Frm IFB Solutions Foundation Asheville:
IFB Solutions Foundation Asheville Hosts Second Annual Tin Cup Classic Golf Tournament on June 8 with Putting in the Dark Competition
Players challenged to sink putts without being able to use their sight.WHAT: Media is invited to attend the Tin Cup Classic Golf Tournament, an annual golf fundraiser hosted by the IFB Solutions Foundation, the supporting entity of IFB Solutions Asheville, formerly Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind. IFB Solutions provides vital community programs and services for adults and children who are blind or visually impaired across North Carolina free of charge.
A Putting in the Dark competition will occur during the player reception on Thursday, June 8 from 11 a.m. until noon. Participants are blindfolded before attempting each putt, using only sound from the hole location to assess distance and aim. The competition is designed to help players better understand the skills required by their fellow golfers who are blind, including several IFB employees.
“One of our most popular community awareness programs is called Sensitivity to Blindness training, which improves understanding of what it is like to be blind or visually impaired in a sighted world,” says David Barnwell, president of IFB Solutions Foundation. “Putting in the Dark is a small taste of that experience by inviting our sighted golfers to appreciate how the game is played for players who have little or no sight.”
IFB employees who are blind will participate in the tournament, including Grant Weathers. Weathers worked as a golf professional before losing his sight and now serves as the Low Vision Technician at IFB’s Community Low Vision Center in Asheville. He points to many similarities between his two careers, as both require patience, encouragement and practice.
- WHO: The Tin Cup Classic is hosted by IFB Solutions Foundation. Major sponsors are SP Richards, Brookwood Companies and Milliken.
- WHEN: Thursday, June 8, 2017
- 11 a.m.-noon: Putting in the Dark competition
- 12:30 p.m.: Shotgun Start (IFB employees playing)
- WHERE: Omni Grove Park Inn Golf Course
MORE: IFB Solutions Foundation is the supporting fundraising arm of IFB Solutions Asheville, a nonprofit founded in 1936 that provides employment, training and services for people who are blind or visually impaired. A full 93 percent of every dollar given to the IFB Solutions Foundation goes directly to IFB’s mission, including employee training, services and community programs, making possible the Community Low Vision Centers across North Carolina and in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as Tracy’s Little Red Schoolhouse based in Winston-Salem. As the largest employer of people who are blind or visually impaired in the United States, IFB Solutions operates manufacturing facilities in Winston-Salem, N.C., Asheville, N.C., and Little Rock, Ark., in addition to more than 40 office supply stores and optical centers across the country. www.ifbsolutions.org.
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