The Golfer
These days, Oki spends so much of his time working with non-profit agencies — in addition to his work on education reform, Oki also serves or has served on dozens of advisory boards and boards of directors for various non-profit organizations — that he rarely has time to play the game on which he has had such a significant impact.
When he does play, Oki knocks the ball around in much the same fashion as a large percentage of those who frequent his courses.
“I’ve always been decent around the greens, and I hit it pretty straight,” he says. “I’m not very long, though, so I’m usually laying up with my second shot, then trying to get up and down from there. Add it all up and it comes out to about a 12.6 handicap.”
Oki says that one of his long-term visions is to develop a par-3 course, which would remove yet another hurdle the public golfer faces — that is, trying to find the time to play a full round.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he says. “It would give people the opportunity to play a terrific set of 18 holes without having to go and spend five hours on the golf course. They could spend maybe two hours, but still have a fun and challenging experience. Hopefully, I have the chance to make it a reality some day.”
Born into a humble home, Oki has helped build a world-changing business empire, walked away at the height of its success, changed the face of Northwest golf, and tackled some of society’s most significant social problems. He has lived the American dream — now he wants the rest of us, and our children, to have the same chance.