Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
The First Tee of the Palm Beaches and the PGA are helping war veterans through golf.
First Tee, PGA give meaningful experiences
The First Tee of The Palm Beaches isn’t just about getting kids into golf.
The West Palm Beachbased chapter of the national organization was one of the first in the country to work with veterans in conjunction with the PGA of America’s HOPE program: Helping Our Patriots Everywhere.
What instructors like PGA professional Dave McNulty and medical pros like Eileen Jones, the chief of recreation therapy at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, recognized is that learning and playing golf with other veterans can help ease post-traumatic stress and also provide a fun activity for vets missing limbs.
“Some of the guys that I have wouldn’t get out of bed if it wasn’t for golf,” McNulty said.
McNulty and several other instructors helped 10 men and women with their swings and putting Thursday afternoon at the John Prince Golf Learning Center.
For the veterans, it was not only an opportunity to improve their golf games but also to relax and have fun with people who can relate to what they endured while serving their country.
“What the First Tee does for us is incredible. They treat us like kings,” Vietnam veteran Dave Geisler said. “I’ve met a couple of guys here that I play with during the week and we’ve become very close friends. It’s pretty cool.”
McNulty can see the VA Hospital while he works with youngsters at the First Tee facility at Dyer Park, which gave him the idea to work with veterans.
“The vision unit came from the VA Hospital and I attached on to them,” McNulty said.
The hospital’s Blind Rehab Center has outings so veterans can practice their independence and community integration skills. The golf outings were a success.
A grant provided by PGA HOPE helped expand the program to include single and double amputees as well as vets suffering from posttraumatic stress.
The First Tee gives the veterans a set of golf clubs if they need them and the learning center at John Prince lets them hit range balls and play its three-hole course for free.
Jones gets patient referrals from clinicians at the hospital, but interested individuals can contact the PGA’s South Florida section in Atlantis at 561-729-0544.
“We were one of the earliest PGA sections [to work with veterans],” said SFPGA executive director Geoff Lofstead. “Now I would say it’s probably happening in every section in the country.
“This program’s really been such a meaningful program for the veterans.”
“They learn the skills, connect with other veterans, then get out and play,” said Jones, who noted the vets are from different branches of the service and different conflicts. “They have such a camaraderie, and as a therapist, you’re so glad they have that camaraderie.”
After years of helping out with corporate golf outings but never playing, Pamela Carithers of Vero Beach signed up for the First Tee/ PGA HOPE program.
“It’s the best decision I could’ve made recreationally, as well as meeting other veterans and just kind of rediscovering that camaraderie,” she said. “I personally am finding that it just mixes well with myself and with the experiences I’ve had in terms of military as well as professionally.”
Evelyn Dodd of Stuart said Jones persuaded her to try golf after she took part in a VA program at the Healing Horse Therapy Center in Loxahatchee.
“It’s fantastic! I never imagined I’d play golf,” Dodd said “Seeing nice people, having an opportunity to come out in a relaxed environment, it’s really been awesome.”
Jones also got Geisler to try golf.
“She said, ‘You’ve got to try golf.’ I said, ‘I never played.’ She said, ‘They’re going to teach you.’ I said, ‘I don’t have clubs.’ She said, ‘They’ll give you clubs.’ Every excuse I had, she had an answer for. So I said, ‘Alright, I’ll give it a try.’ That was November. And I play [or practice] two to three times a week now.
“I’m hooked. Oh my gosh, I’m hooked.”