University Park 95-year-old credits his good health to pickleball

For 95-year-old Vince Golden, the Fountain of Youth can be found on a pickleball court. 

“If everybody in the world played pickleball every morning, they would live longer and live healthier lives,” Golden said. “I’m not a medical person, but I sure do believe that.” 

Research backs up Golden’s assertion. Several studies show that racket sports, in general, extend life expectancy. 

A 2018 study published by the Mayo Clinic found that, in comparison to people living sedentary lifestyles, tennis players extend their lives by 9.7 years and badminton players by 6.2 years.

Jogging, cycling and swimming also extend life expectancy, but each extension was found to be under four years.

Golden sticks to a routine. He plays pickleball seven days a week for an hour and a half, rain or shine, starting at 7 a.m. On Sundays, he has a big breakfast at First Watch. 

Most days, Golden plays at Longwood Park, which is across the street from his home in University Park. On rainy days, he drives to the Church of the Palms in Sarasota, where there are three indoor courts.

Golden has been nicknamed “the Mayor of Longwood Park.”

“He knows everybody and knows what everybody’s doing,” Sarasota resident Barbara Krajewski said. “You’ve got to report in every time you get here.” 

On top of that, Golden takes care of the courts as if he was in charge of them. Each day, he comes and cleans the courts with a leaf blower in hand. If the courts are wet, he brings a squeegee, too. 

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Outside of some hearing loss, Golden is in excellent physical condition. 

“His balance is incredible,” University Park resident Dean Matt said. “He’s got great ground strokes, a great serve and he’s just a treasure.” 

The Mayo Clinic reports that pickleball also improves hand-eye coordination, strength and agility, and it’s “a source of social (interaction) and improved mental health.”

“I love it, No. 1, for the sociability,” Golden said. “I’ve lived alone now for basically 16 years.”

Golden’s wife, Olive Hull Golden, died in 2010, and she had Alzheimer’s disease leading up to her death. 

The couple was married for 52 years. Golden speaks of his wife as if he’s still dumbfounded that he was fortunate enough to marry her. He called her “the most beautiful gal in the world” and spoke of her intelligence, popularity and kindness.

An air of gratitude hangs over everything Golden talks about from how well the rack system for pickleball (which determines who is in line for the next game) works at Longwood Park to being drafted for the Korean War. His smile is unceasing. 

Sarasota's Kerry Urell plays pickleball regularly at Longwood Park. She had some overripe bananas sitting on her counter, so she brought Golden some banana bread. He called it the best banana bread he's ever had and said he licked the plate. 

Urell said she'll be baking more loaves. 

Golden grew up on a sharecropper farm in Missouri. He only attended school for eight months a year as a teenager because his job was to drive a team of mules through the cornfields. 

He attended a one-room schoolhouse, and the family didn’t have enough money to send him to college. Golden considers himself “lucky” to have been drafted for the war.

“I served as a counterintelligence agent, and that just totally changed my life around,” he said. “Then, I had the GI Bill, and instead of being a tenant farmer, I ended up being an engineer that practiced my trade on four continents.”

Golden could also be called “the mayor” because he has so many stories to tell in between games. He lived in New York, Boston, Malaysia and Thailand. And he met President Harry Truman right after he left office in 1953. 

His wife’s uncle was Missouri Congressman William R. Hull and he set up the meeting with Truman because Golden was such a huge fan of the President. The two shared a similar background of driving mules on Missouri farms, and he told Truman that during their meeting. 

"He said, 'Oh yeah, I spent many a hot day out there in the Missouri sun,'" Golden recalled. "I've met a lot of famous people, but that was one of the highlights of my life. Truman did things right, not that I’m a Democrat."

Golden was a football player as a young man at the University of Kansas. He didn’t start playing tennis until he was 39 years old. From then on, Golden was hooked on racket sports. 

He said he performed best at platform tennis, which combines tennis and racquetball. In the senior division, Golden was ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Courtesy image

Now, Golden sticks to pickleball because it’s “easy” and pickleball friends are “special.” 

“When I played tennis, it was so fiercely competitive that you had trouble toning down your strong desire to win every game,” he said. “That’s not true of pickleball. It really is a game of sociability, in addition to tremendous exercise.” 

Golden has been playing for about eight years now. He started at the Robert L. Taylor Community Complex. He said anybody can learn to play, but the young players learn faster.

Before pickleball, Golden took long walks around his neighborhood by himself. 

Golden’s birthday was on Sept. 29. He had about 30 people to eat cake with. University Park resident Susie Schell threw a party for him at the Longwood courts. 

“He’s a bit of a phenom, isn’t he,” she said, gesturing to Golden.