Life Lessons & Beer Stained Golf Bags

Ever wondered how a day on the golf course could teach unexpected lessons about life and the environment? Discover the heartwarming tale of "Beer Stained Golf Bags," where golf, family, and a strong sense of camaraderie create a memorable adventure. Join us as Dave, his brother Rob, and their father Victor take on the fairways of King's Forest, bringing laughter and life lessons to every hole. Victor, the charismatic patriarch with a thick Italian accent, not only surprises us with his golfing skill but with his unwavering dedication to keeping the environment clean, making every stroke count both on and off the course.

You'll be entertained by Victor's antics, from sharing homegrown pears to his amusing and wise counsel on the green. His unique character and sage advice make this episode a delightful listen, offering a blend of humor and heartfelt moments. Together, we explore how a simple round of golf becomes a journey of reflection, friendship, and unexpected joy. So come along, grab your clubs, and join us for a story that promises to inspire with its genuine connections and unforgettable anecdotes.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello, welcome back to another episode of trained for a great life. I'm going to read you another blog from 2018. I was reading through and I remember this one so well. I love it. There's something really good to take from this, and when I wrote it, I just wrote it. When I read it, I'm going to have to do a couple lines in an Italian accent, I think, so just bear with me.

Speaker 1: 0:30

This one is called Beer Stained Golf Bags. So Dave, a gentleman of the gym, won a foursome pass to King's Forest out of Stag and Doe and it had to be used by the end of the season. So it was Dave, his brother Rob and their dad, victor and myself All solid guys. I've gotten to know Dave quite a bit over the last year that he's been at the gym and he competed at a local CrossFit comp for the first time last week. So I was giving him a hard time about being sore and stiff and would he even be able to swing the club? His brother Rob, pretty solid golfer, really tore up the back nine shooting a 37. I could tell he took things a little bit more serious and was more invested.

Speaker 1: 1:13

And then there was Victor, the papa bear. This is the guy I'm going to tell the story about. We're on the first tee just chatting, waiting to hit the ball, and he says to me in his thick Italian accent Jay, you are going to see some things today you have never seen before. And he added a big smile and a wink for good measure. Victor's a shorter gentleman. He wore a Notre Dame Fighting Irish toque. He had a firm handshake and you could tell by the skin on his hands that he's no stranger to working with his hands. He also seemed to know everybody that we ran into at the course so far. So I wasn't sure if I was about to play with, like the course pro or what. We shook hands, wished each other good luck and off we went.

Speaker 1: 1:57

It was Victor's turn to tee off and kind of shanked the ball off to the side Like a magician, with a flick of the wrist. He had another ball in hand, turned back to us with a smile, teed up and smacked one right down the middle. I could tell we were going to have fun today. Whenever Dave or Rob were to top the ball, like clockwork, there was Victor. Keep your head down. A few holes, a few holes in few holes in. I was standing with dave off to the side, maybe 15 feet, and victor took a shot and a clump of mud landed in front like a foot in front of us. I told victor I'd never been hit with mud on the course before. Was that the thing I was never going to see? See, before the next hole he brought out a bag of pears from his, from a pear tree in his front yard. No pesticides, none of that. He brought more than enough for everybody and we all had a pair together. I joked with him that I don't think I've ever had a pair on the golf course. Was that it the next hole?

Speaker 1: 3:00

We got to the t block a little early and he disappeared and ran into the bushes. I figured he had to pee or something. He kept wandering around, brushing past the branches in his way. Was he looking for the perfect spot or what? Dave and Rob knew exactly what was going on, but they didn't say anything. A minute or so later, victor came out of the bushes arms full of pop bottles and beer cans. Later, victor came out of the bushes arms full of pop bottles and beer cans. He calmly walked over to the recycling bin near the t-blocks and threw them all in, grabbed his driver, smacked a ball right down the middle. I nodded my head to myself. I'd never seen that before, but I didn't really ask him about it. Two holes later he did the same thing again. Halfway up the fairway on the next hole he ducked into the bushes and did it again. There was one hole where he and Rob were walking well ahead and I said to Dave jokingly man, every day is Earth Day for your pops. I love it. At first he kind of chuckled and didn't say too much.

Speaker 1: 3:57

I imagine it's kind of a thing, sadly, that some people would have something negative to say about. Someone would make fun of it. Consider themselves above it. You're not. No one is.

Speaker 1: 4:09

I told Dave a quick story of my own and I remember very well back in elementary school. I still remember it six years later. I couldn't have been more than 11 years old and I didn't understand the impact of littering until a friend of mine caught me doing it. Ryan was his name. I threw a candy bar wrapper down or something and he said pick that up. Why would you do that? What do you think the world would look like if every single person did that only one time per day. I thought about it for a second and that was it for me. From then on, I hang on to garbage until there's somewhere to go. Am I perfect? No, absolutely. Not. To say that I've not littered in over 20 years would probably not be truthful, but it's been ingrained enough at this point that I don't have to make a conscious decision. You just don't do it. Dave told me his dad has been doing this for years and when he gets his hands full and he couldn't carry anymore, he'd stuff them into his golf bag until he found the proper receptacle. Naturally they would leak and ruin the golf bag and then, you know, every year or two Dave gets him a new one.

Speaker 1: 5:21

So what's the point of me telling the story about Victor? In my mind, this is a guy who gets the little things in life. I could tell right from the start that he had a solid relationship with both his sons. He made sure, as the new guy, to make me feel welcomed in the group before we got off the first tee. It's not a coincidence that he brought enough food for everybody. And then the course cleanup. That's just going above and beyond the call of duty for any human, not just a stance of I'm going to make sure that I don't make this place worse, but I'm actually going to make it better and pick up for the shortcomings of others. There was no complaining about why those beer cans were there or how disrespectful it was. It was just get it done and move on, and I'm sure he didn't expect me to talk about it. We would all do well by adopting a little piece of Victor. See you in the gym.