British Columbia Golf Blind Open 'Cloud' Championship Set To Go
image courtesy Blind Golf Canada
The British Columbia Golf Blind Open 'Cloud' Championship tees off from various locales this weekend around the country.
Organized with the hard work of Western Canada Blind Golf Association President and Blind Golf Canada Director, Darren Douma from Creston, BC, the event will allow players who qualify within the categories recognized for Blind Golf to play at their home course or one they choose and still compete against one another using scoring comparisons from the facility's slope rating.
The mission of the organizers is to promote and grow blind golf across Canada using the concept that despite a loss of vision, "You can still play".
One million people in Canada are diagnosed annually with vision impairment. Along with offering a method to allow Blind Golfers the opportunity to compete, this event will hopefully help bring more awareness to Canadians with vision impairment and inspire them to try a new sport and to become involved in amateur golf. New participants benefit from increased physical activity coupled with the social benefits inherent in the game.
Each athlete in Blind Golf competition is accompanied by a coach. Blind golfers require a coach to guide them around the course providing advice as to distance, topography, lie and other pertinent information.
Golf supports a policy of "Equity and Inclusion" for all golfers, regardless of physical limitations, gender or skill level. Events such as these support these policies and become celebrations within the host communities. British Columbia Golf will support the championship with media coverage both pre and post event. Results will be posted on the website.
Competitors will be organized into divisions representing Bl, B2, and B3 classification.
B1
This category encompasses no light perception in either eye up to light perception, but inability to recognize shapes at any distance or in any direction.
B2 and B3
Both of these categories involve a low level of usable partial vision, those in the B3 category will be able to see more than those graded as B2. B3 is the highest category used for international & Paralympic sport.
You can learn more about Blind Golf Canada and its affiliated associations across the country and internationally by visiting their website at http://www.blindgolf.ca/
For more information contact:
Darren Douma
WCBGA Vice-President
Blind Golf Canada Director
BC Blind Sports & Recreation
Thedoumas71@gmail.com or by phone (250-428-8715)