by Tina~in_ut
This isn’t a joke or cartoon; just something interesting to know . . . you may want to forward this on to others.
On Monday, I played the Disney, Lake Buena Vista course. As usual the starters matched me with three other players. After a few holes we began to get to know each other a bit. One fellow was rather young and had his wife riding along in the golf cart with him. I noticed that his golf bag had his name on it and after closer inspection it also said "wounded war veterans". When I had my first chance to chat with him I asked him about the bag. His response was simply that it was a gift. I then asked if he was wounded and he said yes. When I asked more about his injury, his response was "I’d rather not talk about it, sir".
Over a few holes I learned that he had spent the last 15 months in an army rehabilitation hospital in San Antonio Texas . His wife moved there to be with him and he was released from the hospital in September. He was a rather quiet fellow; however, he did say that he wanted to get good at golf. We had a nice round and as we became a bit more familiar I asked him about the brand new set of Ping woods and irons he was playing. Some looked like they had never been hit. His response was simple. He said that this round was the first full round he had played with these clubs.
Later in the round he told me the following. As part of the discharge process from the rehabilitation hospital, Ping comes in and provides three days of golf instruction, followed by club fitting. Upon discharge from the hospital, Ping gives each of the discharged veterans, generally about 40 soldiers, a brand new set of custom fitted clubs along with the impressive golf bags.
The fellow I met was named Ben Woods and he looked me in the eye and said that being fitted for those clubs was one of the best things that ever happened to him and he was determined to learn to play golf well enough to deserve the gift Ping had given him. Ben is now out of the service medically discharged just a month ago. He is as fine a young man as you would ever want to meet.
Ping, whose products are made with pride here in America (Arizona), has the good judgment not to advertise this program. God Bless America and the game of golf.
Thank you Ping!
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/ping.asp
6 comments:
I thank you too "Ping". That is a wonderful thing they do. We can never do enough for these brave men & woman!
My neighbor Jim is doing much better. I am sure your thoughts & prayers helped as his condition has improved enough that he does not have to have surgery! Right now he has me on a kind of "hold" on the phone lol. He needs me to get some airline flight info for his son who is in the Army. He keeps getting phone calls beeping in and says, "can I call you back?"
I told him I need to go get my toes done. Last call started with "how long does that take?" I am on the "airline ticket" mindset and say "eh?" LOL!! Hopefully next time he will get right to the point so I can get his reservations and my toes done lol!!
Mary Congrats on being prettiest today. I'm glad to hear your neighbor is doing better. You are an angel to help him as much as you do.
Tina Thank you for the blog today. And thank you to Ping. What a nice thing to do.
Tina, That is very interesting about Ping. I am very impressed with Ping, especially since they don't capitalize on their generosity. Ping Ping clubs were My Hubby's favorite and he bought a new set shortly before he died. My youngest son is an avid golfer, but unfortunately, he couldn't use my Hubby's clubs because they were left handed and Todd is not.
Hello J/L. How's things?
Hi....Happy Easter Eve. We went to my grandsons basketball game actually tonight and last night too. They won the championship tonight. Exciting.
What a great thing Ping is doing. I hadn't heard of them. Thanks for the blog, Tina.
Mary, so glad your neighbor won't need more surgery. It sounds like he's had more than his share. You are an angel for him.
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