Over The Tree

A young man, an avid golfer found himself with a few hours to spare one 
afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get 
in 9 holes before he had to head home.  Just as he was about to tee off 
an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany 
the young man as he too was golfing alone.  Not having any reason to say
no, he invited the old fellow to join him.

To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly.  He didn't hit the
ball far, but moved along quite consistently and didn't waste time.
Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself
with a tough shot.  There was a large pine tree right in front of his
ball, directly between the ball and the green. After several minutes 
of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, "You know, 
when I was your age I played this course many, many times.  Even had a
lie similar to yours.  Back then, I hit the ball right over that tree." 

With that challenge placed before him, the younger man gave it his best.  
He took a mighty swing, hit the ball up, and right back down.  He'd hit 
it directly into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back to the 
ground, not more than a foot from where it had originally been.  Taking 
a deep breath, he tried again.  Same result.  Another deep breath, another
try, same result.  "Damn," he exclaimed, "How did you ever get the ball over
this freaking tree?"

The old man replied, "Well, when I was your age that pine tree was only about 
3 feet tall."