MINSTER – For the last 20 years, Don Seyfried has unselfishly devoted his time to promote his love of golf among local young people. Even when Covid shut down many programs, he was out working with the Minster Lady Wildcats Golf Club this season. This is admirable in any volunteer, but when the volunteer turned 100 on Oct. 23, it is something worth celebrating.
In total, he has over 80 years of learning the game of golf, where there is always something new to teach a person willing to learn.
Head coach Debbie Ahrns said even the pandemic has not stopped him from helping the girls achieve recognition. “When COVID came on the scene this spring, we all assumed he would not participate this year,” she said. “Yet, there he was, back on the course when we began working with the girls.”
She said he told her “Life is about the quality of life you live, not the quantity. If the Lord calls me home while I’m doing something I love, like teaching young people golf, then my mission here on earth is done.”
She said “Don always seems to find one girl to concentrate on with his coaching, often with good results.”
This year, Ashley Meyer shot 92 at the Lynx Golf course in Celina, qualifying her for Sectionals for the first time.
He has also been a volunteer supporting coach for the junior golf program at Arrowhead Golf Club in Minster for nearly 20 years as well. His specialty is the short game, which he says takes about three years to effectively teach.
As a founding member of Arrowhead golf course in 1966, he was able to help design the course that still challenges golfers every day. But his first experiences in golf came in 1936. He recalled that as a 16-year-old, he would show up at the public golf course outside of Lansing, Michigan, at 5 a.m. to be able to play for free until noon.
While Seyfried did sell his clubs this year, he is still looking forward to working with the Minster team into the foreseeable future.
