"Just 2%" with Patrick Overholt of Good Time Golf"Just 2%" with Patrick Overholt of Good Time Golf
Addict II Athlete Podcast
Former pro pitcher Patrick Overholt talks with coach Blu Robinson about addiction, relapse, a near-fatal night in the desert and finding sobriety through Good Time Golf. The conversation focuses on aftercare, community and how a simple round of golf can help people in recovery rebuild their lives.
49:25•26 Dec 2022
“Just 2%”: From Pro Baseball and Rock Bottom to Sober Fairways with Good Time Golf
Episode Overview
- Sport can shift from a stage for ego and pressure to a safe space for connection, reflection and recovery.
- There is no perfect starting point for sobriety; what matters is being honest about where you are today.
- Aftercare and community activities, like a sober golf league, help people apply tools from treatment in real life.
- Recovery spaces work best when they remove financial and skill barriers so anyone can join, regardless of background or ability.
- Service to others in recovery can give powerful meaning to painful experiences and past mistakes.
“If there’s one thing that there’s anyone out there listening, it’s just that it’s… there’s no perfect time, and it’s never too late to really dive into this deal.”
How do individuals turn their lives around after addiction? This conversation between coach Blu Robinson and former pro baseball pitcher Patrick Overholt shows one way through sport, service, and a tiny but life-saving 2% phone battery. Patrick shares how early success in baseball, including being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies, ran alongside a growing dependence on alcohol and opiates.
He talks honestly about ego, anxiety, and the gap between being able to pitch confidently in front of 10,000 people yet freezing in a small self-help group. His lowest point comes in the Southern Utah desert, barefoot, hypothermic and lost, with “about 2% battery life” left on his phone as highway patrol track his location and quite literally save his life.
From there, the chat shifts into what long-term recovery actually looks like: multiple stints in treatment, relapses, grief after his mum’s death, and the slow grind of rebuilding. Patrick sums it up plainly: “There’s no perfect time, and it’s never too late… it’s where am I at today?” The heart of the conversation is Good Time Golf, a sober, non-profit golf league Patrick co-founded.
Golf becomes a place for connection instead of isolation: men and women in recovery, from young adults to people in their eighties, sharing four or five hours on the course each week. Some shoot in the 70s, some shoot 150, and it doesn’t matter; if someone can’t afford clubs or fees, they sort it. The focus is aftercare, community and giving people chances they might never otherwise get.
Anyone curious about mixing recovery with sport, or looking for ideas beyond traditional meetings, will find a lot here to think about. It might even make you see golf – and relapse, and second chances – in a new light. Could your “2% moment” be the start of something bigger?
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