A few months ago however, I found my new favorite event … and it’s a scramble. On one of our regular trips to the First Tee, I noticed a sign promoting a tournament: a father-child two-man scramble on Father’s Day for only 10 bucks a team. Now, my son was only two at the time, and I sort of laughed about it when I called to ask if we could play. One of the many reasons I love this place is that they live for welcoming kids — even the infants who tip over like bowling pins, or two-
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year-olds in diapers with three clubs who want to beat the pants off the field in a (mostly) competitive event. We had the good fortune of being paired with one of my best friends and his son, Jude. I laughed more in those two hours than I had the entire week. We were likely the only team fist-pumping after making four-inch putts, and we even took one of my son’s drives. Afterward, we were shocked to learn we won our division. My son got a medal and wouldn’t take it off for a week.
I like to say that my son taught me to putt. In a way, it’s true. I’ve always been a terrible putter, and given that the putter is used twice as much as any of other club, that’s pretty unfortunate. All the hours spent goofing around on the putting green must be helping though. I’m putting better now than I have ever putted in my life. Maybe it’s that I’m putting with a smile on my face, or maybe it’s that I’ve finally found my favorite (team) sport.