Envisioning Brad Daugherty sinking 15 footers is easy - if you're talking
basketball. After all, the top pick of the 1986 NBA draft and 5 time NBA
all-star center was a career 75% free throw shooter. But can a 7-footer be
equally adept at sinking golf putts? Well, asking for 3 out of 4 from 15 feet
might be a bit much, but make no mistake...this man has game.
Brad and I have been regular golf partners since we first met on a driving
range more than a year ago. As one might imagine, the former Cleveland
Cavalier has a tremendous power game and can hit the ball farther than most
people travel on vacation. However, he also possesses a surprising touch
around the greens and a superb putting stroke. Brad has to juggle a busy
schedule of various television duties, a Winston Series racing team he co-owns,
a wife and two kids, and fight through occassional wildness off the tee to keep
his golf game in shape. To his credit, he manages quite well and keeps a
consistent 9 handicap.
On this morning , I arrive at The Golf Club of Georgia about 15 minutes
prior to Brad. I quickly get his account number and raid the pro shop (just
kidding Brad). As soon as he arrives, we ride out to the range and meet our
other two partners - Brad's cousin Bobby and a long-time family friend, Bob.
After 20 warm-up minutes on the range and another fifteen on the putting
green, we head to the first tee. This round, we are playing the Lakeside
course; the site of the Senior Tour's Nationwide Championship. Since retiring
to Atlanta a little over a year ago, Brad has become a member at both The Golf
Club of Georgia and Settindown Creek. We also travel to numerous other courses
in the area, with Towne Lake Hills, Cobblestone, The Heritage Club, and Indian
Hills in the regular rotation.
Brad adds, "I love living here in Atlanta. The golf courses here are
awesome. I get to play great golf courses with a lot of phenomenal players". It
should be noted one of Brad's regular playing partners is the 1997 Atlanta
Amateur Champion, Rocky Costa. I doubt he was referring to the author of this
article.
As we approach the tee, I rush to the blue tees and stick a ball in the
ground.
"Let's play the tips" Brad says, more of a demand than a suggestion.
Anyone who hits it 280 plus on a regular basis knows how to get an early
advantage. I move back, grudgingly, and hit my drive.
"Was that a 7 wood?" Bobby asks. With this group, golf skill is secondary
in importance to verbal wit.
Brad outdrives all of us on the par 5, but misses short on his approach,
and then chips long. He settles for bogey on the first hole. A poor tee shot
on the second costs him another bogey. He rights the ship on the third, a long
par 3, with a nice 6 foot downhill putt for par. After six holes, Brad is
three over par - and griping.
"You're hitting the ball great," I say as I slide next to him on the tee.
"Nah," he shrugs. "Hadn't hit a good one yet." Yeah, right Mr.
Daugherty.
I am two over after six, making a nice sand save on #2 to save par, but
giving it back on #6 by missing a two foot putt for par. (Getting a
"gimme" putt from Brad is like getting the Hawks into the NBA Finals. It could
happen in theory...)
Brad Daugherty retired from hoops after eight years. Four ruptured disks
and a broken back forced him from the game he grew up with, but introduced him
to the game he now loves. It was a doctor's advice to take up chipping golf
balls as part of his rehabilitation that introduced him to golf. Well,
introduced him to "playing" golf. He had plenty of exposure to golf in college,
where he lived for a time with a pretty good golfer - Davis Love III. Davis
was not successful in persuading Brad to play ...but he did introduce the game
to another friend of Brad's. A fellow basketball player you may have heard of
- Michael Jordan. Now Brad and Michael play together when they can, and don't
be surprised to see Brad and Davis getting together for a few rounds sometime
soon.
Ironically, it isn't the violent twists involved in a golf swing that pose
a danger to Brad - it's riding a cart. He explains, "I try to walk as much as
I can. The twisting isn't as hard on my back as the grinding and bouncing on
the spine from the carts. I walk to keep loose, and I think it helps me play
better anyways."
On hole #7, I hit a drive into position 'A'. Brad hit his into position
D-. Going twenty feet deep into the woods, he finds his ball and punches it
back towards the fairway. He ends up with a double bogey on the hole. I par
the hole (missed a four footer for birdie!) and that competitive streak in Brad
comes out.
"Don't get cocky," he reminds me, "a lot of golf left."
Not to worry, I know.
After hitting two trees, a miraculous sidehill 200 yard shot, and a long
putt, I save bogey on #9. I make the turn at 3 over, Brad is 6 over.
Brad starts off strong on #10 with a phenomenal 210 yard 2 iron out of the
sand which stops about 3 feet from the cup. He taps in for his first birdie
of the day. He adds another at #15 (I missed another 3 footer for my birdie!)
and we are tied. He double bogeys the next hole however and I am up two shots
again. I'm up three when we arrive at #18. I duck hook my tee shot and am
lucky to be in play. A wild careen off a tree leaves my ball in the rough by
the red tees. (Yes, it was a little ahead of the tees, I kept my shorts.) I
hit a three wood into the left rough and have a difficult decision to make. I
am 240 yards from a green protected by water in front. I am lying two. Brad
offers his "advice".
"Hit your three wood, as well as you hit that thing...you should
definitely go for it." Brad, of course, is lying two 85 yards out.
"John hits his 3 wood better than any club in his bag" Brad tells one of
our playing partners. "Hit it" he yells again. Geez, he really wants to win
this thing.
I decide to lay up with an 8 iron, trying hard to ignore the cries of
derision from my 7 foot "friend". Had I saved bogey, I would have shot a
79..but a nice three putt later, I settle for an 80. Brad hits his approach
into a bunker and ends up with a bogey and an 82.
I tell Brad 82 is a good score, he doesn't believe me. This is his
course, and he expects to put up good scores. But you won't see him upset
about it. Regardless of what he shoots on any day, he is all smiles and
handshakes after the round. We usually go have a drink in the clubhouse and
talk about future golf outings, instead of the just completed round.
That's the thing about Brad. He likes to look ahead, not in the past. He
is quick to oblige any autograph seeker or fan wanting to say hello, but other
than that - he gives no sense of celebrity or star status. He's just Brad
Daugherty, a good guy, a good friend, and a pretty darn good golfer.
Article by John Kim
