“That experience marked me. Since then, I live making the most of every moment and giving thanks for what I have, because at any moment it can end.”. These were Jon Rahm's words when he remembered the punishment imposed on him in 2011.. Jon was an amateur and the Spanish Golf Federation wanted to sanction the anger and bad gestures of the 16-year-old Spanish player by sending him to rake bunkers in an adapted golf tournament. His vision of sport and life changed forever.
That same feeling of being lucky is the one that remains with any mortal who had spent last weekend at the Encín Golf, a spectacular course on the outskirts of Alcalá de Henares, which was built at the time considering the Ryder Cup.. Nearly 90 heroes without capes, but with golf clubs, competed for three days within the framework of the Daikin Madrid Adapted Golf Open, which is in its 16th edition, one of the most important initiatives developed each year by the Madrid Golf Federation.
Around the greens and fairways of El Encín, dozens of dramas have been intermingled, stories of overcoming, laughter, tears, helplessness, but above all, optimism.. An ode to life through golf divided into five categories, where players without legs or arms, blind, paralyzed or even fighting against the cruel tremors of Parkinson's, have enjoyed three days of golf.
The Madrid field should have been filled with stands, with people crowding each of these personal exploits, but the focus is somewhere else.. Only the volunteers and staff of the Madrid federation as well as the autumn cold accompanied each of these stories.
McCormack
The American Paul McCormack, finally sixth after leading the first 18 holes, worked as a police officer in the New York department until the 9/11 attacks against the Twin Towers left him blind due to being exposed to toxic elements during the rescue of the victims.
For his part, Alejandro de Miguel, blind due to congenital glaucoma, recognizes the importance of this sport in his life: “It has become my tool to stay alive and discover the world”. The winner of the British Open for the blind and other prestigious tournaments lost his sight before the age of 30. “I have learned a lot from people who are in the same circumstances as me,” he reveals.
The Dominican Manuel de los Santos was a professional baseball player and hours before signing a contract for the major leagues, specifically the Toronto Blue Jays, cruel fate left him without his left leg after a motorcycle accident.. In Encín he finished seventh.
The drama is much more recent for Fernando Vega de Seoane: a little over a year ago a skiing accident caused him a 'complete spinal cord injury'. “I managed to get on a paragolfer, it has been a driving force for mental and physical recovery,” he says about a type of motorcycle to which he anchors his body and modulates its height in order to gain verticality and thus hit the ball.
Carlos Cofrades has ended up lost in the mid-table positions, but he really doesn't care, at almost 50 years old he lives with Parkinson's and is clear about what is really important: “From being in bed with depression to playing golf with your friends”. This is your true victory.
There are many victories in this weekend tournament, although the numerical one corresponded to Juanele Postigo in tough competition with the Cameroonian Issa Nlareb Amang. The Cantabrian is a player on the adapted DP World Tour circuit. He was born with a congenital malformation of his right leg. A disability that has not prevented him from succeeding in the world of golf and accumulating a new title this weekend with rounds of 76 and 73 strokes.
Perhaps the most surprising story of the tournament is that of the Cameroonian, second placed, who made his debut in this tournament. The player confessed that “his first connection with golf was picking up balls from the course so he could sell them and eat”. After becoming a caddy, Amang became the most promising golfer in sub-Saharan Africa, winning the Senegal Open and becoming the first golfer in that area to qualify for the Alps Tour (third division of the European Tour).
His luck and career were cut short in a tournament in Egypt. A bacteria caused very serious meningitis. “I only remember my last swing in Egypt, on the 9th hole, which was very good,” the Cameroonian removes drama from his story, although he continues with the very harsh story: “I don't remember anything about the rest, I was in a coma for five days and I was dying “The only solution was to amputate.”. They had to take her to Belgium to cut off both of her legs and eight fingers on her hand; she only has the thumb and little finger on her right hand.. “I simply had to accept my circumstances, the world doesn't stop because you don't have legs or fingers, I learned not to give up and enjoy life, which is very beautiful,” he says.
A week later he returned to the golf course and, as best he could, hit a ball. “I knew then that I would play again,” he recalls.. The Cameroonian got help for prosthetics and devised a system by tying his hands to be able to hold the golf club. So much determination and sacrifice has paid off: Amang has a handicap of +2.8, the lowest of the entire competition this weekend. Furthermore, in 2021 he achieved one of the most impressive milestones in golf: he returned to the Alps tour to compete again with the professionals and, without legs or fingers, he made the cut at the Ein Bay Open with rounds of 70 and 71 strokes and finished in the rank 51. Since then, he has not overcome another cut, but his dreams remain intact. “My dream is to play the DP World Tour, I know it is complicated, but I fight for it every day,” he concludes.