Bernd Ritthammer returned to professional golf this week for the first time since last November following a life-changing nine months
The German, who lives just 40 minutes from Wittelsbacher Golfclub, where this week’s Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG is taking place, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour at the end of January, just two months after his wife gave birth to twins.
The 36-year-old, a three-time winner on the Challenge Tour during a career spanning 16 years, has endured a range of emotions in the time that followed his diagnosis, and he admits returning to golf following surgery hasn’t been easy.
“Today it’s four months ago that I had the surgery,” he said. “To be able to stand here and play at a somewhat decent level is nice because it feels a bit like normality which I haven’t felt in months.
“In May last year, we found out that my wife was expecting twins. They were born just before Christmas, so we now have three little boys. I knew already after finding that out, combined with not playing well, that I’d take a break over the winter. Then at the end of January I had the diagnosis and it was clear pretty quickly that the tumour had to be taken out. When you have a serious health issue, nothing else matters.
“I had the surgery which went well but the recovery is still taking some time. l feel things when I shake my head, I sometimes feel dizzy, it’s still there but I can live with it. I can still rip a drive though.”
To Ritthammer results on the course are now secondary and through adversity he’s found other opportunities in the world of golf that are keeping him busy as he decides whether or not to continue playing competitively.
“My life has been everything else but normal over the past few months,” he added. “There’s been a lot of time thinking about my career, the kids and the surgery. It’s been very challenging to be honest.
“I started focussing on different things in the golfing world. I’m here with a German golf podcast, and we’ve been to a few other events, like the BMW International Open and the Porsche European Open.
“I played probably around 400 professional tournaments for 16 years and I’ve tried really hard. Hopefully today wasn’t my last day on tour and I’d like to keep playing the German events if I can and maybe get an invite here or there.
“I’ll definitely be staying in golf, as a lot of doors have opened up all of a sudden. It’s been good to know that there’s space for someone like me.”
