David Clark Jr. lost his daughters Sally and Grace in a 2004 crash caused by a drunk driver going 90 mph. He walked and played golf across 290 courses in Britain over a decade, finding healing in the landscape and the game. The journey became a spiritual pilgrimage that transformed his grief into purpose.
My walk began as I sat on the curb at 4:30 AM on April 4th, 2004, looking at the car Sally and Grace were riding in and realizing they were gone.
I really never had an idea to write a book. When I made the decision to go over there to play golf, it was just entirely to get away, to put myself in a place that I loved and no one knew me and I could just lose myself. We sat for what seemed like eternity waiting for some miracle, you know, maybe Sally would call us. When we got to the accident scene, which was, you know, only what you could imagine, another officer came over and said, we think these are your daughters. The 2 drivers have been transported to the hospital, but the 2 girls that are Did not have ID. And we need you to identify him. And he looked at me. I told him, I said, sir, I can't.
Renowned sports psychologist Dr. David Cook writes, David's story is much more than a story of the game of golf. It's a narrative that reveals how peace and God's grace can be found in the most unexpected circumstances. Unexpected serenity on a golf course. The son of a prominent businessman and politician, David first held a club at age 5. Golf was a natural refuge.
You know, the loss of a child is such an unrelenting pain, and many people try to numb their pain or just stuff it. So the fact that he was able to do this through a rather unique mission with golf and then also write it all down, you could see how that was truly helping, allowing him to imagine that life could be good again.
Indeed, for David, it didn't seem like life could ever be Sally's cousin Grace Jordan was also killed in the crash, and the driver who hit them was doing 90 with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit. The tragedy was almost more than David could bear. But the rush of the wind along the British shores became almost a lullaby. The rhythm of the waves, the sound of the surf, The smell of the salt spray and the peaceful quiet of nature was healing. And so the long walk with Sally began, encompassing 290 centuries-old golf courses scattered along England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and 10 years of tearful conversations with a girl taken from this world way, way before her time.
He's not taking you hole by hole, stroke by stroke. He's telling funny stories and what you see over there, what he saw, what it's like in the evening to, you know, drop into a little pub and have a little touch of scotch or something to ward off the evening chill. He shares the story of being with people and how other people helped him. So it far transcends golf by a great degree.
But it's almost impossible to transcend losing a child.
Your heart keeps beating and you learn to put one foot in front of the other. And it is— life is like nothing you've ever experienced before. Everything changes.
In this case, grief became a catalyst for good. The Clark family sued the restaurant that served the drunk driver. and started a YMCA in the girl's honor.
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.
Life began to have clarity again.
When I committed these thoughts to paper, it was so clear. It was just like I had perfect vision on things. I mean, as to the walk God had sent me on and what he intended as my final piece.
Oh, I will hold your people in my hands. My heart.
