“You have 25 minutes to get back to the course for the playoff, or we will disqualify Ben from competing.”
And thus began a race against time to get from the Fayetteville airport, where we had just picked up Ben’s brother, back to Bella Vista where it had been discovered moments earlier that Ben had made a 4 for 1 playoff to get into the last spot in the tournament we drove all the way to Arkansas from Denver to play.
College coaches care about AJGA tournaments far more than high school. The courses are long and hard and the kids compete against the best in the country. Ben wants to play college golf and this was an important tournament for him. It was Ben’s first AJGA qualifier. He played well, considering and finished with a 75 and a tie for 9th. When the tournament started, there were 6 qualifying spots. He missed by 2. By the end of the day, three main draw kids had dropped out and there were 9 spots. When we left the course that day, we didn’t know that.
Hanging up the phone, I put the course in the phone and were 33 minutes out. Down backroads. In rural Arkansas. It would be impossible to make it but boy, did I try. We arrived 3 minutes after he was disqualified from competing and against his wishes (he wanted to find a hole, and to be honest, so did I), we walked the ultimate 4 hole play off. Ben was devastated. His brother was devastated. I felt awful. If only I’d double checked. If only I’d made him stay. If only I hadn’t headed west instead of going back to the hotel. If only.
The funny thing about life is it always seems to work out. Instead of playing Saturday, we drove to Grand Lake, Oklahoma. Played Shangri-La, laughed in the pool and watched on TV as Serena Williams played her last point in her career. We drove to Wichita, played Sand Creek Station, one of hardest courses I’ve ever played, toured the Wichita State campus and had dinner together. We saw the first Pizza Hut and the first WalMart. And yesterday, we played Prairie Dunes, one of the most magical golf courses in the country.
The boys found a chess set to occupy themselves before tee time.
One door closes. Another opens. And life works out because it has to. It’s going to unfold how it unfolds. Whether you choose to find the good in it, is up to you. And in terms of playoff losses, the consolation prize was pretty good.
A heartbreaking story, but redemptive in the end. Maybe it will propel Ben to a victory in a future playoff. I appreciate you sharing this.
That’s a great snapshot of a moment from life. I spent the weekend working with my senior high daughter to try and narrow down colleges for next year. Looking at degree curriculum and weighing impossible “what-if” scenarios. One thing I was very proud of her in talking about the cost of college vs. potential future earnings claimed by schools, my daughter said, “debt is real”, how much I earn is going to be on me. She set a threshold of acceptable debt to incur and I couldn’t be prouder in that moment.