Aaron Ingalls (Tennessee Golf Association Photo)

Aaron Ingalls was poised for a September to remember.

Everything seemed to be falling into place for Ingalls as the calendar flipped from August. With an upcoming trio of events serving as a crescendo to his golf schedule, the stars seemed to align perfectly to close out a strong summer of competition.

He and Jeff Reuter, his close friend and fellow member of Jackson Country Club, captured the Tennessee Mid-Amateur Four-Ball championship for the second time in three years on Sept. 8. Next up was the Tennessee Mid-Amateur being played on their home course three days later.

Then the week after the state mid-am, Ingalls was slated to travel to Richmond, Va. to compete in his second U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in late September. The three-week stretch would serve as a formidable test as his game was rounding into peak form.

But September didn’t unfold quite like Ingalls originally envisioned. Life has a way of disrupting our best-laid plans. Now, Ingalls, 38, finds himself facing a more daunting challenge that has completely altered his future.

Ingalls had surgery on Oct. 11 to remove a brain tumor. Based upon the initial prognosis, Ingalls faces an uphill battle. But he’s approaching the obstacle with the same resolve that has made him a success in the amateur golf world.

“They sent it off for a biopsy and that basically determines what they're going to recommend for treatment,” Ingalls said. “There’s a lot that we don’t know, but I’m ready to go to work on this thing and knock it out. I know God has a plan for me.”

The Tennessee Mid-Amateur tournament was postponed from its originally scheduled date due to a tropical storm, and the event was finally conducted last week with Ingalls’ absence from the field a sobering reminder of his situation. Participants pinned commemorative ribbons on their hats and wore wristbands as a way of showing their support for Ingalls.  

After being released from Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville earlier in the week, Ingalls made an appearance at the tournament to be around his golfing comrades.

“It was good to see everyone and lots of people stopped to encourage me,” said Ingalls, the 2018 Tennessee State Amateur champion. “It was a little weird being out there with everything that’s happened over the past two weeks.”

Allison Brown, Executive Director of the Tennessee Golf Association, witnessed something special at Jackson Country Club.

“These guys are competitors, but I saw players spending more time checking in on each other like I’ve not seen before,” Brown said. “It has been really impressive to see how this group has rallied behind Aaron. To see first-hand how tight-knit these guys are just shows you how special Tennessee golf is with everybody coming together to show their support.”

While Ingalls and his wife, Kathleen, evaluate their options for treatment for his cancer, there has been a GoFundMe campaign initiated to help defray some of their financial expenses. Those wishing to donate can go to Aaron Ingalls Donation Link.

“I'm looking for alternatives,” Ingalls said. “There's lots of people I've talked to who have had a similar diagnosis who have gone a different route than chemo and radiation and have had much better outcomes. I’m fairly confident in today's age with the information we have and all this research and science coming out, there's other routes that are going to be better. I need to find the right doctors that can help me down this path.”

The onset of Ingalls’ medical issues first indicated a possible herniated disc after his left leg went numb following a workout at his gym on Sept. 10.

“My wife is a P.T. (physical therapist) and she gave me some stretches for my back,” Ingalls said. “I started going to her therapy clinic getting treatment on my low back for a herniated disc all the way until the U.S. Mid-Am, and my symptoms went away with no other issues.”

After making the 10-hour drive to Kinloch Golf Club, Ingalls was able to walk both practice rounds with no discomfort while implementing his new stretching regimen. But the two rounds of stroke play resulted in further setbacks.

“I noticed I really wasn't hitting the ball very far during the practice rounds and on the range for the first couple days, like I might have had a little bit of weakness,” Ingalls said. “I got off to a rough start on Saturday. I was five-over on the front and played pretty good on the back to get myself back in contention.”

However, Sunday’s round saw his symptoms return.

“I was getting really fatigued,” Ingalls said. “I thought maybe it was the high stress, and my body was starting to feel very tired after a couple days. Coming down the back nine on Sunday, I played about two or three holes where my leg would go numb again. I just had to lay down in the fairway and stretch to finish.”

After missing the cut by three shots following rounds of 74-71, Ingalls experienced some loss of balance the following week while prepping for the rescheduled Tennessee Mid-Am. The numbness also began to extend to his left hand resulting in visits to a local doctor.

“They set up an X-ray on my neck and my lower back just to see if they could see anything weird going on,” Ingalls said. “I was having no headaches, no seizures, nothing that would indicate any kind of brain trauma. I was still working and able to think clearly. It was just the left hand and left leg that were bothering me.”

In addition to his career in construction management, Ingalls serves as the boys’ golf coach for a local private high school, University School of Jackson. He accompanied the team on the five-hour journey to the state tournament in Sevierville, and had plans to join Reuter in Louisville, Ky. a couple of days later to compete in a 2025 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball qualifier.

But Ingalls' condition suddenly took a turn for the worse, forcing him to return home the morning after making the trek to Sevierville.

“I wasn't feeling good at all,” Ingalls said. “I looked at my wife and said, ‘We’ve got to go home. Something's not right.’ I had two other coaches that were there, and I just left everything with them. We came back home and went to the ER.”

It was then that a CT scan revealed a mass on the right side of Ingalls’ brain, and surgery was scheduled for several days later.

Reuter was at Louisville’s Hurstbourne Country Club hoping Ingalls would be able to join him for the qualifier. It was when his close friend texted him a picture at 4 a.m. from the ambulance transporting him to Nashville that Reuter fully understood the gravity of the situation.

“It was just kind of a shock,” Reuter said. “On the morning of the qualifier, Aaron was so positive when we talked. He pumped me up and said, ‘Go get us a spot.’ I kind of laughed because the golf course was impossible. There was no chance that I was going to go out there by myself and do anything because the field was stacked.

“But I went out and played for him like he told me to. The crazy thing is I was right in it for a while, which is insane to think about. I think I was 2-under through seven. I had no nerves because nothing mattered besides Aaron and his family in that moment.”

Jeff Manley, who handed over the coaching reins at USJ to Ingalls two years ago and still serves as an assistant, has seen the impact Ingalls has had on their squad.

“Aaron loves coaching, and he loves the kids,” Manley said. “It was tough on the kids once they found out. We didn't tell them until after the first round, and it was hard for them to be at state knowing what was going on with him.”

Ingalls first arrived in Jackson in 2007 from Gardendale, Ala. where he and his brother, Bobby, went to play football at Lambuth University, which closed its doors in 2011. Bobby was a highly-sought offensive lineman who finished his career at Auburn University, while Aaron – recruited as a 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end – recognized that golf was his true passion.

Manley, who was helping coach the Lambuth golf team while completing his degree, remembers his first encounter with Ingalls.

“Our men’s coach, Andy Farmer, sent me to go check out a kid who said he wanted to play on the golf team,” Manley said. “I'm walking down to the driving range, and I see this guy absolutely bombing drivers. I said to myself, ‘My God, I hope that's Aaron.’ He came as a football player and ended up being probably the best golfer Lambuth ever had.”

Tim Jackson is one of the most decorated golfers in Tennessee history, with a record 27 TGA championships in addition to a pair of U.S. Mid-Amateur trophies. He also was a member of two Walker Cup teams and low amateur in the U.S. Open on three occasions. He saw something special in Ingalls from their early day of competing together.

“Aaron is wise beyond his years. I saw something in him that I saw in myself when I was younger,” Jackson said. “He's an entrepreneur, he's got that spirit. He's inquisitive, he digs in, he works hard, he's not afraid to take chances. I just felt drawn to Aaron from the first time I played golf with him. We played a lot of practice rounds together and talked a lot about our competitions and course setups.

 “I told him, ‘Lean into the Lord and it’s going to give you peace, give you comfort, and that's what you need to be hanging your hat on right now.’ I said a prayer right there in my living room when I found out, and I had a sense of peace come over me. All it takes is just a little touch of God's finger to heal him.”

Ingalls’ contributions go beyond his playing ability and his contributions as a coach. He and Kathleen have two children, a four-year-old daughter, Ellie, and two-year old son, Jack. He also has offered a fresh perspective as a member of the TGA board.

“This news has hit me hard with Aaron being one of our younger board members,” Brown said. “He's the chair of the men's competitions committee. He stepped into that role, and he came in asking some tough questions that had us taking a hard look at ourselves. That's what he's pushed us to do. He wants to be the best that he can as one of our premier mid-amateurs. With his mentality, nobody is going to work harder to do what he can to beat his cancer.”

Reuter has had a front-row seat to Ingalls’ grit and determination as his long-time four-ball partner and fellow competitor. While the road toward recovery for Ingalls may seem overwhelming, Reuter knows that his best friend will never waver in the battle.

“I’ve told everyone that if there is one dude that can do something about this and defeat it, it would be Aaron,” Reuter said. “It’s not a cliché. He’s a warrior.”

Paul Payne can be emailed at paulpayne6249@gmail.com.