As much as it would be wonderful to credit a sharper and more focused peripheral vision for wider view of golf, my gut says otherwise. Peripheral vision, at least according to published reports, likely follows in line with many other attributes that are no match for the aging process.

Sigh.

Yet, what’s with this warm embrace of so many subtle slices of golf that previously went under-appreciated? Like the warm glow of golf played in a sultry July twilight. It is pure magic to be engulfed in an amber backdrop and let the silence resonate.

For sure, there is a happiness that comes with stepping along morning dew, knowing fresh greens and a swifter pace are your rewards for answering that 5 a.m. wakeup. But to tee it up for four or five or even nine holes before you turn the lights out on the golf course and tuck it in for the evening is to experience a warm, tingling feeling that captures the glory of this wonderful game so succinctly.

Likewise, to arrive at the golf course and be promptly treated with the sight of four youngsters pushing off from the first tee, bags slung over their shoulders, enchants like never before. And so, too, does the clink of golf balls being pushed into the steel neck of a vintage shag bag provide a joy that was grossly overlooked in younger, more hurried years.

The feeling of a flushed 7-iron is always a reminder of that first pure shot that made you fall hopelessly in love with golf. As for the bucket hat you never gave a thought to but now wear so faithfully, it is very much a part of a personal lifelong journey with golf.

Where my fancy is tickled to delightful degrees, however, is when a story rekindles a fascination with competitive golfers of the amateur flavor. Money corrupts, so push aside a whole parade of professional golfers and what echoes in my ear is the voice of arguably the wisest of all golf sages, the late and great Jack Burke Jr. Espousing on the importance of a foundation, Burke once insisted that the number of amateur golfers is a true measurement of the health of the game, not the size of a PGA Tour tournament purse.

Amen to that, and to those who foster such a mission. Dave Adamonis Jr., for instance.

Like his father before him, Dave extends a selfless commitment to a junior golf circuit called the Challenge Cup, which has provided countless opportunities for hundreds of New England youths for more than 20 years.

No surprise, one morning last week Dave was being his usual self – that is, helping out one of his Challenge Cuppers by searching for a set of lefthanded golf clubs.

No surprise, Ben Spitz said he’d help out.

“Dave drove up from Providence to Wollaston (Golf Club) to pick up the (old set),” said Spitz, who is in a long line of golfers indebted to Adamonis. “What he runs is awesome. You can find your way (in golf) thanks to the Challenge Cup.”

A simple story to start the day, yet it unleashed a flood of warm feelings because it involved not only Adamonis, but also Ben Spitz, who pretty much embodies my picture of what an elite amateur golfer should be.

It isn’t so much the sparkling resume that Ben Spitz has compiled – from state titles at the Pre-Junior and Junior Am level to a wonderful career at the University of Rhode Island to the coveted Massachusetts Amateur in 2006 to a pair of Massachusetts Amateur Public Links victories. More than that it’s the dignified manner in which he’s carried himself and the bear-hug he has put around perspective, priorities, passion, preparation.

The umbrella you never want to use. The iconic shag bag you should always embrace. Both are always at the ready.

At 41 he’s as competitive as he ever was, only the question has to be asked: How is that possible?

After all, golf ranks solidly behind a beautiful family (he and his wife have twins girls who are 12 and a son who is 9) and a business career (Manulife Investment Management), and forever Spitz has been without a private country club membership and a place to practice and play for hours (His attachment is to a public course, George Wright, though his visits there are limited to a few break-of-day rounds.)

“It’s not for a lack of effort,” he laughed, when asked how he maintains such a polish to his game. “But the truth is, I care about golf and I grew up with golf (oldest brother Brian is a PGA professional; another older brother, David, was a URI teammate and still plays competitively) and I take it seriously.”

Time management is of the essence so Ben Spitz might go out to his backyard and hit balls off a mat into a net. Or steal 45 minutes of his downtime to find a local muni where he can chip and putt.

“You’re just always trying to find time. When you don’t have all the time in the world, you make the best use of it.”

He knows he’s not alone, that “a lot of us live this odd mid-am life” and there’s a great deal of truth to what he says.

Ah, but just as the solitude of twilight golf and bucket hats and picking up balls with a shag bag provide beautiful snippets of my golf world, to study the essence of Ben Spitz is a treat.

To admire how infrequently he competes and how consistently he gets into contention is a testament, methinks, to the healthy respect Ben Spitz affords to all aspects of his world. When you sprinkle in that he’s been a volunteer with the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund and a former member of the Player Advisory Committee at Mass Golf, the level of admiration only rises.

“Apparently, he’s got a wonderful balance to his life because he’s played great the last 10 years. He really has,” said Frank Vana, one of the most accomplished amateurs in Mass Golf history.

Vana’s assessment is spot on because the Ben Spitz portfolio in recent years includes the 2017 and 2023 State Amateur Public Links titles, advancement through U.S. Open local qualifying four times, a share of second in the 2021 State Open, and being medalist at the 2021 State Amateur, by one over Michael Thorbjornsen. (Of course, Thorbjornsen easily won that State Am and is now on the PGA Tour, so no wonder Spitz calls those days at Brae Burn a truly “fun experience.”)

This summer is a microcosm of the Ben Spitz story. He played three rounds at the Hornblower Memorial and earned a T-16. At the State Am he qualified for match play and lost in the Round of 16. And the reason Adamonis met Spitz at Wollaston GC? That’s where he shot 67-73 to get into the lead of the annual Ouimet Memorial Tournament before finishing second, one behind Matt Parziale.

“That’s it so far,” he laughed, brushing off what is a light competitive schedule compared to what others play. But he’ll tee it up in a U.S. Mid-Am qualifier and join with brother David for a U.S. Amateur Four-ball qualifier to help quench his passion for competition. And should he add to his list of USGA berths (two Amateurs, two Four-balls, one Mid-Am) it will be owed to his philosophies.

“Playing competitively is why I practice. I’ve always practiced with a purpose. I’m not just blindly hitting golf balls. I work out daily, I swing weighted clubs all to get better.”

The beauty to Ben Spitz and his love of competitive golf is this: He knows “it’s a conundrum, definitely,” and someday he could face a decision on how better to balance his life and golf could lose ground.

No fears, no worries, because his character is deeper than his golf skill and that’s saying a lot.