Equal access: the Americans with disabilities act and your golf course.

When the Supreme Court recently ruled that Casey Martin has the right to ride a golf car in PGA tournaments, it made one fact abundantly clear: The law requires anyone who operates a golf course to consider the needs of golfers with disabilities. But club managers may not be aware that there is a much more compelling reason to improve golf course accessibility: revenue.

"There are 54 million Americans with a disability," said Gary Robb, executive director of the National Center on Accessibility. Combining that figure with statistics from the National Golf Foundation, which show that 12 percent of the US population plays golf, demonstrates the very real possibility of an untapped market of more than five million golfers with disabilities.

"Due to architectural and attitudinal barriers, people with disabilities have been excluded for so long," said Robb. "Enhancing access is the right thing to do."

The Federal Government's Access Board will soon issue a set of guidelines for new golf course construction and the Department of Justice may mandate adaptive golf cars at public courses, but true accessibility also involves modifying the rules of play and educating staff and members to welcome golfers with disabilities.

Physical Accessibility

Though the ADA became law more than a decade ago, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board--better known as the Access Board--is still drafting rules to govern a variety of recreation facilities, including golf courses. It recently issued its draft final rule; Robb expects the final set of guidelines to appear by the end of the year.

While these rules only apply to new golf course construction or major reconstruction of public access facilities, clubs would do well to consider them.

"Even if a club feels like a private institution, it still needs to do a self evaluation," said attorney Stephen Barth. "If anything happens that enables non-members to utilize club facilities, then they really aren't truly private." Wedding receptions, charity golf tournaments, and corporate functions are common events that cross this line.

The Access Board's final draft guidelines deal with several parts of the golf course. Teeing grounds are to be constructed so that golf cars can drive onto them. Holes with two teeing grounds will have to make the forward one accessible; those with three, will have to adapt two. Golf cars also need to be able to reach putting greens, fairways, weather shelters, and five percent of both practice tees and driving ranges.

"Implementation of these guidelines will not be onerous at all," said Robb. "They don't take away much design freedom. Almost all golf courses are already built so greens equipment can get to there already." Creating an opening for golf cars is often simply a matter of removing a portion of an existing fence or other barrier.

The other potentially important legal action pending is a request from the National Golf Course Owners to The United States Department of Justice to clarify the necessity (or lack thereof) to make adaptive golf cars available at every course. While a ruling has been expected for some time, The Department of Justice is still considering the issue.

Though ADA legislation will produce a set of regulations, and future law suits may affect elements of golf course operations, no one--particularly golfers with disabilities--wants to turn accessibility into a protracted legal battle. A coalition of some of the leading industry groups, including the USGA, PGA, and CMAA, has recently formed the National Alliance for Accessible Golf. The USGA has taken a particularly active role in this process through the formation of its own Resource Center for Individuals with Disabilities.

Gary Robb, current chair of the Alliance's leadership council said that the group exists to encourage discussion of these issue and to provide a resource to the golfing community. "This will get everyone talking together so that we can make it a win-win situation," said Robb. "We don't want to push it down anybody's throat."

Programmatic Accessibility

While building an accessible golf course goes a long way to easing play for golfers with disabilities, that alone does not solve the problem. Rules established by an individual course or by the game of golf itself can present insurmountable barriers.

In cooperation with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, the USGA has addressed those issues in its recently published pamphlet, "A Modification of the Rules of Golf for Golfers with Disabilities." The rules anticipate every kind of situation that golfers with disabilities encounter.

Though those rules allow the disabled to play in USGA sanctioned tournaments, the traditions of play at most courses provide the biggest barrier. "Management may build a totally accessible golf course," said Fred Montgomery, chairman of the Walking Impaired Golfer's Association (WIGA), "but their policies are making golf inaccessible."

The most burdensome policies for golfers with disabilities are those that keep golf cars off par-three holes, greens, fairways, and tees. Most courses eliminate some of these rules for golfers with medical problems and issue them a red flag to identify their golf cars. Even so, very few courses allow golfers with disabilities to drive onto greens, which effectively keeps them off the course.

Montgomery advocates distinguishing between the needs of a golfer who has recently twisted an ankle and one who has multiple sclerosis or no use of his legs. "If you issue one color flag for all golfers with a disability," said Montgomery, "you'll suffer from the follow-the-leader syndrome." As a result, players who don't need to may drive on the green.

Instead, Montgomery advocates retaining the red flag as it is currently used, but adding a blue flag for golfers who are severely walking impaired. Only cars with blue flags and adaptive hand-controlled golf cars would be allowed on the greens. WIGA will consult with clubs to help them establish a set of rules which encourage accessibility.

Sonny Ackerman, president of Sonny Ackerman Adaptive Golf, runs clinics for golfers with disabilities and pros interested in learning how to work with this untapped market. While advocating the same modification of the practices as Montgomery, Ackerman believes the red flag currently in use is adequate for all disabled golfers.

"The biggest problem is letting people know that a single rider car doesn't hurt a thing," said Ackerman, who lost a leg 11 years ago. "Groundskeepers are the biggest obstacle. They have an aversion to seeing a wheel chair on their greens." Those concerns should be calmed by evidence that single-rider and adaptive golf cars pose no threat to greens (see sidebar).

Resources
for Golf
Accessibility Issues

National Center on Accessibility
Gary Robb, Executive Director
812-856-4422
www.indiana.edu/~nca

USGA Resource Center for
Individuals with Disabilities
Mark Frace, Coordinator
719-471-4810 ext. 18
http://golfcenterdisabilities.usga
.org/

Walking Impaired Golfer's
Association of America
Fred Montgomery, Chairman
877-480-WIGA
www.wiga.org

Sonny Ackerman Adaptive Golf
Sonny Ackerman, President
770-614-7572

Fairway Golf Cars
Jeff Matheson, Vice President
262-542-6060 ext. 380
www.fairwaygolfcars.com

E-Z-GO
Ron Skenes, Manager
706-798-4311
www.ezgo.com

Club Car
Gary Stough
706-863-3000 x3833
www.clubcar.com

The course superintendants typically worry about the pace of play. "They need to understand that disabled golfers are ten times better course managers than regular golfers," said Ackerman. "We don't want you fussing at us, so I'm not going to hold you up."

Ackerman also believes the game of golf holds great potential for use as physical therapy. "It makes you concentrate on balance and hand-eye coordination, and gets people out in the open air," he said.

Though Ackerman had been golfing since he was 37, the 69-year-old has reduced his handicap from ten to six since he lost his leg. "I had to slow down and straighten out my swing," he said. "It did miracles for me."

It may also be the boost the golfing industry is looking for. Ackerman points out that golfers with disabilities always bring someone with them and that single-rider cars have been shown to both speed play and increase rental revenue.

"As a nation we're getting older and living longer," said Ackerman. "There are more people with back aches, leg aches, and strokes than ever before. Why can't they play golf?"

RELATED ARTICLE: Access equipment.

Once a club has decided to improve its accessibility to golfers with disabilities, it's time to consider purchasing equipment built to meet their needs. Effective solutions require careful consideration of the requirements of both golfers and groundskeepers; fortunately adaptive golf cars and single-rider vehicles are built to be easy on greens.

Fairway Spirit Adaptive Golf Car

This adaptive golf car is the third generation vehicle produced by Fairway Golf Cars. "We have nearly 40 years of experience in the mobility industry," said Edward Gaffney, CEO and founder of Fairway Golf Cars, sister company of Ortho-Kinetics, Inc.

"Due to our industry experience, we know how to build a user-friendly unit," said Vice President Jeff Matheson. "The Fairway Spirit is a little smaller than most cars, making it highly maneuverable. The seat adjusts to a variety of positions so that it is easier to transfer from a wheelchair and to swing a club comfortably while sitting in it."

Featuring variable speed control, with a standard setting of 8 mph, simple controls allow the car to be driven with just the thumb / finger of either hand. As a safety precaution, the Spirit's drive axle will not slip and its electronic brakes set automatically.

Perhaps most importantly, seven years of improvements have created a vehicle that is rugged and trustworthy. "When you have a disability, you can't have breakdowns," said Matheson. The company has worked closely with Sonny Ackerman, who has endorsed and uses the Spirit in all of his adaptive golf clinics for the past four years.

To ease the minds of groundskeepers, the Spirit weighs in at just 300 pounds (with batteries), producing less pressure on a green from the tires (around 6 pounds per square inch) than from an average person's feet (around 12 psi). The low weight also makes it possible to use four smooth tires, which are less likely to damage grass than the ribbed tires used on heavier vehicles. The Fairway Spirit also exceeds ANSI safety standards and has been extensively life-tested with a 650 lb. weight load to eliminate possible breakdowns and ensure user safety.

Club Car 1-PASS

Club Car set out more than a year ago to find a solution for golf courses interested in purchasing an adaptive golf car. The outcome of that search is the 1-PASS, a modification of a vehicle which SoloRider Industries has been producing.

"This car's high quality and reliability fit well with our product line," said Club Car's Gary Stough. "We modified it in a few areas to improve it and make it easier to service by using the same components as our other cars." Stough noted that the 1-PASS exceeds ANSI safety standards. "That is incredibly important because you don't want to trade one liability for another," he said.

Golfers mount their bags on the front of the car for easy access. The multi-position, lockable seat swivels 360 degrees and includes waist and chest belts. Regenerative motor braking and auto speed control keep the maximum speed under 15 mph. Though the 1-PASS weighs 498 pounds (without batteries), the tires only exert 6 pounds per square inch of pressure.

Stough noted that at clubs which have tried the 1-PASS they have been shown to cause no damage to greens. "We have success stories," he said.

E-Z-GO Eagle

Slated for introduction in late 2001 or early 2002, the Eagle is E-Z-GO's entry in the adaptive golf car market. "Rather than start with a vehicle which was designed for grocery stores or shopping malls, we chose to modify a car that we have produced for golf courses," said E-Z-GO Manager Ron Skenes.

Built with a swivel seat, hand controls and a front-mounted bag rack, the Eagle is designed for accessibility. E-Z-GO has given it similar styling to its other cars, so that the Eagle will fit in with the rest of a club's fleet.

Fairway Single Rider Golf Car

Designed for golfers with a limited ability to walk, the Single Rider Golf Car fills a niche between fully adaptive vehicles and traditional golf cars. Gaffney cited studies that have shown that single rider cars can increase the pace of play and produce 25 percent more revenue. "The faster play creates two extra tees times an hour," he said.

Fairway PowerWalk Golf Caddy 

Golfers who can walk, but need assistance with their golf bag will find the PowerWalk electric caddie helpful. While the standard model holds one bag, Fairway also offers a two-bag model. "This is an opportunity for increased revenue," said Matheson.