This tournament that Bear is playing – is he caddying for himself?
Me: Yes, Future Masters, the players all caddy for themselves.
Well what is Daddy going to do there?
Me: Just watch.
That’s what happens when you’re the second child. Sometimes you’ve got to settle for 2nd best AKA Mom on the Bag. And whether he knows it or not, the fact that he doesn’t really trust my abilities and makes his own decisions out there now is a good thing and will make him a better golfer and tougher competitor as he gets older.
Sometimes he has more faith in me than other times. Today it’s the latter and he lays down the following rule:
You can talk for 2 reasons. Yardage and Aim with only 2 details.
We started off super strong. Par. Par. Par. Which results in expectations suddenly jumping – mine and his – and when things get rocky, the fall is felt more sharply and the self incrimination becomes more bitter and the slope generally a lot more slippery.
43 at the turn turned into 53 on the back. He just didn’t find the green as easily as he had. With massively long distances his 3 wood came into play more than usual and he topped it a few times too many. He found sand and stayed in it and the 10 on hole 18 was largely due to a muddy patch that he chunked his way through a few yards at a time …….
We hand the score in and the Director of US Kids Golf, a kind man and gracious guardian of the integrity of the game for young players, senses my frustration. He looks at Rob’s scorecard and reminds me that we tend to focus on the disasters whereas there is a lot of promise in the scorecard. Yes, Rob did make quite a few pars. He was also the youngest kid out there in his age group (his birthday falling just short of the cut-off), playing 5,059 yards (which both the 10 and 11 year olds played this tournament).
My body is tired from pushing the cart over the undulating 18 holes in the heat and my nerves are a little shot but I find my way to the Pro Shop to buy more balls and we head up to the practice range to sort out the 3 wood.
Tomorrow is another day after all.
