Recently a visitor played our course, we got chatting and it turned out he was on a special golf journey. A brief summary about Tony is below.
Diagnosed with Parkinson’s three years ago, he was encouraged by a consultant that movements like those involved in swinging a golf club could help him remain mobile while perhaps delaying the disease’s progression.
After struggling during the three Covid lockdowns that caused golf clubs to be closed in 2020 and 2021, Tony returned to the fairways at York determined to play as much as he could.“I’ve got a tremor, but if I’m pushing the trolley or holding the club – concentrating on something else – it disappears,” he said. “So when I’m playing golf every day, it’s more about the mental side. I’m out there for three and a half to four hours and it takes my mind off it. “The pandemic was a nightmare. I was out walking every day around the course but you couldn’t play. When it finished, and everyone was allowed to go out on March 28, we were straight out.
“I started playing every day because the weather and circumstances allowed and when I got up to about 100 days, a member approached me and said, ‘Are you doing anything special about it?’ “She suggested starting a JustGiving page and seeing whether people would donate to Parkinson’s UK. That’s encouraged me since to get out every day.”
When I spoke with him he had just achieved 750 consecutive days playing golf, what an amazing achievement!
Justgiving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/anthony-bruce1
www.yorkshiregolfer.net
Tony met a number of our members who also suffer from Parkinson’s and they felt enthused following their conversations with him. Tony continues his journey but I am sure he will return to our club again soon in some capacity, maybe related to some inclusive golf event.
I hope to meet Tony again short – so inspirational!
Kev Galjaard
