Blog: A Chip Off the Old Block
 
Feb. 20, 2007

Editor's Note: During his rookie season on the Champions Tour, Chip Beck will be writing a blog for PGATOUR.com. For this special installment, his 13-year-old son John gives a little insight into life on the road at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

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John with his dad Chip Beck, who tied for 26th at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am

Greeting mates! My name is John Beck, and I have just come back from Dad's tournament in Tampa, Florida. It was a fun experience. I got to watch my Dad play all of his three rounds in the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, and I met a lot of interesting people on the way. I arrived in Tampa on Thursday night and it wasn't quite what I expected. I brought two pairs of shorts for the four-day weekend and I definitely didn't need those. It was freezing.

When my family and I met up with my Dad on Thursday night, we went and had a good meal at the Bonefish Grill. After that we went back to the hotel and rested up for the early round the next morning. When I was in the car going to the golf course with my dad the next day, he told me that even par was going to be a good score that day. He was right. My dad shot three over and the weather was terrible. Even for me, a Chicago boy, 38 degrees with wind chill is cold. But the cold just couldn't stop my urge to go into that outdoor pool.

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Carl Beck, John Beck, Chip Beck, Annie Beck and Dr. Hugo Keim at his farm

Saturday was my favorite day of all. I went to the golf course early in the morning and Dad ended up shooting two under. But that wasn't the reason why. After my Dad's round, my family and I went to Dr. Hugo Keim's farm. Hugo was a spinal surgeon in his earlier years, and is now devoting most of his time to helping children in wheelchairs with disabilities. This year, 60 children alone will benefit from Dr. Keim's cause and attend college. It was a lot of fun at his farm. He gave us a tour of his house and all 50 acres. He has a lot of animals at his house, and my favorite was the parrots. They were so funny, because they could actually talk. They said "Hello" and " I want a coke." One even whistled at my sister. (I am sure she was flattered.)

On the final day of the tournament, my dad didn't play his best. I rode on the cart with him going to the 15th hole, and he had just bogeyed the previous hole. I just told him to finish strong and to not give up. He did just that and pared out.

After the tournament was over I met up with one of our nation's heroes. His name is Ronald Ray and he has received one of the highest awards you can receive in this country--a Congressional Medal of Honor from his heroic efforts during the Vietnam War. Ronald shared his amazing story on Sunday, and I was honored to meet him. He said, on June 19, 1966, a large enemy unit circled 10 men. They called for reinforcements yet no one was there. But Ronald Ray told them he would go get them. He and his men went through an intense, mile-long jungle throwing grenades and firing their guns. When they reached the other group and charged, Ronald could see that 10 of his men had already gone down. He just kept on throwing grenades and shooting his 12G shotgun. He then saved even more lives by rescuing a medic with a patient under fire. And, after that, he still had more to offer--he saw a grenade go by two of his men and he dove over it to shield them from the blast. This left him partially paralyzed because the shrapnel, which is the metal from the grenades, was embedded in his legs and feet. After the explosion he was shot in the leg, but managed to take down his attacker. Ronald received the Medal of Honor on May 14, 1970 in Washington from President Richard Nixon.

On Sunday night we were all packing up and decided to end the week with dinner at Outback (in honor of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am). It was great, but sad that the weekend had to end. On the way out of the hotel Monday morning, we met up with Bill Murray and congratulated him on his win. He then said jokingly, "I am here to pick up my steak-shaped trophy," which I found pretty funny. I wished my Dad good luck for the next week and off I was to the airport for another "fun" week of school.