ADAPTIVE GOLF           From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.

Jerry Porter, Executive Director of the North Florida Section of the PGA provides Adaptive Golf instructions to American Veteran Michael Kuhn, utilizing the infinite position settings of one of SoloRider’s patented Swing Systems

Adaptive Golf In Florida Is "Growing The Game" By Joe Stine
          There is something special about golf that can bring out the best in a person. While many golfers measure their skill by how straight and far they can hit the ball, other golfers measure their skill by how hitting the ball enhances their lives. Significant improvement as a result of participation in the game, demonstrates determination, patience, and growth as a person. Hence, it doesn't matter how many limbs you have or which ones work, putting the ball in the hole, can make you feel whole. This was made evident on Saturday, November 10, 2007, when Florida Adaptive Golf, Inc., the statewide chapter of the Adaptive Golf Foundation, in conjunction with James A. Haley Veterans Hospital and BlazeSports Tampa Bay presented a free Community Adaptive Golf Clinic to all injured military, veterans and physically challenged individuals at Terrace Hill Golf Club, in Temple Terrace, Florida.
          Sponsored by SoloRider, “America’s leading single-rider golf car,” the clinic offered every physically challenged individual that attended, the opportunity to learn and		 experience the many life-enhancing benefits in which the great game of golf provides.
The American Veterans Adaptive Golf Program
          Due to the overwhelming number of injured military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, American Veterans Adaptive Golf is now a nationwide initiative that collaborates with VA Hospitals and facilities to host adaptive golf clinics and develop a continuing adaptive golf and life skills curriculum to provide support to our American Veterans as they face many new challenges upon returning home. Taught by certified professionals and therapists, participants learn to use their abilities to adapt and gain their confidence and independence, both on the golf course and in their everyday lives.
          American Veterans Adaptive Golf is also currently seeking sponsorships to continue the mission of enhancing the physical, mental, social and emotional well-being of all injured military, veterans and physically challenged individuals.
   
Pg.22 From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved. Subscribe at www.floridagolfmagazine.com/subscribe
ADAPTIVE GOLF           From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.
          Adaptive Golf Programs make golf available to everyone: stroke victims, amputees, mentally challenged, blind, arthritic, those with muscular dystrophy and individuals who are in wheelchairs. These individuals can enjoy golf if given the correct instruction, motivation and opportunity to do so.           Golf is a game that has many inherent benefits. It helps improve balance, hand-eye coordination, strengthen muscles in the arms, legs and hands and most importantly to some of the veterans at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, it gets them out into the fresh air.
          Approximately four months ago Army Pfc. Jim White, pictured below was a gunner in Arab Jabour, Iraq on a Humvee when it hit a roadside bomb. "I never used to consider myself a great player, but I had a few good games here and there," said the 41 year old Washington native who had played golf for 10 years. "But I think it's one of the most fun games you can play."
          The last time White hit balls had been around seven months earlier, shortly before being transferred to the Middle East. The next thing he knew, he was living and fighting in the world's worst sand trap and orders were to push south on a recon mission....that's when life changed.
          A rear wheel on White’s Humvee detonated an IED (improvised explosive device). The blast lifted the vehicle from the back, igniting the fuel tank and sending it into a fiery, end-over-end roll. White and two fellow soldiers lived, but their bodies were burned, broken and torn.

Shown here with pins still projecting from his injured leg, Army Pfc. James White, takes advantage of the stability provided by SoloRyder's patented stand-up seat.		           White sustained burns on 53 percent of his body. Both legs were broken, his left one shattered. Flesh and muscle was torn away from his lower limbs. That explains why White now is receiving treatment at Tampa's James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, where from waist down his body is wrapped in elastic support bandages and a torturous-looking metal contraption of pins and rods extends from his shattered left leg.
          But now the Adaptive Golf program is getting White back into the swing of things. “Absolutely, this is helping my body get going again,” says White. “It’s just a great way to get out and get some fresh air and be with a bunch of people who love golf.”
          Jerry Lemoyne, 63, of Apollo Beach, a veteran who lost his right leg at the knee 37 years ago in Vietnam said, "I've seen guys on the battlefield and one minute they are standing and the next minute both legs were gone. That is really rough on the mind. So you are here with other amputees, and share stories and everything. It's a big help."
          That was Jim White's original thought when Department of Veteran Affairs therapeutic recreation specialist Jennifer Day mentioned the Adaptive Golf clinic. The idea of getting outdoors and away from the hospital sounded good.
          "I told them back at the V.A., you know, I just wanted to get out on the course and watch some guys hit a few," White said. "I didn't even think about actually swinging a club. I was happy just to get out of the hospital for a little while." But that was before he knew about SoloRider, “America’s leading single-rider golf car.” An hour into the clinic, White had been helped from his wheelchair into the single-rider cart. An instructor teed up a ball. The hydraulic seat was adjusted. White took something of a one-handed swipe with a utility wood. The ball dribbled off the tee. A few more adjustments were made. A little more coaching. Another swing. And then the ball rose in a climbing line drive, straight and beyond the 150-yard marker.
          "This is awesome!" White said. "I mean, I was hitting it basically standing up. With the cart I was able to take weight off my legs.
          "You know, we go to classes with therapists and they're great, but we're inside. For me, being outdoors and having people help like that to crack a few balls … this is my best day of therapy."
          Judy Alvarez, a teaching pro in the PGA of America's Wounded Warrior Project, stood to the side watching, and smiling.
          "This can be therapy for emotional, social and physical reasons," Alvarez said. "They realize, hey, I can do this and all of a sudden their chests go out and their shoulders go back. It's more than hitting a stupid little ball with a piece of metal. It's the challenge of doing it and building self-confidence. They realize if I can do this I can probably do other things."
Pg.23 From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved. Subscribe at www.floridagolfmagazine.com/subscribe
ADAPTIVE GOLF           From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.
Every Friday from 9:00 am till 11:00 am
          Now every Friday golfers with various physical problems hit the range at Terrace Hill Golf Course, with instructors trained by Florida Adaptive Golf, who figure out how they can hit the ball. They will do whatever it takes; get a special cart or make a special club. And the effort pays off with every swing, and every smile.
          The instructors at the free Community Adaptive Golf Clinic, many of which are PGA Professionals or teachers from adaptive physical education programs, were highly qualified to teach participants with disabilities. They had all completed a course provided by Florida Adaptive Golf, Inc., the statewide chapter of the Adaptive Golf Foundation, and were certified to give specialized instruction on the most effective way to play golf, depending on an individual’s disability.
          Jerry Porter, was one of the certified instructors that volunteered that day at the free Community Adaptive Golf Clinic at Terrace Hill Golf Club. Porter, the Executive Director of the North Florida Section of the PGA said, “Activities like this mean a lot to me because of my family’s history in the military. With very few exceptions, my family has had boots on the ground in every armed conflict dating back to the revolutionary war.”
          With golf used as a medium for the development of the participants, evidence of the program's positive impact can be seen. David Russell, a young veteran, who lost his right hand in Iraq, originally had a difficult time being introduced to golf. Being right handed before his injury, he had difficulty gripping the golf club wih his left hand. He now uses a golf club with an adaptive grip built especially for him Florida Adaptive Golf, Inc., and can now easily hit the ball 50 yards, with a nice trajectory through the air. His significant improvement demonstrates his determination, patience, and growth as a person, and now as a golfer.
          "James A. Haley is one of the top poly-trauma centers in the country now, and more and more of our veterans are going to be transported there in the future," said Adaptive Golf director David Windsor. "We've already started a program for outpatients and we've got three or four who haven't missed a Friday since September."


Dave Windsor is seen here helping injured Veteran, David Russell with his golfclub grip.


          If an injured veteran has lost an arm, the program provides instruction for hitting shots with one. If he or she has a prosthetic leg or legs, there's help with balance and technique. In worse cases, the SoloRider, a one-person golf cart that allows a player to be strapped into a seat that hydraulically swivels and elevates, will provide opportunity.
          "We're altering grips, we're welding clubs, we're taping things," said Windsor, who is based in Sarasota. "We're doing whatever it takes to make it happen. Our mission is to get folks back on track."

Every Friday from 9-11 am, these golfers meet at the weekly Adaptive Golf Clinic at Terrace Hill Golf Course in Temple Terrace, Florida. L to R: David Windsor, James Bond, Bob West, Jerry Lemoyne, Santos Vega, Richard Howell, Ernie Pihl, Rudy Salas, Bruce Beatty, Ken Juhn, Jim Switzer, Ken Walters.
Pg.24 From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved. Subscribe at www.floridagolfmagazine.com/subscribe
ADAPTIVE GOLF           From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.

Born without a left hand, golf instructor Mike Hudson, demonstrates that two hands aren’t necessarry to have a long, straight drive and a beautiful golf swing.

Shown here using a SoloRider single rider adaptive golf car, Levi Michek used to play golf before his car accident. Now paralyzed from the waist down, he plays better. Michek said, “When you hit that perfect shot you can kind of see what Tiger Woods and them guys feel like.”
In his SoloRider, Disabled Veteran, Clifford McDowell prefers a one-handed swing using a custom made club that has a club-head with a very flat lie.

While one used a conventenal wheelchair and the other used a SoloRider single-rider adaptive golf car, these two Disabled Veterans both enjoyed participating in the free Community Adaptive Golf Clinic at Terrace Hill Golf Club in Temple Terrace, Florida on Saturday, 11/10/07.
Pg.25-26 From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved. Subscribe at www.floridagolfmagazine.com/subscribe
ADAPTIVE GOLF           From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved.

Sponsored by Blaze Sports, Tampa Bay, these children are backed by their volunteer, “Certified Adaptive Golf Instructors” and PGA Professionals.
          Andy Chasanoff, a Sports Coordinator from Therapeutic Recreation Services also brought 14 children from the Hillsbourough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department’s BlazeSports Program to the free Community Adaptive Golf Clinic at Terrace Hill Golf Club.
          The children were provided with beginner golf instruction and taught the basics of golf, from the parts of a club to the method and purpose of the swing.
          Along with learning about golf, the children were trying to use golf as a way to increase their physical		 ability," said Chasanoff, citing balance, range of motion and endurance as focal points.
          If you would like information about existing Adaptive Golf Programs or would like to start a program at your golf course, please feel free to call PGA Professional David Windsor, the Executive Director of Florida Adaptive Golf and the Adaptive Golf Foundation in Sarasota Florida at 941-364-GOLF (4653) or Jerry Porter in Daytona Beach, at the office of the North Florida Section of the PGA at 386-322-0899.

Golfer, Emily Clark, a 9 year old, 3rd grade Tampa resident, is shown here receiving instructions at the Adaptive Golf Clinic at Terrace Hill Golf Course in Temple Terrace on 11/10/07.
Pg.27 From Winter 2008 Florida Golf Magazine ©Copyright 2008, All Rights Reserved. Subscribe at www.floridagolfmagazine.com/subscribe