HIGH BRIDGE, N.J. — Nothing seemed unusual as Tyler Cashman stepped up to the first tee at High Bridge Hills Golf Club for a mid-July practice. The golfer from Oldwick took a long look out toward the green, then stepped back and tried a practice swing.
Cashman, a 20-year-old business major at the University of Richmond, lined up over his bright orange golf ball.
His grandfather, George Cashman, quietly gave instructions.
“A little right,” he advised. Tyler shifted his weight, adjusting his feet by millimeters. “Right there,” his grandfather said.
Cashman teed off and watched as the ball soared toward the fairway, as any other player might. But he couldn’t follow his shot.
Tyler Cashman is legally blind, with less than 5% of vision in his left eye and 20% in the right. He was born with better eyesight, but, for reasons doctors still haven’t been able to explain, “it’s been deteriorating since then, and it’s still deteriorating,” he said.
Cashman sees “blurry blobs” without detail. Things are most clear about 3 inches away from his better eye. That’s where he holds his phone, and anything else he wants to read — including printouts of college exams, the letters blown up to a 36-point font.
On the golf course, Cashman needs an aide — called a caddie, spotter or coach — to make sure he’s pulling the right club out of his bag, putting his tee in the right spot and lining up his shots correctly.
He relies on his 69-year-old grandfather to point him in the right direction.
“Without him, you’re just beating balls God knows where,” Cashman said. “I probably couldn’t play a single hole without a spotter.”
“As a 20-year-old blind golfer, my goal is to introduce other blind children to the sport and let them know there are opportunities out there.”
New Jersey’s Tyler Cashman wants more than a high finish in his #USAdaptiveOpen debut at @PinehurstResort. 🙌@NJSGA1900 @MGA1897 pic.twitter.com/vtFTg3qdW5
— USGA (@USGA) July 10, 2023
Team Ca$hman is a family affair
Tyler Cashman was the youngest player in the 2022 International Blind Golf Association’s Vision Cup, where he helped Team North America capture its first title. In March, he won the B2 division at the association’s South African Open, took one day off, then finished second out of 15 entrants at his vision level at the IBGA World Championship.
Earlier this month, after Tyler was second among visually impaired golfers at the U.S. Golf Association’s…
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