One of the great days of my teenage life was the day my father told us he had joined Tates Creek Country Club in Lexington, KY. Instead of playing at my “par-three” course, this was a real 18-hole golf course with a real golf professional and I could play all summer with other boys addicted to the little white ball. Summer became eighteen in the morning, a cheeseburger for lunch, with another eighteen to follow.

The pro at Tates Creek was Humzey Yessin, who is on a short list for the Dos Equis beer commercial’s “most interesting man in the world”. Humzey was born in 1927 to Syrian parents who immigrated to Harlan County, Kentucky.

Just imagine, if you can, a Muslim family deep in the hillbilly mountains of Kentucky where most religious people were either snake-handling Pentecostals or bootlegging Baptists. His family was one of a handful of Muslim immigrants who made a living selling ‘wares’. The Yessins became a beloved family in Harlan.

Humzey was a star for the 1944 State Championship basketball Harlan Dragons. He nearly signed with the baseball Red Sox, but he couldn’t even imagine where Massachusetts might be. Instead, he went to the University of Kentucky, hoping to play both basketball and baseball. He was too short for Adolph Rupp’s national championship basketball team but turned out to be four-year baseball star. Plus, he became the student manager for the famous basketball “Fabulous Five”, who won three national championships and became the Olympic basketball team for the USA in 1948.

He discovered that his baseball skills translated pretty well to a golf ball. So pretty soonm he was a Class A PGA Golf professional. I first encountered Humzey as a kid at Tates Creek who could barely break 90. He never gave me a lesson because he would not waste his time on kids like me with little or no talent. He later claimed credit for my “beautiful swing” but truthfully, I don’t remember getting much help. All I remember is the day I ran a golf cart over some flowers near the pro shop. Humzey delivered a speech that included words I had never heard. God was mentioned but his last name was damn and Humzey was not praising the Lord.

Indeed, while Humzey grew up “Muslim”, in truth he was just a “nothing”. To my knowledge, he never set foot in a church or mosque in his whole life—except for funerals of friends. Which is where this story really begins.

Humzey’s assistant pro at Tates Creek CC was Bob Nelson, whose primary loves were golf and booze. Ten years down the road, Bob was miraculously converted at age 35. He fell on his knees in a golf course parking lot in London, Kentucky and asked Jesus to chnage him. Bob eventually became a Methodist pastor at age 41 (that’s a whole other story for another day). When Bob died suddenly at age 69 in 2008, he left instructions that I should be the eulogizer and Humzey Yessin should be a pall bearer. So, we did. Bob had even left a title for his funeral message- “Golf Helps”. It was a brilliant funeral sermon about how Golf and God had helped him throughout his life.

After the funeral, where I discussed Bob’s “Eternal Mulligan”, we invited Humzey to our golf course Bible Study which met in the bar. He showed up. And he loved it. No one pressured him. He just came and enjoyed his hot tea, listening with special interest when we got into some Old Testament stories that included his beloved Syrian ancestors like Abraham.

Humzey’s Baptism

And so, August 20, 2015, became a day to remember. At some point, we asked Humzey a simple question. “Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?” Without hesitation, he said Yes, and so he was baptized at age 87 in the golf course swimming pool. Humzey Yessin passed from this life to death to Life again in Christ!

On September 17, 2023, Humzey finally left us for Heaven. I smile just thinking about the reunion of Humzey, my dad, and Bob Nelson on some heavenly golf venue.

So, as Bob Nelson reminded us, “Golf Helps”. Indeed, the great game of golf helped an 87-year-old Syrian Muslim friend find Jesus and eternal life.

The point? It is never too late. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, including Humzey.