This story begins one June Sunday morning on the putting green at the Ridge at Castle Pines North, where two men are communicating in sign language. Just two days earlier, the mister and I had been paired with a twosome that disregarded our request not to play music when we were playing our shots. “Wouldn’t it be funny if we were paired with these guys?” we joked.
And there on the first tee, Richard “Rick” Robbins, the outgoing, lip-reading spokesman for the pair, introduced himself and his friend, Eric Keller. Mr. McMulligan started googling how to sign “good shot.”
On the first green, we politely stopped talking as Eric lined up his putt. “He can’t hear us, you know,” Rick reminded us. “We can chat away.” Wow, no worries about crackling wrappers or clanging clubs either. And NO music!
Then on the second green, Mr. M got to use his new ASL vocab because Eric was on the par-5 in two, putting for eagle. The putt didn’t drop, but we learned the sign for a birdie, which would come in handy as we learned that Eric is the top-ranked deaf golfer in Colorado, with a handicap index that hangs around 2!
As for Rick, well, with his 21 GHIN he is probably the funniest deaf golfer in Colorado. After one shot that went nowhere near the pin, he wisecracked, “Geez, I’m only deaf, not blind.”
We had an unforgettable day of good shots, bad shots, funny lines and surprising revelations. Afterward, both men agreed to do email interviews and share a deeper look at golf in their world. I came away with two broad takeaways.
Takeaway 1: In some ways, golf is harder for deaf players.
Meningitis took the hearing of both men when they were small children. Rick, now 65, loved golf but his mother did not include him in family rounds at their club because he was too loud. “That’s because when I spoke, I couldn’t hear myself talk,” he said.
He had learned to modulate his tone by the time he started seriously banging balls in 2003, and Eric, his colleague at the Postal Service, began encouraging him. Eric, 53, played all sports growing up, took to golf at 14 and promptly dropped everything else. Like Rick, he had had a rough start, with the family not learning sign language until he was 6.
“The deaf today are more fortunate because they have better technology or can get an interpreter anywhere they need to because of ADA law,” Eric said. “And we didn’t have closed caption, another reason why we learned late.”
Eric taught himself the game by watching Tiger Woods in his heyday. He played varsity golf three straight years in high school, plays now mostly out of Raccoon Creek and Fox Hollow and has competed in many tournaments, including some for the deaf. The U.S. Deaf Golf Association has an annual championship, and there is a world competition as well. Last year Eric finished third in the Far West championship, played at Plum Creek.
“I decided I’d rather play in hearing tournaments – very challenging,” he said. “Deaf tournaments usually wasted my time because deaf players always talk too much, couldn’t play fast, ha. And too much sign language makes it hard to focus on my golf game.”
His hearing golf competitions have included Colorado Open Qualifying, P.A.T.’s, PGA Pro-Ams and CGA events. “They’re hard for me, because I’m the only deaf golfer and I can’t talk to anyone I want,” he said. “It makes me more nervous instead of relaxing, chatting, having fun.”
Unsurprisingly, deaf players hone their other senses to compensate for their hearing loss, mainly with vision. “I have good eyes because I need them to keep me safe,” Eric said. With “FORE” not in the golf vocabulary of the deaf, Rick said, “I never knew the dangers of errant shots until I was hit in the leg. Now I watch my surroundings.”
Takeaway 2: In some ways, golf is easier for deaf players.
Golf traditionally is a quiet game. It has no horns, no whistles, no referees. Played individually, there are no coaches or partners consulting. So once a deaf player understands the culture of the hearing players and knows when to be still and silent, it is easy to adapt. Joked Rick, “Being deaf is a plus. Teeing off while we can chat away is hilarious.”
Playing with Rick and Eric gave us an appreciation for the game’s simplicity. They’re both visual learners, without a lot of verbal swing mumbo jumbo cluttering up their heads, and after a few tips demonstrated by Eric Mr. M was ready to enroll for lessons.
“Lots of people want me to teach them,” said Eric, who has coached for Bear Creek junior players some summers. “I am an easy person to understand because I show them with my gestures instead of mouth.”
Eric went so far as to say he loves being deaf, “because I don’t have to hear anything, because it helps me relax, and no one can bother me while I’m golfing because I can’t hear… I can do anything, but I can’t hear. No one can yell at me, because I can’t hear them yelling at me.
He is, in a nutshell, indistractable. While the rest of us hear the mowers, the music, the chatter, deaf golfers experience golf.
Which is not to say there wasn’t PLENTY of “chatter” during our round with Eric and Rick. By the time we got to 16 green and Eric and Mr. M found their approach shots had rolled off the back, we had communicated plenty through gestures and lip-reading. Mr. M led the way with a beautiful chip shot that stopped right next to the hole. He hammed it up and gestured to Eric, “Now you.” Eric chunked his attempt just a few inches. With all of us watching quietly, he slammed his club down and then carefully set up his next shot.
It landed softly on the green and rolled into the hole.
No words were necessary in the celebration that ensued.
