Be A Mentor! Teach A Boy to Golf!

It doesn't cost a dime at most public courses to sit a boy aged 7-and-over down in the golf cart seat beside you and shove off toward whatever challenges await you that day.
Taking on the immense responsibility of helping to mentor a needy black boy into manhood could be as easy as including one in your next golf outing.



Let's salute and support the effort by Sporting News Radio stars, "The Two Live Stews", (Doug and Ryan Stewart, above) for their daily pleas for all the men who can to get involved in fatherless boys' lives.

If we don't, who will? Learn more about mentoring opportunities in your community, by clicking here.

I can tell you from experience that mentoring is not easy. I did a two-year "tour of duty" in Detroit, and the threat of personal injury factored into the equation. I chronicled the situation, long ago, for Essence magazine.

But I also recall the one-time opportunity I had to take a nephew who'd been evacuated by Katrina out on a walk-through of my neighborhood nine. If nothing else, I tried to teach him about manners and perseverance and strategy and patience. I haven't heard a word bad about him since, so maybe a bit of my advice and admonitions wore off.

Each one teach one. Or else...

Need A Job? The PGA's Hiring...

Some of the coolest cats I know are caddies...

And in this economy, as time goes by, their career choice seems more and more appealing.
Any man searching for honest work, or key opportunities, would relish the chance to walk with so-called "kings" of industry the way my boys Gato and Robert have on the regular at East Lake and the Piedmont Driving Club have.
Every hacker who combs the rough like I do for stray Titlelists and Bridgestones like I do to keep from buying them would relish something so simple as an unlimited supply of quality shag balls, if nothing else, as a perk of the job.
Nothing grabs my interest more on the PGA's official web site than the pronouncement that February's the main month to applying for jobs as golf course employees. What better workplace could someone like me want?
But it begs the question: would a white-collar professional in "transition" be truly gratified carrying someone else's bag?
If you're got an opinion, launch it here....

Photo: Golfilepics/FLICKR

"Uneven Fairways" Drives A Point Home

I orchestrated two events last weekend to celebrate the fifth birthday of my son, Scottie.



First, there was a backyard cookout (sirloin, not spare ribs) for an inner circle of friends. The next morning, there was our first father-son golf outing together at the public 9-hole links nearest to our home.

As is "par" for the "Course of Champions" (as Candler Park is both lovingly and mockingly known), Scottie and I were part of a foursome composed of complete strangers. We teed off gingerly with two other black hackers who, themselves, had only met moments before. They couldn't have been more patient or encouraging through the six holes prior to the kid's "Carry me home, Daddy" melt down.

Flashback to that cookout: Seven black dads of young sons and daughters attended. They hail from seven different states. Despite starting to play at varying stages of life, they all, like me, happened to be avid golfers.

The determined men and women who inspired The Golf Channel's Black History Month documentary, "Uneven Fairways", would no doubt be proud.

This tribute to the players whose race denied them the opportunity to fully enjoy all the game's rewards (though they reveled in the struggle to do so) is that rare bit of program TV I'll set aside time for.

Somehow, I think I'll play better just by watching stories unfold about trailblazers who were only begrudgingly allowed to play at all.


Since the Othello of out-of-bounds soliloquies, Samuel L. Jackson, hosts the hour-long feature (premiering Feb. 11, 9 p.m.), the narration alone should be riveting. And I'll be keen to see how Calvin Peete _ who was gracious enough not to belittle my utter ignorance of the game when I encountered him early in my sports writing career _ is portrayed.

What are your thoughts on the "Uneven Fairways" film? Unfortuately, the Golf Channel's blog about it shows shades of insensitivity so far. Ironically, The Golf Channel is airing a rerun of Pebble Beach Pro-Am bloopers as I write this. The announcer segues into a commercial saying, "Golf is fun for everyone...as long as it's shared."
Photo: Calvin Peete at the 1986 Western Open/Ted Van Pelt (FLICKR)