Where did you play collegiately?

Gonzaga [University], which was a great program for me. We hosted our own tournament at Bandon every year, so I ended up spending spring break at Bandon Dunes all four years.

That’s not a bad spring break!

You never know how good you have it until it’s gone, that’s for sure.

What kind of player were you in college?

I did some things during my freshman and sophomore years to validate that I was good enough. I qualified for the U.S. Amateur three years in a row and made it to the match-play rounds the first year at the Country Club in Brookline. Then, the summer after my junior year, I won the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst.

And you turned pro after college? 

Yes, in 2017, and I went to Q-School every year after that. I played full years on the PGA Canada and Latin America tours; played a little in China; and had a Korn Ferry card a couple of times. I basically played all over the world and then got married at the end of 2022. Wifey knew what she signed up for, but at the same time, she wanted kids and the writing was on the wall—the funnel was getting tighter and tighter because of the changes the PGA Tour is making.

What convinced you to make the switch to being a YouTube content creator? 

In 2023, a fellow pro golfer, Luke Kwon, who was with Good Good at the time, helped get me into the first Good Good Championship. I played my way through the 63-player qualifier and got one of 12 spots, and I was lucky enough to play well in the 36-hole stroke-play portion and finished second, which got me paid. I won $15,000, which was one of the biggest checks that I’d ever gotten in pro golf. That was the start of this whole thing.

Did you make the switch right away?

In 2023, I just missed qualifying through Q-School, but I was playing a lot of golf with Kwon on his YouTube channel, which kept me sharp. So, the following year, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do. Am I a pro golfer? Am I a content creator? I didn’t really know, and I was taking some time to figure it out. Then Good Good called and asked if I wanted to join them to add some competitive balance. So I said yes.

What challenges have you faced as a content creator thus far? 

With Good Good, the challenge is that we’ve got six very different personalities all in very different stages of life, and we’re trying to match up our schedules to come together and create content that we all like to make.

And the challenges with your own channel? 

While I was still pursuing a traditional pro golf career, I was able to relax when I was home—unless I was analyzing my golf swing or planning travel. But now, with this creator mindset, I feel like I have to be constantly evolving and coming up with new ideas, so it seems like my brain just never shuts off.

What has been one of your highlights as a content creator?

Never in a million years did I think that I’d be sitting at Muirfield [Village] with Jack Nicklaus, drinking milkshakes with a pile of buckeyes between us. And then, five days later, that I would parachute in with the Folds of Honor team and deliver an American flag to Jack and Barbara Nicklaus on the 18th green on the Friday afternoon of the Memorial Tournament.

As more aspiring pro golfers struggle to make it on the PGA Tour, it’s conceivable that many of them might pursue YouTube careers. Is there room for more content creators?

I think so. But I will say that the barrier to entry is relatively high because it takes a lot of work to run these channels. But in the YouTube golf space, I don’t think there’s a limit. It seems like new people are coming out with new ideas every single day.

How does being a YouTuber compare to what you imagined being a pro golfer might be like?

Once I started committing to more of this YouTube golf stuff, I realized that I might’ve been playing pro golf because I just loved competitive golf. I also realized if the competition is against [content creators] Luke Kwon or Brad Dalke, it doesn’t change for me. I get the same juice out of it.

So it’s just as fulfilling as the pro golf career you aspired to?

I’m getting even more fulfillment. It might sound narcissistic, but I always said that I want to do something that makes a difference. I want to be impactful. And I always thought that was going to be through the PGA Tour, where one day I would go do a kid’s clinic and every kid would say, “Oh, there’s Sean Walsh, he’s on the PGA Tour and he’s so good!” But I would’ve had to be top 40 in the world to have the impact that I’ve been able to have through YouTube, and I’ve only been doing this for a year or two.

It sounds like you don’t have any regrets.

I’m still getting over the idea that this is what I do for a living. It’s the best dream that I never knew I had. The kids say, “That wasn’t on my bingo card.” Well, I have a bingo card full of things that I never thought in a million years I’d be doing. I’ve played golf in some amazing places, like at Old Head in Ireland, and I’ve played rounds of golf with celebrities like Steph Curry. I’ve had so many pinch-myself moments throughout this whole journey, and hopefully—God willing—I’ll have a lot more.

Interviewed by Shaun Tolson