This Golf Tournament Has One Rule: You Must Be at Least 90 Years Old

Brad Lardon has created one of the most exclusive tournaments in the world with his Legacy Club Championship. The only qualification? You have to be 90 years or older.

Lardon is the PGA Director of Golf at The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the event has a simple goal: to make his oldest members feel like they still belong.

The idea grew out of the club's age-division championships, which started about 10 years ago with open, over-60, over-70 and over-80 divisions. Lardon noticed that four of his players over 90 were competing in the over-80 group. He wanted to give them something of their own.

"A lot of folks, as they get way up there in age, sometimes feel forgotten," Lardon said. "They have fewer friends than they used to, because not many of their friends make it into their 90s."

Late in September, the four players teed it up in The Legacy Club Championship, a stroke-play 18 hole tournament. The players, Jack Keely, Fred Klinghoffer, Paul Hoffman and Frank Hirsch, range in age from 90-95 with Frank being the eldest.

All four shot their age or better. Klinghoffer and Hoffman finished as co-champions, each with an 88.

To make the day special, Lardon gave each player a signed photo of the group on the 18th green. "I wanted them to know we care," he said. "You're still an important part of the membership."

The idea came to him earlier in the year, when he overheard two of the players talking in the performance center. One said the worst part of getting old is that all your friends are dying. Then he told the other, "One of these days, Frank, you're going to be my best friend."

"It's funny, but it's kind of sad too," Lardon said. "We have to take care of these guys. They pay dues, just like the 50-year-olds, and they matter."

Before the event, Lardon looked up what the world was like when the players were born. It was the Great Depression. A loaf of bread cost five cents, and a gallon of gas cost 20 cents. Since then, they've seen phones go from essentially non-existent to tiny computers we all carry around.

"I asked who their idols were when they were kids, and I'd never heard of any of them," Lardon said. "The only thing I asked is that we all go out for a few beers one night. I want to hear stories about the old days. They've seen everything."

The day also changed how Lardon thinks about his job. He has been at Las Campanas for 11 years, and the average member age is around 70. He has learned a lot from them. The biggest lesson is simple.

"No matter how they feel, they take care of themselves," he said. "It takes a lot of work to keep going as you get older. And the motto is, keep moving."

"Instead of only growing the game for juniors, we want to extend the life it for everyone," he said. "Golf is one of the few sports you can play until the end. Even if you hit it shorter than you used to, or your nerves aren't what they were, you can still play. Move up a tee. Start at the beginning of the fairway. It's a beautiful sport."

He sees a practical benefit too. "If you can help a guy go from 80 to 95, that's 15 more years of giving him value and a reason to keep playing," he said.

Lardon says he got as much out of the day as the players did. "I probably got more out of it than they did, and they got a lot," he said. "I have four good friends for the rest of their lives."

He also told them what comes next. "Keep taking care of yourselves, because we're going to do it again next year."

For other pros who want to try something similar, Lardon says it doesn't have to be big. "It could be a nine-hole day. It could be anything," he said. "Do whatever you can to give them value as people, not just as members. Younger folks are sometimes afraid of older folks. They think they're grumpy. But they're lonely, and if you start a conversation, you'd be amazed at what you can learn."