Marty DiClemente had entered tournaments at Greystone for years. Member-guest competitions, team events, the annual Grey Cup. He'd been part of winning teams before, but never as an individual champion.
Then came the inaugural Father-Son Tournament, and his son Braden said something that shifted everything: "I think we can go win it."
They did.
Twenty years of golf together had built something more valuable than a big win. A partnership where advice flows both directions.
Marty's tendency to overthink finds balance in Braden's steady calm.
Marty remembers the early years clearly. Teaching etiquette came first. The right clothes, carrying extra tees and markers, conducting yourself properly on the course.
"There have been times like 'Dad, can you just lay off and let us play?' and I'm like, 'No, you got to do this right,'" Marty recalls.
But something shifted as the years passed. The student-teacher dynamic changed. Now, when Marty struggles with his game, his sons offer the same advice he once gave them.
"What goes around comes around," Braden says with a smile.
Braden developed a laid-back approach to the game that complements his father's tendency to overthink.
"If something goes the wrong way, there's always another day, kind of like going to the next hole," Braden explains. "That's how I try to be in the real world, not get upset about things or let them weigh down on me."
Golf became a framework for the DiClemente family.
"You're looking at four hours of just dad and the kids, unmitigated, nonstop. There's not much outside that's going on. We're in the cart together, hanging out together, talking about the sport together," Marty says. "A lot of sports don't give you that one-on-one time. Tennis might be an hour. Golf is four hours, sometimes four to five depending on having a drink after."
That time adds up. Over twenty years, those rounds became the backdrop for their relationship. Braden remembers his dad trying to balance teaching with letting them just play. Marty remembers watching his sons get good enough to offer him the same advice he once gave them.
Living near the course made spontaneous practice sessions possible. Braden grew up with two golf courses close by, eventually moving to a house right on the Legacy Course during high school.
"It's been even better. We've got a view of the course. It's awesome to see people playing all the time, and it allows us to go out there and just practice," he says.
"We eat there quite often. Sometimes we just go for drinks," Marty says. When his older son got engaged, the club hosted the engagement party—over 100 people, with most of them fellow members. "Greystone has brought us together for sure," Marty reflects.
Braden appreciated growing up in the Greystone environment. The pool, pickleball courts, and basketball court meant his friends who were also members had multiple reasons to spend time together.
Marty sees golf as one of his best decisions for his family. The sport gave him time with his sons during years when that time easily could have slipped away. It created a shared language and shared memories with his family. It helped him teach life lessons about handling disappointment and supporting each other through challenges.
For Braden, growing up with golf as a constant meant developing skills like patience, strategic thinking, grace under pressure, and the ability to move forward when things don't go as planned. The etiquette his father insisted on teaching turned into confidence in different settings.
That's what four hours on a course can build when you show up consistently for two decades.