Today is a great day in the world of golf. It is Thursday, Day One of the U.S. Open. This year is a special U.S. Open, played at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts where 20-year old amateur Francis Ouimet won the tournament in 1913. Watch the 2005 movie, The Greatest Game Ever Played, if you want the full story there.
One reason the U.S. Open is beloved is that it always ends on Father’s Day. The winner is usually crying with his father on the 72nd green or pointing to heaven where he believes his father now surely resides.
And this year add the fact that today, June 16, is also the birthday of three very important golfers.
First, Ol’ Tom Morris, the original father of the game from St. Andrews in Scotland was born on June 16, 1821. He was the first golf professional in the world. He was a great player but also the father of the greatest player of that era, known as “Young Tommy”. If you haven’t seen the 2016 movie, Tommy’s Honour, go find it. And if you ever go to St. Andrews, be sure to visit the Holy Trinity Cathedral where Ol’ Tom was an elder. He died in 1908 at age 87, having buried all his children and his wife many years before. He suffered greatly but his tribulations, not his triumphs, made him the great man he was.
Second, in this present era, consider the birthday boy Phil Mickelson, born June 16, 1970. Poor Phil. He seems to have lost his mind, taking Saudi Arabia’s blood money (reported at $200,000,000) for eight tournaments. He seemed sad and confused in the two press conferences I tried to watch this week. Maybe it’s true that money won’t make you happy? Families of ‘9/11’ victims sent him a letter asking ‘why?’. He clearly was bothered by the thought, so he said something about ‘quality time with my family’. He is now the poster boy for both American and Saudi greed and shame. My heart breaks for the man.
But third, my favorite June 16th golfer was born in 1917. In Clay County, Kentucky. You likely never heard of him, but his name was Ford Philpot. ……….. he was my dad.
He used to jokingly complain that his birthday being on or near Father’s Day meant he only got one present. He was right about that. There are so many great stories about Ford that I wrote a book about him.
Ford’s Wonderful World of Golf (2013) is my memoir to honor him. This year we celebrated the 30th anniversary of his death on March 9, 1992. I was forty years old and a senator/lawyer when he died but I still felt like a little boy around him because he was bigger than life in some ways.
Starting at age thirty when he was ‘converted’ (his favorite word for salvation), he literally gave his entire life to preaching the good news of Jesus. He couldn’t stop talking about how God helped him stop drinking and start loving everybody, starting with my wonderful mom who had lived with an alcoholic way too long.
Golf found him at age 44 so the golf course became just one of his platforms for loving God and sharing His love. He passed that one along to his sons. Without a doubt, one of Ford’s disciples was me, along with my brother Danny.
Thanks Dad, and Happy June 16th again.
Download a PDF of Ford’s Wonderful World of Golf or Purchase a copy of the book.
