tomcat
2019 Grandaddy Alumni
One of the things that I've enjoyed about previous editions of the Grandaddy was that by the time the actual event arrives, I felt like I knew some of the members. That immediately helped me connect with the team, and in reality, I cared more about what they were experiencing. So, I'm still unsure how I ended up on this end of things, as I know it's never something that someone deserves or earns. My goal over the next four+ months is to have everyone better know who I am, so when December rolls around, there's not anyone wondering, "who's that?".
As you can see in my signature, I'm Spencer. My handle "tomcat" is from my love of aviation (i.e. F-14 Tomcat), not my proclivity for being a ladies man. I work here in Dallas for Southwest Airlines. This is my third airline to work for and the culture here is so different from any other place I've been that it makes it so much more enjoyable. In case you're not familiar with Herb Kelleher's philosophy, he believed in the employee being at the top of the food chain, then customers, then shareholders. Treat the employee the best and they'll do the customer right, which in turn creates happy shareholders.
I started playing golf after I was invited to play during a church retreat. One of the guys had an old beater set of knockoffs (Pumas....and not the one associated with another major OEM). It was a rough round, as you could imagine, but the course was fun and we had a really good time. Shortly thereafter, I won a one hour lesson during a charity event auction and ended up with five lessons which was a very helpful way to get started.
During this time I was beginning a search for clubs that were younger than I was (at least it seemed they were that old), and found THP. I believe the first event I followed was a Wilson/Staff event then the C300s were released (I think). After seeing what they experienced, I began digging back through previous events and quickly realized that THP wasn't your normal, everyday forum.
I was lucky enough to get into the second UST Shaft Spectacular and was given a new driver, new Recoils and cookie's donated Big Bertha irons. If I had any questions about THP before, they were long gone by now. The following year I stumbled into an entry of the Morgan Cup (due to someone that had to back out). That was astounding to see what can happen when someone has a vision and a partnering sponsor that just says "whatever you want". Then last year, was able to join schanker in the Sweep. What a fun time that was. One of those things that you'd never expect to do, much less ever expect a business to open themselves up to someone just coming in and taking as much as they could.
Then this showed up.
The Grandaddy has existed for my entire tenure on THP, so it's always been an event that has stood out (obviously). Every year has differed slightly with its own unique twist, and every year has somehow exceeded expectations. I'm sure this year will be no different. I'm sure every participant has felt like they didn't deserve their spot initially (no one "deserves" it), and I'm no different. I'm not a great golfer, and will do my best to prepare, but my main goals include giving everything I have to include the forum, enjoy the time with my teammates, enjoy the time with the fine folks from Callaway, and have the time of my golfing life.
Thanks for supporting Team THP this year, and I look forward to seeing how this one plays out.
As you can see in my signature, I'm Spencer. My handle "tomcat" is from my love of aviation (i.e. F-14 Tomcat), not my proclivity for being a ladies man. I work here in Dallas for Southwest Airlines. This is my third airline to work for and the culture here is so different from any other place I've been that it makes it so much more enjoyable. In case you're not familiar with Herb Kelleher's philosophy, he believed in the employee being at the top of the food chain, then customers, then shareholders. Treat the employee the best and they'll do the customer right, which in turn creates happy shareholders.
I started playing golf after I was invited to play during a church retreat. One of the guys had an old beater set of knockoffs (Pumas....and not the one associated with another major OEM). It was a rough round, as you could imagine, but the course was fun and we had a really good time. Shortly thereafter, I won a one hour lesson during a charity event auction and ended up with five lessons which was a very helpful way to get started.
During this time I was beginning a search for clubs that were younger than I was (at least it seemed they were that old), and found THP. I believe the first event I followed was a Wilson/Staff event then the C300s were released (I think). After seeing what they experienced, I began digging back through previous events and quickly realized that THP wasn't your normal, everyday forum.
I was lucky enough to get into the second UST Shaft Spectacular and was given a new driver, new Recoils and cookie's donated Big Bertha irons. If I had any questions about THP before, they were long gone by now. The following year I stumbled into an entry of the Morgan Cup (due to someone that had to back out). That was astounding to see what can happen when someone has a vision and a partnering sponsor that just says "whatever you want". Then last year, was able to join schanker in the Sweep. What a fun time that was. One of those things that you'd never expect to do, much less ever expect a business to open themselves up to someone just coming in and taking as much as they could.
Then this showed up.
The Grandaddy has existed for my entire tenure on THP, so it's always been an event that has stood out (obviously). Every year has differed slightly with its own unique twist, and every year has somehow exceeded expectations. I'm sure this year will be no different. I'm sure every participant has felt like they didn't deserve their spot initially (no one "deserves" it), and I'm no different. I'm not a great golfer, and will do my best to prepare, but my main goals include giving everything I have to include the forum, enjoy the time with my teammates, enjoy the time with the fine folks from Callaway, and have the time of my golfing life.
Thanks for supporting Team THP this year, and I look forward to seeing how this one plays out.