A one-armed golfer who credits the sport with giving him the will to live has sunk his first hole-in-one.
Patrick Duke, 67, originally from Ireland, hit the perfect tee shot on the fourth hole at his home club, Overstone Park in Northamptonshire.
He was playing with friends on the 120-yard par-three when he slotted his first ace with a seven iron, prompting golfers on surrounding holes to break into applause.
The former road surfacing operator lost his arm in a workplace accident in 2012, which left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.
Duke had always dismissed golf as a sport “for old people” — preferring rugby, Gaelic football, football and cricket as someone who was 20 stone and 6ft 2ins — but eventually decided to learn to play in 2018.
Now he has encouraged others to get out and try golf “because if I can do it, anybody can”.
Duke had to develop a special technique
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Duke had worked in the road surfacing industry for over 30 years when his jacket got caught in the auger of a chipping machine, dragging his arm into it.
He was trapped for two hours, fully conscious. Despite 14 hours in the operating theatre, his arm could not be saved.
After recovering physically, Duke still had phantom pain and sensation and was suffered from PTSD and suicidal thoughts.
In 2018, a friend suggested he should try golf. “I said I wasn’t interested,” Duke said, “I couldn’t see the point of it. But I went around the corner from me to Overstone Park, and I said, ‘Who do I see about trying golf?’”
Duke said he had lessons with Brian Mudge, a PGA professional, who told him to develop his own technique. “He said what works for me would not work for others, so I sort of developed my own technique,” he said.
Duke playing a chip shot
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“We have a bit of banter: I say to my playing partner Kevin, ‘fancy getting beaten by a one-armed man?’”
Duke said of his hole-in-one last month that he watched the ball land just past the pin before spinning back into the cup.
“I’m about two clubs behind everyone else, if anyone else used a seven iron on that hole it would have been about 100 yards past the flag,” he said,
“As soon as I hit it, I knew I had caught it sweet. Kevin was telling me ‘that’s on the button that is’.
“We watched it get nearer and nearer. It actually landed about a foot past the hole and rolled back, I got backspin on it, but I’ve no idea how.
“People on the fifth hole walking by were applauding me, Kevin threw his club in the air. I couldn’t quite believe it. I was gobsmacked.”
Duke said he hoped his success could inspire others, “[Golf] gave me confidence and a reason to get out of the house. If just one person could see this, even if it’s not golf, I just want people to know that there can be a life after something like this.
“To come from having suicidal thoughts, self-worth going out the window, no courage, no confidence, no nothing — and then to find golf and friendship, I think everything happens for a reason.
“If I can do it, anybody can. Golf gave me confidence, friendship and the will to live.”