MANATEE -- He has lived through the Great Depression, two world wars and the ever-changing landscape of America.
Gus Andreone also has been around long enough to witness the various technological advancements in golf.
On Friday, Andreone, the third-oldest card-carrying PGA professional in the country, turned 100 and was the guest of honor at a Palm-Aire Country Club celebration.
The club off Whitfield Avenue and University Parkway has renovated its practice facility with three retaining walls and 13,000 cubic feet of soil. The driving range will be called the Gus Andreone Practice and Teaching Facility with a special monument scheduled to be unveiled in about four weeks.
That’s the impact Andreone has had since he arrived to Palm-Aire by way of the Greater Pittsburgh area.
“You always have to fit your instruction to the person you are dealing with,” said Andreone, who also is the fourth-longest tenured PGA pro in the country. “It takes a lot of things into play: short, tall, strong, weak, old, young, but it all has to come into play. So you try to fit your instruction to the person you are teaching.”
He has won the lottery three times (two in the Fantasy 5) and shot seven holes-in-one.
But the luckiest thing about Andreone is his three years of military service, which included a year in battle under Gen. George S. Patton during World War II. He should have been killed a half a dozen times, he said.
Andreone has met some of golf’s legendary players. He calls Ben Hogan the greatest player he ever saw, but a certain fellow western Pennsylvanian has a special place in his heart.
In fact, that certain king of golf wrote a letter wishing Andreone a wonderful birthday.
“I well remember those early years of my golf career when I played at your Edgewood Country Club and elsewhere in the Greater Pittsburgh area,” the letter from Arnold Palmer reads. “My father and I had great respect for you and were always glad to see you.”
That’s high praise from a legend like Palmer, but Andreone said that’s just what Palmer is -- a very humble person. “That’s Arnie Palmer. He doesn’t look down on any pro,” Andreone said. “He has a tremendous respect for the game and also for the fans. There’s no one like him. He’s done more for golf, and the players are playing for more money on account of him. ... He is top shelf with anybody.”
Andreone learned to play golf like most people in the old days, by caddying.
And even though he’s 100, he can still play. Andreone has shot his age or better too many times to count.
Recently, he shot 90 from the white tees at Palm-Aire. “The fact is, if I shoot my age then I had a bad game,” he said.
His second wife, Betty, has an interesting story, as well. The pair met at The Plantation in Fort Lauderdale, where Betty’s father became head pro and she managed the pro shop.
At the time, though, Gus was still married to his first wife, Henrietta. It wasn’t until after Henrietta passed away that the two began a romantic relationship and eventually married.
Betty appeared in the movie “Caddyshack” during the infamous Baby Ruth pool scene. However, Friday was about celebrating Gus Andreone’s century mark. And he still looks sharp as ever.
“Early in the morning before I get out of bed, I have a certain series of exercises that I do,” Andreone said. “And when I get up, I’m pretty much ready to do just about anything. I try to work in everyday some golf if I can. If I don’t play then I’ll do a little practicing. Try to get that worked in if I can, and if I don’t get all that in then I do some swimming, a half hour. When I’m in for a half hour, I’m not standing still. I’m moving arms, legs and anything I can move, I move.
“And when I finish, I walk. I don’t take a long walk, but I walk. ... I keep active.”
