#261: Nathan Smith, Walker Cup Captain – Know what your people need to excel
How Leaders Lead with David Novak
David Novak Leadership
4.8 • 596 Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2025
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | We're here to do a job. |
| 0:01.0 | You know, we're going to have fun, but, you know, we got to lock in. |
| 0:05.0 | And it's going to be no fun if we don't, and you're going to have to own it for life. |
| 0:08.0 | We don't win this thing. |
| 0:10.0 | Well, you know, I know you're the captain of the Walker Cup team that just, just won at Cypress Point. |
| 0:20.0 | But you've also been my partner at the National |
| 0:22.3 | Senior Junior Amateur Contest. I mean, how's it compared to have the Walker Cup experience and the |
| 0:30.6 | experience we had together? Well, tell you what, being your partner, there's just as much pressure. |
| 0:34.9 | I'd say that. That's just as much. But love being playing with you through the years, and you've been a great friend, and it's been a lot of fun. Thanks for having me. Well, you know, not only do you run this successful insurance business, you know, you're one of the most decorated amateur golfers in the U.S. history, you know, with four mid-am wins, you know, |
| 0:55.3 | the three Walker Cups, Tying up at the Masters four times. But your recent chapter was a real honor. |
| 1:01.9 | You were picked to be the captain of the United States Walker Cup team. And you guys just didn't |
| 1:07.8 | win. You dominated 17 to 9. I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's incredible. So I want to just start out, Nathan, and just congratulate you on your fantastic victory. Well, thanks. That means a lot. I mean, you know, being the Walker Cup captain is just, you know, the biggest honor of my life to be asked that. And then to have it at Cyprus point, to have that incredible group of guys, |
| 1:29.2 | you always wonder in your life, you know, will you ever be a captain? What kind of team are you get? Like, where would be? And I couldn't ask for more with the players that were on the team. You know, Cyprus is incredible. And just the way they played, especially Sunday afternoon, to stretch it. It was close. It was close all weekend. Don't let that, don't let that final |
| 1:46.2 | score fool you. We were only up by a point going to they played, especially Sunday afternoon to stretch it. It was close. It was close all weekend. |
| 1:44.6 | Don't let that final score fool you. We were only up by a point going in the last one. |
| 1:50.1 | It was nerve-wracking stuff, but all the credit to them, they played incredible Sunday afternoon. |
| 1:54.6 | Well, we'll talk more about that. But first of all, tell everybody about the Walker Cup and |
| 1:59.6 | its importance in golf. |
| 2:01.9 | Sure. The Walker Cup is really the amateur version of the Rider Cup. And, you know, it was, |
| 2:08.2 | it's probably the biggest honor that an amateur could have to represent their country. They're |
| 2:12.9 | 10 guys on the United States team and they're 10 guys on the Great Britain and Ireland team. |
| 2:18.7 | And usually the format of it is it's 36 holes, Saturday and Sunday. And the morning portions |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from David Novak Leadership, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of David Novak Leadership and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

