“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world.” Dr. Seuss
Written by Chris Biehl
For the past ten years, if you asked my son Matthew who is his favorite golfer, his response may surprise you. Not Tiger. Not Rickie. Not Rory or Scottie. From the day he became a true golf fan, his favorite golfer has always been and will forever be Brian Davis.
Brian Davis? If the name sounds vaguely familiar to you, it should. Considered to be one of the greatest examples of golf’s “journeyman,” Davis’s career has spanned twenty-five years. The London-born precision-swinger has certainly made his mark with twenty-eight Top 20 finishes on the Tour, including five runner-ups.
Davis was a sixth place finisher in the 2003 British Open, and he was in contention at the 2009 Players Championship (5th place), but he is best remembered by golf enthusiasts for not winning the 2010 Verizon Heritage. At that tournament, Brian Davis found himself in a playoff against one of the more accomplished golfers of our generation, Jim Furyk. On the first hole of a playoff, Davis’s approach shot came up short and left of the 18th green at Harbour Town Golf Links, and he was forced to shoot his third shot from the hazard. Within seconds after hitting his third shot onto the green, Davis called longtime PGA Tour rules official Slugger White over to him and called a two-shot penalty on himself for barely making contact with an unattached reed in the hazard, something that may not have been noticed by anyone else if not reported by Davis.
In a moment, Brian Davis earned the respect of all who were watching or heard of his actions, and Davis became the poster-child for integrity in the only sport where one calls a penalty on him or herself. At the time when Brian Davis was making a positive name for himself in the world of sports, my son Matt never took notice. Matt was only five, but his knowledge of sports, particularly football and basketball far outweighed that of the typical five-year-old. He was a sports enthusiast at a very young age, but he had zero interest in golf.
About three years later, I received the call that no parent ever wants to receive from his child’s school. I am a teacher, and I was called from my classroom and told that Matt had an accident while at school. Although it was not deemed an emergency, I was asked to come to get him from school immediately.
When I arrived, my heart sank. Matt had fallen face-first onto the asphalt after slipping from monkey bars on the playground. The skin from the tip of his nose up to the area between his eyebrows had been rolled up and exposed a raw, oozing wound. Luckily, he had not broken any bones in his face. I remember a sad look on his face, one that was typically jubilant, when his eyes met mine. I brought him home, and he seemed miserable. So, I made a decision that was probably not the best parental decision, but it became a life-changing decision. That afternoon, I took him to the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic.
None of my four children had ever been to the Zurich Classic, but I had been attending the tournament annually for about ten years at that point of my life.
We arrived at the lot for general admission parking about thirty minutes after leaving the house. I had spent most of the ride telling him how cool the tournament was going to be. We parked and walked to the short line to board a charter bus that would take us to TPC Louisiana. He loved the bus ride – his first on a charter bus.
Next, we arrived at the course, and he chose to bypass watching the players practice their putting and chipping. So, we took the long walk along the 18th fairway and found a seat next to the Par 3 17th green. By the time we arrived at our seat, both he and I were sweating profusely due to the abnormally warm, humid, late-April day. It did not take long for the sweat to get into Matt’s wound, and he complained from the sting. I tried to quiet his suffering by distracting him and urging him to watch the chips of a couple of golfers. It seemed to work briefly, but by the time the first grouping had putted out, he was asking to leave.
I convinced Matt to stay to watch one more group come through. The group had two golfers – Greg Owen and Brian Davis. Neither hit a memorable shot, but Matt seemed more interested in watching the approach shots of the two golfers. After they completed #17, we walked with the duo to the 18th tee and watched as they both teed off. We walked just outside the ropes up the fairway and watched both finish their rounds. At that point, Matt was relieved that we would be leaving. We stopped at the concession stand to buy a drink for the ride back, and I realized how red Matt’s wound had become. I knew it hurt him.
In a last ditch effort to cheer Matt up, I suggested that we walk over to the autograph area to get a few players’ signatures. Surprisingly, he said “yes”. There were only a handful of people there, and it would be relatively simple to get an autograph; however, he had nothing nice for the golfers to sign. I pulled out his admission ticket, and all three golfers who were there signed his ticket. Just as we were about to leave, both Greg Owen and Brian Davis emerged from the scorers’ tent and approached. There were six children in line for an autograph, so the wait would not be too bad. Greg Owen quietly signed each child’s memorabilia. I realized I also had an extremely small notebook in my pocket that he could use instead of his ticket, so Matt used that for Greg to sign. Brian Davis also had begun giving autographs to the kids, but at the exact moment that he had reached my son, another golfer called his attention, and he turned his back to Matt. When he turned back around, he inadvertently skipped Matt and signed the last girl’s hat.
Matt was too shy to speak up, so I approached my son and asked if he was ready to leave, and he nodded. I grabbed his hand, and we began the walk back to the line for the bus, likely leaving a golf course for the last time of his life. We had walked a good bit when a random lady ran up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Sir, that man over there is calling for you.”
I spun around and saw one of the caddies waving to me. I turned Matt around, and we went back to the autograph area, and Brian Davis and his caddie, Steve “Hulk” Hulka waited for Matt. Fortunately for us, Steve had seen that Matt was skipped and wanted to make sure that Matt was not disappointed. Matt walked up to the two of them with his pocket notebook in hand, and Brian asked Matt if he wanted him to sign it. Matt nodded, and Brian looked right at him and said, “No. I am not signing that.” My first thought was not good, but Brian put his glove on his hand, signed it, took it off, and handed it to Matt. My boy grinned from ear to ear and thanked him. Brian even signed his little note pad too. Matt had a favorite golfer, and now, I did too.
That afternoon, when I arrived home, I decided to go on Brian’s website to send him an email of appreciation.
On 2 May 2012, at 17:12, Christopher Biehl wrote:
Mr. Davis,
I would like to thank you for taking the time to not only sign my six-year-old’s “autograph book” (a 25 cent notebook!), but you also signed your golf glove and signed it for him. My son, Matt began to cry from excitement. Matt had never been to a PGA event, and you have made him a fan (particularly, of yours), for life! He has been self-conscious due to an accident to his face, but he was smiling from ear-to-ear because of you. As his father, I just wanted to say “Thank you!” Best of luck!
-Chris Biehl
New Orleans, LA
To my surprise, within thirty minutes I received an email back:
Dear Chris,
Thank you for taking the time to drop me a line and I am delighted Matt had a fun time. That’s what it’s all about. Also, you can tell him from me, it’s not just about what’s on the outside that defines you, it’s what’s on the inside that counts.
Best wishes
Brian
Throughout the rest of that PGA season, Matt would check out the leaderboard in the newspaper to find Brian’s name. It was after that encounter when Matt joined the First Tee of Greater New Orleans, a program that has made a tremendous, positive impact on my son. The following year, when he heard that the Zurich Classic was approaching, he asked if he could attend. I purchased tickets, and he and I went to the tournament. I was hoping that I could either bring him to the driving range, the practice green, or on the course to go “watch” golf, but he insisted that we go to the autograph area to see Brian. We arrived about the time that Brian and his playing partners were making the turn, so I told him that it would be a two-hour wait, and we would be better served going to watch some golf. Matt asked politely that we stay, and he collected autographs from various golfers (this time I had a sketch book tablet for autographs).
There were not too many children in the autograph area, and a particular security guard struck up a conversation with Matt. “So, whose autograph are you looking to get…Rickie Fowler’s? Ernie Els’? Justin Rose’s?” Matt smiled politely and said, “Brian Davis.” The security guard smiled politely, but clearly did not expect that answer. Since we had a lot of time to kill, I explained Matt’s answer to him.
After collecting dozens of autographs, the time had come when Brian Davis had finished his round. Matt really lit up when he saw him, and I explained to Matt that he needed to sign his scorecard before he could come over to give autographs. By this time, there about two dozen boys and girls who were waiting for autographs. Brian took time to speak with most of them, and Matt waited patiently for his turn. When Brian reached Matt, Matt asked him to sign his sketch book, and Brian did. He was elated. The security guard came over a few seconds later and told Brian that Matt had waited over two hours just to get his autograph and that Brian was Matt’s favorite player in the world. At that point, the unexpected happened. Brian asked Matt, “Is that true? I am your favorite golfer?” Matt responded, “Yes, Sir,” and before I knew it, Brian reached over the barricades and pulled Matt over, and he asked his caddie Steve “Hulk” Hulka to snap a picture. Steve and I spoke briefly and explained why Matt was such a big fan, and I mentioned to Steve that it was actually his intervening the previous year that began this fandom.
After that day, Matt would follow every event that Brian played in by using the ShotTracker on the PGA website. He would literally watch four hours of shots on the tracker since Brian was rarely shown on the television broadcast. He occasionally messaged Brian and always received a response. At the same time, Matt began to take up the game of golf himself. He was repeatedly asked by his First Tee coaches and by other golfers who his favorite golfer was, and the answer was always the same – Brian Davis.
By his third Zurich Classic, Matt, Brian, and “Hulk” (Davis’s longtime caddie) had become friendly, talking to each other before and during the round. In fact, for Christmas, I received a call from Steve Hulka asking me to measure Matt’s height. He and Brian gifted Matt Brian’s Tour-used Scotty Cameron putter and cut it down to Matt’s size. They both also sent Brian’s sand wedge as a gift as well. Matt and I were following the pair, but in the middle of his round, when he was farthest from the clubhouse, the weather horn went off, and the golfers and caddies were carted back to the clubhouse. Brian’s cart stopped next to the two of us as we were hustling back towards the entrance gate, and he asked me if it would be okay to bring Matt with him to the clubhouse. Matt was beaming, and I obliged. I walked through the rain back to the area outside of the clubhouse and stood near a concession stand overhang to avoid the rain. About an hour later, my son emerged dry from the doors to the clubhouse, and Brian walked him out to me. It was literally the happiest I had ever seen him. He told stories of sitting next to K.J. Choi, and he rattled off the names of all of the golfers whom he had met. He was now hooked for life.
Shortly after that season, Brian sustained a season-ending neck injury. Ironically, the injury occurred during his flight from Texas to New Orleans to attend the Zurich Classic. It was even more disappointing because the entire family was planning on meeting Brian for the first time. During his absence from the Tour, which extended for a couple of years, “Hulk” began to communicate with us, and we followed his golfers when they came to the Sanderson Farms (in Jackson, Mississippi) and the Korn Ferry’s Chitamacha Louisana Open (in Lafayette). In fact, one year, “Hulk” took time out of his busy schedule to play a round of golf with Matt (picture below). Over the two year span, we followed Chad Collins, Charlie Danielson, and Dylan Meyer with “Hulk” on their bags. In fact, one patron at the Sanderson Farms asked if Matt was actually Dylan Meyer’s brother due to their very similar facial appearances. All the while, it just was not the same as seeing Brian.
Matt and I drove to see Brian play at the Sanderson Farms, the Chitamacha, and the Nashville Open, but those would be the last events that he attended. None the less, Brian remained Matt’s favorite golfer.
Throughout it all, Matt’s golf game continued to develop. During his time as a member of the First Tee of Greater New Orleans, Matt received multiple awards. One year, he received an award for responsibility. However, I think Brian Davis would be most pleased with the fact that Matt also received awards for honesty and sportsmanship. I would like to think that Matt learned these core values not only through the First Tee program but also from Brian’s actions on the Tour, particularly during the fateful Heritage with Jim Furyk. He additionally earned a spot on his successful high school team, and he won the team’s Coach’s Award after his senior year. Lastly, Matthew was named the First Tee of Greater New Orleans’ Male Particpant of the Year in 2022. There is no doubt in my mind that my son’s success in golf, and more importantly, in life has been enhanced by his relationship with Brian Davis and Steve Hulka. As a father, I could not ask for two better role models for my son.
Matthew graduated high school this past May. My wife Lauren and I pondered what would be an appropriate graduation gift for our son. As a private school teacher with four children, money is always tight, but this year, in particular, we were struggling to find a nice gift that was financially reasonable. On a whim, I reached out to “Hulk” and asked him if I thought it would be appropriate to ask Brian if he would be willing to play an 18-hole round with Matt. Not only did he like the idea, he said that he was willing to come join in.
A few days later, I called Brian and asked about the possibility of Matt playing a round of golf as a graduation present. Unsurprisingly, he said “yes”. About three weeks after graduation, Matt and I drove to Winter Garden, Florida, and met with Brian. Unfortunately, “Hulk” could not make the trip due to an impending orthopedic surgery, but he certainly was there in spirit.
Brian Davis met up with Matt, gave him a 90-minute lesson, and offered Matt and me lunch. He gave Matt two dozen new balls, three new wedges, a new putter grip (for Matt’s Scotty Cameron putter that was once in Brian’s bag), and four hats. More importantly, for the four hours that followed lunch, he offered Matt a memory that he will never forget – an opportunity to play 18 holes of golf with his hero.
Relationships between children and their sports heroes usually do not happen. Often, professional athletes are either too busy, too absorbed in themselves, or too focused on their own circle of friends and family to become actively involved in a young fan’s life. But, Brian Davis and Steve Hulka took time out for my son. They included him in their small circle of team. They went beyond the call of duty, and today, I look at the positive ripple effect it has made not only on my son, but our entire family. My youngest child, Ashley is an extremely talented golfer. Her team won a state championship during her 8th grade year when she was a starter. My other two children, Emily and Andy, do not care for the sport quite like Matt and Ashley, but they are big fans of Brian Davis.
Today, Brian is prepping for his 50th birthday and an opportunity to compete on the PGA Champions Tour. In addition, Brian runs the Brian Davis Golf Academy at Stoneybrook West Golf Course in Winter Garden, Florida. Steve Hulka is still preparing for his upcoming surgery and hopes to come out of retirement and return to caddying, ideally for Brian, a few more years. Matthew is preparing for his first semester at the University of Alabama, where he will not be on the team, but he plans to play the game that he loves when time allows. Lastly, my wife and I are just thankful. We are thankful that two men found it in their hearts to be kind to our son. And to us, they mean the world.
