There is no round of golf all year that my dad looks forward to more than the Wellesley Country Club annual Father son tournament. Affectionately known as "Doc," my dad is the quintessential golf nut and NOTHING makes him more proud than strutting around the club with my brother Nate and me.
Nate and I both were fortune enough to play varsity golf together at Amherst College, a school my dad attended but didn't compete at as he didn't take up the game seriously until after college. Dad put clubs in our hands at young ages, and became such a student and historian of the game that we never even needed to take golf lessons as he mind as well have been PGA-certified with his constant reading of golf magazines and novels.
One of, if not the finest memories of my 25 year golfing career came 10 years ago when grinding it out on Father's day tournament round. Although my dad always says he doesn't care about winning, I knew he was genuinely down in the dumps after shanking a sand wedge (mind you he is a solid 7 handicap) leading to a tough double bogey on the easy 13th hole. It had seemed like all hope was lost but we managed to storm back with a handful of birdies in the closing stretch such that we figured there might be a glimmer of hope heading into the 18th hole.
My dad pumped a drive down the middle on the short 18th-hole par 5 such that I could easily take a crack at hitting the green in two. I left my approach short left with an easy pitch that my dad hit up there leaving me a 6 foot slider breaking left to right. I can still feel my sweaty palms on that hot day grinding over a putt that I knew I had to make to have a chance at winning, and when it trickled in on the left side, the hug my dad gave me telling me that he knew I would make it is a moment I will cherish the rest of my life.
#GOLFIS more than a game, it is the key bond for me with my dad and brother.
