Go Fore Golf, a Michigan non-profit, believes golf is more than just a game. To spread the word about this philosophy, they are presenting golf workshops to individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities at Gibraltar Area Schools, Paragon Community Services, and Sunshine House on May 27 – 29. The workshops are intended to provide an introduction to golf and provide help with equipment alterations.
Students will learn about equipment, rules, and even take a swing at some golf balls at Maxwelton Braes Golf Course in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Go Fore Golf was established to provide golfing events for those who golf with challenges, or adaptive golfers. Go Fore Golf has hosted three golf scrambles at Maxwelton Braes in the last three years and is hosting its sixth annual scramble in Lansing, Michigan this summer.
Jeanne Esch, founder of Go Fore Golf, vacations in Door County regularly and decided that what she was doing in Michigan would also be good for Door County. To encourage more participation at the annual scramble in Door County, to be held June 21 at Maxwelton Braes, she developed a workshop for her target population. But, a Go Fore Golf scramble is for the entire community! Scrambles are designed to create an environment of fun for challenged individuals, their family, and non-disabled community members.
Unlike other scrambles, which are often used to raise money for a cause, Go Fore Golf raises money for the purpose of providing a scramble − a golfing experience for those of all ages, capabilities and challenges. Go Fore Golf scrambles bring welcome relief to the daily concerns both the challenged individual and caregivers face, and they are a great way for community members to interact.
Examples of challenges that past participants live, and play with include visual impairment, mobility limitations, amputation, or joint replacement, cognitive disorders or emotional difficulties. Golfers may have simple adaptations, such as bigger grips on their clubs, or more complex adaptations that allow them to golf from a single-rider golf cart, or a wheel chair. An adaptive golfer might also need a guide on the course, or play only a few holes.
Michigan Non-Profit Offers Golfing Events (page 2)
Go Fore Golf scrambles are primarily about having fun, but they also provide an environment in which community members can learn from each other. Adapting to the physical challenges that an illness, accident, or aging create can be daunting, and isolating. In day-to-day activities, grocery shopping, faith-based projects, and recreation it is likely that neighbors only share a nod or a wave. This can be said for both able-bodied and disabled individuals. And, in both instances, it is likely that if further interaction does take place, it will happen between those that are similar to each other. Most often the individual with a disability is not seen as – and sometimes does not see him/herself as – like others. On the golf course this changes! Even the very best amateur golfer has a handicap.
Rebecca Young’s class at Gibraltar High School in Fish Creek, Wisconsin participated in the pilot workshop in 2007. She described how one of her students with Downs Syndrome, Kenny Gau enjoyed golfing, “With Kenny, you see how rewarding it is for him to be independent and be an individual. He gets out and gets exercise, and just participating in a small group activity is beneficial.”
Ms. Esch is also an adaptive golfer; a neuromuscular and autoimmune disease disabled her 15 years ago. She realized that the golf skills she re-learned at Sparrow Hospital, East Lansing, Michigan, needed to be used, and she wanted to share this desire with others. Thus, the first Go For Golf Scramble was held in 2003 at Forest Akers Golf Course in East Lansing.
Ms. Esch states, “During a scramble the able-bodied golfer realizes he/she can do something with, instead of for, a disabled individual. Wheelchairs, canes, and odd, involuntary movements can be scary for the uninitiated. On the golf course the scariness disappears.”
Golf is an especially easy sport to adapt to people with physical challenges, because it already has a system for scoring that adjusts to different playing levels. It is also a sport in which you can simply play against yourself. In addition, golf does not require the strength needed by some other sports, and thus is easier for challenged individuals to do. It is an activity that families and friends of all ages, capabilities, and challenges can enjoy together.
Sue Priebe of Janesville, Wisconsin expressed her excitement about her volunteer experience, “[It] gave me great joy to see people accomplish things they never thought they could. Some participants were excited to be introduced to golf for the first time; others were rejuvenated to learn that they could still enjoy a sport they had previously been forced to give up. The safe environment created by Go Fore Golf enables golfers of any ability or disability to hit the links for a great adventure.” Ms. Priebe will be helping at the workshop.
The registration fee for the scramble is $40.00 per golfer, which includes 9 holes of golf (or as many as an individual can play in 3 hours), use of a cart, non-alcoholic beverages on the course, lunch, prizes, and participation gifts. Non-disabled golfers are welcome along with golfers with disabilities. Non-golfers are welcome to enjoy lunch with the group for $15.00. If you would like more information, please contact Jeanne Esch at go4golf@mac.com or visit the website at www.goforegolf.org.
Michigan Non-Profit Offers Golfing Events (page 3)
For additional information or a sample copy,
Contact:
Jeanne Esch
Go Fore Golf, Inc.
Telephone: 517-622-5444
Mobile: 517-290-1156
e-mail: Ajetchip1@mac.com
web site: goforegolf.org
Providing golfing events for those who golf with challenges, their family and friends, and community members.
Company History:
Go Fore Golf was founded in 2003 in Grand Ledge, Michigan by Jeanne Esch. Its mission is to provide affordable golfing events with a focus on fun for individuals who golf with challenges. They have hosted three scrambles in Door County, Wisconsin and five in East Lansing, Michigan. In 2007, they started providing workshops to encourage participation in their events. Ms. Esch is a speech teacher, currently on disability.
