GOLF:

My enthusiasm for the game of golf had been waning as of late. I wasn’t playing nearly enough to improve, in fact I think I had played three rounds all summer and hadn’t played at all in the fall.

The joy just wasn’t there. Then I talked to Monty Blodgett and the first thing I wanted to do was go play a round of golf with him.

Few people have an impact in a career the way Blodgett does.

Blodgett, the 80-year-old former head professional at Newport Beach Country Club, who gave his first lesson in 1956, has always been a student of the game. But a near-death experience gave him a perspective he has been able to pass along to those who have been fortunate enough to meet the longtime golf professional.

“Monty’s been a staple in golf for a long, long time,” said Perry Dickey, who is the general manager at Newport Beach Country Club, where Blodgett still plays two to three times a week. “He’s a real quality guy.”

Blodgett has a trunkload of memories in the game.

In 1948, he saw Ben Hogan win the U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club. When he was a professional in Long Beach he helped create the Queen Mary Open.

But it was an event outside of golf that changed his life forever.

Blodgett was a successful professional working at courses such as El Dorado Golf Course in Long Beach and playing in local SCPGA tournaments.

“He was always a good player,” said Jerry Anderson, the former general manager of Newport Beach Country Club who has been friends with Blodgett for more than 30 years. “He was one of the best players in Southern California.”

It was about 1978 when Blodgett was given a diagnosis of inoperable cancer and not given much time to live.

“They told me I was going to die,” Blodgett said. “Like they say, ‘There’s no atheists in the foxhole.’ Well I was in the foxhole. I made a deal that if I got through this I would try and set an example for other people.”

Blodgett was given chemotherapy, but little hope.

He came home from the hospital and didn’t even have enough strength to get out of bed.

A little divine intervention and a voice from above gave Blodgett the strength to carry on and he miraculously beat the cancer.

“When that voice that I heard said I was going to be OK, it was a pretty powerful moment,” Blodgett said. “I felt an obligation to help people anyway I can. It’s something I truly enjoy.”

Blodgett used his gift of teaching to instruct both amateur and professional.

As a professional at Newport Beach Country Club, he was one of the most popular professionals in club history.

“He is phenomenal,” said NBCC member, Mike Lake. “He is a class act and a wonderful human being.”

When he is not helping touring professionals like Esteban Toledo or Denis Watson, Blodgett can be found at the club, either playing or hitting balls.

“He shoots his age almost every time we play,” Lake said. “He is still digging it out of the ground.”

“I’m a real believer in perfection in the golf swing,” Blodgett said. “I used to think I knew everything, but I learn something new every time I practice.”

Monty and I have a game of golf scheduled for some time after the first of the year. It is the first time in a long time, that I am actually looking forward to getting out on the golf course.