Local golfer hopes for a gold medal in 2012 Special Olympics Oregon Summer State Games

Forty-five-year-old Mark Eberhardt never had a golf lesson in his life until 2005. Yet the lifelong Gresham resident is a 15-handicapper, with a hole-in-one to his name and a letter from Tiger Woods praising him for his accomplishment.

Eberhardt is well known in local golf circles, and not just for his skill on the links. He is a repeat gold medalist in golf with the Special Olympics, playing with an ease and passion befitting his professional counterparts. He will aim for the top of the medal podium again this weekend, when the Special Olympics State Games get under way in Newberg.

“I learned to play golf at first by watching my dad,” Eberhardt said. “And I watched it on TV. I don’t get nervous (before competition) because I’ve done it before. I think I’m probably more excited.”

A tall, soft-spoken man with a mental disability impairing his grasp of abstract concepts, Eberhardt is a sharp cookie when it comes to personal challenges. He graduated from Gresham High School in 1987 and has worked as an “executive janitor” for Griffith Rubber Mills in Northwest Portland for 13 years. But what he may lack in spatial judgment, he more than compensates for with his athletic prowess.

Eberhardt is a three-sport Special Olympian — bowling, basketball and golf — whose first taste of athletic competition was in track and field. He participated in the Special Olympics State Games in Eugene as an eighth grader, in the 200- and 400-meter races and the long jump. His first entry as a Special Olympian that year put him on top of the podium in both the 400-meter race and the long jump.

In high school, a growth spurt propelled Eberhardt to take up basketball. He medaled several times, playing either center or power forward for the team, and became smitten with the ritual of year-round training and competition through the Special Olympics.

But golf was always his first love, even though his other athletic endeavors and high school obligations prevented him from working with a coach until he was in his 20s.

Old-timers at Gresham Golf Course may remember Eberhardt as the lanky youngster who peddled errant golf balls he’d scavenged outside the clubhouse.

“He took his dad’s golf ball retriever and a bag and picked up golf balls in the creek,” said Lee Eberhardt, Mark’s mother. “He’d sell them for a quarter or 50 cents apiece to other golfers. Sometimes he’d come home with quite a few dollars.”

Purchasing his first set of clubs with his unorthodox business venture proved fortuitous.

In September 2005, Eberhardt was selected to represent Oregon at a Special Olympics invitational tournament in Ames, Iowa. Along with his bronze medal from the tournament, Eberhardt still recalls being part of a Parade of Athletes, similar to the international games to be held later this month in London.

“It was really neat to walk in with everybody,” he said. “We were the smallest group — we had four (athletes). It made me proud, and I had a good time.”

According to Kelly Coates, field director for Special Olympics Oregon, Special Olympians approach their training and competition with the same fervor as their international counterparts. Many are year-round athletes who participate in more than one of the 14 sports offered through the Special Olympics. Likewise, many qualify to compete in the statewide games held three times each year.

“We want our athletes to experience that joy and exhilaration of competition,” Coates said. “We focus on the skill level of every athlete so that everyone has that chance to shine.”

Difficult economic times

But in 2008, the economy threatened the future of the Special Olympics State Games. While other states across the country drastically reduced their athletic programs or cut their state games entirely, Oregon, Coates said, suspended all three annual state competitions in order to retain the Special Olympics’ essence for athletes.

“We chose not to drop sports from our menu completely,” Coates said. “We kept our regional competitions, so our athletes were still training. When we looked at the cuts and adjustments we had to make, we still wanted our athletes to have that competitive atmosphere. It just lacked the culminating state games.”

The Oregon State Games were suspended in 2009 but were revived in 2011 after a generous benefactor came forward to help underwrite the summer games.

Newberg-based A-dec Company, owned by Ken and Joan Austin, rallied the small community south of Portland to host the games last year and made a four-year personal commitment to fund the event. Athletes vying for medals in track and field, bocce, softball and golf will compete at such Newberg venues as George Fox Austin Sports Complex and Chehalem Glenn Golf Course.

Newberg’s welcome mat, Coates said, is definitely out for the 500 coaches and nearly 1,500 athletes expected to be present for opening-day ceremonies.

“This has allowed us to offer our athletes the full competitive experience,” Coates said. “The cooperation and support of the community and the city of Newberg has been wonderful.”

Eberhardt, who will play golf in a “light sprinkle, but not real rain,” has been hitting the practice course faithfully lately, in preparation for the state games. He shot his best round of golf (and earned a gold medal) during the regional qualifying tournament in Banks earlier this year, with an 88, but is hoping to achieve a personal best on the big stage.

“I’m excited to play this match,” Eberhardt said. “I’m really looking forward to it. I hope to score an 87 — I really do.”