TRY A FEW HOLES BLINDFOLDED
I have been coached by Julian for around9 or 10 months and he has asked me to write about what is like to play golf when you are blind, so here is a little insight into my golfing world.
The truth is I don’t really see that many differences between being a sighted golfer and playing as a blind golfer, except for the obvious. In fact, I think that in some instances it may be an advantage not to be able to see. Hopefully, I can explain as we go along. I imagine the first question most of you would ask is What is it like playing when you are blind? My response to that would be what do you think it would be like?
I have been playing since 1990. At that time I had some sight although not enough to follow a ball in flight or to see the flag from around 100 yards. Around 10/12 years ago my handicap was 17. I have a condition that caused my sight to fail almost totally. Now, I do still have a very small amount of light perception depending on the brightness of the daylight.
As I mentioned earlier I do not feel that there are too many differences when I play as when you play. For instance, when I play a course that I have played a number of times I have a particular image in my mind of each hole because it has been described to me by my guide/caddy. In that way I am as familiar with the course as you are except we have different images as yours will obviously be visual and mind will be a mental image which will have been based on information given to me by my guide/caddy and how many times I have played the course. One of the things that you develop as a blind person is the ability to remember information that is important to you and golf is a big part of my life. I have played golf now for so long as a blind golfer I don’t even think about being blind when I play. That may sound strange to you but like a lot of things in golf it is second nature now. Personally I don’t think about things like posture and alignment too much because I have learned that to get them right I have a couple of things I have to do once I have addressed the ball to get it right. For instance, I have a tendency to address the ball with a closed stance so I always make sure to withdraw my left foot slightly and I also tend to have a slightly closed club face at address, to correct that I now to just open the face by moving my grip to the right, to do that I use the logo on my grips. I always have Golf Pride grips put on my clubs as I have found that they have a moredetectable logo when I run my finger along the grip. I also know the feel I get from impact of the ball whether or not it has gone right or left, I can probably tell 7 out of 10. One of the big differences between myself and a sighted golfer is that I don’t have the necessity to lift my head to look when I swing or putt. Generally I know how far I hit a given club with a good swing, therefore I always mentally allow myself margin of error, therefore I always hit one more club than I would for the yardage , depending on the conditions. It also allows me to swing within myself which means I keep my balance under control.
I also have the advantage of not being able to see how tight the course may be or how many hazards are on a hole which means I don’t get spooked by them. When I’m told that there is a hazard I never try to play shots I can’t, which means I always play within my capability and if that means laying up and taking an extra shot so be it because I believe I can make it up on the remaining holes. Around the greens there will always be an advantage being a sighted golfer but I have a method that I use around the greens that may benefit some golfers, because I can’t see the flag or the contours of the green or the gradients I will pace to the landing area /fringewhen I’m chipping onto a green.I f I’m on the putting surface I always pace my putts with my guide/caddy. By doing that I also use the feeling from my feet to get a feel of the green texture, some of you may think that is a little bit far fetched,but believe me I have developed the feeling over the years enough to give myself an idea of whether or not the green is close cut or a little bit woolly. Try it. Sometimes I can also tell if there is a slope and which way it will go in relation to the putt. No doubt some of you will be thinking that this would slow down the speed of play, but, I do this while my playing partners are playing. I have spent a lot of time over the years practising my putting by feel alone, my routine is always 5 paces, 10 paces and 15 paces, then I will finish with some from around 2 feet. When chipping onto a green I try to relate it to my putting practise and use my putting grip and stroke as much as I can. Perhaps you should give it a try.EYES CLOSED OF COURSE! I have learned that as a blind golfer there are times when I cannot play from some lies in things like very deep rough, so rather than gamble with shots I will always try and find an option and take a penalty drop even if it means going back on line fifty or sixty yards, better that than taking four or five shots to move the ball 20yards. I have played a lot of sighted golfers that take on these sort of shots and end up ruining their card. Trust me it is not worth it. My average gross scores are around117/ 120 on a par 72 which doesn’t sound great but, I have learned to accept that is where my golf is. I personally believe that I can bring my average down to around 110 which is my target for 2016. That belief comes from a recent round at Tewkesbury Golf& Country Club where I shot a gross 111par 73 .
"Barrie is an inspiration, his enthusiasm for the game is amazing and i thankful that I get to join him on his golfing journey
No comments:
Post a Comment