A Day in the Life: Morgan Blythe
4/25/2024 10:54:00 AM | Men's Golf, Front Row Features
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From the classroom to the course —and everywhere in between— get ready for this weekend’s MAC Men’s Golf Championships with an all-access look at a recent day in the life of Miami freshman standout Morgan Blythe.
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Millions of people around the nation were watching golf on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
In many ways, it's an unofficial holiday in the sport: The opening round of the Masters in Augusta, Ga.
However, Miami golfer Morgan Blythe was not part of the audience tuned in on ESPN that afternoon.
He was busy playing golf.
Or, to be more accurate, practicing golf.
So although Tiger Woods was teeing off hundreds of miles away, Blythe and his RedHawk teammates could instead be found at Hueston Woods on a damp afternoon in southwestern Ohio, walking the first nine holes of the course and preparing for their next tournament.
And while the Masters is a once-a-year tradition, Blythe honing his game is a once-a-day occurrence.
"I personally believe that if you're not doing something productive every day, you're falling behind," Blythe said.
So what does a day in the life of Morgan Blythe look like?
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"At the moment, my life revolves around: Gym, class, golf, bed. Gym, class, golf, bed. Gym, class, golf, bed."
On this particular date, Blythe's day had started nearly nine hours earlier, when he walked into the lower level of Goggin Ice Center at 5:57 a.m. to get ready for an early-morning weightlifting session with his team.
The freshman helped get the equipment wiped down, straightened and ready for a session with assistant human performance coach Keith Parker. By 6:20 a.m., the whole team had assembled in the Leahy Performance Center.
"Let's be efficient, boys!", captain Danny Fisher shouted.
"Love the energy! 'Grind' on three: '1-2-3-GRIND!'"
Blythe's portion of the workout would be somewhat abbreviated, due to a 7:15 a.m. appointment across campus to register for his classes the following semester. But the Newcastle, England native made the most of his time in the gym. He was hard at work and breathing heavily only a few minutes after picking up the clipboard with an individualized workout plan attached.
The strain from a variety of exercises with dumbbells, some of the 55-pound variety, showed on Blythe's face as he and the rest of the dozen Miami golfers quickly moved from station to station (including a set of lifts while resting on a bench emblazoned with the phrase, 'NO EGOS!').
"Yeah, Morgs!" Fisher yelled as Blythe finished yet another box jump. "Get up!"
The pre-sunrise grind is nothing new for Blythe and the RedHawks; in fact, it's just another piece in the puzzle toward Blythe accomplishing his goals, both as a student-athlete in the present and hopefully a pro golfer in the future.
for as long as he can remember
"I want to be a professional golfer," Blythe explained later that morning. "That's what I've always wanted to be and that's what I will always want to be…
"It was one of those stupid seven-year-old things you say to yourself: 'One day, I'm going to be on the PGA Tour. One day, I'm going to be like Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods. Then you kind of get quite good, and at 14 or 15, you're like, 'Yeah, actually, I could maybe do this!'"
Blythe's path toward his overall goal of ultimately making a living in the sport someday includes setting individual goals each year related to his game, his body, his grades and more. The list of 2024 goals features everything from scoring numbers to, yes, weightlifting numbers, and is taped to the bottom left corner of the mirror in his Flower Hall dorm room to serve as daily inspiration for the 19-year-old.
"I always set ambitious goals, where if I achieve them, I've done really well," said Blythe.
"I think that's a good thing because it motivates me to put the extra work in when I'm tempted to go for a nap instead of going and doing that little bit that I know I need to do…I've always felt like I had to work harder than the guys who I wanted to be, just to be as good as them. So, I have to work even harder to be better than that."
Blythe's approach has drawn rave reviews from head coach JD Fletcher.
"[He's been successful already because of] how he goes about his business and how he practices," Fletcher said. "He's so detail-oriented…and he will go do that one extra thing a day to separate himself."
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It should come as no surprise that a chunk of a Miami student-athlete's day is spent going to class.
But on this mid-April day, before Blythe ever made it to a classroom to participate in his current classes, he had to take care of registering for next semester's classes.
By 7:30 a.m., he was one of approximately 100 first-year RedHawks sitting in a Walter L. Gross Jr. Family Student Athlete Development Center meeting room, each with a laptop open in front of them. Many of the gathered students also had a cell phone or other mobile device in hand and were comparing notes between their two screens.
Ryan Swallow, Assistant AD of Student-Athlete Academic Support Services, and his team of academic coordinators (along with volunteer advisors from across campus) wandered from row to row offering assistance as the different registration windows opened in 10-minute increments.
Blythe was able to successfully sign up for each class he attempted to join for the fall of 2024 except for one that was necessary for his major and already full. He then promptly submitted an override request, which was approved in a matter of hours to finalize his 16-credit-hour schedule.
From there, it was time to get cleaned up, grab some breakfast, and head to an exam.
Just another 'day in the life.'
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The exam in question was part of a course entitled History of Architecture II. "It ties into my Interior Design major, so it's my favorite class so far," Blythe said later. "It's hard learning about all the different buildings from all over the world: Remembering their names and when they're from and what theme they're under and who designed them. But it's interesting at the same time!"
For this open-notes test, Blythe scrolled through questions on his computer and tried to match the pictured buildings with a drop-down menu of names and locations before moving on to true/false and terminology questions.
He electronically submitted his finished product and instantly learned his grade for the assignment, which he pronounced himself more than satisfied with (since it was a full eight points above the class average).
That allowed him enough time to catch the end of a class lecture in the next room, where nearly 50 students were scattered in a mid-size auditorium.
"Form follows function," the professor said, referencing a famous Louis Sullivan quote as she elaborated about how the 1893 World's Fair helped shape the architecture in downtown Chicago's skyline.
Of course, each of the American buildings on the screen —while well over 100 years old— are still relatively new to an Englishman like Blythe. His first-ever trip to the United States didn't come until after he signed with Miami Golf in November 2022.
"I was definitely going to come [to school] here regardless of how my visit went, so it was a bit nerve-wracking, thinking, 'If this doesn't go well, what am I doing?'" Blythe remembered. "But I got off the plane at JFK and was just blown away by literally everything.
"Then I got here, and, in my opinion, the videos and photos of the campus don't do it justice of how amazing it actually is. I was getting the tour around and [wondering], 'How have I ended up HERE?!', which is a really nice feeling."
For Blythe, the chance to play for a coach like Fletcher was ultimately one of the biggest reasons he decided to step out of his comfort zone and cross the Atlantic to join Miami's program, basically sight-unseen. "I'd heard horror stories of other student-athletes coming to the U.S., not getting on with their coaches, and just being miserable and homesick," he said.
"Having a coach I knew I could trust and rely on and get along well with and learn from was a really big thing for me."
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After class let out, Blythe headed back to the Gross Center for his weekly one-on-one conversation with Miami Athletics staff psychologist Dr. Katherine Tylinski.
Blythe said he's found these optional sessions to be valuable in helping make the mental side of his golf game a strength as opposed to a weakness.
"We talked about managing school and stress to start with, and now we've been moving on to the course," Blythe recounted. "Things I need to work on in terms of how I react to playing badly, and how I react to things going wrong on the course. She's been really helpful in that, just making sure how I react is in a positive way…
"With golf, I care too much; that's why I sometimes react badly. I'm so desperate to do well…
"For last week in Florida, we focused on making sure that nobody knows how I'm playing. I could be having the round of my life or the worst round ever, and you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at me. And if something happens, instead of reacting by saying something, I can just take a deep breath out and exhale."
at the prestigious eight-team Calusa Cup in April
Early returns on the strategies Tylinski has recommended have been promising, according to Blythe.
"It's really worked, and is working, and I know it will continue to work, which is nice," he told Tylinski as he recapped his experience at the Calusa Cup. "By the time I breathed out, the thought was gone…
"I'm excited to see the improvement…and surprised how quickly we've been able to turn this around…
"We just need to keep on the path we're going. I'd love to be able to say [the mental aspect] is the best part of the game, to make me completely bulletproof on the course!"
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Another one of Blythe's favorite parts of his most recent tournament in Naples, Fla. was being able to have some family members in the gallery.
"My mum, grandma and cousin came out to Florida; it's the first time they've managed to come to an event and watch us, which was really, really cool," Blythe smiled. "It was nice to see them, and it was nice to have some English faces to support as well!"
Blythe's family has always been supportive of his golf game, back to his earliest days with a club in his hand.
"My dad and I went a lot together when I was younger. Those were really fun memories," he explained. "He used to [spot] me two shots on every hole.
"The first time I remember being close to beating him, I was around eight years old and leading by one with two to go. He beat me to win by one, and I burst into tears!
"That's when he realized I was starting to get better."
These days, Blythe's parents enjoy going out to play golf together, along with the family's dog, a black Labrador named Seve (after late European golf legend Seve Ballesteros). Blythe is looking forward to re-joining them on the links when he's back home. "My mum started four or five years ago, so I've challenged her to be insanely good for when I get back," Blythe said with a grin. "That's going to be fun to see!"
He also loves having his parents accompany him as he travels around the country to play in local tournaments throughout the summer. Last year, Blythe advanced to the final qualifying for The Open Championship, competing against pro golfers such as Sergio Garcia to try and earn a coveted spot in The Open. He is eagerly anticipating the chance to chase that dream again in 2024, an opportunity that is especially meaningful with his parents in the audience.
"It's nice to have my mum and dad there to watch me play, because they always love doing that and I always love having them there," said Blythe.
As Blythe climbed the stairs to the second floor of Upham Hall for his second class of the day, he reflected on the many adjustments for an international student-athlete spending the majority of the year on the other side of an ocean from relatives and the comforts of home.
Whether it's missing the tasty food, such as a full English breakfast ('I haven't had a good one since I came here!'), or even fighting to maintain his accent ('I'm trying to keep my own, but I probably have five or six different accents depending on where I am and who I'm with!'), the United Kingdom is never far from Blythe's thoughts.
Especially Newcastle United.
"I've grown up supporting Newcastle and loving it. It's a really big part of my life and holds a special place in my heart," said Blythe, whose older sister works for the club.
Not just a fan of the sport, Blythe grew up playing soccer (er…'football') himself as a boy before focusing solely on golf over the past few years. "I have a season ticket, and every time I'm home or watching the football, there's a certain kind of buzz that I just don't get anywhere else," he said.
"I definitely long for that whenever I'm away."
Fortunately for Blythe, he's not the only Miami golfer from the U.K. who consistently pays attention to the English Premier League.
"Sam West watches football and he supports Arsenal, so it's been really good to have somebody to vent to about that," Blythe laughed. "If he wasn't here and I had to keep all my football thoughts to myself, I don't know what I'd do.
"I think the wall and the mirror and I would have some interesting conversations about Newcastle!"
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Ironically, less than an hour later, Blythe's anthropology class, entitled Cultural Diversity in the U.S., would hit on many of the same themes the freshman had just used his British accent to elaborate on in the stairwell. The professor had the students work on an Internet slang quiz from the New York Times —attempting to define 21st-century terms like 'fleek' and 'bruh'— before she introduced the concept of codeswitching to the class.
Put simply, the term refers to changing language or dialect based on where one is in the world at that moment.
In other words, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do.'
The professor pointed out that although the United States does not have an official language, most people are still constantly expected to fit in to a certain community's vocabulary and syntax.
The ensuing question presented to the class for discussion: 'Why code-switch?'
Blythe, uniquely qualified to share perspective on that topic as someone currently residing 3,800 miles from his hometown, listed two possible reasons off the top of his head as he conversed with nearby classmates.
1. "So people can understand you."
2. "It gets annoying to repeat yourself."
"It's just such a subconscious thing," Blythe added later as he further compared his original Northern English accent to how he often talks on campus. "It's weird: I hear myself say [certain phrases], but it's like, 'Why am I saying that?'
"I don't even know I'm doing it. It just happens!"
As the lecture unfolded, even though his laptop computer was open (complete with Miami and RedHawk logo stickers on the back of the device), Blythe periodically scribbled notes on a piece of paper under the heading LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION.
His handwriting was cursive and quite impressive.
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"Morgan does have good penmanship!", said Coach Fletcher approximately two hours later at Hueston Woods Golf Course. "Put that in your story!"The third-year head coach was in the process of handing the scorecard for the RedHawks' practice round to Blythe, assigning the rookie with the bleached-blond hair the task of writing down hole-by-hole how each member of his foursome fared as the afternoon wore on.
The RedHawks were divided into three groups of four, with Blythe joining Scott Bitar, Matthew Mattioli and Egor Zotov in the middle group. For the time being, Blythe put away the scorecard in one of his back pants pockets, with his gloves secured in the other.
"Black tees all around," Fletcher instructed as he laid down the ground rules for that afternoon's competition.
A few minutes earlier, he had wandered over to where Blythe was warming up to casually debrief on the ending of Miami's most recent tournament.
"What happened down the stretch in that last round?", Fletcher asked as Blythe lined up a practice putt.
"Pull, push, pull, push," Blythe shrugged as he analyzed his only back-to-back bogeys from the final 18 holes at Calusa Pines.
Fletcher jokingly referenced one putt in Florida that didn't even come close to its target, but Blythe was having none of that.
"It did hit the hole!", he protested with a smile.
"Barely," Fletcher chuckled.
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As Blythe and his teammates finally got things underway on a soggy and muddy course a few minutes later, he had no such issues, ripping a textbook 3-iron from 240 yards away on his second shot and quickly capitalizing with a short birdie putt on the par-five opening hole.
From there, it was a workmanlike string of eight pars in a row to close the round. Nothing flashy, nothing to write home about: Just good, solid golf. On holes No. 4-No. 7, Blythe barely missed birdies each time, usually leaving a matter of only a few inches for casual tap-in pars. His closest call might have come on the final hole, as Blythe saw his birdie putt lip out and settled for a one-under 35."Probably a bit boring, but I played nice and kept it simple," Blythe summarized as he walked back toward the parking lot. "Didn't do anything spectacular and didn't do anything disastrous, so I'm kinda happy with that."
The vibe over the 105 minutes from start to finish was serious but not overly intense.
"It's better to be lucky than good," Blythe joked after one fortunate shot at No. 4 as he rebounded from a subpar drive.
"Tell me why you're not playing at Augusta right now!", was the retort at No. 6, as the foursome discussed the latest news from the Masters leaderboard.
By the end of the round, Blythe was toting an Adidas umbrella along with his personalized golf bag to better dodge the occasional raindrops. His other hand often held a rangefinder, a tool which allowed him to accurately measure the distance from where he would hit next to the flag on the horizon.
The final scorecard, documented in Blythe's impeccable handwriting, showed that Bitar had the best total of the foursome on this particular practice day, shooting three under par over the stretch of nine holes. The depth of the Miami roster, with any number of golfers able to go low in a given round, is one of the reasons Blythe and company are looking forward to the upcoming MAC Championships in Westfield, Ind. The RedHawks are confident in their chances based on the team's results so far this season, including last month's 1-2-3 finish at the Ross Collegiate Classic, where Brett Podobinski, Fisher and Blythe swept the podium.
"This is what you play for and this is what the season will be remembered by," Blythe said of the MACs. "We're definitely good enough: The group of guys we've got all really want to win it, all know that we can win it, and believe that we should win it if we play well."
Fletcher knows that if Miami is able to claim its first conference championship since 2015, the only freshman in the lineup will need to play a key role. "Morgan is on track to be MAC Freshman of the Year: A top-10 MAC player and a top-25 guy every week," Fletcher said.
"He's a Patrick Flavin-type player…a really good rock for our team with consistent scores, especially as a freshman."For Blythe, a victory for the Red and White at Chatham Hills would just provide more evidence of the trajectory he believes the program is already climbing. "We're really improving. We can see the progression, we can see the goals, and we can see that everybody's aligned to get the team ranked better," he said confidently.
"I want to leave the program better than I found it. That's not an easy task because we're in a really good place [already], but…a top-100 team? Winning a MAC or a couple MACs?
"I can see, regardless of how I do, the program being in a better place in four years than it is now, which is really cool. Hopefully we can progress and get better as a team, just like I hope to progress and get better as well."
There's no doubt about it: Lifting a postseason trophy with his teammates would make for an incredibly memorable day in the life of Morgan Blythe.
But as he well knows, the work that goes into potential days like that gets done quietly behind the scenes on routine days like this.
And for today, that's quite enough.
Find more Front Row Features at MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures
Blythe and the RedHawks will chase the MAC title this weekend at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Ind. Click here to follow the live results.
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