Mark Walker was diagnosed with cancer nearly three years ago.

Laurel Creek's Walker was down, but never out

  Golfers know how mentally and physically exhausting the sport can be at times. To some, that’s part of the appeal.

  Laurel Creek Country Club’s Mark Walker knows exhaustion all too well. He’s passed out during competition twice and napped between holes to regain energy.

  “I always kid everyone that I should have a Red Cross symbol on my bag,” Walker, 57, said.

  There’s a reason for the weariness, though. Almost three years ago, doctors diagnosed Walker with cancer. He underwent nine weeks of radiation treatment beginning in March 2011. The ordeal changed Walker’s outlook on the game.

  “I’m really good at match play, but in stroke play, I’d get too nervous,” he said. “Now I don’t get nervous. I realize it’s not that important.”

  Golf’s magnitude didn’t fade entirely. Following the radiation treatment, the cancer went into remission, though Walker, a dentist, still dealt with bouts of fatigue. Nevertheless, he, against medical advice to the contrary, attempted to qualify for the club championship at Trump National Golf Club — Philadelphia, where he also held membership at the time. Walker collapsed as he walked off the 18th green.

  “I don’t even remember playing the last hole,” he said. “I felt like I played hockey. I woke up in the locker room, and there were paramedics with oxygen on me.”

  Fortunately for Walker, his vitals checked out, and he earned a match play position. In the first round, Walker, feeling fully fatigued, conceded the 14th hole to become 2-down, rode to the next tee and waited for the second half of his foursome to finish the hole. He slept soundly for a good 10 minutes against a tree. The group awoke Walker when they arrived at the No. 15 tee; he then won three of the next four holes to advance. Walker lost in the semifinals to eventual winner Scott Rosenberg, but learned a lesson for the upcoming club championship at Laurel Creek.

  “That gave me an idea that I really had to plan accordingly,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t beat David Sanders [defending champion and 2011 New Jersey State Golf Association Amateur Champion] in a 36-hole match even if healthy. My goal was to get the eighth qualifying spot. It was the first time I could say I was going to miss a putt if I had to.”

  His plan worked accordingly until the 18th hole, where playing partner Michael Baranowsky converted a 50-foot putt to tie Walker for the final spot. In the ensuing sudden-death playoff, Walker birdied the fourth hole to secure his coveted No. 8 seed.

  “That’s how I could tell my attitude toward golf changed. I wasn’t nervous in the playoff,” he said. “This aura came over me. The next day, I felt so good.”

  Indeed he did. A refreshed Walker stood at 3 under thru seven holes and managed to oust Sanders, 3&2. In the semifinals, he mustered a needed rally to knock off Mike Phillips in 20 holes. Before the final, Walker shared a spiritual moment with his father, whose ashes are scattered near Laurel Creek’s 18th hole. With temperatures in the high 90s that day, Walker needed any boost he could find. He even equipped his golf cart with portable fans to keep cool.

  In the 36-hole bout against Andrew Dietz, Walker stood 4-up thru 18. Weariness set in as the afternoon session began. A Dietz charge, bookended by a Walker concession on the 23rd hole, put the contest All-Square. What followed is a blur for Walker.

  “I woke up lying in the middle of the No. 6 fairway [the match’s 24th hole] packed in ice,” Walker, a Shawnee High School and Rutgers University alum, said. “I passed out. I actually thought I died. When I opened up my eyes, it was directly into the sun. I thought I saw a white light. I’m thinking ‘at least I died on a golf course. I always said I wanted to.’”

  “He basically had an issue with dehydration. You could tell he was ready to pack it in,” Dietz, a friend of 15 years, said. “As opposed to forfeiting, we ended up delaying the match a half hour or so. John DiMarco [Laurel Creek head professional] gave me the option to win the match by default or to wait it out. I decided to wait it out. I didn’t want to win a club championship like that. It’s much more satisfying making that last putt.”

  A doctor following the match advised Walker to stop for health’s sake. Walker decided otherwise, conceded the 24th hole and forged ahead.

  “I thought, ‘I’ve had to withdraw from tournaments because of injuries. I’m not going to do that today,’” he said. “If I die out here, I’ll be with my dad.”

  After Walker wins on Nos. 27 and 28, a thunderstorm descended upon the golf course and delayed play once again.

  “I knew that was going to be my time [to rest],” he said. “I sat up against our halfway house and waited for the storm. It was either God or my dad. I knew I’d hold on and win.”

  Walker did so by a 3&2 margin. He also captured Laurel Creek’s senior championship that year. Overall, Walker, a Medford Lakes, N.J. native, holds 27 club championships over a five-decade span. His first came in 1979 at Bey Lea Golf Course in Toms River, N.J.

  Walker’s game feels rejuvenated these days. He and clubmate Joe Russo captured the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s 54th Senior Four-Ball Stroke Play at Indian Valley Country Club. The two also teamed up to take the 2013 Capital Cup at Trenton Country Club.

  “He’s as skilled now as he’s ever been,” Dietz said. “He’s pretty much ageless.”

  Walker, a Laurel Creek member since 1999, holds seven club championships (five amateur and two senior).

  “It’s special to have my name up there,” he said. “I just love that place.”

  Walker resides in Marlton, N.J. with his wife of 30 years Colette. They have three children: Brian, Brett and Chelsea.