Connor Creasy, a junior on the University of Georgia’s men’s golf team is playing some of his best golf this spring, with two top-10 finishes since March and a top-20 finish in the SEC championship.
Creasy sat down ahead of the team’s appearance May 15 through 17 in the NCAA regionals at Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath, Michigan, to discuss his game, his preparation and what he expects in the upcoming postseason rounds.
(This interview has been edited for clarity.)
Q: How did you grow to love the game of golf – was it from a young age or did it develop over time?
A: I probably started taking it up pretty seriously when I was around 12. I played a lot of sports growing up, basketball, baseball and football….But for some reason, I kind of got the itch to play more golf when I was around 12 and really started taking it seriously when I was probably 14. I liked the challenge of it and I just enjoyed playing.
Q: What professional golfer would you compare yourself to?
A: I want to be more like Harris English. He obviously played here and he’s just so calm and collected, not flashy or anything. Just a very solid all-around game. So, I try to be more like him.
Q: What’s the best course you’ve ever played?
A: I’m going to go with Mountain Top in Highlands, North Carolina, and Augusta (National). Mountain Top is just a nice course and the whole vibe is very laid back and everyone’s chill, I like that a lot. Augusta, just the history and the shots, and I’ve watched so many YouTube videos of people around there.
Q: Is there a defining moment to you that sticks out in your golf career?
A: I would say one of the most memorable rounds in my life was junior year of high school in the state championship on my home course. As a team, we were one shot back going into the last day. I was two shots back individually and shot 68. There were a lot of people out watching so that was probably one of the most memorable days.
Q: What’s the best thing that you’ve learned from your golf career here at UGA?
A: It’s a game of misses. Day-in and day-out. It’s not about being perfect. It’s just about managing your game and managing yourself. So, you can better understand when you don’t have it that day and try to create the best score that you can. It’s not a game of being perfect.
Q: Who would you say is your biggest inspiration?
A: My senior year of high school, the day before graduation, one of my best friends (Kirk Narin) died. I say that’s a big inspiration for me because he was my best friend and a really hard worker. We would hang out every day and he was just super encouraging. We were always trying to get each other to be our best and he’s a big inspiration to me.
Q: What does your round preparation look like?
A: I like listening to a lot of music. I’ve always got my air pods in for a couple hours before the round. Mainly rap, but I like all music, pop, country and alternative. And then about 20 minutes of stretching. Then I hit balls for 20 minutes, putt for 10 or 15, and then I’m ready to roll.
Q: What’s been the biggest struggle or challenge you’ve faced in golf?
A: I had a pretty rough stretch last year. It seemed like it was never going to end. But as an athlete, you just keep working through it, waking up every day and thinking that it’s going to be a good day. Eventually, things start to turn around. You (must) work your way back out of it and that gave me a lot of confidence. I still think I’m on the upswing from that.
Q: When you’re not on the golf course, what are you doing the most?
A: At home, I have a chocolate Labradoodle. We hang out every day and go on a few walks. When I’m here, I just like to hang out with my friends. We’ll either go play basketball, chill or watch movies.
Q: What are your thoughts so far from this season?
A: We’ve played OK, we’ve had our moments. We’re really going to pop through and explode as our coach always says, but we still haven’t reached our potential yet as a team. I think our best team golf is in front of us for sure.
Q: What are your goals heading into the postseason?
A: At regionals, we know what we have to do. We know we (must) get top five to go to the NCAA championships. So, we’re (going to) go out there and try to win. We still haven’t had a few days in a row where we all really go out and play solid and not give any shots away. So, I think we’re due to have a really good tournament as a team.
Hank Tatum is a student in the Sports Media Certificate program at the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
