Omaha Clinic Helps the Visually Impaired Learn to Golf Thursday

An organization and a Omaha-area school helped visually impaired youth learn to golf on Thursday.

Outlook Enrichment and Elkhorn South High School ran a morning golf clinic at the Indian Creek Golf Course in Elkhorn, where eight visually impaired golfers fine-tuned their game. Camille O’Neill, a senior at Millard West High School and is one of eight impaired participants, said learning to golf, for her, was just about the comfortability of her swing.

“You really have to learn like based on the feel of like the clubs and where the ball is and everything,” she said. “So I try to learn based on how it feels and if it doesn’t feel right, I make adjustments.”

O’Neill said receiving golfing tips at the clinic made for a fun morning. Mike Messerole, who has worked the clinic since its inception in 2014, said the goal of the clinic was to give the participants a taste of the sport and lay the foundation of how to play.

“We just kind of break it down like you would for anyone learning golf and kind of start with the basics from the stance to the grip,” he said. “And then we start with short swings and then we move to full swings.”

At Thursday's event, the newly trained golfers learned how to chip, putt and also take their shot at the driving range.