Disabled Golfer Loses Bid to for Golf Cart on PGA Tour

Disabled Golfer Loses Bid to Use Golf Cart on PGA Tour

Court refuses to apply Casey Martin decision in rejecting golf cart

South Bend, Indiana, May 28, 1999 -- Goldfer Ford Olinger may have thought that his attempts to use a golf cart under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) would follow Casey Martin's. Unfortunately for Olinger, he got a surprise by a federal judge when his request was denied.

This ruling will make it more difficult for disabled golfers to play on the PGA tour. While the Martin case is on appeal, (for article, click here), Judge Robert Miller concluded that the ADA did not apply since this case did not concern access to a workplace. Notably, Judge Miller did not apply the Casey Martin ruling in making his decision as the cases were different because Martin sought to use a cart on the PGA Tour, not just for a single event.

Olinger argued that a degenerative hip disorder made walking 18 holes nearly impossible for him, but Miller agreed with the United States Golf Association's contention that walking was fundamental to competitive golf and that allowing Olinger to ride a cart would provide him an unfair advantage. "The point of an athletic competition," Miller wrote, "is to decide who, under conditions that are about the same for everyone, can perform an assigned set of tasks better than any other competitor." He did note that the Senior tour allows golf carts.

Olinger sued the USGA under the Americans with Disabilities Act, seeking a permanent injunction allowing him to ride in qualifiers for the Open. The judge referred to the Casey Martin decision, but did not apply it, as it was rendered in a different judicial circuit.