Lorne Rubenstein | |
Major Winners Out to Support a Writer in Need
March 6, 2006
An all-star cast of golfers gathered at the Old Palm Golf Club here Monday night for reasons far removed from the tournament side of the game. Major championship winners Jack Nicklaus, Ray Floyd, Nick Price, and Ian Baker-Finch showed up at a reception to support Craig Dolch and his family. Dolch is the golf writer for the Palm Beach Post, but he hasn't written about the game for months because his teenaged son was diagnosed with encephalitis on June 20th, the day after the U.S. Open ended. He had been suffering from headaches, and on June 19th he had a high fever. Then the Dolchs' lives changed forever.
Photo © Dolch Family |
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Eric Dolch |
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Eric was taken to Nicklaus Children's Hospital after the episode. Encephalitis, which was caused by a virus whose genesis in Eric's case remains mysterious, causes swelling in the brain. From there he was airlifted to Miami children's Hospital, under the care of Dr. Andre Raszynski, the director of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit who was at Old Palm along with a couple of his associates. Doctors put Eric into a medically-induced coma for 115 days, one of the longest on record.
Eric eventually was moved to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where he remains. His father has been spending nearly every day of every month there; his paper will continue to pay him at least until mid-June. Eric's mother Ava has been home with his sister Alexandra, and trying to keep the family together in a difficult time that is every parent's worst nightmare.
"I haven't thought about money all this time," Dolch told the crowded room at Old Palm, a course that Floyd designed. "But we know that the bills will start coming in."
Photo © Michael Price |
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Tim Rosaforte, who was responsible for putting on the evening with Eric's mother Ava Van de Water |
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Hence the evening, which Golf World senior writer Tim Rosaforte, who lives nearby, organized in an act of generosity that makes one feel good about the golf community. He contacted Floyd, who arranged for the club to provide its lavish facilities and food and drinks for the evening. Players got involved, and put the night on their calendar without hesitation. All guests were invited to make a contribution to the Dolch family.
"What would you do?" Price asked when somebody thanked him for his participation. Good question. There was nothing to do but support the Dolch family. Golf took a back seat this night, but it was certainly in the background given the players who came to Old Palm and the fact that the Honda Classic is on this week around the corner, at the Country Club of Mirasol.
Rosaforte has written one of the better books about Tiger Woods and continues to dig deep for stories related to players and issues in the game. His weekly column at golfdigest.com is a must-read, as are his pieces in Golf World, the game's authoritative newsweekly. But he didn't have to dig deep to organize the Old Palm evening, not with kids of his own, not with what the Dolch family is going through.
"This evening is about lifting up the Dolches," Rosaforte said during his brief, heartfelt remarks. "He's not just their son. He's our son, all of us."
Photo © Michael Price |
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Barbara and Jack Nicklaus |
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Nicklaus listened as he stood nearby with his wife Barbara. Mention was made of how much they have contributed to various causes in the area, including their involvement with the Nicklaus Children's Hospital. It was just about exactly a year ago when they lost their grandchild Jake in an accident at his parents' home.
A few minutes later PGA Tour player Olin Browne, a resident of the area, spoke. He nearly broke down as he mentioned that this should be a time when Eric is thinking about where to attend college, and looking forward to taking on a role as an adult in society. Instead it's not clear to what extent he will recover.
Photo © Michael Price |
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Craig Dolch with Raymond Floyd and Nick Price. |
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That's the hardest part, his father said
"I'm a reporter and I'm used to asking questions," Dolch said. "We're nine months into this thing and we don't know the answers to the two big question, why this happened and what will happen?" He mentioned the Eric Dolch Children's Encephalitis Foundation, which the family has started.
Browne listened from a corner of the room, where he had been chatting with Jesper Parnevik. Soon the talk turned to golf, almost as if to provide a breather to the sombre mood of the evening. Browne spoke of the 2003 Bell Canadian Open at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and what a good venue it was. He's happy the tournament will return there come September.
"That first hole was only about 385 yards and you couldn't hit the fairway because of its tilt," Browne, who has (been playing some great golf recently) said, and he meant it as a compliment.
"I hope they keep moving the tournament around," Parnevik added, and said he thought Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, site of last year's Canadian Open, was a superb venue.
Photo © Michael Price |
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Ian Baker-Finch with Judy Dickinson with Dottle Pepper |
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Here and there it was easy to pick up bits and pieces of more golf talk. Ian Baker-Finch was chatting by the bar while requesting a couple of glasses of wine for himself and a friend. PGA Master professional Gary Wiren was in the room, as was Joe Beditz, who runs the National Golf Foundation in Jupiter and who has more data on the golf business on the tip of his tongue than most of us will ever know, or understand. Tom Fazio, the architect behind the course used for this week's Honda Classic, cast his mind's eye north and spoke for a moment about Coppinwood Golf Club in Uxbridge, Ont., east of Toronto, which he designed and which will open this June. Bob Toski was seen chatting with Golf Digest writer Jaime Diaz. He was his usual effervescent self.
The next day, at the Honda Classic, Palm Beach Post writer Alan Tays, who has done remarkable work adding plenty of golf writing to his other responsibilities at the paper, mentioned the fantastic turnout at Old Palm. Greg Stoda, his colleague in the sports department, spoke about the memorable and important evening. Everybody who was there agreed it was special in many ways.
Indeed, the evening at Old Palm was really something. It was something to see Nicklaus and others supporting the Dolch family, and to realize the strength of the golf community here. In many ways it's fair to consider this the epicentre of golf in the U.S., considering the number of pros who live in the area. And that's without mentioning Woods, who will eventually move into the estate he purchased on Jupiter Island.
Still, the evening wasn't about the tour pros. It was about one family trying to cope, and friends rallying around that family to do whatever they could. At Old Palm, on a soft Florida night, they came together. The most important event of the week had already happened, and the Honda Classic hadn't even started.
For those wishing to place a donate to help in the cost of Eric's treatments
please contact Craig at craigdolch@aol.com
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