Golfing with Daddy

My sister finally updated her blog on her new beau and what is going on with her life and mentioned going golfing with my Dad when we where kids. It basically gives me an excuse to post about something in my childhood because I don't have a whole lot going on right now other than my house is trashed.

When my sister and I were growing up both of our parents worked, they still both do. My mom was a nurse (she still is a nurse, just not in a hospital) at the local hospital and my father was in the Army as a cook. Mom often worked weekends and nights on various occasions. I could never keep up with her schedule. My father, for obvious reasons, always had the weekends off. One of the his likes in life is golf.

Every Saturday we would go golfing. He would get us up at the ass crack of dawn, usually 6:30 or 7 a.m. (hey that was early for an 9 and 7 y.o.) and head to the golf course. Since being military we usually went to the same 2 golf courses, Striker golf course and Pope AFB golf course. We liked Pope the best, more shade from trees, I'm sure that was a down fall for Dad. If we ever went to a different one we had to get up earlier because it was a special occasion. It was like going to Outback instead of getting pizza.

So we would go and we ALWAYS walked. It was more $$ to drive and we didn't have the much. We were happy just to get a cart to pull Dad's clubs so he didn't have to carry them. So we would go and Dad taught us all the rules and the etiquette of golf.

1. Always walk around the ball and not in front it of because your foot print could cause the ball the break in the wrong direction.
2. When you are holding the pole always make the flag not flap so it is quiet and doesn't cast a shadow.
3. Don't let your shadow cast over anyone's ball.
4. Pay attention to where the golfers are, don't get ahead of them
5. Pay attention to where the ball goes cause Dad would often lose his in the rough, he was a beginner.
6. Be quiet when someone is hitting the ball. (we were kids, we were loud)

Of course there are others but these were the main ones. Going golfing with Dad taught me many things but the one that I remember the most was

"Bring a jacket even if it isn't that cold outside, because you can always take it off. You can't take something off that you never had to begin with"

I'm not sure that I mentioned that we went golfing in all types of weather, hot, cold, windy, drizzly, damp, etc. I always hated the early morning tee times because there was always a lot of dew on the ground and my shoes would get wet along with my socks.

The highlight of going golfing with Dad was always hole #19, the clubhouse. Before we got to the first hole Dad would buy us a honey bun and get us something drink, soda, hot chocolate, or some juice filled with nothing but sugar. We would sit there at the first hole making all kinds of noise eating our "breakfast" waiting for the walking to begin.

After about 6 months of going golfing with Dad my sister had the courses down pat. We knew where all the soda machines where, which holes had the best water features to play in, and where would could sit if it was too hot or cold out. One of our favorite things to do was play with Dad's ball retriever. I think we broke it a few times or he has a bought a few of them because we kept breaking it. It was our mission in life to find balls in the water hazards. We found lots of other stuff as well, most grass and algae but hey, we were kids, anything we found we made entertaining.

We always went with the same people too. Mike Bond was one of them. The man swore like a sailor, Dad would always tell him to stop, especially around us. When the 2 of them played together one of them would have a bad day. Mike threw one of his clubs half way down a par 3 hole at Striker once. Dad got so mad once that he wrapped his 6 iron around a tree. It's kinda funny when you think about that stuff now, probably not to them then but hey, it is only just a game right?

All in all walking with Dad only lasted a few years. He bought me a set of used clubs and I played a few times, but mostly hit buckets at the range. I had a really good shot once. We were playing at Pope and every now and again towards the end of the day when Dad knew we were really bored and ready to go home he would let us play a hole. Normally a par 3 or 4. I went up to the ladies tee and hit the ball right on the green. Dad said I was so excited and jumping up and down. I think I parred the hole if not just a bogie. I wasn't that great at putting. It was still fun and interesting.