thedrifter
06-21-07, 07:25 AM
New start for wounded veterans
Golf clinic unites, strengthens group
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | June 21, 2007
CONCORD -- Standing on the neatly trimmed greens at the Nashawtuc Country Club yesterday, Sean Lewis dug a left cleat into the turf and unleashed a powerful swing that cut through the muggy air.
As the golf ball sailed down the middle of the practice fairway, a dozen men who had lost limbs or sustained other injuries while fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan watched its flight. Lewis, whose entire right leg was torn from his body by an improvised explosive device three years ago in Iraq, stood steady on his one remaining leg. Although he has a prosthetic limb, he plays without it because it limits his swing. He tapped another ball into position and swung again, uprooting a chunk of grass. The ball curved to the right.
"I have my good days and bad days," Lewis said.
Lewis, an Army sergeant, and the other soldiers and Marines were part of a golf clinic held during the annual Bank of America Championship. The clinic, which promoted the sport as a rehabilitative tool for wounded veterans, was a partnership between the Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA and was sponsored by the bank.
"Golf helped me with my balance," said Dan Nevis, 34, who lost his left leg below the knee and suffered extensive damage to his right leg in 2004 after an IED blew up under his vehicle. After 27 surgeries to repair his right leg, he used golf to help regain agility. He said he recently shot an 82, his personal best. Nevis, who uses a prosthetic limb when he plays, has become a spokesman for the Professional Golfers' Association .
"Golf is a great equalizer. You don't have to be a perfect physical specimen to play," he said, after hitting a ball about 150 yards. " I find the golf course to be a place where I get to forget," said Nevis, a retired Army staff sergeant who lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
Nevis started playing golf several years before he was wounded, but for most of the men at the clinic, golf was recommended to them to aid in their recoveries.
At one point, the wounded men sat in a semi-circle while professional golfer Larry Nelson, who has won the PGA Championship and the US Open, stood in front of them and answered questions. "People always ask me what was the toughest win I ever had," said Nelson, 59, a Vietnam veteran. "I tell them the last one."
Bob Wilson, the president of the National Amputee Golf Association and a double amputee who walks on prosthetic legs, went from one tee to another and offered tips. He lost his legs during a flight deck accident on the USS Kitty Hawk in 1974.
"These guys here are all fairly young, and were all involved in some sort of sport before they were injured. What brings them together, and the reason why I'm here, is because we've all had a life-altering situation," said Wilson. "But what I always tell them is, life isn't over. For some it may be a beginning."
Ellie
Golf clinic unites, strengthens group
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | June 21, 2007
CONCORD -- Standing on the neatly trimmed greens at the Nashawtuc Country Club yesterday, Sean Lewis dug a left cleat into the turf and unleashed a powerful swing that cut through the muggy air.
As the golf ball sailed down the middle of the practice fairway, a dozen men who had lost limbs or sustained other injuries while fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan watched its flight. Lewis, whose entire right leg was torn from his body by an improvised explosive device three years ago in Iraq, stood steady on his one remaining leg. Although he has a prosthetic limb, he plays without it because it limits his swing. He tapped another ball into position and swung again, uprooting a chunk of grass. The ball curved to the right.
"I have my good days and bad days," Lewis said.
Lewis, an Army sergeant, and the other soldiers and Marines were part of a golf clinic held during the annual Bank of America Championship. The clinic, which promoted the sport as a rehabilitative tool for wounded veterans, was a partnership between the Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA and was sponsored by the bank.
"Golf helped me with my balance," said Dan Nevis, 34, who lost his left leg below the knee and suffered extensive damage to his right leg in 2004 after an IED blew up under his vehicle. After 27 surgeries to repair his right leg, he used golf to help regain agility. He said he recently shot an 82, his personal best. Nevis, who uses a prosthetic limb when he plays, has become a spokesman for the Professional Golfers' Association .
"Golf is a great equalizer. You don't have to be a perfect physical specimen to play," he said, after hitting a ball about 150 yards. " I find the golf course to be a place where I get to forget," said Nevis, a retired Army staff sergeant who lives in Jacksonville, Fla.
Nevis started playing golf several years before he was wounded, but for most of the men at the clinic, golf was recommended to them to aid in their recoveries.
At one point, the wounded men sat in a semi-circle while professional golfer Larry Nelson, who has won the PGA Championship and the US Open, stood in front of them and answered questions. "People always ask me what was the toughest win I ever had," said Nelson, 59, a Vietnam veteran. "I tell them the last one."
Bob Wilson, the president of the National Amputee Golf Association and a double amputee who walks on prosthetic legs, went from one tee to another and offered tips. He lost his legs during a flight deck accident on the USS Kitty Hawk in 1974.
"These guys here are all fairly young, and were all involved in some sort of sport before they were injured. What brings them together, and the reason why I'm here, is because we've all had a life-altering situation," said Wilson. "But what I always tell them is, life isn't over. For some it may be a beginning."
Ellie