If there is something you really want to do - no matter how impossible it may seem - with enough hard work and perseverance you can do it," says Dennis Walters.
He should know. Dennis is the only person paralyzed below the waist who earns a living as a professional golfer. Back in the 1970's, Dennis was fresh out of North Texas State University, which he attended on a golf scholarship. During his senior year, he led the school to its fourth consecutive Missouri Valley Conference golf championship. That same year, Dennis was runner-up in the prestigious Tucker Intercollegiate Golf Tourney, and finished 11 th in the United States Golf Association Amateur Championship. Dennis' goal was to become a PGA touring professional. From all appearances, he was well on his way. To sharpen his skills, Dennis spent 1973 competing on the South African tour and in mini-tour events in the U.S. Shortly before the 1974 Tour Quality Event, Dennis went home to Neptune, New Jersey, for a visit and to play a few friendly rounds of golf. On July 21, 1974, he was riding a golf cart down a steep hill on a course near his house when the brakes failed. Dennis was thrown from the cart and suffered severe spinal cord damage.
After five months of rehabilitation, Dennis went home. Immediately, he began searching for ways to make playing golf practical. He tried hitting the ball from his wheelchair, but found it to be unsatisfactory. He had trouble wheeling the chair around the course and could not venture onto the greens or into bunkers. Then one day he was struck with an idea. "Why not mount a swivel seat on a golf cart?" Working with his father and a couple of friends, Dennis fashioned a seat that would swing away 90 degrees from a golf cart. Thanks to his design, Dennis can now get around the golf course and swing a club about as well as the next guy. "I had to experiment and modify my techniques," says Dennis. "I basically tried to work on things I could do and not worry about the things I couldn't."
The Dennis Walters Golf Show is a one hour combination of golf mastery and human inspiration. It is great golf, great fun, and a great message. The show is also about dreams. My dream was always to be a golfer. I had an accident 25 years ago that left me paralyzed from the waist down and it was looking pretty bleak for my dream. I found there were a lot of things I couldn't do, but there was no way I was giving up playing golf. I use my own experience to encourage all to reach for their dreams. My message is that with hard work and perseverance, you can achieve success at almost anything.
Designed a swivel seat golf cart
