Jim and Emily Mangam have a map of the United States hanging on the wall in their living room that illustrates their love for their favorite sport.
The map has little red pins that represent the places where they have played a round of golf.
There are now pins in all 50 states.
Their journey took 20 years.
For two decades, from Alaska to Hawaii to Oregon, these septuagenarians from New Jersey spent their vacations traveling America with golf bags by their side and playing 18 holes.
The Mangams didn’t set out to play golf in all 50 states. But somewhere in the 2000s, Jim recalls, they were returning from a trip when Emily popped the question that got them counting it all up.
“We were coming back from a convention in Georgia, and as we got on the plane, Emily asked, ‘I wonder how many states we’ve actually played golf in?’” Jim said.
The answer was about 20, “And we figured,’ Emily said, “‘Maybe we should just keep on going with this.’”
The Mangams, who live in Park Ridge and have been married 20 years, have been going strong together on the course since 1999. They’ve enjoyed every mile, every hole, every minute of it. They completed their journey last summer and have at least one scorecard from every state.
“We get to go to places that most people fly over, and I enjoyed it a lot,” said Jim, a financial adviser for almost 50 years. “We’ve met some wonderful people. It’s just a really good time.”
“It was never a grind – ever,” Emily said.
And most times, the Mangam’s trips were well planned. Their solo golf vacations usually ran one to two weeks and covered up to five states. On one trip, they hit Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.