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Blind golfer scores an ace

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Hustle, Aug 21, 2007.

  1. Hustle

    Hustle Guest

    From my hometown... never played at MVCC, but it actually looks like a pretty challenging little hole.

    http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news?slug=ap-blindgolfer-ace&prov=ap&type=lgns

    LEHIGHTON, Pa. (AP) -- Sheila Drummond didn't need to see her hole-in-one. She heard it.

    Drummond, blinded by diabetes 26 years ago, experienced the highlight of her golfing career Sunday, recording an ace on the 144-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club.

    Playing with her husband and coach, Keith, and two friends in a steady rain, the 53-year-old Drummond hit a driver on the hole. The shot cleared a water hazard, flew between traps and landed on the green, where it hit the flagstick before dropping into the hole.

    "They were saying, 'It's a great shot,' and then I heard it hit the pin," Drummond said.

    "For a hole-in-one, you have to hit it onto the green, so it's a little bit of skill and a lot of luck."

    In 1999, Golf Digest said the odds of an amateur getting a hole-in-one are 1 in 12,750. That number, no doubt rises, for a blind golfer.

    Drummond is a member of the board of directors of the United States Blind Golfers Association, and the organization believes she is the first totally blind female to record a hole-in-one.

    "We've looked everywhere, and haven't been able to find anyone else," she said.

    Drummond took up golf about 15 years ago, and three years later qualified as the first female member of the USGBA.

    "I just try to do the best I can," said Drummond, who carries a 48 handicap with the USGBA. "I get nervous.

    "But I wasn't nervous (Sunday), I just don't like playing in the rain."
     
  2. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    Ran that in our briefs today. Nice little nugget.
     
  3. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

    Ditto.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    "I'd play on. I don’t think the heavy stuff’s gonna come down for quite some time”

    "You're right. Besides, the good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life!"
     
  5. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Congratulations, Ace!
    It wasn't The Plain Dealer and she was blind, but scoring is scoring!
     
  6. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    You've got to love the AP sometimes ...

    You think?

    The sad thing is some editor probably added that blistering piece of insight.
     
  7. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Who knows?

    A hole-in-one is basically golf's version of lotto.

    Blind person can pick six numbers at random as well as a sighted person can.

    And any blind person who walks onto a golf course likely already has the hand-eye brain coordination necessary to strike the ball. Thus, I wouldn't place the blind person's odds too much higher than someone like me, who has no idea how to hit a golf ball.
     
  8. Barsuk

    Barsuk Active Member

    I love it that she hit a driver from 144.
     
  9. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    I have a hard enough time hitting a golf ball using two good eyes. Just making contact with a ball you can't see sounds like a next-to-impossible task.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Damn straight. Even though she was blind, I had to get her soused at the 19th hole -- good thing she had to pick up the tab!
     
  11. Claws for Concern

    Claws for Concern Active Member

    Ty Webb could have made that shot blindfolded. Good to know someone else knows how to not put it in the lumberyard.
     
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