A Life Spent Giving Back

TAMPA, Fla. – Tony Capano has spent a large part of his life giving back to his country and the game of golf, spending nearly 35 years with the United States Navy and volunteering with the Florida State Golf Association for more than 15 years.

The Pensacola resident has been a pharmacist with the U.S. Navy since 1987, currently working at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in the Panhandle. He has also been volunteering with the FSGA since 2004 and serves as the Vice President of the association’s executive committee.

"I see many parallels between my military service and golf," Capano said. "In my 20 years in the Navy, I had so many mentors and leaders to look up to and emulate. Men and women of integrity and character who helped me succeed in my career."

"I patterned my life and career after these individuals. Golf has very similar characteristics (honesty, integrity, responsibility, perseverance) as well as similar mentors and leaders that have always drawn me in."

Born and raised in Revere, Massachusetts, Capano didn’t pick up the game of golf until he was 14 years old. His aunt and uncle were passionate golfers and decided to take him out on the weekends to introduce him to the game. They went out to Middleton Golf Club, an 18-hole par-3 course in Middleton, Massachusetts, the summer before Capano started eighth grade.

In his first round, they came to a hole that was backed up, and there were about 20 people waiting. He hit a bad shot over the water with a 5-iron, but it skipped all the way across the water and back onto the fairway.

“Everyone screamed, clapped and from there I was hooked to the game,” Capano said.

When it came time for college, he headed just a few miles south to Northeastern University in Boston to attend their School of Pharmacy. Capano graduated with his degree in 1988 and joined the Navy as a pharmacist shortly after graduating.

A few years after joining, he got his master’s degree at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He made some time for golf while he was on the West Coast, playing Pebble Beach, Spyglass and a few others.

“When I got there I was a 16 handicap and when I left I was a 2 handicap,” Capano said with a laugh.

Next year will mark 35 years with the Navy for Capano, who has been stationed up and down the east coast in his career. He made his way to Florida in 2001 and began working at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in the Panhandle.

Capano was deployed overseas to Iraq in 2003 and 2004, working at a field hospital. When he got back, he wanted a change of pace and started looking for volunteer opportunities, this is how he came across the FSGA.

“I got home and I just wanted to do something different. I wanted to give back,” Capano said.

Capano stumbled upon the FSGA’s website and inquired about volunteering. He worked his first tournament in 2004 and began volunteering regularly in 2005. After a couple of years spent volunteering, he became interested in the Rules of Golf and became a certified official.

The Massachusetts native currently serves as a tournament chairman in the Panhandle area. He also serves as the Vice President of the association’s executive committee, and was recently elected to be the President, beginning in 2022.

“By far my favorite thing about the FSGA is the people that I have met,” Capano said. “The volunteers and staff we have are so amazing and give so much of their time. The dedication of staff and volunteers is amazing and I am so proud to be a part of the organization.”

Capano has been involved and playing the game for more than 40 years of his life, but when asked what his favorite memory was, he quickly had an answer. It was in 2001, when he was able to tee it up in a foursome with his father, son and his grandfather at an event in Cape Cod. Four generations all playing the game they love together. 

"I consider it an obligation to give back to the game of golf because it’s given me so many great memories, introduced me to so many life long friends and taught me so many life lessons," Capano said. "Now it is my opportunity to be that mentor and leader for the next generation of golfers, an obligation I take very seriously."