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ORLANDO, Fla. – Tiffany Eckert and her children have seen the dark side of war that few of us ever will see. On May 8, 2005, her husband, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Gary “Andy” Eckert of Toledo, Ohio, died from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near the Humvee in which he was traveling in Samarra, Iraq. Andy was 24, Tiffany only 23, a young mother to a daughter, Marlee, then 20 months, and a month-old son, Myles. Tiffany Eckert will be 40 in December, having spent nearly half of her life as a military widow. Marlee and Myles are now in high school, and there are reminders each day, some subtle, some not, about the giant hole in their lives left by their father not being here. Tiffany told her family’s story Wednesday night on the eve of the inaugural Folds of Honor Cup at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club. (The event would be contested the next day, Veterans Day, beneath blue skies.) The clinking of glasses and echoes of conversation ceased as she spoke of loss, gratitude and her tough, sometimes awkward moments as a single parent – even just being the only female on her block who shovels her own driveway in winter. It was a message of hope, an awakening for all those with “conventional” lives: Don’t take for granted the little, yet poignant daily moments that so easily pass on by. “When I speak about ‘our side of war,’ I talk about the real-life moments, the ones that everyone else might take for granted,” Tiffany said a day later, seated inside a quiet room in the Lake Nona clubhouse. “When I’m trying to play catch with my son, we look at each other, and it’s unspoken. His dad would have been better at this. Or when Myles learned how to shave. I bought him a razor and said, ‘Do you want me to help you?’ He told me, No, I’ll figure it out,’ and he did. But his dad should have been there for that.” Both Marlee and Myles have been helped greatly by being Folds of Honor educational scholarship recipients. The Folds was started by Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot who flew three combat tours in Iraq. He’s also a PGA professional, motivational speaker, and author whose life changed one night in 2006. He was a passenger on United #664 to Grand Rapids, Michigan, watching out his window in tears as the flag-draped casket of Army Cpl. Brock Bucklin was lowered down the cargo ramp. Bucklin’s twin brother, Brad, was on that flight, escorting his brother home one last time; Brock’s family watched from the tarmac, among them his 4-year-old son, Jacob. In was a transformative moment for Rooney, compounded by his anger and frustration when half the flight’s passengers stood up and nonchalantly departed the aircraft after they’d been asked to respectfully remain seated as the casket was lowered off the plane. There were no connecting flights for anyone to catch. That anger mixed with the sadness of seeing a young boy outside who never would go fishing with his father, or attend a baseball game. How could Rooney “undo” just a small part of this family’s pain? Later that year, Rooney and his dad, John Rooney, held a tournament at a Michigan golf course they owned called Grand Haven (now American Dunes). The event raised about $8,700. They kept going, and today, the Folds has distributed more than 35,000 educational scholarships (most at the $5,000 level) totaling more than $160 million. The Folds is rated a 4-star (out of 4) charity by Charity Navigator, with nine cents on every dollar generated going to scholarships. Thanks to big fundraising events such as the Folds of Honor Cup, 7,000 scholarships will be awarded in 2021. Forty-one percent of the scholarships awarded are given to minority recipients. Rooney and his foundation not only are changing lives, but raising awareness for a tremendous need. Out of 2.5 million dependents of military members killed or disabled, nine of 10 receive no federal education assistance. “That’s where the Folds of Honor steps in,” Rooney said. “The world we live in, it’s so easy to forget that freedom isn’t free, especially as conflict winds down. People don’t realize the true lasting impact, when it comes to the context of the Folds of Honor, are the families. “To be able to create events like this one that give people a vehicle to understand what the Folds is, and give back, makes Veterans Day much more meaningful than just saying, ‘Thank you for your service.’ If you are truly thankful, if you love your country, then what better way to invest in the future of our families who have been impacted in conflict?” On this Veterans Day at Lake Nona, a mix of celebrities and athletes played in fivesomes alongside foundation donors and military members. There were Navy Seals and Army Rangers and Air Force fighter pilots, veterans of conflicts in Vietnam as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. General John W. “Jay” Raymond of the United States Space Force played. The Tavistock Group, which owns two of Orlando’s top golf properties (Isleworth and Lake Nona), generously donated the golf course for the day. LPGA Hall of Fame golfers Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam played. (Sorenstam donated the auction hit of the cocktail party: two nights at Spanish Bay, a foursome at Pebble Beach, a private lesson, and the chance to join her when she is honored at The Langley, a prestigious California event. The winning bid for the Folds eclipsed $30,000.) Athletic standouts Ken Griffey Jr., Charles Woodson and Johnny Damon played, as did actor Michael Pena and singer Javier Colon. Air Force Academy grad Kyle Westmoreland, who will play the Korn Ferry Tour next season, was there. Television personality Bret Baier was on hand to join Rooney for a few national morning hits on Fox & Friends, helping to push the Folds’ Squadron program, which asks patriots to make recurring donations of $13 a month. As many as 1,000 new Squadron members might sign up on a day like this. Every penny means something. Baier, a good player who carries a GHIN index of 2.8, hit the ground running early Thursday after taking a redeye flight from Phoenix. It was a small sacrifice to be there to honor the many military heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Baier was a reporter covering the Pentagon on 9/11, and he traveled the world with the military. “I really came to respect the sacrifice and service, not only of the men and women who serve, but their families,” Baier said. “A day like this is special. I’m playing with three veterans, and hearing their stories. One served in Vietnam. There are Bronze Star winners out here. It’s really awesome. I think it’s important to take those times to say, ‘Thanks,’ and Veterans Day is one of them, honoring the living, breathing veterans who are serving now. And Memorial Day is the day that we remember all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Nancy Lopez had to reapply her makeup before the clock had struck 8:30 a.m., having teared up at a beautiful rendition of the national anthem performed by Yolanda Stallworth, ROTC Air Force Detachment 159, a junior at the nearby University of Central Florida. The morning’s Opening Ceremonies were filled with patriotic moments. Against the backdrop of the 18th fairway and glassy Lake Nona, bagpipers from the City of Mount Dora’s Pipes and Drum corps played “Amazing Grace,” as well as hymns from each of the country’s military branches. There was a 21-gun salute. Taps pierced the air, sounded on a singular trumpet, something that takes place every day at 1300 hours at the two courses with which Rooney is affiliated, The Patriot in Owasso, Oklahoma, and American Dunes in Grand Haven. (The 1300 is tied to the 13 purposeful folds in an American flag.) Half a dozen members of the Patriot Parachute Team soared in hot with trailing flumes of orange smoke as they landed in full sprint on the 18th fairway. It was a ceremony that filled the heart. “When I hear our national anthem, I don’t think I’ve ever not teared up,” said Lopez, who met Rooney at a long-ago Vince Gill tournament and fell in love with his foundation’s mission. “The men and women who have lost their lives for this country, they loved this country, and were doing what they could to protect us. If you can’t understand it, it baffles me. I thank them. Today, on Veterans Day, I thank them for giving us so much.” Rooney once pinned pictures of his young scholarship recipients to the refrigerator at home in Oklahoma, where he lives with his wife, Jacqy, and their five daughters, all of whom make sacrifices themselves when their dad hits the road for yet another appearance or speaking engagement. Some 14 years after the Folds was created, Rooney is seeing those young students graduate from college. They are an impressive group, and collectively doing amazing things. One recipient attending the Folds of Honor Cup was Do’Monique Noel . She is only 18, but when she stepped on campus at the University of Central Florida this fall, she already had earned 61 college credits, the equivalent of an Associate’s degree. She is a Biomedical Sciences major who will graduate in 2023, and wants to become a pediatrician. Donna Noel, Dominique’s father, is a retired Army E-8 master sergeant. Being a Folds of Honor scholarship recipient means the world, and allows her to attend college debt-free. “To be able to go to college and having this scholarship, it really takes a lot of the weight off my shoulders,” Noel said. “I’m very thankful. It’s an honor to be here, especially on Veterans Day. I’m appreciative of all those who have served their country.” Tiffany Eckert also continues to be grateful. Her son, Myles, has had learning challenges and once struggled in school. Tiffany was told she needed to find a life track for him, as he would not be attending college when he got older. His Folds scholarship allows the family to pay for a tutor, and he now is on track to attend college. Marlee’s scholarship allows her to attend one of the top private high schools in the Toledo area, and she is thriving. An excellent student with a high GPA, she will have great choices for colleges. As for Tiffany, she is upholding the last promise that she made to Andy. In the final conversation they would share, just hours before an IED detonated near his Humvee, Andy told his young wife that he had a bad feeling about his situation, and that he knew he would not be coming home. He also told Tiffany that he loved her more than anything, and that she was the smartest person he’d ever met. Andy told her that she needed to have a college education, and that their children needed to have good educations, as well. In the fall of 2020, Tiffany, her own Folds of Honor scholarship in hand, enrolled at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She is majoring in Human Development: Family Studies, with a minor in Gerontology, essentially the study of human development across a lifespan. While coaching local high school teams in rowing and broomball (similar to hockey, played on ice), Tiffany is taking six classes and maintains a 4.0 GPA. She is on the Dean’s List and will graduate early. Most beneficial, she says, is that her studies have helped her to learn about herself, and how to better cope with grief. “I am healing parts of myself that I would have never realized,” she said. “I’m finding it’s helping me to become an even better person.” Best of all, being in school is helping her keep the promise she made to her husband some 17 years ago, before her world, and that of her children, was completely rocked from its foundation. “I’ve found healing,” she said. “It’s more than just a scholarship. The Folds is making an investment.” The heroic work truly takes a village, and it doesn’t stop here. To learn more about the Folds of Honor, visit foldsofhonor.org

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In the last three months, Scottie Scheffler has achieved what many would call a career’s worth of success. The 25-year-old has won four of his last six starts, including the Masters, to ascend to No. 1 in the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking. Scheffler has amassed a 1,236-point lead in the FedExCup, meaning it would take at least two victories for even second-ranked Cameron Smith to catch him, a significant lead in the world ranking and also earned over $10 million in prize money. Yeah, that’s not a bad start to the season. It’s been an eventful few months for Scheffler, who also signed with TaylorMade after his first two PGA TOUR victories. Last week, he got to enjoy some downtime after his life-changing victory at Augusta National. He was able to relax, be at home with his wife, Meredith, and reflect on his recent successes. During his off-week between the Masters and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – he’s playing alongside fellow Texan, and former Zurich Classic champ, Ryan Palmer this week – GolfWRX.com’s Two Guys Talkin’ Golf (TG2) podcast caught up with Scheffler to talk equipment, signing with TaylorMade, winning the Masters, and what his first big purchase was following the major victory. Enjoy the Q&A below (which has been slightly edited for brevity). GolfWRX.com: Congratulations on the Masters victory, Scottie. Awesome win. Here at GolfWRX, we’re all equipment junkies. The first question we have is, you started off great this year, playing really well, and then you signed with TaylorMade, What made you want to join the TaylorMade team? Scheffler: Yeah, there’s a few different reasons. That’s not a decision I’ll make very lightly. I would say first and foremost would be the driver. I already used the (Taylormade P-7TW) irons for awhile. I like the irons. But the (TaylorMade Stealth Plus) driver, when we did testing over the winter, I saw some pretty nice gains. It was one of those things, like, I know I’m going to use this driver, I know I’m going to use the irons, so maybe let’s see if we can work something out. Just because having consistency with their brand, obviously I trust what they do. To be part of the family and be part of the team was pretty cool for me, and so we wanted to work something out with them, and we were able to get it done. I’m happy to be part of the team. GolfWRX.com: On that note, you had a Nike VR Pro Limited fairway wood in the bag for a long, long time. What did it take the team at TaylorMade to do to get that VR Pro out of your bag and into a TaylorMade Stealth? Scheffler: There’s a few things. One of the things I’ve struggled with was actually hitting 3-woods too far, and also just not seeing all my shots. These guys did something to the (Fujikura Ventus) shaft, honestly I can’t even remember what they did, but it was something with the tipping. They may have tipped it a couple extra inches and moved some weight around the head, and then started with a higher loft and bent it down. Adrian (Rietveld, Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade) and those guys, they did all kinds of stuff to it. … Austin was a good area for me to be like, ‘OK, I’m only going to hit this off the tee maybe a few times, let’s put it in the bag and see what I can do with it.’ And it was a pretty seamless transition. I saw the shots I wanted to see. My mishits were more accurate with the TaylorMade than they were than my Nike. I’ve seen some significant improvements already. GolfWRX.com: So you’re 25 years old and having this unbelievable year. Where do you see yourself going from here? Scheffler: I don’t really look too far into the future, so right now I’m just getting some rest at home. I think the last few weeks have been pretty draining emotionally, especially The Masters with it being a major. But then there was all the hype in Austin, that being a place that’s also so special to me and really wanting to win that event. Right now I’m just emotionally drained. So I’ve just been chilling at home, getting some rest, doing stuff around the house, just being normal. It’s been great. Going from here I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. I’ve put myself in a good position in the FedExCup. I just got my first major. For me, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, working hard, keeping up the work in the gym, and just keep trying to improve. Goals for me, and stuff like that, nothing’s really going to change. GolfWRX.com: How much are you going to wear the Green Jacket over the next year? Scheffler: You know, it’s kind of funny. I put it on the other night. Meredith and I were just sitting around – I thought it’d be kind of a funny joke – we were having dessert, and I just went back in the other room and grabbed the Green Jacket and put it on to eat my ice cream with the jacket on. Just being us at home, having fun with it. Honestly, probably not too much. It’s just one of those cool things I’ll keep in the golf room. I want to represent the club well. I’m only going to wear it for certain, special occasions. GolfWRX.com: So like you said, you’re going to take a break. What does Scottie Scheffler do in this time? What’s your plan of relaxing between now and the next time you tee it up? Scheffler: You know, we have a little backyard here at our house. I went to Lowe’s yesterday and got some pool equipment to clean the pool. We’re redoing the grill area in the backyard, and I asked one of the guys that helps us around the house what I should do to clean the leaves up, and he was like, ‘You have to get this leaf vacuum.’ Now I’m kind of jacked up about the leaf vacuum. So I’m going to go to the store after this and get that. Just clean, get outside. The weather is so good here at home. I’m used to being outside practicing, but right now I’m just getting a bit of rest, maybe go clean the yard, go for a swim. Just do nothing. GolfWRX.com: So yeah getting back to a little bit of club stuff, you play the P7TW – the Tiger Woods iron – but TaylorMade also makes the P7MB. What made you go with the TW over, say, the P730 or the P7MB? Is it a Tiger influence, or was it a performance difference? Scheffler: I would say the reason I tested it was definitely a Tiger influence. I used the P730’s for a number of years, and I played with Tiger at The Masters in 2020, and I watched him it. He hits it so solid and he flights it so well and does all kinds of stuff with the ball. It kind of clicked in my head, I was like, ‘I used Nike clubs for so long when he was helping develop those irons.’ I’m like, why wouldn’t I at least test his new irons with TaylorMade because they’re his irons, and he obviously had some influence in the process of developing and producing the irons. I went home in the off-season, tested them out, and I saw that I was able to hit more shots with them. I was able to flatten out the flight a little bit more if I wanted to hit it low or hit it through the wind. And when I wanted to hit it higher, I could do that, as well. It gave me a little bit more variety in what I could do with the golf ball than the P730. And it’s not a big difference, it’s just when you put yourself in a 20mph wind in your face and want to flatten it out a little bit. I can flatten it out and have the ball be a little bit more stable with the head. It’s only a couple yards, but for me it felt like a huge difference. GolfWRX.com: You’ve achieved something literally every golfer has dreamed about, I’m curious what you’re feeling right now. World No. 1, and you just put on the Green Jacket for the first time. Can you put that feeling into words for golfers who have always wanted to feel what you’re feeling? Scheffler: Yeah, the walk up 18 was pretty special. Sunday had been such a long day and such a grind. Teddie (Ted Scott, his caddie) and I just enjoyed the walk up 18. What I’m feeling right now is it still hasn’t really sunk in. I’m pretty tired. I’ve just been chilling at home and enjoying the moment. Meredith always asked me how I would want to celebrate getting my first win, and winning tournaments what I wanted to celebrate, and one of my favorite things is just going back and just living our normal lives. Really, we’ve just been hanging out at home, reflecting the last few days, and trying to let it sink in. GolfWRX.com: If you could go back and give your 10-year-old self advice on life or your golf career, what would you go back and tell him? Scheffler: I’d probably tell my 10-year-old self not to take myself so seriously. I think you really build up what you’re doing at the time in your head, and I had a good support system around me that helped me not do that as much. But, when you’re a kid, sports are so important to you. So for me, just don’t take myself so seriously and understand that bad things are going to happen. It’s not a perfect game or perfect science. Just enjoy it. GolfWRX.com: Well said. Any idea what’s going on the Champions Dinner menu next year? Scheffler: You know, my guess would be, I’m from Texas, so y’all can probably predict 90% of my menu. I’m a meat and potatoes guy. I hope everyone there enjoys their meat and potatoes. If not, they might be going hungry.

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