Baseball’s Loss Was Golf’s Gain
JOHN STEINBREDER
E-MAIL JOHN
NAPLES, FLORIDA I
John Baldwin was a
baseball player as a young boy, and a good
one at that. But then, he took a high, hard
pitch to the head in a Pony League game.
“I ended up spending the night in the
hospital with a concussion,” the 67-year-
old New York native says. “I was fine
physically. But when I tried to play again, I
bailed out on every pitch.”
So Baldwin had to give up baseball.
That saddened him initially, but then he
took up golf. And that turned out to be a
great move, for Baldwin and for the game.
For one thing, Baldwin developed into
an elite amateur with a record that in-
cludes a pair of Met Amateur champion-
ships, two Met Player of the Year awards
and a British Senior Amateur title. And for
another, he became a tireless advocate of
the game, serving in a number of volunteer
positions at the Metropolitan Golf Associa-
tion, which he eventually ran as president,
and at other Met Area golf organizations.
In other words, Baldwin became the
consummate golf guy, both player and
promoter. And while he has long been
benefitted from his deep and passionate
commitment to the game, so has golf, for
having someone who cares so much about
the sport being so deeply involved.
It was at the Plansome Country Club
on Long Island where Baldwin first nur-
tured his golf game, as a caddie and as a
player who was soon good enough to win
the club’s junior title. Later, he competed
on the University of North Carolina golf
team as he earned a degree in Business
Administration.
www.globalgolfpost.com
MARCH 26, 2012
John Baldwin
Mid-Amateur Committee.
“My friend Joe Donahue asked me to
get involved when he was president of the
MGA back in the early 1980s,” says Bald-
win, who is now a member of Sunningdale
Golf Club outside London. “I joined the
Junior Committee, and it just took off from
there. My wife, Nancy, and I do not have
children, so I could find the time to play
and to volunteer. I really enjoyed being
involved, and being able to give back.”
And he has given back so much. l
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