It was a great year for me on the Boston Local Tour
Bryson's first diaper bag was a US Kids junior golf bag, so you could say that Bryson was born to play golf. He first read a Golf magazine (actually, his Pop-Pop read him the magazine), at 3 months old and it featured Ernie Els, the smooth swinging South African. He did this in hopes that Bryson could learn through some form of osmosis. This may be how he possessed his own smooth swing. Bryson first went to the golf course at 6 months old. We would prop up his car seat in a Toys R US jogger and off we'd go, stopping only to give him his bottle or change the occasional dirty diaper. At first Bryson would sleep, but the older he got, the more he watched -- and when he was old enough, he would take his binkie and swing it like a golf club. When Bryson started walking, we would let him hit the ball off the tee box and then he'd hop back into the baby jogger and we would pick up his ball. When we got closer to the green, I would throw the ball on the ground and let him hit it onto the green and then putt it in. As Bryson got older and his drives started going further, his chips were finishing closer to the hole and his putts were starting to go in. That is when we decided that Bryson would benefit competing in golf tournaments. After some research, the closest area that actually held tournaments for kids Bryson's age was Boston. So in June 2006, we made our first trip (of many) to Massachusetts so Bryson could play in a tournament at Falmouth CC. I will never forget that day. Bryson was just about to tee off on the first hole when he took the club back and stopped at the top of his swing. I asked him what was wrong and he tells me his hands are sweaty. I dry his hands and wipe the grip down and give it back to him. He proceeds to hit a 90 yd drive down the left side, hits a 3 wood onto the green and then two putts for a birdie 4. The next hole is a 63 yd par 3 up a small hill. His 5 iron was not enough club but his next club up in his set was his 3 wood. So, I ask a 5 yr old to hit a 3 quarter 3 wood and he knocks the ball just over the back edge. I knew at that point that he was going to do well. After an up and down day, he shot 43 to finish in second place and received his first medal. Little did we know this was one medal of many
