Blind golfer loves the game

By Paul Gueorgieff

Golf’s a hard game but imagine how hard it is for Glenn Niciejewski from Brisbane.

Niciejewski is blind. Totally blind, following a car accident in 1999.

But he has since taken up golf and last month played

the Disability Golf New Zealand Open at Manor Park in Wellington.

Glenn Niciejewski who played the Disability Golf New Zealand Open at Manor Park Golf Club in Wellington. Glenn is blind.

Niciejewski only had 23 stableford points off a handicap of 34 on the first day of the tournament but

he was pleased just to be participating.“This is my first trip to New Zealand,” Niciejewski said.

“I just love playing golf anywhere – anywhere with everyone.”

Niciejewski has several titles under his belt for the blind and visually impaired. He has wins in the Australian Open and the New South Wales Open and has twice won the Victorian Open.

He has played world championships for the blind in Canada and Australia and played the Japan Open.

In September he was part of an international team that played the United States at the iconic course of TPC

Sawgrass in Florida.

One of his best rounds was winning a monthly medal competition open to all golfers at a Brisbane

club with a score of 92 in a field of 86 players.

How does he do it? “I’m a feel golfer,” Niciejewski explains.

“I’ll take a practice swing, feel the ground and feel what’s below my feet.”

Accompanying him on the trip is his caddie Gerry Haggerty who is instructed to keep things simple.

“I don’t need to know there’s trees around, bunkers, water, there’s a river down your left-hand side,”

Niciejewski said with a laugh.

Getting the ball in the hole is always the difficult part for any golfer. Niciejewski is no different.

“I hit a drive today 212 metres but then trying to get the ball into a hole that’s four inches wide is the

hard part.”

Click on the following links to see Glenn Niciejewski in action at Manor Park.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cwsMAMSKAYx22xJ87

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mQrStewLJJtFbh657