Student Spotlight: Rick E.
Rick E's surgical path through Golf
There are golfers who measure progress in shots gained, handicaps, or trophies on a mantelpiece, and then there are those whose relationship with the game runs a good deal deeper than any scorecard can properly explain.
Rick E. falls firmly into the latter category.
If you were to glance at his golfing résumé in isolation, you might see a familiar arc: a player who started out recreationally, found purpose through instruction, worked his way down the handicap system, and eventually competed at a serious amateur level with commendable success. That alone would be a perfectly respectable golfing life.
But that would only tell you about the golf.
It wouldn’t tell you about the surgeries. It wouldn’t tell you about the setbacks that would have finished most players long before they ever reached a single-figure index. Nor would it explain the strange, stubborn continuity of a man who kept returning to the game regardless of what had just been repaired, replaced, or reattached.
And how many golfers do you know personally, who have shot under their age numerous times?
From a coaching perspective—and I’ve spent long enough around players of every standard to recognise the pattern—Rick’s story is not one of technical perfection. Quite the opposite. It is a study in adaptation. It is a story of how a man found strength, resolve, and resilience through the sport of golf. Every swing change, every adjustment, every period of relearning has been dictated not by theory, but by necessity. The body, at times, has had other ideas.
The game has had to follow suit.
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As written by Rick:
Through most of the 1980’s I played about once a year with my father in a scramble
tournament. We were successful because we could both putt even though we couldn’t
do anything else very well. We always had a pro in our group to pick up the slack. I
had already had numerous knee, shoulder, foot and leg surgeries by then but this was
all for fun.
In the late 1980’s my best friend and I started to play at an 11 hole course in Mission
Valley called River Valley. We had a ball razing each other and betting on anything we
could think of. By 1990 I realized I really liked the game of golf and decided I wanted to
get better at golf so I took instruction. That was the best thing I ever did for my game. I
had not met Brian yet so I took instruction from one of the pros that played with my dad
and I in the scrambles. Because I had an interest in getting better I did.
By the middle 90’s I had started playing in tournaments and belonged to two golf clubs
and a traveling club. That way there was always a club tournament to play in on the
weekends if I didn’t have kids or wife duties. I now had more surgeries for broken
bones, more shoulder, and hand surgery. All of these met I had to make some
adaptions to my swing but I was a 6 or 7 index by now and decided I wanted to play in
some City Amateur championships. I was definitely scared because I thought if these
guys were playing in these big championships they had to be much better than I was.
As it turned out that is the reason for a handicap. Everyone in my flight was just as bad
as I was. After a couple of years of playing in the City AM’s I was in the third flight. In
the final round I had made it to the 2 nd or 3 rd group which I thought was excellent. In that
final round I shot an even par round at Torrey and took 1 st place. After that I was
pumped! So of course that next round I played with my friends I shot an 82, that’s golf.
I had to have many more surgeries as time went on and in the early 2000’s I became a
senior. I then played, because they allowed seniors to play during the week and in the
open on the weekends. One year I placed 1 st in one division and 2nd in the other. I can’t
tell you how much fun that was. By now my index was around 2.
I worked only about 5 minutes from the Sorrento Canyon Driving Range and I took my
lunch there every day and played on the weekends. Brian and I met when he first
started teaching there. What a great instructor and friend.
I now had more than 80 surgeries, 5 years of cancer treatment for two types of cancer. My surgeries include 6 back surgeries, 5 shoulder surgeries, 12 knee surgery,1 replacement surgery, 11 hand surgeries, bicep reattachment and many more.
Around 2014 I was a 1 index and made it into the finals for the top 72 seniors in
southern California. I did not play well 2 out of the 3 rounds but I felt accomplished just
getting there.
I just finished 38 sessions of Proton Radiation for my 2nd cancer, had a pacemaker put in
2 weeks ago, and am getting ready for open heart surgery within the year. What I am
getting at is that now matter what you have, you can overcome it. I still have more
cutting yet to come but I will always return to golf. I currently represent Torrey Pines on
their Senior Team and plan to return to it as soon as I am stable.
I will always return to the game I love and the people I enjoy being with. Which includes Brian. I am hoping he can retool my swing again so I can compete. I am now almost 80 years old but plan to get back into the mid-70’s, even with my loss of distance, with Brian’s help.
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Thanks for reading one of the most inspirational stories that I've ever been a part of.
-- Brian
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