The United States Golf Association Foundation announces its support of the Dennis Walters Golf Show in 2002. This support has extended through 2004. The Show is sixty minutes of entertainment as you watch Walters, along with his dog Benji Hogan, execute some very unusual shot making. His universal message of encouraging others to always reach for their dreams bridges all ages, and the USGA is excited to support Walters’ show throughout the country.

Walters finished 11th in the 1971 U.S. Amateur Championship but has not competed in a USGA Championship since then. It is not a lack of desire or even a lack of talent that has kept him away, but rather an accident on a golf course in 1974 that left Walters paralyzed below the waist with no use of his legs.

While many golfers would have given up their dreams of pursuing golf as a career when faced with such a challenge, Walters has embraced it. During his rehabilitation, he found a way to adapt a swivel chair onto a golf cart, allowing him to play from a seated position. Since this discovery, he has used the game of golf to promote his message, that nothing is truly impossible. Beginning in 1977, Walters has been spreading his passion for golf with his traveling Show, hitting balls with trick clubs, through fire, and in rapid succession.

Walters will be returning to the U.S. Amateur this year, not as a competitor, but in a featured role at the Championship’s Junior Day. He will also be attending eight other USGA championships, including the U.S. Open, the U.S. Women’s Open, the U.S. Senior Open, the U.S. Junior, the U.S. Girls Junior, the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the USGA Senior Amateur and the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur to perform and promote the lessons and values of the game of golf.

I am very excited to be a part of the growth of the game of golf and am proud to have support from the USGA Foundation this year, said Walters. The USGA has shown through its actions, that it cares not only about the future of the game of golf, but also about improving lives through the game. I think that my show, all about golf lessons and life lessons, fits in very nicely with these overall goals, and I look forward to spreading the message even further.

Dennis Walters exemplifies everything that the USGA Foundation is trying to accomplish through the game of golf said USGA President Reed Mackenzie. Anyone can play, anyone can learn life lessons through golf, and anything is possible, in both life and golf, if you’re willing to work hard enough.

Along with his appearances at nine USGA championships, Walters will perform one hundred shows throughout the country in 2002. Walters will also make special appearances for USGA supported programs throughout the year.

The USGA Foundation's For the Good of the Game grants initiative is a commitment to programs and projects that make golf more affordable and accessible to those who face economic or physical challenges. The grants program has awarded more than $27 million to 750 community initiatives since 1997.

For more information about the USGA Grants program or the Dennis Walters Golf Show, please contact Kevin Gigax at the USGA Foundation at (719) 471-4810.