ABOUT THE EXECUTIVES

Inspiring Warriors Golf is a dream-turned reality for Russ Holden, program founder. It was Russ’s touch with wounded veterans at the Texas Open in 2005 that ultimately sparked a passion and the fire to start Inspiring Warriors Golf, developing it into the program that it is today.

Holden has been a PGA of America Class A golf professional since 1985 and had the great fortune of being the Head Golf Professional at Woodfield Country Club in Boca Raton, FL. During his time at Woodfield, Holden befriended resident and two-time Masters Champion, Bernhard Langer. From this friendship, Russ began working on the PGA TOUR, caddying both full and part-time for the German Hall of Fame golfer from 1991 until 2006. Holden also served as Langer’s PGA TOUR instructor, coaching him to a 4th place finish in the 2004 Masters; a 5th place finish in the Open Championship in 2005 at Andrews; and served as the Caddy Captain of the European team at the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in Michigan.

Working with wounded veterans for nearly 20 years on the PGA TOUR and the Caddy For A Cure program, Holden knew that golf was a critical tool in the recovery of those men and women who have served so valiantly.  Utilizing his college education and business degree, combined with the skills of his wife, Colleen and her 20+ years of business experience and MBA education, Holden followed his presumption to make this concept a reality.

The inaugural Inspiring Warriors Golf program was conducted in December, 2021 as a beta test for the concept. The event was hosted in South Florida over the course of five days utilizing three world-class golf facilities. Twelve wounded veterans who had come through the CFAC program were flown in and hosted at a team hotel to set the stage for this team-focused program. The week involved intense golf instruction from golf professionals on three core aspects of the game: Drives, short game and putting. The veterans were split into small groups to rotate through each of the training stations to be able to receive adequate one-on-one instruction. Guest speakers delivered their messages of inspiration during breaks and group dinners, making this experience not only educational, but creating once-in-a-lifetime memories from their personalized messages. Special guests for the beta test were noteworthy including President Donald Trump, Gary Player, Hall of Fame member Dennis Walters, Bob Ford, Dr. Gary Wiren, and Dan Boever.