Looking forward to the next G4D Tour event scheduled for February in Singapore, this week’s protagonist will be Australian Stephen Prior, who is currently in 14th place on the G4D Order of Merit.
Stephen Prior, statements
A right hand amputee, as well as being one of the strongest players in the world, he is the president of Amputee Golf Australia and Amputee Golf New South Wales, making his experience available.
“If we know of someone who has had an amputation, we try to meet them and let them know that it’s not the end of the world. An aspect that I missed a lot when I lost my hand. At the time the approach was like ‘I stitched you up, now you go it alone’
Luckily things have changed for the better now.” Stephen was a teenager when he had an accident while water skiing: his tow line got caught around his right wrist, severing his hand cleanly. Stephen recounts: “I reacted with a lucidity and promptness that still amazes me.
I immediately remembered an episode told by one of my teachers during a lesson: a surfer attacked by a shark in the leg. He told us that in such cases the first thing to do was to take a rope and tie it tightly to stop the flow of blood.
So I did: I took a drawstring from my wetsuit and tied it tightly around my wrist”. It was difficult to learn to write with the left hand, but in any case all his scholastic performance was greatly affected: Stephen was sinking into a condition very close to depression.
“I’ve always tried to be strong. Go ahead, don’t stop, there are still many things to do, start living again… I kept repeating these words to myself, like a mantra”. Stephen had been playing golf for some years before the accident, mostly as a pastime on vacation days.
So he decided to go back to his circle. “I went and tried to play one-handed. It didn’t go so bad! I immediately ran to get a prosthesis for my right hand”. Golf soon became the new driving force in his life. Much more than a hobby, but a real passion, so much so that Stephen also wanted to include it in his pre-nuptial contract.
“I wanted to specify that every Saturday morning I can play golf,” Stephen says as his eyes sparkle. Stephen loves the opportunity to compete with non-disabled golfers too: “I think it’s also a way to show off.
The best thing about golf is that it’s the kind of sport where you compete with everyone thanks to the handicapping system. This is the aspect that really drew me to golf. I find that no matter how good you are, or how much skill you have, or how lucky you are, you can always compete against anyone.” “It’s kind of fun to watch the players look at you and read on their faces ‘how the hell does this guy play scratch?’ Then I hit the ball, and they sometimes gasp, which gives me a little mental edge over They”.
Stephen Prior’s last race on the G4D Tour calendar was the Australian All Abilities Championship @ the ISPS HANDA Australian Open last December, where he finished 10th.
