This Police Officer is Using Golf to Keep a Man Out of Jail

Golf and drinking beer seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly for a lot of people. In the case of one man, however, golf is what’s helping to keep him away from the booze.

New Hampshire police officer Justin Maguire makes his fair share of arrests on his beat and one of his usual customers is Mark Yphantis, who gets picked up often because of his excessive drinking. And since the two are always meeting, they came to learn that they each enjoy the game of golf.

Recently Maguire sparked an idea after picking up Yphantis yet again at the beginning of the year. Officer Maguire was determined to keep Yphantis sober so he didn’t have to keep arresting him so he offered Yphantis a challenge that if he could stay sober, Maguire would treat both of them to a round of golf together.

Police officer Justin Maguire of Manchester, New Hampshire gave Mark Yphantis a challenge: sober up and the two would golf together.

Here’s a powerful story of how golf helped change and improve a man’s life: https://t.co/iIt8cxyu9F pic.twitter.com/jS1oGdlfn4

— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) April 28, 2019

Yphantis took the challenge and enrolled himself in rehab in January. From then until the end of April, Yphantis has been 100 days sober.

On top of the golf game that was promised by Officer Maguire, Yphantis also received a new set of clubs as well as ten free rounds of golf provided by a local course. And it’s all thanks to the generosity of Maguire.

“Alcohol is a tough thing,” Maguire told the local news.

“I truly don’t know if I thought he’d do it but I’m a man of my word. The last thing I wanted was any attention from this. I just wanted to do something nice for a guy who likes golf because that’s my passion too.”

And Maguire is a man of his word because he intends on taking Yphantis out for a round soon.

Alcoholism is something that is hard to deal with for all involved and we’re happy to see that this story has worked out for the better. Hopefully, Yphantis’ story is able to inspire others going through similar problems.