The Importance of Good Character & Managing Priorities with Boyd Summerhays

The Jason Mitchell Show

Jason sits down with Boyd Summerhays, a prestigious golf coach for standout PGA superstars like Tony Finau, about the value of keeping family first in both a personal and professional context, and how to go about managing the relationships of multiple business partners simultaneously.

Boyd emphasizes that who he takes on as a coach has to match up with his dueling responsibilities as a father. His son, Preston Summerhays, is currently one of the top amateur players in the country and the rest of his children are all standout players in their own right. He always makes it clear to any prospective clients up front that he has to prioritize staying around family because of it. This has actually become a unique selling point to him as a coach, as people crave being around that family environment, as opposed to being a limiting factor in his career.

He also has a special partnership with Finau, making him another key factor he has to consider when taking on another professional player. When he first got the offer to coach other players, he was nervous about how it could change their dynamic, but it ended up being better for everyone. Boyd makes sure any player that he brings on is a high-character personality, and it allows everyone to play off each other in a positive manner when he holds a coaching session for all of them. Every player, except for Taylor Gooch, has also been run by Finau first to make sure everyone was on the same page about bringing them on. The newer players also get access to an experienced veteran on the course and can pick up on the habits that have made him so successful.

Boyd also talks about what made Tiger Woods into a once in a lifetime player in his prime. He had a competitive edge that he could turn on at command, making him intimidating to players who weren’t used to being around someone with that closer mentality. Boyd doesn’t think that it was premeditated or a facade to play mind games either, his personality just makes it intuitive to him. Now that his son, Charlie Woods, is becoming a standout player in his own right, Boyd believes that he’ll win at least one more Major for him.