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OUR STORY
No chance meeting
How nine holes changed one man’s direction
When it came time for Parks Reinhardt to retire, he did what a lot of folks do these days: he headed to Florida, where sunshine and his daughter’s family awaited.
But Reinhardt knew, too, that he would be giving up what a lot of golfers give up when they move: their regular game. And in that he had often participated in the
Links Fellowship in Montgomery, Texas, he was hoping that something similar would be available in Orlando.
But nearly three years passed before such a door was opened for Reinhardt.
“I was out playing golf one day,” Reinhardt recalls, “and ran across some guys that invited me to play with them.”
It turns out it was a family affair, including PGA Tour professional Bart Bryant and his father, Dub. When Reinhardt got to know them a bit, he started asking questions.
“Are you familiar with the Links Letter and Links Fellowships?” he asked.
“Yeah,” they responded.
“Is there one around here?” Reinhardt wanted to know.
But when the Bryants told Reinhardt no, he expressed his disappointment. At that point Bart Bryant said to him, “Well, maybe God sent you here to start one.”
Reinhardt didn’t think so. “That’s really funny,” Reinhardt told Bart, “because I don’t even know anyone here except my daughter and her husband.”
But in times, things started to shape up for Reinhardt. For one, he called Wally Armstrong, the former PGA Tour pro, whom Reinhardt had met at church.
Reinhardt told Armstrong that he wanted to pick his brain. Armstrong shot back, “You’re not going to pick my brain. I want to be part of this!”
Soon the group was started, with 50 people showing up regularly for monthly gatherings, complete with lunch and a speaker. Now more than 60 people show up each
month, both men and women.
“You won’t believe the guys that come and say, ‘This is a blessing. I just look forward to this,’” Reinhardt says.
This article is edited from its original form in the Links Letter magazine’s 2006 annual edition.
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