Jim Dickerson, PGA teaching professional at the University of Iowa Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City and the PGA director of instruction for the GIVE (Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere) Foundation at Blue Top Ridge Golf Course at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort in Riverside, has been named the recipient of the 2014 Patriot Award by the PGA of America.
Since 2008, he has been the lead instructor for the GIVE Foundation, a national golf rehabilitation model for its success in using the game of golf to aid in a veteran’s recovery from both physical injuries and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) issues.
“The veterans relate to me because of my experience and I relate to them,” says Dickerson. “We share things besides golf. There are intangibles about what this program has accomplished. It’s a special relationship, hard to describe and nothing that you can put your finger on. Our shared experience is more a matter of trust. Golf is the best thing happening to many of them. The game makes them focus. Through it all, I think that my students trust me even more.”
Dickerson, 70, has guided more than 600 veterans and their families to learn the game of golf. Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa and raised in Iowa City, Dickerson was a 1962 graduate of Iowa City High School. He is a retired Sergeant Major who served in 1968 in Vietnam as a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Following his 1991 retirement from the Army, Dickerson became an assistant professional at Finkbine Golf Course and was elected to PGA membership in 1995. He is the first Iowa PGA Section member to receive the National Patriot Award and was the inaugural Iowa Section Patriot Award recipient in 2013; and won the 2012 Section Bill Strausbaugh Award, presented to those who distinguish themselves by mentoring fellow PGA Professionals in improving their employment situations and through service to the community.
Dickerson and his wife, Lyra, live in Iowa City, and are the parents of three daughters: Paige, Leigh, Jamie; and have seven grandchildren.
About the Patriot Award
Originated in 2008, the Patriot Award is presented at the PGA Annual Meeting and follows the inspiration of Patriot Golf Day founder Major Dan Rooney, a PGA Professional from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the award’s first honoree. The Patriot Award is presented by the PGA of America to a PGA Professional who personifies patriotism through the game of golf and demonstrates unwavering commitment and dedication to the men and women who have valiantly served and protected the United States of America.