NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WTKR) — Disc golf is a sport on the surface that is simple in its appearance and its execution, an alternate version of its cousin: golf.
“Let me ask you this: When you play golf,” says Chris Yates, Chapter Leader of Veterans Disc Golf Club in Hampton Roads, “do you use only one club?”
Immediately, Jordan Eubanks drops his backpack full of frisbees, or "discs," as they call them. It is “disc golf,” after all.
“Right here, I’ve got my putters. Down here are my intermediates and my drivers,” says Eubanks. “I’ve got something for every situation.”
That is the level of commitment one can expect from the Veterans Disc Golf Club. A group that was founded by Eubanks two and a half years ago. He is currently the National President of the club that has over 1,500 men and women among 62 chapters across the country.
“We started a Facebook group, then we started reaching out to different bases and different regions,” says Eubanks. “We’re looking to start one in Okinawa, Japan. So, it is almost going global!”
The goal of the club is to help active military and veterans with mental health issues.
“Veterans put a wall up because they feel so alone when they get out,” says Yates. “It gets them out of the house again, talking. And that’s the first step in a major forward step in solving mental health.”
Eubanks, a helicopter crewman while serving in the Navy, is a testament to that belief that disc golf can be that escape to bring veterans back out into the world.
“It kind of saved my life a little bit,” he says. “Getting outside and being outside in nature played a big part in it. Being around guys who supported me. You can get out and play disc golf and it seems like all the cares and the worries of the world just went away.”
So long as there are courses and others willing to join, the club will continue to actively seek out and invite those other veterans in hopes of ensuring everyone can live a happy life.
To learn more about the Veterans Disc Golf Club of Hampton Roads, visit their Facebook page.
