AVON, Ohio — Anytime a military veteran can be around other veterans and go through the same experience, it serves as a reminder: they’ve been here before. Even if that experience is on a golf course!
The Northern Ohio PGA hosted its third PGA Hope Cup event Wednesday morning at the Avon Oaks Country Club. The Executive Director of the Northern Ohio PGA, David Griffith, said, “It’s a community that they’ve built with other veterans, and really, to be able to enjoy a game outside and have fun.”
It’s really all about serving those who have served. The golf outing is the culmination of a six-to-eight-week program for 350 local veterans. Some of them are selected to play in this outing, like U.S. Army veteran Melinda Cooper.
“We have such deep shared experiences we don’t even have to talk to each other about things," she said. “We just understand some things.”
“It was awesome, I loved it”, said U.S. Air Force Veteran Tina Marie Pierce.
With many of the veterans dealing with physical or emotional obstacles, golf isn’t the only important thing.
“No, it’s people of like mind also," said U.S. Navy Veteran James Mahoney. “But I mean … the golf helps.”
Veterans appreciate a program that gets them together with others who have worn a uniform, people who know the struggle and sacrifice firsthand.
"It has literally, not just made people happy, but saved lives,” Cooper said.
