By REID BEDELL
Sports have been the most important thing to me in life, outside of my family.
Sports continue to fuel my relationship with my dad (Donald) as well. We are both competitive people, so bonding over sports helps our relationship grow and improve.
Whether it is watching a football game, or having my dad watch me play baseball or basketball, we would always have something to talk about. He would also push me to be better in every sport and work with me, helping me practice to improve.
Although I had always played golf, it didn’t really change our relationship until I decided to give up baseball for golf in high school. Since then, my parents have done nothing but support my decision to play golf and pursue my dream of playing at the highest level.
Not only have they supported me, but my dad has gone out of his way to take me on golf trips of a lifetime. My dad and I have gone to Scotland to play golf seven of the last eight summers. It truly is an incredible experience, and being able to be there with my dad just makes it even that more special as we share such an avid love for the game of golf.
Every summer now, when I get back from school, my dad is always looking forward to playing as much golf with me as he can. Personally, I could not ask for a better playing partner than my dad. He is always upbeat, and always wants to see me do the best that I can.
My dad does not want to lose, which makes it fun to play matches against him.
This helps my relationship drastically grow stronger with my dad, just because of how much we both love golf, and the fact we get to experience so many different places and great golf courses together, it is almost surreal.
Without my dad, I would not be anywhere near the person I am today. I would never have experienced all of this amazing golf, and I would not have such a strong relationship with my dad.
I would be nowhere near the golfer I am today, and who knows if I would even be playing golf if my dad and I did not have this strong of a relationship.
My dad is the reason I am able to play golf almost every day over the summer, and I have to be forever grateful of that. I believe that we help each other experience golf the best way it can be experienced: by father and son sharing a love for the game.