Source: The Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.)
There is plenty of legal precedent for the Alabama Retirement System's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail to provide special golf carts for disabled golfers at each of its nine locations around the state.
Two years ago, the city of Indianapolis agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department to make changes at all 12 of the city's golf courses to comply with the requirements of Title II of the American Disability Act.
The Justice Department in the same year reached a similar agreement with the Sun City Summerlin Association, Inc., which operates three golf courses in Nevada.
Saunders Dorsey, a Michigan lawyer who also is a disabled golfer, has settled suits with several courses and is suing American Golf, a company that manages more than 200 courses.
But David Bronner, chief executive officer of RSA, says he has no intention of trying to reach such a settlement.
"I'm not going to settle with anybody," he said. "They're using me as a scapegoat for the rest of the world. These things (single-seat carts) are just not going to work. Just like they tried gay marriage in California."
Jerry Pope, a paraplegic golfer from Tuscaloosa, filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department in November claiming that he is the victim of discrimination by the RSA under the ADA law passed in 1990.
He claims that RSA's golf courses violate ADA laws because they don't provide carts that are specially made for paraplegics.
Roger Pretekin, president of SoloRider Management LLC of Centennial, Colo., a manufacturer of top-of-the-line carts for paraplegics, has watched such cases in the legal system.
"I've never seen a case settled in favor of the defendants," he said.
Bronner believes RSA is doing the right thing. He said disabled golfers are welcomed at all of the RSA's 28 courses at nine locations around the state. They may bring their own hand-operated single-rider carts, but if they want to use the special carts, Bronner requires them to sign a release of reliability.
"If they're going to try it at the top of the hill, we need somebody at the bottom to pick them up," he said.
Bronner insists there are only two RSA courses that are flat enough to safely accommodate the single-rider carts -- the Grand Hotel in Fairhope and the Highland Oaks at Dothan. He says the rest of the courses are far too hilly for the carts to negotiate safely.
Pope has challenged Bronner to a match on the Trail's most difficult course, using the SoloRider.
"I have offered to demonstrate the prowess of the SoloRider on some of the more hilly terrain at the Trail courses," said Pope. "To this day he (Bronner) has declined that invitation."
Pope's attorney, Rich Thesing, who also is disabled and plays golf using a single-seat cart, also disputes Bronner's assertion about the cart's safety.
"There are ANSI (American National Standards Institute) safety standards that have been developed by the National Golf Car Manufactures Association," said Thesing. "One of those safety standards is a test putting a golf car on an incline to determine at what angle it will tip over.
"There are reputable single-rider car manufacturers that have accessible golf cars that pass the same anti-tipping safety standards as regular golf cars. There is no legitimate safety reason to limit disabled golfers to 'flat' courses.
"This is typical stereotyping of disabled persons and shows once again that Bronner is either misinformed or simply doesn't want disabled persons on 'his' golf courses," Thesing said.
"I regularly play golf, use an accessible golf car and have driven it on the greens of some of the most famous golf courses in the country without any damage to the turf," Thesing added. "These courses include Pebble Beach, Spanish Bay, Pinehurst No. 2 and Wailea in Maui."
But Bronner was unmoved, adding, "Those (courses) are not half as difficult (as most Trail courses). They don't have the elevation changes. On some holes, they'd be nuts to drive those carts."
Bronner also has accused Pope of being a shill for the premium special cart -- the SoloRider 34, which retails for $7,800. Pope and Pretekin, whose company manufactures the cart, deny that charge.
"That's just not true," says Pretekin. "Jerry likes our cart. He endorses it and he's purchased three of them, but he's never been employed by our company."
Pretekin won't reveal the sales number on the SoloRider, but he says it rides so smoothly that it travels over rough terrain without spilling a full cup of coffee. He says the cart can get in and out of sand bunkers, tees and greens with no problem.
Pretekin estimates there are more than 7 million disabled people that would play golf at the nation's 18,000 public U.S. golf courses if they had access to the carts, although there's no way to verify that number.
Recently, Pretekin played in a scramble tournament with three paraplegics who had single-digit handicaps.
"They dominated," he said. "Prejudices will soon go away when they find out that these people are just like everybody else -- they just can't walk."