Lives Changed Through Golf
For more than twenty years, I have written profile stories. It has been my great fortune to spend time getting to know people whose stories I was able to share with readers around the world.
Some of those readers first saw my work on websites such as EDGAgolf.com, CPG.golf, randa.org and my own website. Others found the stories in magazines and newspapers. Remember when those were a thing?
However these stories have travelled, the words I used were shaped by each person’s willingness to share their experience in their own way. But that is only part of the story. It is the reader who paints the picture from the words on the page. The reader must do some of the work, fill in the blanks and create meaning. Perhaps they have had a similar experience, or know someone who has. Perhaps not. In any case, the story one reader constructs will likely be different from the story constructed by another.
My aim in creating these profiles was simple: to help more people see the people in and around the game of golf.
What I discovered was much deeper.
These were not just stories about golf. They were stories about people building, and sometimes rebuilding, lives. Testing limits. Finding confidence. Facing loss. Chasing dreams. And, often, learning to see themselves differently.
This section brings together a selection of those profiles, republished here on b-real.org and sometimes lightly revisited, because they remain central to my own journey through a career in golf and to the way I understand the game today.
Where to start
Kenny Bontz
“I need my life back”
Originally written for EDGAgolf.com, this story of Kenny Bontz is republished here as part of my personal archive of G4D player profiles.
The words “I need my life back” came deep from within the soul of Kenny Bontz. The flamboyant American, who hails from New Jersey, is chiselled from a different kind of rock. Get past the mohawk, beyond the confident walk and through the hard-man exterior, and you will find someone who has experienced the pressure of disease, felt the heat of addiction and emerged on the other side, shining like a precious diamond. READ ARTICLE
More
Monique Kalkman
“From centre court dreams
to the home of golf”
Originally written for EDGAgolf.com, this story of Monique Kalkman is republished here as part of my personal archive of G4D player profiles.
As an athlete, Monique Kalkman has won some major battles. Perhaps the first was an intensely satisfying battle against herself, to hone early tennis skills by pounding a tennis ball against the bricks of the garden wall.
Then in 1979, aged 14, when hopes and dreams were blossoming, she had to endure a traumatic fight against devastating illness that left her in a wheelchair. READ ARTICLE
Tony Poole
“It probably is as bad
as you think…”
Originally written for EDGAgolf.com, this story of Tony Poole is republished here as part of my personal archive of G4D player profiles.
“It probably is as bad as you think it is, but you’re awake.”
These are the words of advice from Tony Poole when asked what he would say to someone who had just survived a stroke. Tony shoots from the hip and takes no prisoners with his straight-talking, as one might expect from an expat Kiwi living in the state of Texas, USA.
Kate Pollard
“When people offer support, take it”
Originally written for EDGAgolf.com, this story of Kate Pollard is republished here as part of my personal archive of G4D player profiles.
On the first tee at the Australian Open, Cameron Pollard looked like a young golfer ready for the moment. Standing beside him was his father and caddie, Scott. Somewhere in the crowd was his mother, Kate, watching with the quiet alertness of someone who knows that confidence and crisis can sometimes sit very close together.
This story is as much about Kate and Cameron. It is about family, preparation, sensory overload, trust, routine, golf, and the support systems that help a young person find his place in the game.
If you would like access more of these profiles, please drop a line to tony@b-real.org