Golfer Shultz reflects on facing adversity
TEXARKANA, Texas — A person is defined ultimately how they respond to adverse situations.
Robb Shultz, a polio survivor, spoke to the Texarkana Rotary Club at the Texarkana Convention Center, Wednesday afternoon.
“I was headed home from school in the fourth grade and my legs were just hurting,” Shultz said. “I went to the doctors and that’s when I was diagnosed with Polio. I was confined to the house for 370 days and the doctor told my folks that the disease would progress. The doctor also told my family the life expectancy was age 20.
“One day during one of my visits, the doctor ran a key down my foot and it tickled. That was the first time that I had any sensation in my feet in over a year. My dad taught me how to walk again and he would take me to the golf course with him on the weekends when he would play in the morning. I would walk for the exercise. One day I picked up a club, hit the ball and I asked my dad to teach my to play the game.”
Shultz is an accomplished golf professional, winning divisional championships in high school and also finished second in the NCAA championship in 1966. Shultz was also named an All-American in 1966-1967, for his collegiate golf performances. Shultz was inducted into the California State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.
Antonio Williams, Texarkana Rotary Club President, was pleased to have Shultz speak at one of the club’s monthly meetings.
“Well, Robb represents what we’re all about — eradicating polio,” Williams said. “Robb once upon a time had polio and he has also had several surgeries in his past. He won NCAA championships and also became a pro golfer.”
Shultz has been through 45 operations throughout his life.
“I was going to donate my body for science but they turned me down because I didn’t have enough original equipment,” Shultz said. “I used to tell my high school students when I was teaching that I was going to treat everything that happened to me like an adventure.
“Some of those adventures chose me and there’s some that I wouldn’t have chosen. Because I chose to treat them as a opportunity to discover things about myself, is how I was able to overcome them.”
During next week’s rotary club meeting, Matt Fry will be named club president.