We retuned to New Bedford/Dartmouth MA after the cookout at Kim's house (my daughter) in Nashua, NH. DJ stayed the night at his aunt Paula's (my wife Susan's youngest sister) home as we had some visits to make on Tuesday. His plan was for me to drive him back to Boston to Todd's (his caddy) house so Todd could take him to Logan airport Wednesday morning for his 8:45 flight to Charleston, SC back home for the three week lay off until the next tournament.
The first and most important visit for DJ, as I had already been was to go see his maternal grandmother at the nursing home as she just celebrated her birthday. While there, we were told that a number of the residents and nurses were real DJ fans and follow his career and really wanted to meet him. I always carry a number of his club promo photos already autographed by him to give mostly to kids and fans I meet who ask me about DJ. I brought the picture folder into the home and DJ took the already autographed photos and personalized them to each person getting one including a new one for his grandmother.
I have been a guest at Bob Morgan's home for this Deutsche Bank tournament week. Bob is a fraternity brother of mine and played on the golf team with me at U of Mass., North Dartmouth. When I left Bob's house to head for the nursing home, he was getting his ladder and chain saw out to cut a huge broken branch hanging over his chain link fence in his back yard. While still visiting at the home, Bob called me and told me he was in the emergency room at St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford. He said he mad a cut and when the branch fell, the rest of it whipped backwards knocking him off the ladder. He landed on his feet and the ladder landed smack on the top of his head and he landed smack in the emergency room.
The nursing home was only two blocks away so Paula, an RN like my wife, Susan, who got her training at St. Luke's, took me over to the Emergency Room to check up on Bob. When we arrived he was sitting up, alert and had a big bandage on top of his head. He was going to need stitches and being the Swing Surgeon I offered to do it. He passed as he was sure his health insurance company wouldn't pay me. The CAT scan showed no damage, and 14 stitches later he was home watching TV staying awake.
When Paula and I got back to the nursing home, DJ got a call from our business agent, Terry Reilly of SFX Golf. Terry called to say that Titleist had called and asked if DJ could fly to Chicago Wednesday to shoot some advertising promotional stuff. They had checked and could book him out of Logan on a 9:45AM flight on Wednesday. Since he wasn't going straight home, rather than lug his clubs around he asked me to take them home in my car as he didn't need them for the shoot in Chicago.
The best break for me came when my daughter, Kim, texted and said that she got out of work early and was driving down to spend the afternoon and early evening visiting with us. When she found out that DJ was going to Todd's house that evening she offered to take him as it was a slight detour from going back to Nashua. I really liked hearing that saving me driving him to Boston. I am packing the car tomorrow morning and heading back to Inman, SC as I have 2 full days of lessons Friday and Saturday with a student flying in from New Mexico.
I am writing this in Mr. Morgan's living room as he is watching The Golf Channel's birthday tribute to Arnold Palmer. This is my last report from Massachusetts on The Deutsche Bank tournament. The ride back home should be good as the weather is supposed to be clear and sunny. It should be a pleasant drive especially through the Shenandoah Valley, the West Virginia Mountains and then on down into North Carolina getting close to home.
All in all, it was a good visit, seeing family and friends and a pretty good tournament for DJ. We did some really good fine tuning on his swing and putting stroke which came alive in the final nine on Monday to close out the tournament with birdies on 4 of the last 5 holes. He didn't make it to Chicago for the 3rd playoff event, but the good finish and putting has him excited about getting to Verona, New York for the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
I'll be heading to Mt. Pleasant the middle of next week to deliver his clubs and check out his swing and putting at Bulls Bay, the course he plays out of. We want him sharp and ready for the final season as he plans on playing a least four of the final five events and four good finishes. A win would cap off and turn a mediocre season into a real good one. Late is better than never.
The Surge!