Gavin Speirs huffed the bag from his shoulder and sat down heavily. Feet sore. Shirt soaked. Heart bursting.
Some kids get their dad a card for Father's Day. Others get them socks. Some just call from some distant place and say, "Hey, dad, happy Father's Day, thinking of you."
Adam Speirs gave his dad a job: caddying for him at his first U.S. Open.
"It's cool, it's really cool," Gavin said. "It's a great deal to be here as a golf fan. Just to be able to watch the guys that we're playing with. And then the pride that Lois [his wife]and I feel for Adam is just immense."
This Sunday is Father's Day. Adam is hoping to survive the cut and be playing golf in the first major championship he hasn't had to watch on television.
It would be a bonus, actually. Just hearing his name called when he tees off is a reward in itself.
But it may be a greater reward for his father, who introduced him to the game when he was a toddler at the St. Charles golf club in Winnipeg and has been his No. 1 fan since.
"He's more excited than I am, that's for sure," said Adam, who's tall, slim and confident, having not yet lost a ball in the four-inch rough that guards the country lanes that pass for fairways on the Black Course of Bethpage State Park, the host of the U.S. Open. "My goal is to make the cut. But after that, who knows?"
If he does, his father will be on his bag, hoping the length and the hills and the heat and the sheer thrill of watching his son in the big show do not cause him too much excitement.
The father-and-son golf officially began a few weeks ago at local qualifying in Muskegon, Mich., where Adam won on a brutally cold day.
The next stop was Barrington, Ill., for sectional qualifying, where Adam finished second and earned a spot in the U.S. Open. His father was with him every step of the way.
"We're on a lifetime trip," Gavin said. "He's going, and I'm carrying -- that was the deal. The first U.S. Open is pretty neat."
In truth, it's a trip that started almost a lifetime ago. Golf and food are priorities in the Speirs household, no one debates that. It's just the order of them that's not always clear. Adam is a two-time Manitoba Amateur champion and turned professional after playing four years of college golf.
He missed getting his Canadian Tour card at qualifying school and has been trying to qualify for events on Mondays, golf's version of trying to make a living from lottery tickets. He's been loving every minute.
Gavin has been one of Manitoba's best amateurs since before his son was born, and he is the reigning senior provincial champion. He introduced golf to both his sons -- the older one, Rob, is studying in Australia and is "pulling his hair out right now because he can't be here" -- about the time they could walk, and the St. Charles golf club became the biggest, greenest daycare in Manitoba every summer.
"Ever since I was a kid playing at St. Charles, he's been my No.1 fan, although my mom is starting to give him a run," Adam said of his father. "I remember beating him when I was 14, and I really turned the corner. From then on, I was the family champion."
Now he's playing against major champions. And non-major champions. And guys who play golf for keeps. And he doesn't look out of place at all, even if he is using a set of Wilson blades that are 11 years old.
"He's playing really well," said 1996 British Open champion Tom Lehman, who played nine holes with Speirs on Monday and 18 yesterday morning. "He's swinging it great, he's hitting nicely. He's a nice guy. His dad's a nice guy. It was a pleasure playing with them.
"What a thrill, a thrill for both of them. I'm sure there's going to be some nerves on the first tee, but for a father and son to share an experience like that has got to be a thrill. I'd like to do it with my own son some time."
Whatever happens when the U.S. Open curtain lifts today will be gravy, Gavin said. The thrill has been not just getting here, but sharing the biggest moment of his son's life, not as a fan, or as a proud parent or from the sidelines, but as a peer: picking clubs, debating strategy and making plans.
"The neatest thing for me is the give and take between two players," Gavin said. "I'm not a dad, although I am a dad, but we're out here doing a job for Adam, and it's cool. It's really cool. I've seen him grow as a man and a player, and it's cool."
So who's the best caddy this week? The son can't resist.
"Not mine," he said with a broad smile. "But he loves me the most."