TAMPA — When Roann Leatz first picked up a golf club, she didn’t expect it to change her life.
"I thought, golf's just going to be a nice retirement gig for me,” she explained. "I’m going to start learning the game now, and then come retirement time, it’ll be ready for mw — I just accelerated that plan.”
She quickly learned that in order to be successful in the game of golf, you must be fully present.
"Golf brings that naturally — you have to be present and in the moment,” Leatz said. “You can’t worry about the shot you just had and you can’t worry about the future, you’ve got to worry about right now.”
That focus has helped Leatz with much more than her swing.
After spending 15 years in active duty with the U.S. Air Force, Leatz joined the Air National Guard. That’s when things became more difficult.
“I recently got diagnosed with combat PTSD so, admitting that, acknowledging that, and now facing it, has been a whole new kind of world,” Leatz said.
One that has taken her to the golf course.
"I never thought I’d be in a place like this, when it came to recovery, you know, out here on the golf course,” Leatz said.
She’s not alone. Leatz is among a growing number of veterans seeking therapy through golf. Dawn Mercer, Director of Instruction at Innisbrook, has seen how golf can help veterans get back on course.
"It gives purpose for a lot of people that feel that when they’re working on something that they can excel at their time and their rate of pace, that’s huge,” Leatz said.
But perhaps the biggest benefit is the mindset needed for success.
"You have to stay in the present, I can’t have you caught up in what you just did on the last shot, which I always tell people, it's negative baggage,” Mercer explained. “It's not about the past, it’s not about what’s in front of you, it’s just the moment at the time you’re ready to hit.”
That’s something Leatz knows very well.
“Sometimes I can get wrapped up in the could have been or what has been, and I’ve lost a lot of friends,” she said. “I remember even playing golf with them, so maybe this is a way to remember all that — each hole is a new challenge and a new success for me.”
One swing and one putt at a time, Leatz is finding the healing power of golf.
https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/sports/2019/07/03/golf-helps-military-veteran-suffering-from-ptsd
2019-07-03 00:12:00Z
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