YouTuber Brothers In Butterfield Championships
[Written by Patrick Bean]
The advantage available to Wesley and George Bryan as trick shot artists on video are staged scenes that allow for multiple takes to be edited into a single, flawlessly constructed final image of perfection.
However, there’s a reason why those prone to attempting crazy stunts belying convention rarely make it to the sport’s premier circuit that is the PGA Tour, where do overs are heavily penalised and stuntmen are most often banished without payment on Fridays.
This year’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship has offered further opportunity for 33-year-old Wesley to secure his PGA tour card for next year and for the older George, 35, who for years has a bounced around on the mini tours, to show that he too can compete with the ‘big boys’ and is worth being granted an exemption into the event, is first competing on the senior circuit.
Neither have disappointed, each having managed to make the cut and help dispel notions of their being akin to the sports Harlem Globetrotters or ‘one trick ponies’, but they have not at all abandoned their ‘Bryan Bros Golf’ personnas … not one iota.
“I think if Wesley beats me he’ll be satisfied and if I beat him I’ll be satisfied,” said George after making the cut. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot.
“I mean my goals this week have been to compete at some level. My game is good and I know — even up until a month or so ago my aim was to make the cut and even if I just play okay — but now it’s like, ‘I’m playing good, what about getting into the top ten so that I can play into next week’.
“Which sounds silly because I make You Tube videos for a living, but my game has been that good.”
To his brother’s comment, on cue, Wesley chimed in saying, “I don’t think it sounds silly at all.
“Because I’ve watched the way you play and it’s tremendously more talented, and this is not a knock a lot of people in the field, but tremendously more talented than a lot of the people in the field this week.”
The charismatic showmen are distinguishable by having their own camera crew tracking every move allowed within broadcast ownership parameters, with George, a stunning lookalike to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins head football coach Mike McDaniel, notable in his comedic talent.
Meanwhile, Wesley is also a talented musician who plays country music and who has released several of his own compositions on multiple streaming platforms.
Placing gimmickry mostly aside, the siblings rebranded their content to encompass more realistic content, with their YouTube channel now hosting more than 225,000 subscribers.
“We’ve competed enough and we know like our games are good and we 3 bring out the best of each other regardless of where our games are,” shared George, who has top Bermudian professional Camiko Smith as his caddy.
“Like if he’s playing bad or if I’m playing bad, we’re going to rise to whichever one and it’s going to be a battle and it’s always going to get pretty even.”
Both emerged as collegiate All-Americans at the University of South Carolina, with George viewed as the better of the pair, having achieved the honour three times, however it was the younger brother who progressed more rapidly upon leaving.
This year the brothers invested in the purchase of Solina Golf Course in Lexington, South Carolina, which they are upgrading, with an eye on opening the private golf course by 2024
“I know when I turned pro I was playing great coming out of school, I had a really good last semester of college golf, turned pro,” said Wesley. “George, I mean, was about to quit the game of golf.”
Chimed in George: “It was bad.”
Wesley agreed: “It was bad.
“And then our first tournament, I literally make my professional debut on the E-Golf Tour or whatever it was, and George just has this like resurrection like from the final group, almost wins, finishes like second, beats me.
“Then the next week, same thing, absolute heater and I’m finishing like 10th to 15th and I made a couple thousand dollars and I’m feeling great about myself.
“George had made maybe one cut in the previous 20 starts and he elevated. I feel like it’s kind of always been that way.”
For the Butterfield event, Wesley went solidly to bat for his brother, submitting a convincing argument for an exemption, which was well received, allowing George to make his debut appearance, which has certainly not disappointed, bringing added spice and more than a few social media eyes to the party.
