By Rick Abercrombie
In a recent appearance at the Optimist Club of St. Andrews-Irmo, Retired Army First Sergeant Alvin King described the work and mission of the Range Fore Hope Foundation (RFHF). In King’s words, RFHF is “Community driven, veteran focused.” King, founded RFHF in 2018.
RFHF uses all aspects of golf to bring veterans together to build community and to process their military experiences, up to and including PTSD. In many cases, RFHF shepherds veterans through their transitions into civilian life, again using golf as the common thread.
In early 2025, RFHF established an agenda of goals for its near future:
1. To partner with the healthcare community.
2. Set a goal of reaching 2,000 veterans through its programs by 2028.
3. Initiate a financial literacy education offering.
4. Offer a homebuyer’s education component focused on lower income veterans.
5. Expand the availability of adaptive golf equipment, which includes golf carts for paraplegics.
This goal would be to double the inventory of such equipment by 2027.
6. Attract experienced golfers to assist in introducing new golfers to the sport.
Some of the benefits of RFHF’s efforts include:
1. Physical activity that engages body and mind
2. Mental health. Golf can “depressurize” the stresses of being reintroduced to civilian life
3. Community engagement. RFHF golfers become a part of their surroundings rather than having a sense of isolation.
One notable success – an indicator of progress – is that RFHF recently staged the Palmetto State Adaptive Golf Tournament, a three-day event. That tournament now attracts golfers from 23 states.
There are two additional tournaments: Fairways to Freedom and King Fore a Day, scheduled for 2026.
