By SETH SOFFIAN

Casey Martin may be one in a million, a golfer stricken with a rare circulatory disorder who at the same time possesses the rare ability to play on the PGA Tour, but there are thousands more like him living out their own battles on the golf course.

In receiving a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court last week for the right to ride a golf cart in PGA Tour events, the 28-year-old Martin may help bring greater attention to a legion of golfers whose passion for the game equals his own - even if their talent may not.

"It's my therapy," said 61-year-old Cape Coral resident Gene Wolf, who plays golf several times a week with a prosthesis on the lower half of his right leg. "That's what keeps me going with my leg."

Wolf, a member of two regional amputee golf associations that are affiliated with the more than 4,400-member National Amputee Golf Association, lost his right leg below the knee 10 years ago thanks to blocked arteries.

Doctors attempted to save the lower half of his leg, but once it became clear they could not, Wolf said the decision was easy.

"I was ready for it." said Wolf, a retired vending machine supply and repairman. "I laid around for so long trying to save it. I was ready for it. I was ready to go on with my life."

Waiting to be fitted for a prosthesis in a Fort Myers orthopedic office, Wolf saw an amputee golf magazine and concluded at once, "That's for me."

Wolf, like other golfers with disabilities, believes the sport can have a therapeutic effect and produce a sense of accomplishment, perhaps greater than that for golfers without disabilities.

"It means a lot," said Wolf, a high-90s, low-100s golfer with about a dozen amputee golf tournament trophies to his credit. "It just gives you the thrill of being out there with everybody."

"It means a lot," said Wolf, a high-90s, low-100s golfer with about a dozen amputee golf tournament trophies to his credit. "It just gives you the thrill of being out there with everybody."

"It means a lot more to them than people with no disabilities, because they take their abilities for granted," Mann said. "Once you're not able to play golf the way you used to, it means a lot more."

Mann said members of the Southwest District of the Physically Challenged Golf Association include golfers that are paraplegic, have suffered strokes, have had limbs amputated, have post-polio syndrome and multiple sclerosis.

One member is North Naples resident Bill Hefferon, 64.

The retired owner of an insurance agency from upstate New York had a major cerebral hemorrhage on the right side of his brain 26 years ago that paralyzed him on his left side.

Today though, Hefferon plays golf, using only one arm and maneuvering in a single-person golf cart designed to drive on greens and tees, because, simply, "I just don't want to be an invalid.

I really want to play golf," said Hefferon. "I really want to be a 19-handicapper from the white tees. It'll probably take me a couple more years."

When he first picked a club back up in January following his stroke, Hefferon struggled just to make contact with the ball. He started off at the driving range, swinging a club one-armed from a leaning position in the seat of his cart, which elevates him to a standing position.

Aided by Jim Sowerwine, the head instructor at the Rick Smith Golf Academy at TiburA3n Golf Club in North Naples, Hefferon has made significant progress, both in his game and his rehabilitation. With Sowerwine learning what mechanics of a "stiff-legged, one-armed swings" work and passing them on to Hefferon, the golfer has raised his play to being able to shoot in the 50s for nine holes, from the ladies tees for now.

Hefferon also no longer swings while leaning in his seat, now able to walk short distances from his cart to his ball.

"They're telling me at physical therapy that one of the best things that ever happened to me was getting out into the grass, the uneven balance," Hefferon said. "I'm able to walk better now because of my golf. It's been very therapeutic."

So much so that Hefferon doesn't see any reason why other would-be golfers with similar conditions can't benefit as well. He said he would like to see golf courses voluntarily begin adding one or two special carts like his to their fleets as a way to be more inviting to disabled golfers.

"Not to be forced by the ADA," Hefferon said of the Americans with Disabilities Act. "There's so many people, I didn't realize it before I became disabled, who would love to play golf. But because they've got emphysema, or because they've got some other debilitating problem, they're not able to walk up a hill or they're not able to walk in a bunker.

"If they had a golf cart that could get them from point A to point B, they would enjoy the game."

Hefferon said he also makes absolutely sure not to slow the pace of play, picking up his ball and taking a penalty on the rare occasions he cannot maneuver to his ball.

"I play golf as fast as anybody else," he said. "I say to the guys I play with, 'If I'm holding you up, please let me know.' They say, 'Bill, you're faster than we are.'"

Mann said some golf courses are hesitant to allow the special carts on greens and tee boxes for fear they'll damage the surfaces, but she and Hefferon said it's a simple matter of education.

"The people that manufacture the cart tell me that there is less stress per square inch on the grass than there is from a 165-pound person walking on the green," said Hefferon, noting the cart's balloon-like, tread-free tires. "The weight is dispersed."

"It's just a lack of education," said Mann. "Maybe this (the Casey Martin case) will make people become more aware or be more interested in learning more about some of these issues that come up."