They say The Provisional Invitational was born in a Paris hotel room.

Three wise owls found themselves sitting around a table, it was late. Very late.

The night had been long, the decisions had been questionable. Some claim it was a card game, others claim dice. Some said it was simply too many glasses of red. What is certain is that, at some point, the owls looked at one another and agreed: a mistake had been made.

Silence hung over the table until the oldest of them spoke.

“Best we take a provisional.”

The others nodded. Not to erase what had happened, but to accept it — and to carry on. And carry on they did.

From that night on, they vowed to meet and mark the occasion - every September.

To gather others who understood that golf, like life, rarely rewards perfection but often offers a second chance. They gave it a name that only they could have chosen: The Provisional Invitational.

Some say the owls were men, others say they were mythical beasts. The hotel? No one can recall. The “bad decision”? Best left unspoken. But each September, when a tee shot disappears into the long grass and another ball is quietly placed on the peg, the players remember:

Mistakes happen. Be thankful for The Provisional.