Military Program

The PGA of America/Disabled Sports USA Military Golf Program

The Disabled Sports USA Military Golf Program is a joint effort between Disabled Sports USA and Wounded Warrior Project. The PGA of America has partnered with these groups to sponsor a program for severely wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. This program is a nationwide initiative that involves both active duty and retired men and women of the Armed Forces who were severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. The aim is to demonstrate value in golf as a sport for rehabilitation and fulfilling recreational pursuit.

The PGA of America has trained a handful of PGA Professionals per city, who serve as instructors for wounded warriors at sites near two of the nation's primary military hospitals, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Disabled Sports USA representatives and PGA/LPGA Professional Judy Alvarez of Palm City, Fla., who began her professional golf career in 1993 as an instructor for golfers with disabilities, head the PGA Professional training program. That team of PGA Professionals conducts seven weeks of golf instruction for the wounded warriors and disabled veterans.

Disabled Sports USA coordinates with the two military medical facilities, where 80 percent of the severely wounded are treated, to identify the wounded to receive the golf instruction and transport them to the training sites. The participants then meet with PGA Professionals who will guide them through a curriculum that features golf's fundamental skills and the basic Rules of Golf. They also employ teaching techniques that utilize adaptive equipment where necessary, demonstrate how golf may be used as part of rehabilitation and teach safety concerns in swinging a golf club and the importance of stretching. Each week's program consists of two hours of instruction.

To date, there have been more than 450 participants in the program.