Home > Fact > Ouch Q&A #22: Blind hole in one
Ouch Q&A #22: Blind hole in one
4th September 2007
Q: A blind person getting a hole-in-one in a game of golf? Surely there's more chance of Piers Morgan becoming poet laureate?
A: Scarily, you'd be wrong. Sheila Drummond, blinded by diabetes 26 years ago, achieved the ultimate in golfing kudos by landing a hole-in-one at Mahoning Country Club in Leighton, Pennsylvania last week.
Q: So did she fluke it? Surely you can't get a sport that relies more heavily on having some nifty vision skills than golf?
A: In 1999, Golf Digest magazine claimed that the odds for any golfer getting a hole-in-one is one in 12,750. So add the blindness into the equation and the odds launch into 'Elvis found on Mars' levels.
Q: Has any blindie ever managed to do this before?
A: The United States Blind Golf Association believes that this is the first time a totally blind female has ever achieved a hole-in-one.
Q: Is there anywhere in the UK where blind people can have a go at the sport?
A: Of course! The English Blind Golf Association has been running since 1982, and provides training for blind golfers as well as organising a huge number of national and international competitions. Their top ranking member currently has a handicap of nine.
A: In 1999, Golf Digest magazine claimed that the odds for any golfer getting a hole-in-one is one in 12,750. So add the blindness into the equation and the odds launch into 'Elvis found on Mars' levels.
Q: Has any blindie ever managed to do this before?
A: The United States Blind Golf Association believes that this is the first time a totally blind female has ever achieved a hole-in-one.
Q: Is there anywhere in the UK where blind people can have a go at the sport?
A: Of course! The English Blind Golf Association has been running since 1982, and provides training for blind golfers as well as organising a huge number of national and international competitions. Their top ranking member currently has a handicap of nine.
Q: Have any blind Brits ever managed the ultimate golfing feat?
A: Sheila Drummond has joined an elite band of blind golfers who have managed a hole-in-one. Only three other people have ever done it - the first recorded occasion being Jan Dinsdale from Northern Ireland, who managed the feat in an open tournament in Canada in 2004.
Q: Let us into the secret, then. Just how on earth do blind and visually impaired golfers manage to do it?
A: Predictably, golf is less solitary for English Blind Golf Association members as players are allowed a guide who describes the terrain, gives accurate information about the direction and distance, and helps tee the player up for what could be the shot of a lifetime.
A: Sheila Drummond has joined an elite band of blind golfers who have managed a hole-in-one. Only three other people have ever done it - the first recorded occasion being Jan Dinsdale from Northern Ireland, who managed the feat in an open tournament in Canada in 2004.
Q: Let us into the secret, then. Just how on earth do blind and visually impaired golfers manage to do it?
A: Predictably, golf is less solitary for English Blind Golf Association members as players are allowed a guide who describes the terrain, gives accurate information about the direction and distance, and helps tee the player up for what could be the shot of a lifetime.
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