May 5, 2009

Today Casey Martin is the head golf coach at the University of Oregon. Martin has held this position since 2006. But if you go back to the beginning of this decade, the hot topic in Sports Law conferences throughout the United States was Casey Martin’s fight against the PGA Tour. It was easy to see why, because this case came with so many questions to answer:

1. Is there a constitutional right to play a sport at an elite level?

2. How does the Americans’ with Disabilities Act apply to pro sports?

3. Is walking the course an integral part of the sport of golf?

Before we look at the Supreme Court’s decision in PGA TOUR Inc. v. MARTIN, let's trace a bit of Casey Martin's background.  Martin grew up in Eugene, Oregon where he was a good enough junior golfer to be able to attend Stanford University as part of their outstanding golf program.  At Stanford, Martin was a member of the 1994 NCAA champion team,* and was named to the all Pac-10 team three times. What made Martin’s accomplishments all the more outstanding was that he had endured a birth defect in his right leg known as Klippel Trenaunay Weber Syndrome. Klippel Trenaunay Weber Syndrome is a congenital circulatory disorder which makes it extremely difficult for Martin to walk an entire eighteen hole golf course.

Because of this birth defect walking a the full eighteen holes of a golf course became more and more burdensome for Martin. Martin had requested an exemption from the PGA Tours’s prohibition against the use of golf carts during tournaments. The PGA tour denied Martin’s request, maintaining that walking the golf course was as much a part of the game as the shotmaking required to drive, chip and putt.  Were the conservative traditions of the PGA, or was the progressive law (the ADA) to prevail?  Ultimately, The Supreme Court would decide after a four year legal battle.

  *This team included Tiger Woods