It began at my grandmother’s house. Pre-smartphone, computer, or digital anything, summer days unfolded in the grass, in the creek, in the sun. One day while playing outside, I discovered her set of golf clubs. An avid player, she demonstrated her swing, then passed me a wedge. I pulled back and through, smacking the little white ball clear over her roof. Then and there, at 9 years old, I unlocked a passion for the game that’s 30 years in the making.
My grandmother became my greatest champion and coach. We would play together multiple times a week—usually every day during the summer. Eventually I competed in junior tournaments and joined my high school’s varsity team. Sometimes when I catch a whiff of freshly cut grass, the scent takes me back to practice rounds after school. Time stands still, and in that moment I’m back on the tee or on the bus with my team, laughing with my whole body, feeling the ease of it all.
I didn’t find the game. Somehow it found me, and I’m thankful it took hold when I was young. Similarly, golf became a natural path for Jay Haas Jr. and his brother, Bill, sons of PGA Tour champion Jay Haas. Each played for high school and college teams, then on the PGA Tour. Eventually Haas Jr. began caddying for his brother, helping him clench a tour win at the 2011 FedEx Cup. Now, after a successful career caddying on both the PGA and Champions tours, Haas Jr. has swung in another direction as head of instruction and coaching at Haas Family Golf, a premier range and teaching facility in Greenville. The elder Haas son has a natural penchant for guiding players to be their best.
In our annual Men’s Issue, we present a variety of takes on this sport that so many of us love (and loathe). Once you catch the fever, though, the game is difficult to deny. It’s the pleasure of the outdoors, a superbly designed course, the camaraderie, challenge, and ever elusive hole-in-one that drives golfers of every age, young and younger, to keep at it. And whenever I play, I remember the advice of my grandmother, who’d always remind me to “put some authority behind” my swing. Wise words—both on and off the course.
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