The Robinson High boys golf team wrapped up their season at regionals in Naples. 

And they prepared for that match the same way they've done all season. With hard work.

So much to work on, but all of that comes to a screeching halt.

Every day at 5 p.m. on MacDill Air Force Base, the same thing happens.

Throughout the base, the sounds of reveille followed by the National Anthem.

"We are very lucky to be able to play here," Robinson head coach Lisa Derathe said.

The Bay Palms Golf Complex on the grounds of MacDill is the home course for the Robinson Knights. A home course that gives these high schoolers a greater appreciation for the home of the brave.

"You get to see their work, where they’re going to work," Gage Ferris said, "and you get to a better understanding of what they do every day and just how much effort they put in to keep our country safe."

Gage Ferris and his twin brother Wade, juniors in Robinson’s International Baccalaureate program, have been playing golf for about four years.

"My dad got me into it," Gage said. "Like, he just went out one day . Me and my brother just decided to go with him. And we were like, wow, this is really cool."

"I learned that I actually do have patience and I don’t have to rush through life," Wade said.

Playing at MacDill teaches that too. And the daily anthem gives them time to pause.

"You just think about all the people who came before and who served before and some who have made the ultimate sacrifice," Derathe said.

Coach Derathe knows from personal experience. Her husband and son are military men. Her husband is retired, while her son is currently a naval officer stationed in San Diego. In her capacity as the Robinson golf coach, she gets an opportunity to teach more than chipping and putting. She’s teaching her players a valuable life lesson about respect.

"I just think about the troops and the sacrifices they’ve made for us," Gage Ferris said.

There’s something special about hearing the National Anthem while standing on a military base. It’s given these Robinson High golfers a broader and more meaningful sense of the words. And changed the way they hear it.

"At sports events, everything’s like crazy and wild and then here, it’s all calm," Wade Ferris said, "and like, I don’t know, kind of gives me like a deeper meaning."

"I definitely think about back here," Gage said, "and it just gives me, again, a really deep appreciation for everything they do for our country."