Lee Janzen and Davis Love III greeted each other as the old friends they are Wednesday afternoon at the Kapolei Golf Club restaurant.

They shook hands, laughed at the prospect of getting older and wondered out loud what to do next; much like a pair of 10-year-olds at the first day of summer camp.

It’s hard to imagine anyone over the age of 50 being a rookie at anything, but that’s what these two guys are entering Friday’s opening round of the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship.

They are part of a new wave of golfers taking up residence in the old folks’ clubhouse of the Champions Tour, and two of 15 senior-circuit rookies in this week’s 54-hole event. Play begins Friday on the first and 10th tees and 9:50 a.m.

They say if you’re going to cash big paychecks out here, it’s best you do it by age 55. At that point, no matter how well you have oiled the machine, the body just gets a little brittle, leaving the golfer wondering why he ever chose to swing a club for a living in the first place.

Love is making his Champions Tour debut — along with Skip Kendall and Guy Boros — with a body still on the mend. He had the same surgery as Peyton Manning did 19 months ago, and is hoping for similar results that will allow him to play relatively pain-free.

Love had been bothered by neck problems since 2000. He said on Wednesday that patients can see positive results for up to 30 months after going under the knife. He looked good, and felt even better about playing in Hawaii this weekend and Pebble Beach the next.

"I played with Vijay at the PGA and then I played with Fred (Couples) at Greensboro, and both said this was a good event, a lot of fun, so it just worked out with the schedule," Love said. "I’m going to concentrate on the regular tour; play kind of my normal schedule.

"I would like to try to get back into the Players (Championship) again and obviously the British Open at St. Andrew’s. It’s a great year of majors (in 2015). I’m going to try to give the regular tour another year or two."

Janzen, among the youngest of the old boys, is physically fit, having been a regular at the gym for the better part of his life. He played in his first 50-and-over event in the Quebec Championship two weeks back where he tied for 23rd, nine shots off the pace of eventual first-time winner Wes Short Jr.

The two-time U.S. Open champion is about $3,000 shy of $16 million in PGA Tour career earnings and would like to play in as many events as possible with the young boys. But unlike Love, who has 20 tour wins, and has the status to play in as many events as he wishes, Janzen only qualified for eight in 2014, making the cut in five.

As for his first event out here. Well… "There was definitely an anticipation," Janzen said. "I was looking forward to it; my wife (Beverly) and I both, immensely, for a number of reasons. One, I was looking forward to playing a normal schedule, knew what, where and when I was going to play.

"The idea of playing three rounds, no cut, I think that is great. Smaller fields, the fact that I know everybody and have for 25 years, that’s another bonus. We’ve made a lot of great friends over the years. And to get to see them again and know we’re gonna get to hang out some, have dinner, break bread, maybe have some grape juice …"

Also joining this talented twosome eyeing the $330,000 top prize are Jay Haas, who is currently No. 3 on the Schwab Cup list, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton, and past Pacific Links winners Bill Glasson and Willie Wood. Defending champion Mark Wiebe withdrew on Tuesday with an ear infection, coupled with shoulder and neck problems.

Last year’s runner-up, Corey Pavin, is back in the field as well as fellow Sony Open/Hawaiian Open winners Vijay Singh, Brad Faxon, Jeff Sluman, Paul Goydos, Ben Crenshaw, John Cook, Gene Sauers and Hale Irwin. Crenshaw won at Waialae in 1976, pocketing a cool first-place check of $46,000.