Disabled vets get a place of their own to play golf

Gene Lynn will always have a special place in his heart for Sahalee Country Club. He was one of the founders of the championship course in Sammamish, Wash., that's considered one of the best in the nation.

But that's nothing compared to the passion he feels for his current project - American Lake Veterans Golf Course at the VA Hospital in Lakewood, Wash.

"This is the most meaningful thing I have ever been involved in," Lynn said of the course, which is open to all active and former military but is the nation's only course specially equipped for disabled veterans.

"A lot of these young kids come back wounded, and are down - losing their mobility - and they get into golf and their morale picks up, and they start getting healthy," said Pepper Roberts, a Korean War veteran and founder and president of Friends of American Lake Veterans Golf Course, the nonprofit that runs the facility. "It's a joy for them, and it's very satisfying and gratifying to see that."

The modest, nine-hole course was built in the years after World War II, but has undergone an incredible transformation in the last decade, culminating recently with the official unveiling of a $1.3 million, 8,400-square-foot Rehabilitation and Learning facility with a clubhouse and indoor practice area. The greens and bunkers are accessible to the disabled, and special carts make play possible for veterans who walk with difficulty or not at all.

Players like Jim Martinson, who lost both legs while serving in Vietnam in 1968, inspire Lynn, Roberts and the more than 160 volunteers (mostly fellow veterans) who maintain the course.

Martinson was the Boston Marathon champion in the wheelchair division in 1981, won a Paralympics gold medal in downhill skiing in 1992 in Albertville, France, and competed in an exhibition 1,500-meter event at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

About a year ago, Martinson took up golf. He uses a golf cart that props him up so he can swing, one of 12 carts the course has for immobile players.

"It's a real blessing that this is here," said Martinson. "I wish I could thank each and every person who has donated time and money."

Hitting balls a few stalls down was Mike Ballard, an Army specialist with the 5th Stryker Brigade who is still recovering from injuries received in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2009. His right femur was broken and his left knee was shattered. Still, he was determined to get around the course on his crutches.

"This is such great therapy," said Ballard. "Having a course like this means so much."

Stories like these are routine here, and it's why the volunteers are so driven.

Roberts, who lives in Lakewood and coached golf for 25 years at Clover Park High School, intended only to put in a sprinkler system and give a few lessons when he got involved at the poorly maintained course in 2001. Roberts never left. He works full time without pay, but clearly feels rewarded.

"It's really inspirational, isn't it?" Roberts said while watching a wounded veteran tee off.

Lynn's involvement started a year ago. Lynn came to the Northwest from Wisconsin during an Army stint that landed him at Fort Lawton in Seattle. After nearly dying from open-heart surgery two years ago, Lynn wanted to find a way to do something special. When he visited the course and saw disabled veterans playing, it moved him.

Working at least 40 hours a week, he spearheaded the funding that built the new center and is now working on raising money for a second nine, which golf legend Jack Nicklaus is designing for free. The project will take about $3.5 million to build and maintain.

A second nine is needed because the course has become so popular that it gets overcrowded. Lynn is single-minded in getting the new nine built.

"It's all about helping our wounded warriors," Lynn said.

Roberts feels the same way. He is convinced that the course has not only improved, but also saved lives.

"I've had several guys tell me, 'If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't be here,'" he said. "Being able to come out here - finding out they can still play golf - and talk to other veterans who have shared similar experiences, it just means so much to them."