2008 World Deaf Golf Championships
USA Teams
Perth, Australia – 2008 World
Deaf Golf Championships
The United States Deaf Golfers
continued to win the rest of the
world, winning the overall team
at the 7th playing of the World
Deaf Golf Championships.
The event played at the
Joondalup Resort in Perth,
Australia provided a strong
challenge for the worlds best
deaf golfers.
The US team led by 3rd place
individual champion Brandon
Babineaux cruised to the team
title on the strength of their
opening round performance. The
first day was a struggle for
everyone as rainy and windy
weather made scoring difficult.
As other teams struggled, the US
men posted 4 scores in the 80's
and rallied to an upset over the
host team, Australia by 13
strokes.
Brandon Babineaux received 3rd
place trophy.
Babineaux won the Men’s 3rd
place individual title with the
scores of 88-88-78-78 while
Aussie's Denver Magnusson won
the individual championship with
the scores of 85-85-75-75. Tim
Dapp came in 8th, Dano Aldaz in
12th and Darrell Hovinen in 16th
places out of 52 places.
USA Women Team
Women Team Leaderboard
The women’s championship was
decided over the final round
with Australian Linda Davis and
Jennifer Maric, over fading
American team, Patty Sue Plosya
and Susan Zupnik. Davis'
four-day total of 348 passed
Ploysa winning by close 5
shots. The US women finally
lost to Aussies the team title.
Both teams were tied through 3
rounds going into the last
round, the USA team collapsed
and lost to Australians by 15
strokes. 2 Senior golfers did
not do well, as Neil Johnson
placed in 6th and Mike Yance in
7th places out of 15 golfers.
Individual Men Leaderboard
Individual Women Leaderboard
Individual Senior Leaderboard
2nd Hole - the Signature Hole
There was one of many kangaroos on the golf
course.
USA PLAYERS’ SUMMARIES ABOUT 2008 WDGC
Susan Zupnik (the USA Team
Leader):
Very pleased with the outcome of
USA Deaf Golf teams! Managed to overcome the
very difficult and unique golf course! Kudos to
Men’s for winning the championship and to ladies
for 2nd place! Had a great time
during WDGC in spite that I did not play well
with the worst scores in my 5 WDGC tournaments!
Patty Sue Ploysa (2nd
place in Women’s individual):
Congratulations to Australia
Women for their championship! BIG
Congratulations to USA Men Team! Yes,
disappointed that USA Women Team failed to
defend but how fitting the Aussies won on their
home turf. Am very proud of my USA Team because
we played our hearts out. Yes, after playing 6
rounds of golf for a week, they surely exhausted
me with playing on very difficult layouts with
the slopes so high and pin placements at blind
spots. I will never forget kangaroos roaming
freely on the golf course! Amusing to see them,
even the youngster inside the mother’s pouch or
seeing them boxing! Hearty thank you to
Australian hosts! Know what? I kissed the ground
at New York airport after a very long flight
back home!
Brandon Babineaux (3rd
place in Men’s individual):
What a tournament! Toughest golf
course I ever played for a deaf tournament! The
greens were very tough that made me wonder if
Robert Trent Jones, Jr. was drunk while
designing them. Very proud of my team, USA Men
team with only 4-Man Team versus 6-Man Team from
other countries to be able to clinch as the
Champion of the World Deaf Golf Championships! I
produced over 10 birdies in the final 2 rounds
trying to catch up the leader but I came 4
strokes short and I am happy with 3rd
place.
Neil Johnson (6th
place in Senior’s individual):
Had a mishap 3 days before the
WDGC tournament began by slipping on the marble
floor and cracking 2 ribs. Had the worst scores
ever in all deaf tournaments. The wonderful and
warm hospitality from the Australian Deaf people
helped overcome my thinking about the ribs and
playing poorly on that so tough golf course!
Linda
Bradford: Good job by the USA despite
the jet lag and playing on a course Neil
described as a "monster"! On the plus side,
I find I am playing more consistently and
smarter after this tournament and the
preparation leading up to it. As for myself,
I enjoyed the camaraderie with team members
and with golfers from other countries. We
have made many new friends in Perth and will
keep in contact with most of them. Team
support for each other was fabulous. It
makes it all worthwhile. The Australians
proved to be very warm and courteous hosts.
Australia seemed a much larger country
than I originally thought. It took 4 1/2
hours to fly from one end of the country
(Melbourne) to the other (Perth).
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