FAQ

What can blind and visually impaired people get from golf and how can they benefit from getting involved?

Golf brings together all walks of life, age group, gender, and nationalities. Anyone that has a desire to golf can do so, in the case of a disabled person not having the financial resources, OBG subsidizes and supports them to the best of our abilities. Blind golfers compete is gross competitions based on their level of vision. Net competitions sometimes use these flights as well. The intent is to provide a level playing field by ensuring that competitors in a particular flight have similar visual acuity, and are able to enjoy the game and compete in a way they feel most comfortable.

OBG is about promoting integrity and sportsmanship, socialization and relationship building, helping our members and the blind community have the confidence, and perseverance to achieve whatever they want to.

Anything is possible. We advocate for the removal of conscious and unconscious biases (blind people can’t golf!), the removal of systemic barriers to provide a truly accessible and diverse golf eco-system in Canada, North America, and the World as well as bridging an awareness of blind golf by sighted golfers and golf organizations with the beneficial understanding of the abilities of blind and visually impaired people rather than accepting perceived limitations and the negative inferences of the blind.

How much does it cost?

Annual Membership collected is $75, however that goes directly to Blind Golf Canada, with Golf Canada benefits like access to handicap tracking, discounts, and insurance. The golf round and cart rental is $25 per event for OBG members, or in the case of tournaments the total number of days multiplied by $25. Coaches play is also subsidized, and effectively golf for free. Everything else is subsidized by OBG through donations and sponsors. There are some tournaments like the Canadian Open Blind Golf Championship which has a higher entry fee, but again, the majority of the costs are subsidized. Most events also include a lunch, or BBQ  or a banquet when/where available. Otherwise, bring your clubs, your golf balls and a great attitude and we promise you will have a great time regardless of your skill level. Golf is a social game, and OBG wants you to be part of it.

What are the most important things to consider before coming out for an OBG event?

If you have never golfed before, it may be a good idea to try going out to a driving range or a course with practice facilities and swing the club. You should have a Coach who is a golfer, and not only knows the rules, but is aware of the mechanics and requirements for having a good round. You should be able to communicate well with your Coach, they are going to be helping you every step of the way. Your Coach will be your eyes, your guide for every step of play. If you don’t know a golfer that can coach you, no problem. There are many people involved with OBG that would love to help. Just reach out to one of the Board members and we can help get you on the course. Remember, this is just golf. A fun, and social game. Play your game and enjoy.

What are the biggest challenges for blind and visually impaired golf?

Some challenges are pretty obvious, like the number of blind persons that want to play the sport and the geographic distances blind golfers will have to travel to participate. The fact they need the support of family or friends to get them to the course and help them play the round of golf, and the consideration that must be given for a segment of the Canadian population that see systemic and economic biases on a daily basis. 38% of blind persons are employed, and the average income for those that do have an income is 45% less than the pre-tax median income of the average Canadian. These are some of the reasons why the fundraising and subsidization of the sport for the disabled is so important. The other biggest challenge is awareness and advocacy. Educating people and corporate entities about what blind golf is, and why support for the blind community in any athletic endeavour or exercise is critical. What golf, athletics and the outdoors do for the spirit of the blind and visually impaired is absolute magic. It truly is. The more people know about the sport the more blind and visually impaired people will be able to participate.

“I used to golf, and then I lost my sight. Now I don’t play golf.”

Golfed in the past and want to pick it up again? Reach out to us and we will help make that happen again. If you don’t have a Coach, a person that will assist a blind golfer during the rounds/tournaments, there are plenty of persons within OBG that are more than happy to help out, and be part of your golfing journey. One important thing to remember is we support all blind and visually impaired persons for social and non-competitive golf, but if you want to compete in a certain classification you need to consider your classification.

I have never tried to golf before, does OBG offer lessons?

In the past OBG had some lessons that were available to groups, and the Board of Directors is always open to considering ways to hold clinics with golf professionals to help all members improve their game and their enjoyment. Keep an eye out for an announcement here on our website, or feel free to reach out to any of the Board to be included in our mailing list.

Are there any special rules, or regulations?

The rules to blind golf are the very same rules of golf as set out by the USGA (United States Golf Association), RCGA (Royal Canadian Golf Association), and the R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews) with the exception of some considerations that will allow a blind or visually impaired golfer to actually play. Primarily that a coach or aide may help the golfer set-up for a swing and position themselves on or near the line of play during a stroke, and blind or visually impaired golfers may ground their club in a bunker or hazard.

What about handicap calculations, they seem intimidating do I really have to keep track?

Handicapping is not a chore, it is actually one of the best things about golf because anyone can play fairly against any other golfer. The purpose of a golf handicap system is to attempt to “level the playing field” for golfers with different abilities. It allows golfers to compete equally. With handicapping systems a weaker player is given strokes (allowed to deduct strokes from their scores) on some holes to ensure the less skilled player is able to challenge a better player more evenly. Every course is different and handicapping evens out the challenges for all players.

Tracking your handicap is as simple as taking your score from your scorecard and posting it on the Golf Canada website. A Golf Canada membership is included with your annual OBG membership fee. You log-in, go to the tracking tab, pick the course you played, enter the date, select your tees, and then input the score. That’s it. Once you have your handicap you can keep track of your improvement, or challenges, and use your handicap to get even more enjoyment out of golf.

Are there special formats for playing blind golf?

Quite simply, no. Typically the OBG events will be a recreational or net stroke play format, however to enhance speed of play, blind golf organizations may adopt local rules such as stroke and distance or have alternate forms of competition such as Stableford, Scramble or Match Play. In some cases, like some championships or international tournaments, a golfer is required to actually have a handicap that is recorded and tracked.

What information do you have about the Canadian Championships, and the Ontario Championships, and any other IBGA/international events?

Since 1997 the Blind Golf Canada annual Championship event has been a prominent stop on the IBGA tour. Typically the event sees 30+ Canadian blind and visually impaired golfers, as well as 10+ international participants. The location for the event changes from year to year allowing various associations to host and promote the event accordingly. The Canadian Open Blind Golf Championship usually requires a golfer to meet the sight classification guidelines, and they must have a minimum handicap to participate competitively.

The OBG Provincial Championship has been hosted in the various locations around Ontario area in early-mid August. In 2024, it will be hosted in Perth, Ontario in the Ottawa Valley region and 20-30+ blind golfers participate from across Ontario, and there are usually other Canadian golfers that travel to the event because of it’s format and the support all golfers receive from OBG. It is a 3 day event, with a practice round for the players and their Coach on the Friday, a competitive round on Saturday, and the final day which is played by the blind golfers only.

We are very excited about hosting the 2024 Provincial Championships at Mapleview Golf & Country Club in beautiful Perth, Ontario. The news is all good and expectations are that the 2024 blind golf events in Ontario will be absolutely spectacular.

Additional events for blind and visually impaired golfers include the annual IBGA Open Championships in IBGA member countries, the bi-annual IBGA World Championships and of course the bi-annual IBGA World Vision Cup which is like the “Ryder Cup” for the blind with the format being Team North America versus Team Rest of World.

What are the rules for pace of play and general rules of etiquette?

• 15 minutes a hole is a fair estimate. Remember there are a lot of folks trying to play a round, summer is special in Canada so try to keep the dream alive for all golfers playing that day.
• Keep the pace of play, or “ready golf” as they say. If you are able to take your shot, and not interfere with another player taking their shot, please do so. Same applies to putting on the green. If you can take your shot, do so.
• If you look behind you and people are waiting, be aware of your speed of play. If you have lost sight of the group ahead of you, you need to pick it up a little to make sure everyone is keeping pace.
• Not about spotting all of your balls. Sometimes you lose your ball. It happens. If you can’t find your ball within a minute of looking for it please take a drop where you can and keep moving.
• Do NOT leave the cart and then walk all around. Keep the cart on the go and use it to your advantage.
• There are different ways of scoring a hole. Make sure you are aware of the course rules, and the rules for the event. If you hit the maximum strokes for that hole please pick up your ball and move on. Remember you do not have to play to your maximum strokes. If it’s clear you can’t hole out, pick up the ball and move on.
• You can play recreational, keeping a handicap – whatever you like. Just remember that other OBG members and their Coaches want to enjoy their game also.
• Lateral hazard for woods or environmental areas (such as those noted on the back of the Oakridge scorecard) – there is no need for a “3 off the tee” or provisional balls if you are able to find your ball. Move laterally where you can, follow the rules and keep the game moving. It is your responsibility as a golfer to know the rules and etiquette. If you have any questions you can always reach out to a Board member that can help clarify the rules and details.
• The “Board Host” is a member of the Board of Directors, or another appointed Host that oversees organizing the event and then making sure everything goes smoothly at the event. The Board Host will have a quick discussion about the speed of play for all events. Please don’t take offence to it. We are just trying to make sure we respect course rules and help our members have a better round.
• Although we try our best to prevent no-shows, it happens. This means another pairing that wanted to play did not get the chance. OBG had to pay for a member and their Coach that did not let us know ahead of time. Please reach out ahead of the event to make sure we can try to facilitate another pairing playing. OBG kindly requests ALL MEMBERS that want to play in an event to forward payment no later than 1 week ahead to our Treasurer, Wayne Cook. If that is not an option please bring payment to the event.

What do we know about the history of OBG and blind golf in Ontario, as well as blind golf in Canada?

Competitive blind golf has been around since the mid 1950’s. It started with only blind golfers playing the sport. There was a resistance in the 1970’s and 1980’s to allowing visually impaired golfers into the sport. In the 1980’s blind golfers like Nick Genovese and others promoted blind golf and travelled all around North America. Originally only completely blind persons were able to play. Visually impaired golfers were considered “peakers” because they could still “see some of the ball” and were considered to have an advantage over completely blind golfers.

In 1987 the Ontario Blind Golf Association, which did not include visually impaired golfers at the time, created the OntarioBlindGolf.ca website. Today the name has changed to incorporate and reflect the fact it includes “visually impaired” golfers.

Before Blind Golf Canada (BGC) there was the Canadian Blind Golf Association, which is now defunct. BGC turned over their limited funds and their Charter to OBG.

In 1990 there was no IBGA yet. It was formed in the late 1990’s, and OBG wanted to incorporate the group and be set up as a registered charity. The Charter and the Bylaws were also developed. OBG applied to the Canadian government for the charitable status, and wanted to use visually impaired as well as the blind. Interestingly, in order to be an “association” under the charity guidelines OBG would have had to prove they met a minimum threshold representing a set percentage of blind persons. This is the reason why OBG is technically not an association, but a charitable corporation. It’s been 31+ years, and OBG is still keeping the dream alive for our members. New, old, or future members are still welcome year after year.

Once the IBGA was established sight classifications were the first order of business. Blind golf needed categories to ensure fair and equal abilities for different visual acuities. They created 3 different categories, with a competitive blind golfer having no more than 10% of their field of vision. B1 (totally blind, some light perception), B2 (most controversial range, from ability to count fingers up to 5% vision), and then B3 (5-10%). Interestingly enough, to date IBGA classifications are all based on visual acuity; they don’t take field of vision into account – so for example, no allowance for tunnel vision. This means there could be some advantages or disadvantages based on which side of the visual spectrum blind and visually impaired are classified. Consider how different golf would be for a golfer with tunnel vision, being able to see something, as opposed to a golfer who has macular degeneration or no central vision who might be able to see some light but has not ability to focus on the ball or his/her golf swing.

The IBGA also wanted to develop a system to calculate handicap ranges so blind and visually impaired golfers could compete and win against “better” golfers. A golfer might not win gross, but a net win was/is possible. IBGA wanted golfers to all compete in the same groups and classifications. The IBGA takes their mission and rules very seriously, and they continue to view golf in a traditional way. However, there are some rules and accommodations that require some attention, there always are, and OBG continues to lobby for accessible, diverse and inclusive play.

Since 1990 the volunteers, the past Board members, all of the blind and visually impaired golfers have gotten OBG this far. Times have changed, but with events hosting 50+ blind golfers in the past, we know we can do it again. OBG hosts an annual charity fundraiser called the Colin Kressler Charity tournament that sees hundreds of golfers turn out, and thousands of dollars raised. We have an Outreach Program to attract media and educate the masses, as well shape discussions and solicit support from businesses, organizations, entities that want to become partners and supporters of blind golf in Ontario, and in Canada.

Today, OBG pays some of the annual membership fee to BGC, and a portion to Golf Canada to ensure we have access to the handicap system. OBG encourages all if it’s members to keep track of their scores and current handicap. We are proud to be able to offer this system to our blind members, and we are happy to report the system is accessible for blind persons using various technology or software.