Who knew the versatility of golf rainsuits in this pandemic moment?
It turns out that, if necessary, they can be pressed into service as personal protective equipment for world’s front-line caregivers.
How this came to be is a winding journey that began with a simple phone call by a priest in the Chicago area. The Rev. Jim Swarthout serves as a director at AMITA Health, one of the largest health-care organizations in the country, with 320 sites in Illinois. Father Jimmy is not a golfer, but in a routine AMITA meeting about COVID-19, he learned that golf rainsuits, worn backward, could serve as suitable PPE. In fact, they could be worn again and again after proper cleansing.
Father Jimmy called his childhood friend, Steve Skinner, CEO of Kemper Sports Management, one of the leading golf-course operators in the country. Skinner drafted his colleague, Gary Binder, a 40-year PGA of America member who serves as an executive vice president at Kemper, to lead the effort. Binder reached out to Carrie Williams, the executive director ...
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