Janus Persaud, a US Marine Corps sergeant from Yonkers who served his country for ten years, has been named to help his fellow disabled veterans in the Met PGA Section as a PGA HOPE ambassador. The vet was introduced to golf through the PGA HOPE program in 2016 and became an avid golfer and stalwart advocate for the cause.
His first PGA HOPE clinic inspired Persaud to dive deep into the game and PGA professional Nick Iacono of Ardsley CC took him under his wing and provided individual lessons to help him achieve his potential. He also nominated Persaud for the Ambassador program.
Persaud was one of the first veterans to experience PGA HOPE in the Met Section, which began in 2015 with a single group of 25 vets who met at the West Point Golf Course under the tutelage of volunteer PGA professionals from the Met Section. Today, PGA HOPE locally has three chapters serving 600 military veterans throughout Westchester, the Hudson Valley, Long Island, and the Bronx.
Persaud was one of 20 veterans named PGA HOPE Ambassadors from around the country following the completion of a specialized training program during the Inaugural PGA HOPE National Golf & Wellness Week, which was conducted in October at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. The four-day program included advanced golf instruction and wellness training.
Each new PGA HOPE Ambassador will now represent their respective PGA of America Section and support their fellow Veterans in communities across the country during PGA HOPE clinics and training programs using a specially designed golf and wellness tool kit they received that included golf training tips, exercises and other recommendations for healthy living.
“We congratulate each of these 20 heroes on their successful completion of PGA HOPE National Golf & Wellness Week,” says PGA REACH Senior Director Ryan Cannon. “Their commitment to protecting our freedoms and helping others provides inspiration to us all.”
