Tuesday at this Year’s WGA BMW Championship is for Disabled Veterans

The PGA Foundation reports that 18 million people with special needs would play golf if it was available to them. Perhaps a few veterans will get introduced to the game or rediscover their love for golf at Disabled Veterans Appreciation Day (DVAD). As part of the WGA BMW Championship, a luncheon, PGA Tour meet-and-greet and clinic is set for Tuesday, September 12 at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois; about 45 minutes north of Chicago.

The day is co-hosted by The Freedom Golf Association (FGA) and the Western Golf Association (WGA). The FGA is an Illinois-based non-profit organization that helps to make the game of golf accessible to persons with impairments. Founded in 1899, the WGA conducts championships for professional and amateur golfers, promotes the use of caddies and supports the Evans Scholars Foundation, which awards college scholarships to caddies with limited financial means.

“We are thrilled to honor our veterans at this great BMW Championship,” said E.Q. Sylvester, triple-amputee, FGA Founder and Director of the WGA. “We have found that these amazing people who have taken up the great game of golf, have seen wonderful improvements in their lives resulting from the social, therapeutic, and rehabilitative benefits of this game. Some have attended our clinics to learn how to play golf, but others have gone on to be trained as adaptive golf coaches, adding more joy to their own population.”

The FGA is a comprehensive resource for adaptive golfers and will offer information on equipment, instruction and accessible golf courses. Veterans in attendance on Tuesday also receive passes to attend all four days of the BMW Championship. Golf carts and assistance will be available to those in need.

For more information about the BMW Championship FGA’s Disabled Veterans Appreciation Day, please contact Sally Ruecking, Direfctor of Development for the Freedom Golf Association at 630-455-6018 or [email protected].