Legally Blind, 92-Year-Old Makes Golf History
Leo E. Fiyalko, 92, is kissed by his sister, Naida Santo, 90, after a recognition ceremony for his Jan. 10 feat at Cove Cay in Clearwater last Thursday.
Associated Press
NBC Sports
02/01/08
Fiyalko uses five iron to make ace at 110 yards at Florida country club.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A hole-in-one is rare on the golf course, but what are the odds of a blind golfer sinking one?
Leo Fiyalko couldn’t see it, but his golf buddies did — a hole-in-one on the fifth hole at the Cove Cay Country Club.
Fiyalko is 92 and has macular degeneration. He’s been golfing for 60 years, but his 110-yard shot with a five iron on Jan. 10 was his first hole-in-one.
“I was just trying to put the ball on the green,” Fiyalko said.
Fiyalko tees off every Thursday with a group of golfers ranging in age from 70 to 90-plus. He used to have a seven handicap, but now he needs help lining up his shots and finding his golf balls because he only has peripheral vision in his right eye.
Jean Gehring was playing in his foursome and watched Fiyalko’s swing.
“I could tell it went on the green, (but) when we got up there I didn’t see it. I looked in the hole and there it was,” Gehring said.
Gehring said Fiyalko brushed off the feat, and had to be prodded to tell his wife about it at the end of the round.
Fiyalko’s friends at the country club presented him with a plaque last week to commemorate the feat.
Golf Digest has calculated the odds of making a hole in one at 1 in 13,000 for the “average golfer.”
