Q Golf - Official online magazine for Golf Queensland Spring 2012

Abundance of Queensland talent at Deaf Golf World Champs Queensland will have strong representation at the ninth World Deaf Golf Championships in Japan in October. Queensland will have strong representation at the ninth World Deaf Golf Championships in Japan in October. Oxley five-marker Mark Aird is co-captain of the Australian men’s team, Jennifer Maric (Brisbane Golf Club) is one of two women to wear the green and gold, while Kevin Hayden (Jindalee) and Wayne Parsons (Biloela) have been named in the seniors line-up. McLeod member Wendy Home, who is president of Deaf Golf Australia, will manage the team of 12 to contest the event at the Tsu Golf and Country Club in Mie, Japan, from October 8-12. Aird and Maric, who plays off 14 at Brisbane, tuned-up for the championships with a recent trip to the United States. “We try to travel to all corners of the world to play the game we love and meet deaf golfers from different countries…it’s awesome,’’ said Aird. They have contested the past three world championships in Canada (2006), Pert (2008) and Scotland (2010). A keen sportsman, Aird joined Oxley in 1983 and was part of a generation 12 Q Golf Online Spring 2012 inspired to take up the game by Greg Norman. “My first experience of golf was using an old set of clubs my grandfather had in the garage and I guess I was hooked,’’ he recalled. “But it was Greg Norman who really got me going in 1986. It was ‘the year of the Shark’…he won an incredible number of tournaments.” Aird and Maric play two or three times a week and enjoy testing themselves on Gold Coast courses Sanctuary Cove, Hope Island and Lakelands. “ at St Andrews was a highlight. Hayden’s son, Paul, was introduced to the game by his father as a toddler and is now in his first year as a PGA professional. Biloela’s Wayne Parsons, a 10-marker, has earned election in the seniors team after a comeback to golf. A low-marker at Hervey Bay during the 1980s and ‘90s, Parsons was out of the game for about eight yea

Q Golf - Official online magazine for Golf Queensland Spring 2012 | Page 12