No matter how you feel about your own golf game, it’d be hard not to find inspiration and a smile when it comes to Butch Lumpkin’s.
Lumpkin’s incredible story was featured on Golf Central (click to watch video), and it’s one that puts a lump in your throat.
Lumpkin was born without arms because of a birth defect, but that hasn’t stopped this go-getter from playing and even excelling at golf and other sports.
“I look at people when I talk or I’m playing golf and I say I’m blessed and they look at me like I’ve got a hole in my head, ‘You’re crazy,’” he said. “I’m like, let me tell you where I’ve been.”
As a boy, he was called “Flip” because his hands flipped like a dolphin. Eventually, he was able to “silence kids” because of how good he was at playing sports like tennis and golf despite his physical condition.
Lumpkin rediscovered his passion for golf in his early 30s and has fared well even with challenges. He had some longer clubs made. He uses his feet to tee up the ball. He then cradles the club against his body using his fingers and twists his body to generate power on his swing.
You’d never know anything was different about him judging by his scores, which started in the 100s but have steadily decreased to the 78-82 range with a 9 handicap. He averages about 260 yards on his drives.
Lumpkin gets satisfaction by winning over skeptics. At one charity tournament, he was matched with three “normal” players and overheard one talk about drawing “the boy with no arms.” Later that day, the man had become a believer.
“On hole No. 15, I overheard him again,” Lumpkin recalled. “He looked over to his partner and said, ‘It’s a damn good thing we got this boy with no arms.’”
Lumpkin smiles while talking about the perils of first impressions. A motivational speaker by profession, Lumpkin lives by the ironic quote, “Nothing’s beyond reach.”
“I don’t have the perfect body,” he said. “I’ve just got one ability and that’s just to get up and go.”
One day, Lumpkin hopes to be able to get up and golf against Tiger Woods with his favorite wager on the line: a Chick-Fil-A ice cream cone.
Bet against Lumpkin at your own risk, though. As he’s proven, nothing is beyond his reach.