BROOKLINE – It’s Father’s Day and hundreds of dads and sons/daughters are walking around The Country Club’s pristine golf course, sharing their special day together as the 122nd U.S. Open Championship reaches its exciting climax.
It makes us a bit teary-eyed and gets us thinking about our dads and how we bonded over golf.
My dad, Bill Brotherton Sr., was not a golfer, but he enthusiastically joined me, who at age 14 had just started caddying at Myopia, many times at local 9-hole courses Candlewood and Lakeview.
There were no golf clubs in the Brotherton household, but mom’s “uncle” Ed Murphy, who lived on Smith Lane in the shadow of Swampscott’s New Ocean House, offered us his set of wood-shafted antiques. The clubs and bag were probably older than Francis Ouimet’s mashie niblick on display in the USGA’s Museum Experience adjacent to TCC’s 2nd tee. But we weren’t very good and we got to spend time together and make memories.
I (Anne Marie) grew up in a golf-crazed home, and every Father’s Day was spent either playing golf or watching the U.S. Open. This year was perhaps the most special of all as most of the family spent it at The Country Club. My father had a front-row seat in the USGA Skybox stands behind the 18th hole.
We were all in on this year’s Open, playing a variety of roles. We were spectators, tournament volunteers and even had a USGA staff member – my daughter Abby – among us. We were shoppers, scooping up souvenirs and clothing at the merchandise tent, just like most of the 25,000 daily patrons who crowded the tent all week long. You’d think the USGA was giving things away.
Our love for the game started when I was 7 years old and our parents (Bill and Barbara Locke) joined another TCC, as in Thomson Country Club. We all thought my father was a pretty good golfer. After all, he did win the club’s Four-Ball Championship one year. Following his lead, my five siblings and I all, along with our mother, took up the game.
My father was (and still is) the critical one, always finding that one little thing that could have been done differently to shave a stroke or two off the score or change the outcome of a match. I believe that’s why I’ve always had a competitive drive when it comes to the game. When people ask me how many state titles I won, I never say seven; I always say “It should have been eight.”
My Dad has set the bar pretty high; he’ll turn 101 in October and has his sights on extending his record as the oldest person to ever play in the Winchester Father-Son Invitational, a tournament that was founded in 1919. Perhaps this will be the year my father shoots his age. That is, if my brother Tim can finally find a fairway or two.
Reminiscing about our dads was but one thing we chatted about at the end of a recent workday at The Country Club while we sipped a $14.50 Dewar’s Lemon Wedge, the official cocktail of the U.S. Open (recipe below).
It was easier elbowing your way toward a green to see the action than navigating the crowded merchandise tents to grab a shirt or hat.
Kevin Sullivan, a Thomson Country Club member who lives in Lynnfield, committed to four five-hour shifts in the merch tent as a cashier.
He and all volunteers paid $249 for their uniform; “That’s not a bad deal,” he said. “One of the reasons I volunteered was to be able to have access to watch the tournament all week. That’s a great part of the volunteer commitment.”
Sullivan estimated that his average sale was $400. His biggest? About $1,500. Not even close to a customer served by an Essex member who spent $7000!
“We had 50 registers going and from what I hear, this probably will be the highest grossing event ever,” Sullivan said.
Open winner Matthew Fitzpatrick could also thank a shopper for his strong showing. His errant drive on hole No. 18 Saturday nearly hit a couple USGA colleagues but instead hit someone’s $1,000+ bag of merchandise. He would have been in big trouble had it not.
“Had that ball not hit the customer’s bag it would have been really in trouble,” said Lynnfield’s Abby Tobin, who managed to duck past Fitzpatrick’s shot. Tobin works for the USGA Foundation.
The Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds showed a different side of the pro golfers.
With no cameras running, pros wore shorts which are prohibited during the rounds that count. Dustin Johnson was smiling, chatty and signed autographs for kids for 15 minutes after his practice round on Wednesday.
Affordable food stands.
Quick bites were available for those rushing from hole-to-hole at The Dog House stands scattered throughout the course. Prices were cheaper than you’d pay at Fenway, TD Garden or Leader Bank Pavilion. Hot dogs were $7-$9, chips a buck, light beer $10 and a Sam’s Summer $11.
Police escorts for LIV players
Uniformed police officers walked the course with Phil Mickelson (4 cops), Dustin Johnson and all other LIV players as a precaution. The fledgling golf league paid for the police details.
USGA history
Offering a nice break from rushing around the often confusing TCC layout, was the Museum Experience. Displays included Ouimet’s playoff scorecard from his Sept. 20, 1913 Open victory against two British pros, Jackie Robinson headcovers with “42”, Ben Hogan’s 1-iron from the 1950 Open. It was interesting that nearly every item in the museum had been donated except for two Tiger Woods items that had been purchased: a dirty bag towel and a golf ball from the 2002 US Open emblazoned with “TIGER.”
Where’s Ricky?
A very tanned Ricky Fowler was an alternate for the Open, and showed up at the practice range at about 6 a.m. on Thursday, hoping a player would withdraw and create an opening. At 3 p.m. he was still there. An opening never occurred and his trip to Brookline was for naught.
*Dewar’s Lemon Wedge cocktail
1½ oz. DEWAR’S 12-year-old
3 oz. club soda
2 oz. lemonade
Method: Combine ingredients over ice and stir.
