Jim Estes PGA SMGA Founder
In Memory of Staff Sgt. Michael Downing
Bobby Orr & SMGA Friends Mike Downing (L)
Click on this link for a video about SMGA beginnings
Jim Estes, a former PGA Tour player and childhood friend Jamie Winslow, co-founded the Salute Military Golf Association in late 2006. They both saw first-hand the positive force the game of golf could play in the recovery process for our nation’s wounded warriors. SMGA began with the purpose of creating a therapeutic outlet for Post 9/11 veterans undergoing prolonged medical treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.
The Salute Military Golf Association (SMGA) New England Chapter, a 501c3 non-profit was founded in March 2013 in an effort to bring the game of golf to post-9/11 injured veterans throughout New England as a form of mental and physical rehabilitation.
Eligible veterans include those wounded, injured, or suffering illness (including PTSD and TBI) as a result of combat while participating in post-9/11 military contingency operations.
Click on this link for a video about SMGA New England’s Beginnings
Our Mission
“A Game with The Power to Heal Wounded Veterans”
We Believe in the Healing Powers of the Game of Golf and Sharing it with our Post 9-11 Combat Injured and Wounded Veterans. Our entire program is built upon this belief statement.
We believe that learning and playing the game of golf on beautiful golf courses alongside current and past serving brothers and sisters-in-arms helps to facilitate the healing and transition process. We have seen firsthand that golf can be a powerful tool in the ongoing recovery and reintegration process.
Click here for SMGA New England 2025 Brochure.
Feel Free to share the brochure with Veterans, golfing buddies and potential donors you know.
A Plan for Success
The SMGA plan is simple: provide a setting for participation, recreation, interaction and enjoyment in order to foster a true appreciation for the game of golf and build lasting friendships that extend past rehabilitation and far beyond the golf course.
The SMGA program is unique in that it actively incorporates the game of golf into the mental and physical rehabilitation of our post-9/11 injured veterans. Unlike any other sports, golf provides the setting for players of varying skill levels to participate, network, and socially interact.
Approximately 650 Post 9-11 Combat Wounded Veterans have received formal instruction and custom fitted Taylor Made golf clubs
More than 4,500 individual golf experiences
Monthly golf experiences at one of our participating courses (May-November)
SMGA New England is a Non-Profit All Volunteer organization that is authorized to operate under our National Chapter’s 501(C) 3 Federal ID # 65-1296873.
