The Freedom Golf Association (FGA), member of the U. S. Adaptive Golf Alliance (USAGA), to host clinic for Shriners Hospital for Children and Wounded Veterans during BMW Championship week at Medinah Golf Club
(BURR RIDGE, IL ) The Freedom Golf Association, a charitable organization dedicated to bringing joy and a sense of freedom to the special needs’ community through their inclusion in the game of golf, is hosting a clinic for disabled children from the Shriners Hospital in Chicago and wounded veterans. The clinic will take place on the driving range at Medinah Golf Club at 3pm on Tuesday, August 13th during BMW Championship week.
The clinic will be taught by Jonathan Snyder, Director of Adaptive Golf, FGA, ranked 5th in the world of one-arm golfers; and Tracy Ramin, Head of Competition, USAGA. Ramin holds a world ranking of #21 in the disabled golf world ranking system.
“One of the greatest thrills in my life is to provide my expertise in teaching disabled individuals the game of golf,” says Snyder. “In 2018, the FGA provided 6,755 participant golf lessons. This year we’ll break a record of 9,000 participant lessons!”
FGA Ambassador Connor Wright, a former patient at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago, and who has learned the game through his association with the Freedom Golf Association, will be at the clinic as well, to show his friends with disabilities, that they too, can play golf. Wright was one of 23 Ambassadors from the National Shriners organization who was chosen to go to the Shriners Open PGA Tour event last year in Las Vegas. These 23 Ambassadors, no matter their disability, carry player signs on the last hole of the tournament. The USAGA organizes a clinic during the week of the Shriners Open event for these Ambassadors.
The United States Adaptive Golf Alliance (USAGA)’s mission is to include the disabled in society through the game of golf. The USAGA and its 36 adaptive golf member organizations around the country have proven that “now, everybody can play the game.”
EQ Sylvester, Founder, USAGA, points out that “there are twenty-million physically-disabled in the U.S. who want to play golf but don’t because of two constraints: 1) they don’t know where to find adaptive golf instruction and 2) they’re not welcomed at golf courses or at worst, turned away. Those constraints,” Sylvester continues, “is what drives the USAGA and our 36-member organizations forward. Each year, we provide 33,000 disabled individuals (of which 24 per cent are combat-wounded veterans), the joy of golf. And…we are just scratching the surface.”
About United States Adaptive Golf Alliance:
Founded in 2014, the USAGA is a national alliance of 36-member adaptive golf organizations with common goals and objectives, promoting and providing resources for athletes with disabilities nationwide. In 2018, its member organizations provided adaptive golf to 30,000+ individuals across the country, of which 24% are wounded veterans. USAGA is the only organization in the country that provides competitive pathways in disabled golf – from basic instruction, get out and play, through and including national and international competitions for golfers with disabilities.
For more information on the U.S. Adaptive Golf Alliance (USAGA), please visit: www.usaga.org
Follow the USAGA on Twitter: @USAGA3
Follow on Instagram: usadaptivegolfalliance
Like the USAGA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/USAGAGolf
CONTACTS:
Edmund Q. Sylvester
Chairman, USAGA
eqsylvester1@gmail.com
(630) 697-4345
Lisa Stanick
Executive Assistant, USAGA
lgstanick@usaga.org
(248) 884-0641
