Cole Swindell picked up golf at 9 or 10 years old and hasn’t stopped gambling because of that—besides, for a brief stretch in college, while someone stole his golf equipment, he could not come up with the money to update it.
That has not been an issue in recent times. Winner of the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Artist award in 2015, he has 8 No. 1 singles, including “Chillin’ It” and “You Should Be Here.” His track “Break Up in the End” appears on his 1/3 album, “All of It,” which became nominated for a Grammy. He’s additionally written the No. 1 single for some different u. S . Artists, together with Thomas Rhett, Luke Bryan, and Florida Georgia Line.
Swindell, 35, squeezes as much golfing into his schedule as possible. Drummer Chris Marquart and guitarist Joel Hutsell play, and every so often, guys in bands they tour with do, too. “Golf is my major aspect on the street,” Swindell says. “People suppose it is glamorous. However, it gets lonely. I’m just sitting there with the equal view on a bus unless I get outdoors and find something to do.”
A West Coast tour ultimate year brought him to a trifecta of special publications: Pebble Beach, Spyglass, and Cypress Point. But his favorite golfing revel stays at Augusta National, which he describes as “what I imagine heaven seems like,” after a few rounds there.
We stuck up with Swindell, who incorporates an eight.3 Handicap Index, in January, on the LPGA’s Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions outside of Orlando. He competed in four rounds with Danielle Kang, Ariya Jutanugarn, Shanshan Feng, and Moriya Jutanugarn, posting respectable rankings within the 80s every day and finishing with a birdie on the difficult par-3 18th. He came away fairly impressed with the LPGA players. “I’m glad I’m a pro at something else,” he laughs. “They’re excellent.”
Swindell’s overdue father, Keith, inspired him to golf. As a child in tiny Bronwood, Ga., “I played various sports. However, I recall him telling me once I was growing up, ‘You continually higher play golfing.’ What a remarkable recreation. I’m lucky to have learned it at a younger age,” Swindell says.
In addition to playing the game, Swindell’s a huge fan of the seasoned excursions. “When I get home, I’m so tired on Sunday; all I need to do is lie on the couch and watch the golf match,” he says. Of his favorites to observe, Tiger is up there with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Thomas. “It’d be a laugh to move loaf around the ones guys, play a few golfing, have a few liquids, tell memories,” Swindell says. “They’re fun to observe. I’m pulling for them.”
As for his aspirations, Swindell is especially interested in gambling and checking off publications on his bucket list. “I’d like to be loads better at golfing,” he says. “I’m aggressive. I do not like not playing well. But I get to do what I love for a dwelling, and golf is simply something I experience. When I get on that stage at night, I recognize that changed into being, and I was born to be doing.”
