Kinross to stage British Blind Open

Acclaimed Montgomery Course gearing up to play host to latest edition of ISPS Handa tournament this summer

The Montgomery Course at the four-star Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Resort in Kinross will stage the 2015 edition of the ISPS Handa British Blind Open from July 26-30.

This will be the first time that the popular 36-hole event has been staged in the home of golf since 2012, when the Macdonald Cardrona resort in the Borders played host.

The field comprises over 40 of the best blind and partially-sighted golfers from around the world, including last year’s champion John Eakin from Royal Ashdown Forest.

The Surrey man held off Italian golfer MirkoGhiggeri to win the title by five shots at the Hilton Templepatrick resort in Northern Ireland. The win was Eakin’s second British Blind Open victory, following his triumph in 2011 at the same venue.

It is appropriate that this year’s tournament should be sponsored by ISPS Handa given the pioneering work done by the organisation and, in particular, its founder and chairman DrHaruhisaHanda, to provide greater playing opportunities and access to golf for blind and partially-sighted players.

Widely regarded as the ‘father of blind golf’, DrHandaestalished the first-ever blind golf club in Japan in 1988. That club subsequently became the Japanese Blind Golf Association and Dr Handa continues to work with its as the honorary chairman. In that role, he has been instrumental in bringing together other blind golf communities from various countries to create the International Blind Golf Association, which was founded in 1998. Today, that organisation has over 600 registered members and stages the World Blind Golf Championship every two years.

ISPS Handa has collaborated with almost every major golf tour globally, including the European Tour, European Senior Tour, Asian Tour and Legends Tour, as well as the LPGA, PGA Tour, Ladies European Tour, Japan PGA, Sunshine Tour, Golf Australia and the Australian PGA.

It is a former sponsor of the Wales Open and current backer of the PGA Senior Championship on the European Senior Tour, won most recently by Peter Fowler,

as well as the Women’s Australian Open, won earlier this year by Lydia Ko. The same player also won the ISPS Handa-supported Women’s New Zealand Open in February to climb to the top of the women’s world rankings for the first time.

This year’s British Blind Open will become the latest high-profile event to enjoy the full support if the charity when it takes place this summer over the magnficient Montgomery course at the Green Hotel Golf & Leisure Club.

For more information on the 2015 ISPS Handa British Blind Open or for details on how to get involved with the Scottish Blind Golf Society as a player or volunteer, log-on to scottishblindgolf.com

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