Revolving Passion

Jack Driscoll used his love of golf to help him overcome polio as a youngster. Now he’s giving back to the game by helping local youths realize their potential.

By Corey Goodman

Golf isn’t just woods and irons, bogeys and birdies. It isn’t even just a sport. To some, it’s altogether euphoric, mesmerizing and addictive.

Jack Driscoll

And to a young Jack Driscoll, it was even liberating.

Thirty-four years after he played in five straight Massachusetts Opens, the man who overcame polio and its limitations earlier in life to earn his pro card at age 19 now dedicates much of his free time to teaching the game to juniors, watching his daughter develop into a collegiate trailblazer, and of course, squeezing in a round or two. Driscoll, who lives in Salem, but grew up in South Peabody learning the game on the grounds of Eastman Gelatine, was 10 years old when he first picked up a club. It was only a handful of years removed from corrective surgery that helped him walk for the first time.

“When I was very young, I fell in love with the game,” explains Driscoll, 53.

Golf became an outlet for Driscoll during his teenage years.

“It was an adjustment to play because of polio,” he says. “But when I went out for football in high school, the coaches saw this kid with a shriveled-up leg from polio, and they didn’t want any part of that. So I focused on golf. It was the easiest sport for me and I really enjoyed it.”

Driscoll caddied at Salem Country Club for three years. He carried the golf clubs of those who could physically carry them themselves, oftentimes lugging them 36 holes on a bad leg.

“My right leg is atrophied, even today, but I never had any serious problems,” he says.

After a few years caddying, Driscoll was promoted into the pro shop where he says he made “good money” for those days. And Driscoll spent that money wisely, putting it toward a private school education at St. John’s Prep. Driscoll worked hard to develop his game significantly during those years, even though he didn’t make the St. John’s Prep golf team until his junior year.

“It all happened quickly. Those are the formative years,” he says. “When I was a freshman, I could break 100. Then you break 90, and then you break 80. It all comes together fast.”

When he left the Salem CC pro shop after high school, he attended Biscayne College in Miami Gardens, Fla. for one year. Then at age 19, his game really took off. Driscoll earned his pro card and then qualified for the Massachusetts Open. He qualified five straight years, a feat he still marvels at.

“You’re good if you’re playing in that and I was happy to play in it. But I was never going to win,” he says. “I was just trying to shoot a respectable score.”

By 24, though, Driscoll said his game started to decline.

“I didn’t make the cut and I had to think about the future,” he remembers. “It’s natural; you reach certain plateaus and then you come down off of them.”

Driscoll worked as an assistant pro at Salem CC until 1980, before leaving to pursue a career in real estate with his brother, Paul, and father, John. But it wasn’t the end of his golf story. In fact, it was just the start of another chapter.

In 1980, Driscoll began volunteering with the junior clinics at Lakeview Golf Club in Wenham, helping out longtime friend Bill Flynn, who served as an assistant pro at Salem CC before Driscoll held the job. Twenty-seven years later, Driscoll still volunteers at Lakeview, mostly with kids ages 8 to 12.

“I like seeing the kids get exposed to golf, seeing whether they take a shine to it,” he says. “I really enjoy it.”

Don Lyons, who has served as the head pro at Reedy Meadow at Lynnfield Center since 2005, is a longtime friend and admirer of Driscoll.

“He’s a great story of someone who overcame obscurity, overcame polio, and pretty much taught himself the game, which is incredible,” says Lyons, also a Peabody native, who worked with Driscoll at Salem CC in the 1970s. “He taught me that there are no shortcuts in golf. You have to work very hard, hit a lot of balls, and be patient.”

Another one of Driscoll’s passions was watching his daughter, Jennifer, play golf at Holy Cross in Worcester.

“I think that’s one of the biggest thrills of my life,” he says of watching Jennifer, who helped start the Holy Cross program and captained the squad during her senior year in 2003.

Driscoll still plays the game enough to keep up his pro status, and he plays often with Jennifer, and his wife, Noelle.

“I’ve stayed a pro, but no one’s going to be impressed with my game now,” he says with a laugh.

Except maybe for the kids who look up to him each summer at Lakeview.

“He’s a very good, very patient, and very simple (coach),” says Lyons, who has entrusted Driscoll to teach his youngest son, Sean. “He believes in grip, stance, and posture. He doesn’t over-teach. It’s just an example of how he gives back to the game. He loves it and supports it. I have no doubt that if he continued on, he’d be a great head pro.”

But Driscoll has no regrets. And he doesn’t see himself walking away from the junior clinics any time soon, either.

“I wouldn’t change any choices I’ve made,” he says.

“I’ll probably do it forever. My nephews are coming up and they’re going to want to play. I’ll probably just hang in there because the kids I teach really seem to enjoy it.”