How Golf Saved My Life
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A new book, Mulligan, features 18 golfers who demonstrate how the power of the human spirit can move people to achieve their goals, despite significant obstacles.
Mulligan, published by the European Disabled Golf Association, features 18 golfers who demonstrate how the power of the human spirit can move people to achieve their goals, despite significant obstacles.
The European Disabled Golf Association has published a new book that shares the stories of people who have overcome disabilities to follow their golfing dreams.
Below, find out more about a snapshot of just five of those truly inspiring stories, and click on the links to learn more about person.
Ashley Harris
Ashley Harris has coped with some really rough times. A very keen golfer as a boy, he developed Rheumatoid Arthritis as a student, followed by depression and a disastrous gambling addiction. In his early 20s, with a young family, his life slipped into free-fall in front of his eyes. A failed suicide attempt led him to being helped by the kindness of strangers and, slowly but steadily, Ashley has fought back. Today, his mental health is much improved, though he still has his tough days; he has rekindled his love of golf and is now forging a career for himself in the golf industry, including his recent founding of Enable Golf, which promotes golf for the disabled… find out more
Caroline Mohr
On May 8 this year, Sweden’s Caroline Mohr was one of three players chosen to launch the EDGA/European Tour Golfers with Disability Programme in the British Masters Pro-Am at Hillside. Along with her two fellow EDGA players, Caroline wowed the watching public with her excellent golf, and also the assembled world media as, in a press conference, she outlined what golf has given her in her journey through life. Back in 2011, Caroline was on course to qualify for the Ladies European Tour before cancer struck and led to the amputation of her right leg from above the knee. But after taking her own ‘Mulligan’, Caroline has made her comeback and found a whole new career trajectory…find out more
Dennis Walters
Dennis Walters’ amateur career was still in its infancy when he started being groomed for the PGA Tour. His love affair with the game had begun when he was just eight years old and after mixing it with the very best in US college golf, the expectation was that he could make a lucrative and exciting career for himself. That was until his life took a dramatic turn. An accident in a golf buggy left him paralysed. It killed his dream, but ultimately mapped out an even better one which has just earned him a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame…find out more
Jes Hogh
The great Brazilian Ronaldo may have had the beating of number 4 Jes Høgh (below), but you can bet he did not relish for a moment facing this powerful and gritty Danish defender on the field. In fact, it is those qualities which helped Jes forge a successful career, and saw Chelsea sign him from Fenerbahçe in 1999. Like many, retirement from the pitch led to TV media punditry and it would have been the end game had not Jes suffered a devastating stroke one night in 2007 after commentating on a match. In the years’ since, Jes has been on a long road to recovery and found therapy and redemption through golf… find out more
Lucas Valde Marciano De Oliveira
Aged 20, Lucas Valde Marciano De Oliveira had just started making a living as a pizza delivery guy in São Paulo when he took eight gun shots to his back in an unprovoked attack by two men, who stole the equivalent of £400, his watch and tennis shoes. In a matter of seconds, Lucas was rendered a paraplegic. In a city which didn’t understand golf, and from his wheelchair, Lucas was hardly a prime candidate to get hooked on the game… but he has. He says: “I am totally in love with the sport”… find out more
MULLIGAN is issued with a unique ‘Give and Gift’ option, which ensures that hospitals, rehabilitation centres and organisations who care for people with disability have free access to the stirring words found in the book.
How to order: For every donation of 25€ or more, a hospital, rehabilitation / medical centre, or organisation concerned with golf for the disabled will receive a copy of the book, as will you. www.edgagolf.com/book
If you are, or know somebody with a disability, visit edgagolf.com to learn how to start and enjoy the game of golf.
