The Barclays Youth Clinic to star golf trick shot artist

text size

Famous golf trick shot artist Dennis Walters, an honorary lifetime member of the PGA of America, will be the featured guest of The Barclays Youth Clinic, Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Liberty National driving range.

The hour-long clinic is the signature youth event of tournament week for The Barclays, played Aug. 25-30 among the top 125 PGA TOUR golfers in the FedExCup points standings. The Barclays is the first of four tournaments in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

The private youth clinic will feature Walters -- accompanied by his canine assistant, Bucky -- in a question-and-answer session for approximately 400 junior golfers from the First Tee of Metropolitan New York, Jersey City Junior Golfers, and Montclair YMCA Junior Golfers programs, followed by a demonstration of amazing and varied trick shots and a concluding, motivational life message. Walters' story is one of true inspiration.

Three years after turning professional, his PGA TOUR dream ended on July 21, 1974, at Roxiticus Golf Club in Mendham, N.J., where he was thrown from a golf cart and suffered severe spinal cord damage, leaving him a paraplegic. Just over six months after being told by a doctor that he would never walk or play golf again, Walters returned to a Morristown, N.J., hospital parking lot in February 1975 and drove a golf ball in front of his doctor and other patients.

After his release from the hospital and ensuing months of therapy, Walters began practicing hitting golf balls from a wheelchair. Soon after, a swivel seat was mounted on a golf cart with a seat belt and he began to develop his talents in trick shots. In 1977, Walters gave a performance at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. The display ignited Walters' new-found career path, en route to becoming one of golf's most popular and traveled golf trick shot entertainers.

Walters, 59, hosts the "Dennis Walters Golf Show" across the country, covering nearly 3 million miles and performing more than 2,700 shows for audiences of all ages. He has been awarded many distinguished honors, including the 1978 Ben Hogan Award, PGA of America honorary membership in 1992, the 1994 Graffis Award, the Mary Bea Porter Award, the Golf Digest Junior Achievement Award, and the 2008 PGA Distinguished Service Award.

Born in Neptune, N.J., Walters enjoyed a stellar amateur golf career. In 1967, he became the only person to win the New Jersey State Junior, State Caddie Championship and the State Public Links Junior Championship in the same year. Walters attended the University of North Texas (formerly North Texas State University), on a golf scholarship in 1968, graduated in 1971 and turned professional.

Tickets to The Barclays are available at www.thebarclaysgolf.com. Daily galleries will be limited to 25,000 spectators. Daily and Weekly tickets are available starting Tuesday of tournament week, August 25.