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.