Midwest group hosts golf tournament in St. Charles

The Midwestern Amputee Golf Association is hosting its annual golf tournament this weekend at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles.

The association, which was established in 2001, is a volunteer group of people who have overcome the loss of a limb and use golf to promote physical and mental rehabilitation and camaraderie with other amputees.

The 14th annual tournament included Friday's scramble, which also featured golfers who were not amputees, as part of a fundraiser for the amputee golf events Saturday and Sunday.

Jeff Linton of Chicago, who currently serves as the organization's president, played during the fundraising scramble round Friday.

"I never cease to be inspired by the people I meet here," said Linton, who lost both legs in an accident during college.

More than 70 people played Friday. The money raised goes to defray the costs of the weekend tournament. Thirty-two amputee golfers are scheduled to play.

The association is headquartered in Northbrook and includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota in its region. The group is under the larger umbrella of the National Amputee Golf Association based in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The group does more than play golf.

It donated to firefighters after 9/11, donates to an orphanage in Haiti, and provides academic scholarships to amputees and family members of amputees.

The group also conducts "how to" golf clinics for disabled golfers, and one of the members recently traveled to Boston to mentor some of the Boston Marathon amputees, according to the association.