Golfer Combats Adversity to Follow-Through at a Dream

From the time he picked up a club, urged on by his father as a young child, Mark Flowers knew he wanted to be a golfer.

Today, Flowers is happy when he sees fathers and sons having the same good times he remembers from childhood, but this time at his own driving range, 

Originally from the Tennessee, his family relocated to the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, where his parents worked as schoolteachers, hoping to give Mark a life free of the kind of racism that, as African-Americans in the 40s and 50s, they'd been exposed to. 

Flowers and his father played golf at every opportunity, “all I wanted was to be as good as my Dad and beat him at golf one time,” he says.

Flowers went on to join the golf team in high school, before enrolling in college. He attended for two years before he was drafted into the Army. 

There he was attached to the European Command, the political arm for all the troops in Europe, where he served as a "good will ambassador" during the Cold War years.  His technique of extending American good will to our European allies: golf. "I traveled around to the different countries and played golf to let them know what people from the United States were like," recalls Flowers.

African-Americans still faced obstacles in sports in America in the 60s and 70s. The PGA did not remove their Caucasian-only clause until 1961. As a result of the many continuing barriers, Flowers gave up trying to play in the U.S. pro golf tours.

“I was invited to play in the Negro League by Joe Louis, the World Heavyweight Champion,” said Flowers. “He loved the game, and we traveled, playing private games at places like Cesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.”

In 1996 Flowers moved to Sonoma;  “I found in Sonoma a very accepting place. A place where people take me as I am," he says. 

He often came to the driving range to practice and in 2006, when it was up for sale, he decided to buy it.  “I wanted this to be welcoming for women and children, and for the community to have a safe, comfortable place to enjoy themselves," he says.

The effort paid off: Flowers says he's seen an increase in customers, especially women, since he took over the range.

Most of the customers are regulars like Bob Branconi, who's been stopping-in, most recently during his weekday commute, for the last 25-years. 

“I keep a few clubs in my car and come by on my way back home. I’m getting ready for a tournament and working on some specific swings,” says Braconi. “I’ve seen it go through many owners and Mark has really improved it since he took it over.”

Another avid golfer and Sonoma resident, Christine Crowley, makes it a point to pop in frequently. “As much as I travel, I need to come here and keep my game in shape,” she says. “Mark helps me with my swing and gives me pointers on improving my game.”

Crowley was part of “Flower's Power Foursome” representing the golf range and won the award for "Lady's Longest Drive" at a tournament benefiting Sonoma's Vintage House.

Flowers has put his own mark on the place, adding lessons for children as well as adults. The range has 22 stalls and the 10-acre field is laid out with flags from 17 yards to 225 yards.

For power-drivers, he's added the "Big Tire" club, a tractor tire placed 77-yards out: Anyone who gets a ball in the tire becomes part of the club.

It's hard work maintaining the range. Flowers estimates that he has 150,000 golf balls, and every three days, he collects all the balls from the field. Mowing the grass takes two full days, and many times he has to avoid one or another of the birds and animals that live on or visit the range. “We have foxes, gophers, rabbits, swallows and cranes” said Flowers. “And in winter we have flocks of Canadian geese. They’ve all gotten used to me and don’t run away.”

But, in the end, it's all about a love of the game - especially for beginners. 

“When you’re playing golf, take time to enjoy yourself," Flowers says. “Don’t let the moment control you. You control the moment.”