Tim Gilmer tees off.

Welcome to the Clubhouse


Tim Gilmer tees off.
Tim Gilmer tees off.

OK, so golf has a past riddled with discrimination and is still too expensive for many. But give it credit for changing, for broadening its appeal and for being one of the most unique and challenging games going. Think of it: A few hundred years ago Scots whacked rocks with sticks; today Tiger Woods makes millions playing essentially the same game. And now–thanks to the ADA, Casey Martin, and a handful of persistent adaptive golf pioneers–the game is poised to welcome the last minority to the clubhouse.

Golf has a way of getting in your blood. I used to play each summer as a teenager vacationing with my parents in Morro Bay, Calif. It took hours of practice and concentration just to hit a ball cleanly, so a well-struck tee shot was a beautiful sight settling into the manicured greenery with the blue Pacific in the background. Then, in my 20th summer, I crashed in an airplane not 15 miles from Morro Bay. After regaining consciousness in a nearby hospital a week later–and thinking my paralysis was a temporary inconvenience–I began making plans to play my next round before the summer ended.

Well, it didn’t happen, not that summer nor the next. In all, 35 golfless summers sped by before I would play again–May 10, 2001, to be exact–at Eastmoreland Golf Course in Portland, Ore.

My return to golf was much more than a long-awaited reunion with a sport I thought I had no choice but to leave behind. It took decades of change in attitudes and expectations to bring it about–the product of lobbying, legislation and lawsuits, not to mention the advent of adaptive golf carts and equipment. All this so a small army of people with disabilities could claim the peculiar privilege of knocking a small, white, dimpled ball into a hole in the ground.

Curious History
Golf occupies a curious space in the history of nations. In the mid-15th century, the Scottish people neglected training in archery–necessary to defend the country against English invasion–in favor of playing golf and soccer. To ensure military preparedness, the Scottish parliament banned both sports in 1457. In the 16th century, the endorsement of King Charles I of England and Mary Queen of Scots further advanced the game’s popularity. Four centuries later President Eisenhower played golf daily while the Soviet Union prepared to launch history’s first orbiting satellite and heat up the Cold War. When the United States finally closed the space race gap more than a decade later, millions around the world watched as astronaut Alan Shepherd hit a golf ball from the largest sand trap known to man–the moon.

Such is the allure of golf.

In America today there are roughly 27 million golfers over the age of 12, and the game is growing rapidly: About 400 new courses per year are under construction. While golf may have the reputation of appealing to retirees and the wealthy, the largest demographic group–47 percent–is young, between the ages of 18 and 39. The average golfing family’s household income is slightly over $60,000, but with more than 16,000 courses vying for green fees, the game is becoming more and more affordable.

No one knows how many golfers with disabilities are waiting in the wings to play. Since adaptive equipment is a relatively recent development, many former golfers who became disabled decades ago–myself included–are only just now becoming aware of their potential to play. And the numbers get less reliable when you include elderly and less seriously disabled golfers. The National Center on Accessibility estimates there may be as many as seven million potential golfers with disabilities.

Lesson in Humility
I became aware of adaptive golf carts after seeing an ad for Golf Xpress in New Mobility about two years ago. Immediately I began researching the field, and in early spring I invited three adaptive cart companies to donate a cart for my return to golf. Club Car, which handles marketing for SoloRider Industries–manufacturer of the Club Car 1-PASS–led the field in making arrangements to ship a cart to a dealer near my home. Roger Pretekin, president of SoloRider, also arranged for several adaptive golf clubs made by RTS Golf to accompany the cart; most adaptive clubs have angled hosels, the part of the shaft nearest the club head, to compensate for a flatter swing by a seated golfer. Pat Yeats, a Mobility Solutions dealer who sells a different cart–the Sport–donated a Cannonball EZT, a tool that helps the disabled golfer tee up and retrieve tees, as well as mark balls on the green and lift them out of the cup.

The day before my big round I met the local Club Car dealer at a grass driving range on a fairly new course a short drive from my home. I had expected curious stares while using the 1-PASS but was not prepared for the lavish attention I received–all the balls I could hit plus liberal advice from three teaching pros. I felt a little like the crown prince on his day out in public.

The cushioned seat of the 1-PASS rotates 360 degrees, so I swiveled around and positioned myself at the back of the cart. Predictably, my first dozen pathetic swings sent the pros into a teaching frenzy. They each grabbed a chair and tried to duplicate my seated swinging posture without using their legs, which is a little like telling a lion to pounce on its prey without using its paws.

Finally, by the time I had hit several dozen dribblers, bounders, and shanked screamers, I connected solidly and sent a ball on a respectable ride. Then another. In time, I learned the secret of hitting the ball right: “Don’t swing hard,” cautioned the one pro who stuck around, “swing smooth.”

My mistake was I had been trying to pick up where I had left off 36 years earlier. At that time I was smacking the ball 250 yards and had just carded a 1-over-par 37 on Morro Bay’s sloping top nine with its tricky greens. My paraplegic body was doing its best to imitate the body I used to have. But instead of standing nearly six feet tall in a 20-year old body that weighed 175 pounds, I was now trapped in a body 56 years old with marginal stomach muscles, the bulk of my 200 top-heavy pounds strapped into a seat for stability, below which dangled two rubberized legs. To complicate matters further, my swing hinged on a set of sore shoulders that had doubled as cartilage-grinding factories for more than three decades.

Still, after whacking away at 200 balls and experimenting with a new kind of swing, I was confident that I would not die of embarrassment when I took the first tee the next day. In fact, I was beginning to glow with mild euphoria by the time I arrived home. The glow would not last long. My teenage daughter quickly noted that a sizable bird had left its calling card on my back, no doubt in mid-swing, and when she asked what the “FJ” stood for on my new white golf glove, my wife–who ranks golf somewhere between mowing the lawn and burying dead animals–quipped, “Fat Jock.”

So much for the crown prince.

Controversy
My return to golf would not have been possible were it not for a handful of dedicated pioneers. In the world of adaptive golf, Tom Houston, Sr., stands alone in more ways than one. Houston, 60, a T10 para for 21 years, heads up Falcon Rehabilitation Products in Commerce City, Colo., manufacturer of the HiRider, an electric wheelchair that can be used in a standing position. Houston sits in the HiRider while being towed behind a golf cart. When he reaches his ball, he disconnects from the cart, drives into position and swings from a standing posture. Houston regularly shoots in the mid-80s and speaks of golf as if it’s some kind of transformational discipline: “It takes you to a higher level of thinking and being.”

Houston can get away with that kind of exaggerated praise mainly because he has rubbed shoulders with the great golf masters many of us followed as kids, having teamed with Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Gary Player in Pro-Am tournaments. In 1998 he and his HiRider were featured in a 60 Minutes segment with Lesley Stahl. When he speaks about adaptive golf, people listen.

Why, then–important as he is to adaptive golf–is he testifying as an expert witness for the American Golf Corporation against a plaintiff who’s suing for access to a number of AGC golf courses under the ADA? Says Houston, “My fear is a tremendous backlash could stop it all.” He believes that it is not fair to require golf courses to provide adaptive carts to golfers with disabilities. “It puts [golf course owners] in a no-win situation.” If they choose not to provide a cart to a particular person, they can be sued under the ADA. If they provide one, then they have to risk liability exposure in case of accident. If adaptive golf is going to become popular, it will have to appeal to the golf industry as well as golfers with disabilities. “It’s a two-sided issue,” says Houston.

Pretekin also believes that adaptive golf needs broad support, but disagrees with Houston’s most recent litigation position. He admits that the plaintiff in the American Golf Corporation suit has been a loose cannon–filing lawsuits left and right with questionable motivation–but he points out that aggressive legal action has served notice that golf cannot ignore the ADA. He believes–and many agree with him–that it only makes sense for the golf industry to welcome golfers with disabilities as a smart business move rather than oppose the intent of the ADA.

But opposition to golfers with disabilities is clearly evident, and nowhere is the backlash more blatant than in the Professional Golfers’ Association’s attitude toward Casey Martin. Golf has a long history of discrimination, and the PGA–in its attempt to portray Martin as having an unfair advantage in using a cart due to Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome–has resurrected an ugly elitist prejudice as well as stretched the limits of logic and good sense.

Fortunately, after a three-year legal battle, on May 30 the United States Supreme Court voted 7-2 to uphold Martin’s right to use a golf cart in PGA competition. While the decision does not bear directly on the issue of golf course accessibility for the disabled public, it is an important victory in the battle to force compliance with the ADA. Martin’s competing on the tour with a visible disability is a clear signal that golf carts are to be considered a “reasonable accommodation” in the game of golf. The ruling may apply to pro sports, but the practical effect on the golf industry’s attitude toward adaptive carts is likely to be huge.

Why are attitudes so important? According to Gary Robb, executive director of the National Center on Accessibility and longtime adaptive golf advocate, golf courses must meet the ADA Accessibility Guidelines put out by the Access Board, but whether a course must provide adaptive golf carts is a separate issue. This critical element of the overall accessibility picture is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice rather than the Access Board, and everyone is waiting for direction from the DOJ. “Until then,” says Robb, “everyone is only guessing and it is not a good situation for either the player who requires an adaptive cart or the golf courses who really don’t know what their responsibility is.”

The good news is some golf courses are going ahead with plans to provide adaptive carts despite DOJ’s foot-dragging. Three Seattle municipal courses each recently purchased Mobility Solution’s Sport. The Department of Parks and Recreation in Portland, Ore., has OK’d the purchase of four new adaptive carts–without committing to a particular manufacturer yet. In the Sacramento area, both the 1-PASS and the Golf Xpress are available to use at public courses. Nationally, a small but growing number of courses either own or are planning to buy adaptive carts, and hundreds–if not thousands–of carts have been sold directly to golfers with disabilities.

Programs and Pioneers
Equipment can also be provided by organizations formed specifically to promote adaptive golf. One of the most progressive programs in the nation is run by a disabled sports group in Ohio. Rick St. John, a T6 para and president of the Toledo Area Wheelchair Athletic Association, purchased a Golf Xpress cart four years ago. When a fellow member did the same, it wasn’t long before the sport caught on in a big way. Just this year TAWAA purchased six more carts, thanks to proceeds from the group’s bingo hall, which operates twice a week with the help of participating members. Says St. John, “I think the guys are liking [golf] better than wheelchair basketball or softball.” The group is currently playing once a week in a 20-week league at Tanglewood Golf Course in Perrysville, Ohio.

A number of adaptive golf programs are operating in other locations, among them Denver, Chicago, and Grand Rapids, Mich. The most up-to-date information on adaptive programs and equipment can be accessed at the United States Golf Association resource Web site — www.usga.org/resource_center (see sidebar).

While most golfers with disabilities are mainly interested in playing for enjoyment, at least one golfer is gaining attention for his competitive abilities. Pat McDonald–an incomplete para who was injured in the service 10 years ago–is capable of pumping out 230-yard drives from a sitting position and regularly shoots in the low 70s. At a 2-handicap, he’s not far behind Casey Martin as a pro prospect.

McDonald started playing from his wheelchair just four years ago, muscling his way around courses. But he encountered resistance from course owners and marshals anxious about wheel marks on the green. Now he plays from a Club Car 1-PASS and teaches other disabled golfers in the Sacramento area. He finds that resistance to carts on greens disappears when the facts are known: His cart is gentler on greens than course-owned mowing equipment. In pounds per square inch, the wheels of his cart exert less force than the average man’s footprint.

McDonald is methodical and thorough in his approach to teaching. Rather than encouraging others to dive in and start swinging with all their might, McDonald advocates a gradual, club-by-club approach. First, he says, try hitting the ball consistently with a quarter-swing. “Making clean contact and lifting the ball properly is the key to success.” When you can do this consistently–say 10 to 15 times in a row without flubbing a shot–then progress to a half-swing. This is followed by a three-quarter swing, and finally, a full swing. Multiply this procedure times a bagful of clubs, each capable of lofting the ball in a unique trajectory with a subtly different swing, and you have one whale of a lot of practicing to do. Given his penchant for practice, it should not be surprising that McDonald has taught himself to play with a set of regular irons. His woods, though, are custom-made.

While proficiency at golf is a time-consuming pursuit, it need not be the primary emphasis. Aline Moran seeks out activities that bring her family together. She points out that golf is one sport where everyone in the family can play together regardless of age, size, gender, or skill level. Moran, a C6 incomplete quad for the past three years, tried out an adaptive cart last May at a public course in Reno, Nev., and was pleased with the result: “Everyone was more than accommodating.” Does she plan on pursuing golf? “Oh, definitely,” she says, and she means it–she’s already made plans to buy a cart of her own. At a youthful 64, she’s on a quest to stay fit and have fun with her family.

The Bottom Line
In any recreational activity, the bottom line is enjoyment, but golf is a game of numbers. After my much-publicized “first round in 36 years,” friends and acquaintances kept asking the same question: “How did you do?” What they really wanted to ask was, “Did you break 100? What was your score?”

In truth, I abandoned any pretense of keeping score midway down the first fairway. But I will say this: I’m certain I must have broken all kinds of records.

And I can honestly claim another distinction as well: Although I didn’t shoot a single par, birdie or eagle, I did nail a goose!

Somewhere on the first nine–the holes all run together in my mind–I hit a line drive off the tee, a mean grass hugger that whacked a waddling goose at the 100-yard marker. The goose was making its way from one water hazard to another with a foursome of feathered friends when my drive caromed off its back, eliciting loud honking complaints from the entire group. No doubt they think of themselves as the rightful owners of the Eastmoreland Golf Course–I wouldn’t be surprised to find them in the clubhouse drinking scotch and rehashing the day’s errant shots. But with that one menacing shot I served notice on the world of geese and golf that–as long as an adaptive golf cart is available within a reasonable driving distance–I plan on reclaiming one heck of a lot of neatly-manicured real estate, regardless of my “handicap.”

Single Rider Carts


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