Golf is a game of numbers and for we crude amateurs often a game of eye-wateringly high numbers. For Anthony Netto, there are other figures that are not scribbled down on a scorecard and are far, far more important than a par here, a birdie there or a triple-bogey goodness knows where.

“We have 22 suicides a day among our US veterans,” said Netto, a former paratrooper whose remarkable rehabilitation through the game of golf is a tale of both inspiration and innovation. “Even one is way too many but I know that this little golf ball is a big white tablet that you don’t have to swallow and it seems to be helping people.”

Netto’s back story is one riddled with violence and misfortune but his spirit and resolve in the face of life’s cruel twists continues to be uplifting. The South African-born US veteran and professional golfer was shot through the hip while on frontline duty in Iraq in 1991 and three years later suffered more devastating spinal injuries when he was hit by a drunk driver. “I was then struck down with MS,” added the 53-year-old as he reflected on a triple whammy of unimaginable magnitude.

Paralysed from the waist down, Netto flung himself into the challenges of playing golf as a paraplegic and has spent the last number of years developing the Paragolfer machine, an elaborate, flexible, three-wheeled mobility buggy that elevates and allows the disabled golfer to be raised from a seated to a standing position. “Now they are standing tall,” added Netto. “The self-esteem comes back. You are standing eye to eye with your opponent or colleague. I hear people saying ‘nobody wants to play golf in a wheelchair’ and I say ‘well, have you tried?’ I have been very fortunate to survive what I’ve been through. I’ve gone through the various stages, quadriplegic to paraplegic, I was hitting one arm, then hitting with two arms. I can hit it 305 yards. Guys like us are not crippled golfers.”

On Thursday night, Netto was at Mearns Castle on Glasgow’s southside to officially launch Paragolf Scotland, an initiative by the Scottish charity Social Care Ideas Factory and backed by the Watson Foundation. At around £20,000 per cart, the Paragolfer machine is not cheap but the Mearns Castle facility has already invested in two to blaze a trail in this country. Netto is desperate for this golfing gospel to be spread far and wide across the home of the game. “I know they are expensive but it’s only a matter of time before they cost as much as a normal cart,” said Netto, whose dream is to see the Paragolf buggy available to rent on the Old Course at St Andrews. “As soon as you make it accessible, the game grows. The Royal & Ancient could change the face of the sport and help this go where it needs to go. If they came to the table and helped then it would be a perfect solution. I’m hoping to get Sandy Lyle on board to help promote it. It’s about getting people together. Many hands make light work.”

Working with people with all manner of disabilities, Netto has witnessed at first hand the powerful, therapeutical properties of golf. The game also continues to be his own soothing support mechanism. “I could easily have been one of those 22 daily suicides during my low moments,” he admitted. “This project is now my medicine and my therapy. It keeps my demons at bay. I think I am now more powerful trying to help save a life than playing myself. I’ve had a lot of issues to deal with but somehow hitting that little stupid ball does the trick. It doesn’t have to go 300 yards to put a smile on the face and change the mindset. The first time I realised how powerful this game could be was when a 14-year-old kid came to me and thanked me for giving him the opportunity to do something with his dad. His dad never did anything with him in his wheelchair and the kid was 14.”

For Netto, there is one satisfyingly simple and liberating benefit that the Paragolf machine has brought. “The biggest highlight apart from hitting a golf ball was going down the fairway and finding a bush because I needed to pee,” he said with a chuckle. “And I could do it. That is not normal after you’ve been sitting in a wheelchair for years.”