Saved By Golf

And the Grace of God

Not long ago, my friend Mark Kehl, who runs a terrific organization called Autism Northwest in Thunder Bay, Ontario, sent me a 2023 award-winning Golf Channel documentary about an extraordinary young man named Alex Fourie.

Alex was born without a right arm near Chernobyl in 1992, just six years after the largest nuclear power plant disaster in history poisoned the region’s air and water supply, which passed through his pregnant birth mom causing Alex to be born without a right arm and a cleft lip and palate that would eventually require 22 surgeries.  

His parents gave up custody of Alex to the state, which placed him in orphanages for nearly seven years until he was adopted by a South African couple in Alabama through an improbable – dare I say miraculous -- series of incredible connections before he reached his seventh birthday, the age at which, under Ukrainian law, he would have been classified as “Unredeemable” and shuttled off to a mental institution for the rest of his life.

During this season of Thanksgiving, I can’t think of a more moving story of faith, redemption, and gratitude than Alex Fourie’s incredible journey to wholeness.

Today, he’s the top-ranked, one-armed golfer in America, according to the U.S. Adaptive Golf Alliance, and the new head golf professional at an outstanding club in North Carolina that’s focused on making golf accessible to all.

A few weeks ago, a golf buddy and I called on Alex in his new post as head pro at The Five-Hundred Club in Statesville, North Carolina. Eighteen months ago, the semi-private club, formerly known as the Larkin Community Country Club, was purchased by a management group that included eight former NASCAR winners of the Daytona 500, hence its new name. The owners transformed the dramatic rolling golf course club with a multi-million-dollar makeover and introduced exceptional casual family-friendly services aimed at redefining the modern sports club experience — with access for all.

“In that respect,” Alex explained to us as we rambled around the golf course on a golden afternoon, “this is probably one of the most unique clubs in the country, one that focuses on fun and making everyone who comes here feel welcome and at home.”

To that end, Alexis has introduced several programs designed to bring newcomers to the game — women and children, abled and disabled alike — by focusing on the power of golf to bring joy and fun. With input from the USGA, He recently created the North Carolina Adaptive Golf Association, a first of its kind aiming to build a network of teaching clinics across the state. A recent clinic he hosted in Greenville (SC) for physically challenged kids attracted a dozen one-armed kids from across the country.

The 500 Club seems perfect for Alex Fourie, an extraordinary young man whose improbable life journey from an orphanage in Ukraine to his first head pro job in western North Carolina almost seems the stuff of divine intervention.

“I sometime have to pinch myself for where life has led me,” he reflects as our tour of the golf course brings us back to the club house where a dozen kids eagerly await instruction. Following that, there will be “glow-golf” with parents and kids through the autumn darkness.

“I wake up every day thankful to God that I’m able to do what I do in a game I love. This is really my mission in life, a way to give back to others. It’s not a job, it’s a blessing. God and golf saved me.”

Here’s the Emmy-winning documentary that brought Alex’s astonishing story to the world.