Congratulations to the following members who have won a pair of the all new FJ ICONs, as well as a pair for their Icon! You may select from our stock styles or design your own custom pair through the MyJoys program. Once you receive your shoes, we hope you'll come back and let everyone know what you ordered and what you think.

I will contact each of you next week to place the orders.

cmb71
johnnypro
Pure745
wolfpackblack
eRod v1.0

Congrats and thanks to everyone who entered. I think you all helped us put everything in perspective and appreciate how powerful this game can be!

The winners' stories are pasted below...

1. cmb71
Easiest answer to any question... my golf icon is my father. He introduced me to the great game of golf, although it wasn't a smooth introduction. Ironically, I was upset with him because the morning of the first golf tryouts freshman year in high school he made me get up at 6AM and drove me to the course... instead of to the high school football tryouts, which is what I really wanted to do because many of my friends were giving that a shot. Somehow he knew I was suited for the game of golf, even though we had only practiced at the local driving range and occasionally played a par 59 (mostly par 3's) course a few times. He is a wise man as it turns out. Nevertheless, I avoided talking to him for weeks after that first practice. But somehow, before I realized it was happening... I was falling in love with this great game. Because my father made sure I made every practice after making the team and drove me back and forth to the course on non-scheduled practice days, I improved rapidly. By my Senior year I achieved the #1 position on our high school team, thanks to dad. Not only did he encourage my practice and play habits, he was the reason I got my first job. He persuaded me to talk to the pro at the little par 59 course and ask for a job. Fortunately, I was hired and that enabled me to play and practice even more. My love for the game continued to grow, and dad ALWAYS encouraged me to continue learning. Because my father approved of my excessive practice, I went on to play Division III college golf on a partial scholarship and again became the top golfer on our team. My father was so proud when I was able to bring home some hardware as I did on a few occasions, and it made it that much more special to tell him about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the day's round. He always made time to listen. Because my father caddied for me in several amateur events, I was able become a City Champion, even despite his nervousness... I swear he was more nervous than I was... I had to keep him calm. Today, at age 37 my love for the game still grows stronger, whether for fun or the occasional competitive tournament. And I owe it to one man, my icon, my father. It seems silly when I think about how upset I was that August morning some 23 years ago, because now I cannot wait until my little guy Luke is ready to play the game that gives me so much. Thanks Dad!


2. johnnypro
My golfing icon is my son. He's 22 years old and a senior at Providence College. He spends his summers working at Seawane Country Club in Hewlett, NY. He's my icon for a lot of reasons. Most importantly, he's the best person I know. When I say best, I mean he's just a very kind and loving and thoughtful person. He's the type of person who, even if we just stop for an ice cream, will say "why don't we pick up such-and-such" for mom? She likes that." I also have a daughter and I love her every bit as much but she is her own person....a different person. He's my icon because, even at 22 and even though he's extremely popular, is still not ashamed to say he'd rather play golf with his dad than with any of his friends. And I feel the same way. The hours I've spent on the golf course with my son are among the most precious of my 59 years. We're both deadly serious about our golf but we still always manage to have a ton of laughs and have built some wonderful memories. It's a thrill to see him improve every year, to get longer off the tee than his old man, to be eager to learn more and more about the swing, equipment, strategy, everything about the game. He did Little League and roller hockey when he was young and it always disappointed a sports nut like me that his attitude was "take it or leave it" toward those sports. But golf? He has turned into a fanatic. I get a lot of pleasure knowing that I taught him a lot about the swing and he still comes to me for help when he gets off track. I'm no pro and my meager knowledge can only take him so far but it gets me "warm and fuzzy" knowing he still relies on my advice. He's my icon because when he was 16 we learned he had hydrocephalus - too much fluid on the brain caused my a benign blockage in the ventricles. He was so calm and matter of fact about the whole thing that he became the pillar of strength my wife and I could not. We were crazy with fear and worry but thanks to his bravery and the help of magnificent doctors at LIJ, we got over that hurdle. He's actually had 3 surgeries and I'm knocking on wood as I write this but all now seems to be well. We're just very close. Besides golf we love to watch movies together or just hang out and BS. It's almost scary but on many occasions we've been known to utter the exact same comment at the exact same time. People think he's just like me and, I suppose, in many ways he is but he's also his own man....a young man I am very proud to call My Icon.


3. Pure745
My dad.. he is my Icon..
My dad is everything that I hope to one day be to my children some day when the time comes. My dad is the best golfer I know.. since I was a little kid, he's always been the best. I started beating him when i was about 11 playing in a lot of junior tours/tournaments, I was breaking 80 and giving him a run for it. He introduced me to a sport which at the time was not even cool and I just loved being outside with him. I played baseball primarily (i'm a left, pitcher) but he taught me to play right handed on his clubs and the rest is history. He taught me to play the game right, be a gentlemen and to also have class and sportsmanship. I had a terrible temper and a lot of his words flew over my head then, but now.. it's all I think about and have completely changed my perspective on the game. A lot has happened since then.. writing this post makes it seem almost unreal. In highschool he was diangosed with prostate cancer, he beat it. In college he had to get a stint put in from a heart related issue, he survived. Two years later.. he had a heart attack.. also, survived. 1 year after that, he had a hernia surgery which to this day isn't healed (we think it's a build up of scar tissue from him not getting it fixed) .. so finally he's beating this one too. He's finally at a place where he can start taking light swings with an iron and chip. It's so easy to forget how the game of golf can unite us with the ones we love. Many things have almost taken my dad from me, but he's always beat them. Now.. the only thing I care about is being able to golf with him again. My dad pretty much uses anything that I don't use anymore and wont let me get him anything new and he puts my sister and I before anything else.
My dad is still the best golfer in my eyes, and I would love to give him a pair of ICON's and tell him where and why I got them.


4. wolfpackblack
My icon would be my brother.
My whole life, my younger brother and I have been very close; we’ve always had the tendency to mutually pick up different hobbies and try a variety of things, particularly sports. While the topics and things we pick up change, you can always count on three things: we will both be ferociously competitive, we will both immerse ourselves and obsess over understanding every fundamental or detail, and we will do everything we can to beat the snot out of the other.
Early last January, I took up golf again. When I was 13, I tried using a set of left-handed clubs(I’m a natural lefty) my grandfather had; unfortunately, they were too heavy, too long, and I didn’t have the coordination. I gave them back to my grandpa and waited about 7 years before I picked up another club, this time in righty. I hit a few balls at a driving range with a friend of mine and fell in love with the sport immediately. It wasn’t soon after that I had my brother playing too: we began going to the range, sharing a few clubs I had picked up used, and showing each other tips and instructions we’d seen on the internet. It was a great way to pass the time, but I never had any idea how much it would matter to me today.
After about a month or so of hacking at the range, we were decent enough to make it out onto the course for a full round. The first time out is something I’ll never forget: we played a 6 and a half hour round, in which I shot a 113 and he shot a 116. We fumbled and sliced and shanked and pulled all over that course, but it was a solid 6 and a half hours of talking, laughing, and giving each other a deservedly hard time. In a world that moves way too quickly, golf was the perfect escape to take a break from life and enjoy an afternoon outside. It was just icing on the cake that I beat him. bb.gif
Every step of the way, my brother has been there with me in my golfing experience. From the first day on the tee, to our first lesson, to our first tournament, golf has been something that the two of us share. I’ve played only a few times without him, and whenever I do, it just doesn’t feel right to be on the course. Even when one of the two of us are hurt from another sport and can’t play, we still ride with the other “caddying” for them and keeping them company. We play almost every day during the summer, with the majority of our rounds comprised of just the two of us, desperately trying to beat the other one. I’ve worked my way down to around a 8 handicap, as low as a high 6 about two months ago, in a little under 19 months because of the sharp competitive rivalry keeping me on my feet and practicing as much as possible.
Recently, some things have been changing a lot for me. Without getting into the details, I definitely hit a rough patch with trying to get through all of the crazy stuff with school, trying to find work in such a crap economy, trying to get into a decent law school close by, and to top it all off, being left by a girl I’ve dated for 4 years. It got to the point that the only time I wasn’t absolutely on the brink of insanity was when I was on the course. This past Tuesday, we were playing our usual round at a local course, and I had just gotten some bad news that was really throwing me off. On the third hole, after I’d sliced one hard out of bounds, he pulled his approach into some deep rough near the green as I told him about how the events of my morning had unfolded. He looks at me after I told him the story and said, “you know, when you’re in a bad spot in life, getting up and down makes getting back on track that much sweeter.” He pitches the ball, and puts it onto the green 10 feet from the hole. Then he looks at me and says, “besides, no matter what’s going on, I’ve got your back.” It was like something out of a movie, and it really just struck a chord with me, that no matter what goes on, I’m not alone, and someone is watching my back. It’s little things like that, knowing that I have someone behind me, no matter what happens, that makes things a little better.
Its kind of embarrassing to share something like that, but honestly, I really had to get it off my chest somewhere. When I saw this topic, I knew I needed to share my story about the person in my life who I really couldn’t live without both on the course or in life. He is the one person who keeps me in check, constantly making me a better person by challenging me on and off the course. He is my best friend, and if I could spend every day of the rest of my life playing a round with him, I’d do it in a heartbeat. He may be younger than me, but I know I wouldn’t be the person I am, nor the golfer I am, today without him making my life better. I appreciate everything that he means to me, and I don’t know where I’d be without him. For that reason, I’d love to hook him up and have an excuse to let him know the impact he has on my life.


5. eRod v1.0
My golf icon, would definitely be the person who started this addiction. One of my best friends, J. Rick. We were stationed together back in 1999. We both were pretty new in the military, and this was our first duty assignment. He grew up in PA and played golf all his life. I lived in FL, and never touched a club in my life. blink.gif. We are sitting around one day at our shop just bsing, and Rick mentions that he is going to go to the driving range and asks me if I am interested. I said sure, but I mentioned that I have never played. So, I meet him at the range later that day. He shows up with two bags. He looks at me and says, I am going to make you a good golfer and hands me a old, all leather golf bag, with old old blades in them. Well, I proceeded to hit my first golf balls that night under the giggling eye of my buddy. Left, right, hosel rocket, fat, thin, broken shaft, you name it. I happened that night. He encouraged me to keep at it. So I did. I would meet Rick 3 or 4 times a week to hit at the range. Eventually, I started out playing 9 holes with him, and later 18. This went on for few years, then all of the wars started. Rick and I spent most of our time training and on deployments. We eventually changed duty assignments, but stayed in contact. Whenever we spoke, he would always encourage me to stick with it, which I did. Little did I know it would grow into something that I love more than anything. It's my hobby, obsession, and passion. The best part of this story is that I recently just saw Rick for the first time in 3 years. He gave me some good news. He's accepted a job at one of the units where I live now! He's moving here very shortly, and we will be able to golf together again. Except this time, I will be giving the lessons.

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For the Winners above, please send a PM to Gxgolfer containing your name and address and email address.

Congrats again!

Congrats Guys. Hope you make your "icons" day

Man, i just wish i was a better writer. I really wanted this for my grandpa.

Damn haa. I spent like 30 minutes on mine and really wanted to give back to my dad buy oh well. Congrats to the winners.

Awesome. Congrats to the winners!

Congrats guys, but man I needed new golf shoes. I didn't know I had to write an essay!

Thanks FJ! I can't believe I actually won something! I called my dad today and told him the good news, he was ecstatic. He wants to print it out and keep it.

Congrats guys

Way to go guys! congrats!!

OMG! Did someone actually one-star this because they lost? We seriously need to look at a licensing system where rating privileges are granted only to our more mature members who've moved past holding their breath and stomping their feet.

Anyway, congratulations to all the winners. Well selected, IMO. Definitely made for some good reading. My only regret is that nobody selected me as their icon. Definitely understandable, but regrettable all the same. Thanks to FootJoy for providing this opportunity to the good folks here!

LOL that's pretty pathetic. I just was frustrated because my shoes are pretty much dead and I was hoping that I could win my first pair of decent shoes for my dad and me.

Congrats to all the winners. There were alot of great posts, I am sure it was not easy to choose the winners. Thanks for providing the opportuntiy for us FJ!

Congrats guys!!

Congrats to the winners and thanks to Footjoy and golfWRX for this great contest!

Many, many thanks to FootJoy and GolfWrx! I cannot wait to surprise my dad with this one!!!! There were so many great stories, and after reading so many I was compelled to write. I really appreciate the acknowledgement, and can't wait to pick them out with dad. Thanks again!

Chris

Thanks a ton! I told my brother tonight and he definitely was excited. The best part is that he doesn't own a pair of golf shoes, so this is huge for him! I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to get my story out there; every day in this life is a blessing, and having the opportunity to share it with the people who mean the most to you on an amazing course is definitely one of the biggest joys I've had the opportunity to experience in my life.

Congratulations guys! I look forward to hearing a report on these shoes. I am digging the look of them and very interested to hear about the performance. I know a lot of people are upset about losing the Classics, but I could not stand the feel of them. They killed my feet. I loved the look, but needed much more comfort. Hopefully these will do that.

Winners, please PM me your name, address and email address.

I finally have gotten around to getting back on the site. I've been so busy with work, but what a great surprise. Thanks so much to GolfWRX and Footjoy for a great contest. I told my buddy that we won, and he was so pumped. Can't wait to pick out the shoes!