ELKHORN, Neb. (KMTV) — Kids got the chance to try golf during a clinic Thursday morning at The Club at Indian Creek for Outlook Enrichment.
Learning to golf on a 90-degree morning isn't easy. Despite being a bit sweaty, 12-year-old Shiloh Erickson said he had a good time.
He said you need patience and a lot of practice to perfect your swing, but you don’t need sight.
“Someone can tell me where the ball is,” Erickson said. “If I just golf out there I wouldn’t see where it went. I might shoot far.”
Erickson and all of these young golfers are visually impaired. But you wouldn't know it because they've got good teachers from the Elkhorn South Girls Golf team.
“We start with the stance, the grip and then the swing,” Mike Messerole, Sports Specialist with Outlook Enrichment said. “The big difference is we have to use words to describe what we want them to do vs having them observe watch somebody doing it.”
As their game got better and their personalities came out.
“A lot of times when they are with their typically developing peers, they don’t want to stand out so they don’t try any new things or put themselves out there,” Messerole said.
“I’m not good at meeting friends, I’m always kind of lonely,” Erickson said. “It’s a little sad that kids are going through this problem and so I still like to meet friends.”
It just took a couple of hours Thursday morning to develop a bond with a new friend.
“The smiles are awesome,” Messerole said. “When they get a skill down that’s even better it’s a great satisfaction for me. But to watch their confidence grow on the golf course it’s really cool to watch and to watch the volunteers that are working with them too because it kind of works both ways.”
Leaving the Outlook Enrichment Golf Academy with a feeling of acceptance and confidence nothing can hold back their golf game.
“I hope I will be doing this again, probably with my mom or my uncle,” Erickson said.
Tee it up Fore Sight followed the golf clinic; it's an 18-hole golf scramble to raise money for Outlook Enrichment's Programs.
Kids also have the opportunity to try paddleboarding, bowling, archery, rock climbing through the program.
They’re always looking for volunteers and donors to make these sports clinics possible.
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