OMAHA, Neb. (AP) \u2014 Bob Walls was getting set to tee off on the first hole at his home course last week when his partners interrupted his pre-shot routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet back here, man,\u201d James King said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing blues today,\u201d Dawn Dozier added.<\/p>\n
Walls wasn\u2019t having it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re over 100, you can hit from anywhere you want,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n
Then, with a silky smooth swing from the forward white tees, he thwacked the ball down the right side of the fairway just short of the green on the 180-yard hole.<\/p>\n
Not bad for a 103-year-old. Actually, pretty incredible.<\/p>\n
A record 6.3 million Americans 65 and older played golf in 2025, the National Golf Foundation reported this month. The NGF does not track the number of centenarians, but there undoubtedly are few, if any, who play as well and as often as Walls.<\/p>\n
Walls is fit and trim and looks 30 years younger. He has survived a heart attack, has had multiple heart surgeries and overcame a transient ischemic attack (mini stroke). He credited good genes \u2014 both of his parents lived into their late 90s \u2014 for his longevity, along with staying active.<\/p>\n
The notion that he\u2019s a freak of nature doesn\u2019t register with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel 103. I don\u2019t act 103,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me it\u2019s no big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in St. Marys, Kansas, in 1923, Walls moved to Omaha in 1947 after he served in World War II. He spent most of his working years owning and operating a janitorial service.<\/p>\n
He retired at 74 and, with friends\u2019 encouragement, took up golf. Steve Hogan, who was Nebraska\u2019s first Black PGA professional, taught Walls how to play at what was then Miller Park. The two became close friends, and Walls honors Hogan\u2019s memory by volunteering seven days a week at the course, which was renamed Steve Hogan Golf Course after his death in 2008.<\/p>\n
Walls spends five or six hours riding around in his open-top cart with a bucket of seed-and-sand mix on the passenger side. He fills divots and repairs ball marks, picks up trash and fishes other golfers\u2019 errant shots out of the lagoon with his ball retriever.<\/p>\n
Always strapped on the back of the cart is his golf bag, because he never knows when the mood will strike to stop and play a hole or maybe work on his game.<\/p>\n
Outside the clubhouse are a couple of training devices Walls made to help young players get a feel for the golf swing arc. He has worked with kids in the First Tee program and gives lessons to adults for $50 per hour. The course holds an annual tournament, the Bob Walls Invitational, to raise money for equipment for neighborhood kids.<\/p>\n
When he gets home from the course each day, he often gets on his iPad and watches hours of training videos.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I visited him for his 101st birthday, I wasn\u2019t even in the door and the first thing he said to me was that he was breaking down his whole game, changing this, changing that,\u201d Dozier said. \u201cHe\u2019s always working on his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walls has still got plenty of game. He regularly shoots in the low 30s on the par-3 Hogan course. In fact, the other day he shot 31 to win a match against course manager Mike Rice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I beat him \u2014 and I haven\u2019t beaten him very often \u2014 I had to have a hole-in-one to do it,\u201d Rice said. \u201cWho\u2019d ever thought a 103-year-old gentleman could knock a ball 180 yards consistently every day and have enough energy and strength to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Walls spends the fall and winter in Phoenix and is on a course or practice range every day there, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolf is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He fusses over his stance, swing plane and the direction his shoulders are pointing at his finish. Recently, he\u2019s been working on getting more consistent with his lob wedge so he doesn\u2019t have to rely so much on his sand wedge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to hit right down the middle and the next shot is going to be on the green,\u201d King said. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to do anything to hurt himself. Sweet and easy. That\u2019s what I love about his game. And he practices, too. Every day he hits a few balls, and I know he does because I\u2019m down here most every day. I love playing with him. I think he\u2019s one of kind.\u201d<\/p>\n
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