News & Updates, Buddie's Veterans Adaptive Golf

BUDDIE'S VETERANS ADAPTIVE GOLF ON FOX4 KANSAS CITY AND THEN NATIONALLY!!!

The FOX-4 crew came out for the first clinic of Buddie's Veterans Adaptive Golf. Push the play button to see the story as told by Frank Boal,
former Sports Director at FOX 4 in Kansas City. The story was then picked up by the FOX Network and was broadcast nationwide!

Then be sure to check out the write up we received by Jim Sullinger from the Kansas City Star. Make sure you stop by the NEWS page at the
Buddie's Buddies site, it has even more great stories for you to read and watch.

Golf clinic offers disabled veterans a chance to play

Sun, Jun. 01, 2008
By JIM SULLINGER
The Kansas City Star

Brian Rollin of Olathe is learning to play golf. It isn’t quite as easy for Rollin, 34, as it is for most students of the game. The former Marine, who
became paralyzed when a blood clot formed in his spine, uses a wheelchair to get around.

His biggest challenge? Holding on to the club,” he said without hesitation. “I can’t use my hands.” Rollin was one of 16 military veterans who
participated last month in the first adaptive golf clinic given by Buddie Butterfield, who helps people with disabilities play golf. The next session
will be held at 1 p.m. June 11.

The May event was the first of a series of clinics that will be offered on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month through September.
The Kansas City VA Medical Center sponsored the clinic at the Overland Park Golf Club.

Butterfield, an assistant golf pro at the club, said that he saw an amputee playing golf with specialized equipment and that it inspired him to
begin teaching people with disabilities. With special training and the help of the Abdallah Shrine, he began Buddie’s Buddies in 2004.
“Through instruction, exercise and adaptive equipment, limitations can be overcome and skills developed,” he said. One piece of specialized
equipment is a golf cart with a hydraulic seat that lifts Rollin and others into a more upright position, where they can swing a club and drive the
ball.

Strapped to the raised chair, Jeff Carneal, a former Air Force staff sergeant paralyzed in a fall from a ladder, hit the ball more than 100 yards
at a time. He had played a lot of golf before the injury and was excited to do so again.

At a meeting of a VA spinal cord injury group, Butterfield discussed his program. That got Carneal, a Henry County, Mo., resident, thinking he
could play again. “Once he described the golf cart and you could get on the greens, I thought: ‘Well, finally, I have the ability to get back and
play,’ ” he said. “Maybe not normal, but at least it gets me back on the course.”
After Carneal finished hitting tee shots on the club’s driving range, it was Rollin’s turn. He was strapped to the golf cart chair, lifted into position
and given a golf club. To help him grip the club, a helper at the clinic placed duct tape around Rollin’s hands while he gripped the handle. "Way
to go, Brian,” Carneal shouted as Rollin hit the ball.

For Sam Rush, 81, of Kansas City, Kan., hitting the ball was a major accomplishment. Rush is blind, an injury suffered in the Korean War. How
did he hit a ball he couldn’t see? “I just tried to do what they told me,” he said.

Jim Fulton of Roeland Park was one of several program volunteers who worked with the veterans. “It builds their confidence so much,” he said.

To reach Jim Sullinger, call 816-234-7701 or send e-mail to jsullinger@kcstar.com

CHECK OUT OUR

FROM THE FIRST
BVAG CLINIC.

HOME CLINICS NEWS SPONSORS CONTACT

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS FOR OUR VETERANS GOLF CLINICS!!!