To Chris Bowers, golf is more than a sport. It’s a means to healing. A part of building back and moving forward.
Ret. USMC Cpl. Bowers, who serves as Program Director for Leashes of Valor and Valor Outdoors, has as an intimate first-hand understanding of reacclimating after service and traumatic injury. Bowers suffered a brain injury and is an amputee; however, when meeting Bowers it is clearly his heart you will most remember. Having pivoted his passion from serving our country to serving fellow veterans, as well as first responders, Bowers approaches life – and service -- with love.
“Valor is defined as courage in the face of extreme danger, often during combat,” Bowers says. “We developed Leashes of Valor to honor this valor and help heal through love. In fact, we like to use the acronym of LoV (or ‘love’) for Leashes of Valor. That’s really what the Valor family provides to veterans, a little love. They’ve shown the valor, and we are showing the love.”
And, love is a huge part of healing, agrees Ret. USMC Cpt. Jason Haag, CEO/Founder of the Valor companies. “We want to provide veterans and first responders the space and support, and sometimes a little ‘tough love,’ that they need in order to pull themselves through the darkest and most difficult times.”
Founded by and for veterans, Leashes of Valor is a national nonprofit working to provide highly-trained service dogs to every post-9/11 Veteran who needs one to ease the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and military sexual trauma (MST).
“Our mission at Leashes of Valor is as simple as it is critical: Bring service dogs and post-9/11 Veterans together to enrich the lives of both,” says Bowers. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was really struggling, and a friend helped me, suggesting that instead of looking at things in a negative light and dwelling on losses, to look ahead and see the opportunity to do something more.”
And indeed there were unexpected challenges in the pipeline, this time due to the covid pandemic causing some early delays in fully launching their golf component, the Valor Cup. However, during this period the organizers embraced their own mantra of positive forward momentum and “rescued” several smaller organizations that were struggling and likely were not going to survive the pandemic. These groups together now form Valor Outdoors and provide veterans – and first responders – opportunities for healing through outdoor activities such as kayaking, fishing, and hunting.
First responders’ needs for healing have often been overlooked; these organizations aim to change that.
“It’s truly amazing the magic that can happen when you get someone outdoors,” says Karen Ivey, who manages the companies’ community outreach and event coordination. Being retired law enforcement herself, she also understands first-hand the struggles of many veterans and first responders.
“Just about every day we see something horrific,” Ivey explains, “something that would stick with you forever if you only ever saw that one thing. Imagine experiencing that, every day, for 25 years.”
To that end, LoV and Valor Outdoors are very focused on being inclusive while raising awareness and providing healing.
“There are a lot of organizations that provide therapeutic activities for veterans,” says Haag, “but we recognize the opportunity to reach even more people and to serve them in deeper ways than some organizations are able.”
Both Bowers and Haag have had many years’ experience with veterans’ events and organizations, and as such were uniquely qualified to cherry-pick from all the best practices learned, identify areas they’d like to improve, and use that expertise to launch these organizations. For example, LoV delivers highly-trained dogs to ‘classes’ of recipients, who first meet for ten days for therapy, training, and bonding, during which time they are acclimated into the Valor ‘family.’ Afterwards, LoV will even have dog food delivered and vet bills comped for those who may find these added expenses a challenge.
And - there is regular and ongoing follow-up. “Whether they want it or not,” jokes Bowers, “these recipients are stuck with us!” All joking aside, many veterans experience a sense of abandonment or lack of worth when leaving the military, and this dedicated bond and persistence is exactly the cure some veterans need.
The Valor Cup series was created to provide therapy and opportunity to veterans and to support the mission of LoV through the title tournament. Dataw Island was privileged to host a Valor Cup qualifier this week, where several Dataw Island members joined veterans who traveled from around the southeast to vie for advancement to the Valor Cup this spring in Virginia. Because the group is dedicated to inclusiveness, the GHIN handicap system is used to level the playing field and give all competitors fair opportunity to excel.
The Valor Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event and will this year pull qualifiers from two events to compete in the final; next year, it will expand to eight regional tournaments and two national qualifiers; by year three, the goal is to expand to 16 regional tournaments.
Bowers and Haag also have long-standing relationships with Dataw Island through other veterans’ organizations. “It feels like a kind of homecoming to welcome these guys back,” says Dataw Island Director of Golf Chris Fearn. “This is a first-year event for them, which is exciting to be part of, and the fact that they want our members to participate, and play, is even more special.”
“It’s really very humbling how supportive the members at Dataw Island have been,” Bowers says. “More than anything though, I am so happy to finally be able to give back to the veterans on Dataw, too. For years, the people here have been so incredibly supportive of veterans, and finally through the Valor Cup we can invite the members off the sidelines to actively be part of the event.”
And, in its inaugural year, Dataw’s own Ret. Col. Glenn Blackburn won the tournament! An avid organizer and supporter of veterans’ events, there were as many ‘leaking’ eyes as there were dry ones when this man who has given so much was awarded the first place win. Blackburn and fellow members Bob Bradshaw and Kurt Knapper finished in the top 5 along with Scott McDonough and Timothy Shannon, earning spots to compete in the Inaugural Valor Cup at the Federal Club. Congratulations as well to the alternates, Manuel Dukes and Lance Newman, as well as all the other competitors for showing excellent sportsmanship and for their service to our country.
The Valor Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event and will this year pull qualifiers from two events to compete in the final; next year, it will expand to eight regional tournaments and two national qualifiers; by year three, the goal is to expand to 16 regional tournaments.
“To see all these smiles and new friendships is what this is all about,” says Bowers of Wednesday’s event. “It’s magical to watch. The support these guys are giving each other and the love. Guys who came here as perfect strangers are leaving with lifelong friends. That’s love.”
Learn more:
Leashes Of Valor
Valor Outdoors – Finding healing and community in the outdoors.
Valor Cup – Valor Charities Premier Fundraising Event