Family legacies are established by the time we take our first breaths, our first steps, our first golf swings. Some are impossible to live up to, others difficult to live down; all ingrained in our fabric.
But let us shower praise on those who are strong, committed and sensible enough to wade through all of that and embrace the notion that what happened before we got here doesn’t define us.
What defines us is what we make with our lot in life.
Eric Cole is crafting his own legacy in a glorious way. On his terms and with a spirit that deserves your admiration. “This is all him,†said his mother, Laura Baugh. “I am so proud of the life he has made. There is no greater joy in life than to watch someone do something they love and do it well.â€
Cole knows of his mother’s golf legacy. He is cognizant of his father’s golf legacy. The Bobby Cole and Laura Baugh legacy as husband and wife – two different marriages that produced seven children – and the more than 650 combined tournaments on the PGA and LPGA tour is there for your perusal should you feel it’s enlightening or pertinent.
But accept this as gospel:
• Eric Cole has maneuvered his way through multiple Minor League Golf Tour seasons with more than 50 wins and a couple of Korn Ferry Tour campaigns to reach the PGA Tour as a 34-year-old rookie. That feat was based on his own merit, not on a pedigree that can’t be quantified.
• Cole is teeing it up in this week’s Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with $335,880 earned in 11 tournaments thus far in his 2022-23 rookie season based on his skill, not a name that piques your curiosity.
Fair enough to suggest he got a lot of his technical know-how of the game from studying his dad. “I think I learned how to play, how to score,†said Eric.
OK, too, if you want to submit that his mom’s game made him value finesse, feel, and the mental side of golf.
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