GOLDEN — Golden High School student Sam Roach started golfing when he was 2 years old, thanks to the urging of his two grandfathers, who both loved golf.
But even at that young age, his golf game was different.
When Roach was in his mother’s womb, his right leg and arm were outside the fetal sac, slowing their development. As a result, his right leg was amputated when he was 9 months old, and his right arm is half the size of his left and has three fingers.
Roach plays on Golden High School’s varsity golf team with an 8 handicap. He wants to try to pursue golf in college and find a career in golf after he graduates this school year.
What he was not sure of was how his golf game compares to that of other amputee golfers, but that is changing this week as he competes as one of the youngest participants at the National Amputee Golf Championship Aug. 25-29 in Virginia Beach, Va.
“(I will) maybe see how actually good I am,” he said when asked for the third time what he expected out of the tournament that is hosted by the National Amputee Golf Association. His first two answers were “golf” and playing the Signature at West Neck, an Arnold Palmer Signature course.
“There might be some who love golf as much, but he loves the game to the point of making a career of it,” said Steve Patterson, the PGA golf professional for Hiwan Golf Club in Evergreen. He worked this summer with Roach when he was a member of the USA Junior Golf’s Rocky Mountain team.
Roach is attending the tournament fully sponsored by Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, a nationwide orthotic and prosthetic clinic with a location in Lakewood where Roach has gone throughout his life for prosthetic leg replacement, repairs and adjustments. They knew he loved hockey — the thigh of his leg sports the number of Avalanche player Matt Duchene — but when they found out he loved golf, they made sure he got into the tournament.
His prosthetic was recently outfitted with a special part that enables the lower calf to twist, allowing Roach to follow through more on his swing.
“When I swung, my foot turned, but now it just twists,” Roach said, showing off the technology’s merits with a swift swing.
Kenny Green is NAGA’s executive director and said that as an amputee golfer himself — he played for Middle Tennessee State University in college — he was always pretty well accepted, but the tournament of about 73 golfers gets rid of that “outside looking in” part of the game.
“You start to get recognized for how well you played,” Green said. “Your golf game tends to shine more.”
Throughout his career as a golf professional, Patterson has worked with many amputee golfers, but he said Roach helped him learn in his own teaching method.
“When I teach Sam, I have to throw out the book of instruction and work with him with what he has to work with,” Patterson said. “It’s really fun in that respect to have that challenge and figure out how to make that work for him.”
Roach’s coach, John Anderson, said Golden High’s 15-man golf team is strong this year and Roach is part of that. Anderson said it was Roach’s insistence to walk the course with everyone else that caught his eye.
“With that attitude, I said I don’t care what that kid shoots, I want him to be a part of that team.”
Josie Klemaier: 303-954-2465, jklemaier@denverpost.com
