Blind golf championship coming to Creston

Darren Douma, himself a blind golfer, has been instrumental in bringing the ISPS Handa Canadian Blind Golf Championship to his hometown of Creston, B.C, July 9 to 12, 2015

Exciting things are happening in the town of Creston and more specifically at the Creston Golf Club as the course is hosting the ISPS Handa Canadian Blind Golf Championship from July 9 to 12, 2015. This is the first tournament of its kind coming to the region, and many hands are working together to make the weekend a success for participants and spectators alike. However, none of these hands is working as hard as those belonging to born-and-raised Creston local Darren Douma.

Douma, who is a blind golfer himself and will be participating in the tournament, was the driving force in bringing the golf championship to his hometown and home course. It was a long process to bring the tournament to Creston, but Douma’s efforts were not in vain. “I pushed the idea to our club and really was adamant with Blind Golf Canada, and they pushed it to the International Blind Golf Association (IBGA) who gave the go-ahead,” said Douma.

Since receiving the go-ahead, Douma has spent the last year and a half planning and organizing to make sure everything will run smoothly next month when 36 blind golfers from Canada, the United States, Scotland and England will be competing in the tournament. “It means the world to me that Creston is hosting as I was born and raised here and take great pride in our community,” said Douma. “We have great surroundings and I want to share it with others. Our golf course alone is a hidden secret—it’s phenomenal. All vision aside, the participants will enjoy the course, the members who are volunteering and the whole environment in the community.”

Each of the golfers will be participating in one of three categories, which are B1, B2 and B3. “B1 has no light perception; B2 golfers have about five per cent vision, and this is just a general percentage; and B3 golfers have about 10 per cent vision,” said Douma, who will be competing as a B3. The golfers play with the help of a sight coach, who is usually a spouse or a friend, but Douma is also providing some volunteer sight coaches for golfers travelling long distances who aren’t able to bring their own.

There will be no shortage of good golf to watch over the tournament weekend as these guys come out to play. “The handicaps range from 16 to about 30 in our B3 category and then some handicaps get a little higher in the B1 and B2 categories, but one of our B1s who participates a lot every year is a 30 handicap, which is pretty phenomenal for having no vision,” said Douma.

The tournament begins on Thursday night with a meet and greet followed by a wine tasting with appetizers. On Friday, the players have a chance to play a practice round/stableford event to get a feel for the course, followed by a dinner at the clubhouse. The two rounds of the tournament will be held on the Saturday and Sunday with the banquet dinner at the golf club wrapping up the weekend on Sunday evening. Douma would like to thank the Town of Creston, Creston Lions Club, Creston Rotary Club, Creston Golf Club and the community in general for their continued support.