Backspin Volume 3, Issue 7 | Page 7

editor’s letter W h e n Jake took the job at Southeastern as the golf coach, I knew I’d be happy for him. It was somewhat of a dream for him to one day coach a golf team. He had worked on the golf club side for over 20 years, and while he loved going to the course every day, his true passion was teaching and developing new golfers. What I didn’t know about this job was how much I was going to love it. I absolutely love being team mom. My typical answer when someone asks what I think about Jake’s new job is that I absolutely love the players. I’ve been teaching now for 10 years at the college level, and I love the students I teach. I have developed relationships with quite a few of them as I’ve followed them through the beginning of their careers. I even have 10 or 12 who I can safely call friends now that they have gotten jobs at media outlets and are well on their way. But this is different. It brings me back to our children’s time on team sports and the rush of the win – as well as the bonding that takes place when the win doesn’t happen. It’s watching those young men lean and depend on each other for their scores. It also is a seeing them lean on Jake and his decades of knowledge for the game. I spend a lot of time telling the truth about Jake and his on- and off-course reality, but I have to say that he has really found his place in this world. And so have I. We now have 10 new sons – the nine who were on the team last year and the new one Jake just added to the team. Our kids know them and root for them as well. And when James Anstiss was in contention before he won the Louisiana State Amateur Championship last month, I was as nervous as I was watching Shayne play shortstop at Baton Rouge Community College. That’s when I knew it truly was love that we have for these kids. He wasn’t playing for the school, and we were truly there just watching him do what he loved do