Area golfer teaches those with physical or mental challenges

Thanks to a little girl's hug, Buddie Butterfield embraced something special several years ago that he is not about to let go.

Goodness knows the guy needed that hug. Before he could earn it, he would have to endure some serious heartbreak and disappointments.

Shortly after his wife, Janeane, died about 20 years ago, Butterfield decided to fill the holes in his life and time by focusing on golf. A talented player already, he became serious about honing his game in hopes of qualifying for the professional senior tour.

"Janeane was the wind under my wings. I loved golf, and felt I should do something that seemed important," said Butterfield, an Overland Park resident.

He succeeded in becoming a scratch golfer who would come close to a tour berth, but never quite make it.

Then, because of fate, or good fortune - or maybe just because the guy was searching hard for something good - circumstances brought a new dream into focus just as the old one began fading away.

Butterfield, who long had given golfing lessons, one day was drawn to a player on the driving range who exhibited an odd hitch in his swing. They chatted, and Butterfield diplomatically asked the man how he developed his rather unconventional and ineffective form.

The man responded by using his golf club to lift his pants cuff and reveal a prosthetic leg.

That moment also revealed to Butterfield something about himself that he did not like: He lacked the know-how for instructing that kind of student.

"I decided if I'm going to teach golf I need to know how to teach everybody," Butterfield said.

So in 2001, he signed up for Sonny Ackerman's Adaptive Golf Academy in Atlanta. During two days of intense instruction, golf teachers learn how to provide effective lessons for people with physical and mental challenges.

At lunch in the clubhouse on the program's last day, a young Down syndrome golf student who Butterfield had been working with called out to him.

"She said, ‘Hey, coach.' And she came up and wrapped her arms around me. I was hooked," said Butterfield.

Was he ever.

THE BUDDIES

Rather than limit use of his newfound knowledge to rare occasions when he might encounter disabled students, Butterfield decided to actively seek them out. He has been on that quest with considerable success for five years now.

In 2004, he formed what would become Buddie's Buddies. Every year since the founding of that nonprofit organization, Butterfield and a crew of volunteers have been providing free clinics and workshops to people with special needs between the ages of 6 and 83. Many of his helpers are fellow Shrine club members and old friends from his long-ago days at North Kansas City High School.

He also gets an important assist from Overland Park Golf Course officials, who let his Buddies use the driving range and storage facilities for their lessons and equipment.

Sessions are staged every other Wednesday from May through September. Some of the clinics are devoted to helping disabled veterans.

The program requires more of Butterfield than just teaching. He visits organizations to explain the program and encourage them to participate. He works on fundraisers that help support the program. And, when funds do come in, Butterfield and his accountant make sure the proceeds are handled properly.

While he is teaching, he also is learning. That two-day academy provided a lot of information, but it could not prepare the golf teachers for everything.

"They cover a lot, but then you have to learn by experience," Butterfield said. "For instance, with some kids you just don't go and put a hand on them, 'cause they don't like that."

He also learned that if you approach such students correctly, their sensitivity can be overcome.

"Some of those same kids eventually come up and hug me," Butterfield said.

Yes, even after all these years, the payoff still is the hugs.

There certainly are other moments that keep him energized and focused.

One student, a woman with no legs, wanted to learn how to hit the ball from her wheelchair. Both she and Butterfield were rewarded for the effort.

"She got more joy out of hitting a ball two feet than some people get out of hitting a drive 300 yards," he said.

Clearly, the goal is not about turning the students into accomplished golfers. Other things are more important for them.

"They get out in the public and mix with people and enjoy the sunshine," he said.

In some cases, Butterfield said, students come to a session seeming depressed or disinterested. By the time they leave there are smiles and enthusiasm.

SIDE BENEFITS

There also are benefits to the program's leader, though he might not even be aware of some of them.

"He gets a lot of purpose from it. It brings a lot of happiness and wholeness to him," said his daughter, Joy Butterfield. "Doing this makes a person so thankful for the things you have, and also for being able to bring happiness to someone else."

She said her father's passion for the program stems also from his passion for golf.

"He loves the game, and he loves being able to share it with others," she said.

The teacher might be a candidate for his own kind of instructional help.

Butterfield underwent back surgery several months ago that involved the insertion of two rods and 14 screws. He still can swing the golf club lightly for instructional purposes, but he is not physically ready to risk doing much more.

Though somewhat stooped and slowed physically, the bad back does not dim the intensity. He prowls the line of students at the practice range, giving instruction both to students and volunteer instructors.

At times, he can be as much a commander as a teacher in order to keep the program running smoothly and his helpers in their proper places.

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