On May 26, Lindsay Milne, her boyfriend Kevin Grant and her dad Jeff had a 2 p.m. tee time at Wenham Country Club. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and the trio were playing well on the back nine.
Suddenly, on the 18th tee, Jeff said he had to visit the locker room and rushed toward the clubhouse. Lindsay and Kevin continued their round and when they reached the green, Lindsay got upset when Kevin stepped in the line of her 10-foot par putt. “What are you doing jackass, get out of the way!” she barked.
Seconds later, Kevin was down on one knee asking Lindsay to be his wife.
Dad Jeff, who was a co-conspirator in the marriage proposal plan, had rushed off to get his camera to capture the moment. He was in the parking lot, hiding between two cars. Also watching were Lindsay’s mom Paula and her husband John Filias of Essex and Jeff’s wife Jody Collins of Manchester-by-the-Sea.
Other witnesses included players on the 10th tee who cheered and applauded. Wenham CC owner Norm Tarr and head pro Ryan McDonald were happy participants too, rearranging the tee times so a flying Titleist from behind wouldn’t interrupt the proposal.
The family then celebrated with dinner at CK Pearl in Essex. “Normally the best eater at the table, Kevin was still so nervous he couldn’t eat,” said Jeff.
Kevin admits he was nervous as hell. He had special golf balls made – one side featured a picture of them both, the other side had the phrase “Marry Me?” – and anxiously tried to find an inconspicuous way to switch balls in the hole. In doing so, he stepped in her line. She missed the putt.
Lindsay was totally surprised, and speechless. “I had no idea,” she said.
“I made sure to get a verbal ‘yes’ before we left the green,” said Kevin, then laughed.
“I wanted to surprise her and pick something and some place that was meaningful to her,” said Kevin, who grew up in New York state and works for the Federal Aviation Adminstration. “She and her dad had played here at Wenham often since the start of the pandemic, and Lindsay and I enjoy playing golf.”
In 2020 when COVID arrived, Lindsay left her marketing job in Minnesota, moved back to Manchester and caught the golf bug. “My dad and I were here at Wenham three or four days a week,” she said. She also worked in the WCC pro shop five days a week then.
“I spent more time with my daughter than I did in 10 years,” added Jeff, with a smile. “Golf was the first sport to open and we played 32 rounds from August to December. She had started dating Kevin about that time and over the next few years we all played at
Wenham on a regular basis.”
Lindsay is now VP of Marketing for Meet Boston (formerly the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau). A graduate of the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts, she was previously VP of Marketing for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx basketball teams. While at UMass, she interned for NBC Sports coverage of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in Italy.
Lindsay and Kevin have been inseparable since they met in 2020, though it took a while for them to get together. Lindsay’s aunt worked at Beverly Hospital and met Kevin’s sister Connie, who had joined the traveling nurse program. Through chats, the two boasted about their “kids” and decided that the two had a lot in common and would be a perfect match.
“All June and July, Connie told me about her brother. Months went by. In October I finally heard from Kevin. He texted me and asked me out.”
“I’d never been to the North Shore before. I let her pick where we should meet.”
“He thought Revere was the North Shore,” added Lindsay, who suggested CK Pearl in Essex. They dined on the outside deck. The evening sped by. They both knew they definitely wanted a second date. Their third date was a round of golf. “It was at Cape Ann, but keep that on the down low,” laughed Lindsay.
When Kevin’s and Lindsay’s parents first met in August, it was at CK Pearl.
A September 2024 wedding is planned. Date, site and particulars are yet to be decided.
It’s also not known if the officiant will ask “Do you Lindsay, take this jackass to be your husband, to live together in (holy) matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”
