Wally Markham, who retired in 2011 after 36 years working for John Deere in Iowa, won the Lottery and earned about $3.5 million after taxes. He used some of that money to purchase his home course of La Porte City Country Club which had been struggling financially for a long time. He had been volunteering at the course for a long time to mow greens among other tasks and knew that the course and club needed significant upgrades.
He invested his lottery money but also decided to purchase the La Porte City Country Club for his friends and the other members because they all loved the course and it needed to be saved. He actually first thought of buying or at least investing money into the club about 15 years ago but he realized that this year, the course had gotten so bad that it was unlikely that it would still be open at the year. Markham knew that it would be now or never and it was wonderful to be able to receive this infusion of money. As a result, improvements will be made and a number of members are returning to the club.
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