Golf Is a Contact Sport

Ever dismissed golf as just an elitist pastime? I certainly did—until a set of clubs, gifted to me after my divorce, changed everything. Join me as I recount my unexpected journey from a skeptical beginner to a keen enthusiast boasting a 4.6 handicap. But life threw me a curveball when a golf cart accident led to a serious wrist injury and a permanent disability. Through humor and reflection, I share how this setback reshaped my understanding of resilience and deepened my admiration for those who face similar challenges daily. It's a blend of frustration and enlightenment, all wrapped up in the lessons that golf—and life—teach us.

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Transcript

Golf, Disability, and Life Lessons

Speaker 1 0:00

Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories , humor , anecdotes and commentary on social , cultural , business and religious issues . Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain , challenge and inform is a possible subject . The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self , including who one is , how one has changed and what one might be like in the future .

Speaker 2 0:34

Greetings and salutations . This is Lyndon Wolfe , and you have found here for the Memories , my audio memoir , not a podcast , an audio memoir . This was designed just to share some things about me , my experiences , my opinions , so that those that love me might have something to reflect on when I depart this planet . Glad you stopped by . Love visitors Love visitors who come often , so I'm going to encourage you to do that .

Speaker 2 1:08

Golf was taboo when I was growing up . Part of a society we didn't have access to , it was seen as a country club game for the elite and haughty . It was characterized by hubris , and it wasn't even a true sport , one that involved intense effort , energy and physical gifts such as speed , strength and agility . In other words , it should be played by obese and inebriated white men without breaking a sweat , and that wasn't who we were . Soon after my divorce , a good friend named Tim Angel bought me a set of ping knockoffs and told me that I needed to take up golf instead of going to therapy to cope with my failed marriage and the loss of my ministry career . I didn't seek professional counseling for my emotional health . I didn't think I needed it , but after taking up golf , I did indeed need therapy to cope with my complete inability to take that strangely formed tool and hit a dimpled white ball . And I'm not talking about hitting it long or straight , I'm talking about actually making contact with that inanimate object Unbelievable . After Tim's rudimentary lessons , I continued to find the game most maddening . I quit the sport after virtually every round I completed . In the first two years that I played here I was 30 years old and a fairly accomplished athlete , yet I found myself utterly thwarted by this ostensibly easy game . Yes , I was mesmerized , undeniably hooked and I am , to this very day , eventually got my game all the way down to a 4.6 handicap . That's statistically in the top 2-3% of all golfers and golf pretenders Regularly shooting in the low to mid 70s on par 72 tracks . But I was only a 6.4 handicap still very good when I discovered that golf was a contact sport , as happened fairly frequently .

Speaker 2 3:16

I was asked to play in a charity event and as a teammate and I sped from the tee box on the downhill ninth hole upon seeing a stray ball off in the distance . The driver of the cart I was riding in took a hard left , unannounced turn and threw me , by his own estimates , 30 feet before I took the full impact on my right hand . That right wrist snapped and I heard multiple sickening crunches and upon inspection , my hand was bent upward to the point of lying backward on my forearm . Reacting to the grotesque sight , I quickly pulled my hand back into its natural position A purely spontaneous move , but not a smart one , by the way . After going into shock and being transported to a nearby emergency room , the doctor didn't believe my story and she said it was probably just a sprain . But after reading the x-rays , she came back with both distal and radius fractures rays . She came back with both distal and radius fractures , multiple bone fragments basically shattered and cartilage relocated to places it was not intended to be . Prepare , she said , for surgery and a lifelong impairment more than likely , and she was correct .

Speaker 2 4:35

Since that event over 20 years ago , I carry a 33% upper body permanent disability and a 17% total body impairment . My hand remains atrophied and the range of motion in my dominant right wrist is about 20 degrees much , much less than the average person . However , people who have known me for years are unaware of my limitations or my constant discomfort of bone on bone . I , however , being stubborn and prideful , have refused the handicap placard that would give me preferential parking . I was referred to a gifted orthopedic surgeon at Vanderbilt Hospital who gave me a dire prognosis . With his drab personality on full display , he told me the longest speech I ever heard pour from his lips . You will be lucky to hold a pencil again , much less a golf club . Sell your clubs , and I did . Mike Matone , one of my golf buddies , bought my clubs at a discounted rate While he and my other golf buddies happily frustrated themselves on the course . I went through three surgeries and a year of therapy . It took me over seven months just to touch my index finger to my thumb . The prospect of me ever playing again was unthinkable , but I did , and eventually , once again , my official USG handicap drops just slightly into the single digits at 9.6 .

Speaker 2 6:09

What did all this teach me ? Well , one an appreciation for those who are truly impaired . They can't use limbs or hands . It's amazing how difficult life is when you only have one hand , for example , or , I guess , one leg . Just managing life with those kinds of challenges and disabilities is difficult . Yet there are people that are much , much more disabled and impaired than I was and am . Yet they happily go about their life and their business , in many cases with much better attitudes than you and I have .

Speaker 2 6:48

I learned to appreciate those in wheelchairs , those who struggle to hold things , those who might have vision or hearing loss , because they have taken a difficult situation and they've learned not only to cope but to live well with it . Do you know someone who's disabled , handicapped ? If you will , have you ever noticed that they probably have a better attitude than you do some of the time ? Maybe that's a lesson we can learn . Golf is a contact sport , but that contact allowed me to learn something about those less fortunate physically than I am .

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Speaker 2 7:31

I'm Lyndon Wolfe . This is here for the Memories . I'm so glad you stopped by . Come back and visit anytime . I'd love to have you .

Speaker 1 7:39

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