The morning fog still lingers among the towering Monterey pines as golfers trickle toward the first tee at NCGA member course Poppy Hills Golf Course. The smell of freshly cut grass hangs in the cool coastal air, and the familiar mix of anticipation and nerves settles over players before the day's first swing.
Just steps from the first tee, 92-year-old Frank Conte stands behind the starter's podium, where he has welcomed golfers for more than a decade, greeting each player with the easy familiarity of someone who has done it thousands of times.
"What's your tee time?" Conte asks as a golfer steps up to the podium.
"11."
With a quick glance at the tee sheet, Conte points toward two golfers waiting nearby.
"You're with those two right there," he says. "Pin location today is No. 2."
It's a brief exchange—less than a minute, really—but one repeated hundreds of times each week.
To most golfers, Conte is simply the starter, the friendly face who keeps the first tee moving and every round on schedule.
What many don't realize is that the man handing them a pin sheet once performed on cruise ships, entertained audiences in Las Vegas and Reno, worked alongside legendary musicians, owned businesses, fished Monterey Bay and built a life filled with stories far beyond the first tee.
Conte grew up in Monterey, in a community shaped by fishing boats, canneries and the Pacific Ocean.
Long before golf became part of his daily routine, his mornings began on the water alongside his father, who owned a sardine fishing boat.
Over the years, Conte wore many hats. He laid brick, worked in a body shop, owned a restaurant and bought and sold several businesses. Rather than following a single career path, he embraced new opportunities whenever they came along.
After Conte and his wife began taking dancing lessons together, their shared love of music inspired him to start a band in 1968. What began as a shared interest soon grew into something much bigger.
Conte went on to perform aboard cruise ships, in hotels and in Nevada showrooms, including the El Dorado in Reno and the Silver Slipper in Las Vegas. Along the way, he worked with the legendary Mills Brothers and formed a lasting friendship with John Mills. During the 1970s, Conte even helped bring entertainers from the Rat Pack era to Monterey.
Today, the first tee at Poppy Hills is his audience. There are no showroom lights or packed tables, but the entertainer is still there. Between checking in golfers and sending foursomes on their way, Conte will occasionally slip into a Sinatra classic--his voice carrying across the practice green and drawing smiles from anyone close enough to hear.
After retiring, Conte spent his Saturdays playing golf at Poppy Hills, becoming a familiar face around the course. “My heart was here,” he says simply.
Eventually, someone asked if he would be interested in becoming a starter. “I said I’d try it for a while.”
More than a decade later, he’s still here.
When asked what keeps him coming back, Conte points to the people, the rhythm of the golf course and the chance to brighten someone’s morning before they ever hit a golf shot.
After a lifetime of business, music, golf and countless stories, Conte has spent a lifetime staying active.
“Don’t think about it. Just get up in the morning and go,” Conte said. “Stay busy.”