Mark WiedmerDawsonville, Ga., resident Jud Hughes had a simple reason why he and wife Gloria's two children dominated their age groups Saturday in the Drive, Chip and Putt local qualifier.
"Lots of practice," he said as the family left the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Player Development Facility off Hickory Valley Road following age-group wins by 9-year-old daughter Pearl and 14-year-old son Andrew.
"We like to have them doing something outside, soaking up the sunshine."
No sport can keep you outside and soaking up the sunshine better than golf, even if the sun came and went for most of Saturday's DCP contest in its four age groups: 7-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15.
Unfortunately, the high humidity was pretty much constant from the time the competition began at 10 a.m. until it ended a little after 4 p.m., though no single age group was out there that long.
Modeled after youth football's Punt, Pass and Kick and sponsored jointly by the USGA, PGA and Augusta National, the competition involves hitting three drives, three chips and three putts, the putts struck from various lengths. Each individual shot earns a point total.
The top three finishers from each age group in Chattanooga go on to a subregional competition in Prattville, Ala., in August. The top two finishers in each age group there advance to a regional at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla. A single winner in each age group in the regional then advances to the championship round at - drum roll, please! - Augusta National in early April, just before the start of the Masters.
Judging from the scores of the 142 who were registered in Chattanooga for the completely free event, chipping provided the most trouble. Even a few earning ribbons scored less than five points from chipping while totaling 50 or more in one or both of the other categories.
Not that 7-year-old Demaris Grimes of Lenoir City, Tenn. - "I'm really 7 and a half," she proclaimed - struggled with her short game. Despite having played golf for only two months, she topped her age group's chipping scores.
Then her sister MaryAnn went out and won second place in putting for the 12-13 age group.
"If we could get Demaris to teach MaryAnn chipping and MaryAnn to teach Demaris putting, we might really have something," Bryson Grimes said with a smile as he and wife Sarah spent the morning cheering on their daughters.
However, turning DeMaris and MaryAnn into great golfers was not why the Grimes parents have embraced both the sport in general and the Drive, Chip and Putt contest in particular.
"I'm not a great golfer," Bryson said, "but I hope this will teach them sportsmanship."
Added Sarah: "It teaches them that practice is important. It's also something we can do for fun as a family."
Family was everywhere at UTC's Player Development Facility. Nary a kid seemed to have been dropped off and picked up. Moms and dads and brothers and sisters toted bags and offered encouragement.
Whether it was Hendersonville, Tenn., residents Austin and Jennifer Barrett cheering their 8-year-old son Zachary to victory in the 7-9 age group - "This teaches (Zachary) to control his anger and hold his head high after mistakes," Jennifer noted - or the brilliant 9-year-old Sahish Reddy crushing 250-yard drives straight down the middle to win the 10-11 competition while brother Anish claimed third in the 14-15 age group as mom Veena lent verbal support and father Sampath carried each boy's golf bag, this was clearly a family affair.
Then there was the Eiselstein clan, who didn't know until mid-morning whether they'd be watching 13-year-old Ryan play golf or baseball until his North Hamilton Patriots found out they'd been rained out.
Asked which sport he'd play professionally if he had to choose, Ryan - who finished second in his age group to advance to the subregional - enthusiastically answered, "Both!"
Nor was he the only diverse local talent out there. Signal Mountain Middle High School student Sally Hogue is both a tennis player and a golfer good enough to win the 12-13 girls' crown.
Said her mother Melissa of the DCP format: "It teaches good sportsmanship, and I like it that she's getting to meet people from all over."
Long-driving Baylor School freshman Harrison Williams - who finished second to Hughes in the boys' 14-15 competition - said he likes "how competitive it is."
Noted Sahish Reddy: "It make me a better player."
But there also was this from 14-15 girls' winner and East Hamilton eighth-grader Marley Behr, who said the words most parents long to hear: "I just have so much fun playing."
And that's important whether you advance to a subregional or go home, as Demaris Grimes did, though she did get to clutch her blue ribbon for chipping all the way back to Lenoir City.
So what did she plan to do with the ribbon when she got home?
"I'm going to tie it on my dog Wiggles' collar," she said with a grin.
Because what screams "family" more than including the family pet.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com