COURSE REVIEWS

Golfers With Disabilities
Are Right On Course

By Guido P. Cribari,
WE Magazine

It's a matter of respect. Out on the course, where it counts, golfers with disabilities are making their presence felt in tournaments and during casual rounds.

The 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the high-profile accessibility suit won against the PGA by pro golfer and WE contributing editor Casey Martin in January, have driven the golf world, from rank amateurs to touring professionals, to reassess its previous misconceptions and downright ignorance of the significant numbers of golfers who play with disabilities.

On any given day across the land, devoted duffers who are blind, mobility-impaired or recovering from recent hip or knee replacements play the front and back nines of the nation's golf courses all the while driving, chipping and putting the ball as equals.

"There are few people with disabilities who we can't teach to hit the ball to compete and enjoy the game at their level," says Greg Jones, executive director of the Association of Disabled American Golfers (ADAG).

Since 1992 the organization has been playing the roles of advocate and consultant to country clubs, resorts and golf associations, applying both the spirit and letter of the ADA to the sport. "We help to remove the barriers and make sure that people with disabilities who want to play golf are able to do so," says Jones, who believes that accessibility is at this stage in the game ­so far after the passage of ADA­all attitude and has found that the majority of courses nationally and internationally are more than willing to accommodate golfers with particular needs. "The courses and resorts recognize that it's not only the right thing to do but it's good business," says Jones.

In its efforts to promote golf's accessibility, the ADAG has worked closely with the United States Golf Association, the sport's ruling body in this country, which last year published A Modification of the Rules of Golf for Golfers with Disabilities. "We are the only sport which has taken the rules and adapted them for people with disabilities," says Marty Parkes, USGA senior director of communications. "We have really tried hard in the last few years to promote the game for people with disabilities." This year the USGA has made provisions­with advance notice­for spectators with disabilities who require electric carts to use them at all of the association's 13 national tournaments.

The new modifications to the rules enable players with different disabilities to compete as equals with each other and with able-bodied players. One such example is the allowance of blind golfers to rest the head of their club on the sand and against the ball while playing from a sand trap which allows them to locate the ball.

Since 1953, the United States Blind Golfers Association has been active in bringing the sport of golf to the blind and visually impaired. Blind Golf is the same game only it is a team effort.

Each player has a coach who helps line up the club with the ball, gives wind information and makes recommendations on how to swing. For some able-bodied players, the idea of the blind playing golf is unimaginable, but it shouldn't be. "You don't actually have to see the ball in order to hit it," explains Bob Andrews, president of the USBGA who lost his sight from an exploding grenade during the Vietnam War. "When learning how to play the game, all golfers are taught not to try and hit the ball­just to make a nice swing. That concept is what allows us to play the game."

The blind and visually impaired golfers are a competitive bunch led by the indomitable Pat Browne of New Orleans, who has captured the prestigious United States Blind Golfers Association championship 21 times, all but one of them consecutively.

In addition, the unsinkable Browne is the winner of the inaugural World Championship of Blind Golf. By way of capping off his illustrious career, Browne has captured the prestigious Ken Venturi Guiding Eyes for the Blind Classic 17 consecutive times, 19 times in all. If all that seems less than fair to the other golfers who repeatedly watch Browne hoist the silver over and over, perhaps it was some of that extra arm movement that necessitated rotator cuff surgery in May, which will be followed by up to six months of rehab during which those other competitors will have their shot. "This is what happens when you get old," Browne notes.

Browne's most stirring achievement perhaps came the day he fired a stunning 85 on the renowned Old Course at St. Andrew's in Scotland. The Scots are still in awe of the accomplishment.

As the aging population of Americans grows, the nation's golf courses will mostly likely find an increase in the requests for accessibility. Even professional golfers such as Greg Norman, who recently had reconstructive shoulder surgery, are not immune to injury or the effects of aging.

Still, a sudden or gradual disability does not mean an end to a golfer's love of the sport nor should a disability deter someone from learning golf anew. "I would encourage anyone with a disability to go out and try the game," says Andrews.

Still, there is often an initial feeling of awkwardness when able-bodied golfers play alongside people with disabilities that quickly disappear. "After a few holes all of the talk turns to the world of golf­ "nice shot" and "good break"­which is what golf is all about," says Jones. He adds, "No one has ever called me an inspiration when they have been on the wrong end of a two down press at the end of the game."

For more information contact:

Association of Disabled American Golfers 7200 East Dry Creek, Suite G102, Englewood, CO 80112, (303) 220 0921; (303) 779 4801 fax, ADAGorME@aol.com

United States Blind Golfers Association 3094 Shamrock North, Tallahasse, Fl 32308, (850) 893 4511, nitegolf@concentric.net
National Amputee Golf Association Contact Dan Cox,
(800) 633 6242; naga@execpc.com

United States Golf Association P.O. Box 708, Farhills, NJ 07931, (908) 234 2300

This article was reprinted with permission of WE Magazine ... the lifestyle magazine for people with disabilities. It's about men and women being the very best they can be.