Charles Starmer-Smith - The Telegraph
Charles Starmer-Smith unveils a new campaign to allow wounded soldiers free access to golf courses across Britain.
Silhouetted against the hills of the Sierra de Finestrat, a golfer stands over the ball, concentrating as he steadies himself. Slowly he draws back the club in an arc above his head before releasing, his shoulders and hips rotating in symmetry as he sends the ball whistling some 250 yards down the middle of the undulating fairway.
Nothing remarkable about that, you might say. Except 22 year-old Ryan Seary is missing both his left arm and left leg – the result of a roadside explosion while serving with the army’s bomb disposal unit in Afghanistan in November 2009. Welcome to the world of the Battle Back golfer.
Launched in 2008 as a Ministry of Defence (MoD) initiative to try to ensure that seriously injured soldiers have the same sporting opportunities as the able-bodied, Battle Back has gone from strength to strength.
Based at Headley Court, the military’s medical rehabilitation centre in Epsom, Surrey, the programme now boasts dozens of sports that range from football and volleyball to scuba diving, skiing and learning to fly – and the benefits, both mental and physical, have been remarkable.
“What Battle Back offers is the chance to let these guys feel the wind in their faces, the sun on their back and the adrenalin in their veins – to do what they thought was no longer possible,” said Byrn Parry, the founder of one of Battle Back’s many supporters, the Help For Heroes charity.
The most recent addition to the Battle Back sport portfolio is golf, and it has arguably the most potential. The programme is the brainchild of Major Tristan Crew, the executive officer at Headley Court, and more than 50 soldiers have enrolled – 90 per cent of whom had never played before.
Ping and Calloway have donated numerous sets of clubs, while golfing horizons have been widened from the local Pachesham course in Leatherhead to the Jack Nicklaus-designed fairways of the luxurious Villaitana resort in Spain, thanks to the support of Ross Marshall, chief executive of Your Golf Travel, a leading golf breaks company.
Major Crew hopes this is just the start. His ultimate aim is for golf clubs up and down the country to grant our injured soldiers the right to play for free. This new campaign – Golf 4 Heroes – is being backed by the PGA, the National Golf Club Challenge, Your Golf Travel and the Telegraph, and already courses are signing up.
But why golf? According to Major Crew, it is not just the physical benefits of the sport (the strengthening of core muscles, rotational work and balance) but also the mental side: both the cognitive functions of having to keep score and plot your way around the course but, more importantly, the self-esteem that comes from being able to play against able-bodied people thanks to golf’s unique handicap system.
Photo: RII SCHROER
Join the campaign
Golf prides itself on being the gentleman’s game; so surely the least we can do is allow our injured servicemen to play a round of golf for free at courses convenient to them.
The campaign is calling on Telegraph readers to cajole their club captains, chairmen and secretaries into signing up to the Golf 4 Heroes scheme by emailing ross@golf4heroes.com or writing to Ross Marshall, Golf for Heroes campaign, Your Golf Travel Ltd, 18-20 Farringdon Lane, London EC1R 3AU.
The Telegraph will publish a list of those who have allowed injured soldiers free access to their courses next month.
Earlier this month, Draycote Hotel and Whitefield Golf Club became the first to sign up, offering complimentary access to Battle Back golfers. Draycote will also host the annual Your Golf Travel Battle Back Trophy, on September 22-23.
To find out more about the campaign and for a list of participating courses, see www.golf4heroes.com
Your Golf Travel (www.yourgolftravel.com) has launched an online auction to raise money for Battle Back golf. Among the dozen lots are golfing weekends at the five-star Fairmont St Andrews and InterContinental La Torre in Murcia, and a selection of week-long golfing holidays in Turkey and Tunisia. There’s also a return trip for two people to the 2012 US Masters, as well as the chance for four people to play alongside Britain’s bravest golfers at the Battle Back Trophy at Draycote.
