WEBVTT
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With determination
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and creative thinking, we can find ways
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to do the things we love, even those
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that seem inherently visual.
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In this episode, Hadley
members, Judy Messina
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and Jan Ober, join us to discuss
golfing with vision loss.
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I'm Ricky Enger and this is Hadley Presents.
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Welcome to the show, Jan
Judy, so glad to have you.
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Well, thank you for having us.
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Yeah, it's very exciting
to be here with you.
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I am delighted to have you both.
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And Judy and I have spoken
a couple of times and Jan
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and I are just getting to know each other.
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But interestingly enough, Judy
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and Jan connected
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with each other when we invited
them to do this podcast.
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So they've had a chance
to chat about golf even
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before this podcast,
which I think is awesome.
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So before we get into talking about
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your stories
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and some of just the logistics
of golfing with vision loss,
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I want to get some quick introductions,
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just letting people know who
you are, a bit about you.
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So I think we will start with Jan.
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Okay. My name is Jan Ober.
I live in Salem, Oregon.
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However, I was born and raised
in Rochester, Minnesota.
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I went to college at Iowa State
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and got a home economics degree.
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My husband, we moved to
Oregon as an adventure
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and 52 years later we're still here.
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We had no job, no place
to live, just our dog
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and our U-Haul trailer and away we went.
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We downsized five years ago when we moved
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to a golf community, a 55
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and older community, which
was the best decision
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of our life to move here.
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We've raised three daughters
who are now all married,
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live in three different states,
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and we have eight grandchildren.
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And Jan, as much as you're comfortable,
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tell us about your vision loss.
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Okay, so about nine
years ago we bought a puppy
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and the puppy was black with
white face and white feet.
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And I would take the
little dog out at night
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to do his business
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and I, all of a sudden I
couldn't see where he was.
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I was thought I was looking right at him.
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And when I turned my head to the side,
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I could see his white feet
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and his white face out
of the corner of my eye.
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And I thought, that is weird.
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And I looked right at
him and he disappeared.
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So I went to the eye doctor
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and was diagnosed with
macular degeneration.
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And so that was nine years ago.
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And I had started golfing
maybe five or six years
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before that without a hint
that I would have vision loss.
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And it's just progressed slowly over the
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first few years.
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But in the last six to eight months,
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it's degenerated quite a bit to
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where now I have geographic atrophy
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and I don't have very much central vision.
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I gave up the car keys, I gave
up sewing, which was harder
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for me as a home ec person.
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I like to do all the quilting
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and make quilts for my grandkids.
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And that was the most difficult.
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And, but I was determined
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that I wasn't gonna give up everything
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and golf was one of those things I said,
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I'm not gonna give up on it.
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I love that. And especially
living in a golfing community,
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it was clearly important to you.
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Judy, tell us a bit about you.
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Yep. I'm Judy Messina. I
live in Wiper Lake, Minnesota.
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I am a wife and a mo mother of one son
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and a grandma of two grandchildren.
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And I had gone to college
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and gotten a degree in
social work years ago.
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And as far as my vision loss,
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I was diagnosed in elementary school
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with Stargardt's disease.
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And it took a while to figure that out
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and I had much more vision
in elementary school.
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But it has continued to decline
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and I've lost quite a bit in
my older years at this point.
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And so pretty much what I have is kind
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of hand motion if you're
doing it by the eye chart.
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So Jan, you did not expect at all,
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I think, to have any vision
problems when you started
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playing golf, that wasn't
even on your radar, right?
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That's right. And it should have been,
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it should have been.
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My sister who is 10 years older than me
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has actually, she passed
away three years ago,
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but she had macular degeneration.
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And I believe there is a
genetic component to this.
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And so I should have, it
should have been on my radar,
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but either I was in
denial or just optimistic.
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And Judy, I think your
experience is a little different
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because we know that
Stargardt's is progressive,
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but when you started playing golf,
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did you kind of have the assumption
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that your vision would
stay at the level it
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was when you started?
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Or how did you approach that?
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I didn't really consider
it at the time, to be honest.
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But yes, I was hopeful
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that it wouldn't be too much different.
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But when I first was
golfing, as with my family
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and I wanted to be able to be out
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and be part of the social piece of it
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and it, you know, I still always had
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to have somebody line
me up and help me out.
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As time progressed.
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Now I have found
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that each time it declines
a little bit more.
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There's still, it seems to
be some adjustments you have
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to make when you're dealing
with, you know, limited vision.
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It could be a lighting concern.
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So I've had to look at
some of that kind of thing.
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Like I use visor with a dark underside
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'cause the white underside
gives me trouble.
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But it's a lot of lighting issues.
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And like I say, every time
you lose a little vision,
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you definitely are finding
yourself struggling a little bit
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to readapt your game a little bit.
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Yeah, and I think that's
true for a lot of things.
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As you go through that
progressive vision loss, something
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that you thought you'd learned
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and figured out a way around,
now suddenly you're having
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to figure that out yet again.
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So for both of you, you
started to lose vision
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and then things progressed
a little more rapidly
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for each of you.
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And that can be a real
challenge to adjust.
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And I think for both of
you, golfing became a thing
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that you really appreciated doing.
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So was there any point where you thought,
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I'm just, I'm gonna have to give this up,
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this isn't something I'm
going to be able to do?
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Or was that, you know, did
you approach it differently
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and think, I gotta figure this out,
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Jan, we'll start with you.
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Well, yes.
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I came home one day last summer in tears
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and I just told my husband, I said,
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I am not gonna lose this.
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I am not gonna give up
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and there has to be something I can do.
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We had just gone on a Mediterranean cruise
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'cause I wanted to see sites
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before I wouldn't be able to see them.
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And so we're, we're on this cruise ship
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and I'm listening to a Hadley
podcast, well, while I'm
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by the pool on this cruise
ship and I am in tears
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because I realized when
I got home I'm gonna have
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to give up my sewing, I'm
gonna have to give up my car.
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I can't hardly read.
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You know, it's, all these
things are just going away.
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And it was, it was really difficult.
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But the, the golfing,
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because we live here in this community
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with all these amazing
women around me that golf,
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it was something very
important to not give it up,
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to find a way to adapt there.
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Everybody is so helpful
to, you know, help me
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when I golf with somebody.
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I said, you have one job, your job is
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to help me find my ball.
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And everybody is, everybody helps.
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They say, well your ball is on right
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after the third shadow
at about two o'clock.
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And that gives me some
perspective to know where
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to walk and find my ball.
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So I guess I just, it's a social thing.
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It's the being outside in
the fresh air sunshine. Yeah.
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It's just something that
I didn't wanna stop doing.
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And Judy, what about you?
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I did not wanna give it up either.
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I definitely wanna be part
of the social piece of it.
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I kinda look at it as what are your goals?
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My goal was to be able to go
out and golf with other people
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and have a good time not
having the expectation
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of being a great golfer, but
to enjoy the game of golf.
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And so as that progressed,
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then I had heard about the
United States Flying Golf
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Association and I thought,
okay, I contacted them
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and I realized there's
a whole lot of people
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who are golfing who are blind.
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And I did call a couple people
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to get some ideas a little bit on some
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of the questions I had and
I joined the organization,
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but I did not sign up for a tournament yet
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because I felt I still
needed more practice
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before I jumped into that.
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So I ended up finding locally
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an adaptive golf team.
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There was some places around
here that have adaptive golf
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and I thought, you know, there
you can build your confidence
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and that way you're not having
people push you from behind.
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'cause we're all in the same league
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and we all have something
that slows us down.
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And from there then I've kind of
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tried different things like
doing best ball kinds of things
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so that I can be out on the course
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and two of us are hitting a ball
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and we take the better ball
on the next hit and everything
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and we just keep moving along faster.
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I've done times to make it easier
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that I didn't keep score
at first until I got
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to the level that I'm at now.
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But it's like, how can you make
it fun and not be stressful
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and then just enjoy the game.
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I think that's so well said.
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Because often no matter what it is
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that we are figuring it
out, we think, well I have
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to be really good at this in order for it
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to be a worthwhile pursuit.
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And we just don't stop
to think that isn't true.
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If you're going out
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and you are doing
something that you enjoy,
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I feel like you've already won.
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And if you happen to become good at it,
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then so much the better.
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But that doesn't always
have to be the focus
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and it's easy to forget that.
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That's exactly right.
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It's not about being proficient at it,
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it's about having fun.
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And maybe next week you have
a better score on whole number
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seven then this week.
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And so that's, you know,
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you just look at any little
progress that you can make.
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Love that. So what we
have talked about so far,
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I think we've touched
on a couple of things.
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Like, Judy, you touched
on some lighting things
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and Jan, you've touched on some
things practically in terms
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of how you play golf,
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but I know that there are people listening
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who have been golfers
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or are struggling with this right now,
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or maybe they've never
picked up a set of clubs
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and it's something that intrigues them.
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So let's get into that
logistics piece of it then
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and talk about some things
that you do in order
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to make this work for, for you.
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So Jim, we'll start with you.
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Well, number one is you,
I can't golf by myself
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'cause I couldn't find the ball.
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Number two is to find a
ball that is the color
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that you can see the best
for me, it's either white
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00:11:42.180 --> 00:11:45.360
or a neon yellow, sometimes a neon orange,
255
00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.340
but like red balls, blue balls,
256
00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:48.990
they just disappear in the grass.
257
00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:50.100
I can't see them at all.
258
00:11:51.060 --> 00:11:54.520
Number three, my husband taken my clubs
259
00:11:54.520 --> 00:11:58.300
and he has used duct tape in little strips
260
00:11:58.300 --> 00:12:02.800
and he's put them on the edge
of the blade of the iron so
261
00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:06.520
that I can see which direction
that iron is supposed
262
00:12:06.520 --> 00:12:08.530
to be shooting for.
263
00:12:08.530 --> 00:12:12.880
He's put a, a big white dot
on the center on the top
264
00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:15.100
of my driver so I know where the middle
265
00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:16.810
of my ball should hit.
266
00:12:17.770 --> 00:12:21.970
My putter has a big white
line going across it so
267
00:12:21.970 --> 00:12:25.300
that I can have a better
vision of the line
268
00:12:25.300 --> 00:12:27.400
that my putter is gonna hit.
269
00:12:27.400 --> 00:12:32.050
And putting a black line
on your golf ball so
270
00:12:32.050 --> 00:12:34.630
that when you're ready to
put, you can line that up with
271
00:12:34.630 --> 00:12:36.100
where the hole is.
272
00:12:36.100 --> 00:12:40.240
The other thing is, recently
I've had to have people tell me
273
00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.450
where the hole is on the
green from a distance.
274
00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:46.450
I don't know if it's
towards the back on the left
275
00:12:46.450 --> 00:12:47.620
or where it is.
276
00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:50.950
So I'll have people tell me
it's on the left towards the
277
00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.830
front and it will give me a better idea
278
00:12:53.830 --> 00:12:55.540
of, of what I'm doing.
279
00:12:55.540 --> 00:12:58.030
And also, lighting is so important.
280
00:12:58.030 --> 00:13:01.360
It sometimes in the
bright sunlight, you're,
281
00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:04.060
you're making a shadow right on your ball.
282
00:13:04.060 --> 00:13:07.540
And so I have to step
away and kinda line it up
283
00:13:07.540 --> 00:13:11.440
and then step back into my
stance to hit the ball once I,
284
00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:15.100
I can see it again because in
the shadow it just, it's gone.
285
00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:17.290
So those are some things that I've done.
286
00:13:17.290 --> 00:13:18.520
It's been very helpful
287
00:13:18.520 --> 00:13:21.430
to have all these silver marks on my clubs
288
00:13:21.430 --> 00:13:24.130
and I thought it was pretty ingenious
289
00:13:24.130 --> 00:13:26.260
for my husband to figure all that out.
290
00:13:26.260 --> 00:13:27.520
Yeah, no kidding.
291
00:13:27.520 --> 00:13:29.800
And that was something that the two
292
00:13:29.800 --> 00:13:34.000
of you figured out just in
the process of doing this.
293
00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.480
So you didn't really have a
resource that you looked to
294
00:13:37.480 --> 00:13:39.610
for figuring some of this out.
295
00:13:39.610 --> 00:13:41.800
It was just a bit of trial and error
296
00:13:41.800 --> 00:13:44.020
and some creative thinking. Right,
297
00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:45.020
Right.
298
00:13:45.020 --> 00:13:46.480
Because he'd say, well, can't you see
299
00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.310
how you're aiming your club right now?
300
00:13:48.310 --> 00:13:49.960
And I'd go, no, I can't see the,
301
00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:51.675
I can't see the bottom of the club.
302
00:13:51.675 --> 00:13:54.070
It's in the grass. I can't see it.
303
00:13:54.070 --> 00:13:56.020
So that's why he put, you know,
304
00:13:56.020 --> 00:13:57.820
white duct tape along the edge
305
00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:00.370
so then I can see where it is.
306
00:14:00.370 --> 00:14:02.800
And for you, Judy, we were talking
307
00:14:02.800 --> 00:14:04.780
before we started the recording
308
00:14:04.780 --> 00:14:07.240
and we kind of talked about
309
00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:10.810
how everyone's approach
is going to be different,
310
00:14:10.810 --> 00:14:14.470
everyone's going to have
different ways that they do things
311
00:14:14.470 --> 00:14:16.480
and things that work for
them, things that don't.
312
00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.900
Are Jan's ideas things
that have worked for you?
313
00:14:19.900 --> 00:14:23.830
Or do you have a totally
different method of doing this?
314
00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:25.270
I have a totally different method
315
00:14:25.270 --> 00:14:27.040
because I have less vision
316
00:14:27.040 --> 00:14:28.660
and so there's nothing visual
317
00:14:28.660 --> 00:14:30.790
that will help me if we
mark something on my club
318
00:14:30.790 --> 00:14:32.320
to see lines or anything like that.
319
00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:34.420
I can't see my ball on the tee.
320
00:14:34.420 --> 00:14:37.450
So first of all, on the golf grips I try
321
00:14:37.450 --> 00:14:41.470
and find grips that at least
Tactually help me to know how
322
00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:42.940
to hold it so that the club
323
00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:44.830
face goes the way it's supposed to.
324
00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:46.060
I haven't marked mine with Brill,
325
00:14:46.060 --> 00:14:47.470
but I'm gonna mark my clubs with Brill
326
00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:48.730
so I know which club I'm picking up.
327
00:14:48.730 --> 00:14:51.320
At this point I have, you
know, obviously I vote, I golf
328
00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:52.880
with a coach all the time.
329
00:14:52.880 --> 00:14:54.110
Most people in the United States playing
330
00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:55.610
golf have to have a coach.
331
00:14:55.610 --> 00:14:57.200
'cause most of us need a coach.
332
00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:00.860
And so that person is lining
you up in the direction of
333
00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:03.170
where you need to have your ball go.
334
00:15:03.170 --> 00:15:05.780
And my husband happens to be my coach.
335
00:15:05.780 --> 00:15:06.860
I've got a couple friends
336
00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:08.450
who have coached a little bit as well.
337
00:15:08.450 --> 00:15:09.830
My son is coached a bit.
338
00:15:09.830 --> 00:15:12.110
So no matter when you're out there golfing
339
00:15:12.110 --> 00:15:14.630
or at a tournament, that
person is just as much a part
340
00:15:14.630 --> 00:15:16.550
of your team as you are.
341
00:15:16.550 --> 00:15:19.400
You win, you win it as a
team when you're coaching.
342
00:15:19.400 --> 00:15:23.510
And so I spend a tremendous amount of time
343
00:15:23.510 --> 00:15:27.320
practicing at the driving range or putting
344
00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:31.130
and all that kind of stuff
and getting a sense of, okay,
345
00:15:31.130 --> 00:15:33.770
if I put, am I gonna be putting,
346
00:15:33.770 --> 00:15:35.840
or even when I do a chip shot,
347
00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:39.080
am I gonna go like from
my ankle and then in,
348
00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:40.580
or am I gonna go further up to my knee
349
00:15:40.580 --> 00:15:42.260
or that kind of stuff
just to get a sense of
350
00:15:42.260 --> 00:15:44.450
how far back I have to come with my club
351
00:15:44.450 --> 00:15:45.890
and also the tempo of that.
352
00:15:45.890 --> 00:15:48.740
And then we'll practice when
I first started putting,
353
00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:51.170
we'd start at three feet out
and then we'd keep moving out
354
00:15:51.170 --> 00:15:54.020
and out and out on the
putting range to do all that.
355
00:15:54.020 --> 00:15:57.530
Like I say, you can't expect
to get it all figured out.
356
00:15:57.530 --> 00:15:59.900
Luckily, I, I always say I can have fun.
357
00:15:59.900 --> 00:16:01.880
I can't get upset because
I'm not good enough
358
00:16:01.880 --> 00:16:03.050
to get upset at my jeans.
359
00:16:05.805 --> 00:16:08.360
I, but I am good enough
to have a good time,
360
00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:10.070
even if I have a bad day of golf,
361
00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:12.170
I can at least enjoy the people I'm with.
362
00:16:12.170 --> 00:16:14.570
And I will meet up with,
I've got a friend here
363
00:16:14.570 --> 00:16:15.740
who is totally blind
364
00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:17.600
and on the board for the
United States Playing Golf
365
00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:19.430
Association in Minnesota.
366
00:16:19.430 --> 00:16:22.010
And we will meet, we about 90 miles,
367
00:16:22.010 --> 00:16:23.360
we'll each go each way mid.
368
00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.070
We meet halfway with our coaches
369
00:16:25.070 --> 00:16:26.330
and we'll golf from time to time
370
00:16:26.330 --> 00:16:27.530
just to get the practice in.
371
00:16:27.530 --> 00:16:30.860
But it's been so much fun
to meet so many people.
372
00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:32.660
I love just being with people
373
00:16:32.660 --> 00:16:35.030
and being out on those beautiful courses.
374
00:16:35.030 --> 00:16:37.370
And it sounds like for both of you,
375
00:16:37.370 --> 00:16:42.050
there hasn't been the,
you know, people are going
376
00:16:42.050 --> 00:16:44.360
to be unkind to me
377
00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:48.710
or people are going to
be impatient with me.
378
00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:50.330
Maybe that has come up,
379
00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:53.750
but just listening to your
stories, it seems that by
380
00:16:53.750 --> 00:16:58.580
and large people have been
really kind and and helpful
381
00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:02.240
and invested in your having
a good time as well. Right?
382
00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:03.470
That is exactly right.
383
00:17:03.470 --> 00:17:07.220
People are willing to help,
they're happy to help. It seems.
384
00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:11.690
This place where we live, we
play cornhole and my husband
385
00:17:11.690 --> 00:17:14.120
and I won the cornhole
tournament last week
386
00:17:14.120 --> 00:17:17.660
because I can see the black
hole on the whiteboard.
387
00:17:17.660 --> 00:17:20.750
So a lot of it is, you know,
you've done it a while,
388
00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:22.940
you kind of know how to swing.
389
00:17:22.940 --> 00:17:25.910
But if you were a brand
new person, I would just
390
00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:29.720
find somebody, you know, to
help you learn either a pro
391
00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:32.420
or a friend who's who golfs
392
00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.120
and get some easy lessons going
393
00:17:35.120 --> 00:17:39.110
and then find a place where
they're not intimidating.
394
00:17:39.110 --> 00:17:40.490
I wouldn't wanna be in a club
395
00:17:40.490 --> 00:17:42.410
where they were really proficient
396
00:17:42.410 --> 00:17:45.470
and everybody was out
to beat everybody else.
397
00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:48.770
We don't care here, we, that's
one of the things we say,
398
00:17:48.770 --> 00:17:50.790
we care what your score is.
399
00:17:50.790 --> 00:17:52.800
We're out here to have fun and be together
400
00:17:52.800 --> 00:17:57.450
and get some vitamin D, you know, so yeah.
401
00:17:57.450 --> 00:18:01.410
So, you know, I would
say the first hole is
402
00:18:01.410 --> 00:18:02.790
always concerning for everybody.
403
00:18:02.790 --> 00:18:04.620
It's uncomfortable for
if you're sighted or not.
404
00:18:04.620 --> 00:18:06.900
Nobody likes study on the first hole,
405
00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:10.230
but if a blind golfer hasn't
had enough experience at all
406
00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:14.160
ahead of time practicing it
can slow up the golf course.
407
00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.280
And sometimes people will
say something about that.
408
00:18:17.280 --> 00:18:21.930
So I would say, you wanna
make sure you've had a chance
409
00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:23.760
before your first time out on the course.
410
00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:26.760
You don't wanna be out there
first learning it on the course
411
00:18:26.760 --> 00:18:30.240
and, and otherwise, like I
say, if you did a best ball
412
00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:32.550
or if you think you're slowing
things up, then skip a hole
413
00:18:32.550 --> 00:18:35.970
and you know, if you had to,
well in the beginning stages.
414
00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:37.260
But otherwise, no.
415
00:18:37.260 --> 00:18:39.270
People in general, if they know,
416
00:18:39.270 --> 00:18:41.310
they're usually very kind about it.
417
00:18:41.310 --> 00:18:42.390
And I will also check
418
00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:45.780
and see when is a slower time
of the day to get on a course?
419
00:18:45.780 --> 00:18:47.310
That's a great idea. Yeah.
420
00:18:47.310 --> 00:18:50.880
If you are in a situation where
421
00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:54.360
you don't know who else is on the course.
422
00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:56.940
So if you're not in a
golfing community like Jan,
423
00:18:56.940 --> 00:19:01.940
where the vibe there is, hey,
we're all in it to have fun.
424
00:19:02.010 --> 00:19:05.190
If you are uncertain about that,
425
00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:07.860
then doing those little things
like, hey, when's it slow?
426
00:19:07.860 --> 00:19:09.510
Or making sure you're practicing ahead
427
00:19:09.510 --> 00:19:11.910
of time makes a lot of sense.
428
00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:14.790
Oh, we have a time at
two o'clock in the summer
429
00:19:14.790 --> 00:19:17.040
that if you are a beginning golfer
430
00:19:17.040 --> 00:19:20.310
or just, we call it a
casual golfer, you know,
431
00:19:20.310 --> 00:19:21.900
maybe you're just learning
432
00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:24.870
or you know that you're gonna
slow people up, you know,
433
00:19:24.870 --> 00:19:27.480
then you go out at two o'clock
with people like you and,
434
00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:29.880
and nobody else is gonna play for a while.
435
00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.580
So you're, nobody's
pushing you from behind.
436
00:19:32.580 --> 00:19:34.350
That's ideal. Yeah.
437
00:19:34.350 --> 00:19:37.170
The other thing too is if having
a routine, I mean, knowing
438
00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:39.600
what your routine is when
you get up to that tea
439
00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:43.200
and so forth, like I use a
tee that is the same size,
440
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:45.480
it goes into the ground,
the same height every time.
441
00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:49.230
But I always, before I'll
even put a ball on that tee,
442
00:19:49.230 --> 00:19:51.690
I hit the tee with my club
so I can get a sense of where
443
00:19:51.690 --> 00:19:53.760
that club is gonna hit
when I bring it down.
444
00:19:53.760 --> 00:19:56.100
I do the same thing and do a
practice shot on the ground
445
00:19:56.100 --> 00:19:58.260
each time too, because I wanna know,
446
00:19:58.260 --> 00:20:00.720
am I gonna come through clean or not?
447
00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.420
Wow, this is all really
incredible information
448
00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:06.930
and I know it's going to
be so helpful for people
449
00:20:06.930 --> 00:20:08.760
who have golfed before
450
00:20:08.760 --> 00:20:13.050
and can put some of these
ideas into practice.
451
00:20:13.050 --> 00:20:15.210
And I also think it's very
encouraging for people
452
00:20:15.210 --> 00:20:17.100
who haven't golfed before
453
00:20:17.100 --> 00:20:20.610
and are thinking about, you
know, I always looked forward
454
00:20:20.610 --> 00:20:23.430
to learning golf when I retired,
455
00:20:23.430 --> 00:20:27.420
or this was something I was
going to spend time doing
456
00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:29.010
with my kids, or whatever it is.
457
00:20:29.010 --> 00:20:33.570
And the fact that it is
possible to do that is, again,
458
00:20:33.570 --> 00:20:34.830
so encouraging
459
00:20:34.830 --> 00:20:38.610
and just hearing how much the
two of you enjoy it is great.
460
00:20:38.610 --> 00:20:41.550
Are there any final things
that we didn't mention,
461
00:20:41.550 --> 00:20:46.410
whether it is a resource or an approach
462
00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:49.510
or anything about adjustment
463
00:20:49.510 --> 00:20:50.860
and doing things a little differently?
464
00:20:50.860 --> 00:20:55.210
Anything that you want
people listening to know?
465
00:20:55.210 --> 00:20:57.100
Jan, we'll start with you.
466
00:20:57.100 --> 00:21:00.100
Well, I was thinking about
when I first started to play,
467
00:21:00.100 --> 00:21:01.360
I was not a golfer.
468
00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:03.700
My husband was the golfer in our family,
469
00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:06.340
but someone approached
me at church one day
470
00:21:06.340 --> 00:21:08.950
and said, Hey, would you like
to start playing golf with us?
471
00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:11.410
We, we play every Thursday.
472
00:21:11.410 --> 00:21:14.530
And, and then afterwards
we'd go out to lunch
473
00:21:14.530 --> 00:21:16.750
and I think she had me
at lunch right there.
474
00:21:18.275 --> 00:21:21.670
So, and it was always,
for me, it was like,
475
00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:23.080
I don't wanna spend the money.
476
00:21:23.080 --> 00:21:25.120
I thought golf was kind of expensive
477
00:21:25.120 --> 00:21:26.500
and I'd rather buy a new pair
478
00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:28.240
of shoes or something with that.
479
00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:32.770
So, but she said, oh no, we
have coupons, we have coupons
480
00:21:32.770 --> 00:21:34.300
and it's a, it's a short course,
481
00:21:34.300 --> 00:21:36.670
it's only $9 and then we go to lunch.
482
00:21:36.670 --> 00:21:38.620
I'm like, okay, I'll do it.
483
00:21:38.620 --> 00:21:42.310
And it was like every Thursday
we would have this time.
484
00:21:42.310 --> 00:21:46.600
And it was my husband gave me
some lessons, got some clubs.
485
00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:49.510
It's important to have
clubs that fit you right.
486
00:21:49.510 --> 00:21:51.640
They're not too short or too long.
487
00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:54.040
So got some inexpensive clubs
488
00:21:54.040 --> 00:21:57.220
and I think, you know, if
somebody isn't a golfer
489
00:21:57.220 --> 00:22:00.310
or they're, they're looking
at like in the future, be
490
00:22:00.310 --> 00:22:02.830
that initiator, like the
woman that came up to me,
491
00:22:02.830 --> 00:22:05.620
I wasn't a golfer, but
she just initiated it.
492
00:22:05.620 --> 00:22:09.100
And maybe you could be the
initiator for someone else.
493
00:22:09.100 --> 00:22:10.930
We have women here at our course
494
00:22:10.930 --> 00:22:13.030
that are well into their eighties
495
00:22:13.030 --> 00:22:14.890
that are playing all the time.
496
00:22:14.890 --> 00:22:19.120
The man across the street
is 95. He plays every day.
497
00:22:19.120 --> 00:22:21.250
So it's something you can continue
498
00:22:21.250 --> 00:22:23.020
to do well into your seventies
499
00:22:23.020 --> 00:22:25.180
and eighties or even nineties.
500
00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:27.730
Excellent. And Judy, how about you?
501
00:22:27.730 --> 00:22:30.850
Well, I would say first
of all with the social media
502
00:22:30.850 --> 00:22:33.850
and stuff that we have out
there, there are a number,
503
00:22:33.850 --> 00:22:37.270
a number of YouTube things on blind golf.
504
00:22:37.270 --> 00:22:38.980
And so if anybody's wondering, you can,
505
00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:42.280
you can pull up a number of
things that give suggestions on
506
00:22:42.280 --> 00:22:45.130
how people do it or how
coaches coach, I think
507
00:22:45.130 --> 00:22:47.350
that would be an excellent resource.
508
00:22:47.350 --> 00:22:50.440
United States playing Golf
Association is a great resource.
509
00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:51.880
I knew I had my goal.
510
00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:54.670
My one dream is one
day to do a tournament.
511
00:22:54.670 --> 00:22:56.350
I never thought I'd do it.
512
00:22:56.350 --> 00:22:58.990
And it was thanks to my friend here, Kurt,
513
00:22:58.990 --> 00:23:00.100
who called me one Sunday.
514
00:23:00.100 --> 00:23:01.330
He says, you know, you've been signed up
515
00:23:01.330 --> 00:23:02.590
for United States playing golf,
516
00:23:02.590 --> 00:23:04.270
but you haven't done a tournament.
517
00:23:04.270 --> 00:23:05.920
Well, for some reason he caught me on a
518
00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:06.970
weak moment or something.
519
00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:10.930
And so I did a tournament
that he was, he was hosting
520
00:23:10.930 --> 00:23:12.190
and it was so much fun.
521
00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:13.570
I did another one that he had,
522
00:23:13.570 --> 00:23:15.430
I ended up being a
guiding eyes for a couple
523
00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:18.670
of their tournaments and then
last year I ended up helping,
524
00:23:18.670 --> 00:23:20.410
we had the nationals here in Minnesota.
525
00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:23.890
So, you know, if it's a
dream, go after it and,
526
00:23:23.890 --> 00:23:26.650
and whatever it is, if it's
golf or whatever, just pursue it
527
00:23:26.650 --> 00:23:28.900
and do what it takes to have a good time.
528
00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:30.760
United States blind Golf has one comment.
529
00:23:30.760 --> 00:23:33.520
They always say, you don't
have to see it to tee it. So,
530
00:23:33.520 --> 00:23:35.500
Oh, excellent.
531
00:23:35.500 --> 00:23:38.500
There you go. It's a great tagline. Well,
532
00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:39.790
this has been amazing.
533
00:23:39.790 --> 00:23:41.500
I've learned about golf
534
00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:44.050
and I've loved hearing both your stories
535
00:23:44.050 --> 00:23:47.630
and again, your, for doing
this, just getting out there
536
00:23:47.630 --> 00:23:49.580
and having a good time.
537
00:23:49.580 --> 00:23:53.060
I appreciate both of you
for stopping by sharing all
538
00:23:53.060 --> 00:23:54.650
of your tips and tricks
539
00:23:54.650 --> 00:23:58.280
and it's been so much
fun. Thank you again.
540
00:23:58.280 --> 00:24:01.220
Thank you, Ricky. It's
been fun to do this with you.
541
00:24:01.220 --> 00:24:02.900
Yeah, what a privilege.
Thank you so much.
542
00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:06.620
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543
00:24:06.620 --> 00:24:10.070
Share your thoughts about this
episode of Hadley Presents,
544
00:24:10.070 --> 00:24:12.680
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545
00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:14.390
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546
00:24:14.390 --> 00:24:19.387
Send us an email at
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547
00:24:19.387 --> 00:24:22.347
That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T
548
00:24:22.347 --> 00:24:25.850
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549
00:24:25.850 --> 00:24:27.620
or leave us a message at
550
00:24:27.620 --> 00:24:32.620
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551
00:24:32.810 --> 00:24:33.770
Thanks for listening.