Texas commit Cole Hammer healing nicely after right elbow surgery
Cole Hammer
(Golfweek Photo)
(November 21, 2016) -- 17-year-old Texas commit Cole Hammer is currently recovering nicely from a right elbow surgery that was performed September 16th at Texas Orthopedic Hospital in his hometown of Houston.
“It was time to get something done with my arm,” Hammer told Golfweek on Sunday night at the Rolex Junior All-America Awards Banquet proceeding the AJGA's Polo Golf Junior Classic. "I hurt it playing baseball when I was younger and it bothered me this summer. We knew what the problem was, and for me to be able to get physically stronger in the long run, I needed to get it done. I had the surgery and it was very successful.”
At the banquet Hammer was honored as a first-team Rolex Junior All-American.
The discomfort in his elbow reached its tipping point over the summer and whenever he moved his arm up and down he would hear a pop.
Presented with two options, either remove the bone chips or go through a more intensive surgery, Hammer choose for the latter in hopes that the solution would be more permanent.
So in September the 2015 U.S. Open participant underwent what is called Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation Surgery where, "they took cartilage from my knee and put it into my elbow where the unhealthy cartilage was,” Hammer said. "I basically have a brand new elbow.”
The recovery is progressing nicely and if all continues to go well Hammer can return to the course just after the New Year and has his eyes set on returning to competitive golf at the Jones Cup from February 3-5.
Editors Note: Brentley Romine and Golfweek contributed to this story