Texas Military Veteran Says Playing Golf Has Helped His PTSD

"When I joined the Marine Corps, initially, I was an infantryman. Got accepted to go to 1st Marine Division Scout Sniper course where I passed," Ashby explained.

And following his time in the Marines…

"Conducted well over 1,000 classified operations," Ashby told KTVT-TV.

He returned to North Texas to deal with PTSD.

"There was a lot of things going on in my head that I didn't know how to deal with," he said.

He found comfort in a place that some might not expect. A golf course.

Ashby admits the game, which he picked up three years ago, is frustrating.

Along his golfing journey, he met PGA Tour caddie, James Edmonson.

"He sees the future now. I think he felt like he was in a box and there's thousands of guys like him," said Edmonson.

The caddie works with PGA Tour player, Ryan Palmer.

"It's pretty cool to see what the game of golf has brought him. The change in his life. And the peace and happiness it brought him. That's huge for what those guys have gone through," said Palmer.

But, Ashby didn't stop with just hitting golf balls. At the age of 39, he made the Texas Wesleyan University golf team as a redshirt freshman. He's playing with golfers who are half his age.

"The therapy I got just by teeing it up with guys who were ranked number one in the nation, NAIA, for a large part of the season and just teeing it up with them and playing with them and competing with them day in and day out has been huge," said Ashby.

And one more twist to this story. Ashby and his wife of 19 years are expecting their first child, a girl, in November.