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Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, practices his swing at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen, who lives in Oakland, lost both of his feet in 2014 when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, poses for a portrait at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen lost both of his feet in 2014, when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, poses for a portrait at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen, who lives in Oakland, lost both of his feet in 2014 when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, practices his swing at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen, an Oakland resident, lost both of his feet when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

Erik Bowen naturally gravitated to golf. He played several sports growing up near San Diego and then Denver — soccer, football, baseball, basketball — but his dad, Jeff, was an avid golfer. So young Erik often hung out in the pro shop as a kid, until he was old enough to join his dad on the course.

They watched tournaments on television nearly every Sunday. Bowen became a scratch player, just like his dad, and excelled on his high school team in Colorado.

He wasn’t quite good enough to play in college, but he embraced the game as his all-consuming hobby. Bowen even won the club championship at Riverdale Dunes in Brighton, Colo., at age 33.

He never imagined he would need to learn how to play golf all over again a year later — after losing both of his feet.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, practices his chipping at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen, who lives in Oakland, lost both of his feet in 2014 when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

Bowen, an Oakland resident, will play in the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open starting Monday at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. He arrives with serious credentials — ranked No. 1 in the country among double amputees and No. 136 in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability.

He also brings a harrowing story.

Bowen, now 42, and his wife, Jodie, had been married 10 months when he started getting chills at work one day in December 2013. He went out to his car, turned on the heater full blast and drove home.

The next day his temperature reached 101 degrees. It climbed higher the day after. He got up during the night to use the bathroom, came back and lay down next to the bed in the fetal position, saying, “Help me.”

Jodie called an ambulance, launching their terrifying odyssey. Erik was diagnosed with strep throat and pneumonia, which had quickly caused him to go into septic shock. His temperature soared to 105. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma.

Jodie Bowen struggled to comprehend the scene. She once had strep throat, a common bacterial infection, but she had no idea it could put her young, vibrant, previously healthy husband in this precarious condition.

“At first, it was disbelief,” Jodie said. “Just devastating.”

She has a “horrifying” photo of Erik in his hospital bed, connected to every tube imaginable. At one point, a doctor told Jodie that Erik had a 30% chance of surviving.

“It was incredibly scary,” she said.

On Christmas Eve, doctors were close to amputating his feet, which had become necrotic. But Jodie successfully lobbied to consult an orthopedic surgeon, who insisted they hold off on amputation. He thought Erik’s feet might come back.

So they woke up Erik and told him what was happening.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, walks to his cart at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen, who lives in Oakland, lost both of his feet in 2014, when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

“I was kind of in shock, like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” he said. “I looked down at my feet and they had turned dark blue.”

He stayed in the hospital through January 2014, during which time Jodie received her own chilling diagnosis — she had leukemia. Her mom flew from Canada to take her to her first oncology appointment, and Jodie worked through heavy fatigue as she started chemotherapy.

She also struggled with the emotional toll, because the chemo ended the couple’s plans to have kids.

As Jodie began her treatments, Erik came home in February 2014 with his feet in soft-cast boots. His doctors maintained faint hope the feet could come back.

But they turned blacker and blacker over the ensuing weeks. Finally, it was clear: His feet would have to be amputated. Erik became depressed, wondering how and why his life suddenly took this grim turn.

One amputee organization soon connected Bowen to a man from Minnesota who lost his leg in a factory accident. They met for lunch, and the man walked in on his prosthetic leg and explained how he still rode his motorcycle and routinely went hiking, skiing and rock climbing.

“It was super cool,” Erik recalled. “I was like, ‘Wait, life can move forward.’ That really helped me get through the depression.”

Or, as Jodie said, “That gave Erik hope he could resume his life, and it also made him realize he’s not alone.”

Soon thereafter, on April 8, 2014 — nearly four months after he initially got sick — Erik Bowen had his feet amputated.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, practices his chipping at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen lost both of his feet in 2014, when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

On a windy summer day, Bowen swats shots on the practice range at Berkeley Country Club in El Cerrito. His swing offers no obvious sign of its owner’s past trauma, though Bowen steps through with his right foot after impact.

He’s wearing shorts, so his sleek, black, carbon-fiber prostheses are visible. They stretch from below his knees into the shoes where he places his stumps, wrapped in socks and a silicon layer.

Life has calmed down quite a bit since that unnerving stretch eight-plus years ago. Jodie went into remission 18 months after her diagnosis and became cancer-free five years later. She takes daily medication but has resumed her active life, including her adrenaline-filled hobby of skydiving. (She has made more than 1,800 jumps.)

Erik, the vice president of finance at NorCal Cannabis, plays golf a few times per week, mostly at Berkeley or Harding Park. He carries a handicap index of 3.5, not quite as good as before he lost his feet (+0.4) but still impressive. The past four 18-hole scores he has posted: 75, 76, 77 and 78.

He acknowledged it took some time for him to accept his new reality as a double amputee. Bowen resisted at first, asking his wife to help him with simple, daily tasks. She eventually encouraged him to figure it out.

“That’s where some husband-wife fights would start,” Jodie said. “He’d say, ‘No, I can’t.’ And I’d say, ‘Yes, you can.’ … He had to learn to adapt.”

They eventually started to keep knee pads scattered around their Oakland house. He walks on them when he wants to move from the television to the kitchen, for example, without putting on his prostheses.

Bowen also had to adapt on the golf course, adjusting his swing and his game given he has less power off the tee. He used to hit the ball about 290 yards — thanks to youth, health and Colorado altitude — but now his drives typically travel about 240 yards.

Golfer Erik Bowen, 42, practices his swing at Berkeley Country Club on Friday, July 1, 2022, in El Cerrito, Calif. Bowen is a double-amputee who qualified for the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, an international tournament for disabled golfers July 18-20 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Bowen lost both of his feet in 2014, when he went into septic shock after having strep throat and pneumonia.

He makes up for it with improved wedge play and putting. Bowen finished third in one National Amputee Golf Association event last year in Las Vegas.

He also keeps the bigger picture in mind.

“When I first got the nerve to ask him what happened with his feet, I said, ‘I’m sorry,’” said Matt Lefkowitz, a friend with whom Bowen occasionally plays at Harding. “He said, ‘I’m not. I’m still here.’”

Now, long after Bowen drew inspiration from the rock-climbing motorcyclist, he finds himself on the other end of the equation. Jodie said strangers frequently approach Erik, occasionally seeking his guidance in advance of their own amputation.

Once, about six years ago, Bowen was playing nine holes after work one day in Colorado. Another golfer hobbled over to introduce himself and say, “Thank you.”

The man, a diabetic, had been delaying getting his leg amputated. He told Bowen he was scared. But the man found motivation in seeing Bowen walking nine holes with his bag slung over his shoulder.

“It’s powerful,” he said. “I’ve had people come up at the range, or when I’m about to tee off, just to shake my hand. … I love being able to inspire people to know there’s life out there, and there’s still stuff you can do.”

Ron Kroichick covers golf for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick

Sports enterprise reporter Ron Kroichick has worked at The San Francisco Chronicle since 1995, when he came from The Sacramento Bee. Kroichick writes features on the Warriors during the NBA season, and various other topics - ranging from the 49ers/NFL and major-league baseball to college football and basketball - the rest of the year. He's also The Chronicle's golf columnist, covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and all major championships in Northern California. In 2016, Kroichick and photographer Michael Macor earned "Best Sports Feature" from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, for their series on Antioch High running back Najee Harris, the nation's No. 1 college football recruit. In 2021, Kroichick earned an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award for his feature on Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee conquering cancer.