Beneficiary Spotlight
Name: Cornelia Oosthuizen
Regiment: Adjutant General’s Corps – Education and Training Services or the AGC (ETS)
Rank: Major
Length of service: 10 years, 4 months
Why did you decide to join the military?: I joined because I wanted a career that offered truly unique challenges in working with and alongside people. I was also attracted by the camaraderie, adventure and sporting opportunities that a life in the military would offer.
Why did you leave the military?: I was medically retired/discharged due to sustaining Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) in my right foot and lower leg during a sporting incident during my military service. As my prognosis remains unknown and this particular functional movement impairment is coupled with severe levels of chronic pain while having to use walking aids, it brought my military career to an end.
How did this injury/illness occur?: Whilst competing in the 2014 Annual Army Tennis Championships.
What was your golfing experience prior to joining On Course Foundation?: Zero.
When and how did you hear about On Course Foundation?: I bumped into a good friend (Kate Surman) at Headley Court in 2016 who had done some OCF events and highly recommended the charity and their work.
‘’OCF events are hugely encouraging, a lot of fun and excellent incentive to integrate golf into your injury rehabilitation journey.''
What is your experience of On Course Foundation so far?:
It’s incredible to be taught a new sport/golf by former professional golfers – the level of their empathy, patience and their instruction accelerates your ability to progress in the sport. As a result, OCF events are hugely encouraging, a lot of fun and an excellent incentive to integrate golf into your injury rehabilitation journey.
Seeing the range of abilities that ‘’adaptive’’ golf as OCF offers it can facilitate, helps you to adjust your perspective of what is possible to achieve in spite of some physical or mental limitations you may have as a result of your injuries. The events also help you to re-experience the ‘’robust’’ military banter and camaraderie that you are used to and in many cases miss dearly.
Cornelia won the golf gold medal at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto.
What do you hope to gain from On Course Foundation in the future?: I hope to continue to hone my golf, improve my handicap and reach a stage where I can competently compete at increasingly higher levels of competition eg county level and perhaps beyond. I also hope to support other OCF members during events in whatever way I can and to enjoy the excellent events that OCF host as it boosts my morale significantly and helps me to continue with a distinct sporting focus to my injury rehabilitation journey, as I know it does for other beneficiaries.
ABOUT US
On Course Foundation continue to provide positive provision for wounded, injured and sick Service personnel and veterans - supporting their recovery and transition to civilian life through confidence building golf events and opportunities for employment in the golf industry.
As a sport, golf offers a unique platform where players of all skills and backgrounds can compete healthily, improving not only their physical but mental strength too. With many lacking self- belief, it’s our aim to help our beneficiaries realise their potential and set them on a fulfilling path.
Formed in 2010, we have seen first-hand that that participation in golf can have a profound positive effect on the rehabilitation of our beneficiaries.