Well here we are again right on the doorstep of another winter golf season in Paradise! The day I left Friar’s Head on Long Island last week is was freezing! About 50 and blowing sideways. It felt like it was in the high 30’s. Mostly because it had been so mild up till that very day, it turned over night as if to say to TP, get on the road!

I drove out after work the Sunday before last and although I usually drive straight through (it’s all downhill – 95 South) I stopped in Bel Aire Md. and stayed at the home of my dear friends Debbie and Rick Rounsaville. Rick is The Director of Golf at Bulle Rock, a Pete Dye design open to the public. If you’re ever up that way it’s a must! Those guys must be good friends as I pulled in there just shy of midnight with U- Haul trailer in tow and two of our 5 dogs BOBO The Wonder Dog and Seve Dogastarros ready to rock and roll after sleeping the whole way down from New York.

BOBO The Wonder Dog

Debbie and Rick are great old friends and not only waited up for us but had one of my all time favorites, true Maryland Lump Crab Cakes waiting for me for my midnight snack. We hung out late and caught up on both life and the ups and downs of today’s golf business. It was worth the loss of sleep.

The next am we slept in a bit later than usual when trekking south. Rick and I grabbed some breakfast at the local Bob Evans; Deb had long left for work. After breakfast I loaded up the beasts, pointed the nose of my GMC south and off we went down I -95 for the 30-something year! That day I drove till about 10 pm and the beasts and I ducked into a LaQuinta Inn outside Savannah, Ga. I must be getting older; I have driven up and down the east coast three decades and other then stooping at a pre-planned golf destination I have rarely stopped once over night let alone twice!

We were up early that next am and gassed up and on the road. It’s a hop skip and a jump to the Florida line from Savannah and just seeing that state line makes me feel at home even though it’s still a hike to Naples.

Seve Dogastarros

Once in Florida I have taken a variety of routes to paradise. This trip I scooted down I-95 then cut across I-4 headed to Orlando. As I headed through Orlando it occurred to me 13 years earlier on the same trip with one of my favorite junior students Greg Elting in the passenger seat we stopped (I know makes no sense) during the final 3 hours of a 26 hour drive at The Bass Pro Shop on I-Drive (we didn’t have one down in Naples back then). I wanted to load up on some fishing tackle. Golf Pros like to fish in case you didn’t know that.

Well as fate would have it, that day at The Bass Pro Shop there was an outdoor world type fair / exhibition. Different vendors where selling their wares. What did I purchase besides my fishing needs you ask? Well that fine day 13 years ago I purchased my dear old friend BOBO The Wonder Dog who was still with me this current trip right behind the driver’s seat. I’m not sure how many more trips BOBO will make up and down the east coast with me but he has been a trooper.

As as the drive down memory lane continued and I passed Lakeland, Florida I could only think about my last two years at Florida Southern and all the great times I had there. The last year we won National Baseball, National Basketball and National Golf. I actually had the pleasure of winning the individual title to go along with the team title. Good memories you bet. 34 year old memories! On a side note when I finally arrived home I received some news that my college coach had recently lost both his wife and his mind and had been put in a home. I immediately tracked him down and called him. He didn’t know who I was.

The golf world is a small one. In the golf business we all either know one other or know someone who knows the next guy. As a teacher and former player you cover what seems like millions of miles and meet millions of wonderful people. Each one of them impacts your life more then you often realize. It’s an incredible journey this thing called life. Some of use travel it primarily as business people, others as parents, my primary mode of life transport has been a game called golf (later as a parent and husband as well).

I guess my message is really actually very simple. Treasure each day to its fullest. Learn and enjoy as best you can from each experience. Let no one event get you down, and finally thank God for everyday your eyes open and you see the sky.
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Greg Elting my junior student who was with me when I got BOBO thirteen years ago became a Dad this past year. ​Please also say a prayer after you read this for Coach Matlock he was a giver.

Sincerely in golf

Tom Patri