It's called the "Woodlands," and is a 32-acre complex that gives hope to children and adults whose lives have been made tremendously more difficult by disease, illness or have special needs. While the Woodlands - which takes its name from natural environment on which it sits - is best known for its work with children ages 6-18, it also has week-long camps and year-round weekend retreats for adults aged 19-30.

"These children are so isolated," says Dr. Donald Reigel, who performed children's neurosurgery in Pittsburgh from 1973-2000 and is now the chairman of Woodlands Foundation, Inc., established in 1998 as the steward of the Woodlands property and facilities. "I used to see them in my office and when they'd leave I'd ask myself what they did the rest of the time when they're at home and not outside their house. They seemed to be deprived in many ways. Over the years, it's appeared to me that they had no friends. In many cases they're almost clinically depressed at the age of 11 or 12. Like it or not, our society is not friendly to some people."

Reigel and his wife Gay, a nurse, were discussing the youngsters early in 1980 when he reached into his wallet and pulled out the contents - $75. That became the basis for a fund-raising initiative that ultimately raised $75,000 through donations, a charity golf tournament and some grants. It got the Woodlands off the ground.

"We started going out to any organization that would listen to us in an effort to raise money and when we'd go to a gathering," says Reigel. "I'd always take a slide with me that showed a kid sitting in the bleachers with crutches. My message always centered around, `We have to get these kids on the field'."

What he was saying was that the children had to get back into the game, back into life's mainstream where they could put aside their difficulties.

In 1984, Reigel hosted his first week-long camp at the Woodlands for children suffering with spina bifida - a condition in which the spine does not fully form - but that camp had to be closed down when it was discovered that a badly leaking swimming pool was leading to astronomical water bills.

It was during that time that discussions were held with the Spina Bifida Association, with a single thought coming back to Reigel: Imagine the possibilities.

"The decision was made to open this wonderful facility to all people of disability in western Pennsylvania and even beyond," said Peter Clakeley, current president and executive director of the Woodlands Foundation. "But we knew to do it we needed more funds."

And so they raised more, with some big contributors, like the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation in Middletown, Ohio, helped with grants of $50,000.

And then enter the USGA. The Woodlands Foundation applied to golf's ruling body and received a $50,000 grant in 2002 to help with the construction of one of the most unique aspects of the Woodlands: its adaptive, par-3 golf course.

The course was designed in 2002 by landscape architect Dominic Palombo of Upper St. Clair, 10 miles from Pittsburgh, and built in the spring of 2003. It opened for its first full season of use in 2004. The Woodlands incorporates golf into all most of the summer camp and year round programs offered there, as well as offering private and small group golf lessons each week.

Space concerns and the general contour of the land forced the course to be built with three greens and three teeing areas that feature three separate tees on each. That allows those who participate in golf at the Woodlands to have as realistic a golf experience as possible. That's just one of the ways golf as well as many other activities has become "adaptive." Games, tools, sticks, clubs, Rules have been modified to help individuals with special needs, disabilities or challenges participate and experience things they would not have been able to otherwise.

Golf carts have been adapted so that individuals with limited mobility can get in and out of them. "Solo-Rider" carts are specially designed carts that feature seats that swivel 180 degrees and rise so the golfer can address their ball from a standing position.

And then there's the "No Handicap Golf Club." This is a community that makes it possible for many of those who spend time at the Woodlands to enjoy golf. Instruction, support and socialization are provided and golf has become such a popular activity that an actual clubhouse is in the works.

Instruction comes from a variety of sources, including PGA professionals in the Pittsburgh area as well as players like former PGA Tour player Bob Friend and longtime women's amateur star Carol Semple Thompson (the winner of seven USGA championships and the recipient of the Bob Jones Award, the Association's highest honor, in 2003). The instruction staff also benefits from the presence of Tracy Brothers, a former player on the Futures Tour - a feeder tour for the LPGA - who is now a regular at the Woodlands.

Brothers, a special education teacher in the Seneca Valley School District for 22 years, loves the time she spends at the Woodlands. "When I was contacted about working there, I went over to the campus and very quickly it became an easy answer for me," she says. "I get more from those kids than they could ever get from me. They don't see themselves as handicapped. To be around people that happy, well, it just gives you great perspective."

Golf is not the only thing happening there. There now is a 48-bed lodge complete with an activity center that hosts dances, theatrical and musical performances, movie nights and games. There is a nature trail, a camping area, an outdoor amphitheater, a soccer field, and baseball yard games and shuffle board. A hard-surface sports court to facilitate wheelchairs that has a three-lane, 200-meter race track, tennis court and two basketball courts.

"It's a wonderful place for these kids to go," says Friend, the director of golf at Pikewood Golf Club in Morgantown, WVa. "It's a place where they can go and think about something other than the challenges they have. It is a very, very positive place. It's like any group of people, except this group is made up of people with special needs. Some are further along than others. But it's amazing the smiles you see, considering the enormous physical and mental challenges that are part of their everyday lives."

Obviously, the USGA is a big supporter of the Woodlands as well, considering the organization has awarded it more than $150,000 in grants since 2002. "The values that are inherent to the game of golf are transferable to areas of personal development that reach far beyond the golf course," says USGA President Walter Driver. "The programs we have supported over the past 10 years have demonstrated golf's potential to change lives time and time again. We know these newly supported programs will continue that good work."