BROUSSARD - Playing a round of golf with Tee McCabe just might be the most fun a person can have on the golf course, because you never know when that round on the links just might turn into an impromptu magic show.

Better pay close attention because you’ll want to see his wide repertoire of card tricks again and again.

“When I was really young my parents bought me some magic tricks one Christmas and that always interested me,” said McCabe, whose father has his own link to fame as the designer of the irons that Tiger Woods used to win the 1997 Masters. “That was the beginning for me. When I was in college, my buddy knew some card tricks and I knew a couple and we combined them. Every time we’d play poker, we’d swap tricks.

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“Then with the Internet and videos, you can watch them closely and see what’s going on. You can find out how to do a lot of tricks.”

McCabe practiced his craft, both golf and card tricks, and has become good at both.

“My dad was a huge golfer,” said McCabe. “He was a golfer and a club designer and he had a club in my hand when I was three, fours years old.

“I was pounding away when I was young but I got serious about it in my last year of high school.”

But ask him what he likes better, golf or magic tricks, the answer comes quickly.

“I definitely like golf more,” said McCabe. “If you study the psychology of it, we’re always doing things to please ourselves. When I first started doing magic tricks it was cool, people really dig me doing card tricks.

“Now I do it for other people. When I do tricks and see other people’s reaction, that’s what’s cool now. I get a kick out of seeing the reactions.

“On the golf course, if I hit a good shot and other people are clapping, I don’t care about them, I’m just happy for myself.

“It’s just two different types of enjoyment.”

McCabe has been known to pull out the cards during a round and do tricks while waiting for another group to finish.

“Last year with Peter Tomasulo at the last round in Chicago, and these guys were having trouble in the fairway and it looks like we are going to be waiting a while so we start talking about card tricks,” said McCabe. “So I start doing card tricks on the tee box. And some of the fans started moving around to get a better view and I did some tricks there.”

McCabe’s first love is still golf, and he is on a quest to earn his PGA Tour card.

If for some reason he couldn’t make it on the top level tour, he would probably take advantage of his college degree. Maybe.

“I have a double major in finance in accounting and if golf doesn’t work, I’d probably do something in that,” said McCabe. “But if I got really good at magic, I would do it every day. But you have to get really good at magic to do that.”