Casey M. Martin is the head men’s golf coach at the University of Oregon. Martin also suffers from Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome, a congenital disorder which has made his right leg weaker, thinner and painful to stand on. Martin famously was denied access to a golf cart in order to compete in the PGA Tour in 2000. Later, in 2001, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

1) The issue of accessibility in sports is becoming more visible. What do you see as the trend, and how did your experience with the PGA Tour speak to the issue?
I was pretty involved [in the issue]—I followed it pretty closely based upon my ordeal. I think it goes back to the [infrequency] of playing sports at the highest level without being 100 percent physically able. I don’t think accommodation for athletes with disabilities is going to be a major trend in athletics, just because it’s so difficult to get to that level. There will be unique situations that come up every so often. Mine was one, and I’m sure there will be more, but they will not be the norm, in my opinion.

[The PGA Tour] didn’t want to have two separate rules. They didn’t want to have to make exceptions, because they felt it would just be opening up a Pandora’s box of every ache and pain a player would want accommodation for.

We showed them my leg and did everything we could to let them know what I was dealing with, and they weren’t willing to budge.

Fortunately, the [Supreme Court] saw things differently, because the law says you have to make individual assessments for people. I think the [PGA Tour’s] reasoning [was], “We just have one set of rules and you [have] to abide by it.” It makes sense, but when there’s a thing called the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act], you have to take that into account too.

2) Is having separate athletic contests discriminatory or encouraging?
If they weren’t separate, if there was just the Olympics and no Paralympics, [disabled] people wouldn’t have a place to compete at all, because those people aren’t going to be at the highest level. I don’t think [separate contests are] discriminatory, I think it’s good that people with physical limitations are at least given a chance to compete and become as good as they can be in their respective sports.

My wish is that the special ones who can really compete at the highest level would get those opportunities [to compete with able-bodied athletes]. But it does become a judgment call, I guess.

3) Do you think Oscar Pistorius should have been allowed to compete with able-bodied sprinters?
It’s hard to say, because I’m not an expert on those things, and if the scientist thinks his legs are bionic, obviously that’s a problem. But I don’t think there’s one runner in the world that would choose to give up his legs to have the Cheetah blade. So I don’t think it’s accurate [to] say the guy has an advantage over an able-bodied athlete. It would seem to me a stretch to say that.

4) As a coach, how do you help players overcome injuries or limitations of their own?
[In] golf, we don’t have too many injuries. We had a boy sprain his ankle playing basketball, but nothing that really requires accommodation.

There could easily be a situation. I know some golfers really struggle with their backs and need a pull-cart versus carrying their bag, [although] the rules say you have to carry a bag. The motion of golf can be very bad on backs, especially if you injure it early on. Then the repetitive motion of swinging can really affect your back.

5) What do you love most about playing golf?
I love the game, I love the challenge of trying to create shots and hit them, and I love the competition of trying to go out there and beat the next guy. That has always been fun for me, since [I was] a kid. Now, even though I’m not playing as much, [what] I enjoy as a coach is trying to get the best team and make [it] better and compete, and the thrill of all that.  

Interview by Heather Benjamin, assistant editor of the O&P Almanac.