Woman Believed to Be First Blind Female Golfer to Hit Hole-in-One

LEHIGHTON, Pa. – Sheila Drummond didn't need to see her hole-in-one. She heard it.

Drummond, blinded by diabetes 26 years ago, experienced the highlight of her golfing career Sunday, recording an ace on the 144-yard, par-3 fourth hole at Mahoning Valley Country Club.

Playing with her husband and coach, Keith, and two friends in a steady rain, the 53-year-old Drummond hit a driver on the hole. The shot cleared a water hazard, flew between traps and landed on the green, where it hit the flagstick before dropping into the hole.

"They were saying, 'It's a great shot,' and then I heard it hit the pin," Drummond said.

"For a hole-in-one, you have to hit it onto the green, so it's a little bit of skill and a lot of luck."

In 1999, Golf Digest said the odds of an amateur getting a hole-in-one are 1 in 12,750. That number, no doubt rises, for a blind golfer.

Drummond is a member of the board of directors of the United States Blind Golfers Association, and the organization believes she is the first totally blind female to record a hole-in-one.

"We've looked everywhere, and haven't been able to find anyone else," she said.

Drummond took up golf about 15 years ago, and three years later qualified as the first female member of the USBGA.

"I just try to do the best I can," said Drummond, who carries a 48 handicap with the USBGA. "I get nervous.

"But I wasn't nervous [Sunday], I just don't like playing in the rain."

Drummond's hole-in-one was first reported on the Web site of The Morning Call of Allentown.