If you stepped onto the driving range at Westchester Golf Course during a typical weekend, you’d expect to see the usual sights: golfers checking their yardages, working on their backswings, and focusing intently on their scorecards. But once a month, this exact same range transforms into something entirely different—and a whole lot more inspiring.
Welcome to the Angel City Sports Adaptive Golf Clinic.
This free monthly program is intentionally designed to blow the doors of the game wide open, welcoming athletes of all ages and all abilities to the tee box. From the moment the morning kicks off and check-in begins, you can feel a distinct, high-energy buzz building across the facility.
A Range Where Everyone Belongs
What makes this clinic so extraordinary isn't just the setup; it's the beautiful diversity of the community that shows up to play. On any given clinic morning, the range features:
-
The Next Generation: Young kids just getting started, some only four and five years old.
-
All Generations: A vibrant mix of teenagers and adults practicing side-by-side.
-
The Legends: A 94-year-old golfer who is legally blind, lining up his shots with absolute focus.
Despite the differences in age, background, and physical capability, everyone is there for the exact same reasons: to learn, to play, and to belong.
Creativity, Patience, and Unlocking Potential
Out on the range, the dedicated teaching team and a small army of volunteers get straight to work. Guided step-by-step, athletes are coached through the fundamentals of grip, stance, and swing. Because adaptive sports require a personalized approach, staff members creatively modify both equipment and technique for every unique body type and ability level.
The atmosphere is defined by patience, ingenuity, and a massive amount of shared joy. Every single solid contact, every sudden smile, and every high-five echoing down the line serves as a powerful reminder: golf is infinitely bigger than scorecards and fairways. It's about sheer possibility.
The magic spreads right over to the putting green, too. There, athletes consistently cheer each other on, celebrating the small wins and building their confidence one roll at a time. This is exactly where the community truly comes alive—where absolute strangers seamlessly become teammates, and where the game of golf becomes a bridge instead of a barrier.
Shifting the Narrative on Inclusive Sport
During the event, Green Side News caught up with the driving forces behind the program to discuss its sweeping impact on Southern California sports.
Clayton Frech, the visionary founder of Angel City Sports, shared how programs like this fundamentally change lives by giving adaptive athletes true access, dignity, and a consistent place to grow.
Right alongside him was Westchester’s own David Kulla-Mader, PGA, who serves as the Director of Golf for Angel City Sports. He explained that high-level adaptive instruction isn’t about managing limitations at all—it’s entirely about unlocking hidden potential.
(Note: You can watch their full, deep-dive video interviews over at greensidenews.com!)
How to Show Up and Support
As the clinic wraps up for the day, the smiles on the players' faces say everything you need to know. For these athletes, this isn’t just a weekend sport. It is a source of newfound confidence, a deep community, and a tangible chance to discover what they are truly capable of achieving.
But programs like this don't just happen on their own. They require a dedicated community to show up, support the vision, and actively believe in the power of inclusive sport.
Whether you want to get involved as a volunteer, make a impact as a donor, or sign up as an athlete, you can find your place in the movement.
-
Get Involved Today: Visit angelcitysports.org to learn more.
From Westchester Golf Course, this is Green Side News—celebrating the game of golf, and proudly celebrating the people who make it a game for everybody.
