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Soldiers receive the gift of golf

Courtesy Photo | First Lt. Matthew Setters, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-7th Infantry...... read more read more

ISKANDARIYAH, IRAQ

05.22.2008

Courtesy Story

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

By 1st Lt. William Perdue and 1st Lt. Travis Hayes
3-7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN, Iraq – Soldiers stationed here received a pallet of golf gear May 20 from golf enthusiast military veterans back in the U.S.

The veterans donated the "gift of golf" – which included clubs, balls and bags – after reading an article written by 1st Lt. Matthew Setters with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.

Setters, from Portsmouth, Ohio, wrote the article in response to one written by Butch Harmon — one of the world's best known golf instructors — on "Operation Links," a morale, welfare and recreation sponsored in Iraq last November.

Part of Harmon's article read, "I spent Thanksgiving week in Iraq with Tom Watson, David Feherty, Tom Lehman, Howard Twitty and Joe Inman. We went to 10 U.S. military bases, meeting our troops, talking golf, hearing about their lives and their work over there. What an amazing group of young men and women we have in our military today."

"At every base we hit balls with the troops on makeshift ranges—into the Iraqi desert, off the massive Haditha Dam, at a range built to honor a fallen commander in Baghdad (a few blocks from Saddam's palace, now command headquarters). We couldn't believe how thankful our Soldiers were that we made the trip. As a former Army guy in Vietnam, this was the most humbling and emotional experience of my life."

In his own article to Golf Digest, Setters wrote about Soldiers at Forward Operating Base Iskan working on their game of golf while being deployed. Setters said he didn't want anything more than to publish the story of 3-7th Inf. Regt. Soldiers.

However, his entry received several readers' responses.

Three readers in particular paid extra attention to the article. Terry and Brandon Kasen, veterans, got together with family and friends to donate a surplus of golfing supplies to the Soldiers. Rich Elliot, of St. Simons Island, Ga., a Vietnam veteran, also contributed to the package of golfing supplies. Elliot was on his way to be a part of the Professional Golfers Association of America tour before being drafted in the 1960s.

"I just want to thank all the golf patrons for their support," Setters said. "I know the Soldiers of 3-7th will greatly appreciate the equipment. Upon receiving the equipment, the morale, welfare and recreation is now going to sponsor a driving range for the Soldiers here on FOB Iskan."

So as the pallet full of golf gear arrived, Setters, who while in high school received several scholarships to Division III schools to play golf, hoped the game of golf will become a new outlet for Soldiers on the FOB.

With the new gear available, Setters is now working on a "course" so Soldiers can enhance their golf skills.

Prior to receiving his commission into the Army, Setters worked as the assistant pro at a golf course in Nicholasville, Ky., while attending the University of Kentucky.