My brother lives in DeSoto and has introduced us to this little 9-hole course called Burning Tree.  For the last two summers, they have had a golf academy for kids which is an affordable way for kids to get exposed to the game and learn for about 6 weeks out of the summer.  It is also a laid back atmosphere which I think makes learning a somewhat intimidating game, a little easier.  Last year, I signed Jake and Drew up for it – it’s two afternoons a week for an hour with a two day tournament at the end.  Quickly, Jake became known as “Little Rickie” a little look-alike of Rickie Fowler, the pro-golfer.  Jake likes to dress the part.  He does not mess around when it comes to golf attire!  With any luck, he might actually read this blog in the future and chances are he will probably critique his look.  You think I’m kidding but I’m actually serious.  Here’s a few pics from last year…look Drew has teeth!!

 

This year, Reece was old enough to join the academy so I decided to sign all 4 of them up.  I have to drive there anyway, I might as well have all of them entertained for an hour right!? We have completed day 1 of the tourney and already Jake and Drew are determined to beat each other.  Neither is going down without a fight!  Drew got an eagle on a hole and finished only one over par for the day.  This makes Jake super mad and lots of smack-talking was going down on that course!  I hope we don’t get kicked out of the academy 😉

Something scared Reece on her 1st tourney day so she only finished two holes (even with Brian as her caddy).  Each group only gets through a few holes each day anyway because there are a lot of groups.  We are hoping she will pull it together on Thursday’s final round.  I’ve already bribed her with a new golf outfit.  Sometimes desperate measures come into play.

I witnessed Morgan get a par on a hole…you go girl…yep that’s my golf lesson partner!  And by the way, look how cute she did her hair!  She’s already a winner in my book just because of that alone.

She was paired up with Stephanie, the leader of the academy, and that’s enough to throw your game into a tailspin or at least make you want to drive your cart wildly through the course (she’s a talker!).  Maybe this is why MoMo got a 9 and a 7 on the other two holes she played.  I’m just joking, Stephanie only wants the best for the kids and she is super passionate about the game of golf.  However, sometimes you have to pretend like you have other business to attend to or you’ll find yourself signed up for things you didn’t actually sign up for (right, Greg!?) and learn more about her family than you really need to know.

More to come on the conclusion of the tournament and the awards picnic next week…