> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Bobby Wadkins out of the rough after 2022 kidney transplant - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/bobby-wadkins-out-of-the-rough-after-2022-kidney-transplant/ - Published: 2026-09-27T14:59:38.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-27T14:59:38.000Z - Description: Longtime golf pro from Richmond received new lease on life from Hedgepeth - Author: Weldon Bradshaw - Tags: Sports Throughout his successful, 42-year career as a professional golfer, Bobby Wadkins proved to be quite adept at digging his way out of even the most challenging of lies. An apt student of the game, he possessed the patience, confidence and expertise developed through myriad practice hours to determine and execute just the right shot to overcome those precarious situations that his oft-times fickle game of choice thrust upon him. He never could have imagined, though, that his years of training combined with his fierce competitive spirit actually were preparing him to play the toughest round of his life. A Richmond native and Meadowbrook High School graduate who spent 25 years on the PGA circuit and another 17 on the Champions Tour, Wadkins, a 2018 inductee into the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune kidney disease in early 2022. The symptoms combined with other health issues forced this active, energetic septuagenarian to alter his lifestyle and ultimately created the need for a kidney transplant, the reality of which caught him by surprise. He had no control, he knew, over the way his body was working against itself. As was the case throughout his golf career, he had total control over the way he managed the cheap shot that fate delivered. A lifetime ago, Wadkins, now 75, earned All-America honors at East Tennessee State and won the VSGA Amateur Championship in 1972\. In the ensuing years, he won the VPGA Open – one of two state opens held in Virginia at the time – in 1981, '82, and '83 as well as four Champions Tour events and seven other international competitions. Though he stepped away from tour-level golf a decade ago, rarely a day has passed that he’s not on the course or practice range at Kinloch Golf Club in Manakin-Sabot. “The reason I retired was that I developed diabetes,” he said. “It took away my strength and ability to beat most of those guys (on the circuit). “Golf will always be part of my life. I still hit golf balls. I still love practicing. I still compete against myself. I still don’t like to hit bad shots. I’m very much trying to beat my age, which I do most of the time. “Sometimes, there’re days when I hit the golf ball somewhat like I used to. That’s very rewarding. Then there’re other days where it seems like I never played before, and that makes you want to sell your clubs.” He’s kidding about the latter, of course, for Wadkins isn’t a quitter, a mindset that served him well when life grew challenging. In late 2021, his health took a turn for the worse, and in early January 2022 following a trip to the emergency room, he began a regimen of hemodialysis four times per week. Three months later, he began peritoneal dialysis, which he did 12 hours per day at home. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/09/3BYFNXH-1.jpg) Richmonder Bobby Wadkins shows off the trophy after winning the 2006 Ford Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Mich. The major title was the biggest victory of Wadkins' career. (Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press) Just as golf is very much a mental game, dealing with potentially catastrophic health issues is as well. True to his nature, Wadkins refused to wallow in self-pity or go to dark places in his head. “I don’t think that way,” he said. “Nobody else is going to feel sorry for me, so why should I? I don’t think I was ever worried. I mean, I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I’d always done what I wanted as far as hunting or playing golf or fishing, so just sitting on the couch was the hard part.” He persevered, though, and he competed, just as he always had. “Everything the doctors told me to do, I did,” Wadkins said. “That was from so many hours of practicing (golf). For me to beat people on the tour, I had to outwork them. For me to live, I had to do what my doctor said.” One day in the early spring of 2022, Wadkins was on his phone in the club room at Kinloch talking to his doctor about the possibility of a living donor transplant when Trevor Hedgepeth, the golf course superintendent since 2014, happened by and overheard a snippet of the conversation. ⛳ Wadkins will play in the National Kidney Foundation Golf Classic on Monday at the Magnolia Green Golf Club in Moseley. It is one of several tournaments held locally throughout the country that serve as NKF fundraisers. Before the golfers tee off at 8:30 a.m., Wadkins and Hedgepeth will share their story. Hedgepeth, then 42, had little understanding of the donation process, but he was intrigued by the possibility of helping his friend and readily volunteered to undergo testing to determine compatibility. One thing led to another, and he received a call in April of 2022 when he was on the sixth green with the news that he was a dead-solid perfect match. He remembers that moment vividly. Though he knew this was a distinct possibility, he was stunned. “I called my wife (Meaghann) to tell her,” Hedgepeth said. “I’ll never forget what she said: ‘Do you trust the Lord?’ I said, ‘I do.’ Then she said, ‘Do you trust the doctors?’ I said, ‘I do.’ Then she said, ‘Do you want to help?’ I said, ‘I do.’ Then she said, ‘OK, then do it.’” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/06/99067822-fdfd-42b1-ab19-555c33eefb89/content/images/2026/09/Bobby-Trevor-1.JPEG) Bobby Wadkins and Trevor Hedgepeth reunite at Henrico Doctors Hospital after Wadkins received a kidney from Hedgepeth in November 2022\. Hedgepeth followed his faith to guide him through the transplant process. (Linda Wadkins) After further medical and psychological screening, all of which is part of the intense and thorough protocol for living donation, robotic surgery to remove Hedgepeth’s left kidney and implant it in Wadkins occurred Nov. 9, 2022, at the Virginia Transplant Center at Henrico Doctors Hospital. “I jokingly tell people that if my wife and Jesus hadn’t been in my hospital room, I would have bolted from the hospital, and they might have found me on Broad Street with my IV drip,” Hedgepeth said. “But I trusted the doctors and trusted the science and medicine. I also trusted the fact that lots of people live with only one kidney, and I was committed to a lifestyle that wouldn’t torpedo being a donor.” There’s more, which speaks to his ultimate motivation. “I have faith in Christ,” Hedgepeth said. “I have faith in the eternal. I care about my life here on Earth, but I have much more faith in what happens after we die, so I thought, *Hey, if I can help a friend of mine get off dialysis, then I want to do whatever I can*.” Hedgepeth spent two nights in the hospital. Within three weeks, he was back in action. While he’s proud of his altruistic act, he stops well short of acknowledging that he’s a hero. “I’m thrilled for Bobby,” he said. “I certainly want God Himself to get the glory. I struggle to this day to see it as a sacrifice. I’m back to who I was, and Bobby gets to live a normal life. So, glory to God and really happy for life.” Wadkins, who returned to the gym for light workouts about a month post-surgery, is enjoying much improved health, borne out by his renewed energy and positive lab values. That said, he’s grateful beyond words and takes nothing for granted. Each day, he focuses on proper nutrition and hydration. He’s diligent about taking his anti-rejection medications on schedule and keeping his medical appointments. He’s extremely mindful about avoiding the hazards that can befall an immunocompromised organ transplant survivor. Is he really back to normal, though? That depends on your definition of “normal.” After all, how can one truly return to his previous normal after receiving the greatest gift? “It’s a different normal than before,” he said. “I do everything I want to do. I do everything the doctors tell me to do. Every time I go to the golf course and see Trevor, I say, ‘Hey, kidney brother, how’re you doing?’ “But when I go to the beach with my family, I might sit there and say, ‘Oooh, that’s a really nice sunset. Thank you, Trevor.’” 🏥 In 2022 (the year of Wadkins' transplant), 25,500 kidney transplants were performed in the United States: 5,864 were from living donors. Of those, 698 kidney transplants were done in Virginia, with 134 from living donors. At Henrico Doctors Hospital, they did 34 kidney transplants that year, of which 12 were from living donors. There are more than 110,000 people listed for an organ transplant on the national waiting list. Most of them - more than 96,000 - need a kidney. Of the more than 3,400 listed at hospitals in Virginia, more than 3,000 are waiting for a kidney.