PGA HOPE at Chatham County's Henderson Golf: Stepping Up to the Tee for our Military

 

How golf -- yes, golf -- is building a community that literally changes and saves lives

 

It’s easy to spot the commitment, the camaraderie, and the extreme -- even elite -- competence forged in the men and women who wear the uniforms of our country’s military service.  They often carry it with them proudly long after their active duty is over.  Sadly, other effects of military service can linger as well, and the statistics are alarming.

“We lose on average 22 or 23 veterans a day to suicide.  Every.  Day.”  Walter W. Baker, III, is Director of Golf Instruction at Chatham County’s Henderson Golf Club, and he’s also retired military with 25 years of service.  You can see that immediately in his bearing, and you can see it powerfully in his drive to help turn that tide of trauma-induced suffering.  Together with Henderson Head Golf Professional Dan Gawronski, Walter is using the game of golf – yes, golf – to save lives.

The scars of war can be mental or physical or both, and the debilitating effects can be compounded when one suddenly becomes an isolated individual as opposed to a member of a corps.  Here’s where Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) steps up to the tee with its PGA HOPE initiative.  HOPE stands for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere.  It’s the flagship military program of PGA’s charitable Reach Foundation.  A Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Veterans Affairs enables direct referrals to PGA HOPE as a form of effective therapy.   It introduces and teaches golf to veterans and active-duty military to enhance their physical, mental, and social well-being.

PGA HOPE certified instructors like Walter and Dan are trained to overcome whatever impediments their students bring with them.  They modify equipment or create working alternatives for golfers who have mobility or balance issues, or who have lost limbs or hearing or sight. The question is not IF but HOW they will succeed, and the answer is always, “YES! We will find a way!”

Walter says, “There’s going to be some frustration, because it’s a man against himself or a woman against herself.  But when there’s a trained observer that can make a modification that might make the difference, and the light bulb goes on for them, it absolutely transforms everything for them. And the best part of it is that they’re doing it with somebody else that is also limited in some capacity – so you’re building a community of those that can share and open up with one another.  It literally changes lives.”

The emotion is evident in Dan’s voice as he concurs with Walter. “There is nothing more rewarding – nothing more rewarding! – than to see someone succeed like this.  Particularly when you know they’ve been quietly struggling with something that, as Walter alluded to, puts them in a dark place mentally or emotionally.  If they can get out and share this experience with other people and start to feel proud about what they can do and start to grow back some self-esteem, and then do it within a community of people who are doing the same thing . . . I’m telling you, PGA changes lives, golf changes lives!  It’s spectacular.”

“Nobody keeps a scorecard in PGA HOPE,” Walter says, but “you can do the math.”  In 2024 alone, 17,000 veterans were served, and more than 50,000 have been impacted by PGA HOPE since its inception in 2015.  Wherever there’s PGA, there’s an opportunity for PGA HOPE.  It’s offered at over 550 locations and is rapidly growing.  “PGA HOPE is not only changing lives but saving lives.”  PGA of America President Don Rea, Jr., is a Master Golf Professional who attests to “the impact PGA HOPE has on local communities across the country, and more importantly the lives of our veterans.  It’s one of the most meaningful things we do.”

So why golf?  PGA’s perspective is that “golf is more than a game – it’s a path forward, it helps us create community, allows us to get outside and celebrate the big and small moments.  Golf is a connecting point where our differences don’t matter, and where all of us get the chance to be ourselves.”  Dan brings it down to what he sees in every one of Henderson’s PGA HOPE schools. “You know, golf is the conduit.  It’s the answer to ‘how can we bring people together?’.  And it’s the common thread that keeps them together.  They didn’t go out and start enjoying golf on their own, but now they’ve found a new collective group that thinks alike, that has the same issues.  And now they can enjoy the game.  It’s an emotional thing, because you just have no idea how much it might change someone’s life.  It’s just something that, once it gets into your blood and your bones, it doesn’t go away.  It just doesn’t.”

 

 

Henderson Golf Club is a Par 71 beauty with centuries-old live oaks, natural wetlands, and other lovely views throughout its 18-hole championship course.  It is both a challenging and a restorative place for anyone to play.  If you or someone you know is interested in the special challenges and restoration offered at Henderson via PGA HOPE, you are encouraged to register for an upcoming PGA HOPE School.  Each school is provided completely free of cost to all participating veterans – all you have to bring is yourself.  Better yet, you can enroll a spouse, a parent or a child as a companion on this journey as well!  Each school is a 6 – 8 week curriculum and is limited to 12 students.  PGA HOPE celebrates the men and women who choose to undertake this journey of restoration, and after every graduation ceremony it fosters a lifelong community among its graduates.  For more information, visit PGAREACH.org, follow @PGAHOPE on Instagram, or find PGA HOPE on Facebook.

“This is the thing,” Dan says at the end.  “You never know how much impact you have.  One person who goes through this may go on and help another person, and that person goes on to help someone else, and you know it radiates out.  You’ll never know, and for me I don’t need to know, exactly how often it happens. But once in a while I do get those who come back and say ‘you were instrumental to me in getting my stuff together,’ and I know that YES, we had an impact!  It tells me that we must be doing our job.”