If you drive along Excelsior Boulevard in south Minneapolis, you might see a 91-year-old man looking for something on the ground and in the wall of greenery that lines the road. On the other side of that wall is The Minikahda Club, where golfers unknowingly donate a ball to Special Olympics Minnesota with every shank.
John Wahl has collected almost 43,000 golf balls since 2000 and has donated over half of them to SOMN. It all started with his poker group. “Most of the guys were golfers and I did a lot of biking near the course, so I’d pick up balls and give them to my friends,” said John. “Eventually I thought, ‘Maybe I should just leave my bike at home and pick up more balls.'”
Separately, John is a dedicated volunteer with Special Olympics Minnesota. While volunteering at the poly hockey state tournament in 2010, John bumped into a high school friend who had a grandson with autism. The grandson played hockey and golf, which made John think of all the golf balls he had waiting in his inventory. Soon after that, he started donating balls by the thousands to SOMN, and they are used by athletes at every level of competition.
“I love seeing my cell phone light up with a call from ‘Golf Ball John Wahl’ in the summer,” says Chad Trench, Director of Operations at Special Olympics Minnesota. Chad meets up with John to collect his golf ball donation every year. “Not all volunteers within Special Olympics Minnesota make an impact by coaching or volunteering at events. One can be very impactful in different ways and John really shows that.”
John has refined his ball collecting process through the years. First, he finds them. John collects golf balls around four times a week and he’s out for three hours at a time. “For one thing, walking is good for your health, and two, I like the challenge,” says John. “This year is difficult because we’ve had so much rain, so the greenery is deep. Makes it even more satisfying when you find one.”
Then, he cleans each ball individually and sorts them according to brand and color and stores them by the dozen in freezer bags. “I work very hard on cleaning them up. Sometimes they hit the asphalt and get scuffed up, so it takes some work,” says John.
Before hunting along the course in support of Special Olympics Minnesota, John worked at Conoco Oil for 20 years, then Dayton Financial Planning, and he finished his career at a property management company in Minnesota. At the end of 2024, he will be retired for 27 years. He keeps an active schedule with softball twice a week in the summers and volleyball in the winters, with lots of volunteer time in between.
Beyond sports, John and his wife of 67 years have other reasons to stay in shape. The couple has nine grandchildren and recently learned that they will have a fifth great-grandchild soon. John loves being involved in their lives and hopes they develop a desire to serve others in unique ways, too.
His grandkids will be able to see the records of John’s service in the detailed documentation he takes with each ball he finds. Every single ball has been counted and logged in a notebook, with donations recorded as well. “I’ve never played 18 holes of golf in my life, but I’ve collected 42,944 (and counting) golf balls,” says John. Through the end of 2023, he donated 20,922 balls to Special Olympics Minnesota, and Golf Ball John Wahl doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
