Blind golf for me
When I was born my parents realised that something was wrong. After a few months I went back to a doctor and they told me that I have Bardet Biedl syndrome (BBS). This is a rare syndrome that mainly affects my eye sight. I didn’t know about this until I was 6 years old. I didn’t think this could stop me grown up. It really hit home one Halloween night I was out in the dark and I couldn’t see a thing immediately at this time I knew that something was wrong. I went again to a doctor and they told me that I have Retina Pigmentosa (RP) which affects your retina in the eye. In the last few years my vision has detiorated I’ve no peripheral vision and very little central vision. My vision is like looking through a pin hole but I haven’t let any challenges or obstacles get in my way.
I played soccer from 6 years old until 15 years old and in my teenage year’s soccer got more difficult for me with the sight. I started to go to a driving range with my dad and I really enjoyed it. After that I started to play a few rounds of 9 hole golf with my dad spotting my ball for me. I started to play a full round of golf which is 18 holes when I was 14 years old. I thought that playing golf was good for my competiveness and from there I have loved it. I was really bitten by the bug and playing for golf is wonderful and I would play golf every day each week if it was possible. I play my golf at Elmgreen golf club where I am member of. I have no problem putting my ball on a tee and setting myself up to the ball. When I hit the ball I don’t know where it ends up. My dad guides for me and he tells me where my ball ends up also he tells me what clubs to hit into each green. Playing golf with a visual impairment is a bit difficult but not impossible with assistance from a guide.
Irish Blind Golf are a 32 county organisation which cater for people with a visual impairment. Their concept is to get all visual impaired people either back to a golf course or get people introduced to playing golf. Irish Blind Golf was founded in 1989 by Jimmy Murray. Irish Blind Golf have 9 monthly outings each year from March to November with a yearly fundraiser in June. In our monthly outings they have prizes for each winner. At the end of each year the person with the best scores wins a trophy. Irish Blind Golf has 15 members at the moment with is good for a disability group.
I found out about Irish Blind Golf through someone I know who is visually impaired. I joined up with Irish Blind Golf in 2013 I have played with them for 77 years now. The first outing I played with Irish Blind Golf was in Westmanstown golf club. The members of Irish Blind Golf made me very welcoming on this day. I really enjoyed that day playing with people that have similar eye sight conditions. I made a decision that I was join up Irish Blind Golf and my parents backed that decision. Since then I have played in most of the monthly outings each year. It is great to play different golf courses that I wouldn’t normally play myself. I have really enjoyed Irish Blind Golf over the last few years were I have made some nice friends. It is great to compete with people that have similar eye conditions to me. Playing with Irish Blind Golf has really developed my confidence and social skills. I love playing with Irish Blind Golf and I would really recommend anyone who is visually impaired and used to be involved in golf we would love to have you. Blind golf is a 2-man game which consists a golfer and a guide my guide is my dad. The guides job is to line a visually impaired golfer up, watch where the ball goes, tell the player which club to hit and stand behind a golf hole when the player putts. The guide would assist a visual impaired person in getting around a golf course making sure that they don’t fall into a bunker.
Through playing with Blind Golf I got to play International Blind Golf and got to travel to a few lovely countries. My best experience with International Blind Golf was playing in the World Blind Championships in Japan in 2016. This has been great for my social skills to meet so many people. I have got to travel the world in previous years which included World Blind Golf Championships in Japan and Italian Irish Open in Milan. There is a great opportunities out there for someone that is visually impaired. To say that I can represent my country in something I love I think that is amazing. I don’t mind whether I play well or not in the competitions because I think it’s an achievement in itself that I’m playing in a tournament. I have had great achievements in International tournaments such as winning the Italian Blind Open and coming runner up in British Blind Open. My golf game has improved by playing in these tournaments. I feel like a professional golfer in playing in these tournaments. It has really improved my communicational skills by talking to people by playing these tournaments. If I can play International Blind Golf there’s no reason why other visually impaired people can play in these tournaments.6 years old. I didn’t think that this could affect the way I was grown up. I went for 10 days and done some lovely sight seeing tours. I had a round of golf with my dad before the tournament started at a local course near where I was staying. We travelled up the day before this tournament started where we meet all of our fellow blind golfers. The course where the Worlds was on was called Shinrinkoen one of the best golf courses I have ever played. The condition of this course was unreal with having 2 greens on every hole. The weather while the tournament took place wasn’t too bad a bit cold but dry a bit similar to Ireland.