Army major and +5 golfer Neil Williams joins Sam for an honest conversation about ambition, avoidance and the complicated role golf has played throughout his life.

Neil reflects on joining the Army at 16, serving in Iraq at 18, losing both parents, his daughter being born at 28 weeks and receiving an ADHD diagnosis at 40.

Golf gave him somewhere to escape. It helped him cope and carried him to course records and Final Qualifying for The Open—but Neil now recognises that it sometimes allowed him to bury emotions rather than process them.

They also discuss founding the Veterans Golf Association, learning to talk, preparing to turn professional and Neil’s long-term dream of competing on the Senior Tour.

Follow Neil on Instagram: @neil_williams_golf

@veteransgolfassociation

Nine Holes, Nine Questions is a Golf Saved My Life production exploring the person behind golf.

🎙 Connect with me – Golf Saved My Life

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?_r=1&_t=ZN-93SVWNm3lSA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golf_savedmylife?igsh=MW1zYWl3d2c3ZGwy&utm_source=qr

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?si=EMslx2_5q-fsHZWc

I’m sharing my own journey to better golf and a better headspace, plus more episodes of 9 Holes, 9 Questions with golfers, creators and coaches.

🏌️‍♂️ Support the show

If you enjoy the podcast and want to support what I’m doing, you can use my referral links/codes below – it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps me keep making episodes:

ShotScope: https://shotscope.com/?rfsn=8928822.66aa89&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=8928822.66aa89

Use Code GSML15

Vice Golf: https://checkout.vicegolf.de/GSML

Use code GSML

Get Up & Go Rentals Holiday Villa in Spain!: https://www.getupandgorentals.com/

Use Code GSML20

Thank you for listening, sharing, and sending this to a golfer who needs to hear it. 💚

— Sam

9 Holes, 9 Questions – Golf Saved My Life

What started as a few mates getting out on the golf course after COVID has grown into a community, charity events and something Rikki hopes could one day become his full-time life.

This week Sam sits down with Rikki from Foreheads Golf.

They talk about Rikki’s rapid golfing journey from a 34 handicap to single figures, the growth of Foreheads, organising golf events and the community he’s discovered through the game.

But at the centre of the conversation is something much more important: why does golf make it easier for men to talk?

Rikki opens up about loneliness, learning to talk about his own struggles, balancing family life with ambition and why simply asking a mate “Are you okay?” can matter more than we realise.

Plus, we hear about the round so bad that England Golf gave him a 120 — and Rikki was happy to take it.

Episode 28 of 9 Holes, 9 Questions from Golf Saved My Life.

⛳ Connect with Foreheads Golf

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foreheadsgolf/

🎙 Connect with me – Golf Saved My Life

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?_r=1&_t=ZN-93SVWNm3lSA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golf_savedmylife?igsh=MW1zYWl3d2c3ZGwy&utm_source=qr

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?si=EMslx2_5q-fsHZWc

I’m sharing my own journey to better golf and a better headspace, plus more episodes of 9 Holes, 9 Questions with golfers, creators and coaches.

🏌️‍♂️ Support the show

If you enjoy the podcast and want to support what I’m doing, you can use my referral links/codes below – it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps me keep making episodes:

ShotScope: https://shotscope.com/?rfsn=8928822.66aa89&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=8928822.66aa89

Use Code GSML15

Vice Golf: https://checkout.vicegolf.de/GSML

Use code GSML

Get Up & Go Rentals Holiday Villa in Spain!: https://www.getupandgorentals.com/

Use Code GSML20

Thank you for listening, sharing, and sending this to a golfer who needs to hear it. 💚

— Sam

9 Holes, 9 Questions – Golf Saved My Life

What started as a creative side project became something much bigger.

This week on 9 Holes, 9 Questions, Sam sits down with Dan Hase, founder of Northern Ball Markers, to discover how experimenting with customised golf ball markers eventually became his full-time career.

Dan explains how being made redundant — in the same week he discovered his wife was pregnant with their second child — gave him the push to find out whether his side hustle could become a sustainable business.

More than five years later, Northern Ball Markers has developed into an established independent golf brand, with loyal collectors and customers around the world.

But building a business while raising a young family hasn’t always been straightforward.

Dan talks about the pressure of self-employment, balancing work with being a dad, the isolation that can come from working alone and how he’s learned to recognise when he needs to get out, speak to people and make time for himself.

We also explore Dan’s relationship with golf — from collecting lost balls as a child and selling them back to the golf club, to playing frozen winter rounds with friends, becoming a golf collector himself and eventually building a business within the sport.

Dan also explains why he no longer worries about chasing his handicap and why golf, for him, is ultimately about good people, conversation and enjoying the time you have available to play.

A conversation about golf, entrepreneurship, family, mental wellbeing and finding the right balance between them all.

⛳ Connect with Northern Ball Markers

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northernballmarkers?igsh=MWd4NzV0bmM0dTZuNg==

Website: https://www.northernballmarkers.co.uk/

🎙 Connect with me – Golf Saved My Life

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?_r=1&_t=ZN-93SVWNm3lSA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golf_savedmylife?igsh=MW1zYWl3d2c3ZGwy&utm_source=qr

YouTube: https://youtube.com/@golfsavedmylifeofficial?si=EMslx2_5q-fsHZWc

I’m sharing my own journey to better golf and a better headspace, plus more episodes of 9 Holes, 9 Questions with golfers, creators and coaches.

🏌️‍♂️ Support the show

If you enjoy the podcast and want to support what I’m doing, you can use my referral links/codes below – it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps me keep making episodes:

ShotScope: https://shotscope.com/?rfsn=8928822.66aa89&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=8928822.66aa89

Use Code GSML15

Vice Golf: https://checkout.vicegolf.de/GSML

Use code GSML

Get Up & Go Rentals Holiday Villa in Spain!: https://www.getupandgorentals.com/

Use Code GSML20

Thank you for listening, sharing, and sending this to a golfer who needs to hear it. 💚

— Sam

9 Holes, 9 Questions – Golf Saved My Life