I’m pulling for Trevor Immelman to win the Masters Golf Tournament this weekend. Why? It was back in 1998 that I received a phone call from a man with an English accent who said he was from South Africa and was in Orlando, could he come see me at my office.
One of the great things about being an author of a book with world wide distribution is that it opens your circle of contacts. The kind man who came to see me was Johan Immelman, the father of Trevor. Turns out he is a fan of The On-Purpose Person. We chatted for some time. Eventually, the topic came up as to why he was in the US. He said he son was a golfer and was going to be attending David Ledbetter’s Golf Academy in Orlando.
"He must be quite a good golfer for him to be attending Ledbetter’s program," I commented.
"He won the US Public Links Golf Championship this past summer," Trevor’s dad shared proudly. I realized then that Johan’s teenage son at the time wasn’t just a good golfer, he was a top flight player.
Since then, I’ve watch Trevor mostly from afar but I did have a chance to meet him about five years ago. Another fan of being on-purpose is Patty McGowan, at top 100 teaching professional and creator of Knack4Golf.com. I’m a tennis player, but I’ve grown up around golf within my family so I love the game even though I don’t play that much or all that well.
My son, Charles, is a natural golfer and has wonderful potential to be a fine player. Back in 2003, when Charles was 12, I took him to Patty at Lake Nona for some golf lessons. Trevor was on the driving range that day and Patty introduced us. I was impressed by his politeness, work ethic, and stature. Trevor is not a very tall , nor is my son. It was nice for Charles to meet Trevor in this circumstance. I sent Johan an email telling him I had met Trevor and offered up kudos for for having raised such a fine young man.
The Masters is a special tournament but even more so within my family. My wife grew up in North Augusta, SC – across the river from Augusta, GA. Her mother is 92 and in 1924 was the City of Augusta Woman’s Golf Champion. She was at the first Masters and tells of walking the fairways with Bobby Jones. She witnessed Gene Sarazen hit the famous double eagle on hole 15 back on April 7, 1935 at the second Masters which Sarazen won thanks to this shot. I’ve been to the Masters three times now and it is truly treat not to be missed.
Friday night I fired off an email to Johan congratulating him again father to father. Assuming he might be home in South Africa, I shared that my wife and daughter would be at Augusta for Saturday play and I had instructed them to root for Trevor and to make sure they had a chance to watch. Turns out Johan and his wife were also in Augusta. Judith, Anne, and Johan were able to connect up at the first tee at the start of golf on Saturday.
So Trevor goes into today’s final round action leading the Masters. You know who I’m rooting for. Regardless, Johan and I are having a ten year reunion in the next couple of weeks as he is moving to the States to live and work for a while and is staying with Trevor for the time being. Cheer for Trevor, The On-Purpose Player.
Photo Credit: Augusta National Golf web site: link to article click here.