Greatness Courts Failure

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Boo Weekley

Tuesday, November 30th, 1999

Here at GCF, we’re as fond of camouflage as the next guy. Maybe more so since we depend on it for our late afternoon, illicit golf outings on Snobwood’s back nine.  So imagine our joy and slight discomfort at seeing camo on a professional golfer. Do you need to ask on who? It was  Boo. Yes, Boo Weekely, the Will Rogers of golf, the man who said,

“I love to play the game. But my heart is really with huntin’ and fishin.”

As much as we’ve come to love Boo, his priorities may be a bit out of whack. But, he is our kind of golfer. A man of the people. Plain spoken. Well, plain if you can speak Southernese, otherwise, it may take while to translate. Boo somewhat infamously failed out of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College after only one year on the golf team. I know, we’d never heard of the school either and we know a thing or two about agricultural schools around here. ABAC is in Tifton, Georgia and is part of the state’s university system. The Golden Stallions claim to have won 5 national championships and features Georgia’s only college rodeo team!

Well, after failing out of ABAC, Boo went back home and got a job as a hydroblaster at the local Monsanto chemical plant. Not sure how one works on a professional level golf game by cleaning out large tanks with a water gun but hey, you take the lemons you’re given, trade them for limes, and make yourself a margarita, or something like that. I never liked lemonade. Well, whatever it was, it seemed to work for Boo who knocked around golf’s minors for a few years until his first break on the PGA, which he squandered. But, it happens to the best of us and the rest of us. Greatness does court failure but you learn that doesn’t ever stop you from trying. Tame the demons, or haints if you’re down South, dust yourself off and get back up on that bull. You’re a Golden Stallion man, or would have been had you graduated!

So Boo took another swing at it and now he’s on his second trip to the PGA. This time, with two victories at the Verizon Heritage in consecutive years, and a top 50 in the World Golf Rankings, it looks like he’s here to stay. And the PGA will be better for it. He’s got the game, a sweet swing and some of the meanest iron play on a golfer not named Sergio. Also, his last two trips to the Open Championship have won him some newfound friends across the pond who easily fell for his Southern charm and good manners. Although he was quoted as saying,

“It’s different eating here (in Scotland) than it is at the house. Ain’t got no sweet tea, and ain’t got no fried chicken.”

Keep an eye on Boo. We will. And, we’ll see if we can’t straighten him out about the fishing and hunting. They’re all well and good for the downtime, but who has downtime when there’s golf to play?