Vincent joined a junior golf league when he was nine years old at Mountain View Golf Course. A day consisted of lessons in the morning followed by playing nine holes in the afternoon. Vince was just learning his swing, the rules of golf, and, of course, the etiquette. He fell in love with the game and would spend countless hours practicing.
One afternoon at home, Vincent saw a Pepsi commercial with a young golfer, not much older than him, walking up to a par-3 as the sun was setting and making a hole-in-one. A greenskeeper happened to see the boy make his shot and said, “You know what that means, kid.” The young golfer promptly proceeded to the Pepsi vending machine and bought the greenskeeper a soda.
Vincent was so confused and asked why the kid had to buy the greenskeeper a drink. I explained that in golf, it’s proper etiquette to buy your playing partners—and sometimes the whole course!—a round of drinks when you make a hole-in-one.
Fast-forward about five weeks, and I get a call from Vincent saying he was ready to be picked up from the course, adding excitedly, “Dad, you’re not going to believe it! I got a hole-in-one today!”
I said, “Really son? Which hole did you get it on?”
“Well, I was practicing on the chipping green and chipped one right in the hole!”
I had to break the bad news to him that it doesn’t really count as a hole-in-one since he wasn’t playing a full round of golf. Nothing but silence from Vince for a few seconds until he says, “Well, that explains why the guy practicing next to me said, ‘Nice shot, kid, but you really don’t have to buy me a drink!'”
Vince was not about to renege on the social etiquette he had listened to so attentively and learned from his pops. Beyond that, he was just inherently generous from a very young age! Always so humble and always striving to be a better man today than he was yesterday. Love you, son! See you on the 19th hole!
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