Team Jumbo Golf & Medical Fund
Donation protected
Hi, my name is John Elliott, and I’m a professional golfer. Most of my buddies call me “Jumbo.”
It’s a nickname I picked up the night before my first tournament on the PGA Tour in 1992. I was watching a football game with some of the guys, and someone noticed I had the same name as the NY Giants’ offensive tackle, John “Jumbo” Elliott. The next day, while hitting balls on the range, someone called me “Jumbo,” and the name has stuck ever since.
I am launching this GoFundMe campaign with the hopes of raising enough money to jumpstart my “Senior” golf career, and to help pay for surgery and recovery time for my hand condition.
But first, let me tell you a little about my background, and WHY I need your help today…
From 1991 to 2005, I played on the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour, traveling full-time for 15 years straight. I won two Web.com tournaments and had many top 25 finishes, but my PGA Tour years weren’t as successful.
The money winnings back in the 90s weren’t anywhere near what they are these days. Any money I made back then was pretty much a break-even situation, when you factor in all the travel and living expenses.
Still, I gained a lot of experience, and kept plugging away toward my dream.
Unfortunately, I fell off the Tour in 2005. And in 2006, my son Blake was born, who has been the joy of my life ever since.
As a father, I immediately shifted my priorities toward taking care of my son and making sure I had a strong and loving relationship with him. Blake lives with his mother in Pennsylvania, and I travel as much as I can to go see him during the winters. I also have him with me a good amount during the summers.
For the first couple of years after Blake was born, I was able to make ends meet using whatever money I had saved up from being on Tour. But when the money ran out by 2009, I had to start focusing on some other form of income.
I had friends at private golf clubs, and they introduced me to the world of caddying. So, for the past 8 years, I’ve been caddying for members at a private club in Florida in the winters, and in Rhode Island in the summers.
I’m 53 years old now, and caddying is back-breaking work, having to sometimes pull double loops carrying two bags at a time.
But the members really seem to enjoy my company. Since I’ve played the Tour, I have a lot of interesting stories to tell, and have a lot of knowledge about the game of golf in general.
The work I do caddying is weather permitting, and I make just enough money to live and take care of my son. There’s very little left over for pursuing golf.
Despite setbacks over the years, I’m still very passionate about golf and remain optimistic about getting back on the Tour.
Especially now that I’m over 50, I have a real opportunity to play competitively on the PGA Tour Champions (the “senior tour”).
I’ve continued to fine-tune my skills, and I’ve played in as many mini-tour tournaments as I can in New England and Florida, near where I work.
However, because of my limited income, I haven’t been able to take full advantage of my “exempt” status into the Monday qualifiers for the big tour events that take place all over the country.
For those of you who may not know a lot about golf, let me explain…
Because of my past status of playing the Web.com and PGA Tour, and because I’m now over 50, I’m “exempt” into the qualifiers for each PGA Tour Champions event, whereas most other guys have to go through pre-qualifying rounds.
The one-day qualifying rounds take place the Monday or Tuesday before each tournament. There are usually about 30 to 50 guys competing for just 4 spots into each event.
They take place all over the country, and it requires a lot of money just to travel to these qualifiers (averaging about $1,500.00 for each qualifier, depending on where it’s located).
I know my game is better than it’s ever been, and I believe I can be a real contender on the PGA Tour Champions.
I’m in the best shape of my life, and in addition to the exercise I get from caddying, I also work out every day at the gym.
I’m still a long hitter, and my short game has improved dramatically since I was on the Tour. Through the challenges I’ve faced over the years, I’ve learned a lot about life, and my attitude has improved a great deal. This has helped the overall mental aspect of my game.
So this is really the prime time for me to take advantage of my “exempt” status, and try to get into as many tournaments as I can.
My son is now 10 years old, so he understands more about what I do. I feel it’s the perfect time for me to give a full-time effort toward pursuing my senior golf career.
This is the first year I’ve chosen to try to go to all the qualifiers… but I need some financial help in order to do that.
There have been a few qualifiers this year that I was able to attend using my own funding. They were fairly local to where I’m living, so I didn’t have to pay for airfare, rental car and extra expenses.
In February, the Chubb Classic was held in Naples, Florida. I shot a 65 in the qualifier to make it into the tournament, and was in 12th place going into the final round. I was feeling confident about a very high finish. Unfortunately I didn’t have a good last round and ended up T-57, earning just enough money to cover my expenses.
In March, I drove to Mississippi, and shot another 65 in the qualifier to make it into the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, finishing T-57 in the tournament.
I realized after those two tournaments – and as comfortable as I felt competing in them – that if I qualify for more events and am able to play more regularly (instead of just every 4-6 weeks), it would really allow me to get into a groove with my game. It will become much easier for me to finish higher on the leaderboard and jumpstart my senior career.
The reality is, the only way I can go to all the qualifiers – including some in Europe, like the Senior British Open in Wales – is if I get some help with funding.
Plus, there’s another challenging aspect to my story…
You see, I’m also dealing with a health condition that severely affects my ability to even hold a golf club. Over the past 5 years, I’ve developed a hand disease called Dupuytren’s Contracture, which affects the tendons in my hands. It curls my fingers drastically inward toward my palms, making it difficult to grip anything, or even do normal things like hold a glass or shake someone’s hand.
On my left hand, my fingers are so closed up, there’s barely enough room to squeeze the golf club into my hand. I have to cut off all but one of the fingers of my golf glove, just to put it on.
If you want to see what I’m talking about, go to GolfChannel.com and do a search on my name “John Elliott.” You’ll find a short video clip of David Marr interviewing me about my hand condition when I played in the Chubb Classic earlier this year.
I still have a bit more time to play with my hands the way they are now, but eventually I’ll need an operation to straighten out my fingers. It will be expensive, and I won’t be able to work or play golf for a good 3 or 4 months while I recover and undergo physical therapy.
Which brings me to this humble request for any sort of financial help you may be able to offer through this GoFundMe campaign.
I’m trying to raise $32,000 as quickly as possible…
This would allow me to take full advantage of my “exempt” status and travel to all the tournament qualifiers this year. It will also allow me to reduce the amount of time I spend caddying, so I can focus 100% on practicing my golf game. And it will help pay for the operation I’ll eventually need for my hand condition, as well as living expenses during my recovery.
I’m very confident once I get into a few more tournaments, I can build up enough money playing, and I won’t need further help from fundraisers and sponsors.
There are so many people in my life who believe in my abilities, and I know I can make this happen.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story, and I appreciate any amount of money you’re able to contribute at this time.
I still get frequent emails and letters from fans who say I’ve inspired them through my perseverance and overall contributions to the game of golf. It’s a great feeling, and I’m very grateful.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you’d like any further information.
Jumbo
It’s a nickname I picked up the night before my first tournament on the PGA Tour in 1992. I was watching a football game with some of the guys, and someone noticed I had the same name as the NY Giants’ offensive tackle, John “Jumbo” Elliott. The next day, while hitting balls on the range, someone called me “Jumbo,” and the name has stuck ever since.
I am launching this GoFundMe campaign with the hopes of raising enough money to jumpstart my “Senior” golf career, and to help pay for surgery and recovery time for my hand condition.
But first, let me tell you a little about my background, and WHY I need your help today…
From 1991 to 2005, I played on the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour, traveling full-time for 15 years straight. I won two Web.com tournaments and had many top 25 finishes, but my PGA Tour years weren’t as successful.
The money winnings back in the 90s weren’t anywhere near what they are these days. Any money I made back then was pretty much a break-even situation, when you factor in all the travel and living expenses.
Still, I gained a lot of experience, and kept plugging away toward my dream.
Unfortunately, I fell off the Tour in 2005. And in 2006, my son Blake was born, who has been the joy of my life ever since.
As a father, I immediately shifted my priorities toward taking care of my son and making sure I had a strong and loving relationship with him. Blake lives with his mother in Pennsylvania, and I travel as much as I can to go see him during the winters. I also have him with me a good amount during the summers.
For the first couple of years after Blake was born, I was able to make ends meet using whatever money I had saved up from being on Tour. But when the money ran out by 2009, I had to start focusing on some other form of income.
I had friends at private golf clubs, and they introduced me to the world of caddying. So, for the past 8 years, I’ve been caddying for members at a private club in Florida in the winters, and in Rhode Island in the summers.
I’m 53 years old now, and caddying is back-breaking work, having to sometimes pull double loops carrying two bags at a time.
But the members really seem to enjoy my company. Since I’ve played the Tour, I have a lot of interesting stories to tell, and have a lot of knowledge about the game of golf in general.
The work I do caddying is weather permitting, and I make just enough money to live and take care of my son. There’s very little left over for pursuing golf.
Despite setbacks over the years, I’m still very passionate about golf and remain optimistic about getting back on the Tour.
Especially now that I’m over 50, I have a real opportunity to play competitively on the PGA Tour Champions (the “senior tour”).
I’ve continued to fine-tune my skills, and I’ve played in as many mini-tour tournaments as I can in New England and Florida, near where I work.
However, because of my limited income, I haven’t been able to take full advantage of my “exempt” status into the Monday qualifiers for the big tour events that take place all over the country.
For those of you who may not know a lot about golf, let me explain…
Because of my past status of playing the Web.com and PGA Tour, and because I’m now over 50, I’m “exempt” into the qualifiers for each PGA Tour Champions event, whereas most other guys have to go through pre-qualifying rounds.
The one-day qualifying rounds take place the Monday or Tuesday before each tournament. There are usually about 30 to 50 guys competing for just 4 spots into each event.
They take place all over the country, and it requires a lot of money just to travel to these qualifiers (averaging about $1,500.00 for each qualifier, depending on where it’s located).
I know my game is better than it’s ever been, and I believe I can be a real contender on the PGA Tour Champions.
I’m in the best shape of my life, and in addition to the exercise I get from caddying, I also work out every day at the gym.
I’m still a long hitter, and my short game has improved dramatically since I was on the Tour. Through the challenges I’ve faced over the years, I’ve learned a lot about life, and my attitude has improved a great deal. This has helped the overall mental aspect of my game.
So this is really the prime time for me to take advantage of my “exempt” status, and try to get into as many tournaments as I can.
My son is now 10 years old, so he understands more about what I do. I feel it’s the perfect time for me to give a full-time effort toward pursuing my senior golf career.
This is the first year I’ve chosen to try to go to all the qualifiers… but I need some financial help in order to do that.
There have been a few qualifiers this year that I was able to attend using my own funding. They were fairly local to where I’m living, so I didn’t have to pay for airfare, rental car and extra expenses.
In February, the Chubb Classic was held in Naples, Florida. I shot a 65 in the qualifier to make it into the tournament, and was in 12th place going into the final round. I was feeling confident about a very high finish. Unfortunately I didn’t have a good last round and ended up T-57, earning just enough money to cover my expenses.
In March, I drove to Mississippi, and shot another 65 in the qualifier to make it into the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic, finishing T-57 in the tournament.
I realized after those two tournaments – and as comfortable as I felt competing in them – that if I qualify for more events and am able to play more regularly (instead of just every 4-6 weeks), it would really allow me to get into a groove with my game. It will become much easier for me to finish higher on the leaderboard and jumpstart my senior career.
The reality is, the only way I can go to all the qualifiers – including some in Europe, like the Senior British Open in Wales – is if I get some help with funding.
Plus, there’s another challenging aspect to my story…
You see, I’m also dealing with a health condition that severely affects my ability to even hold a golf club. Over the past 5 years, I’ve developed a hand disease called Dupuytren’s Contracture, which affects the tendons in my hands. It curls my fingers drastically inward toward my palms, making it difficult to grip anything, or even do normal things like hold a glass or shake someone’s hand.
On my left hand, my fingers are so closed up, there’s barely enough room to squeeze the golf club into my hand. I have to cut off all but one of the fingers of my golf glove, just to put it on.
If you want to see what I’m talking about, go to GolfChannel.com and do a search on my name “John Elliott.” You’ll find a short video clip of David Marr interviewing me about my hand condition when I played in the Chubb Classic earlier this year.
I still have a bit more time to play with my hands the way they are now, but eventually I’ll need an operation to straighten out my fingers. It will be expensive, and I won’t be able to work or play golf for a good 3 or 4 months while I recover and undergo physical therapy.
Which brings me to this humble request for any sort of financial help you may be able to offer through this GoFundMe campaign.
I’m trying to raise $32,000 as quickly as possible…
This would allow me to take full advantage of my “exempt” status and travel to all the tournament qualifiers this year. It will also allow me to reduce the amount of time I spend caddying, so I can focus 100% on practicing my golf game. And it will help pay for the operation I’ll eventually need for my hand condition, as well as living expenses during my recovery.
I’m very confident once I get into a few more tournaments, I can build up enough money playing, and I won’t need further help from fundraisers and sponsors.
There are so many people in my life who believe in my abilities, and I know I can make this happen.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story, and I appreciate any amount of money you’re able to contribute at this time.
I still get frequent emails and letters from fans who say I’ve inspired them through my perseverance and overall contributions to the game of golf. It’s a great feeling, and I’m very grateful.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you’d like any further information.
Jumbo
Organizer
John Elliott
Organizer
Lake Worth, FL