Fore Crying Out Loud

Yesterday's post was about Frick, (and she arrived in London safely last night, thank God), today I want to talk about Frack.

In case I never told you before, Frack is golfer and has been since he was 1 yr old. Yes, you read that right, 1 yr old. When Frack was two, he was featured prominently on the front page of The Boston Herald hitting a golf ball. The world then came-a-calling. People heard about my little, tiny, baby through word of mouth. My EX used to take him to an indoor driving range and because the little bugger hit the ball like you wouldn't believe, word spread and the newspaper called us to do a story.

Great, we thought at the time, a cute story in the newspaper for his scrapbook. We had no idea what would follow. During that year we regularly got boxes from golf companies containing balls, clothes, shoes, you name it, anything for him to wear while on his media frenzy. He was featured on the Conan O'Brien Show, The Howie Mandel Show, Prime Time Country, a Japanese newspaper, and Inside Edition filmed his second birthday party.

Frack even got a hole in one at the age of three. Yup, my EX let him drive a ball from the ladies tees on a 83 yard hole. Two golfers were putting on the green at the time, and the golfers began screaming. My EX wasn't quite sure what had happened exactly, he thought they were mad because the ball rolled onto the green, but they were yelling because it went into the hole.

Safe to say that Frack hit his golf stride at a very young age. The years went by and Frack began winning local tournaments and being from MA, he was certainly a big fish in a small pond. As he began to grow, so did the kids around him, and eventually, around the age of 9, they caught up to him. This coincided with the breakup of my marriage and it wasn't very pleasant for any of us. I think Frick and Frack bore the brunt of the negativity, and from around the ages of 9-13, Frack began having difficulty on the course.

Now I'm not blaming anyone-because anyone who competitively plays this game knows that golf is a game of the mind. Control in your brain is key. During the past 4 tumultuous years, Frack and his dad put a lot of unnecessary pressure on my boy to win. I watched as he suffered one loss after another and he couldn't quite figure out why this gift he had been given had deserted him. He was beyond frustrated and it effected him dramatically. He never gave up though, I have to give him that. A better man may not have subjected himself to the constant disappointment.

In the past year, Frack has grown, not as much physically, as mentally apart from his father and myself. The last year saw him playing in tournaments without a caddy, and it may have been the best thing for him. This year he began his season, as he always does, with the pack of kids he knows from years of competitive play. At 14 years old, those same kids are now all much bigger than him, as they have hit their growth spurts and Frack has not. (He's still wearing the same clothes from last year) Those same kids now out drive Frack on the tee box by 20 0r 30 yards.

Oh no, I thought, another season of frustration for Frack, but this year I saw something is different. Frack's attitude has improved greatly. He seems to be in control of his emotions and thinking a great game. BY GOD, he's having....dare I say it....FUN! And two days ago he shot the round of his life and won the tournament. It's still early in the season and he's got all summer to play more tournaments, but I think Frack has finally figured out how to play golf for HIMSELF and no one else.

He's shooting great golf right now, best he has played in seven or eight years, and I see a whole new kid. I couldn't be more pleased. I think Frack has figured it out and I see that love of the game in his stride again. The best part? He did it all on his own. With no one breathing down his neck, pushing him. No matter what happens, I'm glad he's working hard because come fall he will enter into something he has been waiting for since he was two years old. The high school golf team. Last year our school won the State Championship.

But forget all that.

All I care about is that the fun and the confidence is back in his game. The end result really does not matter. After Monday's round, where he finished in third place, he said to me when we got in the car. "Mom, when I get as tall as all of them, those guys are in for a rude awakening."

Like I always told him, "The world steps aside for a man who knows where he is going."