Scott Blaney: Meet the first disabled veteran to take the PGA training programme

While serving in Afghanistan in 2007, Scott Blaney lost his right leg. It has been a long
journey with many bumps in the road but the veteran is in his third year as a PGA trainee
and works as part of the team at The Belfry.

Scott Blaney's route to becoming a PGA Professional is unlike anybody else's. The dad of three joined the Grenadier Guards in 2004. Three years later, he was deployed to Afghanistan. It was there, while on foot patrol in Helmand Province, that his platoon were hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which would injure five soldiers and kill his best friend. 

The Drill Sergeant put Blaney over his shoulder and ran for a mile and a half to the helicopter landing site, from where he was taken to Camp Bastion. He would undergo emergency surgery to remove his right leg. He also suffered shrapnel injuries to his arm and eye. He was flown to Birmingham to begin his painstaking recovery.

Blaney was in hospital for eight weeks, and up and walking on a special brace in half that time. Since then, he has achieved all manner of incredible sporting feats.

In 2009, he completed the London Marathon, swam the English Channel and rowed across the Atlantic in 48 days – and now he is the first disabled veteran to go through the PGA training programme. 

How did you begin your journey with golf?

I was in Headley Court, which is the former rehabilitation centre for injured military. Tyrrells Wood GC were behind it and there was a guy there called Zeno Gomez who was an occupational therapist. He used to let us walk around the course because amputees need to learn how to walk on undulating ground, and up and down hills, and a golf course is perfect for that. Tristan Crew (PGA Executive Director, Member Services) encouraged me to put a golf club in my hand through the Battle Back Programme and I started playing. 

Before my injury I had always enjoyed golf but it was just a day out with the guys and having a bit of a laugh and a few drinks after. Then I quickly fell in love with the sport and, to be honest, it saved my life.

What inspired you to try the PGA training programme then? 

I initially went down the European Golf Teachers Federation route as I wanted to be a coach and I thought that I knew a lot about coaching. I was very naive at the start but I helped teach a bit at The Warwickshire and I was playing more and basically Tristan really encouraged me to go down the PGA path.

I'm not very academic anyway and I've got PTSD and a brain injury so I tend to slur my words a bit and stutter. But when I'm speaking to a client or coaching, something that I'm very passionate about, it kind of flows. It's crazy how the brain works and Tristan convinced me to do it and I'm now set to complete my third year.

What were the physical or personal barriers that you have had to overcome to get to this point? 

Definitely, playing-wise. I can get around in level par or one-under but you are competing against players who are capable of shooting six or seven-under. At my first PGA Assistants tournament my playing partner didn't know that I had one leg until we reached the 15th tee when he asked if I was limping. The general standard of play is fantastic so that was tough but I got through it.

What about the academic side of the course?

The first year was a bit daunting. I had never written an assignment in my life. I came from a very broken childhood and joined the military at a very young age. I was very good at war fighting so to go to something academic was a big shock. I failed my very first assignment, but I had a lot of support from The PGA and Birmingham University. 

My personal tutor, Kirsten, was fantastic and she would provide some feedback and set me on the right path for each assignment.

The university also helped me with a laptop with Grammarly. I struggle with dyslexia and I have a brain injury so processing words isn't always straightforward. Now, when I type anything on Word, it will give me the proper grammar and that really helped me. So the first year was quite challenging but the second and third years were a lot more attainable. 

What does a typical week look like for you?

I'm the custom clubs administrator at The Belfry so I do a lot of liaising with manufacturers, chasing up and placing orders, going down to the range and making sure they've got all the stock and things like the shafts being up to date. That's my typical day and then on a Thursday and Sunday I will do that as well as a full day of coaching. 

How would you describe your style of coaching? 

I do a lot of my coaching with some very strong players, including some fellow PGA Professionals. I'm very fundamentals-based; if you've got that right, the posture, set-up, alignment, grip and all that sort of stuff, then you can swing a club on the correct line and hit the ball well. I will follow coaches like Robert Rock, who coaches at The Belfry, as well as teachers like Denis Pugh and David Leadbetter.

You're an incredibly positive character but can you give us an idea of quite how desperate things have been over the years?

I was at a very low point in my life in 2010. I was playing golf by this point and we would play matches for the wounded veterans. I was very suicidal at the time and was thinking that this is the route I was going down. Then there was one occasion when a friend rang me and he barked where was I as I was meant to be on the tee. I remember rushing home and driving to Frilford Heath to play a round of golf. I've never looked back since that day and it's always been on the front foot from then.  

Your handicap is an incredible 1.2 – how hard is it to just get round a golf course?

Well, I was missing my right leg and most of my right arm and it was a struggle. The arms took the longest to recover but I was walking probably within a few weeks. I can walk 18 holes but it is a struggle for me to do that. But I'll just crack on and get on with it and approach everything with a smile and an open heart and just crack on. 

I have a constant reminder of how I lost my leg in Afghanistan. I wear my prosthetic leg every day and I put it on every morning. I've got no knee – it was a few inches above there where my leg got blown off – but it's not stopped me. In a way, it's the best thing that ever happened to me because I wouldn't have done the things I've done if I hadn't lost my leg. I wouldn't have swum the Channel, rode the Atlantic, ran my marathons and now I would never have been the first veteran golfer to have qualified as a PGA Professional.  I would never have done any of that if I hadn't lost my leg.

What does it mean to be able to call yourself a PGA Professional?

I never thought that I would be a PGA Professional golfer and stand there, coaching and helping other golfers improve. Even when I'm coaching, people will ask what happened to my leg and they don't see me as wounded veteran – they see me as a Pro and I love that. Golf has genuinely saved my life over and over again and through Battle Back Golf it's helped me reach the pinnacle of my profession.

What are your goals as a Professional? 

Working at The Belfry provides a lot of great opportunities, for example I've become good friends with some Tour pros. I recently worked in the shop during the British Masters, which I've now done several times, and that is just fantastic. There is such a buzz about the place. Being in the shop, it's really busy but it's a great week to be a part of and that's something I've really enjoyed.

I've also done a qualification in injury management and rehabilitation for golf so that's another good thing to have on my CV.  But I just want to coach as much as possible, that's what I absolutely love and what I'm passionate about. 

How important has it been to have such visible golfers on the G4D Tour to help with more inclusivity in the game?

Massively. I think disabled golf has come on leaps and bounds. I was 15th in Europe at one stage, now there are hundreds of people playing on that tour. Mike Browne's a good lad, who I know quite well, and then Rick Webb as well, and both are amputees who I played with on Battle Back. 

Golf has come on leaps and bounds and I think disabled golf is going to get better and better too. Being the first disabled veteran to become a PGA Professional, I hope that it will inspire others to go and do it.

I'm not sure that I've not taken it all in. It's been very hard work from day one but I got through it and it's been a fantastic process to have done.

WHAT IS BATTLE BACK GOLF? 

Tristan Crew, PGA Executive Director – Member Services, became involved with Battle Back when he was working at Headley Court, a rehabilitation centre for injured service personnel. A former physiotherapist in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Crew was asked to provide physio support on a Battle Back skiing trip to Bavaria in 2009. He is now Chair of the Board of Trustees at Battle Back Golf. 

Battle Back was an initiative which covered a number of different sports. It was a military initiative that was designed to use adventure training or sport as part of rehabilitation. 

Learn more at battlebackgolf.com