Source: The Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.)
Jerry Pope wants special golf carts available at the state's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses
The question of whether special golf carts to accommodate the disabled should be furnished to the public at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama is in the hands of the Justice Department, but the issue has turned personal between the two parties.
A complaint was filed by a disabled Tuscaloosa man, Jerry Pope, against David Bronner, CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, and SunBelt Golf Corp. of Birmingham, which manages the RSA's 28 golf courses at nine locations around the state.
Pope, a former businessman who was disabled after a 1981 automobile accident, says he filed the civil rights complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act after failing to get a satisfactory response from Bronner for the past several years.
"This has been going on since February or March of 2001," Pope said. "My e-mails, faxes and letters were falling on deaf ears. Dr. Bronner, on this particular issue, was not going to do anything about it."
Bronner fired back that Pope is simply a salesman for the special "single-seat" golf carts.
"He forgot to tell you he threatened us umpteen times," Bronner said. "I'm not threatened because if he files a lawsuit I will sue him back. It (Pope's complaint) will go to the U.S. attorney. They're not going to waste his or her time on simply a salesman trying to beat the system for his own personal gain."
Pope counters, however, he does not sell the carts, but he does endorse them.
"He (Bronner) is 100 percent wrong on that," Pope said. "If Dr. Bronner drives a Mercedes and he endorses the car and a friend goes and buys one, it's the same thing. I have become an expert on these carts, but I do not sell these carts."
Bronner said he has no problem with disabled golfers bringing their own carts to the Robert Trent Jones Trail, but he cautioned that only a couple of the courses are flat enough to be safe for the special carts.
Most of the RSA courses are too hilly, creating a possibly hazard for the single-rider carts to tip over, he said. The courses at the Grand Hotel at Point Clear would be an exception, he said, because they are fairly flat.
"You have to understand there's nothing wrong with paraplegics playing golf," Bronner said. "At the Grand Hotel, we have a guy who brings one (single-seat cart) for himself."
But Bronner says he does not believe there are enough paraplegic golfers to warrant spending $16,000 for two carts for each of the facilities. Golf courses in the Montgomery area say they don't have a call for carts for paraplegic golfers. That's the word from Montgomery's public course, Lagoon Park, and RSA's Grand National at Auburn-Opelika and Capitol Hill at Prattville. That's also backed up by Buford McCarty of Birmingham, president of the Alabama Golfer's Association.
Asked by the Advertiser about how many paraplegic golfers there are in Alabama, McCarty responded: "We don't have anymore of an idea than you and don't really know of anyone that would have that kind of information."
"And while I have an empathy for disabled people, I also have a problem with the complaint that's been filed. This certainly isn't a practical matter nor do I believe it (special cart) is very much in demand."
Providing a single, swivel seated golf cart is not the whole of the problem either. The user of the cart would expect to be granted exceptions which would allow him or her to drive in areas from which other golfers are restricted, i.e., bunkers, greens, teeing grounds and, perhaps, hazards. While he or she might be expected to repair the bunkers behind them, the other areas would be of great concern.
Pope said two golf courses Ballantree Golf Club in Pelham and Old Colony Golf Course in Tuscaloosa have purchased the special cart. Ballantree is a semi-private club, while Old Colony, owned by the Tuscaloosa Parks and Recreation Association, is home to the University of Alabama golf team.
The special carts permit disabled golfers to maneuver the carts with hand controls and bring the seat into a standing position for a shot. Pope says they are equipped to move in sand traps and onto greens without damaging the course.
"They are very course-friendly from the ground-up," he said. "Even in steep terrain, they don't turn over. I've used this cart to play Shoal Creek in Birmingham."
And Pope said when the carts are not being used by the disabled, other golfers can use them.Pope's 16-page complaint was filed with the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice. He is represented by Richard Thesing, an attorney from Atherton, Calif.
"If they (Justice Department) believes it has merit, which should happen based on prior cases like this, they will contact Retirement Systems and SunBelt to try to settle the case," Thesing said. "This is not an issue of money. The Retirement Systems has over $20 billion of assets and has invested over $150 million in The Trail. This is simply a case of discrimination against disabled persons and it needs to be stopped."
Thesing also argued that The Trail is marketed nationally and international as a premier golfing destination.
"As a major venue for golf, The Trail should be a model of accessibility and, if it becomes so as a result of litigation, it will send a message across the country to the disabled community that golf is a possibility and to the golf course industry that it is time to make their courses accessible," he added.