NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — Most days at North Olmsted Golf Club, you’ll find Joe Coyne out on the course. He doesn’t take any of his swings for granted.

For Coyne and many others, The Turn is about more than golf. The Northeast Ohio nonprofit uses adaptive golf, fitness and recreation to help people with physical disabilities regain confidence, mobility and connection. The organization serves more than 400 participants each year.

What You Need To Know

The Turn is a nonprofit organization in northeast Ohio using golf to transform the lives of people with physical disabilities

The Turn provides adaptive fitness and recreation programs to more than 400 participants annually

Joe Coyne and Sean Collins credit the organization with improving their lives both physically and socially after traumatic injuries 

“A lot of people love golf,” said Coyne. “It’s something that maybe you didn’t think you were going to be able to do again.”

In 2019, Coyne lost his right leg and the toes on his left foot because of a severe allergic reaction.

“In the hospital, they handed me a pamphlet,” Coyne said. “I thought, ‘If I can ever get better, I’ve got a place to go. They all had smiles on their faces, and that was something I wanted.”

That place Coyne mentioned is The Turn, a nonprofit organization that helps people with physical disabilities get back into the game and, in many cases, back into the community.

The nonprofit uses adaptive equipment, including specialized golf carts, to make the sport more accessible to players with limited mobility.

“Golf is a full-body sport,” said The Turn golf director Joe Sabatino. “Balance, rotation, all of those things kind of disappear after a massive injury. Strokes, amputations, that kind of thing. To get somebody comfortable rotating and moving, just gives them any kind of extra mobility throughout the day.”

Sabatino, the organization’s golf pro, said the benefits go beyond physical recovery. 

“Golf is also very social,” Sabatino stated. “We’re able to get the interaction that we’re looking for and get them comfortable being out in the public eye with a disability or whatever they have. They’re next to somebody else who’s in the same situation.”

Sean Collins represents The Turn at golf tournaments around the country and says he’s grateful to be a part of an organization that gave him back the sport he loves. 

“I have had cerebral palsy since birth,” Collins said. “In 2011, I had back surgery. For the last seven years, I played out of a SoloRider. Sometimes I play out of a ParaGolfer when needed. We are kind of like the founding fathers of this kind of program, and other programs around the country have modeled it after us.”

Coyne hopes The Turn can do for others what it’s done for him.

“I’ve seen here wonderful examples of people not giving up on life,” said Coyne. “I’m getting a little better, one swing at a time.”

To learn more about the organization, you can visit jointheturn.org.