For Charlie McCrey, a 68-year-old from Ahwatukee, golf is a game that’s much more difficult these days. McCrey, once was a 5-handicap, struggles to focus on such elementary details as the swing itself.
“I can still make some good ones,’’ said McCrey, who has played the game for 50 years. “But I have to concentrate as hard as I can, because my (concentration) only lasts for about 10 seconds.’’
Paul Killion, an 82-year-old from Mesa, still gets out to the golf course a few times a week.
“But these days, it’s more about exercise,’’ he said. “I need exercise, and I need to exercise properly. That’s more important than playing golf.’’
Ilene Percy also appreciates the benefits she gets from the game as a 75-year-old. But for the Canadian citizen who lives in Mesa, there is added incentive.
“This is the first time I’ve played this year since I fell,’’ she said of a serious accident that knocked her off the course. “I’m just getting back into it, so this really helps.’’
McCrey, Killion and Percy are among 25 patients with Parkinson’s disease who are participating this month in Tuesday morning clinics at Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa. The program is being offered for the first time in the East Valley through the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Center at Barrows Neurological Institute in Phoenix.
According to Margaret Anne Coles, the program’s director, “It’s very important to keep people active who have Parkinson’s. And when we survey them about what they wanted to do, golf kept coming up as a very popular activity.’’
Coles pointed out that people with Parkinson’s oftentimes become “socially isolated.’’
“They don’t want to play with the old crowd they golfed with before, because they’re embarrassed,’’ Coles said. “This gives them the confidence to learn how to play differently -- like pick up there ball if they’re not doing well on a hole -- and, ultimately, to get them back playing golf with their old buddies.’’
Along the way, Coles and recreation coordinator Darolyn(cq) O’Donnell educate participants about Parkinson’s, a chronic neurological condition that affects the area of the brain that controls movement. Participants also learn about how to exercise for maximum benefits, and how to socialize in a world that is complicated by their disease.
“Most (of the participants) have been golfers before, and some have stopped because they lost confidence, or quit when their game went south,’’ Coles noted. “So this is a unique program, one that, as far as we know, is the only one like it in the country.’’
It’s a program that also relies on courses like Augusta Ranch to donate their facilities and personnel, like assistant pro Greg Moon.
“We can make a difference in these people’s lives, and that’s wonderful,’’ said Moon, who was busy working the driving range on this Tuesday. “It’s not important how far they hit it, or how straight they hit it, but that they have fun hitting it.’’
Susie Corona, an instructor from Desert Mountain who was filling in for Arizona State’s Debbie Crews, who also works in the program, echoed Moon’s words. Corona, who ran the chipping and putting portion of the clinic, told her group: “Let’s also take time to enjoy the shot AFTER we hit it.’’
Enjoying life is a struggle for the over 500,000 patients with Parkinson’s in the United States. But it can be a little less stressful with activities like golf, Coles added.
“Exercise like this makes a big difference in their lives,’’ she said. “It boosts their confidence and helps eliminate depression, which 50 to 80 percent of them suffer from. . . .
“So it’s all about healthy habits, and this is just one of our many recreational programs we’d like people with Parkinson’s to know about.’’
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