Grant Hirschman Q&A
Grant Hirschman is now in his second year on the Korn Ferry Tour and his experienced combined with the support from arguably the most talented house of golfers in the world has helped him collect a handful of very solid results in 2020.
Hirschman – who lives with fellow Korn Ferry Tour members Charlie Saxon and Max McGreevy, along with 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and TOUR member Scottie Scheffler – has had a steady season, all things considered, and is in a great position to make a move through 2021 to earn a TOUR card for the first time.
Here the 25-year-old Memphis native spent a few minutes with PGA TOUR Digital chatting about his housemates, the thrill of winning a national championship with his University of Oklahoma teammates and the perspective he gets every day from his sister Emily, who has special needs.
This year has been totally unprecedented. You had a couple of solid results at the beginning of the season, then the break, and a couple more good results to this point. How would you assess 2020?
I started out the year and that swing through Bahamas, Panama and Colombia really well – I made all the cuts to start out the year. Then I came back from the break playing pretty good. It wasn’t great but I was managing to get by. I hit a little stretch in the middle where I was close but I would have a bad first round and I’d be in a hole or I’d make a couple bad decisions early and I’ve just tried to stay patient with it. It’s like a 45-event season so everyone is going to go through little spells where maybe they don’t play their best golf but it’s all about grinding through it.
Your house in Dallas is pretty famous these days, considering who all lives in it. What’s been the best part of that set up for you?
We all kind of keep each other accountable. We have our own home gym so we keep each other accountable in there. We go do that as much as we can. The four of us got out and played throughout quarantine quite a bit. We always tried to get a game, the four of us. It’s just nice to be around guys who do the same thing as you – because what we do is so different compared to the normal 9-5 job. It’s nice to be around people on the same grind; whether it be waking up early for a tee-time or whatever, it’s been nice to have the four of us all go through it together and we’ve all played well for the most part since we’ve lived together so we can pick each other’s brains and build some momentum off each other too.
It wouldn’t be the same if you were all accountants.
Exactly. We all have different schedules. It is fun when we’re all back but for the most part there are not too many weeks when the four of us are just sitting there back at the house staring at each other.
How did you end up deciding that golf was going to be a viable career choice?
I never really thought too much about playing professionally until I went into college. I had a really good summer of amateur golf going into my freshman year of college where I won the Southeastern Amateur and I contended in several other amateur events. I really didn’t have any business playing in amateur events at the time because I was actually a junior golfer. But I decided to play amateur golf that summer and it was great. That was the point where I was like, ‘if I go into college and take care of my business and get better each year then I can definitely give pro golf a shot.’ I always told myself I wasn’t going to turn pro unless I could contend and win on the PGA TOUR. I just felt like it wouldn’t be worth the time or grind if I didn’t truly believe in myself.
Did you play other sports growing up?
I played basketball. I played a lot of basketball. I played school and competitive basketball all the way up until eighth grade but that’s when I quit and focused on golf. I realized I didn’t quite have the size to keep playing basketball so golf was the better career choice for me (laughs). It was an easy decision.
How did you decide on Oklahoma?
I was always in SEC-country growing up in Memphis so I mainly visited SEC schools and just randomly I met Coach (Ryan) Hybl at a golf tournament – he was actually following two of my friends I was playing a practice round with. He ended up watching me randomly. He liked my game and watched me later in the tournament, then asked me to come on a visit. I really didn’t want to, but I loved it. Then I went back on a second visit and just felt like I loved Coach Hybl, the facilities there I felt like were exactly what I wanted and it was only eight hours from home – it wasn’t too far away. I really believed in him and I felt like he could make me a better golfer. I liked the team atmosphere there as well.
Even now, a few years later, where does winning that National Championship stack up in terms of accomplishments?
It was my junior year and I would still rank it as my No. 1 golf memory. It’s going to be really hard to beat because winning a tournament individually doesn’t really compare to winning something as a team. You went through the grind together, that entire year, but that week itself was so long for the five of us and winning in the end was amazing. The feeling of winning that championship was unbelievable.
You went to Oklahoma for school and now live in Texas – are you still connected to Memphis?
I’m still very connected. I still have the same swing coach from Memphis that I take lessons from. I go back there to see him. I have a ton of family and friends I go see there. I go back quite a bit throughout the year. I’m always there for weeks around Thanksgiving and Christmas – I make my way back as much as I can.
Are you a big fan of Memphis’ sports teams?
I’m a big fan of the Grizzlies, a big fan of the Memphis Tigers. I’m a big Memphis sports fan.
How about away from golf – what do you like to do?
Hunting and fishing, I would say. Anything outdoors. I really haven’t gone on too many hikes as of late but I’ve gone on some with Charlie (Saxon) whenever we can. Most of my off-season will entail me hunting as much as I can.
Do you have a particular place you like to go?
I always go to my buddy’s cabin, which is in Vaiden, Mississippi. It is the absolute middle-of-nowhere. But he’s my best friend from growing up and I think I’ve been going there for probably 15 years. I always joke about – “If I make it big, I’m going to buy land in Vaiden, Mississippi.”
Your sister has Down syndrome – how has that impacted your perspective on golf and life?
My little sister Emily – she’s the happiest human being ever. It really puts perspective into your life when you’re around her because she never has a bad day. It doesn’t matter what happens she’s always happy. Every single person she passes in the car she waves at and almost every single time the person in the other car will smile and wave back so it’s like almost every single person she comes in contact with she effects them positively. Being around that has really changed me and changed my outlook on a bad round of golf or a bad tournament or a bad stretch. It’s not that big of a deal. 0 comments
