He did it again. After placing second overall in the world and Australian blind golf championships in May, Darren Douma placed second in his sight category's low net division at the Canadian Open Blind Golf Championship earlier this month.
“It was a another great event for me, despite not winning. I shot scores of 88 and 86, which were respectable scores not having played this course before,” said Douma, who was diagnosed in 2005 with Stargardt disease, an incurable and rare genetic juvenile form of macular degeneration, affecting central fine vision.
The 43-year-old competed in the tournament held Aug. 5-7 in Truro, N.S., for a net total of 136 to win the silver medal, with a 75-year-old B.C. man earning gold in their B3 sight category.
“Overall, I was happy with this performance, but was happier for someone else,” said Douma. “A fellow British Columbian, George Thirkill, who was my roommate over in Australia, played a very consistent tournament to beat me for gold low net.”
Douma was assisted through the tournament, both on and off the course, by sight coach Donnie Lynds, and he noted that the N.S. residents were just as friendly to their visitors as the folks in Nelson Bay, Australia, were.
“It was another great experience in Truro, and all volunteers and organizers did a great job with the event,” he said.
He expressed his appreciation to Creston residents and Creston Golf Club members for their support, which allowed his to compete in the world, Australian and Canadian events this year. And he’s looking forward to the next big competitions.
“As a result of this year’s performances, I will have the opportunity to compete at the Japanese open and World Blind Golf Championships in 2016,” he said. “It’s some time away, so I will have time to work on my golf game some more.”
Before that, he will be working on the 2015 Canadian Blind Golf Open and Western Canadian Blind Golf Open tournaments, which will run in Creston from July 7-12.
“I am optimistic to hopefully have 30 national and 20 international players travel here to Creston to play our hidden gem, the Creston Golf Club,” he said.