From a Handful to Hundreds

Six years ago, Fred Gutierrez and I met with Scott Kmiec of PGA REACH and he asked us to "champion" a chapter of PGA HOPE here in Charleston. We asked Perry Green to partner with us and host first the instructor training and then the first series of HOPE. From personal experience, we knew how important Golf Therapy could be in changing the quality of Veterans' lives. Perry quickly understood why we were so "persistent" as PGA HOPE "re-energizes" him every week.

Our first series started in the summer of 2015 with literally just a handful of Veterans. Fred and I asked about 100 Veterans and all but a few said, "What a great idea. I'd love to do it, but I don't want to take the spot of a Veteran that needs it more." One of the Veterans in that first series had locked himself in his home for seven years and only ventured out once a month to get groceries in the middle of the night. During HOPE, he made remarkable progress and started to integrate back into society. He agreed to let me tell his story anonymously and, that story, caught the attention of not only the PGA but the VA and Vet Centers.

Soon, the Vet Center on Montague met with me at Wescott and we forged a partnership that would see many of the Veterans receiving counseling for PTSD being introduced to Golf Therapy. By the fall of 2015, there were 19 Veterans registered and by the spring of 2016, the group had grown to 33 Veterans. That spring we needed to add a second host site to accommodate the Veterans and Ron Cerrudo and the Daniel Island Club volunteered their services. The next year we continued to grow and Links at Stono Ferry and Joint Base Charleston were added as our numbers swelled to 90 Veterans.

Kiawah Island also joined the family in 2018 and offered clinics in the winter and summer. This made PGA HOPE Charleston a year-round program with clinics in all regions of Charleston. This summer at Kiawah Island, an all-women's group is being scheduled with up to 10 women Vets and two women instructors.

This past year, our numbers have skyrocketed as we had over 95 new graduates in the fall and broke the century mark for the first time with 101 new graduates this spring. To accommodate over 200 Veterans participating this spring, Wescott Golf Club added a Thursday clinic. PGA HOPE Charleston is now offered every weekday.

Thank you to everyone that has helped us build the infrastructure and grow this program to what it has become. A special thanks to Capstone Foundation, Stand Up and Play Foundation, PGA REACH Carolinas, Classic Golf Management, the City of North Charleston, and our other host sites.

Six years ago, April 30th was the date of the instructor training at Wescott Golf Club. The rapid expansion over the last seven months has allowed us to grow from 400 graduates to 600 graduates. Over the past year, despite the spring and summer series being canceled due to COVID, PGA HOPE Charleston has delivered approximately 7,056 hours of "Golf Therapy" to our Veterans in Charleston. That projects to over 10,000 hours for 2021 with a "full" season. Looking back, that handful of Veterans that said "yes" to HOPE set the stage for something amazing.