160: Spider Miller: Arnie Stories and the Walker Cup

Spider Miller, winner of the 1996 and 1998 Mid-Amateur championships, joins us today in the wake of the 2017 Presidents Cup to talk about the history of team golf events like the Walker Cup, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

As a highly decorated amateur player and Captain of the 2015 and 2017 Walker Cup, Spider shares with us many of the lessons he has learned from the game of golf and what young players we should be looking out for in the very near future. After many years of friendship, Spider also reminisces and shares stories he has of the golf legend, Arnold Palmer.

Spider Miller’s Background

• He represented the United States in the 1999 Walker Cup and was the captain of the team in 2015 and 2017. He won the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 1996 and 1998.
• Spider’s approach: You have to be prepared mentally to win. No one wins by accident. The number one place to beat people is on the putting green.

Highlights from this Episode

• Spider delves into the history of the Walker Cup, goes into detail of both how it is structured and how it was the genesis for both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
• He explains how the teams are picked, and what it means to be picked for the National team.
• He shares stories and lessons from his experience as a player for the Walker Cup and how it takes a different mindset to compete as a team instead of the usual mentality of playing by yourself.
• Spider talks about his fitness regiment and how he is able to keep his stamina and endurance up (even during his marathon of 101 holes of golf in one day!) and some of the differences to this generation of golfers fitness routine.
• How Spider met Arnold Palmer and how it impacted his career and how he made the hard decision to not turn professional for the Champions Tour.
• Aside from also sharing a passion for recreational flying, Spider gives an inside look into who Arnold was a friend and an athlete.

Caddy Shack or Happy Gilmore?

Caddyshack

What is your walk-out song?

Happy by Pharrell Williams

Who would you want to spend a day on the course with, and where?

 I’d have to bring Arnold back down from Heaven to play at Seminole, Latrobe, Bayhill, or Agusta.

What has you most excited in how the game is evolving now?

All the young guys that made the amateur team were well-mannered and acted very professional on the course and on the green. It’s good to see that the talent is matched with the manners and that the teachers are putting value in that.

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