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"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
June 25, 2002
To Ronnie Law, winning the 2001 Tennessee
Four-Ball Championship with his son Kevin as a partner was the
highlight of his many years in golf. But there’s one
accomplishment that could surpass that title.
"To win it once, that was really sweet," Ronnie Law said. "But
to win it twice, that would be really special. That would sort of
validate what we did last year."
The Laws get the chance to defend their championship at Black
Creek this week. Qualifying starts on Thursday, and it wouldn’t a
shock if the Laws ended up in the championship match again.
Though he now works a day job, 26-year-old Kevin Law, who
formerly played for Tennessee and Hixson High School, is playing
some of the best golf of his life. He attributes that to the fact
that golf has become fun again.
"College golf was great," the younger Law said. "But at times,
it seemed like work. It was a grind, playing and practicing all
the time. Now golf is my leisure time. It’s not life or death to
play good or bad. I can relax and have fun."
Law and his father had fun last year when they outlasted the
Treadway brothers, Chris and Robbie, for the first state
championship either had won. Kevin Law’s heroics on the 14th
hole sealed the deal in the championship match.
On that pivotal hole, a par-5, Chris Treadway hit a great
second shot that settled about four feet from the pin. Kevin Law
also reached the green in two, but he faced an eagle putt of about
35 feet. The Law’s 1-up lead appeared in jeopardy.
"It looked like the match was going to be all square," Law
said. "I really wasn’t thinking about making my putt, but somehow
I rolled it in. Chris missed his putt, and it was a two-hole
swing. It looked like we were going to be all square, and we left
the hole 2-up."
Ronnie Law birdied the next hole to seal the deal.
"We picked each other up pretty good," the elder Law said.
"Kevin played great golf, and every now and then, if he needed me
on a hole, I helped him out."
"Actually, dad played really good golf," Kevin Law said. "We
just brother-in-lawed it the whole week. If I was out of a hole,
he’d pick me up, and I’d do the same for him."
The secret for the Law’s success as a four-ball team is
patience. They don’t try to force birdies by trying to drive
par-4s or take chances to reach par-5s in two.
"We prefer having two shots in the fairway, two shots on the
green and two birdie putts," Kevin Law said. "A lot of times in
these things one player will hit a ball in the fairway, and his
partner will try to hit a big drive. We’d rather have two shots in
the short grass. That increases our chances to make birdies."
Ronnie Law, who lives at Black Creek and is a member, knows the
course well enough not to attack every hole.
"That’s not the way it was designed," he said. "Sometimes, par
is a very good score. You can get into a lot of trouble out there
trying to take too many chances."
Knowing when to throttle down was a lesson Law put to good use
last week at the National Hall of Fame Tournament at Willow Creek
Country Club in High Point, N.C. The event brought most of the
nation’s top senior amateur golfers together.
"It was the strongest field I’ve ever been a part of as a
senior," Law said. "They had the last five U.S. Senior Amateur
champions there and the last two British Amateur champions. I
learned a lot just watching some of those guys. They hit bad shots
like we all do, but they take their medicine and don’t let one bad
shot turn into a 6, 7 or 8 on a hole."
Law started with a 78, but rallied in the tournament’s final
two days with a pair of 73s. He finished 24th, earning
a return visit next year.
The experience at High Point left Law eager to start play in
the state four-ball.
"We’re looking forward to it," he said. "Kevin’s been playing
well and I was encouraged by coming back from that 78 at High
Point. We’re going to give it our best shot."
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