Quality Of Life Grantee Spotlight: U.S. Seated Golfers Association
Larry Celano is on a mission to increase awareness and access to seated golf. After playing from a wheelchair for many years, his golf experience changed dramatically when he acquired an adaptive cart and was able to start playing competitively.
“For this sport, it is all about the carts. No matter how you look at it, you can’t play without a cart. That’s the bottom line,” says Celano, who sustained an L1, L2 incomplete injury in 1989 at age 20 from a gunshot wound while serving with the U.S. Army in Panama.
Guided by his passion for bringing others into the sport, Celano founded the U.S. Seated Golfers Association (USSGA) in 2023 to build a stronger community and support adaptive golf for people with spinal cord injuries.
“Every adaptive golf community had an association except those of us living with a spinal cord injury,” says Celano. “I was tired of being limited in what our community could do in the sport.”
Last year, the USSGA received a $20,550 Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Quality of Life grant to purchase three new and refurbished SoloRider adaptive golf carts. USSGA’s goal is to increase the participation of seated golfers in adaptive golf tournaments across the country by providing access to adaptive golf carts.
“The Reeve Foundation grant helped validate what we are trying to do,” says Celano. “We aim to accomplish our goal by partnering with cart suppliers who will transport and maintain the carts at select tournament locations.”
The three adaptive carts are strategically located across the U.S. to support regional tournaments and clinics.
The cart in Arizona supported two tournaments in 2024 and is scheduled for use in at least two tournaments in 2025. It will also be available for local adaptive golf clinics.
In the Chicago area, another cart will be used in two tournaments and multiple adaptive golf clinics throughout 2025.
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The third cart in Georgia will support the GSGA (Georgia State Golf Association) Adaptive Open and be used in golf clinics hosted by GSGA adaptive programs during the 2025 season.
“You can’t have an adaptive tournament without people with a spinal cord injury. For many of these tournaments, if you can’t bring your own cart, you can’t go,” says Celano. “It can cost thousands of dollars to bring carts to a tournament.”
Celano hopes the USSGA will host a seated golf championship of its own one day. In the meantime, the organization will work to partner with state golf associations to encourage seated players to compete.
“Anything is possible with golf, and the seated golf community is like a family,” says Celano. “Everyone is welcome, and it feels amazing to be part of this group.”
Prior to the Reeve Foundation grant, Celano hosted a few small fundraisers, but he says the grant completely changed the possibilities ahead. It gave the nonprofit inspiration and incentive to apply for other grants and other funding.
“We were so surprised and thrilled to get the Reeve Foundation support,” says Celano. “We had a lot of false hope from other potential funders, but the Reeve Foundation didn’t give us false hope; it gave us real hope to make this sport accessible to all.”
The USSGA currently has 40 members and continues to grow as it works toward its mission to serve as a hub of information for golfing, including learning, equipment, tournaments and the rules dedicated to the seated division.
“I’ve been in a wheelchair for 30 years, and I can’t get enough of the sport. I didn’t realize what was missing in my life. Golf gets your competitive juices going to feel alive again,” says Celano. “This grant helped kickstart a lot of excitement and has opened so many opportunities to get more people out on the course.”