Woman with MS shows golfing can be done from wheelchair

From The Sun-News in Myrtle Beach, S.C.:

Aside from the four medals she won, the most gratifying aspect of Judy Overholt's (pictured) appearance in the 29th National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Spokane, Wash., in July was her participation in a golf clinic.

"Being in a wheelchair, I thought that was the end of me being able to participate in golf," she said.

The 50-year-old Conway resident has been in a wheelchair for three years due to multiple sclerosis that was diagnosed near the end of her 20 years of service in the U.S. Air Force.

She was among 40 athletes from more than 600 at the games selected for the clinics through an essay contest.

"I put that I live in the golf capital of the world in Myrtle Beach and I would really love to learn, because my husband likes to play golf and I would like to surprise him by learning the basics and fundamentals," Overholt said.

Overhalt's interest has been piqued, and now she just has to find places to play.

There are opportunities for golfers like Overholt to play on the Grand Strand, but they aren't as prevalent as they could and maybe should be.

She already swims and bowls competitively, and learning how to hit a golf ball in the clinic off a specially designed single-rider cart equipped with a swivel chair sparked a desire to get on the links.

All Strand courses have handicap flags for players with disabilities. They signify that people take the carts throughout the course, including all the way up to greens rather than having to exit fairways at designated points.

But for players with disabilities that confine them to wheelchairs, only a handful of the nearly 100 public courses on the Carolinas coast stretching from Southport, N.C., to Georgetown have the single-rider carts needed to play.

There are a few varieties of swivel-chair carts that are weight-balanced and designed to travel on greens and in low-lipped bunkers, including the Solo Rider and Club Car's 1-Pass.

But they generally cost between $7,000 and $8,000, and for the few times a year it is requested, courses haven't been able to justify the cost. .

"I don't think we're very well equipped for [wheelchair-bound players]," said George Hilliard, executive director of the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association. "This is a golf destination and we want to be accessible for everyone, but for all courses to buy a handicap cart, or a majority of the courses to buy a special cart that is used infrequently, it's not very economical or reasonable.

"It's not that we're trying to avoid anything, there's just not that many folks that have that requirement for it to be an every-course situation. They are awfully expensive to sit around for the few times they would be used. But there is access to them in the area."

There are at least six single-rider carts in the area, though none of them get used more than a few times a year. The TPC of Myrtle Beach has one, and Burroughs & Chapin Golf Management has five that are shared among its eight golf facilities. One is shared by Farmstead Golf Links and Meadowlands Golf Club, and the others reside at Tidewater Plantation & Golf, River Hills Golf & Country Club, Grande Dunes and Myrtlewood Golf Club.

A vacationing woman from New Jersey used a 1-Pass cart Tuesday at B&C's Arcadian Shores Golf Club, and the carts can also be provided at B&C par-3 facilities including Cane Patch Driving Range and Par 3 with advance notice. The Grande Dunes Resort Course is prepared for single-car users to the point of having a sheet detailing requested entry and exit points to each green because of slopes and mounding.

"They don't get utilized very often and that's kind of a shame because there are a lot of people out there with special needs that need to have these types of cars if they want to go out and enjoy the game," said Bob Swezey, B&C Executive Vice President of Golf, Accommodations and Amenities. "I do think it's important to provide access for anyone who wants to play. That's part of our responsibility to the game and to the people who play."

In addition to the expense , chief concerns of course operators in the past regarding disabled players include damage to greens from the vehicles, slow play and excess demand on workers' time. But Swezey dismisses at least the damage argument, as long as conditions aren't too wet.

"They would leave less imprint than maybe a riding mower," Swezey said.

TPC co-owner Chip Smith said he'd be willing to lend his cart out to other courses upon request. "If they wanted to come pick it up and bring it back, it wouldn't be a problem," Smith said.

Swezey, however, wants to keep his in-house. "We've been approached before, but because of the liability, and transport and orientation and training required with these carts, it would make us uncomfortable to loan these vehicles to anyone else other than our own courses," Swezey said.

The operators of numerous Strand golf facilities said they would have no problem allowing players providing their own single-rider carts to use them. "I am not aware of anyone that would not accept a golfer with disabilities on their course if they had their own cart," said Dave Downing, president of Signature Golf Group, which manages seven Strand courses.

According to an article on handicap golf access in the November issue of Golf Business, there are approximately 51 million people living in the U.S. with disabilities and there are several national organizations and foundations that served the disabled community, including the National Alliance for Accessible Golf.

That organization has an initiative called GAIN (Golf: Accessible and Inclusive Networks) that includes six ongoing programs in the U.S., and Golf Business, said the United States Golf Association awarded approximately $270,000 in grants aimed at making golf accessible to players with disabilities.

"We feel there may be an opportunity for the marketplace to work together to encourage these golfers to come to Myrtle Beach," Downing said.

There may be more demand for access to courses by the disabled because of continuing battlefield injuries suffered in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. According to the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, only 10 percent of persons with some form of limitation now play golf, and 35 percent of those who don't currently play are interested in learning.

"If we see an uptick in those kinds of requirements we could make that known and there may be more courses that purchase them, or companies can have one they can pass around," Hilliard said.

That would please Overholt, who hopes to play up to a couple times a week once she become proficient.

"Public courses should have at least one cart available, especially in Myrtle Beach of all places," Overholt said. "I bragged and bragged and bragged to everybody I'm from Myrtle Beach, and all the pros said they should have carts at each course."