Less than two weeks after his exceptional performance in the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, it is clear that Louisville’s John Marshall Butler has no plans to let up with his tournament play in the back half of the year. Butler, a senior at Auburn University, bested his past record at the tournament (Round of 32) to make it to the semifinal match this year. Though certainly a tough loss to Neal Shipley of Pittsburgh, PA, Butler took the time to reflect on his experience and what he looks forward to in the future.

Butler adds U.S. Amateur semifinalist to his impressive resume that includes a KHSAA Individual State Championship, the SEC All-Freshman team in 2021, winning the 107th Kentucky Amateur, and second-team and honorable mention All-American statuses. Recognizing he had “physically been there all summer” after starts at other prestigious tournaments, such as the Western Amateur in early August, Butler still felt something was holding him back - his mentality. For this reason, he felt that “leading into the tournament, my priority was mainly on my mentality and my mental game.” Further expanding, he realized this summer that “the pressure I was putting on myself to go out and compete was getting to be a lot” and negatively impacted his performances. He credits studying the mindset of great athletes in helping him develop a “think like a winner” mentality, which has carried him far. When comparing this past summer to his successes in college golf, he credits this “drastic change in mentality” that moved away from “forcing results to happen” as a factor in his U.S. Amateur run. Butler feels the summer of 2023 offered him great insight, which helped him reflect on both his successes and what was needed for growth. 

Golf is unpredictable, so when a surprising, last-minute change to Butler’s U.S. Amateur preparations fell outside his game and into that of having a caddie, he adapted. Originally planning to have a friend from Auburn on the bag, a family emergency left Butler to arrive in Colorado without one. After playing both practice rounds at Colorado Golf Club and Cherry Hills caddie-less, he secured a local caddie in Mike Glammors. Despite the two getting in contact just the day before the first round of stroke-play qualifying and meeting in person an hour and a half before Butler teed off, the partnership proved advantageous. Fortunately, the rest of his preparations in Colorado proved to be less complicated. Butler states he “didn’t do anything differently to prepare” to play Colorado Golf Club compared to Cherry Hills for stroke-play qualifying, and that the changes in the courses came down to design. Butler describes the two courses as “dramatically different - Colorado Golf Club was links-style while Cherry Hills was more traditional with thick rough and trees.” The two courses each offered their own unique challenges, ones Butler overcame to tie for tenth in stroke play.

Much of his success is likely attributed to the advice that has stuck with him throughout his golf career - “the importance of practicing with a purpose” - the same advice he would give to younger players. He perceives many players “just know that they need to practice” and can spend hours doing so, but can be unsure why or fail to have a particular goal or focus in mind. In order to be effective, he stresses the importance of a player knowing why they are choosing to practice specific parts of their game. He couples this with an emphasis on trusting an instructor who helps the player see tangible results over time and, most importantly, “trying to take it onto the course.” 

As he turns to his senior year at Auburn, Butler has clear goals for himself and his team. He feels his game is in stellar shape as they start the season, and he plans to “keep doing what I’ve been doing” and focus on “a lot of maintenance work” on the more technical aspects. After being named a past Fred Haskins Award finalist, he has his sights set on claiming that title this year, given to the most outstanding college golfer in the United States. As for the team, the Tigers are working to claim the SEC Conference title and an NCAA Championship. Butler is joined this year by a fellow Kentuckian in freshman Cayden Pope of Lexington, who narrowly missed match play at the U.S. Amateur. Auburn kicks off their year September 8-10 in Arizona, looking to defend their 2022 win at the Mirabel Maui Jim Intercollegiate.

Media Contact:

Abby Ligons | Golf House Kentucky | aligons@kygolf.org