The 67-year-old disabled golfer Pat Duke, who has battled a number of challenges over the past 12 years, enjoyed a very special moment on Monday 8 December that will stick with him forever.
“I’m not very good at golf, but it’s saved my life,” said ‘Pat’.
A proud Irishman, who moved to England in the 2000s, Pat used to enjoy Gaelic football, rugby, soccer and cricket, and was a very competitive sportsman, while he worked in the road surfacing industry for over 30 years.
But his life changed dramatically one evening on 8 March, 2012.
In his role as a Road Surfacing Operator, while operating a chipping machine, Pat’s jacket got caught in the auger, which dragged his arm into the machine.
He said: “I was trapped in it for two hours and never lost consciousness. I refused to close my eyes because I thought I was going to die.
So, because of that, I’ve got post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve got phantom pain and phantom sensation forever now – it’s like unbelievable pain for 15 seconds, like your fingers have been crushed, your wrist and your arms are being broken, and I feel it in my nerves, in my stump. It’s just mental torture.
“I ended up in St. Mary’s in Paddington and when they wheeled me up the ramp, I was talking to the paramedic, and the surgeon was absolutely gobsmacked that I was alive. He said: “I can’t believe this gentleman is talking to us.” Then I was 14 hours in the operating theatre.”
Sadly, Pat’s accident meant he lost his arm, and his road to recovery has been an extremely challenging one, going on to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
“I was in a really bad place,” said Pat. “It’s improved, obviously, but it’s still there. I lost a relationship because of the PTSD. I’m not the same person as I was before. I’ve had to do this on my own. I do have bad days, but I handle it a lot better now.
“I was recently told that what happened to me is impossible now with all the guards and kill switches, and they have elastic on the wrists of the jackets so they’re not baggy anymore, which is what caused my accident.
“Somebody asked if I’d come and talk at a health and safety conference, but I didn’t have the courage, I wasn’t in a good place. I was struggling with PTSD and was self-loathing. I had suicidal thoughts.”
FINDING GOLF
Despite his challenges, Pat was one day speaking to a friend, who urged him to try golf. But it wasn’t a sport Pat was interested in, until 2018…
“Golf wasn’t really my game, I thought it was for old people!”, admitted Pat. “I’d never played golf in my life. I’m 6’2 and about 20 stone. I was never interested when I was able-bodied. When I lost my arm, a friend asked what I was doing, and I said: “Not a lot.”
“He said: “Why don’t you just go and try it?”, to which I said I wasn’t interested. I couldn’t see the point of it. But I went around the corner from me to Overstone Park, and I said: “Who do I see about trying golf?”
They directed me to Brian (Mudge, PGA Pro) at his simulator, and he asked if I’d ever hit a golf ball, to which I replied: “Never!”.
I had six lessons off Brian. He said to me: “Don’t copy anybody else because you’re the only disabled golfer here. So what works for you won’t work for anybody else, and what works for anybody else won’t work for you.
Just play the way you play. You’ll never hit it as far as everyone else, but just try and keep it on the fairway and that’s what I’ve been trying to do!
“He introduced me to some older members who showed me around and gave me the confidence to get on the course. I thought I’d be holding everyone up and I’d be an embarrassment, but it wasn’t the case.
“I’m not good at golf, but at least I can do it. I can hit the ball 200 yards down the fairway thanks to Brian.”
RECOVERY
Pat started playing several times a week and has made dozens of friends at Overstone Park.
And he is adamant that golf has helped save his life.
He said: “It’s a self-confidence thing. It’s the most frustrating game I think I’ve ever took part in and having been really competitive with other sports, only having one arm playing golf I found really frustrating to begin with, but it teaches you so much. I
It helped me – and the people I’ve met in the game are absolutely phenomenal.
“To come from having suicidal thoughts, self-worth going out the window, no courage, no confidence, no nothing – and then to find golf and friendship, I think everything happens for a reason.
“To start playing golf, to meet Brian Mudge, and to meet the people at Overstone, is it fate? I don’t know.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of golf, to be honest, but it’s helped me a hell of a lot. It actually saved my life. It got me out and about.
It gave me self-worth, confidence, and I feel better about myself. People were saying how amazing it was that I could hit the ball, and it meant a lot.
“All the people I’ve met, the social side of it – the people coming up paying you compliments, it’s just lovely. It gives you the will to live.
If I felt a bit down, depressed or lonely, I just picked the phone up and asked if they (Overstone Park) could fit me in. They are always obliging people and it’s so nice.”
HOLE-IN-ONE!
Despite the setbacks, Pat remains upbeat and continues to use golf as a tool to keep him active and socialising – and was recently rewarded with a moment he will never forget.
On Monday 8 December, Pat was playing with friends on the 120-yard par-3 4th hole at Overstone Park, Northamptonshire, where he struck his 7-iron. The rest is history…
He recalled: “There’s a pond to the left of the green and it gets in my head usually, as seven times out of 10 I put it in there! But I thought to myself, I’m just going to ignore it. I caught the 7-iron well – next thing, it dropped just past the pin and span back in the hole!
“I was gobsmacked. I just stood looking at it to be honest, but Kevin O’Connor (playing partner) kept saying: “That’s in, that’s in the hole!”, even when it was in the air – as it was straight at the flag.
The people on the 5th started clapping and those on the 4th were congratulating me. I had a round of applause when I went back into the clubhouse. I’m not used to stuff like that.
“I was really touched and absolutely humbled by the amount of people who congratulated me.
Brian sent me an email asking if I knew that I was in an elite club. He explained that I am one of very few, who have just one arm, to have enjoyed a hole-in-one – so I was amazed!”
Asked about what he did with the ball, Pat admitted: “I lost it today playing a round!”
