Amputee golfer helps others show they can play

The epiphany for Dennis Ithal came the first time he played golf after losing his left arm in a saw mill accident.

He and his brother were about to tee off on a 125-yard hole when Ithal saw two players shaking their heads.

"I can't believe they let this guy out there, tearing up the course," Ithal recalls one of them saying.

Infuriated, he took out his 5 iron and hit the pin, just missing a hole-in-one. His critics watched in shock.

Ithal shot 140 that day. But his tee shot on that par 3 was the only one that mattered.

"That was the tide that turned it," the North Aurora man said. "It changed my whole attitude."

In the 30 years since then, Ithal, 50, has gotten really good at one-armed golf -- and he has trophies from national and international contests to prove it.

Now he's gearing up for his next event, the 59th annual National Amputee Golf Association's National Championship, which he's also organizing.

Roughly 85 amputees from across the nation, as well as from Australia, South Africa, Japan and Germany, will play in various divisions at Orchard Valley Golf Course in Aurora. The tournament's held in the Midwest only once every five years.

The six-day event begins Sunday with practice rounds and demonstrations that are open to the public. Tournament play begins Tuesday.

Golfers aren't playing for money but for something even more important -- good old-fashioned bragging rights. For most amputees, the tournament's a crucial way to raise awareness about helping disabled golfers and to spend a week with friends.

"It's group therapy to some degree," Ithal said.

Building confidence

In 1954, a dozen amputee golfers were playing friendly games that turned into tournaments. They coalesced into the National Amputee Golf Association, which now has more than 2,500 members worldwide.

One branch is the Midwestern Amputee Golf Association, founded in 2001.

It offers regional tournaments -- the next on Sept. 7 at St. Charles' Pheasant Run -- scholarships and the popular First Swing programs, which teaches adaptive golf to disabled players.

Its members include injured veterans; people like Ithal, who suffered freak accidents; and children who were born with missing legs or arms.

For all, the mission's the same: building confidence through playing golf.

That's done in numerous ways and often with the help of prosthetics. Everyone has their own style, Ithal says, so it's not about skill level -- it's about having the guts to try.

"The way amputees play golf is with their heart," he said. "You have to have the heart to get out and try. If you hit enough golf balls with one arm, you'll get good at it."

Finding a way

Some amputee golfers are really good.

Each player's circumstance and ability differs. While some arm amputees, for example, may not be able to hit the ball far, others have no problem hitting it 260 yards.

William Truemper of Sugar Grove has a handicap of 5, which roughly relates to the number of strokes he plays above par; the lower the number, the better the player.

He lost his leg in a train accident in 1969, but he knew he'd play golf again. An artificial leg was made especially for golf. It's an inch shorter than his other leg to compensate for knee bend.

That also makes it hard to walk, so he uses a Segway, a two-wheeled, self-balancing electronic mover, on the course.

"At first it was pretty difficult," Truemper said of playing. "It just took some practice."

For Ithal, tendonitis last year forced him to learn to play with two hands, using a prosthetic attachment to help him hold the club.

His son, an assistant golf pro at Cog Hill, joked Ithal played better with one hand. After much practice, his handicap is back to an 8.

Disabled golfers use special clubs and grips and attachments to play. For paraplegics, there are golf carts with seats that turn and tilt to allow full swings.

Bud Sanders of Naperville helps run clinics for disabled golfers. Among others, he's worked with blind golfers and players in wheelchairs. He saw one man compete using a paddle under his armpit.

"It's amazing what people do to enable them to play golf," he said.

In his first tournament, Don Zommer, president of the Midwestern Amputee Golf Association, competed against a man with no hands who shot an 89.

The player had two stumps and used the bones in each one as pinchers to hold the club, said Zommer of Bartlett.

"I couldn't believe (it)," he said. "That was inspirational to me. There's always someone with a bigger challenge."

An inspiration

Ithal, who is retired but volunteers at rehab clinics, knows firsthand how golf offers hope to amputees.

"People come out with chips on their shoulders," he said. "This does a good job of getting them off."

At one clinic, Sanders worked with an above-the-knee amputee, like himself, who used two canes to walk.

After working on some swings, the man was hitting the ball and forgetting he had a balance problem.

"He realized he's not limited like he thought he was," Sanders said. "He saw me walking without a cane. If I can do it, he can do it. That's what it comes down to."

Sanders, who lost his leg in a hunting accident at 13, has seen so many success stories he doesn't even consider himself to have a disability.

"It changes the way you do things, but there's so many people out there with real challenges who get past them," he said. "I feel blessed."

If you go

What: National Amputee Golf Association Championship

When: Sunday through Friday. Tournament play is Tuesday through Thursday.

Where: Orchard Valley Golf Course, 2411 W. Illinois Ave., Aurora

Info: www.nagagolf.org