Future Students | Current Students | Alumni | Friends | A-Z Index

Boots on the Green gets veterans with disabilities back on the course

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Gus Huelsing's footing isn't as sure as it used to be, and that's kept the World War II veteran away from the golf course for four years.

But his disability didn't hold the 90-year-old Huelsing back when he teed up on his first hole at the "Boots on the Green" tournament at the Clinton Hills Golf Course near St. Louis. Thanks to a partnership between University of Missouri Extension and the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, veterans of all ages and skill levels can benefit from the exercise and enjoyment golf can provide.

"My balance kept me from the game because I couldn't swing at the ball without falling over and no one could hold me up, but this allows me to take a swing without hurting anyone," Huelsing said. "I'm happy to be on the golf course. This is my kind of living and I'll dream about this."

Help for Huelsing and others comes in the form of specialized golf carts. With a pivoting seat and tires with lower air pressure than the mowers used to groom the greens, players with disabilities can tee off from a seated position, use a gait belt to anchor themselves to the cart for balance, or can pull up within inches of their ball regardless of where it lies.

With an artificial leg, Korean War vet Alex Grippo never considered getting on a golf course until now. "Hills and artificial legs don't mix, but this lets you drive right up to the ball," he said.

Jerry Hitzhusen, an MU Extension associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism, works to expand access to recreation opportunities for veterans with disabilities. He helped organize the tournament alongside therapists and instructors with the St. Louis VA Medical Center.

Through events like Boots on the Green and the MU-sponsored annual Midwest Symposium on Therapeutic Recreation and Adaptive Physical Activity, Hitzhusen hopes to spread the word about new equipment and accessibility options.

"We want to show veterans and people who work with veterans that there are things that they can do that no one thought they could, and one of the those things is playing golf," Hitzhusen said. "We have thousands of disabled vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who should have an opportunity to play golf."

Making golf more accessible to the 54 million Americans with disabilities requires educating people about what is possible, said John Schmeink, co-coordinator of the tournament and a certified recreation therapist with the St. Louis VA hospital.

"The general public and golf courses need to know about the adaptations, the carts and the different rules that we follow in disability golf," Schmeink said. "We want to break the barriers and make the sight of a person with disabilities playing golf a common thing that people don't even blink at."

Vietnam vet Mark Hess smiled at the thought of eliminating that stigma for people with disabilities. He walks with a prosthetic leg after an amputation more than a year ago.

"Just because you're an amputee doesn't mean you should give up the game," Hess said. "The adaptive equipment is a godsend for many like Gus, and with more and more courses coming around to having adaptive carts we won't have to give it up just because of a handicap."

Posted July 7, 2010
Story Source: Jerry Hitzhusen, 573- 882-9512