Australian golfer Ryan Peake has made an extraordinary transition from a life of crime to a promising career on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
The 31-year-old West Australian is now competing at a high level, but his journey to the professional golf circuit has been anything but conventional.
Peake began playing golf at the age of 10 and quickly showed natural talent. By the time he was a teenager, he was winning multiple junior tournaments.
In 2009, he finished second at both the South Australian Junior Masters and Tasmania‘s Tamar Valley Junior Cup before winning the Tasmanian Junior Open Championship.
The following year, he partnered with Cameron Smith to win the Trans-Tasman Series in New Zealand.
Peake went on to compete in the Australian Open at 17, playing alongside golf greats such as Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Fred Couples.
Ryan Peake was a fully patched member of the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club by age 21
By 2019 his life-altering turnaround was well underway as he won a golf tournament while on day release from prison
However, his transition to professional golf at 19 did not go as planned. Feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned, he quit the sport and turned to a different path.
After leaving golf, Peake started drinking heavily, and his weight ballooned from 95kg to 130kg.
He became involved with the Rebels Outlaw Motorcycle Club, eventually becoming a fully patched member at 21.
Peake was involved in multiple run-ins with the law, culminating in his arrest for a violent assault in 2014. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
‘For the whole first year at Hakea [Prison], I didn’t see my mum. She wanted to come, but I didn’t want her to see me like that,’ Peake said.
While incarcerated, he began reflecting on his past decisions. He started running to lose weight and spent his time watching golf tournaments on the prison’s small television.
Seeing Cameron Smith win the Australian PGA in 2017 hit him hard, reminding him of what he had lost.
One day, Peake received a note in his cell from Ritchie Smith, a renowned golf coach who had worked with Minjee and Min Woo Lee as well as major winner Hannah Green.
While Peake was in prison (pictured right) he received a note from legendary golf coach Ritchie Smith, who coaxed him back to the sport once more
Smith had coached Peake in his youth and reached out, asking if he wanted to return to the sport. Peake was hesitant.
‘I just laughed it off,’ he said.
But Smith persisted, and over multiple phone calls, Peake realised his former coach still believed in him.
Peake knew that to commit to golf again, he had to leave the Rebels. With the club’s support, he formally exited, returning his vest and motorcycle.
Peake spent his final year of prison at the Wooroloo Prison Farm, where he was granted 12-hour day releases every fortnight.
On one of those releases, he returned to the golf course for the first time in years. ‘It felt like swinging a brick on the end of a light pole,’ he said, but he soon found his rhythm.
Incredibly, on his third day release, he won a Saturday club competition at Lakelands Country Club.
‘I was standing there making my speech and ended it by saying, ‘I hope you enjoy your night, but I’m back off to jail.’
Peake (pictured at Narembeen Golf Club) won the 2019 Aglime of Australia Sand Greens Championship of Western Australia
Peake hopes that his life lessons help others forge a better path instead of turning to crime
Peake was released in May 2019 and took a fly-in, fly-out job that allowed him to practice golf in his spare time.
Determined to give his professional career another shot, he entered amateur tournaments and worked tirelessly to regain his form.
Peake’s return to competitive golf has been remarkable.
Now in his first full season on the PGA Tour of Australasia, he has consistently finished near the top of leaderboards.
He won the 2024 Sandbelt Invitational at Royal Melbourne, defeating DP World Tour player David Micheluzzi in a playoff.
‘I went to the bar and bought the boys a round of beers, and then the refs came in and said, ‘Mate, you’re required for a playoff,’ Peake recalled.
Peake is currently on the edge of the top 20 in the PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
He hopes to compete in the New Zealand Open and the New Zealand PGA, but his criminal record has complicated the visa process.
‘I’m only getting started with the repercussions of my past now that I’m starting to travel internationally and wanting to play overseas tours,’ he said.
‘But I just want people to take a lesson from it and avoid it.’
Peake acknowledges his mistakes but takes full responsibility for his past.
‘I brought all that stuff upon myself. I never felt sorry for myself,’ he said.
His former coach, Ritchie Smith, believes Peake has the talent to succeed.
‘This guy was very good. When I say ‘very good,’ I mean Cameron Smith-level good,’ Smith said.
Now, Peake remains determined to keep pushing forward.
‘I am watching the guys playing at the moment, and I know I can beat them if I just had more time with the clubs. I’m not going out that easy. This time it’s for me.’