Baltimore, MD 21207
1-888-4KERNAN (453-7626)
Programs and Services
Adaptive Golf Program
For More Information
To learn more about this program and/or to be placed on the golf mailing list, please contact Pam Cauley at 410-448-6320.
Kernan Hospital's adaptive golf program has offered golfing opportunities to persons with disabilities since 1991. The centerpiece of Kernan's adaptive golf program is a 2,400-square-foot putting green that has paved pathways leading up to it, making it accessible to people who use wheelchairs.
"The green is used for rehabilitation, to teach patients modified golf skills that allow them to resume their interest in the game," says Pam Cauley, C.T.R.S., a recreational therapist at Kernan Hospital who oversees the golf program. "By working on various shots, we can also help them improve their motor skills, balance and coordination. We focus on their abilities, not their disability."
Kernan's golf program serves people of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to avid golfers. The participants have disabilities resulting from strokes, amputations, brain and spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
Kernan Hospital conducts annual golf clinics that are open to disabled members of the community as well as Kernan inpatients and outpatients in collaboration with the Eastern/National Amputee Golf Associations (EAGA) and Baltimore Municipal Golf Corporation. Kernan's recreational therapists, LPGA and PGA professionals and EAGA members provide instruction on modified techniques and adaptive equipment.
Therapists use the clinics to integrate inpatients into the community as well as to address their rehabilitation goals. Golf skills are used to address patients' individual goals relating to social, physical, emotional and/or cognitive issues.
Program participants have access to a solo golf cart designed to assist persons with mobility impairments. The clinic offers training on this cart to aid in preparing the golfer to resume golf at a community course in a safe and effecient manner.