A program designed to help those in need through golf.

“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life,” the great Bobby Jones once said. “You have to play the ball where it lies.” Also known as Rule 9, it basically advises us to sleep in the bed that we make for ourselves, whether embedded in a bunker or weathering storms in our personal lives. As the Italian version of the proverb advises: “You bought the bicycle, now ride it.”

Strict rules and sappy sayings aside, the founders of Recovery Shot — a charitable organization with roots in Southern California — see the game of golf as a blessing, not a burden, especially for those facing adversity. According to their mission statement, the aim is to “deliver healing, hope and inclusion through the power of golf.”

And for the co-founding couple — Dennis and Deborah Leoni — the origin story of Recovery Shot couldn’t be more personal.

Several years ago, Dennis suffered two debilitating strokes that prevented him from playing the game his father suggested he take up in order to open up life’s doors on some distant future day. Learn how to type as well, his prescient elder suggested — and wouldn’t you know that his dutiful son wound up becoming an award-winning writer and producer of the groundbreaking Showtime family drama “Resurrection Blvd.,” which debuted in 2000. And golf became an abiding passion until medical challenges suddenly entered stage left.

According to his wife, Deborah, Dennis might have been relegated to “watching old Westerns from a BarcaLounger” were it not for the efforts of his longtime friend, aerospace engineer and showbiz veteran Robert Herschbach, whose efforts to get his buddy back to his happy place on the golf course planted the seed that would one day result in the flowering of Recovery Shot.

Working with another dear pal — writer and producer James Hirsch, a longtime member at Brentwood CC — the Leonis realized that the game of golf could be a vital lifeline for others beset by physical and psychological challenges. Brentwood’s Director of Golf, James Rocco, was also an early true believer in the project.

Fortunately, Spanish Hills Club member Herschbach persuaded then-head pro Leo Lee to let Dennis ride around with him in his cart just to get him out of the den and breathing fresh air, a strategy that paid off and then some. “From that point forward,” Deborah recalled, “as Dennis started to take a few swings here and there, the club members all got turned on by his steady progress and were rooting for him. By the time he played his first 18 holes, Recovery Shot was well on its way to taking root at Spanish Hills, where it remains to this day through the efforts of former DOG Mark Wilson and current head honcho, Chris Paredes. Justyn Madden, a past pro at The Saticoy Club and Montecito, also lends his considerable teaching skills to the program.”

Here are the nuts and bolts of the effort: The “on-course buddy program” invites those in need to play 24 rounds accompanied by a companion, usually in the afternoon, any day of the week (at a private club, mind you!).

“Imagine that — golf as good medicine, not as an occasion for grousing about the birdie putt that lipped out! I think that’s what they call perspective”

One grateful beneficiary of the program is Flora K., an 86-year-old widow and stroke survivor who is back to playing golf and making jewelry (donated to the charity’s fundraising auctions) after suffering from depression and social isolation. Imagine that — golf as good medicine, not as an occasion for grousing about the birdie putt that lipped out! I think that’s what they call perspective.

The Recovery Shot for Vets effort is for former military members afflicted by various service-related challenges. 1st Sgt. Michael Bell is a true believer: “Since beginning golf three years ago, I have seen a tremendous change to my mental and physical health. Having PTSD, I have learned that playing golf allows me to be sociable without being overwhelmed.”

And the Youth Golf Program — in concert with The Boys and Girls Club of Oxnard/Port Hueneme — offers 5-to-12-year-olds summer golf clinics and weekly play, with a little help from The Saticoy Club’s director of golf, Mike Moran, who shuttles club pros Tyler Dofflow and JJ Holen to Spanish Hills to pass on their wisdom to the game’s next generation.