My first round back, I had to quit after nine holes. I was exhausted. But I was elated because I shot 45. My first prosthetics were very crude, plaster and metal rods. Under the circumstances, it was the best nine holes of my life.
Who was it that was so offended by the term "arthritic grips" that they lobbied to have it changed to "jumbo grips"? I'd like to meet that person and have a discussion about being overly sensitive.
Within 10 years, we're going to see a bionic person. I mean someone with complex artificial limbs that receive messages from computer chips implanted in the brain, and which will perform very close to the real thing. Like Darth Vader in "Star Wars."
I'm the executive director for the National Amputee Golf Association [NAGA]. Our championship this year—our 57th—will be at Bethpage. We're playing the Red and Green courses because carts are permitted there, and the Black is walking only. More power to Bethpage for that! If the Black were the only course on Long Island, I'd sure want them to allow carts. But there are alternatives, and good ones, which is all the disabled person asks. On the other hand, there's the Old Course at St. Andrews. My dream is to play there someday, but that probably won't happen because carts aren't permitted—except during the British Open, when there are trucks, carts and other vehicles running all over the property. Come Monday, you can't tell they were ever there. It's not right.
In the mid-'80s I got a letter from an arm amputee in California who had entered a pro-am. At the check-in table the official looked at the artificial hand and said, "What's that?" He was DQd before he teed off. After being informed of this, I wrote to the USGA and asked under which rule he was disqualified. P.J. Boatwright responded and referred me to Rule 14-3c on artificial devices. A long discourse ensued between P.J., other members of the USGA rules department and me. P.J. really was guided by the spirit of the rules. Not long after, Decision 14-3/15 was modified to say that a person may use an artificial limb even if it assists him in gripping the club. Moreover, the club can have an attachment to help the disabled person grasp it. But the USGA left a loophole, an important "however," which states that if the prosthetic gives a player an undue advantage, then it is not permitted. Fair enough, though I don't think anyone would prefer to play golf with a prosthetic hand no matter how good it is. I'm very proud of my involvement in this matter. How many ordinary citizens have lobbied successfully to have a Rule of Golf changed?
Cartpath-only policies stink, don't they? Mowers as big as a dinosaur sail up and down the fairways and across the greens every day. So long as you have the carts scatter—not drive over the same area time and again—they'll do little to no damage in dry conditions. Course operators complain about soil compaction, the spread of disease and so forth, but these are the same people who put plastic covers over their sofas.
The single-rider cart is the next revolution in golf. There's a model called the SoloRider that is unbelievable—only eight pounds of weight per square inch, no more than, say, Ernie Els. They go anywhere, bunkers included, provided there's a flat area to exit and enter.
Disabled people have varying outlooks on life. After the initial period of shock, anger and denial, most of us just want to get on with living. Others embrace pity others show for them and turn that pity on themselves. Never show pity for a disabled person. The determined person resents it, and the quitter embraces it. Either way, everyone loses.
One day the phone rings. It's the agent for a famous trick-shot artist, wondering if we'd care to book the fellow to perform for our national championship. There would be a handsome fee, of course. I asked, "Does he hit balls on one leg?" The person said, "He sure does." I asked, "How about with one arm?" Answer: "Certainly." I said, "We'll have a lot of those folks performing already."
I was in the golf shop one day when a member came in and said, "Bob, will you show me how to hit the ball like you do?"
"I'd be glad to," I said. "Let's go to the range. But on the way we need to stop at my car."
- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
