Recharging on the links: BYU football players using golf and other activities to find gridiron-life balance

BYU junior wide receiver Kody Epps had a couple of memorable shots during Monday’s BYU football media golf scramble at Cedar Hills golf course in Cedar Hills.

“I drove two greens today,” Epps said with a grin. “I reached the green on Hole No. 1 and Hole No. 14.”

Epps has only been playing golf for just over a year but — as reaching the greens on two par-4 holes clearly demonstrates — he’s getting pretty good.

“People may not be able to see how big I’m smiling right now, but to be able to strike a ball like that, there is no better feeling,” Epps said. “Hearing it take off like that — I’m speechless now. I can’t even describe how fun that it.”

But he said it’s even better to be able to have had those shots playing with his Cougar teammates.

“These are guys I just got done grinding through hard workouts with,” Epps said. “Now we are out on a golf course having fun together. It’s the best feeling.”

At the other end of the spectrum is BYU senior quarterback Gerry Bohanon, who came to the scramble but didn’t play for a very good reason.

“I just started golfing last week,” Bohanon said.

He explained that he went to Top Golf and didn’t like the results.

“I’m not a guy that is comfortable with being bad at stuff,” Bohanon said with a smile. “I went out on the range one time and I kind of fell in love with it and how tough it is. I like to compete and challenge myself, so that’s something that I enjoy and it is very peaceful.”

He just got a set of golf clubs and is getting going. He feels like he has the ability to make good shots but hasn’t gotten the technique down yet.

“I’m slicing it too much,” Bohanon said. “That’s my biggest issue right now. I can smack it pretty far but I just can’t get it going the right way yet. I’m trying to figure out different grips and steps to get it going where I want it to go. Once I get there, then I’ll be ready.”

Both Epps and Bohanon spend an enormous amount of time working to be the best football players they can be, whether that is working out, practicing, film study or developing chemistry.

They both, however, have also come to realize the value of other activities like golf to help them stay sharp for football.

“I think is so important,” Epps said. “Life is all about balance. In all religions, balance and tranquility are the utmost principles. That’s true in any organization, anything that follows good principles. I think that having balance matters so much to us, especially as football players.”

He sees golf as teaching some important performance lessons that can be applied on the gridiron as well.

“In football, everything is about being tough and how hard can I push to do something,” Epps said. “But in golf, it doesn’t work like that. The harder you try to hit the ball, the more it’s going to go offline. The more you try to force something, the less likely it is to go that way. Having the game of golf helps me recognize the need to enjoy the ride.”

He said a golf book he’s been reading has emphasized being “where your feet are” and not thinking about the last shot or the next shot.

“This offseason, I’ve been trying to train my mind to do that in football,” Epps said. “If I do something wrong, I focus on how I can improve. The golf book talks about embracing the failures and doing everything you can to learn from the moment. Then you can keep moving forward and keep pushing.”

Bohanon said that every football player needs to find something that helps them relax.

“You need something that isn’t physically or mentally taxing to take you away from football,” he said. “You need to grind but you also need balance to keep you healthy as a person. You can’t do it 24-7 each and every day. It’s not possible. You’ll end up getting drained. For me, it was just finding things I enjoy.”

He recognized that it took some time in his career to come to understand the value of stepping away from football for a little while.

“I didn’t find until I got injured,” Bohanon said. “Not having football had me in a really, really weird place. All I wanted to do was football, day in and day out. They would give us two weeks off and I would just train the whole time. I now understand like the importance of taking a break.”

He said he’s seen that it makes a difference physically and mentally.

“It was good for me when I got injured that I was able to sit down and kind of figure out everything about life, to see what I was besides the football,” Bohanon said. “It’s about finding that balance because when you have it, it’s going to help you to be a better football player.”

Courtesy BYU Photo

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