Last modified: Tuesday, April 2, 2002
IU official to lead National Alliance for Accessible Golf
Gary Robb, director of the National Center on Accessibility at Indiana University, has been named the first president of the National Alliance for Accessible Golf.
The alliance was formed in summer 2001 by representatives of several golf-related organizations to increase the participation of people with disabilities in the sport.
Robb, an associate professor in the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, was instrumental in forming the alliance. He was selected as president at a recent meeting of the organization's leadership council. Trey Holland of the United States Golf Association was named vice president, and John McGovern of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society was named secretary.
The leadership council includes representatives from the allied golf associations, organizations representing the rehabilitation therapy industry, individual golfers with disabilities, educational institutions, and organizations representing people with disabilities. Indiana University, Clemson University and the University of Utah provide administrative support for the organization, which is headquartered at IU's Bloomington campus.
A key project now under way by the alliance involves developing a tool kit to give golf course owners guidance in making their courses more accessible. "Our tool kit provides an introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act and golf course accessibility issues, a list of frequently asked questions, and resources that can address specific issues for golf course owners," Robb explained. He said that in the future a checklist will be added that owners can use to evaluate their operations, from the time an individual with a disability calls to make a tee time to when they show up to play and throughout their round. Information on the tool kit is available at the alliance's Web site at https://www.accessgolf.org.
The issue of golf course accessibility received major attention last summer when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that professional golfer Casey Martin could ride a golf cart during PGA tour events instead of being required to walk the course.
