News

Coming Events

The 2019 Victoria, New South Wales, West Australia, National & International Event Calendars have been updated.

Handicaps

Updated BGA handicaps as at November 30, 2018 are now available. You will find them at Handicaps. There have been no changes in handicaps as at December 31.

2019 BGV Victorian Open

The 2019 Victorian Open will be held at Rosebud Country Club on March 25 /26. Full details and the entry form are available here (53KB Word docx).

Please note that this will be the first major Australian blind golf event to be played under the new rules which come into effect from January 1 2019. It is expected that all blind and vision impaired players and their caddies will be familiar with the new rules. See references under New Rules of Golf.

New Rules of Golf

The new rules of golf will come into operation from January 1 2019

Explanation of all the changes can be found by going to Golf Australia’s website (2019 Rules of Golf ).

Golf’s New Rules

• Support Resources
• 1 minute videos on each major change
• R&A PowerPoint on New Rules
• Modified Rules of Golf for Players With A disability

All blind golf events in Australia will be played under the new rules from January 1 2019 . It is the responsibility of individual players and their caddies or guides ( or aides) to have a full understanding of the new rules.

2018/19 Order of Merit

The 2018/19 BGA Order of Merit is now complete for 2018 and full details are available on the website. At the halfway mark Rod Mills (NSW) has established a clear lead with 53 points from fellow NSW players Graham Coulton 37.5, Gary Sargent and Stephen Mitchell both 34 with Brad Carver (Qld) in fifth place with 22.33 points. Full details are under Order of Merit

2018 NSW Blind Golf Open Championships results

BGNSW staged their 2018 Blind Golf Open at the Bankstown Golf Club on November 12/13 as a 36 hole stroke event. Continuing her excellent form from the recent World Championships in Rome, the net winner and NSW champion with a net score of 136 was Michele Watts(NSW) with her caddy Kevin Munce. Michele had a great round on Monday with a net 60 which made it difficult for the field to catch her on day 2. Gary Sargent (NSW) and his caddy Eileen Sargent were runners up with net 144. Rod Mills (NSW) and his caddy Mike Mills won the gross title with a score of 215.

Doug Sloan (Vic) won the B1 title, Stephen Mitchell (NSW) was the winner of the B2 title and Brad Carver (Qld) prevailed in the B3 event.

Rod Mills won the coveted Erik Royds Perpetual Trophy for the least putts over the 2 days with an excellent 65.

Full details can be found under Results NSW.

Pictures on Blind Golf NSW's Facebook page.

BGA Annual General Meeting

The 2018 BGA AGM was held on October 16. Office bearers elected for the next year were Doug Sloan Vic President, David Martin WA Vice President, Peter North Vic Secretary/ Treasurer, John Hayward NSW and Stephen Jackson NSW Directors, with Geoff Walsh Vic subsequently being appointed by the new Board as Handicapper/Director

2018 BGA Queensland Blind Golf Open

The 2018 BGA Queensland Open was staged for the third time at the Virginia Golf Club in July. The event was highlighted by participation of seven Queensland players highlighting the excellent work being done by Brad Carver and his team in developing blind golf in Queensland.

The 2018 Queensland Blind Golf Champion was Mark Eschbank NSW and his caddy Joep Bujis with an excellent score of 78 points. Runner up was Stephen Mitchell NSW with his caddy Kerrie Mitchell with a score of 75 points. The B1 category was won by Glenn Niciejewski Qld, the B2 category by Graham Coulton NSW, and the B3 Category by Rod Mills NSW.

Blind Golf Queensland will be established as a separate member of BGA shortly and will be responsible for organising future Queensland Opens.

Full results are included under Results Queensland

New audio

An interview with Michele Watts (NSW) 2018 Italian and World Champion, on Vision Australia Radio, 17th October 2018.

Stephen Mitchell NSW and Deanna Minciullo WA victorious in the West

WABGA staged a week of golf in Perth in early September.

The 2018 WA Masters was played at Collier Park and was won by Deanna Minciullo WA with a great score of 85 points including a magnificent 47 points on Day 2. Despite an excellent 44 points on Day 2, Graham Coulton (NSW) couldn’t catch Deanna but finished second with 79 points.

For the first time , the WA Open was staged at the Ellenbrook course, part of the prestigious Vines Resort. The winner was the very consistent Stephen Mitchell (NSW) with a very good score of 74 points. Stephen is currently the lowest handicapped blind/vision impaired golfer in Australia. Deanna Minciullo maintained her good form from earlier in the week to finish runner up with 67 points, Glenn Niciejewski (QLD) won the B1 category with 30 points, Graham Coulton (NSW) B2 with 65 points and Doug Burrows (WA) B3 with 52 points.

Full results can be found under the Western Australian section of Results.

New video

Blind golfers at 2018 ISPS HANDA Super 6's in Perth, on YouTube (2:06 min).

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, updated contacts and revamped all BGA policies governing blind golf played in Australia—the latter is important for current members to read—go to Policies.