FULL CIRCLE

When I embarked on the Letters to a Future Champion project in the spring of 2020, I never thought the gifts of this book would be as abundant as they have been, nor would I have thought the emotions would be as alive as they were when the final pallet of books shipped last week.

Writing this book was an exercise in positivity and productivity during the COVID lockdowns and the months that followed, telling the story of my beloved mentor as he grew from a young caddy in rural New York, to a soldier sent off to unknown lands in WWI, returning to reshape golf in his home region and ultimately giving a lifelong gift to his final student, me.

Mr. Pulver taught me many things about preparation, competition, execution, resilience, balance, and curiosity—all of which collided in the writing, research, production and distribution of the book and the audiobook as well. To this day, I still shake my head at the thought of the editorial and design team never meeting except via Zoom. I could not have had a better team than Doug Weaver and Martin Miller to help me self-publish this story. They immediately “got it” when it came to the personal nature of this journey and pushed me to develop skills I didn’t realize I had, right down to the size and font for the book, the ink colors chosen, weight of paper used, cover designs, a viable business and marketing plan and the choice of printing in the United States rather than overseas. We even navigated a reprint during the height of COVID’s Delta variant hitting the printer’s facility and the panic when the first 1000 of over 5000 books landed in our driveway, realizing the one inch lip on the garage entry was not navigable with the equipment on the delivery truck—and big rain was moving in fast!

In all, over 425 boxes, each weighing 24 pounds, were moved downstairs to dry storage. And what went down then had to come back up! To each of you who helped move boxes, print packing slips and shipping labels, make local deliveries, manage the website, e-commerce store and design graphics, you were behind-the-scenes heroes. A giant thank you to everyone that wrote blurbs, sat through interviews, poured over their own news clippings and pictures; you were so kind with your valuable time. To those who hosted virtual and in-person book signings, helped with photography, did the voice overs and engineering for the audio version—there was a lot of learning together on the fly and we soared.

Above all, thank you to all who have purchased copies of the book. You’ve shared your own stories of reconnecting with mentors, how the principles of Mr. Pulver’s teaching are indeed evergreen, how the book brought families together and how the “gospel of golf” is much bigger than any strife in today’s professional game.

You’ve also made a significant difference in the lives of many military veterans using the programming offered by the Saratoga WarHorse. They will receive well over $15,000 from the proceeds of the book when the remaining 90 leather-bound books are sold. As Mr. Pulver’s  youngest daughter, Madelyn, says so often, “Bravo, You!”

And now for the full circle moment: my first LPGA event was the 1983 Corning Classic. I was an amateur qualifier and although I missed the cut, it reinforced my desire to play professional golf at the highest level. My final event with “Letters to a Future Champion” will be June 13 for the “Women of the Southern Tier” at the Corning Glass Museum, where 450 people will gather to raise funds for at-risk and economically challenged women in the Corning region. Some things are just meant to be.

Thank you again for being with me on this remarkable journey,

Dottie