The Old man Golf Birthday, Arnold Palmer

There are millions of Arnold Palmer stories in the world of golf. Today, Arnie turns 80. He has met and touched the lives of so many people. Here's a memory from the late '70s when a young golf writer met up with Arnie:

It was the late '70s, and the old Citrus Open golf tournament in Orlando found a new home at the Bay Hill Club under the watchful eye of the legendary Arnold Palmer.

Palmer was still an active player back then and made sure everything at Bay Hill was totally first class.

Good friend Hughes Norton of International Management Group, the heir to the IMG throne in those days, gave me a guest pass to the IMG hospitality tent.

After a busy day of writing, interviewing, walking the course, and other golf writer tasks, it was time to head for the IMG tent, use the pass, and perhaps enjoy a cold beverage, or two, or three.

The IMG tent was first class—everything you'd want, plenty of food, plenty of cold "beverages."

An eight-foot by four-foot tub caught my eye. It was full of ice and what looked like at least 200 little green bottles of a beer called Rolling Rock. Never had one, but I knew that those little green bottles were products of the Latrobe Brewing Company from Latrobe, PA, proud boyhood home of Arnie and proud home of Rolling Rock.

The little green bottles were calling to me. I reached into the tub, but then suddenly, a uniformed security guard blurted, "You can't have any of those!"

Politely inquired: "And why not?"

"Those are Arnold's beers," he shot back.

"Geez," I said, "I know Arnold can drink some beer, but I doubt he's going to drink all 200 of those Rolling Rocks this afternoon."

"You can't have any," the guard responded.

Dejectedly moved to another station and grabbed a light beer from Miller.

A few minutes later, The King himself, Mr. Palmer, strolled into the tent.

Arnie said his usual hellos and then gave me one of those man's-man AP handshakes. Wow, he has huge, strong hands.

"How are you, Tom?" Nice to be greeted by The King.

Then he saw my beverage.

"What are you doing with THAT?" Arnold asked, sounding annoyed.

"Well," I responded, "glad you asked. I went over to try a Rolling Rock, I know it's your kinda beer, but the guard over there told me those were your beers and that I couldn't have one."

Arnie put his arm around me and walked me to the cooler.

He reached in, pulled out two Rolling Rocks, twisted off the tops, and handed me one and kept the other for himself. He looked at the guard and said:

"These are for whoever wants one!"

As we walked from the cooler, I looked back at the guard and wanted to blurt out something stupid like, "Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck" or "Na-nanna-bo-bo."

Resisted the urge and was content to hang out with the King for 10 more minutes. We talked about the course and its setup, and I mentioned how great the Rolling Rock tasted.

"Glad you like it," Arnold laughed.

So there you have it. A memory from a young golf writer who is now much older.

And Arnold turns 80 today.

Happy birthday Arnie!

Thanks for the memory.

And thanks for the Rolling Rock!

Zources