VERONA, Pa. – A persistent drizzle prevented some 150 juniors from enjoying an outdoor “classroom” Monday at the PGA of America’s Community Relations Youth Golf Clinic, but PGA Honorary Member Dennis Walters offered the perfect indoor “mulligan” at Green Oaks Country Club in Verona, Pa.

Walters, a PGA honorary member from Plantation, Fla., is one of the country’s most unique golf trick shot performers. Joined by his pet dog and companion for seven years, Benji Hogan, Walters delivered inspirational messages that convey golf’s long-term, character-building values for youths representing four Greater Pittsburgh golf organizations.

The PGA Community Relations Youth Golf Clinic is held in conjunction with The 66th Senior PGA Championship, which is being conducted through May 29, at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pa. The clinic is one of many programs sponsored by the PGA Foundation, which offers opportunities in golf for those who may otherwise not have the opportunity to play the game. PGA of America President Roger Warren opened the program with his own motivational words to inspire the youngsters in the audience to continue to learn and enjoy the game. The clinic was to have involved nearly 40 members of the Tri-State PGA Section, all of whom are closely associated with Greater Pittsburgh’s youth groups. Walters took over from there and drew rave reviews.

“Never give up on your dream,” said Walters, who overcame a golf cart accident in 1974 that left him a paraplegic. “Thirty years ago, I was paralyzed from the waist down. And when doctors told me that I would never play golf again, I said, ‘No way I was going to give up golf.’ Never let someone tell you that you can’t do something. You can do it, if you are willing to pay the price. I believe that there are only a few things in life that are impossible.”

And Walters has proved to thousands of golf enthusiasts that he can bring both golf and dreams together. He estimates that he has given more than 2,000 performances, while conducting an exhausting annual travel schedule that totals 100,000 miles and between 90 and 100 programs.

“This is great for the kids,” said Renee Abrams, director of the Pittsburgh Youth Golf Foundation. “We couldn’t get outside today, but Dennis did a great job.”

Walters’ 43-foot Newmar Mountain Air Van, equipped with all the luxuries of home, has rolled into the parking lots of thousands of golf facilities during the past three decades.

Benji Hogan is the third pet that Walters has teamed to produce the “Dennis Walters Golf Show,” succeeding the late “Muffin”and “Mulligan.” Benji Hogan, whom Walters rescued from a Miami Animal Shelter, has what his owner calls, “An infinite data base in his head. He is fantastic, and we have a never-ending team experience.”