Month: October 2015

One brother is a doctor and several years he was invited to a medical conference at the Homestead in far western Virginia – home of Sam Snead. My other brother and I invited ourselves. We were crammed into a tiny room that barely slept one, so needless to say sleep was at a premium. But it was all the golf you could play in 2.5 days!

As a side story we ate at the Sam Snead Grill one night and sat at a table under a framed full set of golf clubs – an old set of Snead’s. Under each club was a date and location of a hole-in-one that had been made by each club – even the putter!

Toward the end of a Day 2 round a doctor friend of my brother caught up with us. I had won the previous hole and had the honors. That’s when it happened.

I teed the ball slightly low since I have a bit of an upswing. With a mighty effort and an even mighterer peek I must have caught the ball at the very top dimple. The ball dug into the ground about 8 inches in front of the wooden tee, spun for a second or two in the ground and then jumped straight back and landed about 6 inches directly between my tee – the logo staring at me. Einstein couldn’t have defined it!

The 4 of us were in stunned disbelief and suddenly collapsed into laughter. Miracles do happen on the links.

In my last story you met The Shug, a simple brass trophy engraved with my Dad’s nickname – named for his sweet putting stroke. One day The Shug gained a priceless addition.

My brother and I use to both work for SAS Institute in Cary, NC. SAS co-owner Jim Goodnight owns a local golf course that hosts the SAS Open, a regular tour stop for the Senior men. Thursday is a Pro-Am and one year brother Jack and I were invited to play.

We both had early afternoon tee times so we met for a mid-morning breakfast at the Embassy Suites across from SAS HQ. Walking to the buffet we saw a familiar face – Ben Crenshaw. As we passed and spoke Ben asked us to join him. We talked about everything from his career to his fame as a superior putter to raising 3 daughters – like me. Then we told him about my Dad and The Shug trophy and his eyes filled with tears.

Coincidently my brother had The Shug trophy in his car and Ben asked to see it. Holding it Ben acknowledged its small stature and its immense meaning. He asked for a business card and wrote on it “Jack, Joe and Jon. Carry your father’s memory forever” and then signed it. We shook hands and he left.

We attached the card to the bottom of the trophy and it serves as a tribute to Dad and a wonderful 1.5 hours over breakfast.

My Dad was a real character. There will be many more stories about him!

He lived the high life more than he could afford and loved golf. I’ve mentioned before that he had a mean slice but aimed very far left to compensate – and it usually wound up in the fairway, but not always. Around the green he was deadly. He could always chip it close and could 2 putt from Mars. His putting stroke was so sweet they called him “Shug”. 

Shug is the reason my brothers and I play this nutty game. When he died in 1994 the 3 of us played a round in his honor at his home course – Salisbury Country Club in Salisbury, NC. I mentioned he didn’t always control his slice. Along the right side of #1 is a large creek. In its bowels are many of Dad’s golf balls. As a tribute we each tossed a ball into the hazard as we walked by.

In his honor, and when the stars align, the 3 of us play for “The Shug”. It’ a small brass trophy with its namesake engraved. Each round is straight medal play with a double bogey limit to keep the scores sane. For some reason every Shug round usually comes down to the last putt – just like Dad would have wanted.