HOPE-full Memories at the World Golf HOF

Want to laugh really hard and out loud?

Want to shed a tear?

Go see the marquee exhibit "Shanks for the Memory" at the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida.

I did this afternoon and had a wonderful time.

Of course I am one of the last of the baby boomer generation. It took Mom and Dad a few years to hook up after WWII. Plus I am the youngest of six children so yeah you do the math- I could go to Q-School this fall for the Champions Tour.

If you remember your dad letting you stay up late to catch Johnny Carson's monologue than you are close to my generation.

If you are like me did you freak out with Conan O' Brien replaced Jay Leno on the Tonight Show?

Where does the time go?

All the more reason you have to go see the Bob Hope exhibit.

You will love it.

Like Arnold Palmer says in the opening video "If you love golf you got to go."

I thought that was Gary Player's line?

Of course the exhibit is no shank. Rather it is a true shot sailing right through the heart of every American golfer boy and girl alike.

Did you know it was Bob Hope on a television visit to NASA that inspired Alan Shepherd to take the 6-iron and hit the world's first moon shot?

First come the laughs. There are many.

There are more than ten video presentations as you meander through the various areas commemorating the life of what most say is the funniest comedian of all time.

Interesting Bob Hope was born in England and immigrated to America "after he learned he could not be king."

His career spanned Vaudeville, Broadway, Radio, Television and the Movies.

So you think Billy Crystal hosted a lot of Academy Awards? Bob Hope did something like 18 of them and is credited with transforming them into the entertainment events they are today versus stale and dry award presentations.

As you watch videos in the Hollywood and Presidential sections you will laugh at one liners you have never seen or heard before.

Even though Hope did countless movies beginning with "The Big Broadcast of 1938" he never did win an Oscar though he received several honorary ones.

One clip has him calling the Oscar season around his home "Passover" for his lack of possession of an Oscar.   

There's the long version of his encounter with 3-year old Tiger Woods on the Mike Douglas television show. Hope proposes putting for nickels then Tiger moves his ball into tap-in range to seal the victory. There is that same look in the eyes of the Tiger today.

Lesser known video of Hope with the Jackson 5 is quite interesting. Michael humorously challenges him asking him why people laugh at his same jokes year after year.

I wish my dad was there with me seeing the exhibit this afternoon. I know he would have laughed harder than I was maybe even having to take a knee so it wouldn't hurt as much.

The connections with all the presidents eleven in all is as interesting as the Hollywood and PGA TOUR material. Remember Hope lived to be 100 and this year Arnold Palmer hosted the 50^th anniversary of his Desert Classic.

The laughs turned into tears toward the end of the exhibit with the enormity of his USO visits to our troops in faraway lands all around the globe.

No different than David Feherty's work with the Wounded Warriors at Tiger's tournament at Congressional CC a few weeks back.

They want and deserve their dignity.

Wounded veterans deserve to laugh too.

There are stories of how he would train those that accompanied him on the trips to understand how important it was for the wounded soldiers to laugh and forget about where they were or why they were where they were.

"Don't get up" was his one-liner that set the tone for his hospital ward visits.

Now I want to read his book "I Never Left Home."

One interesting thread throughout the exhibit is the song "Thanks for the Memory" which originated in his first movie in 1938.

He used it again coming back in 1939 forced to cut short his European honeymoon due to the outbreak of WWII with England at war with Germany. When asked to perform aboard the Queen Mary ship to an audience in fear of being sunken by German U-boats he improvised with new lyrics that the sign outside his room said "Gentlemen."

Many including Congress, soldiers, and private citizens have used that tune with new lyrics to say "I love you and thanks" to Bob Hope over the years.

I think Jay leno put it right in that people tend to forget the innovator in Bob Hope as the years pass. He literally grew through Vaudeville to modern movies and to do that you have to create and change for the good along the way.

If you love American life and golf you got to go.

Bob Hope- thanks for the memories!  

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]