0:00

These waters are for you guys to drink too. By the way, if you wanted

0:02

to just like snap it just so that we can uh, we

0:04

don't hear the crack.

0:05

On them nothing, bro,

0:10

that's so funny.

0:11

It's actually my pet peeve. What

0:14

Yeah, I know. I don't

0:16

love a SMR either, Like no, I like a SMR

0:18

videos. But when when especially makeup like

0:20

Influenial, they do like the no, no, we

0:24

don't got to do that.

0:25

I like the visual stuphomore like maybe

0:27

like cut sand.

0:28

Yeah I could do like that. Also, like if your nails

0:30

are ratchet, I can't do the ASM. I'm like, yeah,

0:33

great though, I just got it done.

0:36

Yeah, yeah, it's giving engaged.

0:40

Yeah it maes that.

0:43

I got age on top of you guys.

0:46

I'm just trying to hang with the gen zers, all right, Christine

0:57

Amari, welcome to the party. So

1:00

I tell you both here. Did you know that was the name of the podcast?

1:02

Yes?

1:02

Okay, good, I'm

1:05

so glad you guys do that. So for

1:07

those of you who are listening tuning

1:09

in, if you don't know who Christine and Amri

1:11

are, well, firstly, you better get to know them because

1:13

they are already on the way to the big leagues. Okay,

1:16

they are former teammates at USC and if

1:18

you don't know, USC is one of the top

1:20

golf programs in all the US,

1:22

so it's a big deal. You may have seen Christine on

1:24

social media killing it, documenting her a collegiate

1:27

journey to now her professional journey.

1:29

You may have seen a Mari on TV already having a

1:31

start on the LPGA. So both

1:34

of you welcome. I'm so happy that I have you

1:36

two in one place. Heart rates

1:38

are nice and low. Right, we're all said,

1:40

we're chill. You just through LA traffic

1:42

to be with me. I appreciate you guys. So

1:45

typically I actually begin my podcast with

1:47

how I've met my guests. However,

1:49

we just met five minutes ago, so that will not be

1:51

the storyline. So I want

1:53

to actually dive into you both. And

1:56

so it was a fun rapid fire. Who's

1:58

most likely too? Yeah,

2:01

you're gonna like my questions? So who

2:03

is most likely to be late to practice?

2:05

Christine?

2:07

Really?

2:08

Yeah?

2:09

Is that why you relate today?

2:12

Oh?

2:13

Too soon? Shuts fire? Take okay,

2:15

my bad? Okay. Next, who is the better golf

2:18

fits Amri?

2:19

What?

2:21

Okay?

2:22

Okay?

2:22

Who has the better music playlist.

2:25

We have very different music tastes. There's

2:28

some crossover.

2:29

Yeah, she's like super mega Taylor

2:31

Swift. I do love a Taylor Swift, and I'm more

2:34

like.

2:34

Rap hip hop a.

2:38

Little bit. Yeah, but I dip into a little of the R

2:40

and B.

2:40

Okay, I like that she's like.

2:42

But I also like like Kendrick Lamar Brianna.

2:44

You like that too, I do it?

2:47

Okay, to each their own,

2:49

all right, we like it, so neither okay.

2:51

Who was most likely to date another athlete

2:56

here, Okay, he's a golfer, We love it.

2:58

Who gives the best life advice Christine.

3:01

Oh, she's got like this grandma vibe

3:03

about her.

3:05

Not the grandma vibe, okay.

3:07

Most likely to correct someone's swing.

3:10

I don't like to say things. Come on, I don't

3:13

like to say.

3:13

I just think it's like not my place.

3:14

Yeah yeah, as a chair, yeah to

3:17

the men, okay. Most likely to clap

3:19

back at someone who corrects their swing,

3:21

Amori, yeah me, okay, yeah, all right,

3:24

that's fair. Most likely to go viral on TikTok

3:26

Christine, you know. Most

3:29

likely to post a thirst trap. Wow,

3:33

the silence was loud, guys, I'm

3:36

cuffed.

3:42

Man thirst trap and be coughed

3:44

with the boyfriend's approval.

3:45

Yes, okay, okay, we like

3:48

that answer. Most likely to get kicked out

3:50

of the club, Christine,

3:53

that's funny. Okay. Most

3:55

likely to throw their golf club. I'mori,

3:59

I get it.

4:00

I've broken a few.

4:01

I get it.

4:01

I've seen that happen.

4:02

Oh, we'll

4:05

talk about it. We'll talk about it. Okay. Most

4:08

likely to give someone a fake number, Christine.

4:10

Yeah, okay, most likely to lose their Phoneine,

4:14

the last one.

4:15

Who is a better hype woman?

4:17

Yeah, Christine,

4:21

as besties should Okay.

4:23

I thought that was pretty even. I didn't really know what to expect,

4:25

but I got to get to know you guys, all right, So we

4:27

have to start from the very basics. I'm sure you guys get

4:29

this question all the time. But how old were

4:32

you when you began golfing? And how did you guys get

4:34

into it? And we can start with Christine.

4:36

I started golfing when I was seven.

4:39

My whole family were all athletes, so my

4:41

parents just wanted me play something. And

4:44

there was a golf course by our house. And they're

4:46

like, rich people play golf.

4:50

Okay, we're real, Yeah,

4:53

no, I also just really liked it, Like I had a really

4:55

good coach when I first started, and yourself.

4:58

I was three years old when I started playing go, and

5:00

my dad got me into it because he was very

5:02

heavily influenced by Tiger Woods and

5:05

he thought it was really cool that an

5:07

African American golfer was also mixed twas

5:09

honestly changing the sport.

5:11

And he saw a little bit of talent with

5:13

me.

5:13

So he's like, figure start

5:16

with me, and then he got my little sister into it and ever

5:18

since it's been great.

5:19

I love that. So you basically had like you

5:21

had a partner to just sing with, like growing

5:23

up. Yes, we mentioned off camera

5:25

that were kind of like a generation apart, not to

5:27

throw my age in there, because I like to be

5:30

a gen zer at heart. I'm young

5:32

at heart. But for you guys growing

5:34

up being a female golfer, how was it

5:36

for you both? Like did you have friends? Were

5:38

there more girls? Were you alone? Were you wearing

5:41

boy clothes? Like? What was it like for you guys?

5:43

Amari?

5:44

I feel like I was very girly growing up.

5:46

Actually, my dad used to like style me all the time, Like

5:48

you would braid my hair I would have like three

5:51

braids in my hair, so I always felt like pretty girly

5:53

and he like dressed me really cute.

5:54

But honestly, there wasn't really a lot of

5:56

girls golf.

5:57

I feel like, I mean, it's definitely all

6:00

which is great, but definitely starting out, it was

6:02

a lot more guys. Like especially practicing

6:04

on the course, it was definitely all boys.

6:06

And I just feel like I've always grown up around

6:09

guys, like playing with them and like learning from them.

6:11

So it's nice to see now that there's definitely more

6:13

of a push for women's golf.

6:14

But it makes you better too, just training with the guys at

6:16

the same time, right, Yeah, it feels.

6:18

Great beating them too.

6:20

We'll talk about that too, how about you, Christine?

6:22

Yeah, I would say, I like my parents

6:24

try their best to style me, maybe not as fashionably

6:27

as mister and the King.

6:30

Yeah, I wore a lot of tennis clothes growing up,

6:32

playing with a lot of boys as well, a

6:34

lot of co ed tournaments when I was younger,

6:36

But it got better when I got to middle school.

6:38

In high school, we start playing like the A j GA

6:40

and stuff. Because like when I started meeting more girls

6:43

and being started getting more fun.

6:45

And where was where were you raised?

6:48

Where were you born?

6:49

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas.

6:51

So Beyonce and you're

6:53

too swift, Okay, that's wild, Okay,

6:57

No, but I do love that. I feel like, So

7:00

I grew up in so Cal, yell

7:03

Cal, and I feel like there's a lot more golf in Socol,

7:05

So I can't imagine. Yeah, in Houston, there must

7:07

have been like was there even any other girls

7:09

to compete against growing up?

7:11

There was a few. There was definitely a few, but

7:13

it was like you would see the boys division

7:15

has like I don't know, like one hundred people in it, and

7:17

the girls division had like ten.

7:19

Like it was a big, small feel. And so

7:21

then you both clearly started playing high

7:23

level golf at a very young age. I assume traveled

7:25

a lot, and I assume around like maybe thirteen

7:28

fourteen, fifteen years old. That's when the recruiting

7:30

process started to happen. What was

7:32

that recruiting process like for

7:34

the both of you?

7:35

So for me, nobody I

7:38

knew played college golf, So it was all

7:40

like discovery for me, Like I had no

7:42

idea what I was doing, how to email coaches and

7:44

stuff. I had to like google all of it,

7:46

wow, which didn't yield very

7:48

many answers. But I figured it

7:50

out. I got better at it the more I did it and stuff,

7:53

and I don't know, I just started playing better.

7:55

So coaches started noticing and they

7:57

started emailing me back. Yeah,

8:00

I didn't really. I didn't commit to USC until

8:02

I was almost a senior in high school,

8:04

which was very late for then because

8:07

back then there wasn't the new rules that there

8:09

are now where you have to wait. I think, yeah,

8:12

so back then, I was like, I think, like the last

8:14

person in the top like one hundred that

8:16

was still uncommitted, who wasn't

8:18

turning pro immediately.

8:19

And I got it for you, Mari.

8:22

Yeah, I feel like my recruiting process was very

8:24

similar to a lot of other girls. I was

8:26

very fortunate to have a lot of coaches watching me,

8:28

had a lot of teams watching me when I was like twelve

8:31

thirteen, so I was right.

8:33

I feel like I had like half the pack twelve watching

8:35

me. So I'm like, oh my god, like this is crazy, but I

8:39

was so cool.

8:40

I was like so excited to see like USC out there

8:42

obviously, like Stanford, UCLA, like all these

8:44

SOCl schools and like this is awesome, like they're

8:46

watching me. And then I don't know, Actually

8:49

I was planning on turning professional when I was out

8:51

of high school, and then obviously

8:53

the pandemic hit and it kind of changed everything for me.

8:56

It helped kind of helped me like reevaluate

8:58

my life and kind of look at it different ways as

9:00

the golf And I'm so happy

9:02

because I'm like I got to go to school and really like

9:04

go through the recruiting process because I wasn't planning

9:07

on doing it, Like I honestly wasn't responding to schools.

9:10

I wasn't really paying attention to coaches. And then I

9:12

don't know.

9:13

Like I started talking to USC, I started talking

9:15

to a couple other schools, and I was like, well, I'm gonna keep the

9:17

list short because I'm not really sure what I want to do. And

9:19

then at the end, I was like, I really like fell in love

9:21

with the program. I really love Justin And then

9:24

I never got to see the school like maybe some

9:26

other recruits did, just because I was during the pandemic and

9:28

I had to see it through FaceTime.

9:29

So oh that's so interesting.

9:31

Yeah, I had to see the face time.

9:32

I had to look at the golf course that we played at now

9:34

Rolling Hills, like all like just all through pictures

9:36

and FaceTime, and so I kind of had to make my judgment

9:39

based off of the coaches and how I felt

9:41

about them.

9:42

And I think it was really cool to kind

9:44

of just.

9:44

Go through that process.

9:45

It was different than most but obviously very similar

9:47

that I got to talk to a lot of coaches.

9:49

Yeah, I guess I didn't even think of that, Like, yeah, you

9:51

had to commit essentially during the pandemic you

9:53

the time, which is not

9:55

exactly ideal. I'm aria out

9:58

here playing hard to get, but I in school, I

10:00

feel like recruiting to me, it's like dating,

10:03

right, talking of a coach,

10:05

they're into you. Then you see that their rosters fill

10:07

and I'm like, oh, I just got cheated on. What's

10:10

up? What's going on? So I think it's just

10:12

like a very much.

10:13

Verbal verbal commitment is

10:15

like the engagement. Yeah, and then when

10:17

you sign, it's like when you.

10:18

Like, it's like signed delivery, no

10:21

back and out. I didn't get a ring for it, but it's fine

10:24

that we did, though. You

10:26

guys did get a ring. If you don't know what they're talking about

10:28

they did win their Pack twelve championship in twenty

10:30

three and they were teammates and they both they

10:32

both killed it. We will get there, so

10:35

you both committed to USC. What

10:37

essentially led to that decision.

10:39

I really felt like it came down to, honestly,

10:41

like growing up in Soca, I really wanted to stay close to

10:44

home. I really fell in love with the program,

10:46

love justin honestly, through my entire

10:48

recruiting phase. He was there

10:51

every single tournament, like I can't

10:53

say that really about any other.

10:54

Coach, Like he was there at qualifiers.

10:57

The smallest events like that, Like if

10:59

I was a coach, I probably wouldn't.

11:00

Go too and he was there.

11:02

He was there, and he really made me feel like I

11:05

was going to belong on this team. And honestly,

11:07

he showed me during one of our facetimes

11:09

in a PowerPoint.

11:10

He showed me like.

11:13

He showed me all.

11:14

The players he had and how their rankings have

11:16

gotten considerably better over

11:19

the time that they were at USC. And the

11:21

one that stood out to me was Gabby Ruffles and

11:23

at the time, like she was huge, like she had

11:25

just won the USM and seeing that her ranking

11:28

coming into school was very low,

11:30

and then she was number one or number two. I

11:32

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.

11:36

So I want to go there.

11:37

I love that. I love that the golf program in itself

11:39

just like made you better because it's like, I think it's a

11:42

very unique dynamic that golf is

11:44

an individual sport. And then you were homeschooled

11:46

too, so there's a lot of changes. Right, So

11:48

golf is an individuals It's

11:51

okay, you're good. Now you went

11:53

through it, and you now take this individual

11:56

sport, you put it in a team. You have your own

11:58

coaches. You now have different coaches taking

12:00

girls from around the US and you just

12:02

put them in a pot and you just hope it all mixes

12:04

together. So that being said, how did you guys get

12:07

along with your teammates? But did you guys even

12:09

know each other before?

12:10

Oh?

12:10

You know what I was gonna say, a lot of

12:12

people don't know this, but I've been trying to convince

12:15

Amari to come to USC ever since I committed.

12:17

So I committed like somewhere

12:19

between basically my junior and senior year of high

12:21

school, and then I was

12:23

like a Mari usc it is the way to go.

12:26

I like, I've been whispering in her

12:28

ear. A lot of people don't know this, but I

12:31

didn't know Amari. We played a lot of golf.

12:33

We played a lot of golf.

12:34

Yeah, yeah, she was and she was the reason,

12:36

like my dad will tell the story like till the end

12:38

of time. We

12:40

played in an Aga, what

12:43

do you call it, like a match.

12:44

Play match plays East versus West.

12:46

Okay, that's called the Wyndham Cup. And she was

12:48

my partner for the day. And I was throwing

12:50

a fit because I hit my drive into a bunker.

12:52

And I felt mad for her playing

12:54

alternate shot so she hit't in

12:56

the bunker. I had to hit the shot.

12:58

Yeah, So I was mad because I hit a bad shot.

13:00

And then I was also mad because I felt bad for her.

13:02

But I hit.

13:04

And she just like she just gave me like words of encouragement,

13:06

told me like it's okay, Like I have to hit the shot, it's

13:08

not you. And so honestly, ever

13:10

since then, I was like, yeah, like she's a

13:12

really cool person and we got to play a lot of golf.

13:14

Together, so that makes sense. And then how

13:16

was it for you? Guys meshing with the rest of

13:18

the team was the smooth sailing, because I

13:20

could tell you some of mine, Mine was not what I

13:22

thought it was gonna be. Can I just I'll just interject

13:25

and say that when I was committing to my university,

13:27

I played for Calsey Fullerton and my coach

13:29

at the time was Pearl sin and I asked her.

13:31

I was like, so, is there any drama on the team?

13:34

And she was like, oh, girls are a sweet

13:36

heart. Let me tell you

13:38

first of all, my four years could have

13:40

been a TV show. That shit was crazy.

13:42

Okay, the highs lows you

13:45

know, being a college athlete. So

13:47

how was that dynamic for you

13:49

guys and the team?

13:50

I mean, I'll say this, I think when it

13:52

comes to any girls golf team, whether it's high

13:54

school, peewee or college,

13:56

like.

13:58

There's always gonna be drama.

13:59

I feel with girls like, no matter how close

14:01

you are, there's gonna be drama for sure. But I think

14:04

I'm just saying this for myself, but I think we're seeing can say the same.

14:06

I think we really had a great

14:08

group of girls that really liked each other. And

14:10

I can't say a lot for the past USC

14:13

women's golf team. But the scene that we

14:15

were on, I felt like we all really

14:17

got along and we really like respected each other

14:19

and loved each other. So m I think

14:21

that kind of goes to show that, like there's

14:23

a lot of love there, and I think there's no there's

14:26

there's definitely gonna be clashing of heads at some point for

14:28

sure.

14:29

Yeah. I mean if you put nine

14:32

group girls together, all from different

14:34

places, all with very different personalities.

14:36

Yeah, I don't want to say forced to be together

14:38

because of golf, but like a little bit, a little bit

14:41

right, like otherwise if it wasn't for golf,

14:43

some of us might have never crossed paths. You know,

14:45

we're so different, things are gonna

14:47

come up. But yeah, it was. It's weird. When

14:49

I first went to USC, it wasn't as close as

14:51

we were we left, But that was also

14:53

because I started during COVID, like I started

14:55

in twenty twenty. Oh that's true, So it

14:58

got like we got closer and closer every year,

15:00

which I don't know mean, and the other girls

15:02

who are seniors with me was really proud of because that's

15:04

what we wanted.

15:05

So then how was it when it came to qualifiers?

15:08

I'm sure. I'm sure it was competitive,

15:11

Like, you guys can all besties off the

15:13

course, but when we're on the course, So walk

15:15

us through if you guys don't mind breaking it down for the listeners,

15:17

like what is a qualifier? What does that even mean?

15:20

And how did it go for the both of you?

15:22

Yeah, so only five

15:24

girls really usually travel to tournaments

15:27

and there's a team of nine, so you have to

15:29

go through a process of like playing many different

15:31

rounds to see who earns

15:33

a spot on the travel team.

15:36

Sometimes there were spots that was exempt, like for

15:38

example, if you played well last week or if

15:40

you've just been playing well in general recently,

15:42

But most of the time there's qualifying

15:44

for at least a few spots. Yeah,

15:47

qualifying is intense.

15:49

I can't even imagine, Like, you guys are the top

15:51

school, right, so it's like every qualifier

15:54

must feel like a mini tournament of that. Ray, Yeah,

15:56

I think that was.

15:57

More stressed out for qualifiers. I get because

16:00

us you're at the tournament, You're already there. I

16:03

made it, I've already made it, right,

16:05

But at the qualifiers when we're playing,

16:08

I would say that we had a really good way

16:10

of balancing, like when we were playing, we were very

16:13

competitive, Like we played our little

16:15

hearts out, you know, on the course at five point thirty

16:17

in the morning, but.

16:20

Early wake up.

16:20

Yeah, you know, but on the way back, like a Mari and I

16:22

used to carpool together. I used to carpool with other teammates

16:25

as well, Like on the way back, like let's say we had a

16:27

bad hole, we would still like talk about it,

16:29

talk about how we could improve on that, what

16:31

we did wrong. Like, yeah, it went back to being

16:33

friends, right, right, Like it was a yeah

16:36

for us at least like on our team.

16:38

Yeah, I mean sure, there's definitely like no animosity

16:40

afterwards. I mean there might be a little bit like obviously

16:43

you're competing, Like like you said, this is an individual sport,

16:45

Like it's not natural for us to be on a team, right,

16:47

but when you're competing for a spot, obviously everything

16:49

goes out the window.

16:50

When you're on the course, you're not really friends anymore.

16:53

But I mean, I mean you still

16:55

have a couple of laughs on the course, laugh at each other's scores,

16:58

and then an hour goes by and we're friends again. But

17:00

I mean, I definitely think qualifying is it's

17:03

supposed to be intense. There's no gimmis. I

17:05

mean, oh yeah, And I definitely, I definitely

17:07

think you can feel like that if you're you know, one of the top players

17:09

on the team, like I was fortunate enough

17:11

to go to pretty much every event,

17:14

but I still had to qualify.

17:15

I still had to give it my all.

17:16

And even when I was exempt, like there was no

17:18

like, oh, you're just kind of playing now, like

17:20

no, Like I was still trying to I was still trying, like

17:22

I wanted to beat everybody, even if I already

17:25

had a spot. So I think it's meant to be like, that's

17:27

meant to be intense because you want to bring the best of the best

17:29

to the to the tournament.

17:52

So I assumed that you both were on scholarship

17:54

at USC. I was at first

17:57

okay, and then I was not. And

18:00

I mean, I think it's a really interesting conversation

18:02

because I think one of the common

18:05

things that people say is that, oh, women's golf

18:07

is the easiest sport to get a scholarship,

18:10

And I think, honestly, I don't

18:12

think absolutely not, you

18:14

know, and so and so for yourself, I assume you

18:16

were on Yeah, I was a full yeah, yeah,

18:18

and so fun. Fact, for those that are listening in

18:20

for D one Women's College

18:23

Golf, you are granted six full ride

18:25

scholarships. It covers everything from

18:27

tuition, your life, and then the other

18:29

scholarships. You can split it up. You can get a fifty percent

18:31

scholarship twenty percent. Did you ever

18:34

use academic to also like combat?

18:36

Yeah, so I.

18:37

Had a fool my first year, and then I had

18:40

partial base like split between academic

18:42

and golf the rest of the years.

18:45

So how was it for you balancing school

18:47

and golf?

18:49

For me, I actually didn't know I wanted

18:51

to play professional golf until my

18:54

junior year basically, So before

18:56

that, I was all for the books, all

18:58

for the school. I've always liked

19:00

school. I like, I don't know, I took

19:02

way too many classes to.

19:04

Say, I don't know how you did that.

19:05

Yeah, like I got I mean, I got my master's

19:07

degree and my undergrad in like four years

19:09

just for like I don't know what I

19:11

w I mean, like I have, I'm

19:13

not using it. At

19:16

first. It was way more school heavy,

19:18

right, Like I didn't really not that I can't say

19:20

I didn't care because ones qualifying and came to you

19:23

know, like I was you know, playing, but

19:26

I definitely put more emphasis on school until

19:28

one day I was like, you know what, I kind of want to play,

19:30

like, you know, after school, Like I think,

19:33

like I imagine myself not playing

19:35

golf every day, and that was a really scary

19:37

thought. And when that flipped, it became

19:40

more of like golf was the main focus. So

19:42

balance was always I mean, being a student athlete,

19:44

balance is key anyways, Like.

19:47

It's hard, but it is key. Yeah.

19:49

And then for yourself, Amari, how was

19:51

school and this

19:56

is a sage space it

19:58

is okay?

20:00

Ami Amori started off

20:03

you know where she started off right

20:06

mean, and she just thought better and better

20:08

every single year.

20:10

Yeah, but that was.

20:14

Priority.

20:14

Oh yeah, Like.

20:16

I always say this, but like coming

20:18

into school, like I said, I wanted to turn pro.

20:20

I wanted the whole thing. So I didn't.

20:22

Really like care about school.

20:25

Like I was like, I'm not coming here for school. I'm getting

20:27

a full ride scholarship to pay off in to

20:29

do it at the very best level that I can.

20:31

And after that first semester,

20:34

let me.

20:34

Tell you, let me tell you,

20:36

Okay.

20:37

All right, So I won three

20:40

times in my first like

20:43

I love that slay. The grades were

20:45

not slaying.

20:46

Let's just say that.

20:49

I was.

20:49

Let's just say I was on academic probation

20:52

after the first semester, so I had like

20:54

a weekly bi weekly check

20:56

in with an advisor and like a tutor.

20:59

Yes, and I had multiple tutors and

21:01

that next fall because I came in the spring that

21:03

next fall, I don't think I've seen that many books.

21:06

I've never typed that many words ever

21:08

in my life. But

21:11

like they they had me on a very.

21:13

Tight leash like at USC. But you know,

21:15

like that's to be expected.

21:16

I mean they you're not being invited to the school,

21:18

You're not being paid to go to the school to just play off

21:20

like you're you're a student athlete and the student comes

21:22

first. That was ingrained into my head

21:25

from that fall on.

21:27

So did that attribute to you

21:29

turning pro a lot sooner? Just like I

21:31

don't want to be I don't want to do school anymore.

21:34

I think I'm ready for to turn professional.

21:36

Was that part of it? Well?

21:37

You know, the thing is I actually really came to like school,

21:39

Like I actually liked going to class, I like

21:41

doing like I like doing my homework. I would actually

21:43

tell my teammates, like the stuff that I was learning, like

21:46

I actually really liked it, and but it really

21:48

did come to a point where I'm like, you know what, like I

21:50

feel like I did everything that I need to do here justin

21:53

really helped me, you know, become the player that I am.

21:55

And I don't know how much further he can

21:57

take me or the program can take me, and I think it's time

21:59

for me to kind of play the pro life.

22:01

So yeah, yeah, I love that for you. Okay,

22:03

Well before we even jump into the professional

22:05

golf stuff to where you guys are now, I would love

22:07

to hear your guys thoughts on the NIL because

22:09

that became a thing when you guys were

22:12

in college. That's not something that I had,

22:14

and I always wonder like is it a good

22:16

thing? I mean, in hindsight, I think it's a good thing,

22:18

but I think it also adds a lot of pressure too. So how

22:21

was dealing with the NIL for you both?

22:23

Did it affect you? Did you get deals? Christine?

22:27

Yeah, I think NIL is a good thing because

22:30

I'm not what do you mean by pressure?

22:31

So I think what's really unique

22:34

and like there's a lot more new studies kind of coming

22:36

out on the NIL, especially

22:38

for women's athletes and now puts additional

22:41

pressure to now be a persona, to

22:43

now essentially be famous outside of your sport.

22:45

That sometimes I think that newer

22:48

athletes are focusing more

22:50

on that as opposed to just your ability,

22:52

right, like okay, now you want to be an influencer versus

22:55

your you know, being a professional athlete, Like what are you

22:57

here for? You know? So I think it's an

22:59

overall positive, but I think

23:01

for some it can also add this just like you know, out

23:03

of pressure, you know, I.

23:04

See what you mean. I I feel like in AL

23:07

is a good thing overall. I think I think

23:09

that it really I mean, if you don't

23:11

turn professional, even if you like just play

23:13

college and then you graduate and you do whatever

23:16

great job you do, like you still need to learn how

23:18

to sell yourself and like show who

23:20

you are and like, you know, show that,

23:22

Like being in student athlete is very

23:25

like this awesome thing. And

23:27

I feel like an AL has been a really good thing

23:29

for showing people who don't really understand college

23:31

sports how it really works, what work

23:34

we have to put in to keep up with everything

23:36

else in our lives and such. And

23:38

I also feel like a lot of people opted out

23:40

of vinile, like not like it isn't

23:42

like a.

23:43

Oh I opt out.

23:43

It's just like they just choose not to put themselves

23:46

out there as much on social media. Right,

23:48

I personally did. I thought it was the most fun

23:51

thing ever. I mean, I've always been someone who liked

23:53

posting videos. Shogs, like even

23:55

before in Aisle was a thing which happened when

23:58

I was a sophomore.

23:59

Yeah, I got deals. Yeah

24:02

I got paid. I didn't get paid.

24:04

I thought everyone told me it was impossible. Everyone

24:06

told me was impossible because I was a golfer and

24:09

only football players and basketball players

24:11

are able to get anything. Maybe

24:14

if you're like a golfer, but a boy. Right,

24:16

there's a lot more male brands, right, And

24:19

I was just I didn't really believe that, and

24:21

then obviously I was right.

24:24

Yeah, So yeah, I got.

24:25

Paid, and I feel like it's been it's

24:28

been a really good thing for me. It really helped

24:30

me in my transition to turning

24:32

pro as well. Right, So, right,

24:34

and then how about for you a Mari, what was that like? Now

24:36

you're balancing school, you're balancing

24:39

trying to be you know, the best player on the team,

24:41

and now you're dealing with contracts all

24:43

of a sudden, were you dealing with that?

24:45

Like yourself, you're a business girlly,

24:47

now how

24:48

it deals? I,

24:51

Like she said, I think NIL is overall very

24:53

positive thing.

24:54

I think that student athletes

24:56

put in a lot of work and they really should

24:58

be paid for that work. I mean, it's it's

25:01

a hard it's a job to be a student athlete.

25:03

You're not just doing your sport, You're also

25:05

having to maintain your grades, which is something that obviously.

25:07

I learned down the road.

25:10

But yeah, I was

25:12

very fortunate to have a few ANIL deals

25:14

that were pretty significant, and

25:16

like Christine said, like it didn't feel like

25:18

a very welcoming space at first, Like it

25:21

really felt like, yeah, you have to play football

25:23

or you have to play basketball, and on top of that, you have to be the

25:25

star. But I, like

25:28

I said, I was very fortunate. I got

25:30

to partner with my favorite brand in the world, Nike, and

25:32

I love it, so I'm very excited. And yeah,

25:34

that led to more and more deals and it

25:36

was really cool. Like I felt like kind

25:39

of like this crazy like girl

25:41

an IL girl on campus that like played

25:43

golf, but like she has an IL.

25:45

It felt weird, but it's it's.

25:46

Really cool, and I think that student athletes

25:49

should get those kinds of deals because it's awesome

25:51

and honestly, it's awesome to be a student athlete.

25:53

Yeah.

25:53

Yeah,

26:15

So let's talk about professional golf.

26:17

How has the journey been so far for the both

26:19

of you? I think you guys have played in quite a few

26:21

events already, and you both

26:23

just from professional last year. You have you have status

26:25

on EPSOM. Christine, how has.

26:27

It been very different than

26:29

what I expected?

26:30

Really?

26:31

That is for sure, it's a lot of golf.

26:34

I know that sounds silly, but

26:37

before, like when we played as

26:40

a junior or in college, we would go to a tournament

26:42

one practice round, two or three days because

26:44

we played thirty six holes the first day, right, so two

26:47

or three day tournament and then we go back to school

26:49

and we're back to being a student, right

26:51

right. But now we get to the golf course

26:54

on like Monday, and then we're there,

26:56

yeah, and it's Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday,

26:58

Friday, Saturday, and then like

27:01

I'm still like it's still this tournament. I'm

27:03

still hitting the same course, Like yeah,

27:06

so yeah, it's a lot of golf. We only got

27:08

to play a few events this summer. In February

27:10

is when our first full season will start,

27:13

so that'll be really interesting. But I'm really

27:15

glad we played this like like half

27:17

season sort of in the summer, just to get

27:19

a good feel for it, because wow, it's

27:21

a it's very different in college, Like we

27:23

had our coaches get

27:25

the hotel for us, food, you

27:28

know, travel, everything was already taken care of,

27:30

even what we wore, what time to get to the airport,

27:32

right, everything was taken care of. Now I

27:34

have to do it by myself. I had book

27:36

it myself for myself. Yeah,

27:40

so yeah, it's it was. It's very very

27:42

different.

27:43

Mm.

27:44

Was there much of a learning curve you'd say, I'm.

27:47

Percent like I think, you know, leading up

27:49

to leaving school and turning professional,

27:51

I was kind of like thinking in my head like, Okay,

27:53

how's this going to be. Already know it's going to be hard, but then

27:55

you get out there and you're like, oh.

27:57

My gosh, this is

28:00

not what I was thinking.

28:01

Like, I knew it was gonna be difficult with you know, traveling

28:04

and you know, making all of your arrangements, and then on top

28:06

of that playing really good golf and it's like, Okay,

28:10

let's reevaluate here.

28:12

The golf is almost like the easier part because

28:14

golf is still golf. Sure, good golf is

28:16

still good golf. A birdie is still a birdie. But now

28:18

everything around golf and traveling

28:21

is what got really.

28:22

Rough, right, fell up to you. It's a

28:24

very individual sport and in this case,

28:26

right, So yeah, I was able to chat

28:28

with angel Yan on our first episode

28:31

and we had a ball, but she also showed me like the

28:33

real size of professional golf, right, and how

28:35

much you are independent, you are

28:37

paying for it yourself. So I'd love to hear from both of

28:39

you. How are you both supporting yourselves

28:42

in your professional journey?

28:44

Well, for me, I have I am very

28:46

fortunate from like my social media

28:48

and stuff. I've got a few sponsors. I

28:51

like Feathery, they are like my clothing sponsors.

28:54

They have been very supportive of me. I

28:56

have a few like just family they're

28:58

very supportive as well. That's

29:02

yeah, It's it's tough. Like I

29:04

feel like there's so many really great

29:07

golfers out there, but not everyone can

29:09

play professional golf for one reason or another.

29:11

So I'm very lucky to, you know, have

29:13

the chance.

29:14

To and for yourself, Amori.

29:16

Yeah, I would say the same. It's definitely family and sponsors.

29:18

Yeah, I like I said, I'm very fortunate

29:21

to be with a brand like Nike. They're they're

29:23

a big supporter of mine, and also

29:25

with Lexus and Taylor made like they they're

29:27

the reason why I'm playing golf. I'm playing professional

29:30

golf, So love them. I think they're they're

29:32

great supporters. And of course my family, like they're

29:34

always going to be there for me, whether whether it's financially

29:37

or just you know, being emotionally there.

29:39

So yeah, and you know, it's not all

29:41

sunshines and rabels like everyone makes it out to be.

29:43

But at the end of the day, it's it's really something

29:45

that I want to do and I want to be a part of. So

29:48

no matter how grueling it can be, sometimes I

29:50

really am having the time of life good.

29:52

I was just gonna check out, like, are you guys are having fun?

29:54

Right?

29:54

Having good time? Are we balancing our personal

29:57

lives?

29:57

Are?

29:58

Okay?

29:58

I think it's like I see a lot of

30:00

I mean, I graduated with like everyone in

30:02

my class, right, so all my friends, the ones who

30:05

are working like a nine to five or like nine

30:07

to n I like, but it's

30:09

like, it's like, golf is still a job at the end

30:11

of the day, but I cannot pick

30:14

a better job, living a life.

30:16

Like your office. This is my So

30:19

have either of you had any pinch me moment

30:22

moments since turning professional?

30:24

I played a Monday qualifier for LPG

30:26

event and right behind me was

30:29

Nelly Korda. When I like saw her

30:31

tea off and then I like I ted

30:33

off and then she teed off like right behind me. I

30:35

was like, what, it's so weird, like

30:38

usually on a little screen.

30:40

Yeah, yeah, and then have that for you.

30:42

Mark.

30:43

I honestly, I haven't really had any pinch me moments.

30:45

I wouldn't say I I definitely at

30:48

the end of the year, once the season was wrapped, I was like,

30:50

oh my god, like I'm really a pronoun because

30:52

like I mean, I I mean we basically went

30:54

from Nationals in May and then went

30:57

straight into the first event three like like three weeks

30:59

or later.

30:59

Yeah.

31:00

Yeah, like we were already at our first steps in an event,

31:02

and I was like, okay, so not in college

31:05

anymore.

31:05

My dad's with me actually for the.

31:06

First time in months. Yeah, on the course,

31:08

and he's catting for me again like old times. So yeah,

31:11

it definitely didn't hit me until after where I was like, okay,

31:13

like this is this is.

31:14

The new life now.

31:15

But honestly I love it. I I

31:18

can't wait for my first pinch mean moment.

31:19

Oh yeah, when I got my first check,

31:22

I was gonna say.

31:23

I wouldn't want to assume when you guys got your first check

31:25

that would.

31:26

Have to be a pinching moment when I like, when I saw

31:28

that I made my first caught, Yeah, it was the most

31:30

exciting thing ever. Yeah, because then I saw

31:32

my bank cowgo.

31:35

And I was like, yes, we love to see

31:37

that. Okay, So shifting gears here. You

31:39

know, as I mentioned earlier and we talked about, well,

31:41

like women's golf has grown a ton. There's been

31:44

a huge movement, especially since the pandemic.

31:46

So seeing from where a golf was when you guys

31:48

were first starting out to where it is now. On a

31:50

scale of one to ten, how would you say woman's

31:53

golf is doing in terms of being welcoming

31:56

welcoming?

31:56

I would say a nine.

31:59

That's really good.

32:00

I feel like everyone's like, if you're a

32:02

girl who's like golf, I'm sure you can

32:04

attest to this, Like, I am happy to

32:06

like encourage anyone, any girl

32:09

to play golf. I think everyone should play golf.

32:11

I like that rating. Yeah, I think it's very generous.

32:13

I think that, Yeah, do

32:16

you disagree.

32:17

I don't disagree, but I wouldn't give it a nine.

32:19

I'd probably give you like seven and a half or yeah, okay,

32:21

I think that's fair.

32:22

I think that people are like a nine.

32:24

Yeah. I mean there's there's always room for improvement.

32:27

I mean it's gonna take a long time.

32:29

Yeah, it's not gonna be like exactly the

32:31

men's tea. Yeah, like yeah, league

32:34

anytime soon.

32:35

Yeah, I mean the hope is to obviously

32:37

get there. I will say that. I mean I would agree,

32:39

I would probably give like a seven. Yeah, in my opinion,

32:42

just because not that long ago. No,

32:45

as you should the world, right,

32:48

so not that long ago. Oddly enough, I

32:50

had a Marshall come up to me and

32:52

tell me that you need to go tee it up on the children's

32:55

teeth. Like we're not even talking about the forward red teas.

32:57

I'm talking about the yellow that the one that's like in the fairway. And

32:59

I thought, I'm like, if you're looking at

33:01

my outfit and my I was gonna say, they

33:03

just like, look at your outfit. I'm like, you didn't think

33:05

that I look like I knew what I was doing. I was like,

33:07

bro, that's crazy. Luckily I

33:09

stuck it and he then clapped for me, and I was

33:12

very upset with him. I then reported him and I posted

33:14

about it and I made a scene. But yeah,

33:17

as you should.

33:18

You have to.

33:19

You have to because otherwise they think it's

33:21

okay. And it's not just Marshals,

33:23

it's like other players. Like some I'll

33:26

go to like a public course and I

33:28

am paired up with some random three guys and

33:30

they're like, I this happened like over

33:33

the summer when I was here in LA. They were

33:35

like, Oh, I don't like really want to play with

33:37

that girl, Like can we just go three of us alone

33:39

for like right now. I was like, Hey, like, I don't

33:41

really want to play with you either, but

33:44

yeah, I think you just assumed that I didn't

33:46

play.

33:47

I think I think one of the best feelings is just like

33:49

showing them off, like a mic drop moment I would

33:51

imagine with how far you hit it? And I like, bitch,

33:55

all right, Yeah, I won't say anything anymore.

33:58

So, so what do you think is something that can

34:00

make it less intimidating for women if

34:02

you can give like quick advice for

34:04

any woman who are just wanting to get into

34:06

it. I don't know.

34:07

I don't really feel like it's super

34:09

intimidating for the you know, women's

34:11

golf space. I think it definitely does welcome,

34:14

you know, little girls and boys to play.

34:16

But what's tough is getting little

34:18

girls to stick with it, yes, right,

34:20

because like getting them into it, like introducing

34:23

them. I think there's so many programs like girls Golf

34:25

First Teas that's there,

34:28

but getting them to stay with it is tough for

34:30

me. I remember it was even tough I wanted to play

34:32

soccer when I was growing up because like none

34:35

of my friends played golf, right, so,

34:37

like there's no other girls. I feel like if you can keep

34:39

those programs continuing when

34:41

you get older.

34:42

Yeah, And I think I think you kind of have to make the

34:45

sport a little bit more interesting, like

34:47

something fun to watch. I think a lot of

34:49

times when you think of golf, you think of the PGA Tour.

34:51

Like no one, I'm sorry, like no one's thinking

34:54

of big Girl. I

34:56

mean, we all want to be there, we all want to get to the LPGA

34:59

Tour, but sure none's thinking of that

35:01

when you first look at a golfer, like

35:03

watch TV. So I think you have to

35:05

make it more interesting for girls, for

35:07

girls to watch, because I like, like you said, you

35:09

can always introduce people to the sport. You can always

35:11

introduce the young girls to the sport, but it's

35:13

them sticking with it, finding it interesting, wanting

35:16

to be the first to do this, or the

35:18

first to win three majors in a row or whatever,

35:20

like you know, like you want to make it interesting and not

35:22

just like.

35:22

A oh, it's just golf, right, Oh, which

35:24

is boring.

35:25

Because I've heard so I've heard so many different people

35:27

say that, like girls, guys, anybody between,

35:30

Like everyone says that like about golf and

35:32

how it's boring, and I'm.

35:33

Like, well, it's really not.

35:34

It's not boring.

35:35

Yeah, Like you know, you have to showcase certain people

35:37

and that where that's where it kind of all comes to social

35:39

media and personalities, like exactly,

35:42

you know, if you're not making a big star out

35:44

of some of these players, then what.

35:45

Are we doing?

35:46

Golf needs more characters. Yeah, that's

35:48

like women's women's golf needs

35:50

more characters, and I just I

35:53

mean, I'm sure I think you and Angel talked about that too

35:55

or a lot. Yeah, every day.

35:58

I mean like that's I'm mean,

36:00

that's a whole thing with like my social media. I always want

36:02

to make it seem make go off seem fun for little

36:04

girls like that. If that, if there's a goal,

36:06

if there was any strategy in what I pose, like that

36:08

would be what it would be, right, Like, I want

36:11

to make golf seem cool.

36:12

Yeah, because it is cool. So

36:14

I'm really looking forward to, especially you two, being

36:17

a part of that journey, changing the game, Amari

36:19

posting more and showing her personality like she

36:22

is right here, got to day, it's going

36:24

up today. There you go, She's got something happen

36:26

and be sure to tune in. That's right. So

36:28

okay, before we end the podcast, I do want to end

36:30

on a much more lighter fun note. So let's

36:33

talk about it. Golf ex What

36:35

do you got for me? Slow play?

36:38

Yes, absolutely, yeah. Dirty

36:42

towels really like overally

36:45

dirty towels, like something that like, come

36:47

on, that's that's dirty your club, it's not cleany.

36:50

I don't know why that bothers me.

36:52

What about white pants on guys?

36:55

Okay, I don't mind it.

36:56

I don't Yeah, they got to be fit. Yeah,

36:59

they make that much. I'm not trying to try my

37:01

bad Okay, okay, what

37:04

about club twirling? Love

37:06

it?

37:06

Okay if you if you can do

37:08

it, you can do it.

37:09

If you do what I do.

37:11

We're like wiggles and like,

37:13

yeah, we cannot end this podcast without talking

37:15

about her.

37:16

Terrible. You can't

37:18

club tool, Christine? What

37:20

do you mean? It's so sad. It's just like

37:22

a pinch of the finger. You know, maybe it's going the

37:25

wrong way.

37:26

I know, I like, I

37:28

do, I go like this.

37:30

I like you support it with

37:32

the you know, the bottom hand.

37:34

You can show me later.

37:35

Okay, you know it's not terrible, but

37:37

it does need some improvement.

37:39

Okay, what about I mean it's a golfic

37:41

for me when people say it's a good shot before the ball lands.

37:44

Oh really Yeah. If it's not

37:46

good and they say good shot, I'm like, bro, you

37:48

try to mess with me. That's

37:52

like I don't like that or like the person.

37:54

And maybe this is too specific, but like like let's

37:56

say you're putting on the green right and I can

37:58

feel the person moved before my stroke

38:00

is done. I don't know. It's a very

38:02

particular thing, like there are people who are

38:05

like already ready to go, and I'm like, unless you're

38:07

completely like at the back of my head, don't move,

38:09

I'm not. I don't want to see your shadow like I would.

38:11

I wonder if that's a women's golf thing, because

38:13

I just I just came from watching a men's tournament and

38:15

I'm like, all the guys, there's three guys

38:18

in this group, and all three of them

38:20

are in like a ten feet like ten foot

38:22

radius of each other. There's

38:24

like one on the other side of the cup and then one in front of the

38:26

guy. And I'm like, do you guys not like see this

38:28

this guy right here?

38:29

But women's golf.

38:30

I'm like, if if anyone's

38:32

a blade of grass,

38:38

yeah, I love it.

38:40

Well, yeah, both of you. Thank you so much

38:42

for joining the party. That was a lot of fun.

38:44

Where can everyone find you and follow you?

38:46

All?

38:47

My social media's are at the Christine

38:49

Wang a copy for Michelle

38:52

when I was.

38:52

Like, I'll tell Michelle

38:54

that.

38:56

She's big time Michelle

39:00

the party, yes, or we're gonna try

39:02

and get her on.

39:02

But she's kind of busy being a mom right now. Now.

39:04

When I was a I like made

39:07

my Instagram account and

39:09

I saw Michelle Wee was the Michelle

39:11

Wee, so I was like, I'll.

39:12

Be the Okay, well, I'll be

39:14

the boring a Mari underscore aver.

39:16

That's where you can find a Mari.

39:17

Y'all find me there.

39:19

Amazing.

39:20

Well, that is all that we have for you today. Till

39:22

next time.

39:23

Bam mm hmmmm

39:25

hmmmm.

39:31

Welcome to the Party with Tasha Allen is an iHeart

39:33

Woman's sports production in partnership with Deep

39:35

Blue Sports and Entertainment. I'm your host,

39:37

Tasha Allen. Julia Weaver is our

39:39

lead producer and showrunner. Our executive

39:41

producers are Christina Everett and Jesse Katz.

39:44

Special thanks to Jess McAllister and the teams

39:46

at GERSH and Catalyst nine. Listen to Welcome

39:48

to the Party with Tasha Allen on the iHeartRadio

39:51

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

39:53

you get your podcasts.