My golf round with Bobby Bowden – Legend (and caddie)

To start, I have been an FSU fan my entire life. I knew I wanted to go to college there from the time I was in Elementary School. Just about as long as I have loved college football, I came to realize over time that Bobby Bowden was more than just a football coach. As would the entire sports world in their own time. I did end up going to college at FSU. At the start of the time, when FSU football was a 16 year top 5 mainstay in college football. So, I know almost every Bobby Bowden story there is. I even got to work for a Tallahassee TV station, right after college, that for a time included a weekly interview with the coaching legend. His legend would grow over the years for not just me, but a whole college football loving nation. There aren’t too many Bobby Bowden stories that haven’t been heard. I have one. And it’s a great one. And it is a very personal one.

Years after college and just at the end of Bobby’s coaching career I had the privilege/serendipitous fortune, of being paired with Bobby for a charity golf tournament in Orlando, Florida. It was a dream come true! To put it mildly. 18 holes of golf and conversation with the legend himself. I could hardly contain my excitement. Life was handing me a bucket list round of golf with a man I had admired for most of my life. Bobby’s grace under pressure, his “aw-shucks” attitude, which I had witnessed disarm his fiercest of competitors, and his ability to lead with compassion and gratitude were everything I strive to emulate still to this day.

I was going to get to ask every question I had ever thought of to ask him. So I thought….

I arrived at the course and my playing partner, Bobby Bowden, arrived shortly thereafter. We exchanged pleasantries, got in the cart, and headed to the 1st hole.

I stressed over when to unleash my arsenal of FSU football questions on him. I didn’t want him to immediately regret his pairing, so I played it cool. I waited for him to make the first move, and he did. That’s who Bobby was. He wasn’t just making small talk though. He wanted to know who I was. He was genuinely interested. It had been a very challenging few years for me, and before I knew it, I was sharing my story with Bobby, and he was sharing his insights with me. It was beautiful and I’ll always remember and cherish what he said in regards to my life at that time. It meant the world to me. At the time, however, I still wanted to talk college football so bad it hurt.

On the 5th hole, I decided it was my time to make my move. I would start bringing up a little FSU football. While we were preparing for the shot. Side-by-side staring at our bags and making our club selections, for the par 3 ahead. I made my move. I asked my question. “Bobby, which of your teams has impressed you personally the most?” There was brief silence. He replied. “Six iron?” (He hadn’t heard me.) “7 Iron I replied” That was definitely the club for me and the distance in front of us. He said, “No David, there’s wind”, he picked my 6 Iron out of my bag and said, “use this, I have a good feeling”. He could have handed me my putter and I would have used it. I wasn’t going to disagree with a living legend,. I stood over my ball thinking how I was I going to re-ask, redirect, and get back to my question. I had a plan and I would execute it after my shot.

So I thought….

I tee’d up my ball, I swung at it, as I had 6,000 rounds before. I had played a lot of golf over my lifetime up to that point. A lot more even now. The swing connected perfectly to the ball. All golfers know that feeling. The ball hits that exact sweet spot. It makes that beautiful sound. I looked up to track the ball and the ball flight had matched the connection feel. It was flying right towards the pin. The ball hit the green 8 feet in front of the cup, started to roll briskly toward the flag stick and then miraculously disappeared into the hole. Bobby Bowden had just Caddied my one and only Hole-in-One, my only hole-in-one still to this day.

I never did end up circling back and talking much about college football that day with my caddie, Bobby. Bobby Bowden. Bobby and I talked about life and my hole-in-one.

That was a pretty good day!

- David Rider, Caddy Time, Chief Strategy Officer