Opening the game to all

By Doug Ferguson

Associated Press

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Parked behind a row of conventional golf carts, the single-rider cart looks like a jet ski on wheels – handle bars instead of a steering wheel, a rack to hold the clubs in front, a seat that rotates 360 degrees.

Known as “1-PASS,” it is available at places such as Pebble Beach, Disney, Doral, and all 21 golf courses in the TPC Network, including Sawgrass, home of the PGA Tour.

It’s seldom used, but that’s not how its value is measured.

“If we get one person a year using it, then it’s worth it for us to have,” said Jim Poole, head professional at Sawgrass. “It gives handicapped people an opportunity to play.”

Built by SoloRider Industries in Colorado and distributed by Augusta, Ga.-based Club Car, the 1-PASS cart has become a vehicle for disabled golfers to enjoy a game they might not otherwise be able to play.

For those without use of their legs, it allows them to play without leaving their seats.

One of those golfers is Bob Schmonsees, paralyzed from the waist down after a skiing accident in 1984. A marketing consultant who lives in Potomac, Md., Schmonsees became skilled at wheelchair tennis and continued to ski using special devices.

“I always wondered whether anybody would come up with something for golf,” said the 54-year-old Schmonsees, who played occasionally before his accident. “I had seen a few attempts to take motor scooters and turn them into golf carts, but I didn’t think they were robust enough to handle the golf course.”

Having seen an early design of SoloRider’s cart, Schmonsees was invited to take part in the development of 1-PASS. He now owns two of the carts and plays a couple of times a week on the TPC at Avenel. He has a home just off the 16th fairway.

“The initial reaction is raised eyebrows,” Schmonsees said. “Then, everyone is all for it when they see me hit.”

Equally impressive is the cart, and the places it is designed to go – tee boxes, greens, bunkers, sidehill lies.

The 1-PASS cart has a 6-inch clearance for greater access around the course, and a low center of gravity and equal weight distribution for stability, even on hills.

Perhaps its most important feature is the four-wheel suspension that allows the cart to be driven on greens without doing any damage to the putting surface. It transfers only six to seven pounds of pressure per square inch, half the pressure applied by an average man and significantly less than standard carts.

“Every sale we made early on to Pebble Beach and Doral and high-end private clubs, they were all very concerned about the integrity of their greens,” said Roger Pretekin, president of SoloRider Industries. “Every one of them, after an evaluation, scratched their head and said, ‘I guess it’s fine.’ “

Schmonsees plays off a 26 handicap index. His best score on the TPC at Avenel, home course of the Kemper Open, is a 94; his best round ever is an 87 on a course in Virginia. Using only his upper body to generate power, Schmonsees said he hits his driver about 170 yards, and his 7-iron goes about 100 yards.

But this is not about scoring or long driving contests. It’s about an opportunity.

“The time is right for this,” he said.

That’s what the PGA Tour had in mind when it agreed to put a 1-PASS cart at all of its TPC courses, a small irony considering the tour only last year lost its U.S. Supreme Court case against Casey Martin over his right to use a standard cart in PGA Tour events.

“There is no direct correlation with Casey Martin,” said Bill Reid, regional director of operations for the TPC Network. “Casey’s situation brought awareness to handicapped golfers. We looked at disabled golfer programs around the country and felt it was important to extend the opportunity for handicap golfers to play our courses.

“It sends a message relative to our efforts of growing the game.”

The tour is not exactly making money off 1-PASS.

The cost of one cart is about $7,000, more than double that of a standard cart, and yet golf courses charge the same cart fee for both. Reid says hardly any of the 1-PASS carts have been used at the TPC courses.

Pretekin, however, says it’s worth having a 1-PASS cart for no other reason than to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Two weeks ago, the Justice Department reached an agreement with a Las Vegas retirement community in which Summerlin Sun City Community Association must make its three courses accessible to golfers with disabilities.

Summerlin Sun City golf director Jesse Bridgeman said disabled golfers now can put a laminated card in their standard carts that allows them to go within 15 feet of the edge of the green as long as it is safe.

In that case, a 1-PASS or a cart designed specifically for disabled golfers was not required to be in compliance, although Pretekin believes that will be an issue in the future.

“How is a person who doesn’t walk going to use a golf cart?” he said.

Pretekin built the first prototype of 1-PASS nearly eight years ago. He then joined forces with Club Car, which made several technical changes to improve the performance and added an emergency “stop” button.

“We thought it was the right thing to do,” said Chris Plummer, vice president of marketing for Club Car. “We know disabled golfers want access. And most of our customers are smart enough to know that if they want to deal with ADA issues, we have a solution for them.”

Still, Schmonsees believes 1-PASS has far greater implications.

“You might get a small percentage of people who can ever play 18 holes,” Schmonsees said. “There’s a larger percentage who may come to the driving range with a therapist and hit some balls, and that would be an extraordinary experience.”