Access to the Greens

By Doug Stewart

With the acquisition of two single ride-on accessible carts, Woodside Greens Golf Park just outside Simcoe, Ontario, can now boast of providing golf for everyone.

Thanks to the generosity of a local business that donated the Golf Xpress – a multiple-use, single-rider adapted cart – and South Coast Special Needs Kids
Inc., which originally chipped in with another cart called The Sport, Woodside
Greens provides a welcoming environment for golfers with physical disabilities.

Brad Walpole uses the specially equipped carts to enjoy a round of golf. “This
cart allows me to go on 95 per cent of the course,” says the enthusiastic Walpole of Delhi, Ontario. An avid golfer both before and after an accident that affected his ability to walk, he had been playing the course from his wheelchair. The adapted carts now provide him with better access and more independence on the golf course.

“Now the only time I need an able-bodied golfer is when I put my ball in the
woods,” he says with a grin.

The modified carts will enable all golfers to play all parts of Woodside. Course
owner Doug Love welcomes the additions to his fleet of carts. “This will allow us to accommodate anybody who comes to golf,” he says, adding that he hopes, because of the carts, people with disabilities will now feel
more encouraged to give golf a try.

Woodside Greens can be contacted for more information at (519) 428-0030.