My parents and my brother and I have spent countless hours chasing that beautiful sound of the ball hitting the bottom of the cup. So how did this love affair start and who is responsible?

Born in Poland, my grandfather, Sol Urbach (Pops) is a Holocaust survivor and he was the only person in his entire family that escaped “the Nazis final solution”.  Pops was one of 1,200 people that were saved by Oskar Schindler. If you have seen the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s list” then you know a little about the horrors and challenges that my grandfather faced during this horrendous period of man’s inhumanity to man.

After the war Pops was fortunate to meet my grandmother in Germany and eventually they immigrated to NYC.

So how does the Holocaust relate to golf? To understand the connection, we have to fast forward to the 1970s, by then Pops had become a successful home builder in central New Jersey.  Pops knew nothing about golf except that the local country club was reluctant to accept Jewish members. Pops convinced the club leaders that anti-Semitism has no place in Golf and although he had never swung a club he became one of the first Jewish members at the Club. The golf bug was born, Pops introduced golf to my mom and when my dad met my mom there was no turning back. And although Pops is about to reach the age of 90, if my brother and I want to spend quality time with Pops all we have to do is hint about playing a few holes.

Everyone has their own story that brought them to the game of Golf. I would love to read yours! If you have a few moments please email me the story of your golf origins.