Kevin Garside: James Hourigan is living proof of the restorative power of golf

The Way I See It: James puts his survival and his recovery down to the grand design of a higher authority

It takes a lot to make Nicolas Colsaerts’ eyes water. On Thursday at the Wales Open he cracked the longest drive in the history of European golf, 447 yards downhill with the wind behind. Yet it wasn’t that which focused his attention but the sight of James Hourigan, a South African-based Irish tax lawyer scampering up hill and down dale in the gallery.

James is a golfer too. Plays off three. He was lucky enough to partner Colsaerts in the pro-am the day before and marvelled at the Belgian’s effortless ability to power the ball into the middle of next week. But the real awe registered on the face of Colsaerts, observing a double amputee on prosthetic legs give the ball a similarly fierce whack.

His eyes were on stalks when James explained how he came to lose both legs below the knee in a car accident four years ago in Johannesburg. Mine were, too.

Here, in his own words, is James: “I was driving home from the gym on a Saturday evening. I didn’t see the other car. The driver lost control and jackknifed me in the driver’s door. He knocked me off the highway 40 feet down. The car tumbled and hit a tree otherwise I would have been in a sluice and drowned.

“I got out of the car backwards. I didn’t realise my feet were still in the car. Only God kept me alive. An off-duty paramedic was on the scene within minutes. They lost me twice on the [operating] table. There was no blood in me. I was a river of blood.

“I begged the surgeon not to cut me above the knee. He grabbed my arm and squeezed me hard. I prayed before I closed my eyes. I woke up an hour after surgery. I had this pain here [pointing to his thigh]. I thought I’d lost the leg but they’d saved it, cut both below the knee.”

James puts his survival and his recovery down to the grand design of a higher authority. Others see a man forging his way past adversity through his own iron will. He was walking within a fortnight, back at work in 14 weeks, and nine months after the trauma hit a golf ball again, a shank with a nine-iron. “I played nine holes with a colleague. I shot something like 81 but I parred two of the par-threes.”

Seven weeks ago in Johannesburg he hooked up with former tour pro turned coach Gavan Levenson, and is now contesting the World Disabled Golf Championships at his own expense. Next stop Japan.

“When I had legs I was in single figures. Without them I realised I could not do much else, couldn’t play tennis or squash any more. I went into the gym and got really fit, strong. I just learnt to adapt. Slopes are a struggle sometimes, but with coaching you get there.”

Golf has restored his confidence. It is a positive outlet carrying a powerful message. James was among a number of golfers at Celtic Manor flying the flag for the physically impaired in an initiative organised by the ISPS Handa PGA Golf Academy, formed two years ago to help blind and disabled golfers receive better coaching. Watching these boys hit balls on the range it is plainly nonsense to attach the “disabled” label, but from an administrative point of view it is the way it has to be.

Craig Thomas, the Class AA PGA coach heading the ISPS Handa initiative, is at the heart of the drive for greater recognition and opportunity for the community of souls who do not have the same physical advantages as the able-bodied. He estimates there are half a million people with some sort of physical impairment who might benefit from picking up a club.

Tom Beard works in the pro shop at The Belfry and plays off six. He has had 12 operations to counter club feet. He has nil side rotation in the ankle, but you wouldn’t know it watching him swing a club. He might have been even better had he had access earlier to the appropriate coaching. There are now 300 pros qualified to deliver lessons to the impaired after taking the PGA inclusive golf coaching workshop.

The body representing the interests of impaired golfers, the European Disabled Golf Association, has made admission to the International Paralympic Committee fold its goal. The aim is to send impaired golfers to the Paralympic Games within the next decade. Having failed in one attempt to join the Paralympic family, the EDGA is engaged in research to be completed by 2017 that will classify degrees of impairment to the satisfaction of the IPC. Then bingo!

James Hourigan, 44, reckons it’ll be too late for him. Get outta here, I say. I’ve seen the boy in action. There ain’t no stopping him.