2020 to Me – Reilly Mader, Junior

The pandemic sparked a new passion of mine for the game of golf. For as long as I can remember, my dad would always golf with his friends on the weekends, but ever since we moved back to Wisconsin, it’s been a different story. Golf became a regular hobby for my dad. Every chance he’d get, he would go out and play a round. So that got me thinking about trying it myself.

There is a public course right down the street from us with a driving range. My brother and I wanted to see what our dad was doing every month and find out how much fun golf really was. The first swing I took would change my life for the better. All I wanted to do was hit golf balls and get better at the game. Every weekend was a new chance to ask my dad to go to the range and hit balls with his clubs. He always said yes. As the weeks went by, I started to find a strong passion for the game. I found the rewardment after a good shot a huge confidence boost. It always put a huge smile on my face. After a month and a half of practicing, my dad had bought me my own set of golf clubs, a special day you could say the least.

Before I knew it, I was playing on the real courses with my dad having the most amount of fun possible. Not only was it a special bond between me and my dad, but it was an activity we can do for the rest of our lives.

My interest grew after summertime as I watched golf on TV, practiced it everyday, and learned how to have a basic, mechanical swing. The next step was to improve the clubs I had in my bag and stay concentrated on the game throughout the off-season. That was going to be easy. Fast forward to Christmas, I received a new Callaway XR Speed driver to go in my golf bag and an indoor putting green to practice during the winter. I was also lucky enough to get my hands on a range finder, a device that helps pinpoint distance from the flag anywhere on any course in the world. A must have.

Every day I thank my dad because he was the one that inspired me to try golf and now, I can hardly wait to golf again with my dad and brother drinking a cold Arnold Palmer in the Wisconsin sunshine.