“Daddy! Daddy! Look! Girls play golf too!”
As Fathers’ Day approaches and my daughter’s love for the game of golf continues to grow, somehow even faster than she is, I felt the urge to write about our shared passion for this wonderful game. One of the great joys of being a father for me has been sharing the immense joy that golf brings to be with my daughter, and we’re still just scratching the surface of this shared love.
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I can vividly remember the moment when I realized that my daughter had fallen in love with the game that I love so much, the game of golf.
Saturday and Sunday afternoons if I am inside our house I can usually be found on the couch in front of the TV watching golf. And like many aspects of life there’s a good chance you’ll find my daughter within arms reach of me. She loves her daddy, and is always interested in what I am doing. No matter if that thing is cooking dinner, clipping my fingernails, or packing my golf clubs to go play.
On a Saturday afternoon last year while watching the U.S. Women’s Open my daughter came into the living room and, and her attention quietly focused on TV. I could see the wheels in her little toddler mind turning, she knew what was on TV but something was different and she needed a second to ponder what was going on. Then the little joyous and exciteful voice that makes my heart jump burst out of her, “Daddy! Daddy! Look! Girls play golf too!”
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Introducing my daughter to the game that I love so much has been one of the great joys of my life. From the moment that I came home with her first set of plastic golf clubs for her 2nd birthday she has been enamored with watching the golf ball fly through the air, even if just for a moment.
When I started playing golf six years ago the thought of walking around Pinehurst Resort’s pro shop looking for the perfect gift for my daughter was not one that ever crossed my mind. Yet there I was, just as excited to get something for my little golfing buddy as I was to go out and play Pinehurst No. 2 the next day. Then I saw it, the perfect little toddler sized t-shirt, or “my golf shirt” as my Poppyseed calls it. It made me so happy to buy that shirt for my little golf buddy, though I don’t think my happiness comes anywhere close to hers when I tell her to get her golf t-shirt and her golf clubs so we can go play.
“Daddy watch! Watch how far I hit the golf ball!”
Late Sunday afternoons at Lakewood Golf Club in New Orleans, LA are full of golf carts being driven by dads with little humans bouncing up and down excited to be out on the golf course with dad, or maybe they’re just trying to focus on the cartoons playing on their tablets. Who could say? It is a wonderful and hilarious time to be at the golf course. The course swarms with the joy of happy kids running around, chasing golf balls, and wildly swinging their clubs as hard as their little bodies can manage, as dads try to swing smoothly while constantly being worried that a kiddo will run behind them and get knocked across the side of the head with dad’s golf club. That is the last conversation that I want to have with the Mrs. about my daughter and I’s time at the golf course when I get home.
Sometimes I wish that I got as excited about merely hitting the ball with the golf club as my daughter does. Let’s face it sometimes I should be excited for something so menial to me, but awe inspiring to her. The sound of her little club hitting the ball may not be near as loud as mine, but the high pitch blaring “WHOOOAAA!!!” from her puts any celebration of mine to shame.
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That weekend watching the U.S. Women’s Open will always have a special place in my heart. I cannot wait for the day that I am able to take her to see women play golf in person. I have the utmost intentions of taking her to Pebble Beach for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, and dreams of taking her to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA), and continuing to share my love of the game of golf with her. Really our love of the game now.
And let’s face it, I’ll probably have better luck on my side with karma trying to get tickets to take my daughter to the ANWA than I have had trying to win the lottery for The Masters. I think I am 0/8 now.
Emotions are one thing that I am never short on, and the thought of walking into hallowed grounds of Augusta National, along the jagged beautiful coast Pebble Beach, and among the pine trees of Pinehurst hand in hand with my daughter brings me so much joy. Whether to watch the best players in the world play the game we love or to attempt to mimic their play ourselves, the former of the courses I listed likely not, the thoughts of the joyful memories nearly bring tears to my eyes now.
It is often said that you can play the game of golf well into your elder years, which is perfect. That means that I will have three to five hours for the rest of my life when I can have my daughter to myself. Three to five hours to ourselves where we can be father and daughter, golf buddies, friendly competitors, or whatever the day may call for. For dear old dad the actual golf will be irrelevant. The game of golf will be, as it is now, our place of love, joy, and happiness. It is:
A game of our own.
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When I started writing this piece I had never heard of the city of Uvalde, TX. A city that now haunts me due to the devastating murder of 19 children and two teachers. It has been hard to me to complete writing this post gushing on and on about my daughter as the fathers of those children will not receive the hugs I will on Father’s Day. I cannot imagine the pain of having to bury a child, and I pray for them and all parents who have had their bundles of joy and happiness taken from them too early.
As always thank you for taking a few moments out of your day to read my blog. Whatever your passion is share it with your children if you are blessed to have them, they will return the blessings to more than any of us can imagine.
God bless,
Ben
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