Junior Golfer: "Golf is hard, but I'm having a lot of fun playing!"
Me: "It makes me happy to hear you are having fun, and you've been working hard at getting better."
Junior Golfer: "I have been practicing a lot and doing a lot of therapy so I can play longer."
Me: "Remember when you started and you could only hit 10 shots before needing a break? Today you've gone for 30+ minutes without a break!"
Junior Golfer: "I know, and look how many I have hit in the bullseye!"
Me: "Your health and your swing are both getting better, and that is wonderful!"
Junior Golfer: "This is great. I never would have thought I could play golf or would enjoy playing it."
The conversation above happened at one of our recent junior golf clinics at Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. During the almost 10 years we have had our weekly clinics there, I have had similar conversations with many kids, and I assure you that each and every one of those conversations is special. The combined look of pride and excitement on the faces of all of the kids is something that will always bring a big smile to my face.
Many of the children at Ranken Jordan have been told throughout their entire life that they cannot do things; other children have heard the same thing after accidents altered their life forever. At Ranken Jordan the kids do not hear that and are shown how they can participate and enjoy a wide variety of activities and sports. Golf happens to be the area that I can contribute to this in my own small way. The day that the conversation above happened, I watched that child's face absolutely light up when the first golf ball went into the bullseye. Then, when the very next shot also went in the bullseye, I was ready for the junior golfer to jump out of their wheelchair just like Phil Mickelson reacted after he won his first Masters in 2004!
When a child who has always been told they cannot do something realizes that they can do things, it provides a very powerful feeling not only for the child, but also for all those around them. During my many years playing golf I have been fortunate to have some pretty cool things happen personally on a golf course that I never expected to happen -- had a hole-in-one, shot 29 for 9 holes, set a couple of course records, and won the first junior tournament I played in. None of these personal accomplishments comes anywhere close to the feeling I get when I watch any of the kids at Ranken Jordan accomplish something they did not think they could. Mr. Arnold Palmer once said, "The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done." I would slightly modify that to say that watching and helping the kids at Ranken Jordan do those things is the most rewarding to me.
