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The amazing story of triple amputee Nick Kimmel
The Team USA debutant shares details of his inspiring recovery from the horrific injuries he sustained in battle, and the key role golf has played along the way.



The Simpson Cup has attracted many extraordinary individuals over the last decade, and each participant has their own unique tale of facing up to adversity, and conquering it. But the story of California's Nick Kimmel is as compelling as any of them, and he will become the first triple amputee in the event's history when hostilities resume at The Creek in October.

And it's fair to say that no one is more excited to write this next chapter than Kimmel himself.

"It feels amazing to be representing my country once again," the 31-year old beamed. "Especially given the current climate in the Middle East - to be a part of a team with national pride, and coming together to fight adversity. I’m truly honored to be asked to play with all these incredible servicemen and women. I can’t wait to meet and mingle with our counterparts from across the pond too."

Kimmel's road to the Simpson Cup, clearly, has been a challenging one, and his story was shaped during his early years. Growing up in the small farm town of Moses Lake in Washington, Kimmel competed in every sport available to him - including golf, baseball, basketball, surfing, snowboarding, soccer and even dirt bike riding.

Of all his exceptional sporting talents, it was baseball which stood out, and he earned a partial scholarship out of high school. But, having felt a calling to serve his country, a future in the military beckoned.

"Even with my partial baseball scholarship, college was still going to cost my family a sizable chunk of change," he explained. "At the time, my best friends I grew up with were already committed to joining the military, and they gave me a nudge to talk to a recruiter. 

"Once I did that, that drive to serve was definitely brought out. That, and the idea that I could challenge myself by joining the toughest branch of the military: the US Marine Corps."

He enlisted in 2008, and rose to the role of Sergeant, Combat Engineer. He deployed around the world, including Japan, Korea, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and many others. But it was Afghanistan where he faced his toughest test, and, ultimately, where his military career came to an abrupt end.

"I actually did two tours to Afghanistan," he recalls. "I remember on my first trip in Southern Helmand, my platoon spent the whole deployment doing route clearance and road repair on a 15-kilometer road and found over 190 IEDs."

Kimmel continued: "In December 2011, my platoon was tasked with building two small patrol bases in the Sangin Valley in Northern Helmand. On day four of the mission, I was standing on the forks of a forklift ensuring the roof was square on a guard post. When I jumped off, I landed on 40lbs of homemade explosives. Luckily only 13lbs detonated, but it still instantly took both my legs above the knee, and my left arm above the elbow.

"I spent the whole month of December having surgery every other day cleaning out my wounds. In January of 2012 I started my rehab. The doctors advised me it would be around 13 months for me to be up and walking on full-length prosthetics. I was able to do it in seven. In fact, I was able to stand on the flight deck when my unit came back from Afghanistan."



It's a harrowing, yet uplifting recollection of events. But while Kimmel's physical recovery was ahead of the game, it was clear to him that this was only half the battle. He needed renewed purpose, and golf provided just the tonic.

"I’ve been golfing since I was 10-years old," said Kimmel. "I didn’t play competitively in high school because baseball took precedence, but I continued to play, to the point where I was a low single-digit handicap.

"Right after my injury, I was invited out to a golf course when I was still wheelchair-bound. I tried to do some putting and chipping, but it just wasn’t the same. Then in 2015, my two best friends convinced me to go golfing with them. By this stage I was up and walking, and suddenly I was hooked on the game again. It’s been a huge learning curve golfing with only one limb. I still think like a traditional golfer, but my swing is so reliant on tempo and rhythm!"

His current handicap of 18, given his disabilities, is quite remarkable. But the handicap system itself is what makes golf unique, and enables veterans like Kimmel to compete again. It is this principle upon which the On Course Foundation was founded, and he is full of praise for the charity when explaining how it has benefited his recovery.

"I actually heard about OCF from my teammate Jesse Williamson, who also went through rehab with me. I remember being extremely jealous laid up in a hospital bed during the 2019 Simpson Cup at St. Andrews, as Jesse was sending me pictures!" Kimmel laughed. 

"The biggest thing the charity has done for me is reignite my drive for golf. It gives me something I can focus on, and forget all my daily troubles. Plus the camaraderie with fellow veterans is a huge positive. I feel like we as veterans are always trying to find ways to reconnect, and this gives us the perfect platform to do it."

So what does an average day look like in the life of Nick Kimmel? As you will have probably guessed by now, it doesn't involve any sitting around the house, nor indulgence in self-pity. Instead, this awe-inspiring young man chooses to stay optimistic about the future, and get the most out of life.

"A typical day for me is definitely golf centered," he noted. "As long as I don’t have any medical appointments, I spend at least five days a week at the golf course. Outside of golf, I have quite the motorhead hobby too. I have a restored 1961 corvette, and I also built a Jeep Wrangler that I take rock crawling all over the Southwest. Additionally, I built a Toyota Tacoma pickup into a desert race truck, and I've got aspirations to race The Baja 1000 someday."

Kimmel concluded: "All things considered, I try to be a positive person, given my struggles. The way I look at my injury - it is what it is, and I can only move forward. Ultimately, I strive to live the best life I can for my brothers and sisters who never left Afghanistan and Iraq."