THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: The shot of her life — to honor her dad’s life

It was a drizzly day last Sunday at Priest Lake, when some 80 of Markus Ward’s family members and closest friends gathered at Priest Lake Golf Course for a tournament to honor him. 

Markus Ward, girl dad, athlete, youth coach, friend and Sandpoint resident for some 30 years, passed away suddenly in May at age 57. 

When Kinzie Ward, the youngest of Markus and Tina’s two daughters, a volleyball coach at Sandpoint High and a former Bulldog athlete, arrived at the 17th tee, the drizzle stopped and the drama began. 

THE TOURNAMENT was a two-person modified Chapman, where each player tees off, then they pick one drive and hit alternate shot from there.  

Tina, her mom, was her partner. 

The other twosome in the group was Kinzie’s sister, Kaitlan Ward, also a former Sandpoint High athlete, and Kaitlan’s boyfriend Clayton Fournier. 

As they got ready to tee off, the group behind them, which included some of Markus’ longtime friends, pulled up. 

Clayton hit first, from the men’s tees. 

Tina hit next. 

Up stepped Kinzie, 22.  

Priest Lake Golf Course was a course the Ward family had played often, Priest Lake being a nice place for the family to get away over the years. 

Kinzie recalls swinging a golf club when she was old enough to walk, first in the family backyard, later at the course formerly known as Hidden Lakes — once she got out of her baby car seat. 

The par-3 17th hole was the group’s second-to-last hole — the tourney had a shotgun start, and they started on No. 1. 

No. 17 was playing at 142 yards from the ladies tees. The green was elevated, where you could see the top of the flagstick, but not the hole itself. 

Kinzie pulled out a 9-iron and swung. 

“It just felt like the best swing of my life,” Kinzie recalled. “I knew it was a good shot.” 

Kinzie and the others watched the tee shot bounce in front of the flag — and then the ball went out of sight. 

“I think it’s a hole-in-one,” said Kaitlan, 26, who then hurriedly hit her tee shot so the group could go find out for sure. 

“We got up there and there was nothing on the green,” Kinzie said. "Kaitlan looked in the hole and the ball was in there.” 

What followed were lots of tears — “good, happy tears,” Kinzie said — on the green between Kinzie, Kaitlan and Tina. 

“I was in shock and disbelief,” Kinzie said. “I wanted to tell my dad so bad; I feel like I made him proud.” 

WANT MORE irony? 

The family had rented a house on the 17th hole for the weekend. Some of Markus’ family members from California were also staying there. 

“I think we all felt dad was with us in that moment,” Kinzie said. “It was a crazy moment.” 

“It was a beautiful shot right at the pin,” Tina posted on Facebook. “The rain stopped, and the blue sky came out. I know Markus was with us!” 

The group played the 18th hole, then repaired to the clubhouse — in part, to continue the celebration of Markus’ memory, in part because of the tradition whenever a player records a hole-in-one. 

“I had to buy 80 people a shot,” Kinzie said. “So we all took a shot of Fireball.” 

“I couldn’t have scripted it any better,” Kinzie said of the ace. “It made the day 100 percent more special, and to be surrounded by his friends, to be around everyone I love and loved my dad, to share the moment.”

MARKUS WARD, an IT manager at Schweitzer for more than 30 years, coached many of his daughters’ youth teams growing up — he and longtime friend Tye Barlow coached their softball teams. 

“I think he was the best dad and coach I could get in one,” Kinzie recalled. “He was hard on me and he made me earn everything I got. And it made me a better person.” 

How hard? 

“He benched me,” Kinzie recalled, admitting she probably deserved it. 

Kinzie said they plan to create a “shadow box” — with the golf ball from the hole-in-one, surrounded by other memories of her dad. 

“It’s going to be a great memory for us,” Kinzie said.  

“It will always be my fondest memory of him.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.