Brad Iles: The Golf Prodigy Who Survived a Coma, Beat Rory McIlroy & Walked Away From It All

Brad Isles shares his remarkable journey from a promising young golfer to a successful entrepreneur, highlighting the resilience and perspective gained from both triumphs and challenges. At just 16, Isles won the World Secondary School Golf Championships and was recognized as one of New Zealand's top golfing talents. However, a life-altering accident at 20, where he fell off a golf cart and suffered a severe head injury, put his career on hold. Despite doctors' grim predictions, he defied the odds, returning to the sport and enjoying a seven-year professional career, even defeating Rory McIlroy in a tournament.

After stepping away from professional golf, Isles transitioned to a minimum wage job in Queenstown, where he found liberation in simplicity and the opportunity to reconnect with life outside of sports. He eventually moved to Papamoa, where he co-founded a golf simulator business, capitalizing on the growing popularity of golf and technology. Isles emphasizes the importance of connection, both in his personal life and through his business, which has installed over 500 simulators nationwide, allowing families to bond over the sport.

Reflecting on his experiences, Isles acknowledges the lessons learned from both his athletic and business careers, including the significance of perspective and the value of community. He encourages young athletes to embrace their journeys, regardless of the outcomes, and to appreciate the skills gained along the way. As he balances fatherhood and entrepreneurship, Isles remains focused on enjoying life and cherishing the moments with his family, while also considering the possibility of returning to competitive golf in the future.

As a teenager, Brad Iles was a world schools golf champion, and Michael Campbell called him one of the best talents to come out of New Zealand in a long time.

At 20, he fell off the back of a golf cart in the US, suffered a life-threatening head injury and woke from a coma to be told he might never play again.

Within 18 months he was leading the Australian PGA alongside Cambo, with his dad on the bag. Seven years on tour followed, then he booked a flight home and never went back.

This is the story of starting again: a minimum-wage warehouse job in Queenstown, glassy to shareholder in a five-venue hospitality group, and the inflatable park that sparked the golf simulator business he runs today.

In this episode: 14 houses by age 14, and how having no friends made him a golfer His dad’s chart: scratch by 16 Why Kiwis flush it on the range and Americans out-golf them on the course Hearing your handicap from the sound of the strike Life on tour: 100 cheeseburgers, a shank through a hotel door, and why it gets lonely The putt for a quarter of a million dollars Sleep seizures 24 years on, losing his licence, and what the bus taught him about slowing down His best parenting advice: let them be kids

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