GWD’s Phil Allan to defend L&DUGC Title
I’m Phil Allan, 55 years old. Yorkshire born and bred – and proud of it!
From an early age I have had a big interest in sport and at junior school I played rounders for the year above, and at the age of 11 captained our school rugby team. This progressed to high school, and again I was captain of the school rugby team.
I tried my hand at every sport available to me, even basketball despite my short stature.
My sport path continued through adulthood, playing rugby and cricket, but at the age of 17 I tore the cartilage in my left knee, which didn’t require surgery, but at 21 I twisted my right knee, this time surgery was required and this pretty put an end to my enjoyment of playing rugby.
As a consequence to that injury, eleven years later at the age of 32, I was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in all 3 parts of my right knee, unfortunately bringing an end to my cricket as the ongoing pain was too much.
In my early 40’s I turned to golf, but the pain in my knees was getting worse, and after seeing a consultant it was agreed that having my legs straightened was the best option going forward, as opposed to a knee joint replacement. This tempered my enjoyment of golf.
After recovering from the surgery of having both knees straightened, I attempted to play cricket again, but a torn cartilage in my left knee put an end to that, so I turned back to golf to satisfy my sporting desires.
Starting with a handicap of 28 and gradually my game improved.
Then in 2022 I underwent a total knee replacement, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful, so I had to have it manipulated under anaesthetic and whilst not perfect it was a little bit better.
Since then I have won a number of different competitions, mainly against able bodied golfers. This included the Leeds & District Union of Golf Clubs Net championship in 2023.
I also registered and played in my first EDGA event at the home of Ping, Thonock Park.
I have also represented the DGA, in 2021 against Scotland at Elmwood Golf Club and in 2022 in the Four Nations Tournament (England, Scotland, Wales & USA) at Forest of Arden.
Golf has helped so much with my mental and physical health despite my setbacks, so the opportunity to encourage others with any sort of disability has always been an ambition of mine.
