"Cowboy Up": Lessons Taken from a Man Who Never Quit

I've been fortunate enough to forge a friendship with a new resident of Austin over the past few months. The man is Kevin Millar. There may be a few people who don't know his story around these parts, because he's mostly known for his heroic leadership of the World Champion Boston Red Sox. Growing up in New Hampshire until moving to Austin Texas in 2008, I was of course a huge fan of the Boston Red Sox. I knew who Kevin Millar was the first day I saw him at The University of Texas Golf Club in Austin. I was excited to meet him, and even more excited to hear the stories straight from the source. Kevin is a great guy, his personal story, his attitude toward sports, and toward life make him a great role model for anyone.

My last blog mentioned a tournament in the small town of Sealy, that always provides a lot of fun. After Saturday's first round, the entire team played poorly and we found ourselves an insurmountable 8 shots back from first place, and three shots into last place with only one round to go, and I had personally lost all belief in my golf swing after numerous mistakes one after another. So, if you can't win, then what's left to play for? What would Kevin tell you? Probably something to the effect of, "Who cares?! You can't just lay down and die! Fight!" So that's exactly what we did. We headed to the driving range to try to find something we could all believe in, while others in the tournament drank heavily, gambled on the putting green, and enjoyed the fruits of their early success in other ways. Hours later, we all felt we had found something in our respective golf games that we could believe in. We entered the final day, knowing that we had literally no chance of catching first place, or even second place (the last place payed out), but we knew we had to make a statement that we were not the worst team out there.

After a fairly solid start, we faced a tough finishing stretch of 5 holes, with two long par threes, and a par 5 with a tucked pin. We birdied the first long par three, but followed it with a par. Now with just three holes remaining, we were 11 under par, on a golf course where 16 under in this format is considered an OK score...We birdied the first, then Greg made a long bending putt on the par three second to keep our momentum alive. Now, just the par five third hole remained. My friend Mark Stevens, who joined our team from Florida unleashed a perfect tee ball, leaving us a mere 165 yards from the hole. From there, I placed a nine iron about 20 feet from the tucked back left hole location. After Greg just missed the putt, I set my sights on my line, and rolled it what I thought was perfectly, only to watch the ball peek in the top side of the hole before painfully sliding by. Leaving us just one more attempt, by Mark. After adjusting only slightly from the line I chose, Mark stroked the ball beautifully, it never left it's line, and never wavered until it hit the back of the hole with perfect speed, disappearing for an eagle three. We had finished with a 15 under par 56, 6 shots better than our day one total, which was played in easier conditions.

After everyone finished, we learned that we had tied another team at 56 for the lowest score of the day in the tournament. This was worth $1,050 in "day money". Even sweeter than that, to me, was that we beat another team in our flight by 4 on the day, passing them for the tournament by a single shot, and not finishing in last place. We "cowboyed up" as Kevin would say, and after some quick math we learned that shooting a 57 would have been worth a mere $250 in "day money" and so that final hole eagle was worth $800! An opportunity that wouldn't have even been there without the grit and determination we had shown all day long, or without the dedication to improvement the day before. Another weekend in Sealy is in the books, and although I didn't return with profits this time, there was yet another valuable lesson learned in not giving up...

Survival of the Fittest

At the end of this week, myself and two friends will take part in one of the most entertaining weekends of the year. The main event, and the reason we'll be making the trip is the annual Survival Scramble, held at Stephen F. Austin Golf Club in San Felipe, Texas. This two day event never ceases to amaze me, and by the end of the weekend I always seem to walk away with more entertainment from the non-golf activities. A saying comes to mind, and I don't know exactly what it is so I won't try to quote it exactly. Its something like: "It's not where you are, but the company you're with..." This saying couldn't be more fitting when talking about this tournament, and this weekend.

Imagine an average golf tournament, not the most prestigious one you've seen, just an average event. Now, clear that image from your mind completely because there's NOTHING normal, or average about this event. There is some money to be made if you can play well despite the traditionally challenging elements that late January provides in East Texas (hence the name of the event). In past events I have literally seen it all. Holes in one, eagles, triumph, defeat, anguish and despair. All of these things you could see at a normal tournament. But at the Survival Scramble you see them from the least likely of sources. From overweight shirtless men, from their girlfriends who are so intoxicated that they prefer not to step out of the golf cart, and even from the stray dogs that roam the property and share in the excitement from time to time.

Upon my last trip to Sealy (the neighboring town to San Felipe, and shares border with the course) I tried to describe to the team, in the nicest way possible, how I liked the course. My exact words were, "It's the nicest little dump I've ever played..." I know it sounds bad, but I would bet a fair amount of money that even the boys in Sealy wouldn't be offended by that comment...Because the folks in East Texas are some of the nicest, and most sincere of anyone that I've ever known. From the first time I visited I was taken in like family. These people aren't trying to kid anybody. The golf course is short, the trees are tall, and the greens are tiny. No real challenge for the new equipment that has revolutionized the game over the last 15 years...It's no secret that this golf course was left behind in the 80's and it's also no secret that the locals wouldn't have it any other way. However, it provides a formidable challenge in an event like this, where often times, you are standing over the ball with nothing to lose and you might as well try to hit that 75 yard hook over those 100 year old oak trees so you can get home in two...

But again, like I said the entertainment mostly comes off the golf course when you're in Sealy. When directions to THE restaurant in town include "go across the tracks" and "past the tractor dealership" and "if you get to Annie Jo's ya gone too far..." you just know you're in Sealy. There's really nothing like it, and I know I sound condescending, but it's a place I hold near and dear to my heart, and I can't wait to return there once again this weekend. With any luck, maybe I'll return home with some much needed cash to help fund another trip to Q School at the end of the year, but I'll certainly come back home to Austin with more fond memories of an East Texas town, Southern Hospitality, and a smile on my face...