Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Par for the Course
|
||||
 Father and son look ahead to their first round together (Photo: Eric Tracy) Since it’s never too early to start building that foundation, I got the ball rolling recently by taking my son, Timmy, 6, to the course. Playing golf with my son has always been a dream of mine because I never got to do it with my father, Roy, who was 42 when he died of a heart attack. I was only 10 but knew how much he loved golf. Now I love it, too, and hope that my first round with Timmy is the first of many to come. I got my son his first set of clubs — plastic, of course — for his first birthday. On his fourth birthday I got him a little bag and junior clubs. I didn’t want to spook him or force the game down his throat, so I took it easy. What if he hated the game? If so, there goes my dream. I limited Timmy’s exposure to the driving range and the putting green, where he could swing with reckless abandon and not worry about where the ball went or be embarrassed if he whiffed. He was just a kid with a stick trying to hit a ball, unaffected by rules, technique or pressure. Over the past two years Timmy’s desire to play golf increased to almost weekly requests, which lifted my heart. Since he was beginning to make consistent contact with the ball and continued to express an interest in the game, it was time to make my dream come true. “Timmy,” I announced with pride, “I think it’s time for us to play golf on the golf course.” He looked at me quizzically and asked: “You mean we’re going to go hit balls?” “No,” I replied, “it’s time for your first few holes of golf on the golf course.” With a mix of nervousness and excitement, he thought for a moment and said: “You mean hit it and then go chase it?” “Yes,” I said with a smile as wide as the first fairway at Braemar Country Club, where Timmy’s first round would be played. Those of you who have played in one of the charity tournaments I arrange know that golf is a laughing matter to me. I play in the loudest golf pants money can buy, strap an iPod speaker to my cart, put a cigar in my mouth and fill a small cooler with adult beverages. That’s how I roll. So if Timmy was going to play with me, he needed a new outfit. Unfortunately, Loud Mouth Golf Pants doesn’t make pants for kids. However, because of Loud Mouth and golfers like Ian Poulter who are style-setters, it didn’t take long to find Timmy some pants you can see from a fairway away. And Timmy even picked out his own green and blue window pane golf shorts. Like father, like son. We got to the course, went to my locker, changed shoes and headed to the pro shop so Timmy could go through the entire pre-round ritual. We checked in with the pro and I bought Timmy his first golf glove. I got a little choked up when he put it in his back pocket to mimic his dad. On to the driving range we went. I need to stretch for 10 minutes before holding a telephone to my ear, let alone turning my shoulders for a golf swing. Timmy just grabbed a club and started hitting balls. Jim Stewart, a fellow member at Braemar, watched us while he chipped. “I can see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Stewart said about our perfectly fluid swings. Twenty minutes later, we head to the first tee. While I’m only thinking about the historical and emotional moments to come, all Timmy wants to do is drive the cart. He sits on the first tee box and uses both hands to get his tee in the ground. Timmy then stands up, puts his golf glove on, addresses the ball and swings. Contact is made. It doesn’t go far, but he doesn’t care, and neither do I. Timmy shot his age before making it off the first tee (it’s a really long tee box) and scored a 24 on the hole. I was really proud of him because he did what he said he was going to do. He hit it and chased it, over and over again. I parred the first hole and hope Timmy will be inspired when he looks back over his first scorecard. He lowers his score to a 21 on the second hole, while I make a bogey. “That’s enough,” I said to Timmy, who was starting to slow down from our hour of hitting and chasing. But the mission was accomplished, and as were driving away from the club, Timmy uttered the eight magical words I was hoping to hear: “When are we going to play again, Dad?” If I wasn’t so satisfied with my par-bogey round, I would have turned the car around at the next intersection. Eric Tracy is also known as The Mulligan Man. If you have questions or comments, contact him at Eric@TheMulliganMan.com. |
||||
RSS SubscribeReaders Feedback:
Reading you tee for two article I find myself in a somewhat similar situation and what a wonderfull feeling of satisfaction and experience it has been for the dad and son.
However, I have to say that living here in los Angeles and trying to go through a similar experience is next to impossible as I realised that it took about an hour for the father and son to complete the first two holes before quiting.
My delema is ...where in Los Angeles golf courses would I be able to do that without being thrown off the course. All the courses here are always too busy all the time .
Well this was my question I just thought I mention It as it came to my mind.
Thank you for the wonderful article I did learn a thing or two from it which I really appreciate.
Regards
Vinny
| Comment at 6/1/2009 |
