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| John Kostis, son of television commentator Peter Kostis, must head back to Southern Hills first thing Wednesday morning to take part in a playoff for two remaining match play spots. (John Mummert/USGA). |
By Dave Shedloski
Tulsa, Okla. – Gunner Wiebe can’t remember much about the 1994 PGA Championship that his father, Mark, competed in at Southern Hills Country Club. But he can be forgiven for that.
“I was only five years old,” he said.
Seven years later, the elder Wiebe returned to Southern Hills to compete in the 101st U.S. Open. Gunner came along then, too, and there is one moment that stands out from that major championship.
“Yeah, I don’t think I walked more than nine holes with my dad, but I definitely remember Stewart Cink three-putting the 18th hole that last day,” Wiebe said with a grin.
So, OK, it wasn’t exactly a walk down Memory Lane when Wiebe teed it up this week in the 109th U.S. Amateur, but when you’re the son of a noted golf figure, you’re really never hurting for inspiration or good vibes. Your gene pool is full, and you’re soaking in the deep end. You don’t have to be the ball when you can summon up a few molecules of your DNA and try to be a chip off the old block.
Not that there’s any pressure in that. Right?
“It’s a never a bad thing,” Kevin Tway said when asked about the challenge of trying to excel in a game that his father, Bob, has been so successful at for more than two decades. “I mean, it might be more pressure, but I don’t really think about it. I just go out and try to do my own thing.”
Following in the footsteps of a famous father can be a daunting proposition, whatever the chosen field of endeavor, and this week at Southern Hills, a number of competitors have carried familiar names onto the pitch.
In addition to the younger Wiebe and Tway, the latter a former U.S. Junior Amateur champion (2005), there are several others whose fathers have made names for themselves in the golf business.
There’s John Kostis, son of Peter Kostis, the accomplished instructor and CBS television announcer. After 36 holes at Southern Hills and Cedar Ridge Country Club, John Kostis found himself preparing for a playoff at 7:30 a.m. CDT Wednesday with four spots available among 27 players all tied at 8-over 148. He’ll be joined in the massive shootout by, among others, Tyson Alexander. His dad, Buddy, is the head golf coach at the University of Florida, and he also is a former U.S. Amateur champion, winning the 1986 title.
There is Mike Van Sickle, whose father, Gary, is a longtime golf writer for Sports Illustrated, and Peter Uihlein, whose dad is Wally Uihlein, chairman and CEO of Acushnet, the parent company of Titleist golf equipment. Along with Tway, each qualified for match play.
Tway advanced at 143 after a 71 at Southern Hills Tuesday. Uihlein, a sophomore at Oklahoma State, posted 73-147, also at Southern Hills.Van Sickle, the recent Marquette graduate and winner of the Hogan Award, carded 72-145 playing his second round at Cedar Ridge.
Van Sickle, who is vying to make the 2009 USA Walker Cup team, has been playing golf with his father since he was three years old, so having him on the bag this week is second nature to him.
“Yeah, he knows me really well, he knows my game, and we have a good banter back and forth on the course to keep each other relaxed,” said Van Sickle, who seemed to speak for his peers when he explained his dad’s influence on him.
“He’s kind of the reason I formed a love of the game,” said Van Sickle, playing in his second Amateur. “You know, he wasn’t one of those dads who was like, ‘Here! We’re going to go practice.’ When I was six years old, he kind of let me do what I wanted to do, and what I wanted to do was go golf with him, have fun, and then kind of halfway through high school I started taking it seriously, more as a job, and that’s when the improvement started to b e made. But you know, just growing up, we had a great time going out and playing together, and just formed a love of golf for me.”
Tway, whose dad won the 1986 PGA Championship with a stunning 72nd-hole bunker shot at Inverness Club to take down Greg Norman, drew perhaps the biggest gallery on Tuesday at Southern Hills. The 21-year-old from Edmond, Okla., who might have a bit of a home-course advantage this week, didn’t notice. He’s focused on his golf, and having his father caddie for him, as he has done in past USGA events, is a big plus.
“I can get pretty worked up out there, and he’s just a calming influence,” Tway said. “It’s great having him there. We just talk about golf, which is great. That’s what I’m focusing on, and he’s been there and knows what I need to do to play well. As far as the people following us, that’s nice, but I’m used to it, and I know how to handle the attention, having watched him playing on the [PGA] Tour.”
There was one other player in the field who could smile thinking about his father walking with him every step of the way.
His name is arguably the most intriguing name in the field, that belonging to Aaron Stewart. With his blonde locks, strong chin and wide smile, he cannot be mistaken for anyone other than the son of Payne Stewart, the two-time U.S. Open champion who 10 years ago was killed in a Learjet crash.
Stewart, 20, a junior at Southern Methodist University, didn’t begin playing golf until he was 13 years old, so he ca n’t draw on any playing lessons from his dad, who also won a PGA Championship among his 13 Tour titles.
“A lot of life lessons stay with me and that’s what he instilled in my sister Chelsea and I,” Stewart said after he shot an 81 at Southern Hills and missed the match play. “He taught me to treat everyone with respect and treat everyone equally, and that’s how I try to approach everything I do.”
Stewart heads back to school Wednesday, which was his father’s alma mater. He’ll be trying out for the golf team. Wading into the sport where his dad was so successful might be daunting, given the circumstances, but the younger Stewart finds it a source of pride. Among his experiences this year was playing in the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst No. 2, the site of the 1999 U.S. Open that his father won with an 18-foot par putt on the final hole.
“Maybe when I put up a number like I did today it’s not so good, but when I play well, there’s like an asterisk next to my name,” he said. “It makes me proud. And playing courses like this, it gives me an even greater appreciation for what he did, how good he was. It’s really be en an awesome experience. My goal was higher than what I achieve, but it was cool just to be here. It meant a lot to me.”
Indeed, there’s nothing quite like absorbing a few fresh memories to make the old ones that much brighter.
Dave Shedloski is a freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on www.us amateur.org
