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Like most boys of middle-school age, Matthew Ward enjoys participating in sports. He swims, surfs, and plays basketball and tennis. Recently he took up golf.聽

Unlike most boys his age, Matthew does all this from a wheelchair. Born with spina bifida, he has been confined to a wheelchair all of his life.

A resident of Michigan, he has been spending the summer with his grandparents in the Grand Strand.聽

鈥淲e try to get him involved in as much as possible while he鈥檚 here,鈥� said his grandmother, Linda Knaus. She was with Matthew on Thursday, Aug. 7 at TPC Myrtle Beach for the start of a four-day golf clinic sponsored by Carolina Adaptive Golf.

Based in Greenville, Carolina Adaptive Golf聽sponsors remote clinics throughout the state and in Charlotte, in addition to almost weekly clinics in Greenville. Brandon Worley, founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization, said that Carolina Adaptive Golf hosts a fundraiser and clinic on President鈥檚 Day each year in Myrtle Beach, in addition to the summer program, now in its fourth year.聽

What started out as a project stemming from his graduate school research has turned into a 365-day, full-time passion for Worley, who is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. In addition to himself, he employs three part-time staff and has access to 150 volunteers. In the past year, they have worked with more than 2,000 people, including veterans, adults and children with unique abilities. Some have autism, post-traumatic stress disorder or visual impairments, while others are amputees, stroke survivors or are dealing with spinal cord or brain injuries.聽

鈥淏randon is a good coach who will actually coach the skills,鈥� said Shauna Donnelly, a volunteer with the program in Myrtle Beach. 鈥淗e loves helping these kids.鈥�

In her third year as a volunteer, Donnelly said Carolina Adaptive Golf is 鈥渁n awesome project to be a part of. I like to work with the kids.鈥澛�

Duncan Collins came to the clinic with his father, Jason Collins, pastor of St. Paul鈥檚 Anglican Church in Conway. Duncan had played golf for his high school teams in Conway and Bluffton before being confined to a wheelchair. At that point, he said, 鈥淢y ability to golf slowly withered away.鈥�

After meeting Worley a year ago and signing up for a monthly newsletter from Carolina Adaptive Golf, Duncan said, 鈥淚 thought it would be fun to try out.鈥澛�

Wheelchair-bound golfers at the clinic are outfitted with a standing wheelchair, which allows them to stand with support in order to swing a golf club. Both Matthew and Duncan were hitting golf balls 鈥� Matthew for the first time and Duncan after a long absence 鈥� with just a few minutes of instruction from Brandon, his staff and volunteers, including local PGA member Paul Carlson.聽

Worley said that Carolina Adaptive Golf is designed to create an environment for participants to have access to adaptive golf therapy to enhance their quality of life.聽

鈥淥ur vision is raising awareness for adaptive golf, championing equal opportunities and growing inclusion through golf.鈥� Since 2020, he said, all public golf courses are required to have a standing wheelchair.

But because of their high cost, many courses are not yet compliant with this federal regulation. He hopes that through fundraising events and communications, Carolina Adaptive Golf can help close that gap.聽

The mission he is on 鈥渋s broad, and we seek to help thousands in our community.鈥� It has become his spiritual obligation since the day he coached his first participant, a visually impaired 8-year-old girl who had never swung a golf club.

After 10-15 minutes of instruction, 鈥淪he took her first swing at the ball, and it went straight down the middle of the fairway. As I looked, up, I saw the girl鈥檚 mother with tears of joy in her eyes, clapping for her daughter鈥檚 amazing performance.鈥澛�