Organizations partner to bring adaptive golf camp to Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A pair of organizations are partnering to host a golf camp for children of all abilities.

“It’s an introductory so in case there’s children who have never picked up a club before no worries at all,” said Effie Baldwin, the CEO and Founder of the nonprofit Believing in a Better World. “We’re going to teach them all the basics from grip to posture to full swing to putting to chipping. Everything, because we know that they’re going to be successful in this sport and on Sunday were going to take them out and see if they can play a little on the actual golf course.”

Baldwin’s passion to introduce children with special needs started when she attended the African American Golf Expo last fall and met individuals who were part of the adaptive golf program.

“So I thought, is that just for golfers who had injuries?” she said. “And then when I went, I saw individuals who were wheelchair bound. They had spinal cord injuries. They were amputees. Arm and leg. And it opened my eyes.”

Baldwin said she also saw how empowering the sport was for these athletes.

“If this is empowering for adults, how empowering can it be for children - who are most likely told if they are in a special needs population that there’s a lot of things that they can’t do? I don’t think we ever tell them that golf is something they can do,” said Baldwin.

She reached out to Brandon Worley, the founder of Upstate-Carolina Adaptive Golf to receive training so she could introduce adaptive golf to her community.

Now, Baldwin and Worley are bringing the game to children with all abilities in the Myrtle Beach area for a four-day camp at Tupelo Bay Golf Course between July 27-31.

It’s all part of a bigger mission to make the game more inclusive to everyone.

Gianna Rojas is the founder of Adaptive Golfers and a pioneer in introducing golf as a sport that everyone can play.

She’s also known globally as the “One-Handed Lady Golfer.”

“What golf can give to a child is that feeling of being a viable part of society, of community,” said Rojas. “Having a lifestyle to go out and join, and not only does the child get the benefit, but all four other kids on that team are going to be exposed to someone doing something that they have not seen before.”

Registration for the Myrtle Beach camp is still open as of July 27.

Click here for more information.

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