Visually impaired golfers improve skills at clinic
HANOVER — Long after the other golfers had eaten pizza and packed up their clubs, Ethan and Gavin Morrobel were still on the practice green. Over and over, the brothers from Scotch Plains lined up putts, each one trying to out-do the other.
They have been playing golf since age 5, often alongside their father, Angel Morrobel. Ethan, 14, also surfs and dreams of becoming an airline pilot, while 11-year-old Gavin is a pitcher and shortstop for his travel baseball team.
Ethan and Gavin Morrobel were born with Usher Syndrome, a genetic disorder which causes deafness, balance issues, and retinitis pigmentosa. Both boys have had cochlear implants since before they could walk, but are slowly losing their vision.
PHOTOS: Junior golf clinic in Whippany
"It's just my passion," said Ethan Morrobel, a legally blind eighth grader at Terrill Middle School in Scotch Plains. "I don't feel anything can stop me, unless it's a rule."
They were part of a junior golf clinic for the blind and visually impaired on Saturday, co-hosted by the New Jersey Golf Foundation and Middle Atlantic Blind Golf Association. The MABGA arranges for blind children to get instruction from PGA professionals, fits them for clubs and supplies equipment.
There were eight young visually impaired golfers taking on the driving range and par-3 "short course" at Anchor Golf Center in Whippany. Ethan Morobel estimated he shot at least par over the first nine holes, with a little help from a New Jersey PGA Junior Tour player-guide.
Morristown High School junior Andrew Chin needed to know where the hole is, but can get club and ball to connect using his limited peripheral vision. He has been taking golf lessons with Sam Kang, a PGA Teaching Professional at Essex Golf Center, for about a year. Already a member of the Colonials track and field and swim teams, Chin is thinking about trying out for golf next spring.
"I can sometimes feel the ball with the golf club and swing, but after I hit it, it goes away, and I lose the ball," said Chin, who raised money for Braille room signs at Morristown as part of his Eagle Scout project.
"I can position myself pretty well, if someone tells me where the hole is. ... People who are blind, or have any other disability, may need a few small extra things, but it's not very different."
Though Anthony Tumminello of Jefferson has been playing golf for 10 years, he "didn't try to make it perfect" as he worked his way around the course. A junior at Morris Tech who was born blind, Tumminello also enjoys cycling, skiing and kayaking, and has tried almost every individual sport.
"How can I deny them a shot at their potential? They do everything we do," Angel Morobel said. "They're resilient. It's amazing. They just don't give up. They want to do it. We don't have to push. They're just another kid."
Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/