Last year, my father passed away on Memorial Day – just a few weeks before Father’s Day. It wasn’t a time of great reflection for me. I was still absorbing its emotional exhaustion.
In going through papers and having a Zoom memorial last summer, we were fortunate to focus the attention of a lot of people (in a couple of countries) to pause and remember some of the many stories that tell the story of Dad.
Just one slice of this pie is that he enjoyed golf, as a player and very much so as a fan. During the playing of the men’s Major championships (The Masters, The PGA, The US Open and the British Open) my siblings and my dad participated in a weekend-long email conversation starting who picking the winner, then running commentary about the play.
My father loved a great anecdote – especially at someone else’s expense. One of his favorites was the story of my grandfather’s not being very good at golf. He once teed up the ball, wound up to hit his drive and shanked it so badly, it went between his own legs and the legs of the guy behind him.
I never did find out if the victim’s name was Mulligan.
Those who saw my dad’s obituary are familiar with this gem:
The greatest individual sports achievement for my dad would have to be what happened on a family golf outing in 1998 on the Gold Course at the Wailea Resort. On a straightaway par four, decidedly downhill, he launched his drive. It sailed along over the fairway, then took a dramatic turn leftward, hooking out of sight.
After his playing partners hit, the group headed down the fairway for the next shot – but first, a search ensued for Dad’s ball, last seen heading into the wooded area along the cart path. No luck in locating it at first, he considered dropping another ball, when suddenly, my husband Rick called out from 150 yards away, down beside the green, pointing to the ball.
The cart paths on the Gold Course are concrete. Dad had landed his wayward drive onto the path, it rolled down the hill and hopped up onto the fringe, near the green. He went down to the ball, chipped it onto the green and had the ball in the hole with two putts. Standing proudly over the cup, he announced, “Another routine par.”
The Men’s US Open begins today. I think Justin Thomas of Texas will win. If he were here, Dad would pick Tiger Woods, his favorite player and a guy who has already won a US Open walking on a busted leg. Happy Father’s Day, y’all.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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