It's the Mark of a True Golf Ball

The Story of
Scruffy & Pals
by Scruffy

Dad started with a simple idea for his golf ball, that has blossomed into Scruffy & Pals. It has been a long and sometimes painful journey, but I wouldn't have wanted to take it with anyone but him. Let me tell you how this all came about. Let's see now; where do I start?
Oh yea ...

Dad is an avid golfer and, like most people who love the game, he is afflicted with the challenge of repeating the perfect swing and having that instant gratification that follows the perfect shot. Realizing that his shots were usually far from perfect, Dad knew right away that having a unique mark on his ball would come in handy as he traipsed through the high grass and around the woods, looking for his errant shots.

How Do They Know
Which Ball is Theirs?

Being an artist and a little different than most folks, Dad said, "if I'm gonna mark my ball, I'm gonna use something besides a dot or circle. If everyone uses a dot or circle, how the heck do they know which ball is theirs? After all, how much talent does it take to put a dot on a ball?"

Mom marks her ball with a red marker by making a smiley face with curly hair. One of Dad's golfing buddies marks his ball with a pair of eyes and a nose with a mustache - he calls it "Dizz". Dad says that's because with all the topspin his buddy puts on the ball, it must get dizzy.

Scruffy, Where Are You?

Not to be outdone, Dad started drawing different cartoon characters on his golf balls and named all of them Scruffy, because I was always scruffed up from rococheting in the tree trunks, bouncing off golf cart paths and any other inanimate objects that happened to be in the line of flight. Other players found me interesting and began calling me by name. Soon Dad discovered my unique personality and actually started talking to me on the golf course.

I know this sounds a little weird, but there are times when I can hear him screaming at me as I fly toward a tree or head for a landing in deep grass. He'll tell me to "turn right, Scruffy, turn right" or "get down, Scruffy, get down"! And then one day, the inevitable happened - Dad lost me! Thank goodness another golfer found me, recognized my face and returned me to Dad. That convinced him of another good reason to have me on his golf ball.

With Dad and I getting so close, I thought it was time to lay down a few ground rules to play by. I asked him to line me up on the greens with my eyes looking at the hole, so I can see where I am going. When he tees me up on the tee box, point me facing down the fairway so as not to smack me in the face and knock me silly. I'd also like to be washed and dried off from time to time. It's tough to see the fairway and flag with dirt in your eyes!

When people started asking Dad to draw some characters on golf balls to give as gifts, Mom and my sister convinced him that he needed to think about starting a business with Scruffy. But Dad said that he wouldn't do that with just one character. I would have to have some pals! So he started with Knothead and Hoss and thus began the series of Scruffy & Pals. This is how we looked on the first balls he drew. We were pretty rugged then, before we had the copyrights and trademarks stamped on our behinds!

AND LOOK AT US NOW!



Scruffy & Pals is now an ongoing series of unique and humorous cartoon characters. Each of my pals either plays golf or is connected to it in some way, and we will be giving our opinions and tips on this website.


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If you'd like to meet my Dad, please click on Meet the Artist.

Click on this logo to go back to my Pals.



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