By Fred Altvater
There were several incidences over the past couple of months that confirmed my love for golf. Yes, I love to play and visit beautiful courses, but I am also proud of the billions of dollars generated for charity in this country every year through golf.
Last month we saw Russell Henley call a penalty on himself, that no one would have ever caught, except for him. The eight-stroke penalty cost him a missed cut, as well as, thousands of dollars in prize money. Senior amateur player, Lara Tennant played golf all her life, but didn’t become a champion until her kids went off to college. Plus, we saw one of the most touching responses to a missed putt that will ever be witnessed anywhere.
Brandon Matthews was a standout golfer for Temple University, racking up several collegiate wins, but found professional golf much more difficult. Since 2016, he has toiled on golf’s minor tours, honing his skills, hoping to one day make it to the PGA Tour. 
Last month he was playing in the Visa Argentino Open in November, a stop on the Latinoamerica Tour, which is important, because the winner earns an exemption into The OPEN Championship.
He had finished the final round tied with Ricardo Celia for the lead, at 11-under par and the two men headed to a playoff. After the first three holes, neither man had an advantage and they remained tied.
On the fourth playoff hole, Celia drained a putt for birdie, which forced Matthews to make his five-footer, to extend the playoff. As Matthews was making his stroke a yell split the silence and caused Matthews to miss the putt. There went his chance for a victory, along with a trip to The OPEN Championship.
Although gutted by the noise and subsequent miss, Matthews congratulated Celia on the win and headed to the locker room. There he was joined by a Latinoamerica Tour official that explained the inadvertent noise was made by a fan suffering from Down Syndrome. The fan was so excited watching the action, the noise was an unintentional reaction.
Asking to be taken to the fan, Matthews hugged him, asked about his condition and showed tremendous compassion to the man.
He has had experience with special needs individuals, his mother worked to manage group homes and his best friend had a sister who also has Down Syndrome.
“I was around mental disability growing up, and I have a soft spot in my heart for it. Those are really special people,” he said. “I felt so terrible that I wasn’t even upset. I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t feel bad.”
Even though this was a very difficult loss for Matthews, his concern was first and foremost for the fan. He continued,
“I gave him a hug and I asked him, ‘Hey, are you doing OK? Are you having fun? I just wanted to make sure he was enjoying himself, that he had no hard feelings, that he didn’t feel bad about what happened. I didn’t want to anyone to be mad at him. I didn’t want him to be mad at himself. I wanted to make sure he knew that I wasn’t mad. That’s all I wanted to do.”
Matthews missed his chance to gain entry to The OPEN championship at Royal St. George’s next year, but he did secure a full Latinoamérica tour card for 2020, on the strength of a previous tie for fifth and the runner-up finish in Argentina.
For Brendon Matthews,
“Some things are bigger than golf, and this was one of them.”
