AN England & Wales Blind Golf event in Basingstoke showed how visually impaired golfers and their guides are opening up the game, but the charity says it urgently needs more volunteers to keep people with sight loss on the course.
England & Wales Blind Golf brought its mission of inclusion to Weybrook Park on Tuesday, May 12, giving blind and visually impaired players the chance to work with top coaches Steve Ward and Steve Cox from Weybrook Park Golf Club, and Tim Barter from Sky Sports Golf, and making a direct appeal for more local volunteers to keep the sport thriving.
The registered charity enables people with sight loss to learn, play and compete in golf across England and Wales, using sighted guides who describe each shot, set up the club and help with distance and direction. Players are classified by level of vision, from B1 – with no useful sight at all – through to categories for partial sight, and events are structured so results reflect golfing ability rather than the degree of sight loss.
On the practice green, world record‑holder Steve Cunningham – known as the world’s fastest blind man – was working alongside his guide John Kennedy. Mr Cunningham, who is totally blind and classed as a B1 golfer, said: “The major challenge I personally have is pace and swing. When you can’t see, it’s very touchy‑feely when you’re playing blind golf.”
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He describes “seeing” with his feet on the course. “When we’re on the putting green, John will walk me from the flag to the ball,” he said.
“That gives me some indication of what the terrain’s like, where the breaks are, whether it’s a flat putt. John gives me the freedom to walk down the fairway on my own… to be able to walk on a golf course, unaided, with the sun on your back, listening to the birds… it’s just an amazing place to be.”
Mr Cunningham said the benefits go far beyond swings and scores. “There’s no better place for your mental health than being out on a golf course, being out with all the lads,” he said. “We’re more than just a charity that plays golf. We want to develop and bring these people through and improve their quality of life as well.”
Mr Kennedy described their relationship as “very much a partnership”. He said: “I get as much joy out of him sinking a putt or hitting a good drive as he gets himself.
I can no longer play golf myself, but I love the game… by working together, I can give him that freedom, and I love to watch him go.” Reflecting on what he has learned from Mr Cunningham, he added: “Get rid of the ‘dis’ in disability and you’ve got ability and able. The only thing that disables you is attitude.”
On the coaching side, Weybrook Park PGA Advanced Professional Steve Cox focused on putting drills that used sound as well as feel.
“First of all I’m working on distance control and direction,” Mr Cox said. “We’ve got a few quirky drills… we’re trying to hit to a pint glass and some tins and so forth, just doing a few drills to try and stimulate and have a sense of distance control.”
Mr Cunningham said awareness and a shortage of volunteer guides remain the biggest barriers. “We can’t play golf without volunteers.
We can’t play golf without golfers,” he said. “The more guys we can get involved with the sport, the more volunteers we can get involved with the charity… it costs nothing to give a little bit back.”
The charity funds "have‑a‑go" days and sight loss clinics around the country, recruiting 25 new members last year. But Mr Cunningham warns that a shortage of volunteer guides remains the biggest barrier to growth.
"We can't play golf without volunteers. We can't play golf without golfers," he says. "It costs nothing to give a little bit back."
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