We couldn’t have picked a better partner than the City of North Charleston

By Rich O'Brien

There are approximately 2,500 municipal or state owned golf courses in the United States and this constitutes nearly one-sixth of the total courses in our country. Municipal golf courses are the lifeblood of the golf industry and serve as a feeder system that must thrive for growth of the game to occur. The customer base of a municipal golf course typically looks like a diverse cross section of local residents of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.??

Compared to public golf courses which are driven by the bottom line, an important consideration for municipalities is improving the quality of life of their residents.? It is also important to note that municipal golf courses are subject to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act which requires existing golf courses to make necessary changes to the facility to make their golf program accessible. In 28 CFR 35:190(b)(5), the Department of Interior (DOI) was designated by regulation as the federal agency with authority to interpret Title II access to golf courses. For over a decade, DOI has informed the public that municipal and state owned golf courses that provide golf cars on a rental basis must also make accessible golf cars available for rent, stating that the provisions of accessible golf cars is a required reasonable modification.

Municipal golf courses have long served as ideal host locations for grow the game programs such as First Tee, USGA/LPGA Girls Golf, PGA Junior League. Accessible golf carts would also facilitate the addition of adaptive golf programs such as Special Olympics, a community adaptive golf program, and a program for our nation’s HEROES where the accessible carts would be available for ALL of these programs as well as patrons of the municipal course that have a mobility challenge. Further, these accessible carts could be used by the municipality for other recreational events on an as needed basis.

Another reason that municipalities with golf courses could be ideal partners for adaptive golf programs is that they have Recreation Departments and often employ Therapeutic Recreation Specialists who have extensive knowledge of various disabilities. Their job is to provide recreation opportunities for the adults and children in their community with disabilities and they are skilled in recreation program planning and recruiting participants for all of the programs. They are the ideal point of contact for an adaptive golf program.?

As part of that commitment to improving the quality of life for its residents, the City of North Charleston opened the Golf Club at Wescott Plantation in 2000. The beautiful 27-hole course was designed by award-winning architect Dr. Michael Hurdzan whose resort-style design is a fair test of golf for players of any caliber.?

In the spring of 2015, PGA REACH asked Fred Gutierrez and me to champion a PGA HOPE chapter here in Charleston.? HOPE stands for Helping Our Patriots Everywhere and, at the time, there were only a handful of active chapters nationwide. We knew, however, that conditions in Charleston were ripe for rapid growth that would allow us to develop something really special with three military bases (Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard), the second-largest VA in the Southeast, and a large retired Veteran population.? We simply needed a golf facility that believed in our vision that would agree to partner with us. Our first recruit was Perry Green, the Director of Instruction at the Golf Club at Wescott Plantation.? Within a few days of being asked, Perry had enlisted the help of Milton Abell, of Classic Golf Management, Ed Barfield, then Director of Recreation for the City of North Charleston, and Keith Summey, the Mayor of the City of North Charleston for this important mission to help our nation’s Veterans.

Our PGA HOPE team at Wescott quickly developed into a model program that became so popular that five additional host sites were added throughout the Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan area. Since its inception in 2015, the program has graduated over 1,500 Veterans. Green, the 2019 Carolinas PGA section’s Patriot Award winner, adds, “PGA HOPE has become my favorite initiative as a PGA Professional. After a long week, I’m typically running out of gas by Friday but I always look forward to being around the Veterans because it fully recharges my batteries. PGA HOPE is one of those programs that you make time for, as its effects are felt far beyond the game of golf for the participants, as well as you and your facility. The Veterans, many of them afflicted with PTSD or life-altering injuries, enjoy the fresh air and camaraderie of their fellow Veterans who can relate to how they think and feel. It is a diversion of the mind for many of them." Perry Green added, “I am grateful that the City of North Charleston is concerned about quality of life issues and that city leaders had the foresight to know that PGA HOPE would become a huge national program. They have repeatedly encouraged us to do more."?

As part of that initiative to do more, in mid-2021, the Stand Up and Play Foundation’s Lowcountry Chapter also partnered with Perry Green and the City of North Charleston to host a new pilot program called the HERO Program at the Golf Club at Wescott Plantation. HERO stands for Helping Emergency Responders Overcome and the program is designed to assist Veterans and Emergency Responders with injuries, illnesses, or challenges. Family members as well as Gold Star families are encouraged to attend. The program also invited members of the adaptive community that have mobility challenges or who were recovering from a stroke, TBI, or spinal cord injury. The HERO Programs were envisioned as not only a great way to assist our HEROES while simultaneously helping the ENTIRE disabled community through Golf Therapy.?

By the end of 2022, the HERO Program had reached maturity and it was time to begin hosting a separate stand alone clinic for Everyday HEROES. This allowed more HEROES and their families as well as more Everyday HEROES and their families to join in the fun. During the first six months of 2023 the Everyday HEROES clinic has grown to over 30 participants assisting children with special needs as well as individuals with mobility challenges following spinal cord injuries, strokes, TBIs, or amputations. By the end of 2023, we anticipate that the Everyday HEROES Program will be as large, if not larger, than the HERO Program.?

One of the worries that golf courses have about buying accessible carts is that they might go unused and sit in a corner gathering dust. The HERO Program was envisioned as an excellent way to increase awareness and utilization of the paramobiles here in the Lowcountry. Since the inception of the HERO programs, the number of users of the paramobiles has increased by 400% from 6 users to 24 users which now includes 11 HEROES and 13 civilian users. When combined with the 12 other individuals with mobility challenges who are currently able to stand, the HERO Program clinics provide an opportunity to 36 individuals with mobility challenges on a monthly basis.

Mayor Keith Summey of North Charleston added, “Like many others in the industry, we aim to maintain a beautiful, challenging, and fun golf course, however, the facilities and programs promoting accessible golf, spearheaded by our Director of Instruction, Perry Green, take the Golf Club at Wescott Plantation to an elevated level. Everyone in the community is welcomed at Wescott, no matter their ability or need. The paragolfer carts, provided by Hardee’s in conjunction with and the Stand Up and Play Foundation, continue to be a bright spot at the course and have unquestionably introduced the game to many in North Charleston and beyond. Furthermore, the careful instruction, care, and compassion offered to all interested in golf continue to proudly be the highest goal of all the staff at Wescott.”

Kathy Kackley, the Deputy Director of Recreation for the City of North Charleston, added “It is an honor to support PGA HOPE and Stand Up and Play Foundation's HERO and EVERYDAY HEROES Golf Therapy programs at Wescott. The North Charleston Recreation Department, with the support from the Mayor and City Council, are proud to be expanding activities, community spaces and playgrounds to be more accessible and inclusive. We look forward to continuing to serve others in ways that everyone’s abilities can be celebrated and enjoyed.? We are grateful for our city teams that work tirelessly to provide recreational and educational programming for everyone.”

Eight years ago, we were looking for a golf facility in Charleston that believed in our vision that we could partner with. We found an ideal partner in the City of North Charleston and Wescott Golf Club which have provided not only an excellent host facility but a welcoming attitude that has also helped cultivate the development of our adaptive golf programs. Municipalities often talk about improving the quality of life for their residents. Here in the Lowcountry, our nation's HEROES are able to use Golf Therapy in order to trade nightmares and flashbacks for golf dreams and new friendships. To date, forty of our HEROES have shared with us that they are alive today because of these programs that not only improve their quality of life but also can save lives.?

I am extremely grateful for the tremendous support we have received from the City of North Charleston. I can honestly say that we could not have picked a better partner to help us develop some of the largest golf therapy clinics in the United States. Thank you to the City of North Charleston for being a shining example of what can be done by cities that wish to truly be accessible to all residents.

About the Author

Rich O'Brien is the Director of the Lowcountry Chapter of Stand Up and Play Foundation, Co-founder of PGA HOPE Charleston, and the Director of the HERO Programs. 14 years ago, Rich suffered a complex polytrauma that included a broken neck in two places (C1&C2), a broken back in two places L4&L5), four skull fractures, and brain damage in every lobe of his brain. He developed further complications with an addiction to prescription painkillers and PTSD. Over the course of four years and 12,000 hours of rehabilitation, Rich’s body slowly healed and he was able to learn how to mitigate his chronic conditions that made his life a living hell. One of the fathers of Golf Therapy, Rich now teaches Veterans, emergency responders, and others how to trade nightmares and flashbacks for golf dreams and new friendships.???

Stand Up and Play Foundation's mission is to provide wheelchair users and others with impaired mobility the opportunity to stand up and engage in recreational and everyday activities through access to paramobiles, clinics, and recreational programs. Our organization introduces the paragolfer, and other adaptive equipment to wheelchair users through clinics and demonstrations where we reinforce the mental and physical therapeutic benefits of standing. Our goal is to make paramobiles available to as many support organizations, rehab centers, golf courses, veterans groups, and individuals as possible. The Stand Up and Play Foundation is looking to partner with municipalities across the country that would like to host HERO Programs in their communities.? www.standupandplayfoundation.org

City of North Charleston?

Programs serving special-needs residents who’d like to partner with the City of North Charleston in providing recreation opportunities can contact Kathy Kackley at [email protected] or 843-740-5805.