By STEVE HARMON
Deputy EditorPORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. – At the Special Olympics Golf National Invitational Tournament, keeping score is easy. It’s measured in grins. Highest number wins.
Athletes paraded onto the medal stand Oct. 6 at PGA Golf Club as the four-day event ended. Through their smiles, the Special Olympics motto shined: “Change perspective through sports participation.’’
More than 200 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 24 states competed. Golfers ages 10-60 played in five levels: individual skills, nine- and 18-hole team and nine-and 18-hole stroke play.
Buddy Randall (pictured above, and receiving his medal), 30, of Wylie, Texas, competed in his sixth NIT. He won a gold medal in his division of the nine-hole stroke-play event.
“I didn’t completely understand it when he first got into it,’’ Buddy’s father, Bud, said sitting in a boisterous clubhouse after Monday’s final round.
“I was used to traditional competition,’’ said Randall, 61, a retired Army infantry captain who served as a forecaddie to Buddy and playing partner Scott Seagrave of Covington, Tenn. “But it’s not about winning. It’s about going out and giving your best.’’
Buddy – he’s Budmond Dewey Randall III – got involved with the Special Olympics as an extension of his special-education classes in junior high. Golf didn’t become his game until about 10 years ago. He hits a lot of fairways but sometimes squanders a shot on the greens. On a good day, Buddy can break 50 from the forward tees. In the NIT’s final round, he shot 52 on the Wanamaker Course – one of three in the PGA complex here – to match his best score for the three rounds.
Buddy talks of his time in Special Olympics with fondness. He likes “seeing old friends’’ from previous games.
Back home in Wylie, just north of Dallas, Buddy lives with his parents, Bud and Rita, and delivers manufacturing materials Monday through Friday, driving about 200 miles daily. He has a girlfriend but sheepishly avoids answering whether things are serious with her. He has two younger brothers and attends Park Lake Church in nearby Sachse.
Many of the other athletes in Special Olympics aren’t so fortunate. Disabilities vary, as does the quality of many of their home lives. But on this warm and humid early autumn weekend in south Florida, the joy of being recognized shoves those realities aside – if only for a few days.
Special Olympics, founded 40 years ago by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is dedicated to promoting acceptance and inclusion for those with intellectual disabilities. It’s international in scope and intensely human in appeal.
The PGA of America – with an assist from the PGA Tour, LPGA, U.S. Golf Association and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America – pulls out all the stops as host, including onsite housing, clinics by the PGA’s accomplished network of teachers and nightly banquets.
Bob Baldassari, general manager of PGA Golf Properties/Florida, refers to the event as the season’s “fifth major.’’ It’s that big of a deal around here.
Virginia Davidson, a mother and coach with the Massachusetts delegation, has seen the emotional benefit for her son, Colin, 25.
“It’s great to show people what our athletes can do rather than what they can’t do,’’ Davidson said.
Special Olympics has helped Colin “develop a network of friends, and friends aren’t something that come easily’’ to the intellectually disadvantaged, Davidson said.
Those benefits extend beyond the athletes, to parents and others who often are strained by the challenges of raising a special-needs child. At the Special Olympics, they find a common ground with others.
“It’s changed our lives,’’ said Davidson, of Northborough, Mass. “It introduces families to other families in the same boat.’’
For volunteers like Janine and Kenneth Schmitt of Florence, Ky., who are active in the Kentucky state games, it’s a chance to contribute. They stayed with some longtime friends near Fort Lauderdale and made the hourlong commute north each day to help the athletes. Janine kept score for one group while Kenneth, an Army retiree who did three tours in Vietnam, shuttled cold drinks and tournament officials wherever they were needed.
Dennis Wyatt, an educator, and Scott Rasmusson, a firefighter, were among the coaches and volunteers from Texas to lead their state’s 17-player group. Rasmusson, who has seen his share of emergencies on the job in Corpus Christi, talked about the “perspective’’ that such an outing affords. Wyatt was just as introspective: “We can’t get enough of them. It’s what keeps us coming back.’’
More than 200 other parents, friends and family members were in similar roles. They showered the Olympians with emotional support, reaching a crescendo at the awards ceremony Monday afternoon that wrapped up play. The Olympians towered on the medal platform as names were read and achievements recorded. With head bowed, each athlete stood still as a medal or ribbon was draped into place.
Reactions were as diverse as the competitors: hugs, high-fives, stunned looks of wonder, fist pumps and tears. Plenty of tears. They flowed not only from the dais but also among the crowd.
“Change perspective through sports participation,’’ the Special Olympics urges. “Perspective,’’ like those ear-to-ear grins, was in plentiful supply here.
• • •
Steve Harmon is the deputy editor of
Golfweek. To reach him e-mail
sharmon@golfweek.com.
Posted: 10/8/2008
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