Amputee golfer Chad Pfeifer aims to play on PGA Tour

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Stateline, Nev. -- The guy who might be the best male golfer in the field at this American Century Championship didn't exactly embrace the sport at first. He was shamed into it.

Cpl. Chad Pfeifer was mending at an Army hospital in San Antonio in 2007. He had been shipped back from Iraq minus his left leg, blown off by an improvised explosive device (IED) as he was driving a patrol vehicle. His right heel was shattered and in a cast, an open wound.

Another soldier sauntered into Pfeifer's room to say hi, cheer up the new guy. The man suggested that as soon as Pfeifer was up for it, they could do something outside. Golf maybe.

Golf? To Pfeifer, golf was an old man's sport. He had been a three-sport star in high school and played four years of college baseball. After college he enlisted in the Army and volunteered for Airborne infantry.

"I wanted to be one of the guys out rolling in the dirt and shooting guns and jumping out of planes," Pfeifer said Tuesday, just after carding a 4-under-par in a celebrity-amateur event on the tricky Edgewood Tahoe course.

Golf?

Chad Pfeifer first played golf after losing his leg to an improvised explosive device while serving in Iraq in 2007. Chad Pfeifer first played golf after losing his leg to an improvised explosive device while serving in Iraq in 2007. Photo: Jeff Bayer, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Jeff Bayer, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Amputee golfer Chad Pfeifer aims to play on PGA Tour 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

"I thought it was crazy," Pfeifer said, "but I didn't want to say anything to the guy, because he was missing both legs."

So when Pfeifer was fitted with a prosthetic leg late in '07, the two wounded warriors hit the driving range. Pfeifer was walking to the tees when his prosthesis broke. He and his bucket of balls went tumbling. It was his intro to golf, where pride goeth before a fall.

A funny thing happened on the range that day. Pfeifer, balancing precariously on his new leg, managed to hit a couple of balls on the sweet spot. He was hooked.

At first golf was therapy, helping Pfeifer through what he calls "the dark days," dating to April 12, 2007. It was 1 o'clock in the morning and Pfeifer, volunteering as temporary driver, was taking several fellow soldiers back to the base in Iraq after a firefight the previous day.

They escaped four near-misses, IEDs exploding near the truck. But it's hard to win at Russian roulette, and the next IED exploded directly under Pfeifer. He was the only man hurt. He remembers only waking up in a hospital in Germany with his right foot in a cast and his left leg gone above the knee.

"It was a lot harder emotionally and mentally than it was physically," Pfeifer said of his recovery, "because those were the dark days, waiting to find out if I'd ever walk again."

He walked. Then, 10 months after the injury, he golfed.

The golf helped his spirits and physical therapy. But Pfeifer, who was single, figured he was removed from the dating scene forever. How many things can this guy be wrong about?

Before he got his new leg, Pfeifer went home to rural Idaho. His family threw a party, and one of his high school pals who attended was Summer Zink, a woman he had known only casually. She was a straight arrow in high school, while Pfeifer had been "rambunctious." They talked, they hit it off. Emboldened by beer and a pain pill, Pfeifer asked Zink if they could meet for coffee.

"I don't drink coffee," she said.

Whiff, figured Pfeifer. Wrong again. Zink suggested dinner. Eleven months later, on the Fourth of July, he proposed. They now have two sons.

Pfeifer learned the business of golf and took a job as an assistant pro in Goodyear, Ariz. His game improved and he started playing mini-tour events. Recently, he put aside the pro job to try his hand on the Gateway Tour. He hasn't made any cuts, but has played some strong rounds, and is improving.

Pfeifer drives the ball 275 yards, and in the thin air of Lake Tahoe knocks it beyond 300. His swing is a self-developed mechanical adaptation to his prosthetic. The weight transfer to the left side was a challenge, but his controlled swing prevents him from opening his hips too soon. So he's got an advantage there.

Pfeifer felt better about his less-than-classic swing when he saw a TV commercial where Arnold Palmer advises golfers, "Swing your own swing."

Pfeifer said he'll take this dream as far as he can.

"I don't see any reason I can't work my way up to the PGA Tour," he said. "I've come this far, while I'm somewhat young (32), I'll see how far I can go with it."

Meanwhile, the "dark days" still try to sneak up on him. Some things you never put behind you.

"I lost some really good buddies over there," Pfeifer said. "We saw plenty of what you (don't) want to see over there as far as fatalities and stuff like that."

One of Pfeifer's tattoos is the Chinese character for "strong," a tribute to Joey Strong, a good buddy killed in Iraq.

There are present concerns. What will happen when Pfeifer's two boys start running around, wanting to play ball with dad? How will he keep up?

Pfeifer wrestles with those thoughts, but looks at the bigger picture. Especially at this tournament, he humbly accepts his role as a symbolic hero. When people thank him for his service, Pfeifer knows he accepts on behalf of millions of soldiers - living, wounded and dead.

Just as his spirit was lifted by the double amputee who shamed him into trying golf in San Antonio, Pfeifer honors his obligation to pay it forward.

"Maybe I can be an inspiration to others, as others have been to me," he said. "You see guys who are quad amputees with burns all over their bodies, it's amazing to see the lives they're living. It's an inspiration to me. I hope I can be that for other guys."