NEWTON FALLS - Mickey Beechy knew he was in trouble after he saw the final scorecard.
His son, Logan, then 11 years old, was 16 strokes better than his father during a nine-hole round.
Logan, a Newton Falls High School senior, started playing golf only a year or two earlier.
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Tribune Chronicle / Michael Taylor
Newton Falls golfer Logan Beechy will be representing Newton Falls at the Division II?state golf championship this weekend in Columbus.
"I've been playing my entire life and he started beating me with ease when he was 11," Mickey said. "I thought I had a few more years. I thought we would be playing and I would be kind of close together score-wise for year or two, but that wasn't the case.
"I'm about a 44-45 golfer and I don't play nearly as much as I should. He pretty much humiliated me from the time he was 11 on."
Mickey, who has owned Duck Creek for 11 years, saw his son play many rounds over the years, but none as important as this weekend.
Logan tees off Friday morning in the Division II state tournament at Ohio State University's Scarlet Course in Columbus.
Mickey can see a lot of his father, Myron, in Logan with every swing of a club.
Myron and his wife, Mary, owned the former Forest Oaks Golf Course in Southington, before the two gave up ownership when Mary developed cancer a couple of years ago. Myron and his brother, Max, co-founded Forest Oaks, and retained ownership for more than five decades.
Mary died in 2011, while Myron passed away in February of this year.
"He reminds me a lot of him, the way my dad played - same swing and enjoyment of the game," Mickey said of Logan.
Logan has Myron's luck as well. Logan has three holes-in-one during his young career.
Logan's first was when he was 12 on Father's Day. The next was a year later, and the final one was this year against Champion at Riverview.
"He's trying to catch his grandfather. My dad had 13 of them," said Mickey, who is still chasing his first ace.
You could say the luck is more man-made because of the rounds Logan has played.
"He's played more rounds in a day than I have in two years," Mickey said. "He enjoys being outside and enjoys the game."
Logan enjoys golfing with other Duck Creek members.
"I always get to practice whenever I want, be around all kinds of different golfers who inspire you in all kinds of different ways," he said. "Just playing the game with different people, seeing their outlooks on it.
"People cannot enjoy the game because they're too serious and it ruins it. People can have a blast with it and shoot terrible - love the game to death."
Logan, who has earned enough credits at Newton Falls to earn early dismissal, is practicing for state by getting in rounds in at Duck Creek and Riverview. He's always been a natural on the course.
"To be honest, he was a natural from the first time he swung a club," Mickey said. "The first time he swung the club, he had a beautiful swing. He loved the practice. He loved spending time on the driving range and on the practice green. He loved playing golf with the older members.
"When he was 10 or 11, you couldn't get him off the golf course."
Those experiences have shaped Logan's perspective on the game.
"Try to have fun with it," Logan said. "It's something you should enjoy and that it's a game.
"I'm not a person that gets real mad. I guess it comes natural. Other than just having fun, not getting too frustrated with the game and enjoying it."
