When Glenn Babcock is on the course with his golf mates, their rounds involved both competitiveness and camaraderie.
Strengthened by the fact that, for Babcock, golf is a team sport.
“Blind golfers don’t play by themselves. In fact, I would not be able to play a round of golf by myself,” he said.
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Babcock is legally blind. He can see the ball, but not a whole lot farther.
His friends point out the direction of the hole, give him feedback and track the ball.
Once on the green, he paces it out, for distance and slopes.
Babcock plays a competitive round, typically in the low 90’s.
“Every once in awhile I’ve gotten down to the 80’s and twice I’ve managed to shoot an 81,” he said.
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His professional golfer idols are Canadians.
Babcock believes Mike Weir can still pick up his game.
But his golf mates have a golf hero even closer to home — Babcock.
“He’s an inspiration. He always make the shot, and just amazes me and makes me want to keep going and do better,” said John Pang.
Helping Babcock even improves other golfers’ game.
“It relaxes me because I’m not thinking about my own problems, which I have a few,” said Rick Popp with a laugh.
Babcock has too many victories to count, not just in tournaments for golfers who are blind but also at the Richmond Hill Golf Club where he made it to the men’s league finals last year and was team captain.
“And four years ago I had my one and only hole in one at our charity tournament up at the Cardinal, so there were a lot of witnesses and really the only one who didn’t see it go in was me,” said Babcock.
He prefers joking around to talking about his many accomplishments.
“Although I wouldn’t mind being discovered by a corporate sponsor someday who wants to send me around the world playing golf,” he added.
His real message is more serious. Babcock wants people to realize golf is not a sport that is inaccessible to those who are blind or visually impaired, they just need some help along the way.