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We Hooked Another One

Brian Mitchell: Radio Personality and Former Redskin

Brian Mitchell: Radio Personality and Former Redskin
Photo by Alex Cooke, Sharpshooter Photography, for The Green Magazine

When I first got into the League a lot of guys were playing. My mind-set was that golf was an old man’s game. But when I made the 1995 Pro Bowl in Hawaii, I was at the pool looking for all of the guys and everybody was at the golf course. So I figured I’d better pick up the game.

When I got home I tried to figure out what types of clubs to get for my birthday in August that year. My first time actually going to the course, I just went out and hit balls on the range for a while. It was at Chantilly National Golf and Country Club in Centreville, VA, and after the round I was hooked.  There were times of frustration, but all I remembered was a long putt that I made and a long drive that I hit.

I had a friend, who always played, and I went out and played with him and actually beat him. After that first time, I played in every charity tournament that I could. I would always go out on Tuesdays because that’s the day off for players. Any chance I got to pick up a club, I would. Once I retired I really jumped in head first.

I think golf is both fun and competitive. I love being out on the golf course, but I play with a lot of friends and it does get a little competitive while we are playing. When I retired from football I wondered where I would find that competitive drive. So I think golf has been there for me.

I want to get my score down as low as I can. At one point when I first retired, within two years, I got down to a five handicap. I want to get even lower if I can. I played everyday for seven months and most of the time I played 36 holes a day.

Football is more physical and golf is more mental. People like to say your strength doesn’t make a difference in golf, but I beg to differ. I really think if you have the proper technique, a little bit of extra strength helps.

In football you have to rely on other people, in golf you rely on yourself. It was a definite adjustment. Now I really take golf seriously and I want to be good at it. You hear guys say they have been playing golf for 20 years and you ask them what their handicap is and they say its 20. Twenty years from now I don’t want to be where I am now. I want to get a little bit better every year and the toughest thing now is having to go to work.

Now that I am in the radio and TV business, if you have a breaking story you may have to leave the golf course; which I hate. You hear people say you have to play the game to get better, I found out those people are not lying. The more you play, the easier it is.
 

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