Butler service sets his sights high

A Midlands golf academy has ambitions to become one of the leading venues in the region for the coaching of blind and partially sighted golfers.

The Mark Butler Golf Academy based near Sedgley in the Black Country has linked up with the Beacon Centre for the Blind to offer enhanced coaching for those partially sighted and blind.

The Academy offer lessons at the driving range with specially constructed bays featuring power tees and the Planeswing training system, yet they are going much further than that as centre owner and director of instruction Butler explained.

“We wanted to be able to understand fully the limitations of the blind golfers,” he said. “The Beacon centre staff visit here and allow us to use a range of specially adapted spectacles so we can understand the grade of blindness from just dark or light vision to 10% sight.”

The centre is also instructing Butler and his team in positioning, the sensitivity required for teaching and the role of the guide dog in order to establish the academy as a leading venue in training not just blind golfers but also to aid other professionals from across the region who may be looking to introduce it into their own venues.

Assistants and volunteers at the academy are enhancing the opportunities by taking the golfers to the range or out on the course following their lesson.

The academy is also opening its doors to the disabled and people with learning disabilities, plus with the help of the local Social Services, is giving opportunities to troubled teenagers to learn the game.

“It's great to be a golf professional but it’s only a vehicle to all the other work we can do to bring others into the game, give them a chance in life and steer them away from trouble,” said Butler, who has recently taken on a 16 year old following his successful introduction to the game.