Chatelain: Christopher Atkinson follows in the footsteps of his hole-in-one daddy

On the third Saturday of May, cars lined Cypress Drive in southwest Omaha and followed the scent of pulled pork and shredded chicken into the house on the corner. A Gretna High School graduate — tall and skinny with sandy blond hair — stood at the door, greeting family and friends.

Inside, photo boards and tables documented Christopher Atkinson’s 18 years of childhood, from baby pictures to Halloween costumes, birthday parties to family vacations, high school dances to golf trips. All the scenes a kid takes for granted. All the moments a parent cherishes.

Photo boards and tables document the childhood of Christopher Atkinson, who recently graduated from Gretna High School.

LORI ATKINSON

Graduation culminated a lot of hard work. It also inspired reflection. Late in the evening, an old family friend summoned Christopher to the kitchen. Terry Beutler had studied the photo collages, gravitating to the 2008 image from San Diego. Of a father holding a 5-year-old sandy blond boy.

“Puts a lump in your throat,” Beutler said.

He remembered John Atkinson well. His quick wit and practical jokes. His passion for family and business. His fairy-tale 18 holes with Justin Timberlake on the Pacific Ocean cliffs, when a 39-year-old with cancer somehow beat out 56,000 strangers and inspired millions more. Did that experience really happen? Was it all a dream?

Beutler had proof. From his pocket, he pulled a memento he’d kept for 13 years. A treasure that brought him good luck at golf courses across Omaha. Now it was time to give it to one of the state’s best teenage golfers, the pride and joy of the party, John Atkinson’s only son.

Christopher, this is for you.

Back in the ’90s, with full heads of hair and time to spare, these Westside Warriors — class of 1987 — used to stand around Omaha bar tables. Drinking beers, telling stories and summoning the courage to approach girls. Occasionally, they joked about who would die first.

It was the kind of question you ponder when you’re invincible. Nobody would’ve guessed John Atkinson. No way.

John was the smart, responsible, decisive, frugal friend. The standout defensive back who made the Shrine Bowl. The leader who ran his own lawn care business in high school. The only guy who left college with more money than he started with.

“We were all broke,” Beutler said. “He saved his money. That was John. He was always thinking ahead.”

One spring night at a Millard bar, American Classics, another Westside classmate, Lori Krajicek, approached Beutler and he thought for sure he was going to get her number. Instead, the shy blond revealed a secret: She’d always liked John.

John and Lori married a year later, 1994, and started a family. Two girls and a boy. John transitioned from broadcast news photography to pharmaceutical sales and quickly ascended to management.

That group of Westside friends matured and shifted their social gatherings from Friday nights at the bar to Saturday mornings at the golf course.

John only played once a week — 6:45 a.m. at Indian Creek — but he improved enough to break 80 on a good day. But John had his flaws.

“A windy day would send him into a tailspin,” Beutler said. “We still make fun of him on a windy day. ‘Thank God John’s not here; it’d be a six-hour round.’”

One winter, he put up a net in his basement and pounded thousands of balls. Come spring, he stepped to the first tee at Indian Creek and shanked his first four irons. His buddies tried to conceal their smirks. They walked off the first green and wondered if John might snap one of those irons over his knee. Instead, he cracked a joke.

“Well, that was a waste of four months.”

The best John story? One day, he’s playing the 13th hole at Quarry Oaks with a set of Ping irons he should’ve replaced by now. Just as his 2-iron makes impact, the ball flies forward but the clubhead detaches and flies off into the woods. We’re talking deeeeep woods.

Beutler quote

“A windy day would send him into a tailspin. We still make fun of him on a windy day. ‘Thank God John’s not here; it’d be a six-hour round.’”

— Terry Beutler

John looks as long as he can, then moves on. But he’s so distraught that he goes home, rents a metal detector and returns to conduct a complete search. He waves one group through, then another, then another.

“He must’ve had six groups go through thinking ‘What is this crazy guy doing?’ He didn’t care,” friend Brian Sattem said.

He didn’t find his 2-iron, but he didn’t go down without a fight.

In summer 2006, the golf swings got harder. Atkinson started feeling a pain in his right shoulder. Was he sleeping on it awkwardly? Did he pull a muscle? The pain intensified, puzzling doctors, too.

In March 2007, a CT revealed the cause. Stage IV lung cancer. Inoperable. Survival rate? One percent.

It didn’t make any sense. John never smoked. Was it fertilizer? Weed killer? Radon? Or just bad luck? How could he ever know?

Atkinson broke the news to Beutler during one of their monthly sushi luncheons. I’m going to beat it, John insisted. Beutler tried to believe him. That night, standing in his driveway, Beutler looked up through the light haze of Omaha and — for one of the first times in his life — saw a shooting star. “Oh my God,” he thought, “that is a sign.”

So Beutler did something a grown man would never do. He made a wish.

“Let John be the one.”

Three months later, June 2007, the U.S. Open came to Oakmont, where the world’s greatest golfer described the Pennsylvania pressure cooker.

“If you’re a 10-handicapper,” Tiger Woods said, “there is no way you’re breaking 100 out there.”

Was Tiger right? The editors at Golf Digest got an idea. What if they hosted a contest? Identify one above-average amateur golfer and let him try to break 100 at the next U.S. Open venue in tournament conditions. Better yet, pair him with three golf-loving celebrities with the same goal: Matt Lauer, Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake.

Golf Digest presented the U.S. Open Challenge in fall 2007. Candidates could submit a 100-word nomination essay to make their case. John Atkinson had more important concerns, but he needed a goal and — maybe — a distraction.

Wouldn’t it be “so cool” to play a U.S. Open course a week before the tournament, he told his brother, Kevin. That was his favorite phrase. “So cool.” You could even caddy for me!

In December, John started writing.

“Golf gives me great pride, inspiration and strength as I continue teeing it up with my friends. Nothing’s better than (beating) your buddies while on chemotherapy!

“If I can beat America’s deadliest cancer, then I can definitely break 100 at its Open. Everybody will witness a man with a heart of a champion and a soul of a survivor. More importantly, you will understand why you never, never NEVER give up!”

Among 56,374 essays, John’s jumped to the top of the judges’ pile. He made the top 11.

A follow-up round of in-person interviews narrowed the list to five finalists. Atkinson made the cut. So cool. Then it came down to fans in an online poll. Let John be the one! Atkinson routed the competition, receiving 48,756 of 117,331 total votes.

In May 2008, John celebrated his son’s fifth birthday and packed for San Diego. His friends organized a dress rehearsal at Indian Creek, following John to simulate a big audience. NBC Nightly News recorded the whole thing, one of several media appearances before the big event.

The first week of June, Atkinson had just returned from a family day at Sea World when he got a call in his hotel room. A familiar voice invited him to play a practice round the following day.

The night before the Challenge, NBC’s Dan Hicks praised the fan club of 60 Atkinson friends and family who traveled to San Diego to cheer him. “Sixty-one!” Timberlake shouted.

The next day opened bright and sunny over the Pacific Ocean, with barely a breath of wind. A good sign? NBC cameras captured the big crowd at the first tee. There was legendary Johnny Miller calling the action. And two-time British Open champion Greg Norman, caddying for Lauer. And Masters champ Fred Couples walking alongside.

Romo and Timberlake missed the fairway left. Lauer hooked his ball into trouble.

John figured his best chance to break 100 was keeping the ball in the short grass, so he pulled hybrid and took one practice swing.

NFL quarterback Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake congratulate John Atkinson after his tee shot on the first hole during the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge at the Torrey Pines Golf Course.

SCOTT HALLERAN

“I have never been more scared in my life,” Kevin says looking back. “I can’t imagine swinging that club.”

“Me as a hack golfer,” Beutler said, “I’m thinking, don’t shank it, don’t shank it.”

John smoothed a little fade down the left side of the fairway and the crowd roared. Romo and Timberlake planted their hands on his shoulders and celebrated. Then they ventured off on a five-hour obstacle course. Lauer triple bogeyed the first. Romo four-putted No. 3. Timberlake made a 10 at the ninth.

Atkinson bogeyed the first four holes — a perfect pace to break 100. But trouble arrived at No. 5.

“John was never a good bunker player,” Kevin said. “When he went in the bunker, my dad and I looked at each other like, ‘Oh no.’ It took him a while to get out.”

John played a three-hole stretch in 26 strokes and finished his front nine with 59. Friends could tell his body was tired. He’d struggled to walk nine holes back home in Omaha, let alone 18 at 7,643-yard Torrey Pines.

Did he want a cart? No, John said. He kept smiling, bantering, feeding off the crowd. “He was going to enjoy every minute of that round,” Kevin said.

On the 18th tee at Torrey Pines, 40 strokes over par, John finally pulled out his driver. Why not? He striped it down the fairway. His USGA-appointed caddy — renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella — laid down the golf bag. Kevin ducked under the ropes and picked it up, holding his brother’s hand up the 18th fairway.

“We cried the whole way,” Kevin said. “We were just kinda walking on a cloud.”

Romo shot 84 — his goal was 80. Timberlake made par for 98. Lauer hit 100 exactly. John tapped in his final putt for a 114 and received hugs from his playing partners.

“John,” Timberlake said, “you’re my hero.”

The following Sunday — Father’s Day — Atkinson’s family and friends gathered to watch the tape-delayed NBC broadcast, which led into the U.S. Open final round. Tiger Woods, playing on a torn ACL, buried a birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff, which he won the following day.

Remembering John Atkinson’s U.S. Open Challenge in 2008.

Atkinson stayed in touch with the celebrities. He flew to New York to appear with Lauer on “Today.” Timberlake called to check in. Norman made an improbable run at the British Open in July, finishing third at age 53. He called John that night.

Over the next year, Atkinson tried to maintain his swing, celebrated his 40th birthday and fought the spreading cancer every way he could, always believing the next drug would be the shooting star. Make preparations for death? No, he said. I got this.

On Memorial Day weekend, the Westside crew of 1987 gathered for one last wedding, squeezing together for one last group photo. John leaned on his friends, toting his oxygen tank.

A few days later, John was in the ICU when Lori suggested he give a Father’s Day message to each of his kids. If he could say something, she’d write it down.

He wasn’t speaking clearly, but she tried to piece together John’s message to Christopher.

“One of my favorite times of year is coming up — it’s Father’s Day. During the U.S. Open Challenge, I learned how to strive through adversity and always stay positive. … I enjoyed every moment, but especially walking up the 16th hole seeing you holding your sign supporting me.”

The NBC broadcast had captured it, too. A sandy-haired blond sitting with his sisters in the shade, waiting for the golfers to walk by. His sign said: “Hole-in-one daddy.”

Calls and cards came in from strangers across the country. The funeral line at Countryside Community Church strung around the building.

But eventually after John’s death, public attention faded and Lori had to put her family back together. Grandparents helped a lot. Aunts and uncles, too.

One day, uncle Kevin loaded up the kids and drove them to the Tiburon driving range, where he surveyed the raw talents of John’s girls and his own. He nicknamed one “Wild One.” Another “Twisty.” But the swing that caught his eye was the youngest. The lefty. The only boy. “Sweetness,” Kevin called him.

Gretna’s Christopher Atkinson watches his drive off the first hole in the second round of the state golf championship at Norfolk Country Club on May 26.

JUSTIN KIES

“You looked at his swing and thought, dang, where did that come from? His swing was just pure.”

Christopher noticed his dad’s absence at certain moments, like when he wanted to throw the football around the yard.

“It’s not the same when you’re throwing it with a sister,” he said. “They don’t really know how.”

But for the most part, he learned to do things on his own. “I kinda became an independent person.”

The girls found passions in education and art. Christopher loved basketball and baseball. But he continued playing golf with grandpas on Saturday mornings.

He first broke par as an eighth-grader. Freshman year, he made varsity at Gretna and shot 74 at conference. “I was shocked,” Christopher said. Most of his Class A peers had competed in tournaments since grade school; he was just warming up.

Inexperience came with drawbacks. He didn’t understand the commitment necessary — or his potential. One day, Christopher texted his new instructor, Jon Petersen, a few minutes before a lesson. He couldn’t make it to the Tiburon range, he said. He didn’t have a ride.

Petersen ripped him. You’re only half a mile away. Start walking!

Despite a few reservations from his family, he dropped basketball and baseball, committing fully to golf.

On June 11, 2020, the 11th anniversary of his father’s death, Lori and daughter Machaela climbed into a cart at Beatrice Country Club to follow Christopher in the state’s Junior PGA tournament. An old scorecard hung from the steering wheel, with two names.

Christopher’s middle name is John — CJ. It must be a sign, Lori thought. Her son chased down the leaders, his first big win.

“He had that look,” Petersen said. “That was the telling point that the kid could play.”

Back in the 2000s, with hair thinning and schedules crunched, John Atkinson and Terry Beutler used to daydream about their kids over sushi lunches.

I hope they have as much fun as we did — but aren’t as stupid. I hope they find someone who loves them for who they are.

The Atkinson kids, buoyed by a strong mother, keep meeting goals. Machaela is getting married. Andrea is thriving in college.

In January, Christopher accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His Gretna team broke all kinds of school records this spring and Christopher won the Metro Conference championship — just like uncle Kevin did in 1989.

His success came out of nowhere for friends and family. But it’s given them another reason to rally together. John Atkinson’s gallery of fans in San Diego is now Christopher’s fan club in Nebraska. In the sweet-swinging lefty, they see the father who first put a club in his hand.

They see John’s athleticism and hand-eye coordination. His dedication and drive. His optimism and poise under pressure. But Christopher can play in the wind.

“He is such a better player than his dad ever was,” Kevin said. “He’s charting his own path. He’s on a mission to be the best golfer he can be. As John would say, it is sooo cool.”

Three days after his conference win, Christopher walked across a stage in cap and gown. At his graduation party, Terry Beutler approached him in the kitchen with a keepsake. A gift that John had given him 13 years ago after the U.S. Open Challenge.

A ball marker from Torrey Pines. The same one John carried for 18 holes.

Two days later, armed with his new good-luck charm, Christopher won districts with a 67, his best competitive round.

Gretna’s Christopher Atkinson watches his drive on the fourth hole at Eagle Hills during the District A-3 tournament. The Dragons finished fourth in the team standings to advance to state.

JOEY WALLER, BELLEVUE LEADER

Golf is a slog — a sport you pursue over a lifetime, a marathon of peaks and valleys, a maddening quest shoving you away and pulling you back, over and over again. But on the good days? The game is magical.

This past Thursday morning, as the U.S. Open returned to Torrey Pines — the first major there since 2008 — Christopher competed in the men’s state match play in Gothenburg.

On a 100-degree day, 1,500 miles from the Pacific, with his mom following nervously nearby and grandpa John on the bag, Christopher rallied from three down with three to play — birdie, par, birdie — to beat one of his teenage rivals. When his tying 10-foot putt dropped on 18, he pumped his fist like Tiger.  

If you daydream a bit, you might wonder what Christopher would shoot at Torrey Pines. 100? 90? 80? You wonder how much further golf will take him. 

Friends and family will keep looking for signs … as the boy with the hole-in-one daddy keeps tracing footsteps.

John Atkinson at a practice round at Indian Creek holding son Christopher. More than a decade after his father’s death, Christopher has accepted a golf scholarship to the University of Nebraska at Omaha and is one of the state’s best teenage golfers.

LORI ATKINSON Golf courses in the Omaha metro area Bay Hills Golf Club

Bay Hills Golf Club: Plattsmouth

BRODY HILGENKAMP, BELLEVUE LEADER Benson Park Golf Course

Benson Park Golf Course: Omaha

REBECCA S. GRATZ, THE WORLD-HERAL Bent Tree Golf Club

Bent Tree Golf Club: Council Bluffs

KENT SIEVERS, THE WORLD-HERALD Champions Run

Champions Run: Omaha

MATT MILLER, THE WORLD-HERALD Dodge Riverside Golf Club

Dodge Riverside Golf Club: Council Bluffs

ALYSSA SCHUKAR, THE WORLD-HERALD Eagle Hills

Eagle Hills: Papillion

KENT SIEVERS, THE WORLD-HERALD Eagle Run Golf Course

Eagle Run Golf Course: Omaha

BRYNN ANDERSON, THE WORLD-HERALD Elkhorn Ridge Golf Course

Elkhorn Ridge Golf Course: Elkhorn

RICH JANDA, THE WORLD-HERALD Elmwood Park Golf Course

Elmwood Park Golf Course: Omaha

CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD Field Club of Omaha

Field Club of Omaha: Omaha

RICH JANDA, THE WORLD-HERALD Happy Hollow Club

Happy Hollow Club: Omaha

STU POSPISIL, THE WORLD-HERALD Indian Creek Golf Course

Indian Creek Golf Course: Elkhorn

CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD Johnny Goodman Golf Course

Johnny Goodman Golf Course: Omaha

REBECCA S. GRATZ, THE WORLD-HERALD Miracle Hill Golf & Tennis Center

Miracle Hill Golf & Tennis Center: Omaha

ANNA REED, THE WORLD-HERALD Omaha Country Club

Omaha Country Club: Omaha

MATT MILLER, THE WORLD-HERALD Pacific Springs

Pacific Springs: Omaha

CHRIS MACHIAN, THE WORLD-HERALD Platteview Country Club

Platteview Country Club: Bellevue

KATHERINE LESZCZYNSKI Players Club

Players Club: Omaha

BILL BATSON, THE WORLD-HERALD Shadow Ridge Country Club

Shadow Ridge Country Club: Omaha

MATT MILLER, THE WORLD-HERALD Spring Lake Golf Course

Spring Lake Golf Course: Omaha

JOEY WALLER Steve Hogan Golf Course

Steve Hogan Golf Course: Omaha

LILY SMITH, THE WORLD-HERALD Stone Creek Golf Course

Stone Creek Golf Course: Omaha

BRENDAN SULLIVAN/WORLD-HERALD Tara Hills Golf Course

Tara Hills Golf Course: Papillion

VINCE MANCUSO Tiburon Golf Club

Tiburon Golf Club: Omaha

JOEY WALLER Tregaron Golf Course

Tregaron Golf Course: Bellevue 

KEVIN HOUCK, BELLEVUE LEADER Warren Swigart Golf Course

Warren Swigart Golf Course: Omaha

KILEY CRUSE, THE WORLD-HERALD Westwood Heights Golf Course

Westwood Heights Golf Course: Omaha

MATT MILLER, THE WORLD-HERALD Willow Lakes Golf Course

Willow Lakes Golf Course: Bellevue

KEVIN HOUCK, BELLEVUE LEADER

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