I attended my first Angel City Sports adaptive golf clinic at Westchester Golf Course and left inspired — moved by the athletes, impressed by the operation, and eager to share how this program changes lives.
There's a moment — and if you've been around golf long enough, you know it — when the game stops being about score and starts being about something much bigger. I had that moment at Westchester Golf Course in Los Angeles, standing on the range watching a four-year-old take a swing at a golf ball with the kind of fearless joy that most tour pros lost about two decades ago.
Standing not far away, a 94-year-old man who is legally blind lined up his shot with the quiet confidence of someone who has seen everything and still chooses to show up. That's Angel City Sports. And after attending my first adaptive golf clinic with this remarkable organization, I can tell you with complete certainty: this is golf at its absolute best.
Rewriting What's Possible
Angel City Sports has been changing the game — literally — by making adaptive athletics accessible to people of all abilities across Southern California and beyond. When I heard they were hosting a golf clinic at Westchester Golf Course, I cleared my schedule. What I didn't fully anticipate was just how much the experience would move me.
The clinic was organized with the kind of seamless energy that looks effortless on the surface but represents serious planning underneath. Participants ranged from curious kids barely tall enough to hold a club to seasoned athletes navigating the world with adaptive equipment and unshakeable determination. Every single one of them belonged on that range. Every single one of them had game.
"When a child who uses a wheelchair grips a club for the first time and sends a ball sailing down the range, something shifts. When a legally blind 94-year-old steps up and takes his shot without apology or hesitation, the entire narrative of what's possible gets rewritten."
The Visionaries Behind the Movement
I had the privilege of meeting Claton Frech, founder of Angel City Sports, whose passion for inclusive athletics is palpable from the first handshake. This is not a person who sees limitations — this is a visionary who sees potential, and has built an organization around proving it.
Equally impressive was David Kulla-Mader, PGA, Head Professional at Westchester Golf Course and Director of Golf for Angel City Sports. If you want to know what a great golf instructor looks like in its purest form, watch David work a range full of adaptive athletes. Patient, precise, and genuinely energized by every breakthrough moment, he brings both technical excellence and authentic heart to the tee box. (You can learn more about David and his work at dkm.golf.)
The staff and volunteers throughout the clinic were exceptional — attentive without being hovering, encouraging without being patronizing. They understood that the goal isn't to accommodate; it's to elevate.
The Unique Power of Golf
Adaptive sports aren't a footnote to the athletic world — they are a reminder of what sport is fundamentally about: participation, perseverance, community, and joy.
Golf, in particular, has enormous power in the adaptive space. It's a sport of focus and feel, not just physical force — and that opens the door for a beautifully diverse range of athletes to find genuine success and satisfaction. Angel City Sports understands this deeply, and the results speak for themselves in the smiles, the high-fives, and the "did you see that?!" moments scattered across the range all morning.
Get Involved — Seriously, Do It
From a fearless four-year-old to a legally blind 94-year-old legend, the Angel City Sports adaptive golf clinic at Westchester Golf Course was nothing short of extraordinary. Watch what happens when great instruction, incredible volunteers, and unstoppable athletes share the same range — and find out how you can be part of it.
If you're reading this and thinking, "I want to be part of something like this" — great news: you can be. Angel City Sports welcomes volunteers, donors, and advocates at every level. Whether you give an afternoon, write a check, or simply spread the word, your support puts more people on the course who deserve to be there.
- Learn more, donate, or volunteer: angelcitysports.org
- Connect with David Kulla-Mader, PGA: dkm.golf
The fairway is wide open. Come join us.