Blind golf is a version of the sport of golf adapted for blind and partially sighted players.
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The earliest record of blind golf is from the 1920s in the USA: Clint Russell of Duluth, Minnesota, who lost his sight when a tire exploded in his face, began playing blind golf in 1925. Gradually increasing his scores, Clint managed to shoot an 84 for 18 holes in the early 1930s.
A match between two blind Englishmen and two Americans took place before the Second World War. Organized blind golf tournaments have taken place in America since the United States Blind Golf Association was established in 1947.
The International Blind Golf Association (IBGA) was established in 1997 at a meeting held in Perth, Western Australia.
[http://www.americanblindgolf.com American Blind Golf was established in 2001 to promote the game of golf to blind and vision impaired persons.
Blind golf is outstanding in the area of disabled sports in that it includes only minor modifications to the standard rules of golf. The principle of playing is that blind or partially sighted golf players have a sighted coach who assists the golfer in describing distance, direction and characteristics of the hole, and helps with club head alignment behind the ball, prior to the stroke. From this point, the golfer is on his own, and it is her/his skill that determines the resulting stroke.
Other than the coach, there is only one relaxation to the standard rules: blind or partially sighted golfers are allowed to ground their club in a hazard.
Blind golf competitions are set in classes determined by the golfer’s level of sight, using the same categories as in other branches of sport played by the visually impaired:
There are currently nine member countries in the IBGA: Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the United States of America. Links to their web sites are given below.
The IBGA produces a taped version of the Rules of Golf for the visually impaired audience, when the rules of golf are revised every four years.
The Canadian Blind Golf Association was established in 1951. However, it has not been a functioning association since the mid 1980s. The Western Division and Ontario Visually Impaired Golf Association continued to operate independently and are currently making efforts to restructure the Canadian Association. The Canadian association runs several events and maintains a website at http://www.blindgolf.ca.
The Canadian Association uses the same standards as the International Blind Sports Federation, with one exception: level of sight classification is based on acuity only, and not field of vision. The rationale is that golf is a dead ball sport and a player with "tunnel vision" can see the ball clearly when striking it.
American Blind golf was established in 2001. ABG partners with blind charities to raise money for blind services. ABG holds annual tournaments and fund raising events in San Antonio, Texas, Wadsworth Ohio and Lompoc California. The motto of ABG is " inspire, motivate and serve all of those who deal with the loss of sight". The ABG website is www.americanblindgolf.com
The IBGA conducts a world championship every two years. The 2004 world championship tournament was held in Australia.
Other tournaments sanctioned by the IBGA include National Open events in Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Japan and the USA.