Chapter 1

Having awakened from his sleep a half-hour before his alarm went off, Nik Edwards was reluctant to leave his warm cozy bed. He closed his eyes and started thinking about his life and what had caused him to be where he was now at the ripe old age of thirty-four.

Nik thought it probably all started when he was either eight or nine years old and noticed his dad’s golf bag with the golf clubs in the garage. Nik took the driver and some whiffle balls that were on a shelf and started swinging at the balls in the backyard. Nik’s Uncle Johnny was visiting and could see what Nik was doing. He came outside to give Nik instruction on swinging the golf club. He explained the golf grip used in golfing and then went on to explain the stance and the golf swing.

Nik took to golf like a duck does to water. He became very proficient in hitting these whiffle balls and later golf balls at the driving range. Golfing with his uncle as well as his father because of the instruction they gave him resulted in Nik lowering his golfing scores to the middle seventies about the time he was entering high school.

He did play some baseball in growing up but golf was his game. Nik tried out for his high school’s golf team as a freshman. Forty-seven freshmen tried out for the golf team. That there were forty-one freshmen who tried out for the football team which in Nik’s mind just showed that times were changing.

As Nik matured and grew to his present six-foot one-inch height he added some muscle. His golf game improved to where as a senior he was shooting par fairly often. His second-place finish in the State’s high school’s golf tournament attracted interest from the college scouts. One scout from a major school that offered a scholarship told Nik’s father said they could eliminate that little hitch that Nik had in his golf swing. His father knew that he didn’t want anyone tampering with his son’s swing and told Nik he wasn’t going to that school.

Nik accepted Stanford’s offer of a scholarship and it turned out he was glad he did with the main reason being that he received a good education. He majored in business management and had a minor in finance. The university’s golf team did well in the NCAA golf tournament. Two of his team members are doing fine as golf touring professionals. Another member of the team is now a golf commentator on television.

The exposure Nik received to competing in that high caliber of golf also showed him that while he was a good golfer he wasn’t that good. He liked to golf and in some way wanted to make golf a career, but he didn’t see that happening as a touring golf pro.

With that in mind, Nik became an assistant golf professional at a golf club and over time progressed to being the head club pro at a different golf club. Besides handling the duties of being a head pro he also participated in some of the local golf tournaments and was successful in winning a few.

In one of these tournaments, he was in a foursome with Pete Wilson who was the head club pro at a country club in Northern California. Nik struck up a conversation with Pete which turned into a friendship. They would see each other once, maybe twice a year, and enjoyed each other’s company. Nik wouldn’t say it was like a father-son relationship since Pete was twenty years his senior, but the relationship was close to being like that. The country club that Pete was the head pro at claim to fame was that their golf course was rated in the top one hundred in the States.

After a round of golf at a golf tournament, Nik was sitting with Pete hydrating himself with a glass of beer. Pete asked him how things were going with him.

“To be honest with you, things could be better.”

“Why, what’s the problem?”

“It’s one of the board members of the club where I am at. He is giving me a rough time and he is on my ass. He seems to think I have something going with his wife who I do give golf lessons, but believe me, that is all it is, are golf lessons only. She gives me all the indications I could have something more going on with her if I wanted it, but I know better than to do that. Besides, I am not attracted to her as she isn’t that cute.”

“What are you going to do?” asked Pete.

“I’ll just try riding this out and hope it goes away, but I just don’t know.”

“Have you thought about becoming a pro at a different club?”

“I have and since I am not involved in any serious relationship with a woman at the moment. If that required me moving to another location, that would not be a problem. The club I am at is highly rated so I wouldn’t want to downgrade by going to a lower-rated club.”

“How about going to a club that has a golf course rated in the top one hundred in the States?”

“That sounds like your club. Why would you be asking me about that?”

“My wife and I have one daughter who has given us two grandkids and they live in Phoenix. I am hearing more and more from the wife that it would be nice if we lived in Phoenix so she could be closer to the kids. I have some feelers out of becoming head pro at a few clubs there and if that happens, there will be an opening at my club.”

“Well, keep me in mind if that happens.”

As it turned out it did happen, and after being recommended by Pete and interviewed by the Board of Directors, Nik was offered the position of becoming the head pro at this private country club. He was tempted to put the move on this problem Board member’s wife for a token of revenge before he relocated, but decided against doing it.

Nik’s move to his new country club was relatively pain-free. He purchased Pete’s condo at a price that was less than what he sold his condo for. Pete’s unit which was located on the top floor of a four-story condo building was more luxurious than what Nik’s condo was. The housing prices were less expensive here in northern California than what they were where Nik lived which had him receiving more for his money.