DUBLIN, Ga. — For the past three years, Doug MacArthur said Riverview Golf Course has offered veterans a different therapy outlet.
"To get them here outside into the open air and put a golf club in their hand and start to introduce them to the game of golf," Macarthur said.
The PGA HOPE program is dedicated to helping veterans across the country and getting them back into the swing of things. With partnership with the Carl Vinson VA Medical Center, Riverview Golf Course hosts a PGA HOPE session every Wednesday in November.
For MacArthur, leading it was a no-brainer.
"Something that fit me perfectly and not only as a PGA instructor, but also as a military veteran to reach out and help our veterans and help to introduce them to the game of golf," MacArthur said.
Sandra Bailes has participated in the sessions since the start. One takeaway she had was the community built from the program.
"One of the very benefits for the program — for the veterans — is actually the bonding that you have or the comradery that you develop just in this short course," Bailes said.
MacArthur still hears from former participants.
"We still have veterans that call back to us. We stay in touch with them and they say ‘Hey coach I’m doing good. I got a job. I’m doing this. I’m doing that and so on,'" MacArthur said.