Wallace was immediately hospitalized for 10 days at South Georgia Medical Center for sepsis. He was told that the severe infection was due to a problem with the extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy — a procedure that uses shock waves to break a kidney stone into small pieces that can travel through the urinary tract and pass from the body more easily — he had undergone earlier. (His involved the use of a stent to hold the ureter open as his stone was rather large.)

This infection marked the beginning of Wallace’s series of unfortunate events.

One year later, the week of the 2006 Masters Golf Tournament, Wallace was in Reidsville teaching a 40-hour Georgia insurance licensure course when he started experiencing chest pains. He took an aspirin, which dulled the pain. Two of his students drove him the 130-plus miles back to Valdosta.

“I started feeling better and thought everything was going to be OK,” he said. “I thought I needed a little rest, but my wife took me to the hospital. At the (Dasher Memorial) Heart Center, doctors ran a few tests and discovered I was definitely having a heart attack.”

“He was scheduled for triple bypass surgery the very next day,” Wanda added.

Although he had four tickets, Wallace missed the Masters Golf Tournament once again.

Wallace and Wanda were relieved when the week of the 2007 Masters Golf Tournament came and went without incident. They hoped that it signaled the end of his series of unfortunate events. A year later, however, they learned that it had not.

The week of the 2008 Masters Golf Tournament, Wallace was again plagued by chest pains. He went back to South Georgia Medical Center, believing he was having another heart attack. Dasher Memorial Heart Center doctors ran several tests, including a cardiac catheterization, and eventually concluded that his heart was fine. That was the good news.

The bad news ... Wallace’s pain was coming from his esophagus. It needed stretching.

“I had to give up the Masters (Golf Tournament) because it was not good for my health,” he shared with a laugh. “From this point on, I think I will just watch it on the television.”

Wallace no longer plays golf either. Giving it up was not easy, especially considering he has lived just off Country Club Road and has enjoyed a view of the Valdosta Country Club golf course from his backyard for 30 years.

“I stopped playing golf three years ago after that kidney stone procedure,” he added. “And I have not played since. My golf clubs are put away. I used to miss it, but I simply don’t have the desire anymore. I think God took it away. I think he had other plans for me.”

“He was a golf addict. He loved the game,” Wanda shared. “He was known to spend the entire day on the golf course, playing several times a day. When our nephew, Joel Bius, who’s now in the Air Force, would visit, the two of them would play until they could not see the ball anymore.”

Wallace, along with Wanda, now devotes his free time to the Joy Makers, a ministry for seniors who attend Northside Baptist Church. In addition to a Bible study, this group likes to travel and recently spent the day in Colquitt enjoying a performance of Swamp Gravy. (Remember the commercial? “My wife plans the trips, and I drive the bus.”)

“We travel to several places every year,” Wanda said. “We go wherever we decide we want to go.”