Byline: Michael Briones

Doug Stoutley beat the reigning blind golf world champion. But unfortunately it still wasn't enough to win the Western Canadian Blind Golf Championships that was hosted by Port Alberni's Lion's Club last week.

It was Jean-Yves Vigneault of Quebec that stole the limelight, carding a two day total of 175 (85-90) to clinch the visually impaired division title which is considered to be the Canadian championship as blind golf does not have a national organization looking after the sport.

Stoutley ended up in second place for the second year in a row, shooting 188 (95-93). Reigning world champion and Canadian defending champion Doug Penner of Winnipeg finished in third place.

"Yeah it was disappointing but I did beat the world champion," said Stoutley who has been competing in the championship for over 10 years now.

"It was still good because all three of us played together on the last day and it was very intense. Usually there's a little bit of talk going on but there was no talk until we were sitting on the deck after."

The three-way match, the Port Alberni blind golfer described, was topsy-turvy as it went back and forth.

"None of us played particularly well," said Stoutley. "We had good holes and bad holes. It was close. Jean shot an 85 on the first day and Doug and I were 95 so he kind of had first place sewn up. But we did make a move on him early but we fell back."

In the B1 Division (Totally Blind), Brian MacLeod of Nova Scotia finished first, carding a 221 (114, 107) with Mike Remington of Alberni placing second with 247 (125-122).

In the B2 Division, it was a Manitoba affair as Dennis McCulloch top the event edging John Ely by a stroke, scoring 195.

In the women's competition, reigning world champion Johanna Carmarta of Alberta won handily, recording a two-day total of 218. Saskatchewan's Judy Ursulan was second with 229.

The Low Net winner was Henri Therien of Quebec, with Judy Ursulan of Saskatchewan and Mike Remington of Alberta rounding up second and third respectively.

The Chuck Koepke Sportsmanship Award was presented to Judy Ursulan and her husband and coach Ray Ursulan.

Port Alberni had another blind golfer that competed, Jack Seymour who finished seventh in the B3 Division. The 86-year-old golfer just recently lost his sight but has been an avid golfer and still a member at Alberni Golf Club. He carded a 235 total.

The two day competition drew 19 golfers from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and British Columbia.

Stoutley said they were hoping for 30 participants. However he feels Port Alberni did a good job of hosting the event.

"It was very successful as far as organization," said Stoutley. "It went very smoothly. The staff, the banquet, and the golf course were all great. The volunteers were terrific. I think it's the best one we've ever had."

Winnipeg Free Press
Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
Chemo can't stop blind golfer

By Martin Zeilig

DENNIS MCCULLOCH has had 700 hours of chemotherapy at Grace Hospital this past year, but that doesn't stop him.

"I work my treatments so that I get time off to go play golf tournaments," says McCulloch, winner of the Canadian Blind Golf Championships -- B2 Division -- in Port Alberni, B.C., in July and the bronze medalist in his category at the U.S. Blind and Disabled Golf Championships in Santa Maria, Calif., last month.

In an operation at Grace last November, he had half his colon removed after cancer was discovered.

"It's spread now to my lungs and liver. When I went in last January to start chemo, I was asked if I wanted to become involved in a self-help group. I thanked them and told them I hang out with different types of people, the global blind community," says McCulloch, who will celebrate his 60th birthday on Dec. 17.

Cathy Derewianchuk calls McCulloch -- gold medalist at the 2002 WBGC -- a great ambassador for golf.

"He's been around for a while. He makes you excited about being a participant. He's like a salesman for the game of golf, regardless of whether your blind or not. He's got a vision and follows through on things," says the executive director of the Manitoba Blind Sports Association.

McCulloch lost his eyesight 10 years ago. He was on the operating table at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore at the time, having been referred there after developing a rare retina disease.

"The operation probably saved the little sight I had left. You go through a whole pile of mixed emotions. You can't work or drive anymore. You lose your independence. Your whole life changes -- and it affects those around you, your family and friends. You need them to drive you places if you don't go by cab," says McCulloch, a former sales manager in an agricultural business, who plans to participate in the World Blind Golf Championships in Japan in March.

"The big thing is you can no longer read. You can get talking books, but you can't grab a newspaper and flip through it."

Then, he started to try things he did before the onset of blindness. One of them, although he needed assistance, was playing golf.

"But there was a different way of doing it. I needed a new set of eyes and those came from my wife, Barbara, and my friend, Art MacKenzie," explains McCulloch, who has two adult children and two grandchildren.

"We play by yardage. They describe the golf hole to me. You decide on the club selection. They, then, make sure the club face is positioned to the ball and that you hit in the right direction. Then, you hit it and they find it. The toughest part is on the greens because you have no depth perception.

Wherever the ball is on the green, I will walk from the ball to the hole and my feet tell me if the putt is up or down and the distance. Then, 'my eyes' job is to read any break in the putt."
© 2005 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Playing by ear

Visually impaired golfer Steve Roberts represented Canada
recently at the British Blind Open championship in Fife, Scotland.

By John Herbert, London Free Press Golf Reporter, August 2004

When you're in the cradle of golf near St. Andrew's, Scotland, and they announce your name on the first tee, it's understandable you'd be shaking life a leaf. "Representing Canada, Steven Roberts,'' the starter announces.

Smack.

Roberts drilled it 200 yards straight down the middle. Perfect, his caddie Bill Plume murmurs.

But Roberts already knew that. He could tell by the sweet sound at contact. He never saw the shot. In fact, he never sees any of his shots.

He's blind.

It was the first day of the 36-hole British Blind Open championship in Fife, Scotland, at the Balbirnie Park Golf Club. Roberts, 57, from London, and two other Canadians were among a field of 50 players from around the world competing last week. He spent three weeks overseas, first visiting relatives in Wales, then Scotland.

"When I walked to the first tee and heard my name called, my knees were shaking,'' said Roberts, now back home.

"It's a big social event really, because we're playing net scores. We all try hard but it's not totally serious golf, though some take it that way.''

Roberts decided to compete in Scotland after winning the Ontario Visually Impaired Golfers Championship last summer at Fanshawe Golf Club, shooting a solid-for-him 93. He has a 24 handicap. With the win came $1,000 to pay airfare for himself and his caddie/guide. Most of their expenses, including meals and accommodation, were covered by tournament organizers.

He didn't play well in Scotland, with gross scores of 108 and 109.

"The course was very hilly and I've never played on greens like that before,'' Roberts said. "They were set up to professional speed. They were hard and extremely fast. The bunkers were horrendous . . . steep sided. I just couldn't get a good lie. I took an 11 on one hole.

"They showed no mercy at all for us.''

Roberts is hoping to play better today at Fanshawe on the traditional course in a tournament for 20 visually impaired players from Southwestern Ontario, a prelude to the provincial championships this month in Cambridge. With his regular caddie still in Scotland, Roberts' wife Joyce is springing into action today. He can't play without a caddie.

Roberts has suffered from diabetes for 47 years and was forced to retire on disability from his job at GM Diesel a few years ago when his sight dropped to 20/200. He has lost central vision but has some peripheral vision. He said about five years ago he started to show signs of blurred vision, then he began to suffer blood leakage into one eye. That was corrected initially with laser treatments. He later received laser treatments on his other eye to prevent leakage.

Eventually he couldn't function at work, he said.

Golf proved to be a great morale booster.

He has been playing for more than 10 years, mostly at River Road. He has a regular foursome -- Bryan Mills, Bert Longpre and Plume -- and they play about three times a week.

He relies on his foursome to help guide him around the course.

"All three watch where my ball's gone . . . which tree I'm behind,'' Roberts said, explaining he can see at 20 feet what someone with normal vision can see 200 feet away. "We work a lot on alignment. Bill tells me which direction to hit it. He lays a club down on the ground and I can square up to that club.

"I swing along the line of the club.''

Roberts said while he has no idea about the flight of the ball, he can tell by the feel of the shot if he hit it well, thin or fat. He also said depending on the contrast available, he might be able to see a tree line and or gap in trees to aim his shots.

His best score since becoming visually impaired is 88.

Roberts said he is not on a crusade for the blind nor does he see himself as a role model but does encourage other blind people to try golf. Asked is he feels he is an inspiration to others, he says, "That sounds too grand to me.''

He said blind golfers he knows all hit the ball well.

"It's around the greens the scores build up,'' he said. "It would be wonderful if you could see some of these blind characters hit the ball.''

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Overcoming adversity

Chris Thomas - SIMCOE REFORMER September 2004

Simcoe's Mike Vrooman has transcended his handicap to win the Ontario Visually Impaired Golfers (OVIG) senior men's provincial championship.

Vrooman saved his best round of the year to top all competitors in his 50-and-over division at the Cambridge Golf and Country Club on Aug. 29.

Despite a downpour for the first eight holes, he shot a 93 on the par-72 course. Vrooman also had the low net of 62 for the entire tournament, six shots ahead of his nearest competitor.
"I played so consistently," he said. "I hit 17 of 18 fairways and that's unbelievable."

Vrooman said the rainy weather actually helped his game because he had to slow his swing down. And when he credits his caddie and coach, brother-in-law Paul Davidson, Vrooman really means it. Under OVIG rules, golfers are allowed to have a coach who helps set them up over the ball and also gives directions.

But he also said playing regularly at the executive length Woodside Greens Golf Park west of Simcoe has helped his game.

Douglas Love, owner of Woodside, explained the course is narrow and requires straight shots to be successful.

"Watching Mike, you forget he doesn't see all that well," Love said. "He's just one of the guys. It's really quite something."

Vrooman, 61, was an avid golfer before he was diagnosed with a rare form of macular degeneration in 1985. While he was admittedly jolted by his condition and gave up the game for 10 years, Vrooman picked up the clubs again seven years ago as part of his determination to live his life to the fullest.

Although he only has peripheral vision, Vrooman golfs at least twice a week and during the winter, plays hockey and skis.
The retired elementary school teacher is also active in South Coast Special Needs Kids Inc., a non-profit organization which holds sporting events for children in the Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk area who have special needs.

It was only two years ago that he found out about the OVIG, a charitable organization associated with the Ontario Golf Association whose motto is: "You don't have to see it to tee it."

Vrooman said that playing the OVIG tournaments rekindles his love of competition.
"I play as many as I can," he said. Tournaments for visually impaired golfers are held across the country. The national championship takes place in Kelowna, B.C., this week.

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The 2005 Nations Cup

by Glenn Babcock (OVIG Member)
(Notes from a proud member of the Canadian team)

The Nation's Cup is a tournament in which a team of 12 Canadian blind golfers competes against a team of 12 blind golfers from the United States. The format is similar to the Ryder Cup but has been modified to handle the different levels of sight. The name comes from two parts, the first being the Six Nations people who run the tournament and the second coming from the two nations competing for the Cup.

This year's tournament took place August 8-10, in Brantford, Ontario. The owners of the Burford Golf Links near Brantford generously donated the use of their course for this event. Burford is a relatively short course, but the numerous trees, hazards and small greens makes it a test for all players.

The American team was co-captained by Brad Eaton and Dennis Smith. The Canadian team captains were Brian MacLeod and John Ely. The OVIG was represented by Tim Nolan and me, both playing in the B3 (IBGA) category.

The first day was played as a two person scramble. For example, both Canadian players hit their drives. After choosing the best shot or position to hit from, both players play their second from there. Play continues in this manner until the ball is holed out.
At the end of day 1, the teams were tied at 3 matches each.

The second day is played as a modified alternate shot. The modification is that both players drive as on day 1. From the best position, the player whose drive was not chosen plays the second shot. The first player then hits the third shot and so on until the ball is holed out.
The American team took a big lead on day 2, capturing 5 of 6 matches and leading to a total of 8 matches to 4 in their favour.

Day 3 was the big day, with 12 individual matches on the card. Unfortunately, before we could even get to the back 9, the storms came. Lightning chased us back to the clubhouse and torrential rains forced the cancellation of the day's matches. At last count, Canada was leading in enough matches that it could have been a very close result. Unfortunately, we will never know. Thanks to that strong second day, the Americans were the winners of the 2005 Nations Cup.
On a personal note, the Nations Cup was an amazing experience. In the four days we were there, I renewed some friendships and made some more. I learned a great deal about my own game, the rules, and got to play with some truly great golfers, competitors and people. I also got to spend some treasured time with my father as my coach.

Thank you to Angela O'Rourke, the people of the Six Nations, and all those who made the tournament so successful, including Stan Jonathan (Boston Bruins #17) for the great dinner at his home.
It was unforgettable.

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