Weekend Wanderings Teeing Off With Family

With the latest communication technology, I sometimes forget that I am over 500 miles away from my family. Therefore, it's really special when they come to visit me, like my dad did this past weekend.

My dad is a big golf fan.  He likes to travel to different tournaments, most recently the BMW Championship located in Illinois at the Medinah Country Club.  He even took my sister and me to the US Open Tournament at Olympia Fields in Illinois when we were 7-years old.

When he heard about the Sanford International last year, he was excited that a PGA Tournament was coming to Sioux Falls.  He told me that he would spend the weekend next year if the tournament returned o the Sioux Empire.  So it's no surprise he called me a few months ago telling me to clear my schedule for the 2019 tournament.

I've seen my dad get really excited over certain things.  His face just lights up like a Christmas tree, which is kind of funny to see.  When he entered the Minnehaha Country Club for the first time, he was speechless.  My dad said to me, "Kid, you have a PGA Tournament in Sioux Falls!  This is so awesome!" The best part was that a lot of the players at this year's tournament were from that same US Open Tournament I attended 16 years ago.  Vijay Singh even signed our US Open flag, and we still have it today.

We were sitting over the 18th green and what a view it was!  My dad saw all of his favorites up close, especially the Golden Bear himself.  He cried when he saw Jack Nicklaus because he's never seen him golf in person.  My dad was just living in the moment.

At the end of the day, he almost bought the entire PGA store (haha).  But really, he's already planning to come back for the 2020 Sanford International Tournament.  I am so fortunate to live in a city where my family has different opportunities to experience my life in Sioux Falls.  The best thing is seeing their smiling faces, and that's all I could ever ask for in return. My dad and I already are counting down the days until the 2020 tournament.