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We're chatting about the people, places, events, and flavors that make Johnson City, Tennessee a lovely place to live. An interview show hosted by Colin Johnson.
Proud member of the Maypop Media family of podcasts.
0:00:00 - (Colin Johnson): It is a beautiful mid August day here in Johnson city. Kids are going back to school. College is starting, and we have a friend from college here with us. Welcome to the podcast, Matthew Dodd Berry.
0:00:14 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It's good to be.
0:00:15 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So you traveled. I think you probably have the record for the longest traveling guest we've had. Where's honk this summer, Ben?
0:00:26 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Back on the Wirral in England. So I traveled all the way just for, just for this podcast.
0:00:31 - (Colin Johnson): And I can't, I mean, we've had some people travel little ways for the podcast, but from England, that's pretty, pretty respectable. So thank you for getting on a plane just to come see me.
0:00:39 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Not a problem.
0:00:41 - (Colin Johnson): You're not on a plane just to see us. What are you doing in town?
0:00:44 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I am in the middle of kind of sorting all my stuff around, ready to move down to Baton Rouge for. I'm transferring from east Tennessee down to Louisiana state, so. Yes, quite the transition.
0:00:55 - (Colin Johnson): We've heard that you're not going to be at ETSU in the lovely area of Johnson city anymore, and you're going the hot, sweaty baton Rouge down to the swamp.
0:01:05 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): That is correct. Yeah. Tough decision, but I think it's the right one for me.
0:01:10 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. It's gonna be exciting to play golf for sec school, right?
0:01:14 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It is. I'm excited for it. I've heard the football games are pretty good. Being from England, you don't really, like, hear much about it, so I've heard that it can be pretty electric.
0:01:23 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Have you ever been to a college football game, like an SEC? Never time.
0:01:28 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Oh, I've heard it's going to be quite the experience.
0:01:31 - (Colin Johnson): It's going to be awesome. It's going to blow your mind. You're going to be like, this is crazy. All right, so you lived in Johnson City cause you went to ETSU for a couple of years. Yeah. What was your favorite thing about Johnson City?
0:01:44 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I really liked how small and how close knit, like everyone was. I felt as though no matter where I went, whether it was like, down the road, some food, I'd always know someone in there, whoever it be a college student, like some guy who was in my class or some guy I'd met through the golf team or just something like that, I'd always know kind of someone around here.
0:02:08 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:02:08 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And that made it felt like it was home. Yeah.
0:02:12 - (Colin Johnson): Isn't that cool? I think a lot of people loved it. I love that anywhere I go, I see somebody I know pretty much. And so it's just, it makes it feel tight and close. We do have some people who move here who are coming from big cities, and they're like, oh, everywhere I go, there's somebody in my business because, you know, like, I can't go have a cup of coffee without seeing somebody. So it's probably like that in Liverpool, it's a little bigger. Right?
0:02:33 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. I mean, kind of where I live, it's, again, quite like, you know, small, and everyone knows everyone, which is quite nice because you get to know a lot of people and you can rely on them. So I think the people here were just so nice. So nice to me. And being from out of the country, they were really accepting and kind of like, you know, really kind about it, I guess. Southern hospitality. Yeah, it's. It's true.
0:03:01 - (Colin Johnson): It is, isn't it? We. We work hard to. To love on people, for sure. Uh, what's your favorite thing about Liverpool?
0:03:08 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Ooh.
0:03:09 - (Colin Johnson): Or what do you miss most? Like, when you're gone for months at.
0:03:13 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): The time, probably, uh, some of the foods. Fish and chips.
0:03:20 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:03:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And then bangers and mush as well.
0:03:22 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, yeah.
0:03:23 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I just love the food over there and some tea as well. Can't get a normal cup of tea over here.
0:03:29 - (Colin Johnson): What's your favorite cup of tea that you like? You're like, hey, I'm at home brand wise. Where do you put in it? Talk to us about english tea.
0:03:38 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yorkshire tea. It's great. Bit of milk in there. I like it quite strong. It's every evening we have one or the family cup of tea. So it's. Yeah, you can't beat it.
0:03:50 - (Colin Johnson): Right?
0:03:51 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): You can't seem to get it over here. So everyone drinks coffee.
0:03:55 - (Colin Johnson): We do. We like coffee. I like mine with a lot of milk in it. I get lattes because I'm okay. But I grew up with tea and my mother's english and tea and biscuits, and it's just a great time, like, hanging out with the family. Like you said, we were all sitting around having a cup of tea and talking about the day and what's going on.
0:04:11 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Brilliant.
0:04:12 - (Colin Johnson): I think we should bring that back.
0:04:14 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Absolutely, yeah.
0:04:15 - (Colin Johnson): Now, did you grow up completely in Liverpool? Did you ever live anywhere else in the UK?
0:04:19 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Grew up there since I was born, yeah. Never. Never been anywhere else. I think my parents have always resided there as well, so.
0:04:27 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:04:28 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): We've always just. We love it there.
0:04:30 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:04:31 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I don't think my parents would ever move unless they were to move to the States.
0:04:34 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I'm hoping they do.
0:04:35 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): They're sweet people. Yeah.
0:04:38 - (Colin Johnson): Talk to me about how you got into golf.
0:04:40 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I get into golf at a very young age, since I could walk, essentially. It was originally my grandma.
0:04:48 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, really?
0:04:48 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): She was the one? Yeah, she. So I had some plastic clubs that I just hid around the living room during the day, and then my grandma would often take me out onto the golf course that was just across the road from where we live.
0:05:00 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:05:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And we'd go play nine holes or whatever, and she'd just, you know, take me around whilst my. My dad was working, my mum was working, and my grandpa was at home. She'd be the one that would drag me out onto the golf course and, you know, spend a lot of good afternoons with her. Walking around. Walking around the golf course.
0:05:18 - (Colin Johnson): That's pretty special. She's still with us.
0:05:20 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): She is, yeah, she is.
0:05:22 - (Colin Johnson): I bet she's pretty excited to watch you these days.
0:05:25 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): She is, yeah. She can't get around quite as much as she wishes, but, you know, I know she's there in my heart, so.
0:05:31 - (Colin Johnson): So tell me, when you started realizing you were. You were pretty decent at golf?
0:05:36 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I was around 13, and I started to play for my county, Cheshire, and I was knocking on the door of the England regional team at the time. And at that point, I had to make a decision between playing football or soccer, as you guys call it, and playing golf, because the golf was on the Sunday and so was the football. So it's kind of like I got to choose one and chose golf. So I think I made a good decision.
0:06:05 - (Colin Johnson): I think so, yeah. You can play golf forever, too. I've got some buddies that play soccer slash football still. Our buddy tuan plays. He's gotten older now. He's not playing as much because he tore his achilles, but you can play golf forever.
0:06:17 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Oh, you can? Yeah.
0:06:18 - (Colin Johnson): There are a lot of guys, and they're really good when they're, you know, these 80 year old guys, they don't hit it real far, but it's laser straight.
0:06:23 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, it's. It's really good. I mean, you meet so many people playing golf, and you can play it, like, as much as you want.
0:06:30 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:06:31 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): For your whole of your life.
0:06:32 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:06:33 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): No one's gonna stop you. Your body's not gonna stop you, so.
0:06:35 - (Colin Johnson): And it's. I think it's spiritual just being out in the. I used to work on a golf course, and it was awesome. And then just being out, like, in the, you know, environment, you've got the birds and the sun and the clouds and the grass is beautiful, and, I mean, it's just. It's peaceful. And when you flush a ball. It's just. There's no better feeling.
0:06:54 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Oh, there is. No, it's true. It's when you flush an iron, it's addicting.
0:06:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yes.
0:06:59 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Really.
0:06:59 - (Colin Johnson): It is really addicting. So when did you start going, okay, I'm winning some tournaments and start moving into, like, how did you get into a college career in golf?
0:07:09 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Okay, so the college recruiting process starts when you're about 1516. So pretty young. Yeah, I think. But I'd always wanted to do it since I'd been playing golf at, like, a reasonably high level, I was like, this is what I want to get, want to do. I want to go to college. I want to go play golf. So I had.
0:07:30 - (Colin Johnson): Who wouldn't want to do that, right, exactly.
0:07:32 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It's a great life. So when I was about 16, the recruiting process started and had some coaches get in touch and kind of just from there, spoke to them loads and had to make a decision, chose ETSU because it was a good fit for me.
0:07:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So, I mean, you probably had a bunch of coaches after you.
0:07:53 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:07:53 - (Colin Johnson): And then you chose etsu. What were some of the. I mean. Yeah. Decision making factors there to bring you here to Johnson City?
0:08:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So I. During my recruiting process, it was all during COVID so I didn't actually get out to visit any of the places.
0:08:09 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, wow. So you're just talking to people.
0:08:10 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. But Johnson City looked really good online, and all the photos I'd seen and visit videos I'd watched all the podcasts. Yeah, exactly. And you could see, like, the mountains in the back, and I was like, this looks beautiful.
0:08:21 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:08:23 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Plus, the coach, Jake Amos, he was here, and, you know, I really connected with him really well, and it just seemed like a really good fit because the golf team was full of internationals. It had been known for recruiting good internationals.
0:08:36 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:08:38 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So it kind of made sense for me to come here, and with it being a smaller school, I quite like that, because when you're going somewhere new for, like, a different country, you kind of want it to be small and, you know, you don't want to, like, you don't want a massive school where you'll just get lost.
0:08:52 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:08:53 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So I really, really enjoy my time at UTSU.
0:08:57 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. And so you came here your freshman year.
0:08:59 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:08:59 - (Colin Johnson): And you're here last year, sophomore year. And now you're headed to LSU, right?
0:09:03 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): That's correct.
0:09:04 - (Colin Johnson): How did you guys do as a team your freshman year?
0:09:08 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): We did okay. Yeah. We made it to nationals, which is, you know, the standard that, you know, had sort of been set.
0:09:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:09:17 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): We didn't do too great at nationals, but it was a really good experience getting there. I think it kind of helped us for the following year because the following year was really good.
0:09:28 - (Colin Johnson): Little better, right?
0:09:29 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It was, yeah.
0:09:29 - (Colin Johnson): So I think probably, I'm sure you looked at the Tennessee's or East Tennessee's record and were like, okay, historically, they go to the national championship every year and golf and. And, I mean, for little East Tennessee, that's a big. I mean, like, talk about how, like. Yeah, I mean, just amazing that is that we have a school here in East Tennessee that, I mean, is in the top 20 in the country. Right.
0:09:53 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It's crazy. I think no one would really expect it. I would get asked in class all the time, like, why did you come here?
0:10:00 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:10:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And then I'd tell them, at the time, I think we were ranked as high as 9th in the country. Be like, well, we're ranked 9th in the country for golf, so pretty good. That's why.
0:10:09 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:10:10 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So it's. I think it's just incredible that East Tennessee can compete with, like, SEC schools in terms of the budget. It's crazy. I mean, it's a credit to all the coaches that have been here in the past, and I'm sure the new coach, O'Callaghan, will do a great job of it.
0:10:27 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I'm excited to see if we can connect with him and get him on the podcast. But, yeah, I've heard great things. He came from Wake Forest and so, and then, so last year, you guys went and you had a great year, right?
0:10:37 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): We had a very good year in the fall. It was really good. We got off to a really hard start in the fall. We kind of dipped a little bit in the start of the spring, but I remember coach told us it's not about how we're playing right now, it's about how we play in post season. We get to post season. We played pretty good. I think we finished maybe around twelve for nationals or 11th. That was pretty nice.
0:11:05 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It looked close for a while. I thought we were going to make the cut into match play, but it just didn't quite go our way at the end. Yeah, it was really good experience and. Yeah, can't ask much more.
0:11:15 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, talk to us a little bit about, like, maybe to the kid who's twelve, 1310, thinking about getting, you know, like, really saying, okay, I want to make this a career like you have, and saying, all right, I want to focus on college golf. What would be some tips and ideas, tricks?
0:11:33 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I would say just get your profile out there as much as you can. I think that's really important.
0:11:40 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. Talk more about profile out there. Who are you getting it out to? What are you doing?
0:11:43 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think you got to set a good reputation for yourself firstly.
0:11:47 - (Colin Johnson): Yep.
0:11:47 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So, you know, you got to win some tournaments. You got. You got to win tournaments. But I think on top of that, you got to have a really good, really good attitude. Hold yourself like a professional. You got to think, you know, what would a PJ tour pro do in this situation? Would they walk around with, like, the shoulders slumped down and a head like this? No, they wouldn't. They'd bounce around and, you know, you just look at that body language. You got to try and reciprocate that.
0:12:13 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:12:14 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And I think another big part is on social media. You've got to get yourself out of there, especially with the world the way the world is. I think that's a good way of college coaches finding out who you are and what you've done. You got to post all about your achievements and stuff, but you can't be too cocky about it. Yeah. You can't be too pressing on to the coaches about it. You can't keep asking them and telling them about what you've done. You kind of just got to let them come to you, let the results talk for themselves.
0:12:46 - (Colin Johnson): But I love the fact that you came out with attitude first. I think. Talk about attitude and how. Cause during a round of golf, you hit a lot of shots.
0:12:55 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Right.
0:12:55 - (Colin Johnson): And you're gonna hit some bad ones. I remember one of Jack Nicholas's quotes is, he's like, I'm gonna hit a few bad shots. So I just hopefully, you know, just deal with it and get him out of the way early, maybe, and then just have a great round.
0:13:06 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, exactly. I think I struggled with it my first year and part of my second year, as well, I wasn't great. But coach Amos kind of told me, like, you're never going to reach your full potential if you don't push this to the side and move on from it.
0:13:21 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:13:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Like, you got to grow up. You got to realize that it's not doing you any good, so why would you do it?
0:13:28 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:13:28 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): You know, you're going to hear bad shots, just laugh about it, get over it, and think about what you're going to do next to the next good shot.
0:13:36 - (Colin Johnson): Exactly. It's in the past, right? Yeah.
0:13:38 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think that kind of relates to life as well. I think you can't look back on things that you've done wrong, like, too much. You gotta learn from it and move on.
0:13:47 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And it is a good life lesson for golf. Every time you go play, you're learning something because you're like, okay, I can't fix it. I can't go back. And, and then you look at your own attitude towards yourself and you're like, oh, wow, I'm mad at myself or angry with myself or disappointed. You know, instead of like you're saying, carrying yourself well and just having a great attitude.
0:14:07 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Exactly.
0:14:08 - (Colin Johnson): And I think one of the things we said on the way to school every day with, we did affirmations, but it was one of those, I'm going to choose to have a great attitude. Why would I choose anything else?
0:14:19 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Exactly.
0:14:20 - (Colin Johnson): Because it's a choice. Right. But it can seriously change the course of your life.
0:14:26 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Massively.
0:14:27 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I mean massively.
0:14:29 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Right.
0:14:29 - (Colin Johnson): It's just incredible. And so I think your dad probably taught you to have a great attitude and then, so now you're going to teach your kids one day the same thing. And then it's just how it can affect the world is unbelievable.
0:14:41 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And people go through bad stages and might not get it at first, but I think as soon as that light switches on in their head that it's going to do them the world of good, having a positive attitude, then they'll change.
0:14:54 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:14:55 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It will just come naturally.
0:14:56 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. So you were going to LSU, but this summer you went home for a little while and you played in a tournament to help you get into another tournament. I heard.
0:15:07 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I did.
0:15:08 - (Colin Johnson): He's grinning. Yeah. I think I was supposed to play golf with you, but you did something pretty neat. So what happened?
0:15:15 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So I played at Westlanks in final Open qualifying and I finished too fast and made it to the Open at Royal truant.
0:15:28 - (Colin Johnson): Yes, the Open. So here in America, we call it the British Open, but it is just the Open. So you actually played in the Open championship. So maybe next year you go again and we can come having the podcast and I'll call you champion golfer of the year.
0:15:42 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Hopefully.
0:15:42 - (Colin Johnson): That'd be awesome.
0:15:43 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I'd be something, wouldn't it?
0:15:44 - (Colin Johnson): That'd be cool. Kind of cool, wouldn't it?
0:15:46 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): That would be kind of cool. But, um, no, the open washing just incredible.
0:15:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:15:50 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Such a good experience.
0:15:51 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Talk to us about that. Right. I mean, like, so you go. Did you plan on playing in the qualifier?
0:15:58 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, I planned on playing in it. I got into the final qualifying through an event before this. Okay, so where did you do that? So the british amateur.
0:16:09 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:16:10 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I came in the quarterfinals and actually like, a funny story to this is. And it just proves how much, like, one single shot can affect the rest of the summer. I had a put on the last hole of the final qualifying round, so round two to get into the match play stages, it was about 15ft, 20ft. And I made it nice. If I hadn't made that, I wouldn't have made it into the final qualifying and who knows what would have happened. I possibly wouldn't have played the open.
0:16:45 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So. Yeah, so I finished in the quarterfinals of the british arm, which got me into the final qualifying, and then I think I shot three under, three under, six under, which got me into the open.
0:16:57 - (Colin Johnson): That. Tied for first?
0:16:58 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Tied for first.
0:16:59 - (Colin Johnson): And that got you into the open. How many qualifiers make it into the open?
0:17:03 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It is four, four pass side and I think there was five. Five or four venues. Okay, so there's about 20. Yeah.
0:17:14 - (Colin Johnson): About how many people are in the field of the whole thing from this, like when it starts was about 120 something, maybe.
0:17:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Or in final qualifying, I think. But a lot of them people will have had to go through regional qualifying just to get into final quality.
0:17:28 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. The roster for the open, how many, how many players, like, tee it up in the open?
0:17:35 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I want to say there's a. Maybe 200, maybe a little bit more.
0:17:41 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. So at that point. Yeah. But they're out of the whole world.
0:17:46 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:17:46 - (Colin Johnson): 200 people are teeing it up and you're one of them.
0:17:48 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:17:49 - (Colin Johnson): That's pretty special.
0:17:50 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, it was pretty cool.
0:17:52 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I bet it was pretty cool. And you got there and you played a practice round or two, right?
0:17:58 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I did.
0:17:59 - (Colin Johnson): You play with anybody we've heard of?
0:18:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Maybe so.
0:18:03 - (Colin Johnson): Sorry, I'm leading. It's okay. With these questions.
0:18:06 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I ended up playing with Scotty Scheffler.
0:18:09 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:18:09 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Son Burns and Tom Kim.
0:18:11 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:18:12 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So pretty good, pretty good. Four ball.
0:18:15 - (Colin Johnson): Did you whip him?
0:18:18 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I lost $20 to Scotty.
0:18:20 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, did you?
0:18:20 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I did, yeah. Yeah. We did a little nearest the pin on the poster stump, the 8th hole. And it was with a four iron instead of what should have been a pitching wedge. And he hits like 20ft and the rest was Mister Green. So I have to pay up $20. Yeah, I'm sure if I wasn't there it would have been for a lot more money, but, uh. I'm pretty glad that he only said 20 in the end. Yeah.
0:18:41 - (Colin Johnson): You're like, okay, I can.
0:18:43 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I can afford that. Yeah.
0:18:44 - (Colin Johnson): Right, right. And then they have a story that you lost $20 to Scotty Scheffler.
0:18:48 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Exactly. He's got. He's got my $20.
0:18:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:18:50 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I wouldn't back off him one day.
0:18:52 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. There you go. That's exactly right. With interest.
0:18:55 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
0:18:58 - (Colin Johnson): How is Scotty Scheffler? Is he a pretty decent guy to hang out with?
0:19:01 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): He's such a good guy. Yeah, he really is. I mean, just, you can't, like, explain it to people how. How nice. And he's just, you wouldn't think that he's world number one, that he's the best at what he does. I mean, I walk onto the first tee and he comes over and he's like, hi, I'm Scotty. I know who you are, Scotty.
0:19:20 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, really? Scotty Hoop.
0:19:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): What'd you say your name was?
0:19:22 - (Colin Johnson): You look familiar.
0:19:23 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. But no, he's such a great guy. He's so down to her. He doesn't let anything that he's done, like, get to his head. He just takes it one day at a time. And his caddy, Ted Scott, is just like him, that they get along really well and they're such great role models, I think. And I think a lot of people could learn from him, kind of try and live their life a bit more like him.
0:19:48 - (Colin Johnson): I watched him on the full swing deal, and he just seems to be, yeah, like you said, very down to earth. But one thing I saw that I didn't see with any of the other guys is he is in the Bible every day and just loves the Lord and just. And then, so that peace that comes from that, I think is transcending into.
0:20:06 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): His golf game massively. I mean, he just trusts in him. And it kind of pays off. All of them guys, actually. Enough in that four ball. Tom and Sam as well. I know they're really, really religious, and it was just such a great atmosphere. Yeah, it really was.
0:20:23 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. So then you played some, uh. How'd you do your first round in, in the open?
0:20:31 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): First round I played pretty good. Um, it was a really late tea time. It was like 419 pm in the afternoon. It was.
0:20:38 - (Colin Johnson): And doesn't get dark there till like ten or something.
0:20:40 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So we were okay. Yeah, last couple of holes it was really dark. But, um, it was kind of weird waiting around all day just to play. I remember I got up in the morning and kind of just like, chilled out.
0:20:53 - (Colin Johnson): What am I gonna do all day? Because I got 8 hours before I play.
0:20:56 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, it was pretty close to the beach. So we went down to the beach and my brother and girlfriend actually went for a swim. In the water and it looked cold. And I was like, I am not there. No chance up in the seat in the cold. No, no, doesn't bother them. But. So we got to the course at like won it, had some lunch, went stretched, went to the gym and kind of got going from there. So played pretty nicely, shot one over, which put me around 30th, 40th.
0:21:30 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So it was pretty good.
0:21:31 - (Colin Johnson): I remember watching so excited, like, I was like, look how he's going. Like, this is great.
0:21:35 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): You know, I played really well. I was third in strokes gained, teeter Green. So in terms of stats, I was like the third best apart from the putting. So if I had a home hold, more putts, I would have been, you know, right up there.
0:21:49 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Which would have been.
0:21:51 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, I should have played with the first round leader down, Brown, I think he shot six under. So that was a really cool experience.
0:21:58 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I mean, because I was looking at where you are and then you look down the roster and there are open champions down there.
0:22:05 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:22:06 - (Colin Johnson): You know, I mean, you, you were ahead of a lot of people that it was pretty, pretty notable, pretty awesome. And then, so the second day comes around and it's a little different day.
0:22:14 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It is, yeah. I teed off at eleven, which, if you have been to Scotland, you know, there's winds and, you know, the winds at about pick up around 09:00 in the morning and don't drop until about six, seven in the evening. So I was right in the middle of the strong winds and just, it's not an excuse, it's just, I think it played a factor.
0:22:36 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:22:37 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Didn't play the golf I wanted to play shot nine over, but I think if you had told me that the cut was going to be plus six going into the tournament, I would have been like, no chance. Yeah, no chance. So, you know, I think I'll only learn from it and come back stronger.
0:22:55 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. What were some of the things you took away? What was a good lesson that you're like, oh, next time I'm gonna.
0:23:01 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I learn to. I think I did a really good job of just treating it like any other event. People around me had told me that you need to go in there with an attitude of just, it's nothing special. Just go there like you're trying to win.
0:23:15 - (Colin Johnson): Right.
0:23:15 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I did a really good job of that.
0:23:17 - (Colin Johnson): And that's kind of hard with thousands of people watching.
0:23:19 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It is like you get up on the first and this grandstand's around you. People are like, you know, how nervous.
0:23:25 - (Colin Johnson): Were you hitting that ball?
0:23:26 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I was so, so nervous and hit it down the middle. It was fine.
0:23:31 - (Colin Johnson): Perfect.
0:23:32 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): After that, I felt good. Settled in. Felt like a normal tournament. Yeah, it was. Yeah. So, so nerve racking on that first t, is there?
0:23:40 - (Colin Johnson): Cause, like, in my mind, at your level, there's not a shot you can't hit. Probably. Right. You've hit every single shot, and it's in you somewhere, and you're just trying to tap into that.
0:23:52 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): You just gotta dig it out.
0:23:53 - (Colin Johnson): You gotta dig it out and say, all right, I'm gonna connect with this ball and hit it where I want it. And.
0:23:57 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:23:57 - (Colin Johnson): And again, it's about attitude. Right? I mean, it is.
0:23:59 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:24:00 - (Colin Johnson): Cause you can start thinking about all the bad stuff that can happen, and that's not helpful. Right.
0:24:04 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. I think you start to learn as well that the pros aren't actually. They don't strike it as good as you think they would, but the six inches between their ears is where they really, like, step ahead of everyone.
0:24:18 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, it is.
0:24:19 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): They just believe that they can go out and win every tournament, which I think everyone can learn from.
0:24:25 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:24:26 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Not just in goal.
0:24:27 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So, yeah, a lot. So basically, it's just mental toughness.
0:24:30 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, exactly. They're just really good at, you know, obviously, they're super talented, super good at what they do.
0:24:37 - (Colin Johnson): Right. You get great hand eye coordination, but.
0:24:39 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Their mindset, like, really does set them apart. I mean, there's some guys who I know that should. Should be playing on tour, but it's the. It's up there that's stopping them from. From getting there.
0:24:51 - (Colin Johnson): So what are some things you're doing to help develop your mental toughness?
0:24:56 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I've been really good at, like, not burning myself out. I think that's a really important part of it. I think as soon as you start playing week in, week out every day, then you'll start to become very burnt out and start to lose kind of any sort of toughness you've got up there. You can't keep it up for weeks on end. It's just impossible. So I found it really helpful to, you know, I'd play for the week, and I'd play 36 holes a day in tournaments, and then I'd have, you know, three, four days off, and that would get me mentally really sharp and prepared to go play the next week.
0:25:38 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I found that really helps.
0:25:40 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think, too, you probably miss it a little bit, right? Yeah. I can't wait to get back out there now.
0:25:45 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): You know that I've had a little break. Like, for example, leading up to the qualifying for the open, I took a couple of days off, and I was raring to go.
0:25:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:25:59 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Just couldn't wait to get out there.
0:26:01 - (Colin Johnson): That's cool. If you had to pick one thing you need to work on this year, what are you going to be focusing on getting better to help you move forward in your career?
0:26:10 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I would say. I'd say there's always something you can work on, but for me, it'd be my punitive. Going back to what we just talked about, I've never quite believed that I'm a good putter. I think that's half the battle. I think technically I could get better, but I also need to start believing that I can actually put on the greens, because right now I'm kind of in. I'm definitely getting better at it. I've come a long way since the start of college, but I can always improve it.
0:26:41 - (Colin Johnson): Right. Like saying to yourself, this is going to go in everyone, you know, like, I'm going to make this put.
0:26:46 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Exactly. Just being confident about it. I think it's the most important.
0:26:49 - (Colin Johnson): Cause then your body aligns to what you're thinking and says, all right, I'm gonna. I'm gonna put this ball in the hole.
0:26:54 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. That's half the challenge. Yeah.
0:26:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:26:56 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): As soon as you get that done over, then you can start focusing on the technical side of it, which, you know, you can always improve on.
0:27:03 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Yeah. I like it. So, Jake Amos, the coach here, is gonna be the new coach down at LSU as well. And then, do you have any other buddies that are gonna be with you from Etsu going with you?
0:27:16 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I do. Al got clean from Sweden.
0:27:20 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, he is.
0:27:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): He is transferring as well. He's got one more year left.
0:27:24 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:27:25 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And then a guy that was supposed to come to ETSU this fall, he is now going to LSU. His name's Arne Gunnargus. Fencing. He's from Iceland.
0:27:36 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, wow.
0:27:37 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): So, yeah, quite the international.
0:27:40 - (Colin Johnson): Hopefully, he can handle the heat down in LSU.
0:27:42 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Hope so, for his sake. It's a bit different from Iceland.
0:27:45 - (Colin Johnson): A little bit different. He'd be like, good lord, I'm sweating all the time.
0:27:48 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah, exactly. He might struggle, but I'm sure he'll be fine.
0:27:52 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, he'll be fine. He'll be fine. Well, I'm excited to see and watch what you've got going on. It's gonna be. It's gonna be fun. What are some of the things you're gonna miss about Etsu?
0:28:05 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I got to know everyone in the athletics department and kind of like all of the people who support the golf team. There's a lot of faces I'm gonna miss.
0:28:15 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:28:16 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Just seeing them around and say, when we go up and play the old farm, I'm gonna miss, like, being able to go say hi to them and, you know, just see them, like, every other week. Yeah, it was really cool. And, you know, I've got a lot of friends here that I'll miss, and I'm sure I'll come back and visit them every so often.
0:28:33 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, that'll be good.
0:28:35 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think I'm gonna miss the golf facility as well. Yeah, golf, silly, is so good. I'm gonna miss that. And a couple of the guys that helped out with the golf team, assistant coach Blake Watson and Mike Holbert. I'm gonna miss seeing them.
0:28:50 - (Colin Johnson): So Mike's not going either. I know you guys are close.
0:28:53 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. He's affiliated with Etsu, so he's staying.
0:28:55 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:28:56 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And McKibben teal.
0:28:57 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:28:58 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): As well.
0:28:59 - (Colin Johnson): I love McKibben.
0:29:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): He's a good guy, so I'll miss seeing him around.
0:29:02 - (Colin Johnson): He is such a good kid. I love that kid. It's been fun to watch him grow up since he was like.
0:29:07 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:29:09 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. There's a lot of great things about Johnson City.
0:29:11 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): There is.
0:29:12 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Hopefully, maybe one day you can come back and make it home.
0:29:15 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah. I wouldn't say no to it.
0:29:18 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Because it's just a great place to live. Yeah. Who are some of the other people in your life that have been influential besides, like, Coach Amos and Mike Holbert? And I would say miss and grandma. Yeah.
0:29:33 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think. Well, grandma got me into the church, I think, which gave me a belief in God, and he's been a really big part of my success, I'd say. And away from that, I'd say my parents have been, like, the best parents I could ask for.
0:29:50 - (Colin Johnson): They're solid people.
0:29:51 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): They are, like, such good people. It's been a really good mix of my dad, who is a football scout and has got the. The hard, like, you'll do this. You'll practice as hard as you can. And then my mum is the side where it's like, it's okay. Just relax. Take some time off. So I've had a really good mix of that. They've pushed me really, like, not pushed me really hard, but they've, like, always been not the man. I don't know how to put it. Not demanding, but very supportive.
0:30:20 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And encouraging.
0:30:21 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And I don't think anyone could ask for better parents. I've been really lucky. My swing coach as well. He's done a really good job with me. Sean, he's down in Atlanta. He's helped me tremendously. That's cool. Just technically, I've gotten a long way with him, so there's probably a lot more people, but it's not going to come into my head right now. That's all right. They know who they are, and I'll thank them for all that they've done for me so far.
0:30:54 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. What some.
0:30:57 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I got small people.
0:30:58 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:30:58 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Trisha and Tuan.
0:30:59 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, yeah.
0:31:00 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:31:00 - (Colin Johnson): They've been Trisha Wynn. They're great people.
0:31:02 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): They've been so welcoming for me. They're like a second set of parents for me. They really are. They've done so much for me that I can't thank them enough. And they'll always play a huge part of my life.
0:31:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, they totally. They really do love you, and it's fun to. Fun to be a part of that, too. As Tuan and I get together every week, you're on our prayer list a lot, and so it's been fun to watch you. And, yeah, we're praying for you all the time. If I were. If you were hosting a podcast or something that I should ask you. I didn't. That you want to share anything that you can think of?
0:31:39 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I don't think so.
0:31:41 - (Colin Johnson): All right, let's do this. A year from now, you're back in this chair.
0:31:44 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Yeah.
0:31:44 - (Colin Johnson): What did this year look like for you in the world of golf?
0:31:48 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): And so what would I want it to look like? Great question. I would say I want to make the open again.
0:31:55 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:31:56 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Firstly, I want to win a lot more. A lot more college tournaments. I've only won one so far, so I want to get a couple more under my belt. And I think that as much as EtSU wouldn't like it, I want LSU to have a really good national championship. Hopefully be my old school.
0:32:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:32:17 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Old school tour. So, you know, maybe come away with a trophy or something at the national championship would be pretty cool.
0:32:23 - (Colin Johnson): That would be super cool.
0:32:24 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It would? Yeah.
0:32:25 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I love it. Well, we'll be cheering you on and encouraging you from East Tennessee, and you always can come back and see us, for sure. How can listeners connect with you if they want to encourage you or just reach out and say, man, you're doing great?
0:32:40 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I think they can reach out on Instagram.
0:32:43 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. What's your Instagram handle?
0:32:45 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It's Matty underscore, Dodd, Berry. So doddbe, double R Y. Gotcha. They can reach out on there or on Twitter. Same username, I think just, yeah, any messages of support, you know, I'll get back to them and it's really appreciated.
0:33:03 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, isn't that fun? Like you just have people all over.
0:33:05 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): The world wishing, it's so cool. Like just getting random people reach out to you. I had quite a few at the open. They were like, hey, I watched you, like, well played and it was so cool. It's so nice to feel like people are so supportive in you and just want the best for you. It's really nice.
0:33:23 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, really. What gets you fired up is my question. But most excited, like what is one thing? You're just like, let's go.
0:33:31 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): I would say just competing. I love competing and I love winning as well. There's something about it that it just keeps you coming back to it. There's no better feeling than winning. And when you do win, it goes by too quick that you just want it to happen again. Winning my first college tournament, it just such a good feeling. Such a good feeling. Yeah, I just can't wait to feel it again.
0:34:01 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, you can see him just giddy, so I can't. I'll pray that you win a bunch of them this year. That'd be awesome.
0:34:06 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Thank you very much.
0:34:07 - (Colin Johnson): That'd be awesome. Well, thank you for coming on the podcast.
0:34:09 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Thanks for having me.
0:34:10 - (Colin Johnson): Thanks. I enjoyed our conversation. Looking forward to playing with you again today. So am I. I'm going to whip your tail.
0:34:15 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): It's going to be good fun and.
0:34:18 - (Colin Johnson): I hope you guys have enjoyed getting to meet Matthew. He is such a good kid and yeah, just send him well wishes. Connect with him. We're hoping you're going to be champion of the golfer of the year next year. That'd be awesome.
0:34:28 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Hopefully.
0:34:29 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And then hopefully maybe a pro career one day.
0:34:32 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Hopefully. Hopefully I'll get a couple of green jackets and lift a few. Lift a few trophies.
0:34:37 - (Colin Johnson): That'll be awesome.
0:34:38 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Come back to Johnson City and show them on my podcast. Maybe I'll be sat here in a green jacket one day. Oh, that would be sweet. Yeah, pretty cool, wouldn't it?
0:34:46 - (Colin Johnson): Yes. I'm going to hold you to it. If you win a green jacket, you're sitting here on the podcast, we'll be talking in your green jacket. That'd be awesome. Well, until next time, I'm Colin Johnson with the Colin and Carly group and Keller Williams Realty. If you want to move to East Tennessee, where it's one of just the best places in the world, we'd love to help you get, get here. And again, we love helping people build wealth through real estate, too. So if you ever want to invest Matthew, in real estate, we'd love to help you do so. Anyway, thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a great day.
0:35:11 - (Matthew Dodd-Berry): Thanks for having me.