Fightmaster Cup returns to Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Fightmaster Cup is back in Louisville for the second time.

It's a Ryder Cup-type event for the best one-armed golfers from Europe and North America. Named for Kentucky Hall of Famer, the late Don Fightmaster, a pioneer for amputees and a one-armed golf champion, it brings together the best of sport and the human spirit.

Louisville native Alan Gentry has enjoyed seeing the growth of an event he was instrumental in starting 15 years ago.

"We've been in Wales and Scotland and England, and California and Chicago and Kentucky in the United States," said Gentry. "It's really become the premier one-arm event in the world."

The Fightmaster Cup is match play, set up just like the Ryder Cup with 12 team members on each side competing over three days. The North American team won the inaugural event here in 2008, but hasn't won since.

"I've been on every losing team, and I really want to win this one," said North American champion Vincent Biser of Baltimore with a laugh. "I'm getting tired of losing."

"I missed the first one so fortunate enough that I haven't tasted defeat in one yet," said Cian Arthurs, the current Irish champion and member of Team Europe.

The 24 players on both sides represent many of the top one-armed players in the world. They are fierce competitors, bonded by a common experience.

"I think the word respect and acknowledgement that we're all here," said European Team Player/Captain and London resident Keith Dewhurst. "It just shows you that with commitment, we all have different abilities, but if you're committed to something, it's amazing what you can achieve in life."

"From day one you grow friendships with people who have been in similar situations or have had accidents or have had something similar happen to them in life," said Arthurs. "They understand you. They understand what it's like, and they understand what it takes to keep pushing and moving forward with it. We're like a band of brothers."

The competition begins Wednesday at Covered Bridge Golf Club in Sellersburg, Indiana, then continues Thursday and Friday at South Park Country Club.