Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020 - 28

What a golfer can
teach us about living
with cancer.
DOUG deGROOD
W
hen a 50-something
semi-retired
advertising executive selfpublishes
a golf book, it isn't
exactly news. But when it's a copywriter-turned-creative
director who is battling a stage IV metastic
disease, you put down your smartphone
and pay attention. For Doug deGrood, 55, of
Edina, a non-smoker with no family history
of cancer, being diagnosed with stage I bladder
cancer shortly after his 50th birthday in
2015, was, well, unexpected. deGrood began
his advertising career crafting copy for Lands'
End, followed by stints at Carmichael Lynch
and Fallon, the latter " arguably the hottest
creative agency on the planet, " according to
his online bio. His work is marked by a woke
sense of humor-he dismisses popular social
media hype as " digi-babble " -so it's no surprise
he eventually went on to creative leadership
roles, at both Gabriel deGrood Bendt
and Modern Climate. Named an All-Star by
Adweek magazine, a trade pub covering the
Stuff
* BY W.P. RYAN *
ad scene, deGrood was the architect of
award-winning advertising for the likes
of Purina Dog Chow. His agency, GdB, executed
creative work for clients such as the Black
Forest Inn, Summit Brewing and Red Wing Shoes.
While a career in advertising isn't necessarily
harmful-although the worst ads feel like
Dracula sucking the life out of you-the agency
life is stressful, and stress causes infl ammation,
which is an underlying cause of cancer. deGrood
recalls many a night spent working until 2 a.m.,
and that he handled the stress " pretty well. "
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common
cancer in men, according to the American
Cancer Society, and deGrood's variety quickly
progressed to stage IV.
An avid golfer who learned the game sandlot
" If one person
reached out to me
and said this book
made a difference
in their life, if [the
book] brought
comfort, clarity and
hope, it will have
been worth it. "
- Doug deGrood
style and played on the golf team at Bloomington
Jefferson, he is a member at The Minikahda
Club. As chair of the club's grounds committee,
he helped steer the historic Minneapolis venue
through an extensive re-turfi ng program. During
his medical leave after surgery, which involved
adding a neobladder, and treatment including
chemo and immunotherapies, deGrood penned
the inspirational memoir, " The Right Side of
the Fairway: What golf can teach us about living
with cancer. " Although he didn't set out to write
a book, he aptly mixed his sports metaphors to
explain that it would be " a homerun if one person
read it and reached out to me and said this
book made a difference in their life; if [the book]
brought comfort, clarity and hope, it will have
been worth it. "
The book was recently published on Amazon, it's available for
Kindle and deGrood hopes to distribute copies through select
golf shops. One reviewer wrote: A birdie-fest of wit, wisdom
and inspiration; and another, " They say a round of golf reveals
a person's true character... but not quite the way a round of
chemo does. "
Soon after it was published, deGrood learned that his cancer
DOUG deGROOD
had relapsed. He has vowed to birdie the next hole. MG
Know an MGA member with an inspiring story? Send it to
editor@mngolf.org.
28
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2020
mngolf.org
PHOTO COURTESY OF DOUG deGROOD
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2020

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