The putt was somewhere between a gimme and a tester.

Early in a match, it is the kind of putt you tell your opponent to pick up. But you make him sweat it out in the later holes.

My orange Top Flight XL was about 4 feet from the hole when I lined up the par putt on hole No. 9 at the Highland View Golf Course. I already won the match with my dad through eight holes, and he pressed on the final hole.

That meant I would win $2 if I made the putt, and I was 100 percent confident I was going to make it. Back when I was 12, I was a very good putter. That was the product of spending hours on the putting green at the municipal golf course as my parents and grandparents hung out with their friends on the porch of the old clubhouse.

My dad was not a good loser. Oh, he would do anything for me. He still would. But he wanted to save face on that last hole.

No, my dad was not one of those dads who let his sons win. At least he wasn’t when we were old enough to know better. He would make up rules as he went when we played one-on-one in basketball, just to get into my head.

If you are arguing rules and laughing at the silly rule interpretations, you are probably going to miss shots. That is why I have a losing record against my dad, even though I was a way better shooter and ball handler than him.

Like most dads, my dad had a gamesmanship quality about him that made it tough for me to beat him.

I squatted down to take a good, long look at the break for the winning putt. Then I stood up and took a couple of practice strokes before addressing the ball.

Just before the putter moved on my putt, my dad said, “Knock it up close.”

That is something you might say to encourage someone when they are hitting from 100 yards out. Not on a short putt.

My dad, you see, is no Josh Mota.

Josh is a young Butte guy who plays for the Butte Eagles Special Olympics basketball team. He isn’t the flashiest player, but Josh will bury you if you leave him open at the top of the key.

While he hardly ever leads the team in scoring, Josh leads the league in composure and leadership. He is like a coach on the floor, directing players on both ends of the court.

Josh is also about as nice of a guy you will ever meet.

Big Joe Gibson is also a Butte Eagle. Joe is a mountain of a man, and he is nearly impossible to stop when he gets the ball on the block.

Joe is also one of the most competitive players on the Eagles. He wants to win every game. That probably goes double for the Boyles’ Buddies game of the Burgman/Boyle Classic.

The latest edition of the Boyle’s Buddies Game was played Saturday night at East Middle School. The contest marked the ninth anniversary of the tragic deaths of Butte buddies Kyle Burgman and Casey Boyle.

The Eagles players were split into two teams for the game to honor Kyle and Casey. Joe played on the White team, along with Jalen “Hollywood” Foley, Christian Schock, D.J. Macumber and Krystina Segna.

Josh played on the Red team with Zach Stenson, Dalan Dagen, Kallie Robins and Bryce “Smiley” Bailey.

In the second half of the game, Joe got the ball down low and drew a foul, sending him to the line for a pair of free throws. After a little confusion by the players lining up to rebound, Joe’s first shot was off the mark.

Josh, sensing Joe’s frustration, ignored the fact that he and his pal were wearing different colored jerseys. He stepped up to Joe and offered some calming advice.

“Take your time and knock this one down,” Josh told Joe.

Joe nodded, appearing to heed the advice from his friend. Then, shot No. 2 was nothing but net.

It is hard to say if Josh’s words of encouragement to the guy on the other team helped. But it certainly did not hurt.

That right there is an example of what makes the Special Olympics great. You would never see that in any other game.

Oh, we see plenty of great examples of sportsmanship during other sporting events. But it isn’t usually quite like that in the middle of a game.

It was a great game, too. The White team opened up a big lead, only to see Red come back with a furry. Just when it looked like Red would win big, though, White battled back to take a one-point lead.

Red eventually won 49-48, thanks to a clutch jump shot from Smiley, who would still have been grinning ear to ear if his shot missed.

This year marked the second straight time I got to referee the game. So, I got a great vantage point to watch the sportsmanship from start to finish.

That sportsmanship also included the play of Casey Boyle’s nephews J.T. and Hunter Boyle and Kyle Burgman’s nephews Carter “The Professor” and Teague Barsness.

Little Hunter did his best LeBron James impersonation for a couple of nice moves to the basket. For the most part, though, the job of the nephews was to give the starters some rest and to pass the ball to the open players.

The names of the Special Olympians have largely stayed the same since the first Boyle’s Buddies Game in 2016, and I have been to most of them.

Never did I once hear a player or coach beg for a call — like you do in almost every other game. Actually, you see the exact opposite from Boyle’s Buddies.

You see players cheering for their opponents. You see players lobbying for what is fair — even if it goes against their own team.

Late in Saturday’s game, we had a held ball between players, and the alternate possession went to the White. D.J. Macumber, while wearing a white jersey, told me that it should be Red ball because the Red player had more control than the white player.

D.J. didn’t care that it was a one-point game. Most of the players didn’t care. Actually, I think a few of them didn’t know if they won or lost the close game.

They were just having fun, which is what the game is supposed to be all about. They have fun without the gamesmanship.

Although, I must say that that gamesmanship has its place in sports, too. That goes double when you are competing against your son.

While it was nearly 40 years ago, I can still see the look on my dad’s face after I stopped laughing made that putt.

Had he offered words of encouragement instead of a heckle, I probably wouldn’t remember that round of golf.

— Bill Foley, who is already looking forward to the 2025 Boyle’s Buddies Game, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.