Golf For All

Kiel Christianson at travelgolf.com blogs shares an inspirational mini golf story. Erich Sollenberger, a high school teacher in Metairie, Louisiana who heads the school's Horitculture Club, worked with his club (itself comprised of severely autistic children) to create a mini golf course for paralyzed kids. Mr. Sollenberger remarks:

'I have had many speaking engagements...and I can tell you that the audiences are confused about kids with broken necks playing [miniature golf]. [Then] I pull out an electric putter that fits onto a wheelchair, and I get big fat smiles all around. That's when they start to get it.'

'The putter has an up and down mechanism run by a battery. The battery lifts the putter over the pavers that outline the course. [The player] lifts the putter by a toggle switch near his thumb and chest. Each person that uses the putter will be different and we will have to adjust. Once the wheelchair bound person gets to the ball he runs into the ball to propel it forward.'

He reports that the putter is one of a kind engineered by biomedical engineers at Tulane University; it will fit on any kind of wheelchair and can be operated by individuals who have paralysis from the neck down.

The course has nine holes and still is a work in progress. If you would like to donate to this project you can contact Mr. Sollenberger at 504-888-7334 at Grace King High School.

Image: jaarons

tags: mini golf | minigolf | miniature golf | crazy golf | pop culture