A fellow was trying to get in a quick round of golf before heading home one afternoon. He was playing alone, but as he walked onto the first tee, an older man — senior citizen, actually — asked if he could join him.

The guy was in a hurry, but didn’t have the heart to reject the older man. What the heck, he figured, if the man slowed him down, he’d move off on his own later on.

To the young man’s surprise, the older fellow played fairly quickly. He didn’t hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn’t waste time.

“I’ve played this course for years,” the senior citizen said. “I know it very well. Don’t have to waste time figuring out the lay of the fairways or anything.”

Finally, in a satisfyingly quick time, they reached the 18th and final fairway. The younger man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree in front of him, directly between his ball and the green.

After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot, the old man said, “You know, son, when I was your age, I’d hit the ball right over that tree.”

The younger man decided to try it.

He swung hard and drove the ball upward. It cracked into the trunk of the tree a little over halfway up and bounced back, rolling to a stop just a foot away from where it originally lay.

“Of course,” the older man said, “when I was your age, that tree was only 3 feet tall.”