snow, ice, all the stuff that kind of goes in and then you get that like nasty mush and ball first is important.
Kind of all the stuff that kind of goes along with it and, and everything. And, um, You know, that would be the thing that I would work on. And then understand the, you know, play more break. Those are two simple things that I would kinda from there.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah. It’s funny you say that because on chipping, I would consider myself a pretty good chipper, but I, I’m, I do have my feet open and my club more at the target, right? So if I’m, I’m open here, I’m going right there at the target. That’s how I’ve chipped my whole life.
Scott Stallings
yeah. But, but if people have like the Flagstick here, you know, face here, feet there. Like at some point it becomes luck.
Brett Gilliland
Oh, absolutely.
Scott Stallings
If people operate off a square club and they manipulate their setup kind around there, then that’s kind a, a good place to go from there.
Brett Gilliland
You’re going, right? Your feet are aiming at the target. And your club head is, you’re, you’re like this or would I hear you? You’re blocking that.
Scott Stallings
Yeah, yeah. No, it’s, it’s body and, and feet shut to the target right? And face is at the target and kinda work off of, and kinda work off of that. So where you can kind keep Loft and present Loft as much as you possibly can.
You watch those like old like semi-boss videos and like peak in the bunker, they get shut and drop the hands where the club kinda stay and they can keep loft on it. So just kinda a different way to kinda think about it.
Brett Gilliland
Like, well, I know I’m doing the offseason, changing my pitching game. Um, back to mindset, man, on, on days that maybe especially early on in your transition, um, to where you’re at today. How, what was the mindset preparation to get you to the point where even on days you didn’t wanna do it, you showed up?
Scott Stallings
Uh, I mean, nothing, you know, worth having came easy. And you know, I’m not sitting here trying to just bang you with quotes all day. But I mean, at some point, like at some point, like you gotta take a look at the fact of like, man, truly wanna aspire to be one of the best players in the world. Like, you know, no one’s gonna give it to me. Like, I could think of a million things I would’ve rather be doing today than running through this wedge test that I’m about to do when we’re done. But I know that at the end of the day, like. It’s gonna help propel me and do the thing, like, I’m gonna wish that I did it instead of, you know, coming back, you know, and being, and regretting that. You know, I’d rather feel the, that way, be, be proud and understand the opportunity that I, I took the time and effort to try to help, you know, me get better, whatever that is.
Instead of being in a situation where I was like, I should have done, I should have worked a little bit harder. I should have done this. I should have done that. Like, I don’t operate in the past, I don’t operate in the should could have, but I do op, kinda have that in my, in the front of my mind while the, while everything has sort of taken place.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. It makes me think of a quote, I just pulled it out here, that Trevor Moawad unfortunately passed away, but the author of it Takes What It Takes. If you’re a reader, read that book. It was phenomenal. But, uh, he said, average people become average by doing average shit. Average is a choice. Greatness is a choice. There is no magic, only decisions. And I’ve got that written down in this journal I work because I just, I absolutely love it. Right. It is a choice. The power of choice is huge, isn’t it?
Scott Stallings
Absolutely, and I think people like the, I helped the Tennessee golf team here in, in Knoxville, where I live, and it’s funny, just the mindset as far as. You know, they had a coaching transition a few years ago and just the different things and you know.
One day I was just kind of over this kid just kind of peppering me with questions and you know, sort of just like a little bit like, you know, smart ass, you know, freshman whatever. And a kid that I’ve known for a long time and I was like, man, at some point you’re gonna understand that I’m truly trying to aspire to be one of the best players in the world and you’re nonsense questions are doing me no good.
So yes, I am gonna train today and I am gonna do something to work on my game. So that being a prerequisite, if you have any other questions that are different than that. Please go ahead. I’ll be happy to answer it, but if you’re asking me did I work out just for the sense of like wasting air, you’re wasting both of our times.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And that’s the same thing. I was like, you know the question should be, all right, what can I do to continue to, to try to want to do those kind of things instead of just thinking about BS questions. Just gonna waste both of our time. So I completely agree with that and understanding that you know, I mean, the perfect example, I had to figure out a time to train today.
Uh, we took my, uh, my wife and my kids went to the Grand Ole Opry, rushed home last night, got home about 1:30. Literally just, I mean, peeling my eyeballs back and coming in it’s like, man, I gotta hit the ground running. Cause if I don’t do it in the morning, my day’s gonna get away from me. Have some Christmas stuff this afternoon.
It’s like, I gotta get up, get the kids, you know, to school kind of whenever they decide to wake up. It’s time to get it in and then kind of do this kind of stuff and kinda go, not a matter, not a matter if and when, just a matter of what time to kind of fit it in and.. You know, I do a lot of reverse engineering. Like I, I kind of plan my day out ahead and kind of understand the best way to kind of create a little bit of margin if I have to. And I mean, that’s all choice. Like I don’t have to do that, but I can sit there and, and spin my wheels and waste time and, and be inefficient and, and frustrate everyone around me, including myself. And, um, so just taking a little bit of more time and effort going into, you know, planning that out, you know, goes a long way for everybody, myself included.
Brett Gilliland
I just, I think it comes down to integrity, right? I mean, I think about too, you, you know, what you just mentioned there. I don’t wanna gloss over that. You’re out till 1:30, right? Doing the Grand Ole Opry with the wife and kids, you know, there’s a thousand things you could think of than sitting with Brett Gilland on the Circuit of Success, but yet it’s integrity. You committed. And you’re doing it right. Whether you wanted to be here today or not, you’re here. Right? And you showed up. And I think that’s part of life too, right? When we’re chasing greatness, whether it’s in golf or business, you just gotta show up, man, and you gotta do the freaking work.
Scott Stallings
And I think that’s a big thing too. Like, you know, being a part of what you’re committed to and kind of understanding all those things, uh, is a big part of it. You know, it’s like, like any person, you know, you quit once, it’s easier to quit again. You start getting the reputation of a flake or different things like that. And that’s applicable to everything.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
That’s your family, your relationships, all those things that kind of come in, in doing those things like. And even if it’s the motivation, I don’t want to be that person. Like that’s enough for some people. But I think it kinda like carries yourself just by the way that kind of go into a lot of different things. But you know, uh, and there was, to be honest how we got ourselves in that situation. Uh, it helps if you look at the kids’ school calendar, we were convinced that our kids got outta school on Friday. They don’t actually get outta school till this Wednesday. And both of them have their school parties and everything, so they were adamant. It’s like, Hey, we want to go to this, but you’re getting us back.
And I’m like, I’m made for this. The mini tours that college golf built me for. Driving through the night. I’m ready.
Brett Gilliland
You’re ready. Come in, dusting off the dust and going that, that leads me actually some question that Timmy Riley, Mikey’s brother, uh, wanted talk about. He played golf at University of Illionis. And he said when you were on the NGA Hooters tour. How did you, how did you fund it and, and what did you, what was your typical week like on that?
Scott Stallings
Um, we were actually telling some mini tour stories to my son last night. I said, buddy, like on mini tours, like you have no money to stay in a hotel or anything. So you basically would drive through the night to find any opportunity, a place that would let you crash on their couch or a house, or kind of whatever that looked like.
You know, uh, I was very fortunate. I had a lot of people kind of come around me. I had a good amount of sponsors that kind of got me going my first couple years and kinda allowed my wife and I to be together.
Brett Gilliland
Yep.
Scott Stallings
And. Uh, you know, planes, trains, automobiles. We stayed in a single wide at a tournament. Um, we did a, we did, like when I say a bus like this was not a good bus. Like this was like a bad bus. Um, anything that you can think of to get to and from a tournament. Yo, uh, everyone has said if you could write a country song about your career, I said, man, single wides to private jets. I said, we’ve done it all.
Brett Gilliland
You’ve done it all.
Scott Stallings
Yeah. I mean, there’s a country song in there somewhere.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah, absolutely. Just gotta add a dog to it or something, which I think..
Scott Stallings
Yeah, very much so.
Brett Gilliland
Any, are you superstitious?
Scott Stallings
No, I’m not. I’m probably so superstitious about not being superstitious. I, I would say I’m very routine and my caddy and my wife would probably be better cuz they would, they’re kind of like the same person, uh, just as far as their personalities. Uh, my wife is significantly better looking than my caddy.
Brett Gilliland
That’s good.
Scott Stallings
Uh, but uh, just as far as their personality, they probably could tell some stuff that I would do that I don’t realize I knew.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
Especially when I’m playing because my wife said like, I don’t even need to see at you. I can see about two or three mannerisms. And I’m like, yeah, that’s him. That’s him out there.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
So..
Brett Gilliland
Well think about your wife too, man. Back to those days when you’re, you know, you’re not on the private jets, you’re on the, the crappy bus. I mean, think of that support.
Scott Stallings
Yeah, I mean we, we started, we told some hilarious stories and you know, think about like mindset and some of those pinch me moments and different things like that. We had this one tournament where it, I mean, basically we tried to play golf in a hurricane and it was the hardest rain I’ve ever seen in my life and we didn’t. This is before Netflix. This is before anything. This is when Redbox first came out. So just think about how old I am. Um, and we went in and we were trying to figure out what we were gonna do cause it was essentially they were canceling the tournament for three days. Then we were gonna just have like two day just free for all, play as much golf as we could once the storm passed. And uh, I went in and we needed a DVD player, cuz this place we were staying was pretty much, I barely had four walls. And, but it had a tv. It’s like, man, we’re just gonna hammer some Redbox. Just being inside, it’s not really safe to, you know, storm’s awful. And I remember telling, it’s like, I’m gonna go to Walmart. I’m gonna buy this, uh, DVD player and if I play bad, I’m gonna return it. Cuz we’d literally have zero money. Uh, and you know, just something to kind of occupy our time for the next few days.
Well, I ended up burning the last hole in the tournament, and I finished third and I made $16,800. That’s the biggest check I’d ever made in my career, and this is my 15th year as a pro. 13th year on the tour, I still have that DVD player.
Brett Gilliland
Oh, that’s awesome.
Scott Stallings
Like I, every time I see it, I look at it. I think about that time. I know exactly. I could take you to that Walmart, to that aisle in Savannah, Georgia. And just remember just grinding on it like, man, how am I really gonna spend. It was $39. And I mean that’s truly like, I mean I had some great dudes come around me and support me, but I mean, you know, 39 bucks to play a practice round in a course that you’re getting ready to do a Monday qualifier at, or 39 bucks to kind of occupy your time in the middle of nowhere in Savannah.
Like, I mean, those are conversations you had to have in the mini tours. And I think. Uh, I mentioned a good buddy of mine went the Cubs, uh, when he was playing Winter LA Ball. He said they went to this place and they couldn’t afford, uh, any of the room service or anything of this place where he was playing. And, you know, basically they were taking waters from the field and they have a very similar story to us, and they have a George Foreman like sandwich maker. I mean, it was like $30 again. And you, they have a beautiful home, uh, here in Tennessee, and you go and they have this, you’re like, what in the world is this thing doing here? It’s like, yep, it’s staying. That’ll be, that’ll be with us forever. And we don’t even know if it works. But it’s staying. It’s staying. Um..
Brett Gilliland
Well, it’s just a mental piece, right? I mean, you think about where you came from.
Scott Stallings
Yeah, very much so. And I think a bunch of people. So throughout your career you need to have different things. You need to have things you’d aspire to, but have, have other things around you that remind you of, of kinda where you came from and understanding of how not to lose that. And, um, I’ve got a, a wife that fills me with humility on a daily basis and and, and challenges me in a lot of different ways to kind of be a, a better person in a lot of different areas. And, but that’s one of those things that I look on and, you know, very happy to have been a part of my career and, and something that I look at and it’s a conversation piece or whatever, cuz I don’t know the last time someone actually used a DVD player. Um, just with all the stuff that kind of goes along. But hey, we have one. And it, it, it’ll be with us for a long time.
Brett Gilliland
I love it. I love it. Uh, last two topics. I could talk all day, man, uh, on this stuff, but, uh, I wanna talk, uh, live golf and I wanna talk about bourbon. You OK with those two topics?
Scott Stallings
Oh, no. I should have some bourbon then we can really get into it. I mean, who knows what I might say.
Brett Gilliland
Exactly, exactly. Yeah. I told you my goal is to not make the headlines on this stuff. So, but, but I do wanna talk about the, uh, the live golf stuff and what your thoughts are on it. Give us your perspective.
Scott Stallings
I think live, uh, has pushed the tour into make some changes that they probably were in the process of making and kind of fast tracked them in. There were gonna be some players that took advantage of the situation and myself was included. Um, I had a lot of. Um, opportunities this past season that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. I mean, making the tour championship, understanding all the stuff that went in with making it to East Lake and the exemption, and, uh, Maui and majors and all the different things that go in effect on world ranking.
Um, you know, I was one of those, uh, beneficiaries. Um, I think, uh, the tour’s a little shortsighted in regarding to how they viewed the threat of live, you know, sort of as like, Hey, this is not gonna happen. I wish they’d done a little bit better job as far as, you know, preparing for the, you know, the sort of shock and awe that came, oh, they actually did it. I was like, yeah, they’re gonna do it. But at the end of the day, I think that the PGA Tour is the best tour in the world. I think that Live is, is an exhibition and it’s a, it’s, it’s very entertaining. Um, I, I’m not sure exactly how viable it is in terms of the way that their business plan is and with tv and that’s, again, I know nothing about that.
So I’m gonna try to give my opinions on things that I know, not things that I hope or speculate. But I think that like them saying they had the best players in the world. They do have, their roster is very strong as far as guys that have accomplished a lot. But they have a, a decent amount of guys that were just the first people to say yes.
Like there’s no legacy, there’s no understanding of how to qualify. You know, there’s, you know, no one had to go dig it in the dirt. Like Tiger was saying and, and figure it out and, and, and qualified against status. I mean, they signed their name on a piece of paper and, and, you know, kind of, you know, hitch themselves to a, to a horse that, that didn’t really know what direction it was going in.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And um, I think that, uh, it pushed the tour to kind of understand they needed to change some things, which I was a huge proponent of. Uh, as long as I’ve been on tour. And I think we’re gonna continue to see that evolve. Um, I think the tour has a big transition year in 2023, uh, preparing for 24 with the new schedule and some new partnerships that are coming along.
And it’ll be very interesting to see how, uh, the fans and the players kind of react to, you know, for the, I think there’ll be some that are very, very positive. I think some that’ll be pretty controversial.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah. And I think too, I mean, they, they don’t have their story, right? I mean, think about that DVD story. I think back, even through my career, the things I used to do, and going and driving across God’s green Earth at eight o’clock at night to go to somebody’s house, and I mean, just grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. I don’t think even the young guys that, the guys that don’t even know who they are, that are signing there, they’re not gonna have those moments.
And I think there’s a lot to learn about life and about the grind and about winning in, in those moments, don’t you?
Scott Stallings
Yeah, very much so. Uh, I mean, but that’s not to say that like I was just not given an offer. Like, it’s pretty easy to say, oh, I did it, I turned it down. It’s like, yeah, I mean, like, so I never really had to, you know, face the music there or anything.
You know, I, I think there’s a, a lot of scenarios where, uh, sorry, one second. My, I’m trying to figure out what I’m doing with my dog . Uh, but I think there’s a lot of scenarios. You know, it’s pretty easy to say, oh, I did this, I did that. When you didn’t really had to face a, you know, a whatever, a 10 figure offer or, or whatever, you know, people were getting figure, it’s a lot easier to sit there and like, you know, who knows what I’d have done in that situation.
I’m happy where I’m at. I’m looking forward to the opportunities to have to plan on the PGA tour and, you know, hopefully they’ll continue to adjust, uh, for the better to kind of, you know, help us and continue to help us be the best tour in the world.
Brett Gilliland
Love it. Love it. Uh, let’s change the subject from bourbon now. What, what are you thinking there? What’s, if I had to ask you though, what’s your favorite bourbon? If you had one bottle you could have the rest of your life. What, what is it?
Scott Stallings
If somebody gave me a, uh, a barrel of, uh, I would probably do a barrel proof tailor, and that would, that would probably be it. I would give away everything else I have.
Brett Gilliland
Hmm.
Scott Stallings
And that would be..
Brett Gilliland
That’s one. I don’t, I don’t have the barrel proof. That’s a hard one to find man.
Scott Stallings
Yeah, a high proof wheater is kind of my preference and uh, you know, I can be a fast consumer in a lot of different ways and so a little bit of bite and a little bit of proof goes a long way for me.
Brett Gilliland
I like it. So what do you see the future of Bourbon man? Cause it’s crazy right now, isn’t it? I mean, just even going to my local gas station here and what they’re wanting to charge for some of these wellers or other things, it’s nuts.
Scott Stallings
Yeah, I think they’ll be a big, uh, pullback and kind of where you get the year of authenticity in terms of their branding and uh, you know, 60% of the bourbon market in the United States comes from the same distillery. You know, in the middle of Indiana it’s just kind of a marketing plane and different things like that. I think people are playing on, you know, thoughts, feelings, and emotions, you know, creating a brand around a story, not necessarily what’s in, you know, cause what was in the bottle and what was in the barrel used to matter and it should matter to a lot of people instead of necessarily what the label says.
And, you know, people play way more time and attention into the label and the story behind it instead of actually what the, the story that went into making the juice. So I’m way more on that side and.. Yo, uh, like I’m a Taylor guy, any wheat, but like you gimme some age Wild Turkey and or some old school like Heaven Hill. And man, I’m gonna have no problems.
Brett Gilliland
I love it. Yeah. The, um, I love the horse soldier story, man, that, you know, every one of those bottles is made and touches the steel from September 11th or from the, uh Twin Towers. I think that’s a pretty cool story.
Scott Stallings
Mm-hmm. Yeah. They, I mean, it definitely is. And they do a good job. And those guys are man, They drink some rocket fuel down there, and I just think that there’s a, you know, there’s some opportunities to kind of tell stories and there’s some opportunities to kind of make ’em up and, you know, unfortunately the way that that world is, is sort of 50- 50.
Their story is incredible and you can go just down the aisle and you know, it’s the same juice and someone’s trying to tell the complete opposite story and you know, when you start understanding the business model of it and how you start source and how you, then you pot and still, and then you kinda go, whether you call ’em and then you age and mix and batch and all the different ways to create a business and a brand outta, you know, something that takes a long time to create.
Uh, it’s a wild world and uh, something I’m very interested in and, um you know, very fortunate to kind of learn from a lot of different people that are way better than me. Not only in golf and fitness, but uh, the bourbon world as well.
Brett Gilliland
And see, it sounds like you’re dialing in that bourbon knowledge, just like you’re dialing 56 degree Wedge Man. Maybe we’ll see some future stuff coming outta Scott Stallings for some bourbon or something. Who knows?
Scott Stallings
Yeah, I got a long, I got a, I got a long way to go in that department.
Brett Gilliland
What, uh, final questions here. What, what, uh, what is something, you know, with the, this crazy schedule you have that your passions that you wish you had more time to, uh, to, to do.
Scott Stallings
Our kids play free program. Uh, something that we do a lot with in, in Tennessee. Uh, we’re adding more courses and different things and just more, be more hands-on, on the day-to-day. Like I do events, uh, some dinners, golf tournaments kind of throughout, but just to be a little bit more involved with the new beginners and kind of see that first time where the kids have a chance. You know, touch a club for the first-time. That’s kind of the goal of the program. Just take away all the variables of time, cost, and availability, and kind of giving people a chance to you know, to learn from the game that’s given me more than I deserve.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah.
Scott Stallings
And uh, so I, I wish I had a little bit more time for that. Um, my wife has really started taking up, uh, tennis and playing and I said if I could take some time, I think I could be pretty good at it. But if you play about three times a year, you’re not getting better at anything. So, um, that would be probably it.
Brett Gilliland
Yeah, I like it. I like it. Well man, thanks so much, Scott, for being on the Circuit of Success. Like I said, you got a million things, uh, a million different directions you can go. Appreciate the wisdom. A lot of takeaways here for me today on the Circuit of Success and appreciate your time.
Scott Stallings
Absolutely man. Thanks for having me on and uh, I’m sure we’ll see you guys again.
