Brad Schubert: The Man, The Myth, The One-Legged Golfing Legend

Introducing the first in a series of interviews with amputees, medical professionals, and anyone that has experienced challenges. My goal with this series is to talk to as many experts as possible, hear their stories and learn along the way. Brad Schubert is an amputee advocate and an adaptive golf expert. During our hour interview I learned a great deal not only about him but golf and life.

The Amputee Journey Begins

Brad is an amputee from Illinois and just like me he’s a right leg below knee amputee (RBKA). His life-changing amputation happened in 2014, same as me there’s definitely some strange connection going on here,. Over the last 5 plus years he’s accomplished a great deal in the amputee community all through his personality and general love for helping people. 

Within 2 minutes of talking to Brad a few of things became apparent, he loves his family, is passionate about golf, and he has a devotion to helping others. To level set like thousands of amputees, every year, Brad lost his leg due to an illness. In his case it was Osteomyelitis which’s a bone disease. For over 8 years he battled this illness and after 9 surgeries, which is enough for anyone in a lifetime, he decided to have his right leg amputated. 

As an amputee due to a traumatic accident  I didn’t have a choice in keeping my leg or not, so for anyone to make a conscious decision to remove part of your body I give you all the respect in the world. Brad made this choice for himself and his family of 4 which includes a wife, son, and daughter. However, it was an event Brad went to 3 weeks prior to his amputation that seemed to be a turning point.

Road to Recovery

Brad was an avid golfer prior to his amputation and has only played more golf since. He talks about how “Golf is one of those great games where you don’t have to be athletic or very good to enjoy it, and it can be a challenge for even the greatest athletes”. As I mentioned in one of my other posts, golf was huge in my recovery process. Brad took this a step further 3 weeks prior to his amputation he attended an event hosted by the Mid West Amputee Golf Association or MWAGA for short. He was told about this event by some of the doctors he had been seeing leading up to his amputation. They mentioned it would be good for him to get involved in some support groups priors to his surgery. Brad was welcomed with open arms by then MWAGA president Jeff Linton. After, spending the day with a bunch of amputees hacking up the golf course he left with a sense of relief that everything was going to be okay after his amputation. 

Next came the surgery and recovery. Brad’s whole family supported him saying his daughter was a great nurse. Tending to his every need as well as a 6-year-old can. After a fall and winter of recovery Brad was back swinging a golf club within months. This speedy recovery allowed him to play in the same golf event he had been a spectator at the year prior. 

If playing golf wasn’t enough he immediately dove foot first into MWAGA becoming the vice president then a year later the president and a trustee for the National Amputee Golf Association NAGA. If he wasn’t busy enough, yes I’m still surprised he had time for my interview, Brad’s a peer counselor for the Amputee Coalition of America helping new amputees adjust to their new lives and teaching that “If you want something to improve the quality of your life you have to be your own advocate for it you have to fight for it”.

Positive Mindset

When talking to Brad about his positive mindset he expressed how  “The big thing now is there’s so much more that, an amputee can do then in the past”. The advances in prosthetic technology have brought both a youth and an adaptive golfer movement to the amputee golf community, which has become a safe space for all adaptive golfers just not amputees. Clearly it’s not a bad time to be an amputee. One of his best pieces of advice was “Whether you think you can or you can’t you’re right”. Meaning you’re in control of your mindset and expectations you have to believe and work towards anything before you can achieve it. 

This mindset clearly comes from his strong support system saying his wife is his biggest fan and toughest critic pushing him to always keep working often telling him to “Suck it up buttercup!”. His brother is also a character buying him toe socks and a bag of miracle grow fertilizer for his first Christmas post-amputation. (My brother got me a socks for my first birthday after my amputation. Love ya, Kevin!) 

Keep in mind that Brad was a loud and outgoing person before his amputation. Calling himself a big John Daily fan who is one of the most outrageous golfers of all time just look at this article about his crazy outfits. Brad credits his relationship with the company LoudMouth, a golf apparel company that makes custom clothes with any pattern, for letting his personality show during golf. He’s convinced them to make custom fabric covers for his prosthetic socket making him truly one of a kind.

New Challenge

The next challenge on Brad’s radar is playing in the 25th Annual  Phoenix Cup this fall in Scotland. This is a 6-day 5 golf course tournament to raise awareness for all golfers with any sort of disability. Yes, he told me he’s got 6 custom outfits all planned out each one more wild than the next. You can follow his team’s journey here. 

Finally, I want to give Brad a big THANK YOU for talking with me. His mindset is one I aspire to work towards and it’s relatable to any tough situation not just amputees. He may still be new to amputee life but he’s making the most of it. Check out his LinkedIn and Facebook to learn even more about the man, the myth, the legend.