My favorite past-time growing up was always golf. I was exposed to it at 8 years old. My dad got myself and my brother into some summer lessons. I liked it at first, but didn’t really get hooked on it until I was about 10 years old. I remember shooting a 9 hole round in the mid 50s at our local municipal golf course – which is very short yardage so is relatively easier for a kid. The guy we played with from out of town that day was so impressed he gave me $5! I remember thinking, “Wow, maybe I can be good at this game.”
I ended up making friends with several of the other kids about my same age at our golf course. My family had a family membership at the course, so it only cost $1 to play 18 holes! What a steal! Over the next decade roughly, my friends and I would play at least several days a week. We grew up competing against each other and playing for dollars and quarters. We used to have a lot of very competitive matches with a lot of the other kids there. We really had a great group, and playing together made us all get better through the years. My dad also became hooked on the game along with myself, so he also got very good as well. My parents’ house in Trinidad had 6 1/2 acres of land to it, and my dad made part of our yard into a driving range. We pretty much had the only driving range in Trinidad where someone could actually hit around 250 yards. The golf course had a small one, but it only was about 140 yards long, so we would often have friends come over just to use our driving range. Being able to just go outside and hit golf balls when I had nothing else to do really helped me get better growing up.
I played A LOT of junior golf tournaments through the years. My parents got me into the Colorado Junior Golf Association which was a great deal really. I think I remember the entry being only about $15 or $20, and then to go play a tournament was about the same. I was lucky to have my parents take me to a lot of state junior tournaments over the years growing up. I played all through high school as well. I won a good number of junior tournaments, and a handful of high school tournaments. I went to the State High School tournament all 4 years and my senior year I tied for All-State. I felt I was a pretty good player through high school, but I knew I wasn’t a “great” player. I considered trying to play golf in college, but going to the University Colorado at Boulder, I knew that the team and players would be very very good, and trying to make the team would require a lot of time and dedication. I decided to not try out for the CU team and to focus on my studies instead. Thus ended any thought of me pursuing any kind of a longer, competitive career in golf.
I still play a number of tournaments every year. A few years ago I attempted to and did qualify for the CGA Match Play tournament, which is the biggest tournament I’ve played in recent years. I made it through the qualifier, as well as the first qualifying round to make it to the match play, but lost my first match to one of the best players in the field. How seriously I take the game changes a bit year to year, but I still play a fair amount. I’m inclined to spend a bit more time this year on it and see if I can play in some more competitive events. It’s a fantastic game that takes a lot of discipline and focus to play well, and it can be very satisfying to achieve some of those small, athletic goals you set for yourself. To be continued…