Florida Gators senior Maisie Filler joins College Golf Talk with Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine to discuss her recent rise to No. 1 in women’s college golf, her third win of the season at the Moon Golf Invitational, her move from the Northeast to Florida in high school, her experiences in LPGA events, her many superstitions and much more. #GolfChannel #MaisieFiller #CollegeGolf
» Subscribe to Golf Channel: https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1
» For the latest news around golf: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf
Welcome to Golf Channel’s official YouTube channel. We are the #1 destination for everything golf – 24/7. Find golf instruction tips, sneak peeks to our original series, news and tournament coverage. We are part of the NBC Sports Group.
Discover what else Golf Channel has to offer:
Live Coverage on Peacock: https://peacocktv.smart.link/v82e9dl56
Live Scores: http://bit.ly/GCScores
TV Schedule: https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/schedule
Instructional Tips: https://www.golfpass.com/learn
Golf Course Reviews: http://bit.ly/GCCourseReviews
Florida’s Maisie Filler: The new No. 1 player in college golf | College Golf Talk | Golf Channel
https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1
Macy thanks for joining us uh on college golf Talk number one player in college golf as of Wednesday how does that uh that’s that feel thank you for having me yeah it feels pretty great um I feel pretty validated of all my hard work and that I’ve put in recently and I’m just
Really happy and I’m also more motivated to stay number one now does coach exempt you from certain team duties or do you get a free pass for workouts one morning now that you’re number one no I still had to work out at 6:30 this morning but I’m happy to do that
And we have qualifying this weekend first off both days so no nothing’s changed but I’m happy to do that I’m happy to keep working hard I hope you would not have to qualify for the next tournament home okay that’s good that’s good yes I am exempt but I still have to
Play qualifying so three wins this season um and also a win at the Jones dhy women’s amiter too over winter break so you’ve been winning a lot lately you’re the eighth player I believe now in school history to win three times in a season first since 2019 talk
About how you’ve changed as a player um because you were a really solid player the first three years I don’t think you missed a tournament as a sophomore or as a junior but what’s changed in your game to kind of get you to the level now where you’re closing out
Tournaments yeah I’ve definitely changed my practice approach I’ve started focusing on the smaller things of short game and putting that have really made a difference for me and I also made a coaching change in June to Jason Bale and he’s been absolutely awesome in getting me here to be able to win this
Many times so I owe a lot to him and he’s been awesome and helping me make the necessary changes in my swing and short game to be able to just solidify my game to be more well-rounded what’s the one major change you think that you’ve made in your swing
You know what were you doing before and what are you kind of specifically working on with that um to where you’ve gotten it to where it is now I’ve overall just neutralized it a lot so I can hit different shots now and it’s a lot more consistent I would have periods
Before where I would hit it absolutely amazing and then suddenly I would just lose it so now I’m much more consistent so it’s a lot more stressfree and it’s just been great so when you say lose it is there a specific or a particular tournament that
Comes to mind where you kind of lost it mid uh mid round I never had would lose it mid round I would say it would be I would be going into a tournament and I would just not be confident and my misses were just to the left which is not my ideal Miss
So that was a bit stressful especially on my confidence and at the time my short game wasn’t as strong as it is now so that added some stress but I think spring last spring was a good example I had a lot of highs and a lot of lows I
Had great tournaments and bad tournament so it’s just kind of a roller coaster now let’s go to the Moon Golf Invitational wrapped up on Tuesday some some weather there but a really Stout field I mean we’re talking about some of the best teams in the country including
The fora Gators but LSU Wick Forest a lot of great players Rachel Keane ingred lindblad you beat them all but that final round you made a couple already uh early birdies and then Ana donigan from LSU took the lead at some point early there on the back nine how did you
Regroup did you have to say anything to yourself um and just kind of talk us through how you were able to ultimately get the job done yeah I actually played with Anya in the final round which was definitely a mental test just because she was the one
That was chasing me down along with ingred but I started off pretty strong and she was started off strong as well and then I made it I had a three bogey stretch on eight n and 10 and I really had to just mentally reset I knew I was
Having some Miss drivve so I had to really reset and give myself a pep talk that I could do it and just like reset and pedal to the metal and I ended up being able to do it Anya played great but I was able to stay consistent and
Made a birdie on 17 so it was tough but I was happy I was able to go through that just because it is a mental test but now I know that I can grind it out M now you’ve you’ve had to clear out some space for some of this Hardware right do
You have a do you have a trophy cabinet maybe back home or do you keep them all in your apartment or dorm room how how does how does that work they’re actually in my apartment right now they’re on my dresser right there it’s getting a little crowded but for now it’s yeah
It’s time to it’s time to invest in uh kind of a some shelving or or something that I think that might be a good idea now let’s transition to the team a little bit I think it’s no surprise that when it’s come crunch time time for the postseason it hasn’t necessarily been a
Great past few years for the Florida Gators you guys were seventh at regionals in 21 Fifth and 22 that was before um we moved to the the six Regional format yeah actually that might have been the first year of the sixth Regional format so that you miss by won
That year eighth last season so you’ve never played an NCAA Championship how do you how do you subdue the thoughts the negative thoughts now in your last year like man because there could be a lot of pressure if you’re sitting back thinking this is my last chance to get it done
Otherwise I’m never going to play the NCAA Championship what’s the mental key to keep that from being at the Forefront of your mind I actually haven’t given it too much thought I’m just trying to take it one turnament at a time it’s a marathon once you hit postseason so just trying
To focus on each round individually but it is certainly a thought um our team is very solid this year we have some awesome freshmen that have just been really consistent really solid and our team is just pretty solid this year so I am optimistic and I know that we can do
It we just have to be focused on the process I think solid might be a little bit of an statement three wins as a team two two and one in match play at Palace veres that was another stacked field T5 at Moon golf so this is a gator team
That I think could could make some noise finally um come early May miday late May um but what’s what’s changed within the team I mean something has to have been unlocked for you guys to start winning tournaments and be one of the best teams in the
SEC I was doing some research and you have some sort of mentorship program within the seniors and the Freshman where you’ve taken each of the seniors have taken a freshman under the wing can you explain a little bit more of that and is that the secret to unlocking what
We’ve seen out of the Gator so far yeah so our team is interesting because we have a big divide between freshman underclassman and then upper classman and so our coach paired us each with a freshman SLR ER and we were just their Mentor when they first got here and we
Have a couple Europeans too so they were a little more lost and we were just there for them and reassuring them that we’ve gone through everything they’ve gone through and it really helped smooth out their transition and make them just be able to focus on their golf a lot
Easier and I think that definitely contributed to our success we’re just all really supportive of each other and everyone is really motivated self- motivated and everyone just works really hard which I think helps us push each other even more which is really awesome so do you is it like a big
Little thing is that the terms you use or what’s the yeah terminology little sister yeah okay big big sister who’s who’s your little sister mine is ANZ she’s from France and she she is pretty much my little sister at this point she’s awesome she’s she’s a firecracker
And she’s an amazing player so it’s really awesome to see that of a freshman do you have a story of some of her early days on campus in Gainesville something that you had to help her with maybe she got lost trying to go to class or she didn’t know where the golf course
Was it honestly they are pretty self-sufficient but just helping them navigate campus and navigate classes can be pretty daunting I even get lost trying to find classes so that she needed help with but she’s been pretty self-sufficient and everything I would say it’s kind of a spread out
Campus you it it is and isn’t everything’s walkable within 10 15 minutes but sometimes if you have class across campus it gets you’re like rushing to the next class there’s a lot of trees things are kind of kind of hid although they’ve knocked a lot of them
Out to build a lot of the athletic facilities and and such they have now now you have a a really um kind of dominating team across the locker room from you and the men’s team the reigning national champions how much how much motivation has it been to see what they did last
Year with a senior Laden team I mean the big three with Ricky and Yin and Fred um that has that been kind of talk about that that in Iration and and how close are you guys with with that men’s team yeah we spend a lot of time alongside them we practice with them
Every day and play with them and last year it was it was really cool to see them win it was such a cool moment for them and I’m so happy for them but it was definitely motivational because I knew we could be in that position too so
It kind of made me want to put my head down and work harder to be able to get there like they did um but yeah was was just a really awesome moment for the coaches and them they deserved it now have you watched much of the television
Coverage of incaa or is it one of those things where I don’t want to see what I’m missing out on I need to you know put my head down and make sure I’m there next year or I did watch the finals but besides that I didn’t I did watch all the guys
Because I was there supporting and cheering for them but not too much I was kind of focused on practicing so I could get there next year yeah what what do this team this year the the women’s team what what does this team Bond over you think whether it’s traveling to
Tournaments or you guys are home um you don’t have a tournament that week what are what can we find the lady Gators doing to build that team camaraderie I think a lot of our team camaraderie this year comes from our shared desire to win honestly I haven’t
Been on a team in this four years that wants to win this much and is as motivated and so that’s really awesome to see that we all have a shared Vision because I’ve always had that Vision so I’m just really happy that we all do and
We’re just all there for each other and so focused but also we have so much fun just hanging out off the golf course as well so it’s just been I think helpful for our success so far has that competitive has that boiled over at all to things outside of golf like in terms
Of I don’t know if you guys play card games or board games or pingpong or or what it is is there an example of maybe that inner competitive competitiveness outside of golf yeah it certainly comes out in probably everything we do um all of us are just really competitive especially in
Practice we do a lot of things that are competition oriented or will play matches and so those get pretty competitive which is fun I think you have to keep that competitive nature up outside of competition so it’s always really fun what does the winner get for winning these matches in practice and at
Bostic and what does the loser typically have to have to do there’s got to be some sort of of punishment reward Dynamic there um it depends if it’s our coach setting it up for us but if our coach sets it up a lot of times
We’ll get some type of prize if we if we win we might get a t-shirt or some sweatshirt which is pretty pretty cool but like I played my teammate Marina the other day in match play and we she’s my roommate so we played for who could do
Laundry first okay which was a big deal that night because we were both going on trips so things like that that seem silly but are actually a pretty big deal now let’s let’s turn the clock back a little bit your your background is pretty interesting you’re initially from
The Northeast and then moved down to Florida in in high school is that right tell us a little bit about freshman year yeah yeah I moved down in 2016 now which it’s a long time ago now but I just wanted to be in the warmth and I was
Able to golf year round and my coach was down there and it was definitely a really important transition for me I think it was vital for My Success just because up north it’s hard you can’t play outside for three months of the year so that was definitely important
For me and it’s been an awesome transition I still go up north in the Summers when it’s warm but it’s I’m a Floridian now so did you move down without your parents or or was this a family move it was a family move yeah I’m the youngest so both my other
Sisters ERS were in college or already graduated so it was a pretty easy decision and an easy move just because of the timing I was in between middle school and high school so it was a pretty smooth transition now I’m I’m sure other players have done this have thought
About it but what’s your advice to someone from a a winter climate that’s looking to play college golf or looking to play professional golf after that and they want to move down to a warmer climate how do you how do you handle that because I’m sure there are some
Days where it’s not easy because you leave your friends you leave kind of what you’ve known but what’s your advice to someone contemplating that I think it’s definitely a great decision you can obviously be very successful still from the Northeast you can still hit balls inside but it makes
It a lot more difficult I would say but if you can go to college where you have a great indoor facility even if you go to school in the North I think you can be successful but to be honest it takes sacrifice if you want to be really good
So I know it might be hard to leave your friends or your family behind but it sometimes takes sacrifice who do you look up to in in golf that’s a great question I honestly have always and still look up to my oldest sister Natalie she’s always been
My inspiration she’s seven and a half years older so she’s been that role model for me and she was already playing in tournaments when I was just thinking about starting to play so I’ve always wanted to be like her and grow up to be like her so she was my inspiration to
Start playing and getting competitive about it she’s a golf instructor isn’t she she she does a show for us on on golf pass or or did she does so and and she’s not your coach so she ever been your coach would would that ever work um she’s never been my coach but
She is always there if I need her help and she caddies for me a lot she caddied for me at the onwa last year and she’s cading for me again this year so she’s an awesome caddy she knows my game really well and knows my personality
Really well so we work really well in the golf course together but yeah she’s never been my coach but she’s always there if I need her yeah she certainly knows what she’s she’s talking about you mentioned you mentioned Augusta your debut last year came very close to
Playing on on Saturday that final round ad austa National Golf Club can you take us through last year kind of how you were feeling how you thought you played and maybe those last few holes as you were kind of battling to to make that cut yeah it was an awesome experience I was
Among the best in the world so that was really an awesome experience and to have n on the bag it was just awesome to be with her and then my family following along and I do feel I played pretty solid along the way I was a bit nervous
At the beginning but the second round I made a run at the end I knew if I needed I knew I needed to make some birdies to give myself a shot but it was really the first couple holes of my second round that put me back into a bad position so
This year I’m hoping to come out of the gates running with some underpar rounds that’s my goal but it was an awesome experience and I’m really excited that I have that experience going into this year because the courses are pretty difficult so I’m happy to have some
Prior knowledge now so you’ve played in three LPGA events too um including yes one one was a long time ago it was a few years ago you were probably were you a freshman or were you were a senior in in in high school when you played the Pelican I think I was a
Sophomore I’m pretty sure sophomore College okay yeah yeah that that was 2021 so maybe it wasn’t it wasn’t that long ago no but still I mean not a lot of players play pro events when they’re still in college or or definitely not before their final year or two of
College describe that week were you were you overwhelmed were you surprisingly calm how would you grade your kind of performance both mentally and physically with with the golf yeah my first LPGA event I was honestly terrified okay yeah I was like I do not belong here everyone had their posy around them
And they were doing their thing and I just felt so out of place and so the first round it was just all nerves I I was playing great at the time but the nerves got me that first round and then the second round I kind of settled down
A bit and I did miss the cut but after having that experience like going into my next LPG event I felt a lot more confident I knew how all those players were operating and that I could just mind my own business and do my thing and
Nobody was going to look at me or question me so it’s it was definitely a learning experience but it made me a lot better would you say making the cut at the shop right is was that a big turning point for you confidence-wise yeah that was definitely a turning point
Confidence wise it was just awesome to see a result against other professionals just because that’s what I want to do after I graduate so to get that experience before I turn pro is just pretty pretty special so I’m happy to have that under my belt how would you
Rank your goals now college golf for this final semester the rest of it how would you rank maybe your top three goals and what you want to accomplish both kind of individually and and team- wise I’m sure number one is a national team championship but maybe fill out
Those other two yeah that’s always the goal is a national championship two I would say I’m very process oriented so I just want to I want to get one% better every day that’s how me and Jason are it’s just improving each day for when I
Do turn proo and three would be an SEC Championship okay those are those are just as nice I I I hear you still get rings for SEC championships as well the the men’s team just had their their ring their ring ceremony they did they’re very cool does the women’s team
Attend that just for some extra inspiration or or do you guys just take it in on social media after we weren’t there so we weren’t invited but we took it in for inspiration well maybe you guys will you’ll be able to come back next year and hopefully get a ring
Before I let you go I I I reached out to your sports information director Matthew and he gave me some some tidbits and and some facts and some topics to kind of discuss and a bunch of them we’ve already discussed but one I wanted to say this for last he said you’re pretty
Superstitious on on the golf course probably in life take us through some of the superstitions you have and maybe explain why that is I’m going to be exposing myself here but I do blame my dad for giving me his superstitious personality he was superstitious when he played hockey but
I always have to play with the same ball marker um fun fact I’ve I got it when I was 12 I think and I haven’t played a competitive round without it um I can’t play without it so that’s a fun fact can you describe this ball
Marker is it yeah it’s it’s just a sparkly fourleaf clover how how big is it is it one of those like poker it’s just like okay okay CP like a little yeah yeah it’s it’s not a big poker chip that’s probably my biggest Superstition but I’ve got I always have to put my
Socks on first in the morning as well if I’m going to play well and I pretty much just have like my pre-shot routine just always has to be the same but those are my those are my biggest ones but putting the head cover in the same direction things like that that seems
Silly but put my mind at ease well I I wouldn’t consider keeping the same routine to be superstitious that’s just part of that’s part for the course to being a good player right yes I would say but even my routine before my pre-shot routine has to be the same but
But I’ve gotten a bit better at relaxing about that now I covered the US Amer on the men’s side a couple years ago up in New Jersey and Ben Carr had a ball marker that was uh meaningful to him it reminded him of his dad who had died and during his
Semi-final or one of the late matches he lost the ball marker and it he played the first 12 or 13 holes with about it and then he reached into his pocket on like the 14th hole or something and the ball marker was in his pocket have you
Ever have you ever had a moment where you thought you lost this lucky ball marker and if so kind of describe what was going through your head and how you ended up finding it I’ve lost it a few times but it magically always finds its
Way back to me so I’m pretty lucky about that but I did have to play one round it was my fir second Tournament of my freshman year the East Lake cup and I had to play my match without it because I left at the hotel and so that was
Pretty devastating for me but I did make it through and I won so but it always finds its way back I think it’s meant to be so knock on wood haven’t lost perfect well um Maisie thank you so much for for joining us good luck to you as you
Guys continue your quests towards the NCAA Championship SEC Championship um Good Luck individually as well I know that not to put more pressure on you but you are I would say one of the Front Runners if not the front front runner right now for the yukica award which goes to the player of
The year so great playing uh thank you so much again and for those listening thank you so much we’ll uh see you again next week on college golf talk
