The fever broke in the night. He woke up with his t-shirt completely drenched in sweat. The poor guy has been suffering and not sleeping well. I’m just doing my best to keep him comfortable and try to get him to eat a little bit.

We don’t have time for breakfast so we hit the McDonald’s drive-thru. Thankfully we didn’t spend a bunch of money because he ate about 2 bites max. In the meantime, I’ve reached out to Brian to see if we can get home to sleep in our own beds tonight. Thankfully I did call him because he reminded us that we were booked in a different hotel near the airport. We would’ve left all of our stuff in our current hotel room and wondered why we were kicked out when we returned! We managed to get are cars packed up and to the course right on time for warm up. I skipped the golf shop and went right to my cart guy for a scorecard. Im not up for any weirdness today and I didn’t want to encounter that crabby golf shop gal!

We had an earlier tee time today which was puzzling since he was high up on the leaderboard.

Jake’s stomach feels queasy but we’re going to power through. It’s a gorgeous sunny day but a bit windy. on the first hole which seems to be his nemesis, his tee ball goes in the water by an inch. Matthew went deep in the water and Alex is in the fairway.

He proceeds to try to hit it out and it goes 5 ft and he’s soaked and splattered a bit with mud but we’re on dry land at least. He comes out of it with a bogey so I’m feeling pretty good about that. My mom brain wonders if he will be ok to make it through this round. It’s much warmer and he hasn’t eaten much or slept well for days but again, he really is good about rallying on a golf course.

The scores are kept electronically on a device provided by the tournament and already on the 3rd tee box the golfer from FL is asking Jake to lie about his score and give him pars. What!? We are in a competitive tournament here. This proceeds to go on all day long and Jake is not going to put in inaccurate scores for him. This is not a fun friendly round out on a Sunday with your buds, this matters to most of these players out here. Plus, how about just the lack of integrity?

At the turn, Jake is +2 just as he was in round one but he’s had some birdie opportunities that have not panned out. Those are always frustrating!

By now we have figured out this golfer from Florida does not seem to know the rules or etiquette of golf. He asks Jake a lot of questions, some are just friendly conversation, and others are more puzzling. He has made a few questionable drops and definitely not making them correctly. I am certainly no expert in this sport, actually not even remotely close, but I have learned a few things being out here at these tournaments and I knew something was off.

However, we keep going along and I know Jake and Alex will handle it the best they can. It’s just hard to focus when you’re playing with someone that is asking you to cheat and also having a hard day so you are trying to keep track of his strokes and keep your head in your own game. Morgan had that struggle many times in her high school seasons. I would say it’s been rare for Jake to be in this situation. A friendly, nice guy nonetheless. He’s even told me how much he admires Jake’s swing and consistency. He declared Jake would go D1 for sure☺️

Jake is now sitting at +1 going into the last few holes after making a great birdie after his tee shot landed in the marsh. He made a beautiful shot out of it

He’s sitting in a great spot for a top 5 finish but the last few holes are this course are really hard. The par 3 #17 is over water and a tough green. His tee shot is on the green but a long way from the hole but anywhere on the green on this one, you’re feeling good about it. I’m thinking we’re home free here and one track for a top round. He proceeds to 4-putt and I’m just just bewildered. In my head I’ve decided that at the very most it will be a bogey. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him 4-putt! He bounced back and pars the last hole and of course has realized at this point that double 17 has cost him dramatically.

I was so proud of him regardless because it’s hard to function when you don’t feel well and he handled everything so well. He made some amazing golf shots this weekend and he still made a top 10 finish in a large field of good players.

By the way, he and Alex both told the tournament staff about the issues with Matthew. I don’t know if that does anything or not, but golf is a game of integrity and skill. There’s no room for cheating.

After a phone call to Brian and lots of rehashing of the round and relaxing in the car for bit, we head to our actual ‘scheduled’ hotel near the airport. We are wanting Mexican food but had a few changes in that plan and ended up in the downtown area of West Palm Beach-so cute and fun and just bustling with people! We weren’t sure why it was this crazy and fun on a Sunday night, and here we are in our golf attire not fitting in at all!

Jake declared these were the best waffles he’s ever had (the chicken was bland). His appetite still not great so he ate the remaining waffles back the hotel later in the night while cheering in the Chiefs!

Oh my gosh the Chiefs have done it again! The AFC champs! My kids have been so darn lucky to experience all of this KC success in their lifetimes.

We did feel a little bad for Bengals 58 because they kept showing him weeping in his hands. Jake and I prefer to see the happy celebrating and less of the sad parts! Travis Kelce crashing into Mahimes interview was hilarious “Woo! ‘Burrowhead’ my a–, It’s Mahomes’ house” and then calling out the Cinci mayor – “know your role and shut your mouth you jabroni”😂 You just never know what might come out of his mouth! Since he’s a stud tight end, I suppose he can get away with saying a lot! And more wise words from Travis, “you gotta fight for your right to paaarty!” Let’s go win the Super Bowl, Chiefs!

We were up at 4:40am and had a long travel day home on Monday from West Palm to NYC to KC and yet another missed day of school. Ugh! On the positive side, Jake can now say he’s had his first bagel in NYC! I think it counts even if you’re in LaGuardia airport.

Love you Jakers beyond words and I will ride this golf train with you as long as you’ll have me—

Love, mom❤️

It warmed up a bit for round 1 (no coat necessary) and it’s already been a weird day. It was a rough night for Jake. At one point early in the morning I think he was taking a bath to help with body chills proceeded by getting getting sick. He had complained of a horrible headache on our travel day and I assumed it was just the altitude pressure since this was his first flight post-sinus surgery in December. By now, he’s definitely running a fever and not well. No appetite, not wanting to hit the gym, and dozing in and out of sleep.

I even contemplated pulling him out of the tournament but we’ve traveled all the way here and he can usually rally when it involves golf. Honestly, I thought getting outside on the course would be the cure.

The course is full. The practice area and range are crawling with aspiring golfers and their coaches from prestigious sports academies in FL and Albany Bahamas. I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture of some of them doing their stretching routines on the range – I’m talking face down in the grass twisting and contorting their bodies within a few feet of people hitting. It was quite strange and already these academy kids are driving me nuts. They hang around and hit a billion balls and Jake can barely get in a spot to do his warmup.

In the meantime, I head inside to get a scorecard so I can keep stats for Jake and the gal working in the pro shop says she doesn’t have them. What!? It’s a golf shop, how do you not have any? I thought she was kidding but I walked out empty handed. Weird. I proceeded to get one from the cart guy who was much nicer!

His warmup apparently was his worst ever. I don’t usually ask but sometimes he’ll offer up the info. The first hole is already giving him trouble and makes a double bogey right out of the start. Crap. Maybe I should’ve pulled him out. Hole 2 is a birdie. Ok never mind, we’re fine. These are the rambling thoughts going through my head. The ups and downs of golf.

Sometime in the next few holes, weird occurrence #4 happens. Jake was out in someone’s yard helping to find Daniel’s ball and discovers a dead cat with flies all over it. Gross! Another first. I expected iguanas and alligators here but certainly not dead cats! Someone just tossed their cat in the yard? At least bury it (which makes me think of Brian’s aunt JoAnn😆she would probably be upset that we continued on with our round and didn’t do anything about it). We’re in a tournament here folks, we must stick to the task at hand.

Jake proceeds to play well and is sitting at +2 at the turn. Really proud of him for keeping his composure while feeling poorly and having what he described as a terrible warmup.

The gold course is a bit harder (especially the last 3 holes) and he’s wearing down a bit. In fact it is getting dark and not sure how the groups behind us can even finish. But it’s been an enjoyable day walking along and watching him play. He amazes me often with his talent, knowledge, and stamina on the course.

He had 4 bogeys on the back 9 which put him at a 78 for the round and in 9th place. This course is difficult and there is water on every hole so he’s feeling decent about his round. Of course he always wants to be better but they all do! I was pleased.

We decided to head out to Delray Beach from the course and eat at a cute place on the waterfront called Deck 84 and watch the KState game. The food and atmosphere was awesome and a cute beach town!

Back to the Boynton Beach Courtyard Marriott we go and it’s time to relax! He’s still coughing and feverish and he has a t shirt on and then a sweatshirt and this rotated throughout the night. We need this fever to break!

On a side note here, I’d like to share a few pictures from our room. Notice my side vs. Jake’s side. I don’t know how in the world he lives like this😂

Jake and I did have quite a few laughs about my backpack I was carrying on the course. I should probably invest in a cuter one! And I have lots of other little interesting bags inside of it holding snacks, chargers, meds, bandaids etc. Take note of my “Whataburger” sunglasses case. I should probably step up my game if I’m going to be out here with all these golf coaches. I’m just a mom out here getting a ton of steps in and watching my boy. Where are all the parents? I hardly see any at all!

That’s it on day 1 of the tourney and let me recap the weirdness real quick:

1. Jake is sick and throwing up

2. The golf shop has no scorecards

3. There’s golfers doing stretches and yoga poses on the range

4. There’s a dead cat in a yard on the course

Hoping for much less weirdness tomorrow!