Tas-Tee; a modern drama about an underappreciated sales agent that risks his own money to pursue a childhood golf dream.. or something like that
Flavored Golf Tees #flavoredgolftees
The NYC skyline was the appropriate backdrop for the first win of the season for our PGA work horse, Patrick Reed. After struggling through the start of his year, Pat's wife Justine had David Ledbetter have a look at Pat's swing. A few weeks later, unimpressed with his progress, Pat took off 10 days from golf. I know that doesn't seem like much to you and me but Pat is in the prime of his career and it was during the golf season... 10 days is an eternity to PGA Players! After being "unplugged" from golf he started again and found the swing that led him to the Masters just over a year ago.
We've followed Pat and his caddie, Kessler, for quite a while and have always admired their team/family dynamic as well as the individual fire that fuels Patrick's passion for the game. Much is mentioned, especially on social media, about Pat's college days at Georgia Tech. Stories of falsifying scores and an alleged putter theft, whether true or not, tend to sway people to dislike the guy, a guy we literally witnessed approach a quadriplegic at The Players Championship and give him a moment to remember. No crowd, no publicity, just a Masters Champion realizing he could put a smile on someone's face. Whether or not the college stories are true, the man and father that Pat is today can be seen by anyone just about anywhere. We have seen Patrick step up as a PGA professional to lead charitable causes and play the game as it is meant to be played, with passion.
As for his caddie Kessler, dude puts in WORK as part of Team Reed. On Sunday at Liberty National Golf Course, Kess helped read putts and run off geese from a fairway as well as the other caddie duties. Team Reed played fantastic throughout Sunday's final round. When they missed greens, they got up and down. When they missed putts, the second putt was hammered into the back. It was quite satisfying for Reed's fans, he had opportunities to get beat but Capt ain't going down like that... Way to go Team Reed and we look forward to the rest of these FedEx Cup Playoffs!
Thanks to the new sponsorship, our annual PGA Tour event at Colonial CC in Fort Worth is set for at least another 10 years. We have thoroughly enjoyed our yearly trips to this venue. Last year we had a front row seat to watching Justin Rose take home the trophy and this year we were excited to see hometown favorites, Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer playing well on the weekend.
We made it out for 3 days this year, starting with the ProAm on Wednesday where last year we followed and chatted with an comedy icon, Bill Murray. No such luck this year and we were disappointed to find out the ProAm was now charging $56 for the practice day versus free every year prior. Luckily Tas-Tee has some friends in high places and we were able to get in for free on Wednesday.
We walked with Ryan Palmer's group at first and could see the familiarity building with our Texas native. From there, we watched Rickie Fowler, then Kevin Kisner, then met an Instagram celebrity at the driving range, Mr. Rory Blakilroy ;)
"Rory" was telling us how excited he was to meet Kevin Na and how Kevin allowed him to walk with him during the practice round and even hit a tee shot! Well there must've been some magic in their connection because Kevin Na proceeded to win the event and capped it off by giving his caddie, Kenny, the keys to a 1973 Dodge Challenger that was fully restored and on prominent display by the Clubhouse.
We were especially humbled by the kids from The First Tee of Fort Worth. These kids were exuberant and knowledgeable about the great game of golf because of several dedicated golf mentors, including the chaperone I met. It was fantastic to hear that the City of Fort Worth hosts the only public school driving range and we look forward to participating with First Tee on upcoming events.
What a week of fun! We couldn't be happier for all involved and we so look forward to next year's event.
