The golf is strong in my family.

My wife has it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my son has it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the golf runs so strong in the family, the second week in April is always a big deal.

What big deal you say?  It’s Masters Week.  The greatest week in golf.  A tradition unlike any other, as the saying goes.

It starts with player interviews on Monday and  Tuesday.  State of the game address by the Chairman of Augusta National and the Par 3 championship on Wednesday.

Then Thursday morning it’s go time.  Live streaming of the tournament starts at 10:30 am.  Guess where I’ll be Thursday morning.  Hopefully Anne Marie can learn to feed herself between now and the first tee shot, or it might be a rough weekend for her.

So in that spirit I picked Frank up from school and we went to the golf course.  Dead Horse Lake in Knoxville is our home course and Frank is a big hit in the club house, on the driving range, and with the lady bartenders who serve us our post round hotdogs.  He’s three and he has a good swing and the old guys who  populate that course love watching him hack at the ball.

But today we went on the course, the real course.  I was not sure how he would handle it. His swing has been looking pretty ragged in the backyard these days.  Once again he stunned me.  Apparently he’s not much of a practice player, he’s a game day type of guy.

His first tee shot went 34 yards, twice the distance he’d been hitting in the back yard.  His second tee shot went 43 yards and straight as an arrow.  His third went 54, also right up the middle.  Then he hit another 54 yard shot from the fairway, off the grass without a tee, to the green.  Here is his current move.

It was quite a show.  Now he had some real clunkers in there too, and missed several balls completely.  But on Great Masters Eve my kid was crushing it.

Did I mention he was only three?

Even more impressive, he went the distance without so much as a whimper or a whine.  I didn’t have to bribe him with candy or a promise of unlimited Thomas cartoons when we got home.  He loves being out there and playing.

 

Oh yeah, he made a 15 foot putt on the first green too.

 

So yeah, in two years Frank will be kicking my ass all over the course.

Oh well, at least it will be 5 years before Anne Marie is driving it past me, I think.

 

Ok in the fervor of Masters Week, a little trivia for y’all.

A commemorative golf ball with Frank’s birth info to the person who can answer this question.

What is the difference in Frank’s swing from the first picture to these two shots at the bottom?

Answer in the comment section.  My 7 brothers and sisters are not eligible.  Coyne, I should make you ineligible since you’re just about family, but give it a shot if you want.

Again, difference in Frank’s swing from the first picture to these two, and you don’t have to be a golfer to get this, just observant and maybe have too much free time on your hands.

Here is what you are playing for.  Good luck.