There are plenty of memories: the maiden professional victory at the ANA Inspiration, a major; the 5-iron to three feet at the Road Hole in St Andrews to win her second major at the Home of Golf; breaking a two-year victory drought at the Cambia Portland Classic after pledging her winnings to hurricane relief in Houston. When your middle daughter is Stacy Lewis, with 12 LPGA Tour victories and the distinction of being the last American to hit No.1 in the Rolex Rankings, the mind overflows with fond recollections.

But for Dale Lewis, one stands out. “After she won the (Rolex Player of the Year the first of two times) in 2012, Stacy was asked to pick her dream foursome,” Dale said. “She said, ‘Not four, only two: my dad and me.’ That’s about as special as it gets.”

Those father/daughter rounds go back many years, back to a time when the Lewis family lived in Greenville, S.C., and Dale was earning his master’s degree at Clemson while working full time.

“A lot of times you don’t realize the things you’re doing that make a lasting impression on your kids,” Dale said. “Then you find out later in life that you might have had it right. Stacy said in an interview once that the time she enjoyed golf the most was the first two or three years she played when we were living in South Carolina and she was just starting the game. She said it was because those rounds weren’t about golf. She said, ‘It was about those two or three hours after work when it was just my dad and me. I didn’t have to share him with my mom; I didn’t have to share him with my sisters; it was just the two of us.’

“You hear that later on in life and you’re like, ‘huh, I guess that really was a good thing.’”

Lewis Stacy was the only Lewis girl to play golf, which thrilled her dad. But it wasn’t as though she was being groomed for the LPGA Tour. Dale was just happy to know he had a golf partner for the rest of his life.

“In her younger years – high school and junior golf, and even into the early years of college – she was a pretty good golfer but wasn’t the best golfer,” he said. “She wasn’t even the No.1 player on her high school golf team. But she loved to play. We had a lot of time together and it was wonderful. But honestly, after her (back) surgery and her redshirt year at Arkansas, I would have been thrilled if she got to play in one college tournament. When that happened, all my prayers were answered. I was good. I didn’t even think about the LPGA until about her junior year at Arkansas.”

That first Tour discussion came in 2007 when Stacy played in the ANA Inspiration as an amateur.

“She won the Harder Hall (Women’s Invitational, a top-ranked amateur event) and that shot her world (amateur) ranking up so she got an invitation to (the ANA Inspiration),” Dale said. “I caddied for her. The amateurs teed off first and last, so we finished the second round with the sun going down and there were about five people on 18. I looked up and she was like in 10th place. We weren’t keeping track or anything, so I was like, wow, that’s amazing.

“We went out on the weekend and had all these people on the first tee and her hand was shaking as she put the tee in the ground. But she ripped it right down the fairway. That’s the year Morgan (Pressel) won, and it played really hard. Stacy finished tied for 5th and was low-am.

“As we were driving away, I said to her, ‘Do you think you could do this for a living?’ She said, ‘I think I might be able to.’ That’s the first time we ever discussed it.”

Stacy being a late bloomer allowed Dale to remain involved without being overly engaged. On that front, he got some great advice, another memory that stands out in his mind.

“We took Stacy back to (University of Arkansas) after her redshirt year and Kelley (Hester, the Razorback Women’s Golf coach at the time) took me aside and said, ‘I don’t want you to take this wrong but I want to speak to you from my experience as a coach but also as a junior golfer and a college golfer. As hard as this might be, you need to step back and leave her alone. Now, don’t go away but go into the background until she calls you. I can almost guarantee you, from my experience, she will call you at some point and ask for help and advice. But if you don’t wait for her to call you, you’ll make a big mistake.’

“From that day forward, I remembered that conversation and tried to heed that advice,” Dale said. “Even after Stacy turned pro, I had times when I felt the urge to get involved or to go say something and I remembered what Kelley said. As hard as it was to follow sometimes, it was the best advice I’ve ever gotten.”

Today, Dale and Carol Lewis are proud grandparents. All three daughters are married with children. “Everyone is the same,” Dale said. “When we’re together as a family, we’re all just like we’ve always been. That does my heart good to see.

“I’m proud of all my kids. Truly, I couldn’t be more blessed.”

Father’s Day Tribute To LPGA Dads: Dale Lewis

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