{"id":33920,"date":"2017-07-05T05:31:37","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T09:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=33920"},"modified":"2017-07-05T05:39:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T09:39:42","slug":"mark-omeara-club-members-help-their-assistant-pro-pursue-his-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/mark-omeara-club-members-help-their-assistant-pro-pursue-his-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark O’Meara club members help their assistant pro pursue his dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mark O’Meara golf club members recently paid it forward, raising $1,000 for their assistant pro, Adam Morano, which will enable him to go for his golf accreditation a year earlier than he had planned.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old Morano is hoping to become an accredited Canadian golf professional and will take the first step at a qualifying tournament in Cambridge later this month. His dream is to compete some day on the tour and to teach young people like himself the game of golf.<\/p>\n

Morano, who is an assistant pro at the Grandview Mark O\u2019Meara Golf Club, didn\u2019t expect to start his pursuit until next year because of the costs. That all changed when Gord Creasor, a member of the club, asked Morano if he was going to \u201cgo for it\u201d this year. Morano said no, not until next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked me if it was the funds and if I was ready,\u201d said Morano, recalling the conversation well. \u201cI said no, I\u2019m ready but right now I don\u2019t have a thousand dollars. He said don\u2019t worry about it. We\u2019ll get the funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another member, Wes Posthumus, heard the conversation and agreed with Creasor. He said, \u201cWe’ve got to help him out a little bit.”<\/p>\n

At the next Men\u2019s Night, Posthumus told the members the 50\/50 draw was for Morano and it brought in $600. At the dinner that followed, Posthumus again stood up in front of the group, this time to get to the $1,000 mark. “I mentioned to the guys at dinner that we were a few hundred dollars short and went into my wallet and got 50 bucks,” Posthumus recalled. “Before we knew it we had a thousand dollars on the table. It was our pleasure to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

We were just thrilled to participate because Adam has been here (at the Mark O\u2019Meara course) now for four or five years. He\u2019s a great kid with a can-do attitude and one of the hardest workers we\u2019ve ever had here. He always has a smile on his face and is always willing to go the extra mile. Wes Posthumus, O’Meara Club member<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was a little nervous at first about taking that money,\u201d admitted Morano. \u201cJust the pressure I felt attached to that. But that was the first thing they stressed: no pressure whatsoever, no strings attached. I couldn\u2019t believe it was happening. I\u2019ll do everything I can in my power for them around here and clearly they will too for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first step in getting his card is becoming a candidate for membership. The first thing is the playability test which Morano will take part in in Cambridge. It\u2019s a two-day event and you have to shoot a certain score and that just begins the process. After that comes seminars and courses.<\/p>\n

Morano has been playing golf since he was six years old. His father, Domenic, took him out to provide much needed exercise for a disease called spastic paraplegia, which has forced Morano to overcome a permanent limp in his walk and stiffness in his leg muscles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really just a stiffness of the muscles,\u201d explained Adam. \u201cFrom the waist down, your heel, your Achilles tendon, is all very tight and so we are not very flexible. It’s hard for us to move our toes and legs and feet. We just don\u2019t build up a lot of muscle. Balance is tough. Some days are worse than others. It\u2019s a matter of stretching and staying active.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t