By JAY COFFIN
Steve Fuller loves golf and he loves his family. But work takes up a huge chunk of his time and he rarely has five spare hours on the weekend to devote to the game. Last year, however, exactly one year ago, he received a marketing promotion from Spark Golf explaining its benefits, league structure, format and rules.
A light bulb went off inside his head. Fuller knew that this was his chance to play a little golf and spend quality time with his family. The initial kicker was that Fuller found a league at a course close to his home in the Lake Nona area, outside Orlando in Florida. The weekly gathering on Thursday evenings fit perfectly too.
“It really lined up well for me,” said Fuller, 60, an engineering manager at Lockheed Martin. “For me to have Thursday night golf and to have that as a way to kick off my weekend was awesome. I was able to look forward to that all during the week. And I got to spend time with my son and have a little competition.”
Fuller’s son Nolan, now 19, had a connection with the game when he was younger because of his grandfather. But it was not a sport that he was committed to regularly. Joining his father in the Spark Golf league was a way for him to fall in love with a game that he always liked.
“He became obsessive with it,” Steve says of his son. “This was a great opportunity for us to play together, have a regular thing to look forward to, that was not stressful, but fun, entertaining and social.”
When Nolan had to work, or couldn’t make it? Steve would bring along his wife Denise. She played a handful of times over the year.
The Fullers all became better players fairly quickly although they’ll admit they won’t be setting course records anytime soon. But they worked on their games. They had fun. They enjoyed the company of the others they played with. They enjoyed grabbing food together afterward.
They also won. Twice. Yes, the Fullers won the spring and summer leagues at North Shore Golf Club, two feats that surprised them as much as anyone else.
“We joked around that since we dominated we needed to go to other places and dominate,” Steve quipped.
In the fall, the Fullers traveled to play Dubsdread and Rio Pinar, because they’d lived in the area for a while and had never played those two tracks. They were also relatively conveniently located near downtown Orlando. The personable family became friendly with the staff at Rio Pinar, which preceded the Arnold Palmer Invitational and hosted the Florida Citrus Open from 1966-78. Palmer, Lee Trevino and Hale Irwin top a list of respected names who won the tournament.
Nolan happened to be talking to a staffer in the Rio restaurant and mentioned that he was in the market for a new job. The one he had at the time was not his favorite and he was hoping to find something in the golf industry so he could, you know, play more golf.
He was given contact information for a hiring manager at the club, told they were always looking for help, so he applied. He got the job. Now, five months later, Nolan is having the time of his life, working at a golf course, playing as much golf as he can when time allows, and attending classes for his second year at Valencia College. He plans to apply to the PGA Golf Management Program at Florida Gulf Coast University later this fall.
The Fullers are back this year for more action with Spark Golf. The plan remains the same with Steve and Nolan playing as much as possible and having Denise sub in when Nolan can’t play. But they’re not going to play any of the same courses, meaning they won’t be eligible to defend their status as league champions at North Shore.
This year is about seeing as many different golf courses as they can. There are so many options in their surrounding area that it’s possible for them to play a different golf course nearly every week. There will be over 2,000 leagues with more than 200,000 players participating in Spark Golf this year, the seventh in its existence. In the Central Florida area alone, there are more than 30 options for Steve and Nolan Fuller within a 45-minute drive.
No matter where they end up, the post-round gathering will remain the same.
“We always go back and see where we did our best, or talk about how we could’ve done better,” Nolan said. “We didn’t do too well when we started, but as time went on, and as we got into it more, our scores went down.”
Pressed to think of something they wished had gone better in their rookie year of competing, Steve took a few moments and couldn’t come up with an answer. Ultimately, he admitted there was one thing that he wished could be different, but it had nothing to do with the league.
“I’m looking forward to it all this year,” Steve said. “We’re really looking forward to exploring. I’m excited to get to spend time with Nolan and my wife. It would be nice if somehow my other son, Rain (age 17), was interested, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
There’s always hope.
Jay Coffin is 25-year industry veteran who has worked for Golfweek, Golf Channel and Golf Digest, among other stops. He’s covered 40 major championships and has traveled to 13 different countries to document the game. He lives in Orlando and owns Coffin Corner Media, a communications consulting business.