Jack Nicklaus was
someone I admired as a kid growing up in N'Awlins, as Daddy, a WWII army veteran,
would usually spend his weekends watching the golf tournaments on TV.
And it was so cool
recently to see Phil Mickelson win the PGA Major Golf Classic at the age of 50—older
than anyone has ever won a major golf tournament!
While Dad never was a golfer, he enjoyed watching the game and seeing other
golf pro folks like Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Tom Watson battle out the
matches on the greens.
How neat that the English Turn Golf Course on the Westbank of New Orleans is a
course designed by Jack!
Dad and I did go out a few times to play "putt-putt"—that was the
closest we came to making "holes in one"—which we did occasionally
but on a smaller scale!
Dad instilled in me and my siblings the need to take a "swing at
life" to the fullest and keep focused on the most important things in life—faith,
family, and fun!
Dad was always optimistic about "eagling or birdying" in anything, as
that was surely "par for the course of his life!"
Sure, he had some
regular "bogies in life," like when his beloved Tulane Football
Green-ies would almost always lose to LSU, but he still got out of those
"bunkers" and found a way to congratulate Uncle Warren—except in 1973—when
Tulane finally won after 25 years!
Dad achieved his own "golf grand slam" better than Jack Nicklaus did
when Dad would make "holes in one" per his "stock market
caddying," and he got others to invest in "tri-continental funds
courses!"
In early 2006—after the "Gulf storm roughs of Katrina" were spread—it
was so difficult to place Daddy in a nursing home for his 24-hour care needs
after he and Mom were displaced and had moved in to stay with us.
Both Mom and Dad died later that year, but as Dad was known to have said about
many things in life, "I was a lucky guy," and I certainly can attest
that he certainly made many holes in one—and I am blessed to have been his son.
And as is in the golf tradition, I will now buy all a round of drinks for my
dad's "holes in one" and hereby make a toast to all dads; prayers for
healing and forgiveness to those who have had understandably difficult
relationships with their dads.
