As a tournament director for the FORE! Jack & Jill Golf Marathon Series I run events across the country. The great part of my job is reaching out to golfers and asking them to participate in an event for a great foundation, The Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation.

Over the past year my task has been to go to cities and start a new event and gain commitments from players and sponsors. I have a decent network of friends and business contacts across the country and that is always my first step in building an event. Having a few good men on the ground passionate about helping families in which Mom or Dad has late stage cancer is great but I am always looking for more. I spend countless hours networking and introducing myself to golfers all over the place and I love it.

Next month I am doing an event in Northern New Jersey with Brandon Moore the NY JETS right guard and some of his teammates. Since I grew up in NJ you would think it would be a lay up to recruit players but its harder than you would think. I used my typical honey holes to find players than it dawned on me….golf, football and my home state.

So off I went, on a mission to get the old guys together from the 1985 Bridgewater High School East Football team. Its been 25 years and with jobs, family, moves and the withering of time it might be tough but why not try. Out went an email to the boys. Would they respond, would they want to play golf all day for a great cause?

YES!! These guys are the best!! We spent so many years playing football together from Pop Warner all the way through High School and its a bond that transends time. I sent the call out to the old offense and it looks like we have 8 of the 11 guys in for this cause.

I am so looking forward to this event and the giving back to the Foundation. Yeah we the NY JETS but what we also have is 8 guys from 25 years ago huddling up one more time!! Stay tuned for more…..

Phil Mickelson’s victory his weekend was nothing short of stunning. Three Green Jackets and he has etched his name into the company of the likes of Faldo, Player & Snead but it was so much more that his golf game that impressed me.

The Mickelson family has been fighting breast cancer all year. Amy’s diagnosis was a shock to all when it was announced in May of 2009. You see, cancer is a non discriminatory dieases. It doesn’t care who you are, what’s going on in your life or the balance in your checking account. Cancer doesn’t care if you are a mom or dad of young children or a top player in your sport, it just goes about its business.

Phil and Amy’s attitude towards the disease was just like his 6 iron on 13 Sunday afternoon. They wieghted their options and just as Phil has done for 18 years on tour, they tackled what was in front of them with nerves of steel. Cancer is a battle and this family has handled it with grace and dignity. Not that they haven’t encountered fear or pain but they fought. The fact that Phil’s career was labled as not complete without a major in the early 2000’s he never gave up. He took his lumps but became a better player and man for his fortitude.

Amy is still fighting as well as Phil’s mom. The emotions on the golf course run high the back nine of a major championship and like the golf course, they are fighting every day as he does on every shot.

When Mom or Dad are stricken with cancer the immediate thought is for the children and how it will impact them. That in and of itself is more than most can bear but there are only two paths to take….lay up or go for it. Amy has chosen to go for it, like her husband and I too hope it is a story book ending.

To support young parents in this same situation I ask you to support the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and its work to give families a lasting memory. Please visit www.jajf.org and partner with them to make a tangible difference in the lives of others dealing with a bad lie.

Mmmm!

What is it that makes Augusta, GA and the Masters Tournament so special?

I would love to get your feedback as to what makes it so great for you. I have a few of my own and I am sure you do too.

Rocket’s Masters Favorites

1. Egg Salad & a Miller Lite for $3.00
2. Being able to set your chair down on 16 tee box at 8:00 a.m. and coming back at 1:00 p.m. and its still there right on the ropes.
3. Masters Club Sandwich $2.50 and to me it ranks up there with a nice rib-eye!
4. Just the Players & their caddies walking down the fairway without 10 people following the group.
5. The beauty of the place is breath taking.
6. Knowing where the players should land it and seeing how close from perfect the shot was only to roll 40 feet away.
7. Trying to interpret the roars around the course.
8. Did I mention the food?
9. The ladies are quite a sight saunter around amen corner.
10. Cleanest place on earth with over 30,000 people there.

There are many other reasons but those should suffice for now. Enjoy the week and if you have a chance splurge for a Masters Club and a cold beer!

Who's Paying Who??

Gambling a few bucks on the golf course always makes it a little sweeter and seems to get the juices flowing. But what about when you’re just watching??

I have been know to bet on a few things in my life (ok a lot of things) and The Master’s is a perfect scene for it. We normally perch ourselves on 16 tee box and grab a few bucks to keep it interesting. The standard bet is to choose a player in each group for closest to the pin. The winner gets first pick so you better get out to a quick start.

Feel free to use my technique. If the guy is going to the Champions Dinner Tuesday night then that is a great pick! The best was a few years ago when Tom Lehman caught on to what we were doing and then proceeded to stick it close. As we were exchanging the dough, Lehman walked by on his way to the green, he gave us a smile and a wink!

Calcutta’s are another fun thing to do. On Friday night after the cut is made I used to go to this great party in Augusta. The deal was an auction of players and you purchased who you thought would win. The stakes got high as Tigers era came into being. Normally a few guys would go in together to by their “horse”. The payout was often in a 5 digit number!

The one pool I have been doing the last few years is a Majors pool in which you pick the winner and 3 other players. A running money list total for all 4 majors is carried forward to payout the major winners and top money list team.

Now of course, these are all for fun because we all know “There is no gambling at Bushwood!”.

Today at 2:01 EST the world got what is was waiting for in the Augusta National Media Center in Augusta, GA. Tiger walked in tall and said hello World again with more anticipation than his 1996 press conference at the Greater Milwaukee Open in his first event as a professional.

Craig Heatley, Chairman of the Masters Media Committee, welcomed him to the prodium and then asked him would he like to say a few words. No duh, its only be on the calendar for every media guy for a month!

Tiger was calm and a bit nervous as he spoke. His demeanor was one of a shamed man that was remorseful for what has transpired the past 5 months. The questions were typical of what you may have expected and the answers where also what you may have expeted to hear as well.

To me it was a flushing out for Tiger to say his peace, tell what he felt he needed to tell and again to reiterate it was a total faliure on his part to manage his life in accordance with his public persona. Afterall, Tiger is just a golfer with a ton of dough, that took himself too serious and thought he was above the laws of morality. He took responibility for it and will continue to do what he can to salvage his marriage.

The thing that stuck with me was his new attitude of gratitude for his fans and the game of golf. He interacted with the patrons today like never before. Joking with them and actually making eye contact.  The practice rounds at the Masters is when a player should interact and give back to the greatest fans in golf and he finally did that!

In the past his stoic focus, even in a practice round added to his closed circle and frankly probably lead to some of his feeling of entitlement. If you act so removed all the time it makes it so much easier to stay in that setting. I for one, am glad he has let that guard down.

Now, I am not saying he needs to do that come Thursday morning because that needs to be all business. In order to win a major and especially under his circumstance he has to regain his tunnel vision from #1 until the final putt on #18.

I hope that this is the new Tiger and the new attitude of gratitude will become his new mantra. Should be an interesting week!

The first full week in April is always circled on my book as the official start of the golf season. Here in the south that means one thing, The Masters!

The weather starts to give us blooming dogwoods, azaleas and beautiful flowers surrounding the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club. I have spent countless days on the hallowed grounds during the tournament and as a caddie one year back in 1996. The place never gets old and it just makes me smile and feel like a kid again.

My Dad and I spent many days strolling around Augusta National and it routinely fell on on his birthday April 6th. I lost my dad to Melonoma Cancer in 2004 and one of the things that keep his smile and endless joy in my mind are the times we spent together out there.

During the time I lived in Augusta my dad and I played a lot of golf together. He was one of those guys that always had one foot on the gas and one foot on the break and felt like we were behind right from the first shot. He was a busy business owner who had a full plate but always had time for a round golf. The fact was that during Masters he was never in a hurry or worried about his pager of cellphone, it was pure freedom for him inside those gates.

He always had a skip in his step and was thrilled to see his hero’s and watch the players on the range then perch himself over at Redbud #16. He was like a little kid when he would get a call from a friend who has a badge and offered it up to him. Sometimes he would get badge for an afternoonor for the whole day and would shoot out to do what he loved and it made him so happy.

I had the luck in 2001 to receive my own badges and to share them with him was just great. The best part was not even out on the grounds, it was the visits with him talking golf and watching the Sunday drama unfold with him as we watched on TV. He and I would sit and eat breakfast every morning reading the Augusta Chronicle’s Master Section everyday and talking about where we were the day before.

As we come upon another Masters each of us, in our own way have vivid memories of each year but for me the greatest memories of all, are not the Bears Charge in 1986, Tigers first win in 1997 or Faldo’s win over Greg Norman, its the times out in line early on brisk spring day beside my Dad acting like two kids at the top of the steps before our parents called us down for Christmas morning.

This week represents three things I love, Easter and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dad’s birthday and the Masters Tournament.  What else can be better? Bob Pritts you are forever loved and missed but never forgotten. It is only fitting that Easter, your birthday and the Masters all fall on the same week again this year. Happy Birthday Dad I know you will be watching!!