Playing a blinder
In my teenage years I started to play golf. I was playing with my dad in Turvey Golf Club. After a year of playing golf my sight started to deteriorate. I found out about Irish Blind Golf and my parents were keen for me to join a group.
I rang up a person involved with Irish Blind Golf and they invited me to their next golf outing. When playing blind golf you have to be with a guide my dad agreed to guide for me. The outing was in Westmanstown Golf Club and it was in 2013. On this day I was welcomed by the members in Irish Blind Golf and I really enjoyed playing with fellow blind golfers on that day. I decided to join Irish Blind Golf in late 2013 it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I play Irish Blind Golf’s monthly outings each year which happen from March to November. I have played some fabulous golf courses with Irish Blind Golf including Royal Dublin Golf Club one of the oldest golf courses in Ireland. We try to play our monthly outings all over Ireland to include all of our members which come from all over Ireland. Irish Blind Golf was founded in 1991 and will be 30 years in existence next year.
Through playing with Irish Blind Golf I was giving an opportunity to play International Blind Golf. My first International Blind Golf competition was in 2015. It was the British Blind Golf Open which was held in Kinross Golf Club located just outside Edinburgh. This was great experience because I never thought that I would be representing my country in sport. It was great to see how these tournaments work and I was proud playing in this competition. I went for 4 days which included 3 rounds of golf. Starting off with a practice round which was good to see how the course looked. The competition was a stroke play competition based over 2 days. I played with Cameron a Scottish golfer on the first day of competition. After day 1 I was lying in the top 5 after a good score on round 1. On day 2 I playing with Peter and English golfer. I didn’t play so well on day 2 but I was happy with my play over the 2 days. I ending finishing 5th in the competition and I was delighted with that considering it was my first competition. I really enjoyed my time in Scotland which included sampling the local food and drink which helped get me relaxed ha.
That competition that I explained above was in 2015 and I qualified for World Blind Golf Championships in 2016 based on the good scores that I had in this event. The competition was in Japan located outside Tokyo. I went for 10 days giving myself a few days to get used to a different time zone. I went sight seeing to a few old Japanese towns which included tasting Sushi local Japanese food. Where I was staying was not far from a local golf course called Narita Golf Club. I had a practice round with my dad to see if the golf ball travelled any further in a different country. We travelled up to the hotel where I meet all the other blind golfers playing in this competition. The name of the golf course that this competition was on is called Shinrinkoen Golf Club. There was a practice round a day before the competition. When I played the practice round I was very impressed in how clean this golf course was. There was 54 blind golfers competing in this World Blind Golf competition. The competition was based again over 2 days. The first day of competition I played with Gareth a South African golfer. I played well on the first day and I was in the top 10 after day 1. On day 2 I played with a Northern Ireland golfer her name was Jan. it was a bit colder on day 2 and I didn’t hit the ball as well as day 1. A lot of players struggled on day 2 and after the event I finished in 6th position I was delighted with myself. When the tournament was over I tasted some of the local Japanese beer Sakki as I celebrated on a good finish. This was a great experience and I will never forget the memories I created while been in Japan. This was a beautiful country and I was delighted that I was giving the opportunity to go to this country. There’s great opportunities out there regardless whether you have a disability or not.
This year has been difficult for me with the outbreak of corona virus. With golf courses been closed and no blind golf competitions on this was a tough time for me. I really adapted during this time by doing things that I would never do like practicing out my back garden. I love to watch sport on tv and I was disappointed when this wasn’t on during covid. I kept going and I was delighted when golf courses reopened. Even the outings with Irish Blind Golf were back on it felt like normality was returning. Live sport returned in early June with golf putting the PGA tour back on. If anyone what you should of done during covid just look at Bryson DeChambeau he put on 3 stone in muscle so he could hit the ball further and it has worked as he won golf’s second major of 2020 last weekend.
It is very easy to get down on yourself or have negative attitude but you have to remain positive and keep smiling as we try our lives back on track to normality.
If you want to find more information about me you can contact me @irelandsblindgolfer on both Instagram and Facebook if you need a push in getting involved in blind golf.