'There’s not too many people that get this opportunity': Tony Romo and dad Ramiro compete in State Amateur

TOWN OF ERIN — As he walked off the 18th hole, with the sun setting in the background, Tony Romo summed up playing Erin Hills in a sentence.

“This is a gem,” the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Burlington native said Monday.

Romo is back in the Badger State this week competing in the 122nd Wisconsin State Amateur Championship, but it’s his first time playing the championship-level course.

“It’s pure,” Romo said. “This is one of my favorite golf courses (from) playing it today. … (But) it’s one you probably want to see before you’ve played, no question.”

With the four-day State Amateur starting Monday, it meant a quick turnaround for the now NFL broadcaster coming off the American Century Championship, where he finished eighth this past weekend in Lake Tahoe.

Getting to Wisconsin from Nevada was “a process,” he said, as his flight was delayed taking off Sunday night.

“Didn’t get in until about 3:30 this morning,” Romo said Monday. “It was a long weekend and long week, but today was always going to be a little bit of a rounder. Got to push through and grind.”

He finished at 5-over-par 77 in Monday’s opening round.

Dad, Ramiro, also competing in the field

Tony isn’t the only Romo competing at Erin Hills this week, as his dad, Ramiro, is part of the 156-player field as well.

“It’s so exciting being with dad here,” Tony said. “(For) him getting in at 66 years old …. That's a cool moment.”

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for Ramiro, who according to Tony is “playing some of the best golf of his life.”

Ramiro finished third in the Meadowbrook Country Club-Racine qualifier for the State Amateur.

“I was as thrilled as heck to be able to qualify for this knowing that my son was going to be competing in it,” Ramiro said.

He added: “Meadowbrook (is) my home course, as a matter of fact, which made it all more satisfying to me.”

Then last week, before traveling to see Tony play in Lake Tahoe, Ramiro won the State Senior Four-Ball Championship at The Bull at Pinehurst Farms in Sheboygan Falls on July 11.

The father-son duo are also business partners in Range Time Golf, a year round golf facility with driving ranges and golf simulators in Sturtevant. Ramiro is the majority owner of it while Tony is one of its investors.

So with golf being a big part of not only their relationship but the entire Romo family’s life, Ramiro said it is special to compete in the State Amateur alongside his son.

“There’s not too many people that get this opportunity,” Ramiro said. “To be able to play with your son in a big tournament like this, compete and then talk about stuff at the dinner table that night after we get done, it’s wonderful. I’ll cherish (these memories) forever.”

Golfing in home state has been fun for Tony Romo

This year’s State Amateur is the third Tony is competing in since his retirement from the Cowboys in 2017. He tied for 13th in 2018 at Minocqua Country Club and tied for 49th last year at Sand Valley.

“It's been fun and that's why I come home,” Romo said on why he returns home to compete in golf events. “I know all these guys.”

Though he hasn’t won a State Amateur before, he’s picked up a few hubcaps since his playing days.

The four-time Pro Bowl selection won his third American Century Championship title last year following a three-man playoff with Dallas Stars forward and Wisconsin native Joe Pavelski and former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder.

And though he may no longer be suited up in a NFL uniform looking to throw a touchdown pass, there remains some football in his golf swing.

It makes sense, in fact.

“I figured out how to sequence the backswing. I've always started a little bit in the backswing with the way that I moved off the ball, just functionally getting into the right weight distribution,” Romo said.

“How you pivot and get into things matters through the very quick transition aspect and I think that I finally figured that out in the last three or four months. That's a lot of the ball strength developed quite a bit. Things that used to be tougher, not quite as tough, but it's always a work in progress and you got to keep improving.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: NFL analyst Tony Romo and dad compete in Wisconsin State Amateur golf