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This interview was first published in the January/February 2023 issue of GOLF Magazine.
Golf: Being the best tennis player in the world takes a lot of time. How did you get into golf?
Stan Smith: I never played until I moved to Hilton Head Island in ’71. I had a Wilson tennis racquet named after me at the time, so I went to their factory and picked out some clubs.
G: Were you good at golf right away?
SS: Most tennis players pick up the game fairly quickly. There was a professional golfer at Harbor Town named Stan Graff, who happened to be the former quarterback at Stanford. He connected the action of golf with other sports, which helped me understand the game better. Golf and tennis swings are very similar in their back-and-forth motion association.
G: How good are you at your best?
Suzanne: I probably got to number three at one point. My index is 7.8 now. I feel like I’ve lost something like 20 yards over the past year. I think I might be missing a link or two.
G: Hey, not too shabby for a 76-year-old!
SS: Well, my short game has always been pretty good. I developed fairly well. My iron play is irregular. I drive the ball constantly; It just isn’t going too far.
G: Your short shot strength – do you associate that with your skills on the court?
Suzanne: I served really hard, and I could hit my groundstrokes really hard, but the rest of my game was a lot more versatile. I will try to mix it up and unbalance the opponents. But yeah, in golf you’re going to hit the ball hard, but you’re also required to hit the ball with precision which requires good hands and definitely a great touch very similar to tennis where you hit drop shots and finesse in the short putts.
G: The Stan Smith tennis shoe from adidas is iconic. But they also have Stan Smith golf shoes?
SS: Yes! They first came out with it about 15 years ago, and it looked exactly like my tennis shoe but with springs on the bottom. Then, last year, Adidas came out green [Stan Smith] The shoe is for the masters, and I did a little video with Dustin Johnson for that. Then they had white shoes for the US Open, and Jessica Korda and I did a commercial for that. There have been more Ryder Cup and ZOZO Cup exhibitors in Japan. They also have one with a little flick over the laces, like the players from the 60’s and 70’s. We partnered with Vice Golf and made a bright orange shoe and a lime shoe. Oh boy, would you notice someone wearing those if you were standing too close!
Biography of Stan Smith, Some people think I’m a shoewas made into a documentary by LeBron James’ production company. It’s titled Who is Stan Smith? It premiered last fall.