Changing Your Grip

2010 at the Masters – photo by Ryan Ballangee @waggleroom

My second visit to the Masters was more of a brush-by.  But it became a family legend.

By 1978, TJ was climbing his way up the money list and showing an impressive flair for performing in majors. We were not yet out of our 20’s, but now comfortable with Tour Life and traveling.

[I just had to do a little figuring. I think I said in my last post that TJ played in the 1977 Masters. Wrong. ]

We were also one of the larger families on Tour. Matt was nearly 8 years old — now a veteran traveler, navigator and bell-captain. John was five and Graham — born prematurely the previous May — was 11 months old.  Each spring, when the Tour came back east, we’d go on the road with TJ for a month.

Augusta was our last stop that trip before the boys and I headed home back north.

TJ rented a house in Augusta for the Masters stay.  It was a pretty place on a nice side street and a welcome break from having to live in hotels with little boys. We traveled in a Lincoln Continental the size of the Titanic. The trunk was enormous – packed to the brim for a mobile household.

Greensboro always preceded the Masters. I just remember Greensboro, NC being cold – it was a relief to get to the warmth of Georgia in the springtime. And the house had a small yard with a brick patio.  Perfect for  boys cooped up too long and a baby in a stroller.

There wasn’t any point to the boys and me staying for the tournament. Back then, child care was dicey on the Tour — the Tour Wives of today have it so much more together — and I would have wanted to be at the course following TJ. The plan was that I would leave with the boys and one of our very good friends – Graham’s godfather — would arrive after me, then TJ’s parents, and his new sponsor &his wife, to stay at the rented house.

And the Masters — I knew — was no place for kids. TJ needed to concentrate, and the week’s guests from home would be in no mood for the restrictions of children’s bedtimes or meal schedules or playtime.

TJ loved having us with him on Tour.  It was always hard to say goodbye. I had the house and kids to keep me busy at home. He had his game, and the courses, and one hotel room after another — home was on the other end of the hotel telephone line.

There was no texting, no web cams, no cell phones to keep in constant touch. It was hard, and it was  lonely.

But it was the Masters!

He was there again! Another invitation, more status, more validation as a player. He was becoming a media darling. He was gaining the attention of the CBS television talent.  He’d been taken under the wing of one of golf’s great champions. He was excited.

He was nervous, of course.

And so was I. But not about the Masters.

Back in February, he’d taken a week off from the Tour — I think he skipped Hawaii — and came home. He hadn’t been home since a couple of days after Christmas. February in western New York State is bitter with cold and often knee-deep in snow.

It got hip-deep in snow that week with a storm. Normally I did the shoveling, but TJ took over. I fixed us lunch, nursed the baby and put Graham down for a nap.  The boys were at  school.

“A nap sounds good,” TJ said. “I’m freezing.”… Why didn’t I join him? he asked…

I knew that smile. And with the wind whipping snow against our bedroom window, I did.

Now it was April. Now I was 10 weeks pregnant. And I hadn’t told him yet.

Because — when was there ever a good time, I wondered? On the phone? No. During tournaments on the road? No.

The night before we left, I couldn’t keep it from him a minute longer. Yeah, I know it was Masters time.

Call it hormones, or sadness at another stretch of weeks apart, feeling alone –  I broke into tears and I told him.

To his great credit , he laughed with relief. He had no idea why I was crying. I might have said I was sick. (I was fairly nauseous.) I might have had bad news about  family — or whatever.  It could have been worse.

But the news was that we were going to have 4 children. The youngest would end up 15 months apart — Colin was a preemie too. TJ had his own entourage.  Next to Johnny Miller, TJ was the Big Daddy on Tour.

I left with the boys (all “4″ of them) feeling better. We managed traveling with three children, we could do it with four. Although probably less often.

The next night, Graham’s godfather sat with TJ watching TV in the rented house. He was concerned. TJ sat in silence, staring like a zombie. The friend thought it was anxiety about TJ’s parents and sponsor arriving — pressure.

It became a family legend – a story repeated many times by the godfather — of how, just before TJ’s second Masters, he went into shell shock over becoming the father of four.

The golf nuts just couldn’t believe I’d pick that time.

The Masters!! Of all tournaments!! — But that’s life.

I think TJ made the cut that year.

Where in the world is the golf course pictured here?

It’s Kauri Cliffs in New Zealand.

Kauri Cliffs is just one of the 60-odd golf courses that I had to choose from for a guest post on travel writer Andy Hayes‘ blog Sharing Experiences. You can read about 11 of the World’s Most Inspiring Golf Courses there.

Kauri Cliffs didn’t make the cut — not because it isn’t drop-dead inspiring for its location, design, etc — but because I had to choose between it and another blow-you-away course in New Zealand — Cape Kidnappers.  Here’s a peek at what you’ll find on the blog post…

This is Cape Kidnappers — built on 600 foot high bluffs that “jut out on the ocean like fingers of God” (I wrote that — read the post).  I love course designer Tom Doak’s statement: “If it were any bigger or any more dramatic, it would probably be cordoned off as a national park.”

Choosing the 11 was a monumental job, as you can imagine. I had certain criteria — there had to be something inspiring about each course — the topography, natural environment, a place with heart… mere awards and great PR were not enough. Also, it had to appeal to non-golfers as a travel destination.

The course had to generate questions like these…

Where can you play 144 holes in 24 hours all on one course?

What golf course in the longest in Africa and situated in a huge bushveld wildlife sanctuary, where you can go on a safari after you’re finished playing golf?

What do Tom Kite and Donald Trump have in common?

What course has the only natural island green called “Tail of the Whale?”

Where will you find the world’s original Redan hole?

Choosing the only U.S. course I could (Andy’s rule — they had to be from all around the world) was the hardest. About 85% of the courses that contacted me were in the U.S.

In the end — my U.S.  choice may surprise you. But it certainly met the inspiration factor.

Now I still have a great many courses that I would like to tell you about — and I will, here on Changing Your Grip.

Coming next time: The Grass That Saved a Golf Course From a Hurricane.

We’re going to have fun with this.

Extreme 19th play off hole in South Africa

Be careful what you ask for.

Especially if you ask for it on Peter Shankman’s media site HARO (HelpAReporterOut). Earlier in the month, I put up a query on HARO asking for suggestions for “The World’s Most Inspiring Golf Courses” for a guest blog post I’m writing for travel writer Andy Hayes‘ blog. Andy is based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Each day, Shankman sends out a batch of queries from all media morning, noon and evening. My query went out in the evening post, around 5pm. By 10 o’clock that night, I had 27 responses. By the next day, I was heading toward 50. And they kept coming.

This is what I asked for:

As part of a series of posts, I’m looking for golf courses that have an
impact, not only on people’s games, but on their spirits. These are courses
that may have been designed on unusual topographies, in places you’d least
expect, or they can be well-established courses that stand up to the test
of time and beauty. I’m a former PGA TOUR wife, so I’ve seen some great
ones in my day. Yes, let’s acknowledge Augusta National — I’m looking for
the lesser-known inspirations. You don’t have to play golf to appreciate a
place. I’m looking for the ones that make you say — “You should see this!”
On the flip side, a sweet little course that soothes your soul can also
qualify as inspirational.

Well, I’m here to say that the world is full of inspiring golf courses. And I can only use about ten of the nominations for Andy’s post. That leaves so many terrific and deserving courses — the majority of them in the U.S. And there are probably a lot in other parts of the world that don’t read HARO.

So I’m deciding what I will do — because I want to give these courses their time in the spotlight. People who don’t play golf have no idea that — for instance — a golf course can also be a certified Audubon wildlife sanctuary. Or environmentally friendly. Or built to preserve the spectacular natural topography.

I love courses. I’ve written about them in the past for Golf Digest. So you just might see a series about them apprearing on this blog. What do you think?

The photo above is of one of the most spectacular and unusual golf courses in the world — The Legend Golf and Safari Resort in South Africa, with its Extreme 19th playoff hole — which is accessible only by helicopter.

See? That’s the kind of thing that even non-golfers would be interested in. I know I’m excited!