News

Handicaps

The BGA Handicaps as at 5 October 2021 are now available.

Blind Golf Queensland Come and Try Day

Click this YouTube link to access a video of the recent Blind Golf Queensland Come and Try Day which was a great success.

Western Australia Open Results 2021

The 2021 WA Blind Golf Open was held as a Stableford event on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th of September on the Old Course at Wembley Golf Club. The first round was played in rain and wind. However, the second round fortunately was played under blue skies.

There were only 9 entrants as entry was restricted once again to residents of Western Australia. Interstate players were barred for the second year running because of the COVID-19 virus. The prize giving has been deferred until the annual luncheon in November.

The winner was Maureen Crawford on 73 points with husband Jim. Runner-up was Peter Drury on 71 points with Gordon Berryman. The Ladies Champion was Jenny McCallum on 69 points with Adrian Baster.

The full results for the Western Australia Blind Golf Open Tournament, 16-17 September 2021 can be found on this website at the Western Australia Tournament Results page.

BGA 2020-21 Order of Merit

Updated BGA Order of Merit 2020-2021 After 2021 WABGA Open can be found on this website under Order of Merit.

2021 Queensland Open Results

The 2021 Blind Golf Queensland Open was played on July the 15th and 16th at the Parkwood International Golf Club. A field of 13 players competed in the event which was a great result given the restrictions on interstate travel due to Covid 19. The overall winner of the event was Neil Herdegen from Queensland who finished with an astonishing score of 89 Stableford Points for the 2 rounds. Runnerup was Darren Solly from Queensland with another great score of 85 Stableford Points. More information about the event can be found on the Blind Golf Queensland site.

2021 Queensland Open Results can be found on this website under Queensland Results.

Policy

Reformatted BGA policy documents can be found on this website under Policies. All nine BGA Policy documents have been reformatted into web pages, to increase their accessibility for screen reader users.

Video

Here's a Facebook link to a Golf Australia video produced from footage of a demonstration Blind Golf South Australia did at Royal Adelaide GC on 12/02/2020.

2021 Blind Golf South Australian Open

A new Social Media page has been added to the BGA site, containing links to Blind Golf Australia's YouTube channel and Blind Golf Australia's private Facebook group.

2021 Blind Golf South Australian Open

The 2021 Blind Golf South Australian Open was played at the Adelaide Shores Patawalonga Golf Club on May 17th/18th. This was the first time a major Blind Golf Event has been played in South Australia in more than 20 years. The event was enjoyed by 18 players with their caddies and volunteers. The competition itself was very competitive with the addition of 3 new players to Blind Golf. The Blind Golf South Australian Open Champion (which was decided on a count-back) was Cameron Reid from South Australia with 73 Stableford Points. The Runner-up was Brad Carver from Queensland also with 73 Stableford Points. The B1 category winner was Doug Sloan from Victoria with 59 points, B2 winner Graham Coulton from New South Wales with 68 points, and the B3 winner was Jeff Ellis from Victoria with 67 points.

Detailed results can be found at the Blind Golf South Australian Results page.

The tournament was a huge success and the Blind Golf South Australia Committee members Cameron Reid, Lindsay Mortimer, and Robert Curtin, are congratulated for their efforts in making the tournament possible and enjoyable for all who participated. Blind Golf South Australia thanks all players, caddies, volunteers, supporters and Beyond Blindness for the donation of the use of the Community Bus for the Tournament.

An ABC Media Article on the event can be found on the ABC News site.

(NEW) Photos from the BGSA Open and the National Stableford Championship can be found on Google Photos.

2021 Blind Golf Australia National Stableford Championship

The 2021 Blind Golf Australia National Stableford Championship was played at the Adelaide Shores Patawalonga Golf Club on May 20th/21st. The event was played by 17 players in superb weather conditions for golf over the 2 days. The Blind Golf Australia National Stableford Champion was Darren Solly from Queensland with a brilliant score of 77 points. Darren has recently joined Blind Golf Queensland and this was his first major Blind Golf Event. Runner-up was Sean Witting from Victoria with another great score of 76 points. The B1 category winner was Doug Sloan from Victoria with 58 points, B2 winner David Martin from Qld/WA with 65 points, and the B3 winner was Cameron Reid from South Australia with 72 points.

Detailed results can be found at the Stableford Results page.

Blind Golf Australia thanks all players, caddies, volunteers and supporters for supporting the event. A special mention of thanks to Beyond Blindness for the donation of the Community Bus for the week. We are looking forward to the major events in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales later in the year.

2021 Blind Golf South Australian Open

• July 12/16 2021, Queensland Classic, Coolangatta and Tweed Heads Golf Club
• Sep 16/17, Western Australian Blind Golf Open , Wembley
• Nov 15/16 BGNSW Blind Golf Open, Liverpool Golf Club
• Nov 18/19 ISPS Handa Australian Blind Golf Open, Liverpool Golf Club

Under National and International Events, the ISPS Handa South African Open and ISPS Handa World Championship have been rescheduled to 2 - 9 Oct 2021.

Under Coming Events Victoria, the calendar has been updated with the 2021 events.

Under Coming Events Western Australia, the calendar has been updated with the 2021 events.

Under Coming Events South Australia, the calendar has been updated with the 2021 events.

New brochures

BGA are pleased to advise that a full YouTube audio / video description of Blind Golf and its rules 'A Guide to Blind Golf' (10:04) has been added to our site, in addition to 'A Guide to Blind Golf' (633KB PDF) and 'A Guide to Blind Golf Digital Brochure 2021' (1.7MB PDF).

Articles

Qld junior blind golf champion wins International Lions World Peace essay prize.

Policy

The Policy Code of Conduct and Associated Disciplinary Committees Policy has been added.

2021 Victorian Open

The 2021 Victorian Blind Golf Open was played at the Rosebud Country Club on the 15th and 16th of March. A great field of 21 players was welcomed by Blind Golf Victoria and the Rosebud Country Club to contest the Open on the superbly presented South Course in perfect weather conditions on both days. The tournament was hotly contested in all categories with excellent scores achieved by many players.

This year's Overall Winner was Paul McKenzie from NSW with an incredible score of 82 points off a handicap of 18. Overall runner up was Mark Eschbank from NSW with a great score of 76 points. David Blyth from VIC won the B1 Category with 65 points. Doug Sloan from VIC was the B1 runner up with a career best 61 points. Stephen Mitchell from NSW won the B2 Category with 73 points. Gary Sargent from NSW was the B2 runner up with 72 points. Rod Mills from NSW won the B3 Category with 75 points. Brad Carver was the B3 runner up with 72 points.

Blind Golf Victoria acknowledges the wonderful ongoing support of the Rosebud Country Club Committee, members and staff as well as the caddies. It made for a super 2 days of golf.

Results at BGV Victorian Open Championship Results 2021.

Photos from the 2021 Victorian Open are available via Google Photos.

Western Australia Events

The Western Australia Events for 2021 have been updated.

South Australia Events

The South Australia Program for 2021 has been updated.

BGA Annual General Meeting

The BGA Annual General Meeting was held on October 21st 2020. The new Board members are Doug Sloan - President, David Martin - Vice President, Peter North - Secretary/Treasurer, Stephen Jackson - Director, Peter Drury - Director.

Geoff Walsh was appointed as National Handicapper and Board Director.

Articles

Californian Luke Lin wins 2020 South African Blind Open Championship.

McKenzie Wins 2020 Vision Australia NSW Blind Golf Open Championship

Liverpool Golf Club again hosted the 2020 Vision Australia NSW Blind Golf Open Championship for Blind and Low Vision golfers, played over two rounds on Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 November, where numbers were limited to NSW and ACT players by the border closures as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paul McKenzie with caddie/guide Leonie Fraser, playing on a handicap of 19, mastered the challenging conditions best to shoot a Net total of 145 and Gross total of 183 for the 2 rounds. Paul, who is gradually losing his eyesight and has only recently become a member of Blind Golf NSW is also a member of Yowani Golf Club in the ACT. His association with Blind Golf has assisted him in coming to terms with his eyesight condition, being able to liaise with people with similar eyesight conditions.

Main sponsor Vision Australia awarded trophies for all winners and sight categories and was represented by Rolf Geerlings and expressed that attending the Championships and Presentation had renewed his passion for the game which had waned due to his loss of eyesight and was contemplating joining Blind Golf NSW soon, after being inspired by the efforts of the golfers who participated in the event. Special thanks also goes to Srixon and Drummond Golf for their sponsorship of this event and also those hard working caddie/guides.

Blind Golf NSW wishes to acknowledge Peter Summers, Brent Dale and their staff at Liverpool Golf Club for hosting the Championships. Their attention to detail made it easy for the players, caddie/guides and officials to enjoy the tournament. So impressed by the standard of the golf and the feedback received from the players, Liverpool Golf Club have offered to host the 2021 NSW tournament and the 2021 ISPS HANDA Australian Blind Golf Open Championship.

If this article has encouraged you to find out more about Blind Golf or are interested in becoming involved as a player, caddie/guide or sponsor, please browse this site further, visit the Facebook Page for Blind Golf NSW, or email blindgolfnsw@gmail.com

Tournament Summary

Net Winner (NSW Vision Australia Open Champion): Paul McKenzie (ACT)
Net Runner Up: Michele Watts(NSW)
Gross Winner: Mark Eschbank (NSW)

Sight Category Winners

B3 Champion: Rod Mills (NSW)
B3 Runner Up: John Hayward (NSW)
B2 Champion: Gary Sargent (NSW)
B2 Runner Up: Graham Coulton
Stableford Winner: Tony Telfer (NSW)

Results can be found on this website under 2020 New South Wales Open, 36 Hole Stroke Results.

2020 ISPS HANDA Australian Blind Golf Open

The 2020 ISPS Handa Australian Blind Golf Open was staged at the Rosebud Country Club on March 19/20. There was an excellent field of 24 players in attendance, 19 of whom participated in a 36 Hole stroke event and 5 who participated in a stableford event. The event was again supported by the wonderful Rosebud Country Club members as well as the Management and support staff of the Rosebud Country Club.

The 2020 Australian Champion with a net score of 143 was Graham Coulton from New South Wales with his longtime caddie Sue Carpenter.

The 2020 Australian Champion Runner up with a net score of 148 was Paul McKenzie from Canberra with his caddie Michael Croft. Congratulations to Paul who is a new member of Blind Golf New South Wales.

The 2020 Australian Open Gross Champion with a score of 186 was Paul McKenzie with his caddie Michael Croft.

The B1 category Gross and Net Champion was Glenn Niciejewski

The B2 category Gross and Net Champion was Graham Coulton

The B3 category Gross and Net Champion was Paul McKenzie

The winner of the Stableford Event was Doug Sloan with 41 points

Results at 2020 ISPS HANDA Australian Open Results.

BGSA Demo Day

A report on the Blind Golf Demonstration Day held at the recent ladies Australian Open at Royal Adelaide (including YouTube video).

Policy

Blind Golf Australia has updated the Order of Merit Policy effective from the 1st of January 2020 to include Order of Merit points for travel to interstate events and for participation. The South Australian Blind Golf Open is now included as a sanctioned event. To read the updated policy go to Policies on this website.

Handicaps

The International Blind Golf Association ( IBGA) has introduced a new handicapping policy effective January 1 2020. The previous policy has been changed to better align Blind Golf’s handicap system with the World Handicap System (WHS) which will come into effect worldwide progressively during 2020.

The general effect of the policy changes is that those members who are under their sight classification maximums will have their handicaps reduced by 1 to 2 strokes. Members will be advised of their new handicaps as soon as IBGA/BGA do all their calculations.

It is important to note that golf worldwide will go through the same exercise.

There is a more detailed explanation of the policy changes under “Handicaps” . Additionally the revised IBGA Policy Document is also available in the same section.

ABC Video on Blind Golf

A short interview by the ABC with Graham Coulton and his caddy Sue Carpenter can be seen in the video section of this website

Website Update

This website has been totally updated to eliminate duplication, delete irrelevant and out of date items and add new items which hopefully readers will find of interest. In particular we have added a totally new section on how to get started in blind golf in Australia (including a copy of the sight certificate required), have updated contacts, and revamped all BGA policies governing blind golf played in Australia. The latter is important for current members to read, so please go to the BGA Policies section.