A blind golfer can play a full 18 holes without touching the ball, but Dick Pomo likes to put his on the tee himself.
Getting there takes a minute or so.
Pomo plays with a glove on his left hand with the tip of the pointer finger cut out. That way, he can read the braille he's attached on each club head with tape.
He picks his driver, and grabs a tee from his bag. Sharon, his wife and coach, holds one end of the driver and leads him to the tee box.
Then he bends over, places the ball and tee down, and lets his wife situate his club and feet. Instead of telling him to move left or right, Sharon says 6 or 12, like the clock.
She steps away and says, "OK." A sighted friend of Pomo's forgot to do that once, and he hit him with the backswing.
People are also reading…
"He was singing soprano for a week," Pomo said.
Pomo, 68, sends the drive down the fairway - not far, but straight. Better than I could have done.
The Green Valley resident - who moved here three years ago from Wisconsin - is preparing for the U.S. Blind Golfers Association Corcoran Cup, considered The Masters for the visually impaired.
The tournament takes place June 13 in Mount Kisco, N.Y., followed the next day by a fundraiser for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
The group provides service dogs for the blind - including Tanya, the yellow labrador retriever sitting in the golf cart. The dog comes along on golf trips occasionally, but she gets her exercise every morning.
For five miles, starting around 6 a.m., Pomo and Tanya trudge down the road in Green Valley, just the two of them.
Pomo picked up Tanya about three years ago, and it took awhile to master a few basic routes.
"You meet the greatest people when you get lost," he said. "I say, 'Where the hell am I?' People laugh."
He stands on the corner and listens for traffic. When it's time to cross the street, Tanya makes sure he avoids any cars sticking into the crosswalk.
Tanya makes Pomo more independent.
"Now I can say, 'We've got prescriptions at the drug store - go get them,'" Sharon Pomo said.
And other things, too.
"One of my goals was to be able to get to Walgreens," Dick Pomo said. "I said, 'If I get to Walgreens, I can survive. They've got drugs, booze, doughnuts.' "
Pomo was born legally blind and grew up reading braille. About 35 years ago, friends invited him to play golf for the first time while he was living in Wisconsin.
"If I find those people," he laughed, "I'll get even with them."
Pomo was hooked. He could see a blurry golf ball. If a friend stood behind the flagstick, he had an idea where to aim.
He could see the food he ate and, he noted, a nice pair of legs that walked past. He watched TV from 6 inches away.
He lost his sight completely about nine years ago - and his game got a little better. He doesn't try to aim the way he did before.
That's the job of the coach - usually, his friends Russ or Gary or Jack. His wife will serve as his coach for the tournament - they both think it's important to give back to the charity.
"If I make a putt, it's me," Pomo said. "If I miss it, it's them."
Pomo has broken 100 a few times, and thinks that might be a good enough score to compete for the tournament title.
But the winner isn't important. He can see that clearly.
"I have good friends there," Pomo said. "We love to beat each other's brains out and come in and lie about how good we were.
"Just like any other golfer."
ARIZONA DAILY STAR • Monday, May 31, 2010 GOLF • B7
FINLEY FIVE: THE FIVE THINGS WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS WEEK
Women's College World Series
1Not a bad draw for the Arizona Wildcats softball team, eh? After playing Hofstra twice last week, the team beat unseeded BYU in the super regional. Instead of advancing to face No. 2 Michigan, they get No. 15 Tennessee on Thursday in the first game of the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City.
Playoffs?
2The UA baseball team, on the other hand, is a long shot for the College World Series - if the Wildcats make the NCAA tournament at all. Arizona's RPI figures look good, but the Cats haven't won a series since sweeping Washington State in a three-game set that ended April 18. Tournament teams will be announced today.
Scrum time
3The Arizona Wildcats club team - plus football linebacker Brett Thompson - will play in the Rugby Seven Collegiate Championship in Columbus, Ohio, starting Saturday. Dave Sitton will go from coach to broadcaster for the NBC Sports event and Thompson, whose father coaches Arizona State's rugby team, will join the team for the exhibition.
Feelin' a draft
4The Major League Baseball draft starts one week from today. There's no way the Arizona Wildcats will have six players drafted, as they did last year. One name to watch, however: right fielder Steve Selsky, a draft-eligible sophomore, who hit a two-run home run Sunday in UA's 3-1 win over Oregon State.
Drinking coffee
5Workers at Perimeter Bicycling, the group that runs El Tour de Tucson, better spend the week changing their circadian rhythms. Starting June 8, the offices will serve as headquarters for Race Across America. For two weeks, workers will track participants as they ride from Oceanside, Calif., to Annapolis, Md., on little sleep.
Patrick Finley
Contact reporter Patrick Finley at 573-4145 or pfinley@azstarnet.com
