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Kan. man sending used golf gear to troops

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A sudden warm snap has many Kansans dusting off the golf clubs and preparing to hit the links. But it has brought a different idea to the mind of a Lawrence golf shop owner.

Kyle Taylor of USA Golf came up with an idea recently to gather used golf clubs and balls and ship them to troops in Iraq, who could use them in their free time in the world’s largest sand trap.

When the collection drive ended Monday, Taylor had about 2,500 clubs and between 12,000 and 15,000 golf balls.

“It’s been overwhelming,” Taylor said. “It was more than I ever expected. I knew we would have a good turnout. It was just incredible.”

Taylor said he is contributing about 200 clubs from his own store and that Alvamar Golf Course also pitched in. The next step is to pack up the clubs and balls and ship them to Give2theTroops, a nonprofit organization based in Connecticut.

“We’re just kind of overwhelmed right now. There’s so much, and we’re trying to get through it,” Taylor said. “We have everything. We have complete sets. We’ve got drivers, irons, putters, wedges ... and lots of golf balls.”

The golf shop owner won’t be footing the shipping costs himself. He received almost $1,000 in donations to help cover that, and he’s working with a freight company that has offered to ship the equipment free or at a reduced rate.

“If that happens, any [cash] donations that we received, we’re going to give directly to that organization, Give2theTroops,” he said.

Taylor picked up the idea from a customer who returned from Iraq last fall. The customer said troops have a lot of free time and had come across an old golf club and some balls that they shared.

The idea isn’t entirely unique, though.

A city clerk in Evansville, Ind., led a drive last month that collected more than 12,000 golf balls for troops. In Garden City, a woman whose son was stationed in Iraq began collecting clubs during the 2005 holiday season to send to her son and others in his company. Five Wichita-area golf courses helped out.

“I wanted to give stuff to those guys over there,” Taylor said “If it makes people kind of think about them a little bit, then we’ve done our job here.”