Veteran Golfers Association Championship tees off at Fallen Oak

The Veteran Golfers Association National Championship teed off this morning at the Fallen Oak Golf Club.

The VGA held its opening ceremony this morning, paying tribute to its competing veterans with a parachute landing to cap it off. Golfers from around the country filtered into the greens to begin their practice rounds in preparation for the competition tomorrow.

Golfer Ray Kalmar says he finds peace in the greens after he experienced a stroke earlier this year. Today, he’s competing in that national championship, a testament to his resilience and hard work. “But then had a stroke in January, found the VGA. And it’s helped me get back into the groove and get my game going again and obviously just making friends and traveling. Golf for me is relaxing, right? It’s enjoying the competition but have fun while you’re doing it.”

The mission of the Veteran Golfers Association is to give veterans an outlet to compete and socialize through the game of golf. VGA President Joshua Peyton says the red jacket is not about the color, but stands by an acronym. “Well, the red jacket it comes from a military acronym. ‘Remember Everyone Deployed,’ so it has a lot of meaning to it. We only award red jackets to our overall male and female champions. So, there’s only been five male champions over the last nine years and four female champions that have been lucky enough to put on the red jacket at the end of one of our championships. And we’re really looking forward to putting the red jacket on two more this year.”