Monday - Three Beautiful Things and a Family Story

• our son stopped by before he leaves for Russia on Tuesday. Lovely visit, catching up with his doings and hearing about his daughter's success performing in a play at Washington College over the week-end.
  
• a coaching session with a woman who is a traveler - an adventuress - with a wonderful story to tell. Have you been to Mount Everest? She took me places I will probably never go myself. Wonderful! Really enjoyed helping her.
  
• Tuned in tonight on a movie that really caught me up in its story. Stroke of Genius, Bobby Jones, Golf Legend. An idealized bio pic the movie is costumed beautifully for the 20s and 30s. The cars are worth seeing. At the close, 28 year old Bobby Jones (always an amateur), retires from golf competition after winning all four major worldwide tournaments in 1930. He buys a tract of land in Augusta, GA - saying he's going to develop a grand golf course as an homage to the fabled St. Andrews course in Scotland. Later he founds the Masters Tournament on his course in Augusta - where the famous tournament is played today.
  

A Bit of Family History:
Following the story of Bobby Jones opened up a flood of memories of stories I heard from my Aunt Koki about Sam Diggle, her father - my grandfather.

Sam Diggle was born and raised in Augusta, Ga before 1900. There must have been a presence of golf in the area because by the time he was 12 years old he was earning money as a caddie. And he had learned to play. The Scottish golf pro was impressed by his talent as a golfer and wanted to take the young Sam to Scotland to train and improve his golf-game.

His mother said no. "He is too young." ( thinking about this today one wonders if Katherine Frickey Diggle suspected an ulterior motive in the offer to her handsome son.)

But his promise and talent as a golfer proved out. Sam played all his life. He was an early member of the Charlotte Country Club . He set up, played and won tournaments in the South for years. Most before I was old enough to know more than stories or to admire the trophies in the glass front case in the dining room. He played well-known North Carolina courses - Pinehurst, Blowing Rock - and other courses in the South I don't know.
Photo: Sam Diggle, Charlotte Country College, Circa 1945

My aunt played golf with him. She also kept a scrap book of his clippings which I looked at before I had a context for the history of it.

The Bobby Jones film whets my imagination about Papa Sam's golfing days. I have questions - where did he play? who with? other stories.
I know where that scrap book may be. I would like to see it again. Maybe??????

Me thinks I am working on a story.