A Lesson in Resilience: How Mark Egly, PGA, Beat the Odds

PGA of America Golf Professional Mark Egly has spent the past 37 years of his life overcoming obstacles. Now 68, the former tour professional who owns and operates the Des Moines (Iowa) Driving Range is not only a walking, talking, teaching medical miracle, but a living tribute to never giving up.

Egly is the very definition of a survivor. He is the recipient of the 2024 Deacon Palmer Award, which bestows special recognition on a PGA of America Golf Professional who personally displays outstanding integrity, character and leadership in the effort to overcome a major obstacle. Overcoming a major obstacle? How about five or six!

On May 5, 1990, Egly was on his way to a U.S. Open Section Qualifying event when he was involved in a serious auto accident on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River Bridge on I-80. Egly sustained significant injuries to his right arm and shoulder. He was involved in two more auto accidents when other drivers ran red lights — one in 2007 and another five years later — that led to injuries to his back, neck and right knee. 

Following a series of surgeries, Egly qualified for PGA TOUR events in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1995. Post-surgery in 1995, he made a comeback and qualified for the PGA TOUR’s 1995 John Deere Classic at age 40.

Then came a series of life-threatening obstacles. In February of 2018, Egly was diagnosed with COPD and Emphysema, even though he was a lifelong non-smoker. Two days before Christmas that same year, Egly was told by doctors to get his affairs in order after a tumor was found on his pancreas.

“I was told I had a 30 percent chance to live six months, and maybe a 10 percent chance to live more than a year,” he recalls. The resolute Egly underwent surgery for skin cancer in June of 2020 and suffered a stroke and the ability to speak while giving a golf lesson three months later. 

After taking numerous medical courses while in college at Michigan State University, Egly was deeply inquisitive over the years about the succession of maladies that had befallen him. So, he initiated research to find some answers.

“With more than four decades of research regarding my family’s ongoing health issues, I came up with a hypothesis,” recalls Egly, who entered the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. “I requested a blood test for a circulating protein called Alpha1 Antitrypsin, which confirmed my hypothesis. Turns out I suffered from a disease called Alpha1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Just as Egly has always assisted golfers of all skill levels, his research regarding Alpha1 Antitrypsin has helped thousands, even saving hundreds of lives. He has spent his own money to fund a foundation to educate doctors and individuals about this relatively unknown medical calamity, while assisting in the production of additional Alpha1 Antitrypsin to make it available to the masses.

“My discovery has the potential to help millions of individuals in the U.S. to a path of better health and a longer, healthier life,” says Egly. “I was treated like a hypochondriac way too often because my blood test always came back perfect, when I was actually really sick. Alpha1 Antitrypsin is our body’s natural pain killer that fights off inflammation.” Egly, who was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan, attributes his never-lose-hope, resolute attitude to former PGA TOUR standouts Mike and Dave Hill, his boyhood idols, and Arnold Palmer.

“Arnold has been an inspiration and a mentor to me since the day I met him,” assures Egly. “In 1979, Arnold had a strong hand in helping me land my first job at Des Moines Golf and Country Club with one of his Wake Forest golf alumni.”

The irony of him receiving the Deacon Palmer Award, named after Arnold’s father, is not lost on Egly. “Does knowing Arnold make this award doubly gratifying?” he asks. “No, it makes it more than 100 times more gratifying!”

These days, Egly continues to teach and hit balls occasionally. On his birthday last September, he played in an Iowa PGA Section event, captaining his team to a fourth-place finish.