Teed Off Ch. 01

At the end of the round, after we had cleaned up our stuff and tossed it into the back of the SUV, Neil said, "let's go back inside for a minute. I want to meet this Gerry friend of yours." Once back inside, they shook hands like they knew each other.

"Gerry! Nice to finally meet you. I'm glad you've been taking care of the laddie here."

Finally meet him? How did they know each other?

"Neil. Thank you for coming in. Good to meet you too. Tim have a seat. We need to have a chat." Then he proceeded to place a beer in front of each of us.

Gerry continued, "Tim, Neil reached out to me when you qualified for the tour. There is something we want you to do for us. Don't say 'no' yet, just think about it. Where does Neil live?

"Scotland. So"

"What tournament is being held in his back yard this year?"

"The Senior Open. What does that have..... Wait a minute."

"Yes buddy. I set you up."

"What exactly did you do? Neil!"

"Well laddie, when you come visit me, you will be playing in the qualifying round for the Senior Open. If you are in the top 24, you'll be playing inside the ropes at St. Andrews in the Senior Open, instead of watching from outside the ropes with me. That's why you had to come those two weeks. You are playing buddy."

"I can't do that. I have Ken and Meredith to think about. I promised I was done."

Neil continued, "We know that Tim. That's what I was talking to them about at breakfast this morning. I promised them that this was it. Everything you have for this, and then you are done. Completely. No more tournaments. Fun only after this.

"I even told them I would break both of your arms after the tournament so you couldn't play anymore."

"Aw gee you would do that for me?" I said.

"Well, Ken asked if I could break your legs instead. He needed your arms for splitting wood." That sounded like Ken.

Gerry jumped in, "Tim, we are all behind you. Neil. Me. Steve. Your whole family. No, actually, that wasn't strong enough. We believe in you. We think you can do this, if you will try. You are better than me now, and you still haven't played your best golf. I've been a pro, for 20 years Tim. I've never personally known anyone that had a chance at playing in a major. I've met several, but I've never actually known anyone. We are asking you to do this one thing, just one time. It really is an opportunity. Win or lose, when it is over, you are done. OK?"

Tim really didn't know what to say. "You are telling me that everyone supports me in this, even though they know the time involved?"

"Yep. Everyone knows and everyone is behind you."

"I'll think about it."

We shook hands with Gerry and went home after that. Ken and Meredith were there with dinner waiting. They looked at both of us expectantly, not sure if we had talked yet or not.

Then Neil boomed out, "The boy is gonna' do it. No, he hasn't agreed to it yet, but I know he will."

He was right. How could I not.

______________

Steve called me the next day and we set up a new practice schedule. Like last year, I threw myself into it. This time instead of them feeling like I was pulling away from them, they were pushing me towards the goal. I still put in my 40 hours per week at work, or close to it, but all of the rest of my hours were either practicing or a little time splitting wood to keep up my strength. I even bought an Xbox and would play a little on St. Andrews at night to familiarize myself with the course.

Neil went home to make arrangements for me, primarily finding courses similar in style to St. Andrews and arranging for tee times for us. I would be staying with him and Edith at his house in Edinburgh, so a place to stay was no problem. The time flew by and before long, I found myself on the plane, where we started the story, wondering what the hell was about to happen.

End Chapter 1