ORLANDO, Florida – On Course Foundation has added seven military recovery centers to refer wounded Service members to the organization that uses golf to facilitate their physical and mental recoveries, and harvest newfound confidence into careers in golf.
The new outposts are in Balboa and Coronado, California; Augusta, Columbus and Daleville, Georgia.; Colorado Springs, Colorado.; and Petersburg, Virginia. The partnerships will help boost the number of On Course Foundation “members” that already eclipses 2,000.
On Course Foundation currently conducts free educational programs in 15 states across America with curriculum focused on golf playing and business skills. It then places members in golf-industry jobs with companies like Callaway Golf and Invited (formerly ClubCorp), and at golf courses, country clubs and resorts across America.
Upon referring wounded Service members to On Course Foundation, the teaching-learning process begins with the goal of helping them smoothly assimilate back into society. Many were never previously exposed to golf.
“The more golf teaching moments we provide, the more physically, mentally, professionally and financially capable and happy Service members become,” says John Simpson, Founder and CEO of On Course Foundation. “Adding new military centers means On Course Foundation will help even more wounded, sick and injured veterans overcome their physical and hidden wounds.”
Testament to On Course Foundation programming is Shad Newton, a National Guard veteran who sustained traumatic brain injury and right hip nerve damage in combat in Afghanistan:
“The organization saved my life. It got me out of the house and on the course with my brothers and sisters in arms; otherwise, I would have ended my life a long time ago. Rehab through golf is an outlet for us to experience other than four walls.”
New military centers will further stimulate On Course Foundation’s impact at scale. Record-high sponsorships from corporations – including Charles Schwab, Apollo Wealth Management, Barclays, CSX, J.P. Morgan, KPMG, Callaway, Clubessential and Summit Golf Brands – also contribute.
Additionally, countless individual donors salute the military, the game of golf and vastly improving lives which otherwise would have completely spiraled downward.