This is the story of all those parents who put their heart and soul into making their young athlete a player good enough to play at the professional level. It is a universal story of trial and tribulation, and all that support a young player needs for success.
This is the story of Brian Sinay. When Tiger Woods competed in high school, he won three championships in Southern California, a feat as extraordinary as his three US Junior Amateur wins. Brian Sinay had a couple of chances to tie that remarkable record, and although he came close, he fell just short of that noteworthy record. Major newspaper articles compared the two accomplishments. Because Brian had the singular focus of wanting to play golf at Stanford, it was believed that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Tiger Woods and Tom Watson. Brian's drive and determination to get a scholarship to Stanford is only part of the story. This is also a story of all those golfers Brian met and played with on his way to Stanford. It is a story about the successes and failures of all the golfers he encountered: Sergio Garcia, Steve Conway, James Oh, Kevin Na, Chris Tidland, Matthew Rosenfeld, J.J. Killeen, Lorena Ochoa, Sean O'Hair, John Merrick, and Ty Tryon. Along the way, Brian meets Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. His brief but significant encounters would motivate him to achieve his goal of a golf scholarship at Stanford.
The book Who We Met on the Way to Stanford: A Father's Memoir is also about what happened when he arrived at Stanford and the story behind achieving his goal. The story is about expectation and loss, achieving goals, life, and the ironies it sometimes brings. This heart-wrenching story is for all parents of young golfers who made the ultimate sacrifice and for the parents of athletes of all other sports who did.
