The Long Game

Before StrokeMaster®, there was Ray.
My stepfather.
Ray loved golf.
Not the occasional Saturday morning round kind of love. The every-single-day kind of love.
He golfed with my uncles. He worked at the golf course. If the weather cooperated, there was a good chance
you could find him somewhere near a tee box, a fairway, or a putting green.
Then he had a stroke.
The good news was that Ray’s recovery was remarkable. He worked hard, regained much of his strength, and
fought his way back.
But there was one thing he couldn’t get back.
His grip.
He simply couldn’t hold onto a golf club anymore.
Now, if you’ve never met a golfer who suddenly can’t golf, consider yourself lucky.
Because after a while, my mother was ready to kill him.
Not literally, of course.
But let’s just say retirement plus no golf plus a stubborn man with too much time on his hands is a combination
I don’t recommend.
Something had to be done.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
I was just trying to get Ray out of the house and back onto the golf course.
Using a golf glove, some elastic, Velcro, and a healthy amount of trial and error, I created a way to help secure
his hand to the club.
Was it pretty?
Absolutely not.
Was it elegant?
Not even close.
Did it work? 100%
And that changed everything.
Ray was golfing again.
Not because the stroke disappeared.
Not because the challenges disappeared.
But because he had enough support to keep doing something he loved.
What started as a simple homemade solution helped him stay on the course for another five years.
Five years of golf.
Five years of stories.
Five years of rounds with friends and family.
Five years he otherwise might not have had.
Eventually another stroke ended his golfing days.
But by then, he had already taught me something important.
Golf isn’t always about the score.
Sometimes it’s about staying active.
Sometimes it’s about independence.
Sometimes it’s about having somewhere to go tomorrow morning.
And sometimes it’s simply about staying in the game.
At the time, I had no idea those pieces of elastic and Velcro would eventually become StrokeMaster®.
I was just trying to help one golfer keep playing.
Turns out, there were a lot more golfers who needed the same thing.

The Long Game
Staying in the game, one grip at a time.

Until next time,

Sharon Riley
Founder, StrokeMaster®