THE challenge was to play golf with closed eyes and using just one club held in the left hand for a right-handed person or the other way around for a left-hander.
A partner or caddie would stand you close to the ball and describe the required putt or drive.
The experienced golfers taking part in the game at Mount Martha Golf Course probably set their own personal bests for the most shots ever, both on the green and on the fairway.
The idea of the golf session was to train golfers to help with an all abilities program being run at the course.
Mount Martha Golf Club and golf professional Sandy Jamieson were using a training program developed by Golf Australia to support golfers with a physical, sensory or intellectual disability.
Jamieson, who has developed a universal club for players to use for all their shots, held a training session at Mount Martha on Monday 19 February on how to deliver 1Club golf to people with a disability.
He described the training day as “a massive success”, and the club now plans to hold an all abilities golf day in March.
Club member Joh Bowers, one of 12 who undertook Jamieson’s training session, said the all abilities program was “a simple way to learn to play golf”.
“It starts with about five or 10 minutes on the putting green, making small swings to get the ball into the hole and hitting it in the middle of the club face.
“The club is designed with a circle on the middle of the face to which you can apply a pressure sensitive sticker.
“This then turns blue when the ball is struck on the sticker. So, it provides instant feedback to the player.”
Bowers said Jamieson’s training included a talk in the Bunker Room before moving to the putting green.
“So, armed with our one club, we started to try to hole putts from close to the hole, then graduating to hitting the ball to more distant holes,” he said.
“We had to hold our club differently. If you were right handed you either used a left hand club or you only used your left hand to hold the club. People and balls were everywhere.
“Next, we played a hole, still with the wrong club or hand and we had to hit it as many times as possible to get to the hole.
“The next hole was played with as big a swing as you wanted to do – often missing, so you had to shorten the swing.
“Finally, we had to play with our eyes closed and rely on our partner/caddie to get us around the course and help line up our shots.”
Bowers said the training “gave us a feeling of what it might feel like for some people to hit a golf ball” and understand how the program works.
He said Mornington Peninsula Shire was “on board” with its disability inclusion officer Monica Seal helping to organise the first event at 1pm on Friday 22 March.
To register for the day, go to get into golf at golf.org.au
First published in the Mornington News – 27 February 2024
