Q & A with Megan and James Milam of women's and men's golf

Sophomore James Milam and freshman Megan Milam play for the men's and women's golf teams. They recently sat down with senior writer Peyton Bowman.

'Prince': How long have you all been playing?

Megan Milam: Forever. I know we have a picture of me and I'm two or three in a dress out at the range.

James Milam: I usually tell people I've been playing since I was about six but I started playing every day in the summers when I was about 11.

P: Was there any particular inspiration to get you all started?

JM: Yeah, our dad would just take us out with him.

MM: He'd bribe us with milk shakes and ice cream.

JM: Yeah, he'd take us out to the putting green and we knew all the golf pros — or he did anyway — at the various courses. So we'd get on the putting green with them, you know, in the evenings. Sometimes they'd come out and putt with us. He'd let us win and he'd buy us shakes or drinks, whatever we wanted.

P: Do you all find you learn a lot off of each other?

MM: Well, this is going to sound kind of dorky, but James has always helped me with my playing. I know he's the first person I want to come back from a tournament and be like, "James, I broke 80 da-da-da," and the last person I want to see when I play badly because he's like, "Come on, dude."

JM: I think I've always been ahead of her in age and probably experiences learned from. But I can learn from her experiences, too. Talking to her and trying to help her with what went wrong for her helps me. I think all golfers do the same kind of stuff when it comes to making mental mistakes on the golf course.

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P: What was the strangest thing you ever saw on a golf course?

MM: I saw a girl break her club with her bare hands last weekend. At the William and Mary [Invitational.] I was standing a little in front of her and I heard this really loud twanging sound. I turned around and she was standing there with her three iron — one half in each hand.

JM: I didn't see this, but when we were on spring break, we went down to Florida and we got to play with two past USGA presidents, who were Princeton alumni. I didn't get to play with them in the same group, but one of them told the guys in his group that [he was playing Seminole, one of the best courses in the world] and he was on one of the holes [that] goes around by an ocean, and he was on one of the tee boxes with his kids and they looked over at the bushes and the beach was right there and there was a couple making love on the beach.

P: What was the best golf course you ever played on?

JM: Pine Valley has Hogan and Bobby Jones and all these great golfers. Their names are on the walls, things they've done — and honorary members and stuff like that. That's part of what makes it so great is just the feeling of being a part of the history of the game.

P: What was the worst course you all ever played?

MM: American Falls. You have to hit over the road twice.

JM: These small towns in eastern Idaho usually have these little nine-hole golf courses that are just kind of dirt, and there's a green here and there's kind of grass on it, sort of.

P: Do you think people will ever play golf in space? What do you think would be the biggest problem?

JM: I think trying to stay over the ball and keep your head down when everything's kind of floating around.

P: I thought the hardest thing would be breathing.

MM: Well you could play in a space suit or something. You would never have to worry about grounding your club in a hazard, I guess.

P: How much oxygen do you think a golf course produces in a day?

JM: I have no idea. It would depend on the course. If you have a links-style course its mostly grass and hills — probably not as much as a golf course that has tree-lined fairways.

P: What do you like most about playing golf here at Princeton?

JM: The people that you meet — and you get to go to these tournaments and compete against the best college players in this part of the United States. That's what golf is all about.

MM: Being a part of a team. It gives you an identity on campus. Knowing that everyone's out there counting on me, and coach when you come in and you say well I shot this and you played well, and he gets this kind of look of shock and thrilled surprise on his face.

JM: I think what you'll find with golfers is that people who have been playing their whole lives and respect the game also have a lot of integrity. You meet a lot of honorable people, a lot of really good people and I can say that for the guys on the [Princeton] team.