18 Holes with Tina

Tina Mickelson

Jake Gregoire

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My family has had a special relationship with Presidio Hills Golf Course in Old Town for as long as I can recall. I remember the first summer that we were old enough for my mom to drop my brother Phil and me off at the course in the morning, let us play all day, and then pick us up in the afternoon. (Gasp! You couldn’t do that in this day and age, but back then it was pretty fabulous.)

At the time, Don and Donna Abrego ran the golf course (with pro Al Abrego still a strong presence). Every time Phil and I would finish 18 holes, one of them would let us pick out a candy bar. It was that summer that I fell in love with the game of golf (and Snickers bars) and developed my rapid pace of play. I bonded with my brother over closest-to-the-pin contests (loser had to carry winner’s golf clubs), sprints to see who could reach their golf ball first, and looking forward to going to La Piñata for dinner when our parents came to pick us up.

We recently went back to Presidio Hills for a family round of golf. My parents were more interested in what the grandkids were doing than in hitting their shots. My niece cried when she missed the ball three times in a row. My nephew just wanted to tumble down the grassy knolls, all while my husband and I were competing to the death.

I was reminded that the game of golf transcends trying to get a little white ball into a hole, and a favorite golf course entails more than an interesting layout and perfectly rolled greens. It brought me right back to a simpler time when our loftiest goal was to see how fast we could play and how many candy bars we could earn, and our most difficult dilemma was who got the bigger half of the quesadilla we would split for dinner. With my whole family together on a beautiful day, I quickly remembered why I fell in love with the game in the first place.