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Player Profile: Q&A with Brady Exber
12 Sep 2014
by Conner Penfold of AmateurGolf.com

see also: , Brady Exber Profile

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Sept 12, 2014) — 58- year-old Brady Exber of Las Vegas, Nev. is having a career year on the amateur circuit. After winning the British Senior Amateur, Exber made a tremendous weekend comeback at the Canadian Senior Amateur to finish in second place behind Doug Roxburgh. Now, heading into the 2014 U.S. Senior Amateur at Big Canyon Country Club, Exber was nice enough to sit down for a bit to talk about his big year, what it's like playing with the collegiate kids, and his Houston Astros hat.

AGC: You're having an incredible year in 2014, winning the British Senior Amateur and placing second at the Canadian Senior Amateur. But let's talk about the British Senior. You've played well in that event multiple times prior to winning. Do you enjoy Links style courses?

Exber: You know, it's funny. That was my fourth go-around out there and I finished sixth and then fifth and then last year at Royal Aberdeen I shot 69 the first day and was tied with George Zahringer for the lead. I thought, maybe this Links golf is okay for me. And then just when you think you're comfortable, it's when it gets you. I shot 89 the next day and missed the cut. So this year, I traveled with my friend Doug Pool from Las Vegas and we were thinking what it would take for us to be exempt next year at Royal County Down and we decided that it would take a top-30 finish. So I was really playing for a top-30 finish and I just kind of got off to a good start and had a one-shot leading going into the last day, so then I wasn't playing for a top-30.

AGC: Obviously winning the U.S. Senior Amateur would be special for you, being from the United States. But having won the British Senior, was that a unique feeling for you to be able to go over there and beat those guys?

Exber: Yeah. I was a pretty good local player and could play the local tournaments real well and I would travel just a little bit. You have to learn to have your game travel with you. It's not automatic. Now to go to a different country, different continent, different everything, and have your game go with you, it's pretty neat. Golf has such a great meaning over there. Just the meaning of golf in England is just terrific.

AGC: Rumor has it the course you played in this year's Canadian Senior Amateur was just fantastic. Tell me about that track.

Exber: Capilano [Golf Club] is in Vancouver and most Americans don't know about it but I've played there twice before in the Pacific Coast Amateur — and one was last year. It is a phenomenal golf course and it is in absolutely perfect condition. The greens were very quick and undulating and just in perfect condition. Fairways, greens, everything.

AGC: How did you feel like you played in that event? Were you happy coming in second place?

Exber: Well, I got off to a slow start the first day; I shot 74.

AGC: You had quite the weekend, didn't you?

Exber: I had a good weekend. I closed with 67-68 so it was kind of a furious comeback for me. But I played well. The two middle rounds up there I played really well. The second round I didn't make a bogey and had two birdies coming into the last hole and I fatted a sand wedge from 97 yards and wound up making double-bogey and shot even. Then the next day I didn't have a bogey but again had a double. I got into a good groove there.

AGC: Seeing photos of you winning this year, I couldn't help but notice you like to wear a Houston Astros hat. What's that all about?

Exber: My friend Jim Crane was buying the Astros and he asked me if I would like to be in the investors group and so I said, "Yeah, sure!" So he let me in the investors group and so I like to wear my Astros colors.

AGC: Have you started to get a good feel for that team?

Exber: Yeah we're going to be good. A lot of young talent on the major league team and right on down through the minor leagues. The future looks good for the Astros.

AGC: You mentioned the Pacific Coast Amateur earlier. You've played in that event pretty frequently. What's it like playing with all the young collegiate talent at your age?

Exber: I enjoy it. I play probably three or four times a year with them and I really don't have any business playing with them because my game is not up to that level but I can kind of compete. I finished in the top half of the field this year and I've made the cut every time, though there's no cut at the Pacific Coast. I made the cut at the Azalea [Invitational] and South Beach Amateur and the Southwestern Amateur. I finished 12th at the Southwestern so that was a good finish for me there. I like playing with them. They keep my game sharp. They keep you swinging fast. When you get older, you lose your speed because you're older. But with the kids, they keep you swinging fast.

AGC: What did you think of Corey Pereira this year, shooting back-to-back 62's? Isn't that just unbelievable?

Exber: Unbelievable. That's a pretty rare feat. Normally it's hard to follow up a low score with another low score but it was incredible. I think one kid shot 62 the first day and the next day there was a 61. He said, "I'm really disappointed. I only had the course record one day." That was really something. I don't care where you're playing. 62 is low.

AGC: What part of your game right now do you feel is strongest and has allowed you to play so well this year?

Exber: I think I've been playing well this summer because I've been driving it better. I hate to sound like a NASCAR salesman but I've got this new SLDR driver and I'm just hitting a bunch of fairways with it. I think that really takes the pressure off everything else. I've always been a pretty good short putter so if I hit a lot of fairways and putt the short ones good … if you start good and finish good on every hole, that's a good thing. The thing that really got me playing was when we played an event at Los Angeles Country Club in June, the George C. Thomas Invitational, and I came from behind the last day and I beat Jeff Burda who is a great player and I played really well the last day. I think I missed one shot. I mean, I really mis-hit one shot that day. I think that's the round that kind of clicked for me. And I've just been playing pretty well since then.

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