Golf lessons cheer young patients at St. Mary's Medical Center

Golf lessons cheer young patients at St. Mary's Medical Center

She's been pent up in a room at St. Mary's Medical Center for six days. And the invitation to meet golf pro and take a few swings at the ball - albeit a fuzzy purple one - is too hard to resist for the 7-year-old asthma sufferer.The Child Life Program at St. Mary's was looking for a new way to engage child patients who spend days or weeks in its care. Someone the history of golf told director David Teac about Smiling Fore Life, a program bringing golf pros to hospital halls.A couple of phone calls later, the local Professional Golfers' Association, which coordinates the program, sent over golf pro Ryan Alvin. Two other local pros have signed on, but they must get their shots and volunteer training before they head for the green.St. Mary's is the second South Florida hospital to tap the program for its patients - Joe DiMaggio's Children's Hospital in Broward is the other.The golf lessons, which began at St. Mary's about a month ago, run for a couple of hours every Wednesday."My parents wish I had this equipment when I was a kid," Alvin says, fondly recalling more than a couple of broken Golf Pros Contract Is Not Confirmed windows on his path to becoming the head golf pro at the John Prince Golf Learning Center in suburban Lake Worth.Once Alvin gets Zamia’s feet pointing forward, her hands stacked properly and her club aimed at the target, the girl proves to be accurate.On the other hand, Demote Knight, 5, whose mom suspects a familial case of arthritis is what's causing the boy's legs to ache, is all about power.