Rob has not played many tournaments this season – he made a travel basketball team which will take up weekends for the next couple of months – but also I did not sign up for the season as quickly as previous seasons, and we were waitlisted for some tournaments he could have been available for….
Day One: Both my boys teed off with the same siblings they have played with on the first day of play in past GA PGA tournaments and one behind the other (thanks to the sibling policy). Their mom and I chatted about how convenient it is to be able to hover between the two, pulling far back…
Conversation as we open the car door to the steamy, Southern summer morning. Me: I would love to be able to jump in our pool right now to cool down quickly. Rob: Which of the seven human beings that live in our house does not like the pool? Me: Well, us four like the pool. Danny likes the…
Day 1 Rob has just set off on his first 2 day, no-caddy tournament. The GA PGA Junior Tour has a very accommodating policy of – on the first day – trying to tee siblings off close to each other if possible – so it is easy for parents to watch both players. And…
Rob is playing a GA PGA Junior Tour tournament next week and I can’t caddy (at his age he is starting to move out of parent-caddy scenarios) and I can’t wait just to spectate – and I’m sure he can’t wait for me to get off his back, I mean bag, either. Two holes in and…
One of the wonderful things about playing Regional tournaments is that the players make friends with fellow golfers from across the country. Year after year they play with many of the same boys and will no doubt continue to see them at tournaments through College – or at least as long as the game provides…
It was a long, hot and relatively drama-free day. I had to remind him of the basics of the golf swing from time to time, especially the fairway irons: Follow through, you’re not following through. You’ve got to finish ‘up’. Pretend I’m going to take a photo of the follow through – I want you to…
Back at Pinehurst for the Red, White and Blue Invitational. Rob playing in the 12s now, same course as Bear (13-14s) and only marginally shorter. The boys played a practice round together. Bear has played the course before and all I remember from that experience: the greens and how they roll. Fast and hilly and…
To be, or not to be? That is the question— Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them? Am I almost done? Can I continue to put up with the complaints and negativity that…
Ugly shots can still yield tremendous results. Playing out of turn is usually the result of a ‘rushing’ mindset and almost never turns out well. Overcoaching is killing youth golf – or at the very least my patience. I don’t think discussing how you did on a science test is tournament golf round conversation….
Max was on Rob’s bag today which was very helpful given that we played at one of the longest and toughest courses of the season – and by that I mean miles of mountain climbing between holes. What did you enjoy about your round? Having daddy push my cart up the mountains. I also really…
Ask for her and she will come …… but she will not necessarily bring the miraculous with her. Rob set off on his own, his decision, but texted on hole 7: can you come caddy for me? I rushed off and met him. It was slow going and he was struggling. Could not putt to save…
And I thought, why do I try to avoid this? This is not bad at all. He’s playing confidently. Scoring low, spirits up. Until he wasn’t. And they weren’t. And it really was just a few putts that fell short, a few errant fairway shots that he rushed or played out of turn and out of…
I remained at the scoring table today, Zen-like as the wind whipped at the tent and detached from the individual dramas played out on the course. Max was on Rob’s bag, Bear caddied for himself. It all went well. My boys were happy and relaxed and scored in their usual ranges. A few observations….
I have been under the weather this week and did not take the 1.5 hour early morning trek out to our first tournament of the season. It would be a very long day with Bear playing too. Although he will age out of local US Kids at the end of this year and has not…