Golf clubmaker Cloyd’s battle with cancer resumes

Al Cloyd will be closing Al’s Custom Golf at Possum Trot Golf Club on July 27 for what he anticipates will be four to six weeks as he undergoes surgery for a recurrence of cancer.

Doctors have found a mass on the top of Cloyd’s right lung that a PET scan revealed was cancerous and he has surgery scheduled to remove it on July 29 at Duke University Hospital.

Cloyd, 43, was diagnosed with Stage 3B colon cancer in February 2012 and he was forced to close his club-building and club-repairing tour trailer during treatment. The cancer metastasized to his right lung and lymph nodes, and Cloyd endured about 20 months of treatment that included radiation and chemo sessions as well as six surgeries, including an eight-hour colon reconstruction surgery late in 2012.

Al’s Custom Golf reopened in November 2013 after Cloyd was told he was free of cancer.

“I can’t wait to get this over with so I can get back to doing what I love doing. I just love working on golf clubs. It’s a blast,” Cloyd said. “I enjoyed getting back into work. That time off drove me nuts. I missed seeing all the people coming in. It was nice to get back to normal, which is working my butt off. That’s what I enjoy.”

Past treatment has caused neuropathy that has made the tips of Cloyd’s fingers and toes numb, he has to frequent the restroom more often and has occasional pain from the intense surgeries.

But all in all, Cloyd was feeling pretty good, other than being more fatigued than normal in recent months. During his first battle with cancer, Cloyd was the beneficiary of a couple charity tournaments and received a lot of community support. “I wouldn’t be here now. I know it. I truly appreciate everybody,” he said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2015 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Golf clubmaker Cloyd’s battle with cancer resumes."