He was a promising young baseball player from the Dominican Republic with hopes of making his fortune as a professional. But these thoughts were brought to a shuddering end the day Manuel de los Santos was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle and awoke from a coma four days later to discover that his life had been turned upside down.At the beginning of October, De los Santos fulfilled his dream by playing at St Andrews, the home of golf. He played the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland — the one tournament on the European Tour in which amateurs are paired with professionals. He was among some of the biggest names in the game and a handful of showbusiness celebrities and, as well as St Andrews, he will also play at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns. If you were to ask him what he thinks of that and his grin could power the a small city! “I cannot believe it,” he says. “My dream has come true.” He has become an inspiration to everyone he meets.
Now 25, De los Santos plays off a barely believable handicap of three. He can hit the ball 260 yards through the air and, perhaps most surprisingly, refuses to use a prosthetic leg. He walks, with the aid of crutches, between shots and will not use a buggy. “It’s a sport,” he said. “I’m an athlete. I walk.”
After his accident, he moved from his home in the Caribbean to Paris, with Elena, his wife, and attempted to rekindle what had been a keen and lively spirit. Now, seven years on, he admits it was an uphill struggle. Then he came across The Legend of Bagger Vance — a film about a golfer defeating adversity — and was inspired. The next day, he took himself to his local driving range and became hooked. Equipped with a 7 iron and a baseball grip, De los Santos found that not only could he hit the ball, but also that he still had natural balance. Unable to keep himself away, he would turn up at 9am and stay until dark. The people running the centre were so impressed that they told him he could hit as many balls as he liked and they would not charge him. He took them at their word and did just that, hitting thousand upon thousand of them.
It was not long before he was playing the game for real. He is now sponsored by Allianz — which backs a satellite tour for professionals in France and has arranged for him to play in some of its events — and has won tournaments for handicapped players throughout Europe, including the highly regarded Swedish Invitational Open, in 2008.
