If he says one more thing to me, I’m going to hit him, Roy thought. Roy was thinking about Danny, a fellow golfer he had just met today. Danny was a successful orthopedist, 60 years old and quite overweight. Roy was a retired Army officer, 80 and wiry. Roy was walking; Danny was riding in a golf cart.

On the second tee, Danny stood directly behind Roy as Roy was getting ready to hit. Although that was bad golf etiquette, Roy didn’t say anything. But because he was thinking about Danny instead of golf, Roy hit a bad tee shot. Danny chuckled at Roy’s bad effort. “You should have kept your head down,” Danny told Roy.

On the fourth green, Danny took his glove off just as Roy was getting ready to putt. Roy heard the glove's Velcro crackling and missed a two-foot putt. He glared at Danny. Danny looked straight back at him. “Those short putts are the first to go when you get old, right, Roy?”