The golf community has done an inadequate job of telling the stories of the multi-faceted good that comes from golf, allowing the perpetuation of negative stereotypes of elitism and exclusion to dominate public consciousness. The game has a complicated history related to classism, racism, sexism, and tone-deaf self-interest that some players have not moved beyond. But to focus exclusively on those flaws is to miss the immense benefits conferred on those who play, and equally important, the positive impact golfers make on their communities and the world at large. Golf changes people for the better and better people change the world.
Golf’s new boom creates an opportunity to create a wholesale shift. GeekedOnGolf exists to elevate and propagate the good that comes from golf by telling the stories of people, clubs, and organizations within the game that are making a positive impact. It is also a platform for personal expression and a celebration of golf’s beauty.
This entity is the brainchild of award-winning golf writer and do-gooder golf geek Jason Way, whose mission is to pay forward the life-changing and immeasurable goodness he received from golf and golfers. Way and his collaborators at GeekedOnGolf sit at the center of a vibrant network of like-minded players whose voices are worth hearing, now more than ever.
Contributors
Jon Cavalier
Jon Cavalier is a lawyer, golf traveler, photographer and creator of the LinksGems brand on social media (@LinksGems) with over 125,000 followers. Through proceeds generated from the LinksGems Annual Holiday Calendar, more than $500,000 in donations have gone on to directly support animal charities such as: Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, Puppies and Golf, Fishtails Animal Rescue and City of Elderly Love. He lives in Ardmore with his wife and golf dogs Gracie and Maddie.
Vaughn Halyard
Vaughn Halyard is a film producer and founder of StoryLounge, a boutique filmmaking studio. He is a former senior executive with Sony Music, Columbia Records, Motown, and Disney Studios (and two-time Grammy Award winner), the golf and greens chair during the restoration of Cedar Rapids Country Club in Iowa, and the current president of the Donald Ross Society.