On Where You Come From – Papaw

Before you read what your Papaw wrote to you, I think it’s worth sharing a few things about him that I might have said before. Maybe not. But when you’re older, ask me about when I asked him if I could marry your mom and I promise you’ll see me smile before I tell you about it.

I wish I knew Jim Butler when he was younger — I would have loved to have golfed with him when he was at his best. He (and your grandma) gave me a job watering flowers at their golf course and working the pro shop when I was between jobs. They did this not long after meeting me. When I first started working there, I rode around in a golf cart with your grandpa and he showed me how to water all the flowers on the golf course. He took pride in how good Table Rock looked and the flowers were a big part of it. But more than that, we got to know one another and he must have liked me because we’ve been friends ever since.

There is a lot more I could say and I should probably dedicate a longer post to him and how I’ve come to respect and appreciate him so much. But this post isn’t about me. So with that said, here is what he wanted to tell you about raising your mom…

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Reagan and Koen,

Table Rock Golf Club , was a public 18 hole golf course that Kathy and I owned in Centerburg Ohio. 

At this writing it is being turned  into a housing project. We sold TRGC 14 years ago.

There was not a better place to raise 2 kids than a golf course , 140 acres of a place to roam and grow up on . 

I started teaching Jeff golf when he was around 10 years old , I started Kelly about 10 also. 

Jeff was so easy to teach and was a quick learner. He was shooting in the 80s when he was around 13. Kelly was a little harder , she didn’t have other girls around to play with , whereas Jeff had boys to play with. Centerburg did not have any girls playing golf as the boys did. 

Getting Kelly to develop confidence in her swing was very hard to do . At the time we had a driving range a crossed the road in front of our house . Jeff used it a lot in developing his game , Kelly not so much . When Jeff made the golf team , Kelly become more interested in playing , and started taking golf serious . When she would watch her brother play and noticed how he carried his clubs and how he walked when playing . She soon picked up his traits on the golf course . 

Actually when Kathy and I would go watch them play , we could see both of them at their different matches , walking the same way and we could pick them up visually from a long ways off. 

Both Kelly and Jeff became very good players , and both held course records at the same golf course, for many years .  

Then after they graduated from high school , they both when to College , Jeff at Malone, and Kelly at Otterbein . 

Both were on the starting 5 for each schools. 

Seeing our kids grow up on Table Rock over the years , has generated many memories for Kathy and I.