Tschetter Gaining
Satisfaction in Give-Back
Former LPGA Tour player and Warrenton resident Kris Tschetter is using her experiences
to have a transformative effect on others, while maintaining her competitive zeal
I
by LEONARD SHAPIRO
It began for longtime
touring professional
Kris Tschetter with a
phone call from LPGA
headquarters a few
years ago.
Another player had been forced to bow
out of conducting a clinic for wounded
military veterans at the Olney (Md.) Golf
Park, and they wondered if Tschetter could
possibly take her place.
Tschetter never hesitated that day, and the
experience, she now says, definitely changed
her life. She drove the 60 miles from her
home in Warrenton over to the Maryland
suburbs and was overwhelmed both by the
welcome she received and the impact it
made on the wildly appreciative audience,
and herself.
“I spoke with a lot of them after the clinic,”
Tschetter said in a recent interview. “So many
of them said, ‘Not only did golf change my
life, it saved my life.’ When I got involved
with them, I found something I could really
get passionate about. Golf is such a big part
of my own life, and to be able to share it with
these guys is something really special.”
30 injured veterans from around the
country attended the event. The festivities
included clinics, opportunities to play at
nearby Stonewall Golf Club in Gainesville,
barbecues and two nights of concerts
featuring big-name talents like singer Amy
Grant and musician Branford Marsalis.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner showed up one
night and told the veterans that while many
people have become disenchanted with the
politics-as-usual gridlock in Washington, no
one should ever become disenchanted with
the efforts being made to help them recover.
“A lot of the guys said it was one of
the best golf events they’d ever been at,”
says Jim Estes, a widely-regarded PGA
professional who started the Salute Military
Golf Association (SMGA) in 2007. Based
in Olney with a number of chapters around
the country, the SMGA provides instruction,
playing opportunities and equipment for
wounded veterans, and was the beneficiary of
SALUTE TO SERVICE
DAVE MOSER
This past September, Tschetter and her
husband, Kirk, a longtime teaching
professional who has also worked with a
number of wounded veterans, did something
very admirable.
They organized and hosted a threeday “Weekend with the Warriors” golf
extravaganza at their Warrenton practice
facility they call “The Farm.” More than
Kris Tschetter, and her husband and instructor Kirk,
used their practice facility in northern Virginia, known
as ‘The Farm,’ to help Wounded Warriors during
their rehabilitation.
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VIRGINIA GOLFER | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
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