Hayden Springer is living out his dream and teeing it up at the Byron Nelson this week
“McKINNEY, Texas – Hayden Springer remembers coming to his hometown PGA Tour event from as early as age 5 for practice round days on Tuesday and Wednesday with an empty hat and having his dad shove him towards the pros to ask for autographs, telling him, “Don’t be afraid.”
“And I would leave and my hat would be covered in autographs from everybody,” said Springer.
That tournament, now known as the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and held at TPC Craig Ranch, was an annual rite of passage for Springer. He figures he attended the event for seven or eight years in a row and later served as a volunteer with his high school golf teammates from none other than Byron Nelson High School, where Nelson’s widow, Peggy, kept tabs on the team and showed Springer the Masters medal of one of the all-time greats. (Springer also noted that his mother and Peggy still keep in touch via email.) This week Springer, a 27-year-old rookie on the Tour, is set to play the tournament that meant so much to him during his youth for the first time.
“It’s special for me now to get to be playing in this event,” he said. “This was a dream that was in my head to play professional golf, to do it at the highest level. Definitely being able to get up close and just kind of be able to interact, even if it’s just getting an autograph, you know, it definitely helped to fuel that dream.”
Springer recalled following Tim Herron, a favorite of his father’s, having Corey Pavin jog over to sign for him the year Springer had fractured his ankle and hobbled his way, and watching past major winners Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh groove their swing on the range.
Springer’s journey to being a card-carrying member of the Tour like Nelson, who won five majors during his Hall of Fame career, has had its share of twists and turns. In November, Springer and his wife endured the death of their three-year-old daughter, Sage, to a rare genetic disorder. Earlier that summer, Springer, who played his college golf at TCU, was having another pedestrian season on PGA Tour Canada. He ranked No. 51 in the season-long standings with three events left before running off with two closing wins.”
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