After 27 years in the golf travel business I have heard many variations on the same, understandable theme, that to play the Old Course at St. Andrews is a life long goal. Many of the time it is fathers and sons who view a Scottish golf pilgrimage as the ultimate bonding experience. Regardless of the reasons, many golfers throughout the world aspire to stand in front of the R & A Clubhouse and hear their name called by the starter as they tee off on the “Home of Golf”.
Later in August we are conducting a trip to St. Andrews for Mike Reeder, a double amputee Vietnam War Vetern. Mike carries a 12 handicap and has been playing golf for the last 20 years. Mike has long held the dream of playing the Old Course and we are very proud that PerryGolf can be part of that experience. He shall be accompanied on this trip by Deborah, his non golfing spouse. His trip has been made possible by the generosity of the charity, Challenged Athletes, which helps people with physical disabilities pursue an active lifestyle.
Recognizing the unique travel challenges that Mike faces, PerryGolf staff have worked behind the scenes to ensure his dream trip is as good as it can possibly be. Due to availability, we paired Mike with a threesome (husband, wife & grandson) on the Old Course.
Recently ESPN picked up on Mike’s story due to an article in The Tennessean and have assigned a film crew from E.60 to record Mike’s Scottish experience. As a courtesy to the threesome of golfers, we wrote to them to explain the situation as it related to why a camera crew would be following their group around the Old Course. The gentleman in the group replied;
“We look forward to meeting Mike , our son Craig is also a double amputee — he sponsors a golf tournament ( Cancer for College— they provide tuition money for cancer and amputee’s I each year with his college fraternity brother Will Farrell the actor, so we are well aware of the challenges etc — I am also a Vietnam veteran USMC !!”
It certainly gives you more than cause to pause and consider your life and the many blessings we have. By chance, we have two families playing the Old Course who have given so much for others. As a result of this notoriety, Mike will appear on CNN this morning (August 4, between 9 – 10am CST) to speak of his upcoming trip to St. Andrews.
We shall certainly chronicle Mike’s visit to St. Andrews and do everything in our power to make the trip exceed his expectations.
About the Author: Gordon Dalgleish is the Co-Founding Director of PerryGolf, the leading provider of international golf vacations. You can find him on Google+
