How We Met
We met on 14th Street in Manhattan (where I went to school). We spent the evening strolling the Hudson River, looking out at the twinkling lights of Jersey City, just talking and taking it in. It was absolutely magical- a dream of a first date. There was an immediate connection that blew me away… admittedly part of it came from the fact that he had the uncanny ability to insert lines from CaddyShack into conversation! “Cinderella story…” haha. We had a lot in common, but the most prominent thing was our adoration for the game of golf. I played competitively up through the collegiate level, while DJ, who played baseball in college, used every off-day he had to play 18 with family and friends.
Golf became a theme in our relationship. We spent the summer playing bucket-list courses like Newport Country Club, TPC Jasna Polana, and TPC Myrtle Beach, as well as traveling to watch professional events. All of this culminated in the two of us moving to Orlando when I landed a job at the Golf Channel.
Since then, we’ve taken our golf explorations to the south, playing all over Florida as well as Virginia and Hilton Head Island. It’s an amazing thing, to have a passion in common. I always hear guys joke about how their wives are going to get angry if they spend one more day out of the house and on the course… DJ and I will never, ever have that problem! We’d be more upset if either one of us couldn’t get out to play!
Our two-year is coming up (April 8), and while these two years have been nothing but perfection, I can’t wait to see what the rest have in store!
how they asked
Fast forward a year and a little from our arrival in Orlando- multiple PGA Tour tournaments and TPC’s- later, and we arrive at February 25. DJ declared that it was “terrific lady week” and he would be spoiling me with some of my favorite things. On the 25th, it was a pair of my favorite pants, the 26th was a STUNNING jewelry box he made himself, and the 27th was a bottle of “Tin Cup” Whiskey (my favorite drink).
Then came the 28th.
My brother, James, was coming into town (he’s a golfer as well) and earlier in the week DJ suggested we treat him to a nice round. With the help of a friend, I managed to book a tee time at Streamsong’s Red Course- a course that we had been looking forward to playing for a long time. Once we got there, I went to get changed while DJ, sneaky sneaky, went in to the proshop and asked what the most beautiful hole on the course was.
Streamsong Red is unlike any course I had EVER seen- it’s built on an old quarry that gave the course natural rolling hills and beachy features. The setting was just unbelievable- too beautiful to be true!
We spent 15 holes in an awestruck bliss until finally, we reached the 16th: a valley of a par-three over sparkling water and billowing reeds. DJ and James hit their tee shots to a swale on the left of side of the green, and I hit mine about 20 feet left of the pin. When I got up to my ball, I noticed DJ standing behind me. I never, ever let anybody read my putts for me, so I asked him what he was doing back there. He told me he’d take a look at it. I went back to my business, crouched over the ball until all of a sudden, DJ was crouched behind me, his hand out in front of me and in it, the most beautiful ring I could have imagined. He whispered, “Marry me”, to which I responded by tackling him and nearly sending us both down the hill behind us: aka, YES.
P.S. I four-putted the hole.
