IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WLUC) – Veterans learned golf on the fields of Iron Moutain’s Pine Grove Country Club Sunday morning.

The course is home to the U.P.’s first Professional Golfers’ Association of America HOPE program (PGA HOPE).

“Got more serious as I retired and have time to do it,” Veteran Duane Reid said. “We learned the old method of hitting the ball, now I need to learn the correct method of hitting the ball.”

Reid is from Escanaba. He’s been attending each class of this session to learn new techniques.

Building up golfing skills isn’t the only thing veterans do on the golf course. The program also encourages personal growth while having fun with fellow veterans.

Reid says veterans can have trouble expressing things to those who haven’t been in war.

“It doesn’t matter which branch of the service or which war you’ve been in, you fit right in right away,” Reid said. “You have that underlying element that ties us together.”

Golf Director Rob Heslar is a PGA professional. He says 3,000 PGA professionals teach the program, and he is one of two in the U.P. trained for it. He hopes more golf courses will host sessions and become part of the current 500 PGA HOPE programs in the U.S.

“I never served, so this is my way of serving and giving back and just being inspirational to them,” Heslar said. “Once the program started, you really realize why they’re incredible people.”

He says this session could have up to 10 veterans, and they had eight veterans attend and learn different areas of the game.

“We might have a session where the veterans just hang around and we just talk,” Heslar said. “It’s about having them get out and be part of the community and discuss things with fellow patriots. We’ve done a lot of golf with this group. Fortunately, this group plays a lot of golf and they enjoy it.”

Heslar hopes to have two sessions next year for spring and fall.

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