In December, the Facebook show by Mike Rowe, "Returning the Favor", aired a piece on an 89-year-old golfer in Chehalis, Wash., who built a golf course with his brother and opened it up to his entire community for free. After sharing it on my Twitter feed, it soon became evident that this story had touched a lot of members across our country. I knew that I soon had to make a quick 108-mile trip to the Gate Ranch Golf Course to meet this man in person. What I found was the exact person that Mike Rowe had so wonderfully introduced on his show.

I spent nearly two hours with Mr. Dunson, his sister, and his nephew in his living room learning all about his late brother and the passion that they shared when they built this little nine-hole, par-three golf course. What began as a way to appease their golfing habit, soon grew into a community project where they could mentor young kids and help set their paths straight through the game of golf. Mr. Dunson’s favorite holiday is the Fourth of July, so he started a small tournament which soon grew to an annual bash for the entire community. It’s an all-American event, complete with hot dogs and apple pie (to which I am now officially invited). The saying “what comes around, goes around” couldn’t ring truer. Mr. Dunson believes strongly that good deeds will be rewarded and what he received back from the community is 10-fold in his eyes.

 

I could tell that the time he spends with the kids means everything to him. In his garage, which he affectionately calls his pro shop, he keeps loads of golf clubs which are free for anyone to use. When he saw that the young kids were using clubs much too large, he purchased a few sets of junior clubs and may have even had a few five-irons cut down to fit. However, most of these clubs have managed to disappear. He didn’t really seem too offended by their ability to grow legs and walk away, after all, he just supposed that they were being appropriated for good use.

As things would happen, Mr. Dunson slipped and fell after the show aired, resulting in a break in his left arm just below his shoulder. If you played the video, you would have seen that a local company donated $15,000 in labor to help Mr. Dunson manage his course. The timing of the donation could not have been better.

Just to show what kind of impact Mr. Dunson’s story had across our industry, last week, I received a message from Ryan Kraushofer saying that the MAAGCS Board of Directors approved a $500 donation to the Gate Ranch Golf Course. I can honestly say that 100 percent of their donation will be put to good use. The Western Washington group is considering what they want to do, as well. Perhaps I can talk them into donating a few sets of junior clubs!

I must say, this had to have been one of my more memorable site visits as a GCSAA field staff representative. I felt blessed to see how a family, built on love, who emigrated from Texas during the Dust Bowl, persevered in life, then managed built a little non-discrete golf course, so that they could share it with their local community. If I can say one thing, the producers of Mike Rowe's "Returning the Favor" hit the nail on the head when they told the story of the Dunson Family.