Bart Lower - "Big Break II" Contestant

28

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ionia, Mich.

School supply sales and owner of golf driving range

Married/1

Shadow Ridge Golf Club

Huntingdon College, Eastern Michigan University

Magic tricks, wakeboarding, playing guitar and drums

Hollywood

As a small-town boy, Bart was introduced to the wide-open spaces of golf when he was 6 years old. At 12, he started to take the game seriously, riding his bicycle to the golf course every day during summer vacation.

Out of high school, he was recruited by Huntingdon College, a small NAIA school in Alabama and the alma mater of PGA Tour player Joe Durant, but finished his college career at Eastern Michigan University, wanting to be closer to home.

He was on a fast track in golf. However, a college tournament round with Luke Donald slowed him down. Donald, now a rising star on the PGA Tour, was a standout golfer for Northwestern University. After their match, Bart began to question his own abilities comparatively and decided to re-evaluate his career path.

Not long after, a friend of his that owned a local driving range offered him a chance to buy the business, a deal that didn't include the land it was on. So, he bought 10 acres from his uncle and cleared the land himself with a rented bulldozer, and Bart's Golf Center was born.

He recently took a position in sales with a national school supplier to help supplement the golf center. A firm believer in charity, Bart has donated all the money he has won playing golf over the last year, even friendly bets during rounds with friends, to the Mercy Corps to feed the hungry. Any future winnings will be used for the same.

"There are people in the world that won't wake up tomorrow because they have no food," he said. "If this silly game can help prevent that from happening, then I'm going to use it to pitch in as much as I can."

Source: The Golf Channel

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