New accessible golf carts will soon have an impact on people with physical disabilities, Springfield Mayor Dominic Sarno announced while visiting Veterans Memorial Golf Course recently. The city has purchased two new adaptive carts that are available for use to those with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) documentation.
The SoloRider state-of-the-art machinery includes a swivel chair that allows users to both drive the cart and swing from a seated or lifted position on the green.
At a training center in Quincy, the equipment amazed Springfield resident Mike Foster – who golfed throughout his life until suffering a spinal cord injury eleven years ago this month. He went through his recovery in Boston and came back to the area about two years ago.
Foster came to the city with the idea just recently, but noted the difference between Boston and western Massachusetts’ resources.
“This is Boston, this ain't Springfield. You can't compare it. They got everything there,” he said, citing trouble with finding an adequate local gym to work out at or a spinal cord doctor after his return.
But after finding the funding through the city’s Department of Health & Human Services in coordination with the Commission on Disability, the adaptive carts are set to hit Springfield’s public municipal Veterans Memorial and Franconia Golf Courses in six to eight weeks. They come with a price tag of about $32,000.
Currently there are a limited number of adaptive carts in eastern Massachusetts.
Seeing it as a move towards equity, Health & Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton Harris thinks more people with disabilities will come through the city to use the golfing equipment.
“For those of us who watched the Paralympics, we understand just how much assistive devices can make a difference in how individuals play sports as well as live their lives,” she said.
Foster says the next step is to get involved with other public courses. He hopes the initiative will get local attention so that adults and kids with physical disabilities can enjoy the sport.
“My main goal with the carts is that hopefully someday that I could be out there on the golf course with my grandkids, in the cart and watch them play … I can sit there and just maybe hit a couple of shots [for them] and that's it. That's my goal. The family was first, golf was second.”
