Family ties

     About a week ago my dad asked me to join him at The Fairways golf course here in town for a round of golf.  He is playing in a tournament over Labor Day with my younger brother Curt and he wanted to play a little skins game with me to get his competitive edge kick started.  The Fairways is an 18 hole course up on the hill as you leave Spokane and it is laid out similar to the course the tournament is at so he thought it would be good practice.  We met up for our 3:00 tee time and when we got to the first tee I started going through my routine.  Kelli makes fun of me all the time for it, but on the golf course I am a huge creature of habit!  Before the start of each round I put my wallet, keys, and cell phone in one pocket of my bag and replace them with a green tee, a ball marker, and a divot repair tool.  Now I have probably close to 10 different ball marks and divot tools and the only randomness in my day comes with the selection of each one, I simply reach into my bag and the first one I grab is the one I'm using.  If it sounds like crazy superstitious garbage, it's because it is, but ask any golfer and chances are they all follow some sort of similar craziness.  Well on this day the ball marker I chose was a half dollar from 1986, and the divot repair tool was the one pictured below.

     In case you can't read it in the picture this particular ball mark repair tool is from the Austin Country Club.  A few years ago Kelli's uncle Jeff Moan tragically passed away at far too young of an age.  He was her mom Donna's youngest brother and he lived in the Austin area and worked at the historic country club on their grounds crew.  When Donna, her brother Rod, and nephew Rocky went down to do the daunting task that no family member ever wants to have to do after loosing a loved one, they returned with a few golf items that they gave to Kelli.  This divot tool and a bag tag from the country club are the items that we kept as I told Kelli if they go in my golf bag I'll never get rid of them and we'll always have a small reminder of her uncle. 
     I wanted to keep them first and foremost for their sentimental value to Kelli, but also because the ACC is arguably one of the most historic golf courses in the country!  With members like Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, and Ben Hogan, and of course the legendary teacher Harvey Pennick, the notoriety of this one golf club rivals that of any other!  I have all of Harvey Pennick's instructional books, I was also in a car wreck that nearly killed me like Ben Hogan, and I still putt with a Wilson 8802 just like the one Ben Crenshaw used while winning the Masters and acquiring the title of the best putter of all time.  I simply had to keep these items of Jeff's just so I could hopefully connect in some small way with a man who was privileged to work there!
     I never got a chance to meet Jeff but Kelli and her mother have told me enough about him to know that we would have gotten along great!  This divot tool has been in my bag for over three years now and in all the golf I have played in that time I have never once randomly grabbed it to use for a round until last week.  As soon as I put my hands on it I could feel Jeff's presence.  I know that may sound weird to some people but it's true, with each ball mark I repaired my mind pictured Jeff repairing pitch marks of his own on the hallowed greens of the ACC.  My round of golf was nothing special on paper, I shot 75 which was barely good enough to beat Dad with his pops for handicap, but it was surely special in my mind.  I told Kelli that after the way I felt walking around the golf course with this in my pocket I might just have to change up my routine and remove every ball mark repair tool besides this one!  I know Jeff left this earth too early but God must have needed someone with a true love of the game to maintain one of heavens beautiful courses so I'm positive that's where he's at, one day we will get the chance to meet and tee it up together.  Until that day comes though I will continue to use the divot tool Jeff left behind, making every round I play just that much more special!

Remember, take a little time to remember those who are waiting for us in heaven, I guarantee you it will brighten your day:)