Blind Champion Golfer
By: Liz Gonzales
Updated: December 9, 2012
"Lost the majority of my sight in 1996 from a pituitary gland tumor," says Charles Adams.
Simply put: "I'm legally blind."
At first Charles wasn't sure how to cope. His handicap only developed one feeling.
"Depression. You can't do the stuff you used to do."
He was forced to quit his job and was uncertain where his life was headed. Until one fateful day...
"My mom found something on blind golf on the internet and I looked into it. That changed my whole life right there."
At first it was difficult.
"I'd go out, hit a ball, couldn't find it. Lose 6 or 7 balls in a couple of holes you just want to give up."
Soon enough he was in rhythm and now it's second nature.
"You don't have to see it to hit it, just natural swing. And I have a caddy coach that goes with me and plays. He's a caddy for me. He lines me up and tells me where it went "
The difficulty of playing blind is immeasurable.
"There's more ways to do things than losing your sight or something. You just gotta get through it."
16 years later, he lives by one simple rule: "You don't let nothing hold you back.
To Charles, his handicap is no longer his blindness, it's 10.
