‘Sign you’re still around’: Touching moment family is reunited with late dad’s golfing gold

To many this is just an old golf ball but to one family the discovery of lost family treasure couldn’t have come at a better time.

To many this is just an old golf ball but to one family the discovery of lost family treasure couldn’t have come at a better time.

To many, this may just be another golf ball, but to this daughter, it’s much more.

Fraser Coast local Lance Mills passed when he was only 65, after he suffered a heart attack six years ago.

(L to R) Lance Mills, Dawn Mills, and their children John Mills and Marie Mills. This photo was taken after the men had played golf while "mum and (Marie) were the caddies."

The golf fanatic spent a lot of time on the green and the often talked about “time he got a hole in one on the 16th hole” hasn’t left the minds of loved ones.

Lance had a trophy in place of his timeless victory, but had never told his daughter, Maryborough local Marie Mills, what he’d done with the ball.

It remained a mystery Lance’s family members thought he had taken to the grave.

Until now.

Talented artist Maryborough local Marie Mills, 46, stopped drawing around the same time Lance died, on August 23, 2015.

But, on Sunday, August 1, she put charcoal to paper.

As she was drawing, she thought about some personal battles she’s currently facing and looked over at her father’s photo – always sitting on her desk.

Marie said to her father: ‘Dad, I need a bit of a sign you’re going to help me through this.’

Lance with his wife Dawn Mills on their last family holiday Lance attended in 2014. Lance was said to be getting ready for golf in this photo.

The following day, Monday, August 2 – three weeks prior the anniversary of Lance’s passing – Marie said she knew her dad had heard her calls.

A friend of Marie’s tagged her in a Facebook post made by Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour reaching out to see if anyone knew Lance, as he’d found a golf ball which read: ‘Lance Mills hole in one. 16th hole 27/11/12’.

The golf ball.

“I just broke down in tears, it was so surreal,” Marie told the Chronicle.

“I like to think my dad is still around and (the golf ball) was his way of saying not to throw in the towel.

“He was my rock through my life, I was very much a dad's girl and he was always there to support me when I was down, when I was up, ... he was always just a phone call away.”

Marie has a tattoo on her left arm in memory of her father, a golf ball surrounded by hearts with the message 'You are the blood in my veins R.I.P. Dad 23.08.2015'.

Marie flashes back to times as a teenager, where she would join her dad on the golf course.

“He was his happiest when he was on the golf course ... if we ever want to catch up with dad, we always went to a golf course,” Marie said.

“Him being a bit of larrikin, he would have written on the ball and then pulled the whole cup out of the hole and then put the ball underneath the cup, so if anyone else tried to claim that they were the first to get a hole in one, he would have been able to go: ‘’Here‘s the proof I’ve got it first’.

“I’m going to put (the golf ball) with dad’s ashes.”

Marie said she will be "eternally grateful" for the golf ball.