A Special Contributor to the Wounded Warrior Project
“An injured lion still wants to roar” - Randy Pausch
(news4jax.com)
The following was sent to me by a good friend and golf buddy - Mike Blackshire. I was so moved after reading this story, I felt compelled to share it with as many people as possible. Thank you, Mike, for taking the time.
A very special golf story:
“The starters matched me with three other players. After a few holes, we began to get to know each other a bit. One fellow was rather young and had his wife riding along in the golf cart with him. I noticed that his golf bag had his name on it and after closer inspection, it also said, "Wounded War Veteran."
As we began to chat, I asked about the bag. His response was simply that it was a gift. As we got to know one another better, he did say he was a wounded veteran. Almost immediately, he followed with, 'But, I would rather not talk about that. Let’s talk golf.'
After a few more holes, he did say he had spent the last 15 months in an army rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio, Texas. His wife moved there to be with him. He said he was just released in September. He was a rather quiet fellow; However, he did say he wanted to get as good as possible at golf, even though he was new to the game.
We were having a nice round and as we became a bit more familiar, I asked him about the brand-new set of Ping woods and irons he was playing. They were top-of-the-line clubs and some looked like they had never been used. His response was simple. He said this was the first full round he had played with the clubs.
Later, he told me the following: As part of the discharge process from the rehabilitation hospital, Ping comes in and provides three days of golf instruction, followed by a one-on-one club fitting. Upon discharge from the hospital, Ping gives each of the wounded veterans, generally about 40 soldiers at a time, a brand-new set of custom fitted clubs, along with a personalized golf bag.
The fellow I met was named Ben Woods. He looked straight into my eyes and said, ‘Being fitted for those clubs was one of the best things that ever happened to me and I am determined to learn to play golf well enough to deserve the gift Ping gave me.’
Ben is now out of the service, medically discharged just a month ago. He is as fine a young man as you would ever want to meet.”
For the record: Ping has never advertised this program, yet is a Gold Sponsor of Disabled Sports USA's "Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project."
Ping Golf was founded in 1959 by Karsten Solheim, following a career as an engineer with General Electric. He started making putters in his garage in Redwood City, California. Today, Ping is one of the most recognized names in golf equipment worldwide.
Sometimes, just sometimes, there is much more to a game than the game. And sometimes, just sometimes, there is much more to a company than a logo and profit margins.
