In the second installment of ‘Artists and Athletes’, the Country megastar and two-time PGA Champion talked about achieving their childhood dreams.
There’s a lot to be proud about when you’re from the South – whether it’s the stellar barbecue, the penchant for size, or the cowboy renaissance. For Justin Thomas and Eric Church, a Kentuckian and North Carolinian native, their hometowns raised them to appreciate all it can offer in its love of music or love of golf. On a beautiful late summer morning, the two met up at the exclusive Troubadour Golf Club in Tennessee and decided to hang out a day after Thomas’ charity event where Church gave an appearance. Parking up to the club with his all-electric BMW i7, Thomas met Church who was already out on the green. Despite their differences in career, the two are friends and caught up – properly this time – about their successes and their passion for music and golf.
For Church, his music career speaks for itself – as Country music royalty, five of his albums have gone platinum and he has sold out arenas with each of his tours. He wrote his first song at the age of 13 but his career really began in Nashville where he has resided since he was a teenager. That first song? “It wasn’t good” he admits, but he understood what the creative process meant at that young of an age, and fostered that passion continuously. He attributes this ongoing drive and his father’s support to his success now.
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Justin Thomas, one of the most formidable golfing talents to come out of Kentucky, is currently ranked the 29th player in the world. He took the professional golfing world by storm when he became one of only 6 people to get 15 Majors and 2 victories before the age of 30, joining an elite band of PGA Tour professionals. Like Church, his father was a guiding light to his career as a head professional at the Harmony Landing Country Club in Goshen, Kentucky. Even as young boys, Church and Thomas valued persistence in developing their skills. “There were times where I’d stay up there and practice until he closed up, I’d help him bring carts around…and we’d get home at 8.30, 9 o’clock”, Thomas remembers. Church points out how far Thomas has come since those days, with his golfing success allowing him to drive a luxury car like the BMW i7. As an electric vehicle, the i7 has the optional 31 inch theater screen which makes it a perfect car to drive or be driven in.
But has there been any crossover from music to golf? For Church, dabbling in golfing started almost as young as his songwriting career as a sophomore in high school. The ability to get out of class early to go play golf was an easy decision. “The teacher would say ‘golfers are excused’ and they would get up…and I was like ‘I wanna do that’…so I made it to the golf team” he says, making Thomas laugh. The game got away from him once his music career started taking off, but he’s making up for lost time and has been a member of the Troubadour Golf Club, making the drive out from Nashville whenever he can.
