Sight impaired, but not focus

Rick Polburn is an advocate for the Cleveland Sight Center.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- I'm crouching down next to Rick Polburn at a table inside the Squaw Creek clubhouse and I ask him to tell me the most rewarding thing about playing golf.
He thinks for a minute, and says, "You get to meet a lot of really neat people."
It's a good answer. And, of course, I take the bait.
"Does that include me?" I ask.
"Oh yes, absolutely," Polburn says. "Who are you?"
Funny.
Polburn is almost always funny. When he hits a bad shot -- which happens less often than you might think -- he'll turn to the gallery and say, "You had your cameras turned off, didn't you?"
When Mike Grady -- his playing partner and coach for the day -- asks him to back up so he can hit the ball, he'll say, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You hit the ball 5 feet behind you."
Even his hat is funny. It says, "Golf by faith, not by sight."
When you meet Polburn, you expect to find a blind golfer.
But that's not all you find.
You find a comedian. You find an advocate. And you find a pretty inspirational guy.
Player's extension
"When I'm coaching him and he hits a good shot, it's like I hit a good shot," said Grady, the director of the Cleveland Sight Center. "When he's frustrated with how he's playing, I'm frustrated. We're a team."
Polburn, who lives in Richmond Heights, and Grady were paired with LPGA professional Allison Finney at Monday's Home Savings Pro-Am -- one of the events leading up to this weekend's Giant Eagle Classic.
They shot 7-under in the best-ball event (par is 72) and finished with a net score of 60.7 -- three shots off first place.
"And Allie didn't completely carry us," said playing partner Steve Bailey. "Everyone contributed. This is a good, honest score."
Bailey also works at the Cleveland Sight Center. Frann Zverina -- the fourth amateur in the group -- is the executive vice-president of the Society of the Blind.
They're used to playing with blind golfers. For those who aren't, here's how it works. Grady walks Polburn to the tee (or fairway, or bunker, or green -- wherever his ball is) and makes sure he's standing in the right spot. He positions the club behind the ball so Polburn is in position to hit, and he'll describe the hole so Polburn knows where to aim.
Then Grady steps back and yells, "All clear."
Polburn takes it from there.
Indicators
"You know when you've hit a good shot," Polburn said. "And you know when you've hit a bad one. You can tell by the feel and the sound."
"Yeah, you can hear it hitting the tree," Bailey quipped.
But sometimes he's not sure. When he hits a hook, for example, it feels good.
"It's up to Mike to describe the shot -- good or bad," Polburn said.
Polburn, 54, wasn't always blind. He was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that pretty much robbed him of his sight two years ago. (Cleveland Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund has the same disease.) At first he was just color blind -- he played golf in high school -- then he couldn't see at night, then he could only see shapes.
The worst part is he also has Usher's Syndrome, which will eventually take his hearing, too. He wears two hearing aids and has about 80 percent hearing loss in both ears.
"That's the hardest thing," said Polburn, who graduated from Kent State in 1971. "If God gave me a choice, I'd prefer to have perfect hearing than perfect sight. Not being able to hear gives me more frustration than not being able to see."
"He doesn't talk about [his hearing] much," Grady added. "I'm sure it scares him."
Which is one of the reasons he's so eager to talk about golf. Each summer, he runs a charity golf event called the Polburn Golf Challenge, which raises money for the Cleveland Sight Center.
Gives back to golf
This year's event, which usually has about 150 golfers, will be held July 25 at St. Denis Golf Course in Chardon. (For more information, visit www.polburngolf.org)
It's one of the ways he can give back to golf -- and to those who have helped him.
"It's neat to watch the response," he said. "People have been very giving and very compassionate. I think it's a good cause."
It's also a good reason to play golf. Polburn can still judge the wind and the lie, and he can read putts with his feet. His handicap (pardon the expression) is around 30.
"We follow all the same rules except we're allowed to ground the club in the sand trap," Polburn said.
Like his playing partners on Monday, he's a pretty good golfer -- at times. Finney, however, is good all the time.
When she ripped a perfect drive on No. 8, Grady turned to Polburn and said, "Ah, consistency stinks."
"Too boring," Polburn quipped.
Finney just laughed. And when the match was over, Polburn had nothing but nice things to say about the others.
"It was excellent," he said. "They're very good, decent people."
Funny. You could say the same about him.
scalzo@vindy.com