At nearly 100, two SWFL golfers prove the game has no age limit

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK) — At 98 and 97 years old, Pat Hoover and Paul Donald are still teeing off several times a week at Vi at Bentley Village.

“I love playing the game. I really do,” Donald said.

Golf has been part of Hoover’s life for nearly nine decades. Her father introduced her to the sport when she was a child, and she later became a club champion at Bentley Village.

“I’ve played golf since I was nine years old,” Hoover said. “So, just to not play would be very hard for me.”

Donald picked up the game around age 35 and continued playing as his job moved him around the country. His rounds have included some of golf’s most famous courses, including St. Andrews in Scotland.

But for Hoover and Donald, golf is now about far more than what appears on the scorecard. It keeps them active and gives them another reason to spend time with friends.

“I think that’s the best part of the game, really,” Donald said. “Good camaraderie, good chance to be with them and joke with them and ride them a little bit.”

Both golfers also exercise away from the course. Donald works out at the fitness center and plays bocce, while Hoover said she has continued exercising so she can keep golfing.

“Mr. Donald and Mrs. Hoover are incredibly inspirational,” said head golf professional Stan Geer. “They’re out there three, four times a week, every week. Just don’t ever stop.”

Both Hoover and Donald say they don’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to do it, but I’m going to play as long as I can,” Hoover said.

“I plan to play at least the next three years,” he said, a plan that would put him back on the course at 100.