Tyler, TX - East Texans tee'd off in the name of education today for UT Tyler's Patriot Golf Classic.
Special guest and World Golf Hall of Famer Lee Trevino lit up the course--and the room-- at Hollytree Country Club.
He shared his passion for higher education. "You've got to have a degree, and then from there, the world is out there waiting on you," Trevino said..
His own son is a student at USC and wants to play golf. But Trevino won't let him play during the school year so he'll focus on his studies.
"I don't care how good you are, you're that far away from someone slamming a door on your hand," Trevino said.
He says he fell into golf almost by accident, first working on a cotton farm, with no neighbors nearby.
Now retired, he has some advice for aspiring golfers about a distraction doing some damage.
"You watch any young kid on a practice tee, he'll hit two balls and his cell phone will ring and he'll answer it and then he texts back," Trevino said.
And about his cameo appearance in the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore, Trevino wishes he would have read the script first. "If they were going to use all those foul words in there, I never would have done it," he tells CBS 19.
At 73 years old he still plays golf everyday, doing events like the one in Tyler that are all worthwhile.
"All we look forward to, is that one of those students come back one day and supports us, and says thank you," Trevino said.
All money raised at the tournament goes toward UT Tyler college scholarships.
