When it’s been 15 years since the passing of a dear friend and the mere mention of his name still prompts you to choke back tears and harness your heartache, what does that mean?

Perhaps that you were incredibly blessed to have a friendship built on love, respect, and passion, and that maybe, just maybe, your friend made you a better person without you really knowing how he was doing it.

From this seat, the view of the late John Mineck was awe-inspiring as the world into which he swept you had more dimensions than you could fathom. Golf was the ignition to our friendship but discovering how much more he poured into life beyond merely playing the game made the ride so rich, so enthralling.

To know that so many others feel similarly about John Mineck is a priceless commodity.

“John Mineck was that shooting star in your life,” said Gil Hanse, whose renown as a golf course architect is unquestioned, though it’s not what defines him. Humility does.

That humility ushers Hanse back to Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Mass., every year in early October. True, it is a homecoming of sorts, for Hanse’s company designed BGC and is currently overseeing the construction of a seven-hole short course. But like so many of us, the greater purpose of Hanse’s October visit is to feed the soul.

Without Boston Golf Club, one of the country’s true golf treasures, “who knows if all this happens,” said Hanse, referring to a company portfolio that is one eye-opening project after another for he and partner Jim Wagner. Streamsong Black, The Vineyard Club, Ohoopee Match Club, Crail Craighead, Castle Stuart, the Olympic Course in Brazil, The Cradle in Pinehurst, and PGA Frisco East. All original designs.

Factor in all the restorations and renovations – from U.S. Open courses such as The Country Club, LA North, Oakland Hills, Oakmont, Winged Foot, and Merion to iconic stops like Myopia Hunt Club, Kittansett, Baltusrol, Sleepy Hollow, Plainfield, Lake Merced, Colonial, Fisher’s Island, and Yale Golf Club – and you can only marvel at the doors that opened for Hanse and Wagner after their heralded effort at BGC was critically acclaimed.

“Imagine the guts it took for John (and partner Rob Ketterson) to hire Gil. They had great vision,” said Ran Morrissett, the Architectural Editor at GOLF and co-creator of golfclubatlas.com. But Morrissett is quick to point out that Hanse, a new face on the landscape 20 years ago, has validated that trust a hundred times over and isn’t that the hallmark of a brilliant team?

For all that stood out about John Mineck, his desire to surround himself with people who were great at their craft was uncanny. Then sprinkle in that he was a man of substance whose interests flowed into Boston’s cultural community, in particular the Society of Arts and Crafts, to helping The First Tee, to promoting junior golfers and caddies, and caring for philanthropic causes at hospitals.

If ever there was a man who believed golf was the great unifier and a brilliant conduit for charity, it was John. He loved the wide breadth of his world and felt it was important to present opportunities so others could foster connections.

Tragically killed while working on his own course in 2007, John Mineck is remembered fervently by a wide circle of friends who have devoted countless hours to enhancing this great man’s legacy. The John D. Mineck Foundation going into this year’s memorial tournament had raised over $2.3 million.

The diversity of those who benefit speaks to the richness of John’s character – there is a $25,000 John D. Mineck Furniture Fellowship; an endowed scholarship in John’s name through the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund; a scholarship to a student in turfgrass management at UMass-Amherst; a partnership with the First Tee of Massachusetts; a tournament sponsorship with the AJGA; funding of an Artists-in-Residence program at Boston Children’s Hospital; and the annual John D. Mineck Foundation Scholarship in conjunction with the Challenge Cup Junior Golf Foundation.

The first winner of the John D. Mineck Foundation Scholarship back in 2007 was Tony Grillo. There was a golf side to Grillo, of course – back-to-back winner of the State Junior – but the honor was bestowed upon the young man from Martha’s Vineyard because of his character, his work ethic and his academic standing.

In other words, because he mirrored Mineck, who got into the game as a caddie and earned both his undergrad and master’s degrees from Boston College.

You’d have to say the honor connected, given the impressive Grillo route – Harvard, several years working in sales at the PGA Tour, grad school at Columbia, now President of GreenPark Sports, a major player in creating digital experiences and games for a new generation of sports and e-sports fans.

You’d have to say that the Mineck aura connected, too, because even though Grillo was only a teenager, “it was obvious how special John was and the impact he made on those around him,” he said.

After opening BGC in 2005, John Mineck had worked with Seth Waugh, then the face of the Deutsche Bank Championship, to create a junior golf event. Grillo was part of it the first few years and thanks to efforts fostered by Mineck, he got to know Waugh (currently the CEO of the PGA of America) and Jay Monahan, then an executive vice-president with the Fenway Sports Group (now PGA Tour Commissioner).

“We couldn’t have felt more special,” said Grillo, who was assured that he isn’t alone.

John Mineck was indeed a “shooting star” who made a lengthy parade of us feel special, too.