BLIND FAITH
So you thought trying to break your handicap in the monthly medal was hard? Imagine for a moment what it might be like to hit a golf ball you can’t see on the ground in front of you. It’s a daunting prospect the likes of Stephen Mitchell and Jenny Abela t
Imagine what it might be like to hit a golf ball without your sight. It’s a daunting prospect the likes of Stephen Mitchell and Jenny Abela take in their stride, writes Michael Jones.
While so many of us draw inspiration from names like Spieth, McIlroy and Day, it’s impossible not to be left impressed after meeting golfers like Stephen Mitchell and Jenny Abela.
Sure, McIlroy hits drives well over 300 metres, and Spieth seems to find the hole from just about anywhere – but all of that becomes somewhat less remarkable after watching a blind person play golf.
It would be remiss of me to continue without first addressing the obvious question: “How do vision-impaired people play golf?” Well, apart from players being able to ground their clubs in hazards, there’s really only one major di erence from sighted golf, as Stephen Mitchell explains…
“It all comes down to the caddy, really,” Mitchell said. “They line you up and tell you how far and what sort of shot you need to hit. If you’re not related to them, you can give them a bit of cheek, whereas if you have someone like your wife caddying for you, you’ve got to keep them very happy … Otherwise they’ll point you in the wrong direction and give you wrong distances (laughs).”
Mitchell, 62, started going blind as a teenager and has only ever played blind golf having taken up the game in his early 40s.
“It’s hereditary in the family,” Mitchell said. “My cousins, uncles, father and grandfather all got the same thing (retinitis pigmentosa).
“I started getting it when I was 18 when I had 180 degrees sight, then it just gradually comes down into a little tunnel and now I’ve only got two degrees, like a little pin point. It happens that gradually that you just learn to adjust to it.”
Despite the hand he’s been dealt, Mitchell maintains a level of valiant persistence that can only be admired. Last year he won the NSW and Queensland Opens in his category, but his ability to practice has been limited in recent times as family has been the number one priority.
“I try and get as much practice in as possible, but I haven’t really done much these past few years because our daughter had a major car accident,” Mitchell said. “Her husband died and she’s a paraplegic now, so it makes it hard for me to get away and practice too often.”
When time does permit, he can be found on the practice range at Wollongong Golf Club working on his game with head professional Greg Kerr. And, having recently returned from Canada after playing on the winning team at the Vision Cup (an international tournament played to a Ryder Cup format), Mitchell is feeling confident about his game despite a limited preparation for the biggest event on the blind golf calendar – the Australian Blind Golf Open, where he will be attempting to win his seventh title.
“I’ve made a little bit of a swing change, so I’m feeling confident heading into the Open,” Mitchell said. The New South Welshman will be one of 30 players teeing it up at Royal Sydney this month at the Australian Blind Golf Open – a tournament he has played and won six times since 1996 (sight class B2).
Eighty kilometres north, at Sydney’s St Michael’s Golf Club, Jenny Abela is also preparing for the Australian Open. Like Mitchell, she’s never known the joy of seeing a golf ball fly o the clubface, but she loves the feel and sound of a good shot.
Abela starting losing her sight when she was quite young with the deterioration of her optic nerve. She had been a keen tennis player as a kid but never played golf. She was already blind by the time she discovered golf, courtesy of a chance conversation with a bus driver nearly 17 years ago.
“I was at Vision Australia in 2000 and the bus driver said to me, ‘Jenny, why don’t you play golf?’ And I said, ‘because I’m blind, I’d hit the ball once and that would be the end of it.’ That’s when I discovered blind golf and I loved it from the word go. I find it easy for a blind person to do because the ball is still when you hit it, and I’m still having lessons all these years later,” said Abela, who also plays in the B2 category.
The emphasis and gratitude shown towards guides and caddies in blind golf is, quite rightly, substantial. They need to know every minor detail about their player’s game, and their communication skills need to be exceptional in order to produce the correct shot – not to mention the art of green reading.
Abela has been coached by Australian PGA
THEN AFTER I HIT THE SHOT HE MIGHT LAUGH AND SAY, ‘THAT’S GOOD JENNY, YOU GOT IT PAST THE HAZARD.’ SO WHAT YOU DON’T SEE, YOU DON’T FEAR. – JENNY ABELA
Life Member Eddie Emerson for many years to build that level of understanding, and the admiration she has for him is evident when she refers to him as “my Eddie”.
“The relationship and trust I place in my guide is massive,” Abela said. “I mean, I’ve got a talking GPS, I don’t use it with my Eddie, because he describes things so well. He paints pictures, and that’s why I really like him. It might sound stupid, but I’m able to see in my mind the shots I need to hit.”
Abela has an unbridled passion for the game despite not being able to see what the rest of us might take for granted during a round of golf.
“Sometimes it can be good not being able to see,” Abela said. “My guide will give me a club to hit and a lot of the time he won’t tell me if there’s a bunker or water, he’ll just tell me to hit a certain distance. Then after I hit the shot he might laugh and say, ‘that’s good Jenny, you got it past the hazard.’ So what you don’t see, you don’t fear.”
Abela spends time practicing on a grass mat at home with a rubber tee, where she likes to make 50 swings a day. Her Seeing Eye Dog, Goldie, oers feedback by barking once if her owner has hit a “real smashing” shot. When she’s at the range, Goldie, sits patiently and watches every shot.
Abela says two of the biggest challenges facing Blind Golf Australia involve participation.
A lot of vision-impaired people don’t realise the sport actually exists, while there aren’t
enough caddies or guides to cater to those who have discovered the game.
“The big shame, I think, is that so many blind people don’t even know that blind golf is a thing,” Abela said. “I have no problem getting out on the golf course, none whatsoever, I just absolutely love it. But I’m the captain here in New South Wales, and it’s a real struggle to get out there and tell people that they’re able to play golf.”
That sentiment is echoed by Blind Golf Australia secretary, Graham Coulton, who is responsible for the logistics at the Australian Open.
“Our biggest problem is not only getting the word out to blind people that they can play golf, but also getting able-bodied people to come down and help out,” said Coulton, who was also the Australian Open Gross Champion (B2) in 2015.
“While a lot of players have their own permanent caddy or guide, a lot of people aren’t able to get the same person every week. Hopefully tournaments like the Australian Open can help in that regard.”
On that note, Coulton oered his assurance that he and his team will be talking to the course superintendent to request easier pin positions, considering the dicult nature of the layout.
“When Royal Sydney comes up, it’s too good a deal to refuse,” Coulton said. “We think it will make for a very dicult course, but we couldn’t let go of the opportunity to play there. The field this year will be made up of 30 players, including a former world champion.” The 2017 ISPS HANDA Australian Blind Golf Open is a 36-hole stroke event which will be played at Royal Sydney Golf Club on October 8 and 9.