103-year-old Omaha man discovers passion for golf late in life, still chases birdies and beats pals

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bob Walls was getting set to tee off on the first hole at his home course last week when his partners interrupted his pre-shot routine. "Get back here, man," James King said. "We're playing blues today," Dawn Dozier added. Walls wasn't having it. "When you're over 100, you can hit from anywhere you want," he told them. Then, with a silky smooth swing from the forward white tees, he thwacked the ball down the right side of the fairway just short of the green on the 180-yard hole. Not bad for a 103-year-old. Actually, pretty incredible. A record 6.3 million Americans 65 and older played golf in 2025, the National Golf Foundation reported this month. The NGF does not track the number of centenarians, but there undoubtedly are few, if any, who play as well and as often as Walls. Walls is fit and trim and looks 30 years younger. He has survived a heart attack, has had multiple heart surgeries and overcame a transient ischemic attack (mini stroke). He credited good genes — both of his parents lived into their late 90s — for his longevity, along with staying active. The notion that he's a freak of nature doesn't register with him. "I don't feel 103. I don't act 103," he said. "To me it's no big deal." Born in St. Marys, Kansas, in 1923, Walls moved to Omaha in 1947 after he served in World War II. He spent most of his working years owning and operating a janitorial service. He retired at 74 and, with friends' encouragement, took up golf. Steve Hogan, who was Nebraska's first Black PGA professional, taught Walls how to play at what was then Miller Park. The two became close friends, and Walls honors Hogan's memory by volunteering seven days a week at the course, which was renamed Steve Hogan Golf Course after his death in 2008. Walls spends five or six hours riding around in his open-top cart with a bucket of seed-and-sand mix on the passenger side. He fills divots and repairs ball marks, picks up trash and fishes other golfers' errant shots out of the lagoon with his ball retriever. Always strapped on the back of the cart is his golf bag, because he never knows when the mood will strike to stop and play a hole or maybe work on his game. Outside the clubhouse are a couple of training devices Walls made to help young players get a feel for the golf swing arc. He has worked with kids in the First Tee program and gives lessons to adults for $50 per hour. The course holds an annual tournament, the Bob Walls Invitational, to raise money for equipment for neighborhood kids. When he gets home from the course each day, he often gets on his iPad and watches hours of training videos. "When I visited him for his 101st birthday, I wasn't even in the door and the first thing he said to me was that he was breaking down his whole game, changing this, changing that," Dozier said. "He's always working on his game." Walls has still got plenty of game. He regularly shoots in the low 30s on the par-3 Hogan course. In fact, the other day he shot 31 to win a match against course manager Mike Rice. "The first time I beat him — and I haven't beaten him very often — I had to have a hole-in-one to do it," Rice said. "Who'd ever thought a 103-year-old gentleman could knock a ball 180 yards consistently every day and have enough energy and strength to do it?" Walls spends the fall and winter in Phoenix and is on a course or practice range every day there, too. "Golf is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning," he said. He fusses over his stance, swing plane and the direction his shoulders are pointing at his finish. Recently, he's been working on getting more consistent with his lob wedge so he doesn't have to rely so much on his sand wedge. "He's going to hit right down the middle and the next shot is going to be on the green," King said. "He's not going to do anything to hurt himself. Sweet and easy. That's what I love about his game. And he practices, too. Every day he hits a few balls, and I know he does because I'm down here most every day. I love playing with him. I think he's one of kind."