A few months ago, I found myself, as I often do, thinking about my friend Matt Madison. It occurred to me that today (1-3-11) would be the five-year mark (seems wrong to call it an anniversary) since Matt passed away. To be honest, I still can’t comprehend how five years passed so quickly, as it seems like just yesterday (as cliché as that sounds). I wanted to write something about Matt today and when I couldn’t think of how to write it, I decided just to tell the story that I think about more than any other when I think of Matt, and the story that has lead me to the announcement that follows the story.
Some of you reading this have heard this story but I think it deserves telling again. I never knew if I really believed in signs from people who have passed away, but for the last 5 years, I have had no doubts that my friend is doing ok wherever he is. A few days after Matt’s funeral, I was at home and my dad and uncle asked if I’d like to golf because it was the first day it hadn’t rained in about a month. We are pretty much fair weather golfers so it was unusual for us to be playing in January but it seemed appropriate at the time. The course was soggy from all the rain so the golf was. We came to the 7th hole at Royal Oaks, which is a short par 4, pretty straight and down a little bit of a hill. As a right-handed golfer, it was rare for me to hook the ball (hit the ball left for you non-golfers), but sure enough, that’s what I did off the tee. I walked over to where I thought my ball had landed but couldn’t find it in all the mud. My dad and Uncle Tom came over to help me look at we looked for about a minute without finding the ball. Finally, Tom said, “oh, here it is” and bent down to pick up the ball. I asked him if it was a Calloway or Top Flight, whatever type ball I was playing and Tom, without missing a beat said, “no, but it has your name on it.” I took this to mean that this was going to be my new ball and I should take my next shot from where I was standing. He tossed me the ball and I looked at it, a Titleist 2, looked pretty new but had some mud on it. When I cleaned the mud off the ball, I saw, to this day the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen, the name Matt printed on the ball. I’ve been playing golf since I was 12 and to this day I’ve never found or even seen a ball with someone’s name PRINTED on the ball. I’ve seen initials that were written with a sharpie, but never a name printed on the ball. I stared at it for a second and said to my dad and Tom something along the lines of “well it doesn’t have my name on it, but it does have Matt’s.” I wish I had a picture of the look on their faces because there was a mix of confusion and shock I’ve never seen before. After a second or two or gathering myself I decided to drop the ball and hit it (looking back this was a terrible decision), and I remember standing over the ball and thinking “what if I made this??” I didn’t, but my dad told me later that he thought the same thing. Luckily, I didn’t hit the ball in the water or trees but after that hole both my dad and Tom told me I should hold on to the ball and quit playing it. I still have the ball…………
Matt loved golf. Gonzaga puts on a memorial tournament for Matt every September, but as people have graduated and relocated, the tournament has been harder and harder to attend. Also, it was never a moneymaking tournament. I want to add another tournament that raises money for his scholarship and some sort of memorial at Gonzaga. I have this planned for Matt’s Birthday, May 28th. It happens to fall on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Not many details are set in stone but I think that’s the weekend we are going to go with. I’ll keep people updated as far as details go but put it on the calendar. Memorial Day weekend in Seattle. I’d also love any ideas/thoughts/suggestions on how to make this as big a success as possible. I am also brainstorming some ideas for non-golfers who want to donate some money/do something while golfers golf.
Thanks for reading and please keep Matt and his family in your thoughts and prayer.