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.