(CNN) -- If they were handing out awards for courage in the face of personal trauma, 70-year-old Bob Yelton would scoop the lot at this week's World Amateur Handicap Championships. 

Yelton is one of just 13 golfers who have played in all 28 previous editions of the biggest tournament of its type in the world, which brings nearly 3,100 players from 25 countries and 49 states of the U.S. to the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina. 

His streak was nearly broken last year, and in the circumstances nobody would have held it against him if he had taken time out. 

Just before the tournament, Martha, his wife of 22 years, was taken ill and passed away just a week later. 

There had been no hint of a problem -- Martha taught at a community school in Shelby in North Carolina and played a bit of golf herself. 

"She mostly just walked the course with me," recalled Bob. 

Her death hit him hard and he was left with the prospect of raising his then 15-year-old son Porter alone. In the circumstances, his annual pilgrimage to Myrtle was low priority. "I had no interest in playing golf." 

But with encouragement from his brother Don, who has also played in every World Am, and crucially an intervention from his son, Bob did indeed pitch up. 

"Dad, Mum would have wanted you to play," said Porter and he did, thinking about Martha just about every step of the way. 

In retrospect, the stress of dealing with his wife's premature death and continuing to practice as a business lawyer may well have taken a bigger toll on Bob than he was to realize. 
do many people play?
brings nearly 3,100 player