Member Spotlight

LINDA PORT WINS LADIES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP AT THE INTERNATIONAL BLIND GOLF ASSOCIATION (IBGA) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN TOKYO, JAPAN, NOVEMBER, 2016

Linda and Fred joined the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club in 1996. Linda took up the game seriously and played team golf in the desert, serving as Captain for a couple of years. She then returned to work and played relatively little golf. 15 years later, she was back on the course again and in 2014 began competing in United States Blind Golf Association (USBGA) competitions. To qualify for USBGA events, you must have a substantial and uncorrectable vision loss. Players compete in categories B-1, B-2 and B-3 which range from complete blindness to conditions with significant visual impairment. Linda has genetic cone dystrophy-- a total loss of central vision.  Linda’s Dad has been her inspiration; he was totally blind at an early age but lived a long (93), active and athletic life -- an educator, coach, musician and the Principal of the Washington State School for the Blind.  She has often commented, “ … I feel privileged to have grown up among the teachers and students at the School for the Blind.”

Since August of 2014, Linda has competed in some 12 Blind Golf events with several victories including: the Canadian Open, the Italian Open, the British Open, the US Open and U.S. Nationals. In addition, she was selected to play on the North American (Ryder Cup format) Team vs. The-Rest-of-The-World team in last year’s matches at Villa d’Este, Como, Italy. She recently was selected to play again on the North American team in 2017. [Most of the time, her Coach/Caddy is husband Fred].

Linda was elected to the IBGA Board of Directors at their meeting in Japan. Her goal is to encourage vision-impaired children, “I want to create an approach to training vision-impaired children to play golf; this could truly change the path of their lives: introducing competition, building self confidence and engaging a whole new ‘family’ of potentially life-long friends”