50 golf courses in 50 days, raising money and remembering a father gone too soon

Pete Crozier expects play a round in Chicago on Friday for his “Fifty for Father” fundraiser.

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Pete Crozier, playing a hole at Sanctuary Golf Course near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

Pete Crozier is playing a golf course a day in all 50 states to raise money for juvenile diabetes research.

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It sounds like a golf enthusiast’s dream vacation: Fifty days of golfing from one coast to the other – Hawaii and Alaska, too.

Except that it’s 50 days of nonstop golf, 18 holes every day – in a different state each day. Rain or shine.

“It’s golf, drive, sleep, golf, drive, sleep,” said Pete Crozier, who started May 27 in Southport, North Carolina, and plans to wrap things up in Worcester, Massachusetts, in mid-July.

His Dodge Caravan is expected to roll into Chicago on Friday, where he’ll play a round at Harborside International Golf Center on the Far South Side with Lin Brehmer, the much-loved WXRT-FM (93.1) radio host. Crozier produced Brehmer’s show from 1990 to 2007, and still produces the host’s best-known segment – “Lin’s Bin.”

Crozier, who recently turned 50, is calling his endeavor “Fifty for Father.” He’s raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation – about $33,000 as of June 27. Crozier’s son, now a teenager, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 4. Crozier’s father died of a diabetes-related stroke 20 years ago.

Crozier figured he’d raise money and honor his father – an awful but dedicated golfer, the son said.

Pete Crozier

Pete Crozier

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“He was terrible,” Crozier said. “I remember, at 15 or 16 years old, thinking why in the world would he play. Golf is a frustrating game. He was 55, 60 years old. He was never going to get any better.”

Father and son often played together.

It’s taken 35 years and the cross-country project for Crozier to figure out why his dad persisted with a sport for which he had little talent.

“I was the last child at home, and I’m sure he maybe felt some guilt for working so hard his entire life providing for us, that he finally figured out the best thing he could give me was time,” Crozier said.

Crozier wishes he’d had more time. His father died not long after Crozier was starting to grapple with the messy, wonderful world that is fatherhood. He could have used dad’s wisdom, Crozier said.

Crozier, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, said the road trip – which also included flights to Hawaii and Alaska – has been grueling but also glorious.

“It’s just been spectacular beauty, from the marshlands of the Southeast to the deserts of the Southwest – to Hawaii and Alaska on back-to-back days, to the majestic trees of the Pacific Northwest,” he said.

Though he’s mostly traveled alone, family and friends have joined up with him along the way.

When he reaches the 50th course on the 50th day, he hopes his father will be there too.

“I hope, as I walk up the last fairway, I’ll feel that – that he’s proud of me,” Crozier said.

To learn more about Crozier’s mission, go to fiftyforfather.com.

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