Traden Karch looks forward to reunion

by ken macleod

Tens of thousands are eagerly anticipating the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. None more so than Traden Karch.

The senior at Broken Arrow High School loves it anytime he can visit with the pros, particularly Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and others, who helped him so much in his recovery from a tragic auto accident six years ago that shattered his skull and left him with brain damage and in a coma.

Karch, 19, will be a standard bearer during this event, just as he was in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. He was the PGA of America’s guest of honor at the 2016 championship at Baltusrol.

Nurses, doctors and EMTs were skeptical Karch would survive the night of his accident. He was suffering massive seizures at the scene when emergency personnel arrived and was told he stopped breathing three times on the seven-minute ambulance ride to the hospital. The surgery to piece his shattered skull back together took six hours. No one knew if he would survive or, if so, to what extent he would be able to recover. The driver who rushed him to the hospital was Billy Wilkinson, now a 22-year veteran on the Broken Arrow Fire Department. Imagine his surprise and delight recently when, in his second job as clinicals director in Tulsa Tech’s EMT program, he realized Traden was now one of his students. “I’m tickled to death that Traden is pursuing this field,” Wilkinson said. “My first day to meet him was not a good day for him. In my 22 years he is right at the top of those that suffered a horrible tragedy yet survived. Now he’s gone from we weren’t sure he would survive to an amazing recovery. He’s got a lot of inner strength. A lot of people would not have made it.”

Buoyed by the prayers of thousands, Traden survived, but lost most of his childhood memories. The injuries to his brain were mostly to the areas that affect speech, memory and language arts and his recovery in those areas has been the most difficult. But while he didn’t remember his childhood whatsoever, he somehow never forgot how to swing a golf club.

McIlroy was among the pros particularly touched by Traden’s story and narrated a Golf Channel video that told his story.

“The PGA helped me out tremendously,” Traden said. “Everything they did helped me to have a normal life as a 13-to-14-yearold boy.”

Traden will attend Rogers State University in Claremore in the fall and will have

a spot on the golf team, though not a golf scholarship initially. As mentioned, he is studying at Tulsa Tech to earn his Emergency Medical Technician certification and plans to study nursing in college with the goal of helping others like Wilkinson and his crew who helped save his life. “I just want to be there for the parents of someone who had an experience like mine and tell them it’s going to be okay,” Traden said. Traden will not be the only walking miracle at the PGA Championship. Another special guest of the PGA will be young golfer Jhett Skaggs of Lexington, Okla., who has had two heart replacements in his 13 years. Whether due to the accident or just golf, Traden says his biggest hurdle these days is concentrating for all 18 holes and not losing focus and hitting an unwise shot or two. “Physically I’m perfectly fine,” he said. “Just a normal 19-year-old teenager. What I struggle with is the mental game. I alTraden now 19 and fin- ways lose focus for a few holes, then snap ishing up high school at out of it. But golf is just a hard game, I will Broken Arrow. say that.”

The Broken Arrow Fire Department first responders who helped save Traden, from left, Michael Whinery, Noel Golden, Billy Wilkinson, Trent Harris and Travis England.

With Rory McIlroy at the 2016 PGA Championship.

concerts benefit four tulsa organizations

Four local charities will likely receive a donation of close to $250,000 each from a pair of benefit concerts scheduled for the week of the PGA Championship.

The concerts are private affairs for corporate donors. One, featuring a popular country music star, will be held May 18 at Southern Hills, and the second, featuring entertainer Pitbull, will be May 20 at the Philbrook Museum.

The “Tulsa Gives Back” concerts will equally benefit PGA Reach, First Tee of Tulsa, The Tulsa Dream Center and The Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless.

Southern Hills President Scott Mabrey, who has helped spearhead the organizing of the concerts, said the generosity of the Tulsa business community, particularly title sponsor ONEOK, paved the way to make this happen.

“This has been a unique opportunity to showcase Tulsa, entertain many of our out-of-town guests all while raising money for charity and providing a significant impact on our community,” Mabrey said.

PGA Reach is the charitable foundation of the PGA of America and has a local branch within the PGA South Central Section (Oklahoma, Arkansas and southern Kansas). The First Tee of Tulsa has been teaching golf and life skills free of charge to youth since 2000 from its base at Mohawk Park and its outreach program throughout the area.

The Tulsa Dream Center is a faith-based community center offering programs through strategic partners to break the cycle of poverty. The Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless treats both the symptoms and the causes of homelessness, working toward the day when every Tulsan has a home.

Entertainer

Pitbull

After watching the 2022 PGA Championship at beautiful Southern Hills Country Club, you’ll have a chance to play this historic venue, now the site of eight major championships, and match your skills against those of Tiger, Rory, Justin, Dustin and the rest.

The Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame Classic will be held Oct. 24 at Southern Hills. The format is a friendly pro-am, with PGA professionals throughout the state encouraged to bring a team of four amateurs. Teams of five amateurs will also be welcome. Cost is $4,000 per team of four amateurs and a professional or $5,000 for a team of five amateurs. Cost includes breakfast, tee prizes, awards and a luncheon. Special sponsorships will also be available.

All proceeds benefit the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame. Founded in 2014, the OKGHOF awards two annual scholarships, the

Everett Dobson Award to help graduating collegiate seniors begin their careers, and manages the bi-annual induction and awards banquet. The 2021 class included Scott Verplank, David Edwards, Danny Edwards, Art Proctor and Floyd Farley and they joined an illustrious list of previous inductees. All inductee bios, induction videos, acceptance speeches and much more can be viewed at www.oklahomagolfhof.org.

So gather your friends and favorite pro and enjoy this rare opportunity to enjoy Southern Hills and support the incredible legacy of golf in Oklahoma. Entry forms and more information are available at www.oklahomagolfhof. org. Call 918-280-0787 with any questions.

Senior PGA hints at setup

by john rohde

Southern Hills is about to host a PGA Championship for the second straight month of May. Last year featured the 2021 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. This year offers the 104th PGA Championship (May 19-22).

Alex Cejka posted a four-shot victory at the 2021 Senior PGA with an 8-under-par 272. Truth be told, the degree of difficulty could have been far more intense from heralded set-up man Kerry Haigh, Chief Championship Officer of the PGA of America.

Southern Hills’ par-70 layout never played more than 7,000 yards in last May’s tournament. In fact, the world’s finest 50-and-older golfers played from the men’s tee boxes rather than from the post-restoration championship tees which can reach over 7,550 yards. The speed of the greens registered on the Stimpmeter between 11.5-12.1, the same readings as a typical day for members. Shortly before the final round, which was played in nary a breath of wind, Haigh relocated three pin placements to guard against putts potentially gaining too much speed. Despite all of Haigh’s kindness, only seven players managed to finish under-par (280).

Willie Wood (1980-83) and Scott Verplank (1983-86) were each four-time AllAmericans at Oklahoma State and are longtime Oak Tree National touring pros from Edmond, but they also have experienced Southern Hills on multiple occasions and various conditions the past four decades. Both made the cut at last year’s Senior PGA with Wood tying for 34th and Verplank tying for 63rd. Verplank tied for ninth at the 2007 PGA Championship staged there and Wood missed the cut at the 2001 U.S. Open. Willie Wood Scott Verplank Wood and Verplank, noticed a kinder course set-up than anticipated. “I thought they would test more pin placements on us. I didn’t think the greens were all that fast. They were very nice to us,” said Wood, who still finished at 8-over, two strokes ahead of Champions Tour uber-winner Bernhard Langer. “Southern Hills has always been a great, iconic golf course and it still is,” Verplank said. “It’s a second-shot golf course in my opinion just because the greens are so severely sloped. You’ve got to have good distance control and you’ve got to be below the hole. Even if you’re pin-high, and even though the pins weren’t very fast when we played (in the 2021 Senior PGA), they’re still so sloped.”