Our Story
How Tee Times and Tequila came to be
The Origin of Tee Times and Tequila
Tee Times and Tequila grew out of a day that started on a golf course and ended after a long night out.
It was mid-January in Savannah. Sixty degrees. One of those days that feels borrowed. We played golf the way we like to. With friends. Competitive enough to care but relaxed enough to enjoy it. A little money won. A little money lost. Enough to keep the edge honest, but not enough to matter once the sun started dropping.
There was birdie juice, because some things on a golf course deserve recognition. It didn’t matter that Alex is a two handicap and I’m closer to a ten. A good shot is a good shot. A birdie is still a birdie. Celebration isn’t reserved for the low score. It’s reserved for the moment.
Alex and I met in our fifties after both moving to Savannah and joining the Savannah Golf Club at the same time. Our paths to that tee box couldn’t have been more different. He grew up in Ciudad Juárez and played collegiate golf in Massachusetts. I grew up in New York City and didn’t even pick up the game until I stopped coaching high school lacrosse eight years ago.
But once we started playing together, that part faded fast.
We shared the same mental approach to the game. Compete, yes. Try, always. But never confuse seriousness with joy. Golf is demanding. That’s part of the appeal. The reward comes after you’ve given it your attention.
By the time the day ended, there was a simple, unspoken feeling between us. Nothing needed improving. Nothing needed adding.
It had been a perfect day.
Tee Times and Tequila came from naming that feeling. The space between effort and enjoyment. Between caring deeply and letting go. Between tee times and tequila.
Play well. Drink well. Leave it better.
That was the point then; it still is today.
P.S. from Alex
Let’s clear up a few historical inaccuracies before this becomes permanent record.
First, I was not in my fifties when we met. Some of us age like fine tequila. Some of us age like range balls. I’ll let you decide which is which.
Second, I won the money that day. Not a lot. Just enough to finance the “earned” tequila that followed. Details matter.
And finally, while John talks about perfect days and borrowed weather, here’s the part that matters most.
Tee Times and Tequila will donate 90% of its profits to charity. Half will go to the Tequila Interchange Project, because if we’re going to celebrate tequila, we should also respect the people and land behind it. The other half will go to a U.S. based organization that supports kids through sport. Competition should build character, not just handicaps.
We believe in playing hard, laughing often, and giving most of it back.
Also, for the record, I still give him strokes…on the scorecard.
See you on the first tee!