Stolen Golf Clubs?

Paul Morrone |
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By Thomas Morrone CFP®, CPA

One of my Florida golfing buddies told me the most bizarre story about his golf clubs. He is one of those diehard golfers that gets up at the crack of dawn, or even before, to be on the first tee as early as possible. I agree with his logic but driving to the golf course when it is still dark is not appealing to me. Anyway, it was still dark out and he was waiting at the curb for his ride. He noticed that the newspaper was in his mail box. He left his clubs at the curb and grabbed the paper and brought it back to his house. When he was walking back to the curb, he saw a pickup truck driving away with his golf clubs in the back of the truck. He ran after the truck but to no avail. Bummer! Luckily though, the night before he put his wallet and money clip in his golf bag but took them out in the morning when he first got to the curb. That would have added another layer of complications.

His ride showed up moments later and he explained the story of what just happened. Neither could believe it. They went to the golf course, he rented clubs and they played anyway. No doubt he was upset the entire time but attempted to still make the best of a round of golf. On the way home from the golf course he received a call on his cell phone. It was the person from the pickup truck earlier that morning and he explained that he thought the clubs were left at the curb to be thrown away. This guy tracked down my friend from his name tag hanging on his bag from the golf club he belongs to in Massachusetts. He called the club and asked if the owner of the clubs would throw them away in FL? He explained the situation and they provided him with my friend’s cell number. Even after this, the man brought the clubs to a pawn shop. He explains all this to my friend, who is speechless. The man said he was going to see if the pawn shop still had the clubs and would cancel the transaction because he feels so terrible. He called back an hour or so later and said he had the clubs and wanted to coordinate their return. Crazy story or what?

My friend did get his clubs back and all the contents of the bag were intact. He was a little nervous about meeting the guy, so they met in a Walmart parking lot in the middle of the day. Sure enough, up pulls the pickup truck that he saw driving away from the curb early that morning. The guy was sincerely apologetic and truly believed the clubs were left as trash. My friend gave him $20 and they parted ways.

There is no moral to this story......it is just a story, a true story. Then again, maybe there is a moral, never leave your golf clubs at the curb when it is still dark.

Until the Next Tom’s Take...