A Father's Day Unlike Others...

Continuing the trend of oddities in 2020 ... I introduce you to Father's Day. This year will not find me settling into my large over sized leather chair with a cold beverage to watch Touring Professional struggle to make par, a golf course pushed to the brink of survival and the crowning of our new National Champion.

Instead, as with many things in 2020 that we enjoyed with fondness - COVID 19 has stripped this away until September, when majestic Winged Foot plays host to the best players in the World. It will be interesting to see how a fall date changes the play ability of this great venue, if at all?

This Father's Day has made me think about golf in general. How ours is a sport often handed down from generation to generation ... and, that unlike baseball or football - it is a sport that parent and child can enjoy for a lifetime. My close friend Bob Baldassari, PGA was introduced to the game through his father - himself a Lifetime PGA Member.

I was not ...

One IBM transfer removed from my non-existent ice hockey career in Vermont, my parents needed a new sport for their youngest son - in a safe environment. Golf had always been in our family, but it certainly wasn't a game my father was proficient at ... LOL. Wielding his trusty 3-Iron whether from 225 or 125 yards, he introduced me to the game that would become my career. Perhaps now that he has passed, I find myself wanting to play that one extra nine with him, or turn back the clock and have him follow me in a local tournament - even my attempts to qualify for the US Open.

I introduced my eldest son to golf at only 18 months following a thrilling US Open finish where Steve Jones held off Tom Lehman and Davis Love at Oakland Hills. So pumped, I scooped up Andrew Hogan (yes, that Hogan) and rushed to the course I was managing ... where I reeled off three straight birdies, before tossing a ball down for him.

"Do what Daddy does" - only to have him Phil Mickelson me and play left handed !!

So began, the passing of the torch to another generation. I added another playing partner, watched them grow, learn to break par and now regularly out drive me... :-(

The years have flown by much to fast ... awaiting the next round or golf trip, all the while Cats in the Cradle plays faintly in a corner of my mind.

This would be my message to parents about Golf ... introduce it, "teach" it and enjoy the moment.

For those of us that are golf operators, we should embrace our role in both the heritage of the game, as well as binding generations together.

There should be a national mandate that kids play free after _?_:00PM with a paying adult.

That we should work as an industry to create a "kids first" culture ... while developing an atmosphere of mentoring to put young people on a pathway to success in a world turned upside down. I challenge all operators to look at the macro picture and out of the box - GROW YOUR BUSINESS by embracing the youthful energy of a strong junior program.

Finally, to the Dad's (and Mom's pulling double duty) out there - Enjoy the Day!

Your friend in golf ...

Allen

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