TEAM
David AlexanderGOLD
Mark BrittonBRONZE
Caitlin DoddsBRONZE
Benjamin HornerGOLD
Richard Moran4th PLACE
Head Coach Craig Martin
Coach Gordon McQuilkin
Five Special Olympic Athletes put the tips they picked up the BMW PGA Championship to good use with gold medal performances at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens.
David Alexander, Mark Britton, Caitlin Dodds, Benjamin Horner and Richard Moran collected two gold medals and two bronze medals between them at the largest multi-sports event in the world in 2011 where 7000 learning disability athletes from 180 countries were competing.
"Everyone of our team has been absolutely brilliant this week!" exclaimed Special Olympics Great Britain Head Coach Craig Martin (Perth) "and I'm proud of each and every one of them.”
The five were chosen from a field of 160 Special Olympics golfers from England, Scotland and Wales. The Special Olympics GB Golf Squad enjoyed a special coaching clinic at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club five weeks ago with four-time European Tour winner David Howell. The golfers also met and received good messages from Major winners Martin Kaymer, Louis Oosthuizen and John Daly while 2012 Ryder Cup European Team captain José Maria Olazábal held The Ryder Cup with them, insisting they rub the cup for good luck!
It was the ninth consecutive year that Special Olympics Great Britain - a year-round sports and competition programme for children and adults with learning disabilities -- was hosted by The European Tour and the Wentworth Club on the opening day of the Tour’s flagship event, helping to raise awareness of golf in Special Olympics.
At the Special Olympics World Summer Games, GB Golfers were up against the best in the world with New Zealand, Australia and Team USA dominating in both strength and in numbers: Team USA came to the event with 26 players.
Head Coach Martin said: “It was a really tough course and we were out six hours a day in intense heat. It’s amazing that we did so well – coming from rainy Great Britain we are used to walking under umbrellas to keep us dry instead of using them to keep the sun off us!”
However, the team was well equipped courtesy of the generosity of The European Tour who, along with Oakley and Mizuno, provided the necessary brollies and glasses to shade from the blistering heat, and the golfers believe their “Magic Mizuno” wedges were what did the trick for them with their vital short game!
The 50 year old Glyfada Golf Club is the oldest Golf Club in Greece and the only one in Athens. It is tight and the abundance of trees makes it particularly challenging. It is set upon rolling hills, causing tricky uphill and downhill lies. The Club has the most active program in Greece for training new, young golfers, and is home to PGA Hellas and the Hellenic Golf Federation.
Benjamin Horner (Menston) put in another outstanding round to take a Gold medal in his group with his father Adrian as caddy. David Alexander (Dundee) came from behind to take Gold with a brilliant final round.
Mark Britton (Glasgow) earned a Bronze and Richard Moran (Runcorn) was just up against stronger players but still came in fourth.
Caitlin Dodds, 19 (Edinburgh) was competing in the highest ability level women’s group and managed a superlative final round to secure a Bronze after only starting golf three years ago. Caitlin is now considered the third best learning disabled female golfer in the world.
Last month Caitlin was thrilled to meet Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street. He spoke with her and asked for some golf tips, “President Obama has challenged me to a golf match,” said Cameron, “and I need all the help I can get!”
For Caitlin, the World Summer Games in Athens was her first international competition. She was thrilled to have been chosen as the only female golfer on her team of five players and two coaches. When asked how she felt about being the only girl on the squad, she said modestly: “It isn’t bad, I help them out and they help me out!!”
CAITLIN Golf links: From the David Howell clinic:http://www.europeantour.com/videoaudio/video/videoid=137564.html
http://www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk/news-media_news-stories/?archive=1&aID=322
BBC GOLF STORY WITH CAITLIN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/disability_sport/13990736.stm
http://www.specialolympicsgbteam.org.uk/2011-world-summer-games/
