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A Father's Day Tribute: Celebrating 50 Years of the Saginaw District Golf Association
By Robert E. Martin
On the evening of June 2nd, my father, Fred Martin, Jr., passed away at St. Mary's hospital with my Mother, his sole surviving sister, and I standing at his side. My father was a remarkable man for many reasons, but apart from his love of family and his profession, he was an avid golfer that held an intense passion for celebrating all the characteristics & values that the game represents - precision, discipline, sportsmanship, and the simple indelible joy that comes from firing a perfect shot, or sense of accomplishment derived from completing an excellent round. But no matter how much my father enjoyed the game of golf, as with many things in his life, he was never content to simply savor the joys of the game between himself and his friends, believing that the pleasures & virtues of the game should not be confined to the close-knit camaraderie of the Clubhouse, but opened to those future golfers out in the public that might not be familiar with the multi-faceted beauty derived from the game. And so he set about the goal of building a golf tournament that would take the best amateur golfers from each of the clubs in Saginaw County and pit them together in an annual Championship Tournament. And thus was the Saginaw District Golf Association born. It seems the Saginaw District Golf Association was born the same year that I was born. In 1954 my Dad belonged to the Saginaw Country Club and was Golf Chairman. That year a group of golfers decided to start the SDGA, and for almost as long as I can remember, my father served as Chairman of the Saginaw District. This year, the Saginaw District Golf Association is celebrating it's 50th Anniversary with the Qualifying round held at Green Acres Golf Club on June 13th and the Invitational Tournament being held June 25-27 at Saginaw Country Club. To celebrate 50 years of The District, a special pre-tournament reception is being held for all current and former players who have participated in the tournament, and my Dad was looking forward to celebrating this year's District with what can be truly be described as animated enthusiasm. My
biggest dream was to see my father experience this celebration involving all the
golfers, young & old, that he came to forge such personal and profound
relationships with over the years. While the SDGA was formed in 1954, my Dad first joined the committee in 1961 when the Tournament was reorganized. Joe Hart, who was the sports editor of The Saginaw News back then, approached my father about re-organizing the tournament because it had become too much of a 'good-buddy' system. According to my father, Joe wanted it to represent what it was supposed to - a means to determine the best golfer in Saginaw County. And under my father's stewardship over the years, that is what the District evolved into. My father helped shape the District into the respected Tournament that it is today. The District changed over the years, moving from a 36-hole, one-day tournament at one site, to a 36-hole, two-day tournament at two sites, to a 54-hole, three-day tournament at three courses, to the current format of playing 54 holes over three days at the same golf course, with the host club rotating from year-to-year.
Apart
from the tireless energy and enthusiasm my father took in tending to each detail
of this ambitious tournament, he also took great interest in the accomplishment
of all the young golfers from the '21-Club', and eventually the District
expanded into both a senior and junior division. This year for the 50th Anniversary, the tournament will be held at the place it first started - The Saginaw Country Club. Of course, my father's life was about much more than the game of golf, and when it came to the game of life, he possessed many passions. They say the more complete one's life is, the more one's creative capacities are fulfilled, the less one fears death. In other words, people are not afraid of death per se, but of the incompleteness of their lives. And when I look back on the life of my father, all the years of strife and struggle seem to dissipate and all that remains is the light and legacy of a remarkable man - a man that touched everybody he knew with his intelligence, his courage, his good-nature, his humor, and his unvarying devotion to God and faith in a higher power than of the lesser ones that populate this place called Earth. Professionally, my father came from humble origins, as did all of his brothers & sisters. He faced adversity at an early age of six, being confined on his back, paralyzed down at the University of Michigan hospital for nearly two years, only to overcome insurmountable obstacles and miraculously walk again. Indeed, I believe that from that experience, he discovered the importance of never taking a single day in life for granted - to pursue goals and ideals to the utmost of your ability; and mainly, never be afraid to dream and follow those dreams. My father put himself through school, attending Albion College, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and finally graduating from Detroit College of Law. He came back to Saginaw and helped build the Martin & Martin law firm, one of the most respected firms in Saginaw. And while today most law that is practiced involves a 'specialty', my father believed in representing a diversity of causes to the best of his ability. Fundamentally, the pursuit of justice was one of his crowning qualities - whether it was helping secure the property rights of victims of condemnation when their homes were decimated by the I-675 corridor expansion, or defending the rights of those wrongfully accused in criminal matters, or shepherding broken hearts through bitter divorces, my father was always there for his clients, believing that justice wasn't a dream but a reality that must be vigorously pursued in order to make happen. As a
son, the most important quality my father bestowed upon me was to refrain from
exercising personal 'judgment' upon my own passions.
Did he nonetheless help me, not only financially but also emotionally, to build this publication into the entity that it is today? Most assuredly. How can one every repay a father for that type of love? Only by remaining true to the values that he helped to instill. As a golfer, I've never inherited my father's gift for the game. He gave me lessons, both professionally & personally, but I could never adopt the consistency that is so important to the game. Still, my father loved playing golf with me, and would often joke that whenever we went golfing he had to bring an egg carton full of golf balls to complete 9-holes with me. Finally, when I think about my father's life, I believe it was predicated upon a promise built upon faith, with values firmly supported by belief, that the incomplete parts of each individual's personality discover strength, beauty, and definition in the radiant light of God smiling down upon our family.
He has given me so much. And while he will be sorely missed, his strength, kindness, humor and grace will resonate and live within each of us that had the good fortune to know him throughout our remaining days on this earth. All we need to do is think of him and a smile will caress our face and cause the tears that flow from our eyes to cease.
And what greater legacy
can one ask for than that?
Saginaw District Golf Association Board of |
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