It is a thought that never had occurred to Jim Salinetti. Not during his four years at the University of Rhode Island and not in the 23 years since his graduation.

But given the opportunity to reminisce about the byproduct of that part of his life – college teammates who are forever friends and the manner in which golf still captivates them all – warm memories enveloped Salinetti like a sultry July day and so he paused.

“I just thought of this,” he said. “But one of the reasons we were so close was we all had sisters. None of us had brothers. I think coach brought us together to be brothers.”

It’s crazy to think it was a recruiting ploy by the late URI golf coach Tom Drennan, a prince of a man. But it’s brilliant to think how it all played out, haphazard as it might have been. Because “brothers” they became – right down to those fights over the last slice of pizza or those last wings – and brothers they remain.

“We’ve been Best Men in each other’s weddings and we enjoyed everything we could have hoped for in a college experience,” said Justin Thompson.

“We were our own little family, our own little unit,” said Michael Sims, who was the leading player on that 1999-2000 URI team that is the focal point here.

Salinetti and Josh Hillman were seniors, Sims and Thompson juniors, while Tommy Giles (sophomore) and Michael Carbone (freshman) were the younger members of a team that would win the New England Collegiate Championship by a whopping 43 strokes. It was this team that in many ways cemented URI as the dominant New England Div. 1 golf program and a legitimate national team.

Coach Drennan had masterfully networked with supporters of the URI golf program to host an annual tournament, the Adams Cup at Newport CC, that had an immediate impact. National teams wanted invites and so future PGA Tour players such as Graeme McDowell, Johnson Wagner, and Brendon de Jonge were among the players URI competed against.

In turn, Drennan had the open door to get URI into tournaments at Hawaii-Hilo and at Augusta State (which came with practice-round tickets to the Masters), and eventually the Rams would host an NCAA Regional that included powerhouse Georgia Tech with Bryce Molder and Matt Kuchar.

For URI, these days of strong teams, memorable travels, and priceless camaraderie were especially enjoyed within the confines of the “Narragansett Golf House,” as members of that 1999-2000 team called their university home on Ocean Road that looked out over Scarborough Beach. With Salinetti, Hillman, Thompson, Sims, Giles, and Carbone the love for one another and the experience of college golf overflowed.

“I keep a team picture in my office and when I look at it, I smile,” said Hillman. “Friends for life.”

What helps unite these players even more is their love of golf and the fact that it is still central to their existence. While some of them tried pro golf for different periods of time (Sims, the best of the bunch, played parts of seven years on the Korn Ferry Tour; Salinetti and Carbone gave it a serious run but graduated Q School; Hillman’s try was short-lived, though he once used Thompson as a caddie and outplayed Gary Nicklaus in front of the Golden Bear in a second-stage pairing) all of them remain firmly entrenched in the business.

Pointing to the success his colleagues have had as head golf professionals at prestigious clubs (Salinetti at Winchester CC and Hillman at Taconic GC in Massachusetts where he is also head coach at Williams College; Thompson at Pine Tree CC in Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Carbone’s fascinating ride as a caddie in the elite world – Seminole in the winter, Old Sandwich in the summer – Sims gushed about his peers.

“I’m so proud of those guys and what they’ve been able to accomplish and give back to the game,” he said.

Humility being his strong suit, Sims is revered by his former mates who cherish the “free spirit” vibes he brought with him from his native Bermuda. “Michael helped put URI on the map,” said Salinetti, who calls Sims “the most genuine person I’ve ever met.”

When in 2013 Sims ended his pursuit of pro golf at the age of 34, he re-charged his batteries in Bermuda for a year then re-discovered his calling. He’s a life coach, a mentor, a swing instructor, a caddie . . . whatever the young players at the sports management company Rocksport need him to be.

“Not a better person walking the earth, with or without a golf club,” said Lucas Glover, one of those who has been helped immeasurably by Sims’ unique calm and perspective.

To hear Carbone tell it, his college golf career might never have flourished if not for Sims’ cool and his teammates’ patience.

“I knew I had to prove myself, but let’s face it, I was excitable,” laughed Carbone, the only freshman on that team.

First match, first hole, No. 10 at the Yale Golf Course, and Carbone’s 3-wood tee shot was abysmal. “I tossed my club and it bounced and hit Hillman (a senior co-captain) in the ankle. I was so scared.”

Enter Sims. “Michael grabbed me and quietly said to me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t ever do that again.’

“Two things I’ll always be grateful for – Michael and the team was great to me, and Hillman didn’t kill me.”

To Sims, there was one rule for the lads of the Narragansett Golf House. “Everything we did,” he said, “we did together.”

It meant that together, via texts and phone calls, they mourned the death in June of 2020 of former teammate Michael Schanne, who so adored being part of the golf team at URI that he had stayed as a graduate assistant in 1999-2000 to help Coach Drennan.

“Michael knew all the good people,” said Thompson, who knew Schanne from the Philadelphia area and was teammates for two seasons. “He was like an uncle, showing me around. He had so much enthusiasm, he was a big part of bringing us together as a team.”

If by 2020 the text messages between these URI mates had become a little more sporadic, their beloved teammate’s death was a shocking wake-up call to them.

“Michael’s death was tragic,” said Sims. “But it unified us. We agreed we had to check in with one another (more often). We loved him and we loved each other so let’s make sure everyone’s OK.”

The lines of communication have never been better, the pride and passion in their URI golf roots never stronger.

“When recruits come into my office at Williams, I point to that picture,” said Hillman. “See that group of kids, that’s my URI team. I tell (the recruits), 'That’s what you want to get out of college. I loved school, I loved the coach, I loved the golf program.”

And the brothers? He loved them most of all.