Just a short glimpse of tour life from behind the scenes and you realize the unwavering commitment and stratospheric talent it takes to play professional golf.  The support team for Roger Sloan from Canada, a.k.a. #TeamSloan, this week consists of his encouraging wife Casey, his loyal caddie for the past three years, Cedric Lamar, his swing coach Jeff Barton in Dallas, dedicated Titleist clubfitters & Titleist/Footjoy representatives, F.C.A. TourLife representatives, special guests for the week, local volunteers, charities, host family (Scott & Dottie Pope), sponsors, golf course personnel and many more lucky folks like myself this past week at the Nashville Golf Open (NGO) for the Web.Com event. All pieces fit together to make the TeamSloan machine.

Nashville Golf Open, Web.com event June 16 – 19, 2016

This week’s Web.com event was held at Nashville Golf & Athletic Club, a 7563 yard course founded on the exact site settled in 1786 by Davy Crockett’s family. It’s a beautiful tract located in middle Tennessee with the Crockett family graveyard positioned near the current clubhouse that was built around an existing historic log cabin.  Hole #1 is considered a tough start to the course ranked as the #16 U.S. Hardest Course.

Cedric Lamar, Roger’s caddie

Casey Sloan, Davy Crockett Family Cemetery at Nashville Golf & Athletic Club

If you can’t tell by now, one reason I love my job is that I get to work with wonderful people like Roger Sloan, colleagues from all over the world and other great folks in the golf industry. It should go without saying that working with elite athletes is awe inspiring.  And after spending a few days on the road with Roger, I also appreciate that these guys have heart–the competitor’s heart required for hard work against the odds through bad weather, travel challenges and other obstacles, and the incredible investment of time and money to compete in this arena.

The rawness of individual competition in professional golf defies description, yet it is refreshing to witness that competition play out through the weeks and seasons of tour events. The attention to the athlete’s body through workouts, fueling, rest and recovery is crucial to performance at this level.

This week Roger and I were able to use an historic 1700’s smokehouse-turned-fitness-center for our workouts where we used a primitive giant square log corner to stretch hamstrings. That afternoon, during a rain delay, we spent time chatting with the staff in the Titleist Fitting Van. A detailed tour from Scott Cuppett, Titleist staffer, through the fitting van with the bins of Scotty Cameron Putters and the extremely popular putter covers was a treat! Experiences like these and working with great people make me grateful for the opportunity to be the fitness and nutrition coach for #TeamSloan. Here are some other snapshots from this awesome week:

Jose Alvarez, F.C.A TourLife (Roger’s Charity) myself & David Cook, author 7 Days in Utopia	Hamstring KINSTRETCH work for better hip movement	Roger, myself & Titleist Fitter Scott Cuppett playing in the Scotty Cameron Putter Pit!

Dinner with Roger & Casey at Butchertown Hall, Nashville, TN