In celebration of American Father’s Day, Global Golf Post Plus has shared a collection of stories on how the bond between fathers and their children is strengthened through the game. Today, Jim Dodson writes of a love of the game that has become something of a family tradition.

“I sometimes stand out here and think about my father,” admits Jim McNair Jr. “He’s the reason we’re here, after all. I believe he would be blown away by this project. It’s going to be incredible, like Pine Valley on steroids in places.”

McNair, a lean and youthful 63, sitting astride his mud-spackled John Deere Gator, waves a sun-tanned hand over a 13-acre tract of rolling land where he and longtime superintendent, Gary Frazier, have spent weeks on bulldozers pulling pine trees and sculpting a combination nine-hole short course and dual practice areas for the Aiken, South Carolina, First Tee organization and the golf squad of the University of South Carolina Aiken. Brent McGee, long an associate of McNair’s, also is a partner in the project.

At a time when modern golf courses tend to be built by teams of specialized workers and multiple design experts, McNair is something of an unapologetic throwback – a fellow who sees the project in his head and prefers to create it by his own hand, serving as both designer and crew boss.

“For better or worse,” he says with a laugh. “It seems to be in the bloodline, something of a family tradition.”