This was my dog Callie.
She helped me turn a horse pasture into a little golf course with not much more than a weed eater and a shovel.
We had an irrigation pipe at the top of our field that we usually just opened and let the water flood down through the pasture.
Sometime we would find fish in the pipe from the creek.
Using a shovel. I started scrapping shallow trench lines from the top of the field around the first green that I invisioned.
Then I dug the trenches for the water to travel down both sides of the fairway, leading to the next green/tee box.
It was was going to take a lot of work to make it somewhat playable.
At the time, I worked at a Golf course nearby and had just signed my Daughter up for the kids summer golf league.
I really enjoyed mowing greens and fairways at my job but it didn’t pay me enough to support my woman and kids properly, even though I worked 12 days on 2 days off.
Mowing straight lines in the grass was important and fun to me becuase it got me away from the stress and labor of setting tile and painting houses. (still do)
The first Man on the course, cruising the greens mower in the dark at 6:00am.
It’s colder than you might think with the wind and percipitation.
Callie use to love fetching every shot I hit out there.
She had plenty of room to run and water to cool off.
One afternoon while hitting golf balls over the mountain with my Driver.
My dog got a head start on me while I was starting my backswing.
She usually stayed off to the side and would wait until I hit before chasing the ball.
Not this time…
My head was down and I was staring at the ball, when I power swung my driver.
A loud thump sound that seemed to shockwave back towards me when my eyes connected with her.
I thought I hit her in the chest or shoulder area.
She turned and yelped in pain as I ran to her.
When she turned her head towards me, her eye was closed.
Instantly I knew It was bad. I knocked her eye out with a golf ball.
My Daughter and her Mom were screaming and crying, it was a panic mode situation.
Her eye was completing smashed and the Vetrinarian had to remove it and stitch it closed.
After her stitches, she was ready to go after balls the next day. I didn’t dare touch a club with anyone around.
I didn’t want to hear it, I felt bad enough. So I just mowed and did irrigation work for a while to get things greener.
Every second of effort was worth it in the long run to see my Daughter safe, having fun and hitting great golf shots.
Callie ended up passing away from stomach problems and we buried her under her favorite tree on the course.
Try to enjoy your kids and animals as much as you can.
All of this is gone now.
Like the golf course, I built this for you Haley.
Love Dad.