Charlie’s Corner: Golf As A Building Block For Family

Welcome to Charlie's Corner, the blog home for Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer. A lifelong Myrtle Beach golfer, Rymer, with his characteristic wit and unique perspective, will be weighing in on all things golf for Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday.

Father's Day is coming up and this will be my first one without my biological father.  My step-dad raised me and he is very much alive and kicking but my biological father passed away back in May. 

I really didn't get to know him until I was 18 and had it not been for golf we likely would have never spent much time together.  And isn't that the greatest thing about golf?  It can bring people together that otherwise would have little else in common. 

Some of my earliest memories of golf are with him at the Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, Tenn.  He had one of those three wheel carts with the giant steering wheel in the middle.  I would sit on his lap and steer.  That old gas cart would cough and spurt and smell horrible, but it got us around the golf course. 
 

When players weren't waiting he would let me hop out and smack one.  As time progressed I can remember playing nine holes and then hitting balls on the range while he played the back nine.  Those were the days when I first became familiar with golf blisters. 

He later moved to Oklahoma and we spent summer afternoons dodging tornadoes on flat as a fritter, wide open prairie golf courses.  The happiest I ever saw him was when we teamed up to win the championship division of his member-guest.  He was beaming ear to ear. 

All that time together would never have happened without golf.  Dealing with family can be tough.  You can only talk about the weather or your favorite baseball team for so long.  You need something to break the ice.  This is where our game excels.  

Now I've got two boys of my own and we love to get out and play.  I help them with their game, but much of the time we are just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.  The perfect foursome for me is my step-dad and my two boys.

And the perfect place to play is Myrtle Beach.  Especially considering that many of the courses are very kid friendly and often don't charge kids green fees when they are playing with an adult.  So what are you waiting for?  Spend time with your kid or father on a golf course.  But don't wait for Father's Day.   Any day will do.