Country Club In Oceanside Hosts Blind Golf National Championship

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Middle Bay Country Club on Long Island hosts to the U.S. Blind Golfers Association national championship.

The 67th annual tournament started on Saturday in Oceanside, with the best blind and visually impaired golfers in the country taking part.

"The challenge for me is to get better," golfer Ted Fass told CBS 2's Don Dahler.

Blind golf is a team sport. Each player has a coach who lines the player up to the ball, tells him the distances, and how the ball is lying.

But the player may not be told every little detail about the hole, which could be an advantage.

"I don't always tell him everything....because if he starts thinking about 'water's in front of me' or 'I have to get over something,' you know probably from playing golf that gets in your head and that's not good," coach David Santucci said.

The 2011 blind golf champion David Meador said a sense of humor is essential in the sport.

"Well fortunately, it's a stationary ball! We're not into tennis," Meador told Dahler.

The winner of the tournament will be crowned Tuesday.