For nearly a quarter century, Scottish Rite for Children in north Texas have been using golf to help treat, teach, motivate, and inspire thousands of children in Texas with orthopedic disorders or other mobility-limiting conditions.
Scottish Rite’s “Learn to Golf†program provides individual and hands-on golf instruction to patients with physical challenges. Focusing on the rehabilitative benefits of the game, the Learn to Golf program was launched in 1998 by the hospital’s Therapeutic Recreation Department. It was based on the National Amputee Golf Association’s First Swing program.
“Like typically developing children who participate in any sport, the benefits our patients can experience varies greatly,†said Dana Dempsey, M.S., CTRS, the Director of Scottish Rite’s Therapeutic Recreation Department. “Some report feeling happy they have finally found a sport that they can do. Other benefits kids experience included improved hand-eye coordination, balance, strength, confidence, and being able to play golf with friends and family.â€
Targeted at Scottish Rite patients ages 6 and older, the hospitals held 26 Learn to Golf clinics over the past two years in markets such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Longview, Bullard, and Lubbock among others.
The children receive instruction from golf and allied health care professionals, as well as a rules book and golf equipment, if needed. Scottish Rite also helps patients find golf instructors and junior golf programs in their areas.
Dempsey said her favorite aspects of Learn to Golf are watching the children succeed and hearing from the parents about what a difference it has made in their lives.
“This is truly a unique experience and opportunity,†said one parent of a Learn to Golf participant. “There are very few adaptive options for physical activity for children where the integrity of the sport is maintained while implementing appropriate adaptions for the child.â€
Among those who have experienced and benefited from Learn to Golf include patients with spina bifida, osteogenesis imperfecta, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, muscular dystrophy, and a mix of other orthopedic and neurological conditions.
The program is free of charge for patients. It’s supported by several generous donors, including The Sandlot Children’s Charity, the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, North Texas Golf Course Superintendent’s Association, North Texas Mustang Club, and the National Alliance of Accessible Golf, which receives funding from the USGA.
The continued success of the Learn to Golf program relies in large part on finding qualified instructors. Scottish Rite accomplishes that through its “Tee Up for Teaching†initiative. Aimed at golf teachers and allied health care professionals, Tee Up for Teaching highlights the importance of inclusion for disabled individuals and arms the instructors with all the tools they’ll need to use golf as a part of patients’ rehabilitation and to enhance their quality of life.
The next available Tee Up for Teaching session is March 13 in Dallas. The deadline to register is March 3. Click here to register. For additional questions, call Scottish Rite’s Therapeutic Recreation Department at 214-559-5179.
For more information on Scottish Rite’s Learn to Golf program, click here.