Virginia Golfer March/April 2014 | 页面 13

2014 VSGA One-Day Season

One Golfer’s
Mantra
Never Give Up

Battling the lingering effects of leukemia, VSGA One-Day
participant finds strength and hope in being back on the
links and enjoyment from a game that continues to give back

D

David Schmitz has
always had a healthy
dose of self-confidence,

Despite fighting illness, David Schmitz finds
empowerment in an optimistic approach and a
desire to return to playing golf.

course with three of his best players and see
if he could back up his seemingly outlandish
self-promotion. Schmitz promptly went out
and shot 38 on his nine-hole tryout “and
nobody came close to me,” he said with a
smile in a recent interview. “The coach came
up to me afterward and said, ‘You were right.
You’re the new captain.’ ”
Now, five decades later, Schmitz has a similar

going all the way back to his freshman year at
a Denver high school. One day, he walked up
to the varsity golf coach and told him, “I’m
your new captain.”
The somewhat taken-aback coach told him
if he was that good, he’d put him out on the

(continued on page 12)

ANDREW HARNIK

by LEONARD SHAPIRO

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