Our Life in Golf

Dedication, About Mr. Mike, Introduction

DEDICATION

This memoir is dedicated to Mike Bencriscutto, local notable Racine golfer and legendary teaching pro who understood that getting to a good golf swing...and managing a good life...have much in common.

ABOUT MR. MIKE

Mike Bencriscutto is the singularly defined expression of a life colored in spiritual and athletic genius—representing a neoclassical renaissance of patriarchal beauty blended with the American 20th Century small town.

He painted his Racine community and the rest of the world with his goodness of soul, disciplined talent, charitable wit, with a forward-thinking philosophical mind, and the courage of divine nobility.

From this stance he cradled his love for the world. Where bountiful summer harvests still gathered from the carefully tended backyard gardens of his affectionate Calabrian-American family, a shade of rose-glow can be pictured. And his sir name, bene' criscutto, meaning in Italian, well grown, like the best prize-winning grape vines in Italy, this special man was planted in Wisconsin's green fields of golf to help them flourish—and that he did remarkably well.

INTRODUCTION

Mike Bencriscutto took something he loved, GOLF, a simple game involving a ball and club and lots of grass, and imagined it in such a way that the entire world took notice.

What evolved was a career that has embedded itself into our culture, enhancing both our knowledge and understanding of the game. Reflecting his way of life and personal values, he blended golf with his heart and soul, offering the remarkable mix as a priceless gift to his community.

This gift continued to grow throughout his career, shaded by unique encounters with the golfing community, his pupils, and his famous and not-so-famous contemporaries. Mike's love for golf, this game he practiced and practiced until he'd perfected his swing, played, and eventually mastered, was substantially influenced by his personality and embraced by his appreciative extended golfing family.

As a young man he dreamed the uniquely American dream of achieving extraordinary success, and all from humble beginnings—this son of an immigrant Italian family.

The result, golf became more than sport and was transformed into—the Golfer's...Game of Life.