Blind and visually impaired golfers take a swing at Kitchener golf course

Visually impaired players get out on the green There's a new push to make golf more accessible to those with visual impairment. Ashley Bacon has the story of one player leading the way.

A group of golfers hit the links Tuesday, with the goal of enjoying the summer pastime, without letting physical challenges spoil their fun.

Ontario Blind Golf (OBG) is encouraging people who are blind, or who have visual challenges, to try out the sport.

Deanna Morgan, a member of OBG’s board of directors, was one of the golfers getting some coaching Tuesday at Rebel Creek Golf Club in Kitchener.

This is the sixth year she’s been golfing with the help of her husband and guide, Brian Morgan.

“People who join our club have either had sight before and golfed before, and then lost their sight, and now want to continue the game of golf or they’re like me, and hadn’t started golfing until I lost vision. And there are those who have been totally blind since birth that also do this game,” Deanna explained.

Although Brian said the pair got off to a bit of a frustrating start, Deanna now competes in international tournaments.

“The only thing [Deanna] had ever done was gone out to mini-putt and did some putting with some friends. She can’t believe it herself that she’s playing in an international tournament in Austria this summer. If you believe in yourself a bit, get a guide that works with you, get some coaching, it makes a huge difference. Anybody can do it. And that’s the motto for blind golf, is: ‘We can play too,’” Brian told CTV News.

Despite her recent success, Deanna said the game is about more than developing a good swing.

“We’ve met so many really great people through blind golf. That’s part of the plus for me. I’m more in it for meeting people and challenging myself,” she said.

How blind golf works

Learning to golf while living with visual challenges can be a unique experience, but Rebel Creek instructor Brad Sims said his approach with the golfers on Tuesday was not entirely dissimilar to how he teaches sighted clients.

“Many of my clients who are sighted, I have them hit golf balls with their eyes closed because then they are relying on their kinesthetics. So the idea is, ‘I have a motor memory and I can feel where the club is going to come through and I don’t have to use my hand-eye coordination.’ It’s challenging at first, but they adjust to it very quickly if they have developed some type of skill.”

He said the golfers he works with come in with the right attitude, and that makes all the difference.

“People with challenges have a lot of drive. I have a daughter who’s legally blind so this helps me with this process. They have a lot of drive because they want to accomplish things that are challenging. And these three [golfers] are no different.”

Deanna Morgan told CTV News the game is almost identical to what a sighted person would play. She works hard to prefect her swing and, with Brian’s help, she makes her way through the course.

“My job is to help Deanna get set up,” Brian explained. “So I get her to the tee or to her shot, get the club placed where it needs to be, the direction we’re going. [I] pick out the right club based on where I think she can hit certain distances, consider the slope, angles, rolling hills, whatever. And then she swings and my job is to track where the ball goes.”

For Deanna and Brian, they also hit the links with a healthy dose of humour.

“I can usually tell by what he says or doesn’t say whether it’s a good hit. If it’s dead silence, I know that it’s been a bad hit and he’s trying to find a way to make it nice and if it’s a good hit he goes, ‘Oh, I think you’ll like that’ or something positive right away,” Deanna laughed.

She said the one difference from sighted golf is blind golfers are allowed to let their clubs touch the sand or ground in a bunker or hazard.

“It’s the same game that everyone else plays, except there’s a guide who takes me around the course,” she explained.

Inspiring new golfers

Sims and the Morgans hope more people will discover the sport and get involved, no matter what their history may be.

“Golf is a challenge for sighted people. Golf is a challenge for people who make a living at it. We should enjoy challenges – that’s what keeps us going. Sure it can be frustrating. I don’t think you’ll find a golfer who says golf isn’t frustrating at times. But people who have special needs have that determination. ‘I think I can do this and I’m going to do it,’” Sims said.

“Anybody can play and you just have to realize, as Deanna has, that it can be frustrating at times. But a reminder that professionals miss shots. It happens. You’re going to miss shots. You’re going to have good shots and ones that aren’t so great. Just take it slow, work on the swing without a club. Do the driving range, work on chipping, some putting. Play three holes, play nine holes and just gradually work up to where you feel more comfortable. There will be success, and success looks different for every person and the progressions will change too from person to person,” Brian said.

Annual membership for Ontario Blind Golf is $75 and a round of golf and cart rental is $25 per event for members. According to Ontario Blind Golf’s website: “Coaches play is also subsidized, and [they] effectively play for free. Everything else is subsidized by OBG through donations and sponsors.”

“A lot of times people that have disabilities, money’s an issue. So we try to make it as accessible as possible so they can enjoy the game of golf,” Deanna said.