Conor Havstad has always had a love for golf — a passion his 3-year-old son, Theodore, was quick to catch onto.
Theo has been tagging along with his dad to the golf course for the past two years, even wielding his own set of left-handed clubs. While Conor cherishes these father-son outings, there are times when the 31-year-old just wants to play solo or hang out with friends — without a toddler in tow.
To avoid the inevitable tantrums that come with being left behind, Conor came up with a clever strategy: he started hiding his golf clothes under regular work attire and told Theo he was off to the office instead.
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“I know how much he loves the game and he just wants to play along, but I have to keep working on my game so he doesn’t beat me one day,” Havstad told PEOPLE exclusively.
Despite his love for the sport, Conor’s busy schedule only allows him to get in a full round of 18 holes about twice a month. And although he brings Theo with him “99% of the time,” sometimes he just needs a little space — hence, the harmless white lie.
In May 2025, Conor and his wife, Emma Havstad, took a trip to Nashville to visit family — golf clubs in tow. One particularly long day on the course ended with Emma and her mother picking up Theo early. The toddler wasn’t having it. He screamed and begged to stay.
“The next day they decided to go without [Theo] and they had to hide the golf clubs in the car and bring their clothes with them to the zoo so he wouldn’t know they were leaving early to go golf,” Emma, 32, recalled. “He still cried when they left, but was easily re-distracted by the zoo, and that’s where it all began.”
Before that moment, the couple hadn’t felt the need to keep their golf plans under wraps, especially since Conor genuinely enjoys golfing with his son. But once they saw how well their “work” story played out, it became the go-to excuse.
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Emma later posted a video on TikTok showing Conor layering a brown work uniform over his golf clothes. The clip went viral, racking up over 13 million views. Hundreds of parents flooded the comments, applauding their clever parenting hack.
“Even when you feel guilty, remember you deserve it,” Emma said. “We work hard raising our kids and we deserve to have some moments alone from time to time.”
Conor agreed: “As parents, we give everything to our kids. It’s nice to enjoy our hobbies that we had before having kids.”
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While Conor and Theo may be the golfing duo everyone’s talking about, Emma is no stranger to the sport either. “I also golf — I do love to go along as well and beat my husband,” she laughed.
Emma, who manages her family’s winery, EmmaLily, says Conor is always quick to support her passions too — whether she’s traveling for work or heading out for a girls’ night.
