Blind veteran from Norfolk heads to South Africa for top golf competition
Danny Daniels is set to compete at the World Blind Golf Championships
A Norfolk man is set to tee off in the World Blind Golf Championships which gets underway in South Africa today.
85 year old Danny Daniels from Swaffham has about 5 per cent vision in his right eye and is representing England in Cape Town.
Danny is an RAF veteran who took up golf as a hobby in later life, but was almost forced to give it up after his eyesight started degenerating.
However, with the support of Blind Veterans UK and the England and Wales Blind Golf Organisation he was able to return to the course.
Wife Di how helps Danny guide his shot, but he otherwise competes with the same rules as other golfers.
He says: “I qualified for the World Blind Golf Championships just before Covid struck so I’ve been waiting three years for this trip. I’ll be playing against many other players from around the world.
“I love sport and I’ve always been determined, as a ten-year-old I wanted to play football for England. I’ve had a lot of success in golf over the past four years. Last year I won the order of merit for the over 65s and came second in the overall order of merit for England and Wales Blind Golf.
“I’m going to South Africa believing I can win. I will be flying back to England with the trophy in my pocket.”
“My sight went downhill quickly and by 2011 macular had done its worst and I was registered as blind.
“I’m now completely blind in my left eye and I have around 5% vision remaining in the right eye.
“I was devastated when I found out and depressed for a long while. I’d lost my independence and felt that my life was going to be miserable due to having to be totally reliant on others even to make a sandwich. I did start to think that I couldn’t go on like that.
“I stopped playing golf which I’d taken up as a hobby seven years earlier and it was dangerous to even do the gardening. I felt really isolated at that time.”
“Blind golfers have challenges to overcome, when I look down at the ball, I can’t see the shape. It is as if I am looking at a ball of fluffy cotton wool.
“Therefore, we have three rule changes, we can ground our clubs in all hazards including sand, a club can be placed on the ground to line us up so we know we’re hitting the right way and a guide is allowed to stand directly behind us. Other than that we play by the same rules and with the same equipment as Tiger Woods.
“All of the help and support I’ve had from Blind Veterans UK and from the England and Wales Blind Golf Organisation has helped me to believe in myself. The ‘can do’ attitude Blind Veterans UK has instilled in me, has led me to where I am now and I couldn’t be more grateful.
“Hearing from other blind veterans about what they had achieved really spurred me on. It may sound silly but when I first joined Blind Veterans UK, I was given a chopping board to help me cook safely and now whenever I look at that chopping board, I say to myself ‘you can do it if you want to’.”