The Augusta Dream
By Dr. Bob Winters
What if you made a wish as a child and every day you worked on making it come true, and then years later, your wish turns into reality! How would you feel? You would probably think that all is right with the world and that you were blessed. Well, for Drew Weaver, a young man from High Point, North Carolina and a longtime Dr. Bob student, his wish has come true and he will play Augusta National next month in the 2008 Masters. For Drew and his parents, Dr. John and Cathy Weaver, life this past year has had its ups and definitely more ups than downs!
I have known Drew Weaver now for over six years and although he is another long-time Dr. Bob student, Drew is and always has been an exceptional athlete and person. On a more somber note, it was just a little shy of a year ago that Drew was at Virginia Tech going to his classes in the morning when just 100 yards away, many of his college classmates were being gunned down by a disgruntled and troubled student. Not knowing what to do, Drew and a couple of his friends went to the nearest building to seek safety. A few hours later after the news of the tirade, Drew, like so many of his fellow Hokies, could not believe what they had been exposed to and tried to make sense of what all transpired that morning.
Drew had given me a call later that day and we spoke for several hours in the next few days and weeks. I give great credit to Drew and the entire Hokie nation for healing what had to be a tremendous loss of innocence and trust. What was astounding was that Drew and the Virginia Tech golf team went out and won the ACC golf tournament the following weekend and helped make the transition from a brutal slaying into a gentler and more stable world. As for Drew, I have been so proud of his accomplishments on and off the golf course. Later in the summer of 2007, Drew became the first American in 28 years to capture the British Amateur championship and earned a berth in this years’ Masters Golf tournament. The golden ticket to a dream is finally earned and realized!
For the past few months, I have helped Drew prepare for this year’s Masters. Obviously, when discussing The Masters Golf Tournament, you have to consider that if you are a golfer, this is the one time in your life that you want your game to be peaking when you drive down Magnolia Lane. So, one of the first things you have to discuss is that the number one distraction will be: I am really going to Augusta! If you stop and think about it, if you were getting ready for the Olympics or a Super Bowl or something of such a magnitude, you would want everything to be in order and have no surprises when you get there. This is what Drew and I have been discussing, the notion of being fully prepared to play great golf and to let things run their course and enjoy each moment during Masters Week!
The wonderful thing about going to Augusta this year is that I will be staying with Drew and his family at a home close to the course and my job is to help him remain grounded and to do one thing better than anyone else can do…and that is to get Drew to play “Drew Weaver golf” and keep it simple. Sound easy? Yes, it may sound easy but think about it in your terms. If you had made a wish early in your life and all you ever wanted was for it to become true and it finally became a reality…how would you handle it? I can only say that the excitement and internal workings must be an awesome, yet fun burden to have.
After all, isn’t that what we are all trying to do with our careers? Isn’t chasing the dream and having it fall into place what we are striving to achieve every day? Because if isn’t…… if chasing the dream doesn’t excite you…….then you are probably an average thinker with “normal” goals. What I love about working with people such as Drew Weaver is that they are living their lives to the max and giving their very best every day in their various endeavors. I have been privileged to have been a small part of Drew’s success, but I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it for the world. Because…..that is what I am all about…helping you to turn your dreams into a living reality!
I hope that you continue your quest to keep on wishing and striving for that faraway star. You might be surprised at how far you go and how sometimes wishes do indeed become true! And if you don’t believe me, just ask Drew! May you always dream big and play big!
Dr. Bob Winters
