Editor’s note: This story was originally published November 7, 2025, on The First Call’s Substack platform.
December is always a sore spot on the professional golf schedule for me. But then, I’m a grouchy curmudgeon, according to some folks who don’t understand we were less confused when one of the Opens was known globally as “The British Open.”
What’s up with December? The PNC Championship.
It began as a father-son tournament for players who won major championships of some kind and has since grown to include mothers, daughters or any kind of parent-child combo. Not that we didn’t get a kick out of watching Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer bat it around with their grandkids, but the event got a jolt of attention once Tiger Woods and his son Charlie started playing. Just a coincidence.
John Daly II, left, John Daly during the second round of the 2021 PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
(Photo: Scott Halleran / Golffile)
The PNC Championship annually reminds me of the one hole in golf’s championship schedule, the lack of a true parent-child championship. This is funny because I remember when USGA head Mike Davis announced the new Four-Ball Championship in early 2013. He said it filled the one spot in the USGA’s championship portfolio that he had long wanted to resolve.
It filled a hole, yes, but not the only one. The Four-Ball has been a success, too, and nobody misses the tournaments it killed off — the men’s and women’s Public Links Championships. By then, the dividing line between being a club member and a public golfer had become nearly as blurred as the current line between real amateurs (such as myself) and college players who are allowed to rake in tens or hundreds of thousands in NIL cash and outrageously allowed to remain amateurs.
What the USGA doesn’t offer is a real version of the PNC Championship, a tournament that identifies the true best parent-child duo. The PNC features 20 two-person teams and often includes legendary names past their primes. Well, sure, give the people what they want, whether it was Palmer, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, John Daly or Old Tiger and Young Tiger.
I doubt that any team in the PNC Championship field would win a real parent-child competition played over 72 holes. The Four-Ball Championship is straight-up best ball. The PNC Championship is a Silly Season made-for-TV event in which they play a scramble format, the better to cover up for the lesser players. Make it best ball and open to everyone, not just past major winners, and let’s see which team really has the right stuff.
The last time I checked with the USGA on whether it had any parent-child tournament plans, which has admittedly been a few years, the response was a disinterested no.
I understand there are plenty of reasons not to hold a real U.S. Parent-Child Championship. The USGA already has a full summer-long dance card of men’s and women’s U.S. Amateurs, Mid-Amateurs, Junior Amateurs and Senior Amateurs, not to mention the commensurate qualifying rounds, plus the Curtis Cup and Walker Cup, and its professional lineup of U.S. Opens for men, women and seniors.
Also, there would be no television broadcast interest in the Parent-Child, just as there is none for the U.S. Senior Amateur, and TV is where the money is. Oh, the USGA would rake in dough for entry fees from the thousands of duos that would want to compete for a national championship trophy, but weighed against the work that would go into it, all the rounds of qualifying sites, it would be chump change.
Nailing the tournament’s identity would be a challenge as well. It could go a lot of ways. Some options:
> Only one division, the Parent-Child Championship, in which everyone plays from the same tees. There is no fair way to handicap an event so females can play against males using different tees. Any real tournament has to be played from the same tees.
> Two divisions, separate Father-Son and Mother-Daughter competitions. That sounds reasonable and also like twice as much organizational work, but at least it solves the male distance advantage issue.
> Four divisions, because in the name of equity — or something like that — you’ll get complaints that there is no Father-Daughter or Mother-Son Championship. This is starting to get out of hand but, again, it seems reasonable on the surface.
> Unlimited divisions, because some grouchy curmudgeon (no, not me) will complain that there’s no Grandfather-Grandson, Grandmother-Granddaughter or Uncle-Nephew categories, and so on. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, everybody wants an easier path to winning a trophy. More categories, more trophies, more chances to win. This is starting to sound like a raffle. Or like participation trophies for Little Leaguers.
Have you watched the Grammy Awards in the last decade? I think everybody but Elvis and Jefferson Airplane go home with Grammys. Which, from my view on the front porch as I yell at those kids to get off my lawn, diminishes the value of the awards.
I can’t be sure, though, since the Grammy show is unwatchable. I’ll tune in again when comedian Ricky Gervais, who once famously torched Hollywood celebrities as host of the Oscar Awards telecast, to turn his flamethrower on the music industry.
Anyway, I could settle on this: Separate Father-Son and Mother-Daughter championships, possibly held concurrently at the same course or adjacent courses. Say, Pinehurst Nos. 2 and 4 or Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run, for example. That way, the courses can be set up with the appropriate tee-to-green distances.
Yet another wrinkle would be to allow professionals to play in a Parent-Child Championship. Would PGA Tour players bother to tee it up? I don’t know. If you’ve already socked away $90 million from playing an endless stream of tour events, would the prospect of competing for a national championship trophy with a son be appealing? Or would it just be more golf for a pro golfer, the equivalent of a mail carrier taking vacation to go hiking?
A lot of PGA of America club professionals would certainly want to compete. A lot of them are only a few notches below PGA Tour caliber and some have college-aged sons who hope to reach the Tour. Of course, now we’re back to comparing apples and armadillos. Pros versus amateurs is not a fair fight, but if the idea of the tournament is to find the absolute best parent-child team, the event would have to be open to everyone.
Nearly every private club in the U.S. holds some kind of parent-child tournament. Its universal nature is why it remains the one obvious hole on the golf map.
Somewhere, I’ve still got a plaque from a Donald Ross father-son tournament from Pinehurst in which my son Mike and I took runner-up honors after we got beat in a sudden-death playoff on the first hole. He was probably 10 or 11 at the time.
It was an alternate shot format after choosing the best drive between us. As I recall, we used Mike’s drive and I hit a weak approach shot to 30 feet with a wedge. The other dad stuck his shot to 10 feet and his kid lucked it in for the W. (When they do it, it’s luck. When we do it, it’s skill. Please note for future reference.)
We returned to Pinehurst in December several times for that event, it was great fun. Really, what’s better than playing golf with your kid? And doing it in semi-serious competition? Plus, the best way to get in the Christmas spirit is to stay at Pinehurst’s grand Carolina Hotel when it is dolled up with holiday decorations.
I’m pretty sure my son is over that defeat 25-plus years ago. However, he does blame me for us not being invited to compete in the PNC Championship. How is that my fault, you may wonder?
Said Mike, “You shoulda won a major.”
Well, excuse me.
