Life Sport Mcelhinny Isn’t Too Distraught That Knee Injuries Forced Him Out Of Other Sports And Into Golf

Golf courses are loaded with people who once played football or basketball.

Golfer Tim McElhinny just figures he has an early jump on other 18-year-olds.

Under different circumstances, McElhinny might have been a star quarterback and basketball player for University High.

Three knee surgeries later, however, and McElhinny is quite adjusted to life on the links.

“If I hadn’t hurt my knee, I don’t know where I would have gone,” said the Titans senior. “But it’s a big ‘if.’ In a way, I think it’s fortunate.”

Fortunate, he figures, because he found a sport to play the rest of his life.

“I can see myself, at age 80, trying to break my age,” McElhinny said.

“Golf to me is individually satisfying. It’s a sport that nobody’s going to master.”

McElhinny and good friend Matt Johnson, a four-year varsity member, split time as U-Hi’s No. 1 golfer. The Titans are defending Greater Spokane League champions and are undefeated this season after a two-stroke win over Mead.

McElhinny thought the Titans would give up five-to-six strokes to Mead after the graduation of Marc Waddington, last year’s state AAA champion.

McElhinny came into his own as a golfer last year by twice carding better rounds than Waddington.

U-Hi golf coach Dale Bouge said McElhinny’s challenges made Waddington better in the long run.

McElhinny, in turn, said he has improved because of Johnson.

Johnson and McElhinny were friends and fellow baseball pitchers during seventh grade at Bowdish Junior High. Johnson invited his friend to play golf, then soundly whipped him.

That began a friendly competition which promises to endure for at least two more years. Both golfers plan to compete for Community Colleges of Spokane.

McElhinny wouldn’t have predicted this course of events five years ago. The Fountain Valley, Calif., native led his junior high football team to an unbeaten season, prompting a visit from a U-Hi coach who wondered if McElhinny would stay with the sport.

He did, at least until a practice drill in ninth grade. Taught to spin off would-be tacklers, McElhinny attempted the move at the same time someone stepped on his foot.

McElhinny tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The same year, coming down with a rebound while playing basketball, McElhinny’s knee brace broke and he tore his meniscus.

The same injury occurred during his junior year, when he attempted a football comeback.

“I don’t have the muscle mass in my leg that I used to,” McElhinny said. “You literally lose it overnight.”

He didn’t lose his desire to compete. Bouge recruited him for golf - a move that has benefited both.

“I picked up golf just to be active,” McElhinny said. “Since then, I’ve had the privilege of having pros talk to me and having a course (Painted Hills) nearby.”

McElhinny occasionally walks with a limp, as was the case last week when he completed 18 holes on hilly Indian Canyon Golf Course during a cool early evening.

GSL golfers will qualify for the state tournament at The Creek at Qualchan by golfing rounds at Indian Canyon and MeadowWood, U-Hi’s home course.