Vision impaired golfer Mark Arnold speaks at Orrville Lions Club meeting

  • May 21, 2010
  • 514
                        
Guest Lion Tom McKenzie introduced Rittman Lion Mark Arnold as the speaker for the May 11 morning meeting of the Orrville Lions Club. Arnold began to lose his sight in the fourth grade due to a form of inherited juvenile macular degeneration known as Stargardt’s disease. At 53, he has very little central vision and his peripheral vision is deteriorating to the point that he cannot read the headlines of a newspaper. That does not stop him from helping others in his job as a counselor at the career center in Medina, or stop him from being an extraordinary golfer. Ranked in the top 5 vision impaired Blind Golfers in the nation, Arnold certainly lives the motto of American Blind Golf, “To strive to Motivate, Inspire, and Serve.” He has competed in tournaments all over the globe with the help of his good friend and coach Mike Schmock. Arnold described how a visually impaired person uses a coach to help line up the golf shots, describe the distance, hazards, etc. But the game is played entirely by the impaired person just as it would be by any other golfer with the exception of the coach being able to stand behind the golfer and the golfer may ground the club in hazards. The 2010 McCulloch Memorial Cup, The Ryder Cup of Blind, and Visually Impaired Golf will be held June 25, 26, 27 at Ridgetop Golf Course in Medina. Proceeds will support adaptive technology scholarships. For more information, visit the website at http://www.ohioblindgolf.com. The next meeting of the Orrville Lions Club will be May 25, at 8 a.m., in the Community Room of Dunlap Community Hospital. People-to-People will be presenting information about their services to the community. Contact Lion Kathi Bond for more information at 330-683-1482.


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