On Course Foundation: “We are all injured people that are now competing”
“I was a motocross rider all my life so I was an extreme sports person. I loved parachuting and things like that. That all stopped. But I have found something else in golf. We are pretty spoiled. We get to play some amazing places.
“We are quite a good group in the On Course Foundation and I think that helps bring you on.”
Chester’s Alex Hiles broke an ankle while on duty in Iraq
On Course Foundation
“We are all injured people that are now competing – and that’s what the On Course Foundation has brought to us.
“You get injured, most can’t play sport, you go home and sit on the couch. You can’t do much. Then you find something like On Course and you find that no matter how injured you are, what stage of recovery you are at, you can compete because of the handicap system.
“I had three surgeries – the last was a fusion operation. After that it was ‘No, you are not fixed and now we are going to try and manage pain’.
“For me, that was quite final. I knew I couldn’t run, which I did a lot. I knew I couldn’t parachute anymore. I couldn’t play football so I just felt I couldn’t compete. It was by chance I stumbled across On Course.
“I went to my first event and then got completely hooked. Now, I don’t know what I would do without golf. It’s not about a handout, or a hand up. It’s far more than that.
“This is something much more than a physical thing. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a group of friends. It’s a focus. It’s motivation. It’s getting up. It’s doing something. It’s keeping people busy and keeping people on track.”
