The last time a golf professional assisted with a delivery on course grounds was March 2025 — in Kenya, 9,000 miles away. Now, Springfield, Missouri, has its own entry in the record book. Thanks to Todd Christensen, head golf professional at Deer Lake Golf Course.

He delivered his own son in the facility’s parking lot on Christmas morning. The course, operated by GreatLIFE Golf, had never witnessed an on-site birth in its 34-year history. That changed before sunrise on December 25, 2025.

“You need to pull back in the parking lot. I’m having this baby right now,” Nadyne told her husband as they pulled out to leave. Christensen exited the vehicle and could already see the baby’s head. Ten minutes later, Sonny Oliver Christensen arrived.

The plan was simple. Christensen’s wife, Nadyne, woke him around 6 a.m. and told him it was time. The couple would drop off their 5-year-old daughter and dog at the course with a friend, then drive to the hospital. They made it to the parking lot — but no farther.

Emergency responders arrived shortly after the birth and transported Nadyne and the baby to a nearby hospital. Record warmth in the Ozarks on Christmas Day made the unexpected outdoor delivery more manageable.

“Luckily, it was Christmas, so I didn’t have a bunch of the golfers out here playing golf, and no audience,” Christensen said.

Nadyne, for her part, wasn’t surprised by the speed of delivery.

“When they tell you that the third one comes faster, that’s absolutely true,” she said. “For everything that happened, it was a great experience for how everything went down.”

Sonny is healthy and doing well. And the story? That’s already written.

“It’ll be a great story that he’ll get to tell someday,” Nadyne added.

Golf course births remain a global rarity

On-course deliveries are exceptionally uncommon. Before Deer Lake, the most recent documented case occurred in March 2025 at Nakuru Golf Club in Kenya — the first birth in that facility’s 96-year history.

Diana Cherotich, a 22-year-old single mother, went into unexpected labor while working nearby. She walked to the golf club seeking assistance, but began delivering the baby alone near the reception area. By coincidence, Dr. Faith Bob, a pediatric surgeon preparing to tee off, heard calls for help and assisted the delivery without medical equipment.

The baby was named Faith in honor of the doctor. Mother and child were transported to Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital.

“What are the odds that our paths crossed when she needed a doctor?” Dr. Bob said afterward.

The Deer Lake incident marks the third unusual-location birth in the Ozarks since November 2025. A baby was born at Buc-ee’s on I-44, followed by another at Bass Pro’s Wonders of Wildlife. Now, a golf course parking lot joins the list.

GreatLIFE Golf, which operates Deer Lake and multiple other courses in the Springfield area, is part of a broader network that extends across the Midwest. The organization also operates the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge in South Dakota, the event where Nelly Korda captured her first professional victory in 2016, launching a career that would eventually reach world No. 1.

Whether Sonny Oliver Christensen follows a similar path remains to be seen. For now, he holds a different distinction: the first baby ever born at Deer Lake Golf Course — a course record no one saw coming.