Get to Know Justin Suh

Justin Suh is a junior men's golfer at USC who has jostled between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranking in the nation this season. The San Jose, Calif. native was recently named a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist. We sat down with Suh to learn more about him and how he became such a dominant force in the collegiate golf scene.

Q: How did you get started golfing in the first place?

A: My dad. He started both me and my sister. I was about four. My sister started pretty young as well. I kind of grew up watching her. She's three years older than me and actually went on to play four years at Berkeley. My dad was a huge golfing fan. So, I grew up waking up to him waking up to play golf and I kind of grew into it. I [eventually] was the one who actually was waking him up early and he always took me out there.

Q: What was it about the sport of golf that got you hooked?

A: Competition. For me, I can still remember the first big tournament I won. I started off playing in U.S. Kids, but the first one I really remember is this JGANC event. It was like 9 and under. I remember beating this guy. We went to playoff holes and I remember that feeling so clearly, winning that playoff one. I got hooked right then. From then, I watched my sister. She was kind of an idol to me, her and my dad. And she was always winning and I kind of lived under her shadows growing up. And for me, I was always trying to compete against her and kind of rise into the spotlight, into my parents' eyes. It kind of gradually became something I just fell in love with.

Q: Growing up you said your sister and your dad were your golf idols. Did you have a professional player that was your idol?

A: Tiger Woods. I still remember me, my dad and my sister watching on our TV ... our eyes were glued when we watched Tiger.

Q: What was it about Tiger?

A: Just everything. The game grew with him and I was part of that crowd that kind of got hooked. The excitement that he brought to the game. He's obviously known for his fist pumps and celebrations. That intensity is something that I always pictured myself doing in a tournament. That's kind of where I imagined myself. I always try to put myself in his shoes during tournaments.

Q; When you reflect back on your success growing up, how do you think that set you up for success here at USC?

A: I kind of grew up understanding the game on my own. Obviously, my dad was there teaching both me and my sister, but when we're out on the range I kind of adjusted to myself. That's kind of what I bring to college. I never really grew up with a golf coach. I grew up practicing on my own or with my sister and we just kind of competed. For us to compete, without having a golf coach, you just kind of have to figure it out. And that's kind of how college is. When you're out playing at a tournament you can't rely on your golf coach to come back and help you out in the middle of a round. You have to adjust during the tournament rounds. So that's something that I grew up doing anyway and that's helped me in college competition. It's just me understanding my game the best.

Q: So you didn't grow up with any golf coach at all? It was just your family?

A: I remember seeing one golf coach… that was just five lessons. Since my freshman year, I've probably taken a total of four lessons. Maybe a little bit more than four times, but around there.

Q: Is that unique?

A: Kind of nowadays, yeah. Golfers are now more prone to get a golf coach. But for me, I'm not really big on that, just because I understand my game the most. So, it's kind of tough to have someone jump on board and kind of be where I'm at.

Q: Why did you choose to come to USC?

A: When I started to become better in junior golf I remember seeing Coach Zambri and John Wurzer, who was the assistant coach at the time. They came out to watch a few tournaments in the summer and they kind of recruited me very early. I committed at the end of my freshman year of high school. So, since then they showed so much interest. I didn't grow up as much of a college fan. So, I didn't know much about the USC tradition, but as I got to be more affiliated with Chris Zambri and just kind of like them showing me what USC is all about… I felt like I hit the jackpot when I committed.

Q: Did you expect to come in here as a freshman and have an immediate impact?

A: To be honest I wanted to, but honestly, I don't think I did in the beginning. Freshman year it was kind of a struggle. I definitely didn't play well the fall season. I played better in the spring, but I think what I contributed to the team the most was my practice regimen. The guys kind of saw how much I was working to get better and it made them better as well because they were like, "This freshman is catching up." So, they started practicing and I think that's kind of what I brought to the table, just that competitiveness, just that work regimen that they saw in another competitor, which was another teammate.

Q: Is your goal to play golf after college?

A: Yeah, turn pro after college, but degree first.

Q: How does it feel to be one of the top collegiate golfers in the nation?

A: It honestly feels pretty good, but as things go forward not much has changed. We're always competing week in, week out and there's so much to improve on. Jamie Lovemark, he's an alum here and he's doing really good in PGA. And kind of seeing what he's doing in PGA and what I'm doing in college, there is still room for improvement. Being No. 1 really hasn't changed when you know there's another step out there where everyone is so much better. So that's kind of what I'm trying to do is just humble myself and keep working at it because there is so much room for improvement, especially in golf.

Q: What are things you are looking to improve on?

A: Right now, it's the small stuff like distance control and controlling trajectory. Mentality is a big aspect of it. We're working with our sports psychologist, Kevin Sverduk, and he's helped me when it comes down to pressured situations. When you're holding a lead going down to the last three holes or you're holding a lead going in to the last round, he guides us into that approach and shows us how to handle pressure in these situations. That was a big turnaround from me in freshman year to me in junior year. Definitely the work has paid off.

Q: What do you do to stay calm?

A: He's big on meditation, but for him we worked a lot on embracing the variables. In that sense, it means you have no idea how you're going to play today. You can't force yourself to make a birdie. You can't force yourself to make a par. All you know is you have one shot and your best way to execute that shot is to focus on that shot. And after that there's another one and after that there's another one. And for us we're just trying to take it one shot at a time and it's kind of just accepting that you're not going to play perfect rounds. There might be a bad shot or there might be a bad hole, but after that it doesn't matter. It's on to the next. He's kind of always reminding me. We even worked on it this morning. We're still working on it. So that's a cool thing.

Q: As one of the oldest on the team, do you find yourself now having a leadership role.

A: I do, especially because our guys are so young. I feel they kind of look up to me, which is a cool feeling because before last year I was a young guy. I was one of the youngest on the starting line-up and that quick turnaround from being that young guy to now being the oldest is some pressure because all the freshmen are coming up. This is all new to them and they're kind of looking at me to see how I approach college golf, competition, and school. It's a lot of responsibility teaching them how to handle all these things, but it's a cool role to take on.

Q: What is the team dynamic like?

A: It's definitely different from what we had last year. This year is a lot more calm. Everyone is kind of more independent in their personal ambitions. But as a team we all know that we need to get a little better before nationals and that's something that we're working on day in, day out. We all know exactly what we need to get better at and our coach is doing a great job kind of showing us and guiding us on how to get there, and what practice is going to get to the performance that we want to see before nationals.

Q: Do you have a motto or saying you live by?

A: There's a quote that I put on Instagram. It's from the TV show Suits. There's a guy named Harvey Specter and he says, "I don't have dreams, I have goals."

Q: What do you do for fun when you're not golfing or studying?

A: I live with the tennis team. So, it's kind of a different dynamic in that aspect. And they're all fun, outgoing guys. Every time I go back home is kind of a step away from golf. It's kind of cool to not think about [golf] when I'm at home. I kind of take that separately. For fun we just hang out, just listen to music, just kind of enjoy the banter.

Q: Do you have a favorite golf memory?

A: It was definitely when I won the qualifying at Sectionals to go to the U.S. Open. That was an unbelievable moment. I remember I had no idea if I'd made it or not and as soon as I made my last put I remember my caddy came over. He gives me this huge hug and then another teammate of mine comes over and he pours water on my head. And I'm like, "Am I in?" And they're like "Yeah." I remember walking down to the parking lot before I saw my scorecard. I remember, I see my dad coming from the parking lot. He was so nervous he couldn't watch me finish. I remember my dad coming over and he gives me one of the biggest hugs ever and it's just such a satisfying feeling because we grew up, me and my dad, just kind of always picturing myself playing in a US Open. That was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. Just like, "Dad we did it." And that was just such a special moment for me and him and something we'll share for the rest of our lives.

Q: Do you have a favorite USC memory?

A: My favorite USC memory has to be at Regionals freshman year. It was coming down to the stretch, the last day. It was down in New Mexico. We had Regionals there. I think we were like three back from the cut line. If you don't make the cut line you don't go to Nationals. Our coach had been to Nationals every year in his career. So, it's a pretty big deal. This was the most pressure I've ever felt. As a freshman, it was the most pressure I'd ever felt in any of my golf careers because you've got your team, you've got Zambri with his past.

I think it was hole 13 or 14 and I remember, I know we're in a tight spot. I hook it out of bounds and I see Zambri in the hole next to me, to the right. I see Zambri taking his hat off. He's upset. I'm just like, "Oh my god, what have I done?" I ended up making triple and he comes up to me at the next hole and he's like, "We've got this, you know we're a few back." I ended up having one of my greatest finishes. I think I went par, birdie, birdie, par, eagle. And I made the eagle in the last one.

I've got the team watching me, both my coaches, and I have no idea where I stand, but I know that it's a huge putt because this is the putt for us to get into Nationals. I ended up making it. I remember I was so numb in my feeling and as soon as I made it I couldn't feel my face. I go to the scoring tent and [Coach] comes out with me. I remember signing my card and I'm just like "Coach can you double check this because I have no idea what I wrote." There was just so much adrenaline coming in. Seeing my coaches so happy, it was just such a cool feeling as a freshman to be part of that big moment. Even playing at Nationals freshman and sophomore year. It was intense, but that moment got us there.

Q: What is your 'I've made it' moment going to be?

A: To be honest, playing in the majors and winning in the majors, that's all kind of blurred in together for me. Because when you're out there competing against the best guys obviously, everyone's trying to be No. 1. But even when you're No. 1, like for me, what comes is just like…this is going to sound cheesy, but happiness. For me, professionally [the goal is] to be No. 1 in the world on the PGA, but for me to say that I made it would probably when I feel the most happy.

Next up for Suh and the Trojans is the Pac-12 Championship at Rolling Hills Country Club from April 23-25.

Players Mentioned

Justin Suh

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