Veterans have once-in-a-lifetime experience at PGA Tournament
By Alyse Jones
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TULSA, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The PGA Championship is bringing a once-in-a-lifetime experience to a group of Oklahoma City veterans.
It’s part of a program called PGA Hope.
Even with the thousands of people walking the course at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club, a group clad in red, white and blue stood out. They say their time at the PGA can’t be put into words.
“It’s an amazing experience that you can’t describe,” said Army vet Chris Gayhart.
One of PGA Hope’s goals is to create community through a form of therapy.
“It helps a lot of veterans just like me experience things in our life and help us through our process of rehabilitation that we would never be able to experience without it,” Gayhart said.
One of a dozen teams from across the country competed in the Secretary Cup – a tournament the PGA hosts before the championship.
“Just get together and share our stories and share our successes, or failures, and just being around people,” he said.
“Typically, you get a veteran out of his home, been maybe struggling in different facets of his life – physically, psychologically, emotionally, even spiritually in some cases,” said Waco Blakley, PGA Hope ambassador for this region.
Meeting players and watching the game they love in their home state.
“You know, Oklahoma is a tremendously patriotic state, we take care of our veterans in a multitude of ways,” Blakley said. “I’m a military veteran myself of 24 years, retired and would do it all over again if I could.”
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