By Christian Eby

Carlisle Country Club head golf professional Dan Baker has 30-plus years of golf experience under his belt, including stops in California, Arizona and Hawaii.

What he did April 18, though, was much more than playing a regular round of golf or competing in a tournament.

During a frigid and blustery day on the Carlisle Country Club links, Baker played 100 holes to raise money for PGA HOPE, the flagship military program as part of PGA Reach, which supports and introduces golf to veterans with disabilities to enhance their physical, mental and social well-being. In his efforts, Baker raised $7,131 for PGA HOPE through pledges given to him by Carlisle Country Club members.

Baker played roughly 5½ rounds of golf.

“You know, I might do it again next year. Maybe a little later in the year,” Baker said with a laugh, referring to the subpar weather conditions Monday presented. “But it is gratifying. It’s neat to do something for them.”

In a phone interview Wednesday morning, Baker took time to answer questions for The Sentinel as part of its 5 Questions series, to talk about his memorable, yet chilly 100 holes Monday.

Question: How did you come to learn about the PGA HOPE program?

A: Being a member of the PGA, the PGA is very involved with what they call “PGA Reach” where we reach out to the veterans. And in particular PGA HOPE, and the HOPE is an acronym for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere. So just through the PGA, I have done things for veterans before, which I’m going to do more of. I’ve done things with veterans that are amputees and I work with them and try to introduce them to golf and try to get them to get a better positive attitude through golf.

Q: How long did it take to play the 100 holes?

A: My average round was an average of about an hour and five minutes. We took a break [around noon] and we kind of came in and it got cold and then it warmed up. So, we said let’s go and so we went back out and got really bad weather at the end there. But one 18-hole round was 55 minutes and the rest were about an hour and five.

Q: What was the most difficult part of playing the 100 holes?

A: That (the weather) was the most difficult part. Plus, I’m getting a little older now, so I was getting a little sore and tired. But, yeah, the weather was the most difficult part.

Q: What was the best shot/moment of the 100 holes?

A: I don’t know, you kind of get into a rhythm. One par 3 I did hit it to about six inches, but you have good holes and bad holes. There was a bunch of good ones, but I don’t know. That’s hard to say.

Q: What does it mean to you to help out a program like PGA HOPE?

A: It brings me great satisfaction because I think we owe a lot to the veterans, obviously, and they’re sort of always put kind of in the background so to speak. Our veterans don’t get enough kudos or enough thank yous, and this was just a big thank you. And then the PGA of America will distribute that money, 100% of the donations will go to our vets. And it’s just very gratifying to just do something trivial I guess or as small as playing 100 holes of golf. It’s nothing compared to what the vets have done for us.

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