Active lifestyles are fore everyone: Fairfax county Park Authority's adapted golf program brings access to the links - Virginia's county expands links and brings in new money too: includes a related article on training mentally handicapped youth golfers - Living Healthy: Come Out and Play - Cover Story

Parks & Recreation, Oct, 1996 by Daphne Hutchinson

Jablonski uses the same teaching techniques with able-bodied and disabled golfers. "It does help to understand the general limitations of a specific handicapping condition and to know things like the effect of heat or humidity on those conditions," she said. "But everybody has their own way of learning, their own learning style and a certain type of encouragement that they respond to. As an instructor, I have to figure that out, and I have to be observant as to what their bodies can do, no matter who the students are."

Recently named to the LPGA's committee for developing programs for golfers with disabilities, Jablonski sees multiple reasons for making golf accessible to all. "It gets you outside. It stimulates your mind and your body. It can be competitive. And you don't have to run, a key factor in golf's suitability for people with mobility impairments--you stand still and the ball stands still!"

Accessible golf makes good business sense as well, an important factor in program development during tunes of limited budgets. Fairfax County, for instance, has a golf participation rate 50% above the national average. Nearly 18% of the county's population--some 137,000 residents--play the game, compared to just 12% of the country as a whole. "Golf is Fairfax County's favorite sport. Apply that popularity rating to individuals with disabilities who reside in the county, and you have almost 10,000 golfers with disabilities of a different sort. That's an untapped market," Walsh noted.

But the Park Authority's supervisor for Access Services is quick to emphasize that potential for profit is not the prime motivation for working to expand golf's accessibility. "People with disabilities have a right to the same recreational opportunities as everyone else, and that includes golf," said Walsh. "I keep coming back to benefits. I remember a woman recovering from a stroke who took Noel's lessons at Pinecrest. She brought her physical therapist to a session, and afterwards the therapist marveled, I've never gotten her arm to move like that before. That's the best reason for making golf accessible. Equal access can make a difference in people's lives."

RELATED ARTICLE: Juniors Take a Swing in Park Authority's Latest Link to Accessible Golf

Exuberant whoops, squeals of delight and enthusiastic applause resound at the Fairfax County Park Authority's Pinecrest Golf Course on Thursday mornings as students from the School for Contemporary Education take their weekly lesson.

Not the typical sounds of the fairways, but then, these are not typical golf students. The eight young people taking lessons from LPGA teaching pro Noel Jablonski have mental retardation. With every putt on the practice green and tee-shot in the driving cages, they prove that golf is indeed a game for everyone.

"These kids may not turn out to be golfers, but they'll have to perform in the real world, and golf can help prepare them for that," said Jablonski, who has been instrumental in the development of the Park Authority's adapted golf program. "Being in a social setting, in a different environment, learning new skills, and staying on task--it's all practice that will benefit them throughout life."