Richard Rebne spent the evening hours smacking golf balls around Council Fire Golf Club on Monday.
His son, Ben, spent the same hours at the house, relaxing.
Ben RebneFor the first time in thier lives, Richard and Ben are competing against each other in the same tournament, the Ira Templeton Open at Creeks Bend Golf Club.
They've played hundreds of rounds together at Council Fire where Richard is a Class A teaching professional.
"We're more competitive than Tiger and Phil," Ben joked. "It gets heated sometimes. He'll birdie a hole and I'll sigh, then I'll birdie a hole and he'll groan.
"It's always fun playing golf with dad. You can't beat father-son competitiveness."
The father won the head-to-head match on Monday in the Tennessee Golf Association event. Richard shot a 3-over 73 which beat his son's score by one stroke.
"If I had shot a 68 I'd be home and showered by now," Richard said from the second tee at Countil Fire. "It's kind of weird competing against Ben. He's kind of in that 'tweener-stage' where it's time for him to start playing adult tournaments instead of junior events.
"Yet, it was fun today because I've watched him play a lot from the sidelines, but I've never played right alongside him. That was the fun part today, to be a dad and see how good those shots really are."
Amateur Nick Garretson of Franklin, Tenn. leads the overall division after shooting a 3-under 67 on Monday.
He owns a two-stroke lead over Cody Godfrey heading into the final round Tuesday.
Jeff Golliher, Ray Morton, Keoni Vidrine, Joshua Wheeler, Casey Flenniken and Sport Allmond are all tied for third at even-par 70. Mark Houser of Kingsport leads the senior division with a 2-under 68.
Rebne and his son drove away from Creeks Bend recalling their rounds. And there was no way that Richard would let his son drive down Hixson Pike.
"A lot of parents don't understand how hard tournament golf really is," Richard said."That's the fun part, to be inside the ropes and see his shots.
"But I made sure that I had my own cart."
The father topped his son by one on Monday.
Contact David Uchiyama at 423-757-6484 or duchiyama@timesfreepress.com.