For about two and a half years, Craig Adams and Matt Winters have been running Adaptive Golf and Other Sports, a local non-profit that serves people with disabilities in Lake Havasu City.Throughout that time, Adams and Winters have introduced members to the game of golf. They’ve been hitting golf balls and learning different techniques such as driving, putting and chipping at the practice facility at the Lake Havasu Golf Club. After two and a half years of hitting, they’ll use the golf course for the first time for a tournament on May 8.“We got over 100 special needs members hitting golf balls and they’re coming every week hitting golf balls,” Adams said. “It’s time to move to the next level and they’re understanding why they’re practicing and they’re attached to the game.”The tournament is scheduled to take place at the Lake Havasu Golf Club, which is donating the course for the event. Anderson Toyota is the main sponsor of the tournament, and the auto group has donated $3,000 to the Special Olympics of Lake Havasu City.Adams and Winters said Jimmy Wijnhamer, the Special Olympics of Lake Havasu City president, has taken them under his wing to help run a tournament for athletes with disabilities.“We’re not making it a competitive type of feel,” Winters said about the tournament. “It’s really more to give them a final answer to what they’ve been doing since chipping and putting without ever seeing the golf course.”Adaptive Golf and Other Sports is a 501 © (3) non-profit that was founded by Bob LaMarsh, who is blind, and Adams and Winters said they’ve been part of the program since its inception. Not only are they introducing the game to people with disabilities, Adams and Winters are helping generate interest into the sport.“The goal is to grow the game,” Winters said. “Anybody could play this game.”Before the May tournament was organized, Adams and Winters were trying to get Special Olympics of Lake Havasu City involved, but those plans went on a standstill with the covid-19 pandemic. Adams said plans to organize the event started last summer.“We’re taking it over and we’re finally getting the special needs to the golf course,” Adams said. “We decided to do the whole gambit. A bounce house, a 200 foot slip-n-slide, putting, chipping, pitching, Frisbee and soccer golf.”The tournament is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lake Havasu Golf Club. It’s the first hosted by Adaptive Golf and Other Sports.
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