Should you be of the mindset that golf never fails because it is a game for life and even if you stop playing, your passion for it never evaporates, this is a story for you.

It begins with a question and answer.

Q: How does a young golfer from Vietnam find her way to Boston University?

A: She asks a guy who grew up in Millis, who tells her she should fly to Singapore and meet a guy who grew up in Duxbury and who may, or may not, point her toward Commonwealth Avenue.

Now, Google Maps or AAA or any number of travel agents would have provided a different set of directions for Hanako Kawasaki. But she listened to the guy from Millis, flew to Singapore to meet the guy from Duxbury, and thus set in motion this story that might remind you why you love golf.

Peter Teravainen and Hanako Kawasaki, pictured with her caddie after a tournament a few years ago.

Of course, the star of the story is Kawasaki, a senior at Boston University whose golf game has blossomed beautifully. A former Patriot League Player of the Year, she will be playing in the upcoming U.S. Women’s Amateur. She earned her spot by being co-medalist with a level-par 71 in a qualifier last week at Boston Golf Club in Hingham.

But it’s how she leaned on two gentlemen who have colorful ties to local golf – Bruce Chalas, the Millis native, and Peter Teravainen, who grew up in Duxbury – to get her from Ho Chi Minh City to Boston that anchors the story. Her admiration for them is genuine.

“Without Peter, I wouldn’t have gotten here,” said Kawasaki. “He was Bruce’s eyes. And Bruce has been more than a coach to me. He teaches me so much. He helps me with my personal life choices. He’s like a life coach.”

Chalas, 70, and Teravainen, 65, have local golf roots that go back more than 50 years and there are notable entries for both. Chalas, who played at Babson, teamed with Steve Tasho to win a pair of Mass Golf Four-ball Championships; Teravainen, who starred at Yale, lost to Bruce Douglass in the 1976 State Amateur final, but won a host of marquee amateur tournaments and went on to an adventurous pro career in Europe, Japan, and throughout Asia.

For more than 30 years Teravianen has made his home in Singapore and Chalas will tell you that even back when they were competitors on the local front “you just knew Peter was destined to travel the world.”

So many international tales could be told of Teravainen, who had one forgettable year on the PGA Tour before launching off on a global adventure (he won tournaments in Czechoslovakia, Japan, and Singapore). But to connect to Kawasaki, best we push forward many years when on a rare return home to visit his family in Duxbury, Teravainen got invited to a dinner that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Hornblower Memorial.

It was 2015 and the ’79 Hornblower champ (Teravainen) found himself sitting with those who had won in 1975 and 1977 (Bill Buttner) and 1973 (Chalas).

“Very fortuitous for me,” said Teravainen, who had put down the clubs in 2010 and started working with Kim Baldwin, an Aussie teaching pro who also lived in Singapore. Baldwin focused on the golf swing; Teravainen offered thoughts on American colleges.

“Bruce had taught me a tremendous amount about college golf,” said Teravainen.

“We had talked off and on through the years,” said Chalas, who has coached collegiately for many years – at Babson, Harvard, MIT and now BU – and concedes he is consumed 24/7 by the sport he has loved since childhood.

“Mostly, we exchanged emails, but we kept in touch.”

The Hornblower reunion put them face-to-face, however, and really ignited a passion within Teravainen. His exotic travels had produced professional wins in Czechoslovakia, Japan, and Singapore, but even if Teravainen kept the clubs in the closet, mentoring and teaching young golfers had him in the game.

When Kawasaki in 2017 reached out via email to Chalas, the BU coach wasn’t sure. Her resume was a little light, and she understood his apprehension.

“I was out of nowhere, to be honest. I won championships, but championships of what?” she laughs. “I was from Vietnam, not a lot of competition.”

Persistently, yet politely, Kawasaki continued with another email and Chalas had an idea. “I told her, ‘If you go to see Peter and Kim, they will help you.’ And at this point I had seen her swing on video – she hit a great cut-shot – and I knew Peter would help.”

Teravainen knew that there hadn’t been any collegiate interest in Kawasaki. “I liked her from afar; I studied her scores. Not only did Kim and I like her raw talent, but to this day, Kim remains her coach.”

Teravainen told Chalas that Kawasaki was a keeper, the recruitment and BU acceptance went flawlessly, and in late summer of 2018, she entered her freshman year. All she did as a freshman was win three tournaments, including the Patriot League Championship.

The play has only gotten more consistent and what she did at Boston Golf Club resonated with Teravainen, who was on the other side of the world, and Chalas, who spends a lot of time in Pinehurst, N.C.

Miles apart. Together in golf.