Letter from Don to Applegate, cc'd to Gary Player

Introduction

Inbounds, Inc. is a small nonprofit corporation that delivered services to at-risk youth. Inbounds developed programs to teach character core values to underprivileged kids through the game of golf. Inbounds presented its programs to several professional golf organizations in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Later, these golf organizations started a program called The First Tee. It seemed very similar to Inbounds. In a different yet related story, Inbounds filed a lawsuit against the Gary Player Group (GPG) because Gary Player had signed prints that were a fundraising project for Inbounds. The GPG later forced these prints off Ebay, stating they were not the property of Inbounds, when Inbounds claimed that they were.

 

The purpose of our blog "Did Pro Golf Play Inbounds?" is to seek the court of public opinion regarding these two issues. We have pursued collaborative and legal means to no avail. We feel our story needs to be told. We also seek an  investigative journalist or other  investigative sources. We hope to encourage a civil discussion.We, Don Simons and Jim Nicholson of Inbounds, Inc. are sharing our experiences and views of what we and many other perceive as unfortunate questionable outcomes. We welcome your opinion on the contents within the blogs.

We have taken focused steps not to attack or do harm towards any individual or organization. We have not intentionally been reckless in our written commentary or words spoken within our videos.The pictures posted are to show the unique level of affiliation and contacts we had within the Golf industry. They are not intended to imply any specific person as being guilty or having committed a misdeed. 

Our written concerns, inquires and responses back from  The First Tee  lacked clarity. Also, 

we believe the court’s decision in Inbounds Inc's legal claim against the Gary Player Group did not reflect the substantive evidence presented by the esteemed lawyers of the Pepper Hamilton law firm.  Since all avenues seeking the truth were shut down, nor could we afford an appeal process and possible court costs, we felt compelled to seek others' help . We respect the legal system but our claim against the Gary Player Group was denied oral arguments, though viewed valid by seven lawyers within two highly esteemed law firms. This was after months of discovery, hundreds of pages of  briefs filed and thousands of dollars.

We are now retired.  Mr. Nicholson has been a deacon in the church for almost 30 years.  We were teachers of character qualities to youth for a combined 80-plus years.  We taught the importance of integrity, honesty, and good sportsmanship along with perseverance. Thus, we wondered how could we have encouraged hundreds of  youth to live by these principles, but turn a blind eye when Inbounds was faced with what possibly may have been a wrong doing.

We thank you for your time and comments: