Screenshot of opening news reel featuring Adelaide Ortega and Bob Kotowski PGA

GOLETA, Calif.—Adelaida Ortega is blind.
 
“I lost my eyesight when I was 45, and it was just a really difficult thing for me. I had to learn how to do everything again,” said Ortega, who lives in Santa Barbara.
 
It was a struggle that took a massive mental toll.
 
“You go out and you can't see things and you miss people's faces. You don't know what their faces look like anymore. So I mean, it, it is really hard,” said Ortega.
 
But adaptive golf has been her saving grace.
 
“I’m constantly feeling and thinking about my body and which way it's turning and twisting. So I don't know if golfers play that way, but I know that's the way I play golf,” said Ortega.
 
This is the first golf clinic that has been hosted by Blind Fitness, a local nonprofit dedicated to empowering visually impaired people through adaptive fitness and outdoor recreation.
 
Brianna Pettit created the organization during the pandemic.
 
“ I became friends with people with vision loss. And just the thought of them not being able to get out and enjoy the things that I enjoyed really got to me,” said Pettit.
 
Since 2021 Blind Fitness has worked with over 200 visually impaired people in the Tri-county area, offering everything from hiking to surfing.  
  
The roughly dozen golf players had varying degrees of blindness.
 
“I have light perception. I can't see you, but I could tell where the sky is. but that’s it,” said Bob Resnick, who lives in Santa Barbara.
Bob Resnick is working on his form and preparing for a major tournament.
 
“I never really played golf. Seriously. But it's the only sport I can play now because it's the one sport with the ball that the ball doesn't move. It's on the ground. It'll stay there,” said Resnick.
  
“It’s all about feel and timing and rhythm and learning their own balance. When the blind player repeats the same process, or any player for that matter, over and over again, they become acutely aware of the proximity of the ball, their timing, their feel,” said PGA Golf Professional Instructor Robert Kotowski.
 
Many players here say that losing vision has opened them up to new opportunities.
 
“ Well, I always call it life after blindness, but basically there's a lot of opportunities out there. The only restriction that they have is their own confidence. They have to have confidence,” said Golf Coach Bill Davis.
 
A blind, disabled, and adaptive golf classic will be taking place January 27th at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.

Golf is difficult even with full vision. On Monday, January 12, blind and low-vision athletes will take the challenge head-on at a specialized adaptive golf clinic in Goleta.

The Blind Fitness Golf Clinic will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Sandpiper Golf Club, where blind and low-vision participants will receive hands-on instruction designed specifically for nonvisual play. The clinic is hosted by Blind Fitness in partnership with Olde School Golf School.

“For a sport that’s already hard with vision, this clinic shows what’s possible when instruction is adapted intentionally,” said Tania Isaac-Dutton, executive director of Blind Fitness.

The clinic will be led by Robert Kotowski, a longtime PGA professional who specializes in coaching blind, disabled, and adaptive golfers. According to Isaac-Dutton, the program follows a structured, tactile, and verbal sequence that allows participants to line up, feel the ball’s position, understand the terrain, and select the appropriate swing.

Kotowski has been a golf professional since 1981 and has coached more than 15,000 students over the course of his career, including blind and disabled athletes competing at the national level. He is the longtime director of the California Blind and Disabled Golf Association and the author of a blind and disabled golf manual, and he has hosted the California Blind and Disabled Golf Classic for more than 25 years. Isaac-Dutton said he is donating his time, equipment, and instruction for the clinic.

“There are guide sticks so the participants can feel where the ball is, and Bob has very distinct swings — one for putting, one to get a little farther, and another to really knock it across the grass,” Isaac-Dutton said. “By describing the terrain and giving cues about the environment, participants can make real adjustments.”

Isaac-Dutton said she recently observed the method in action, watching a blind participant sink multiple putts — even in high wind.
“It was really windy that day,” she said. “With careful instruction — ‘There’s a breeze coming this way’ or ‘The ground slopes slightly’ — the participant can learn how to adjust their swing and stance.”

The clinic is designed to prepare athletes and sighted guides for the upcoming 2026 Howard Shaw Memorial California Blind, Adaptive & Disabled Winter Golf Classic, which will be held later this month at Zaca Creek Golf Course in Buellton.

Beyond competition, Isaac-Dutton said the clinic emphasizes trust and empowerment.

“It’s about being outside, in community, and being met halfway with where someone is at in their vision and ability,” she said. “That being embraced as it is.”

The clinic is free to participants and volunteers. 
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Visit blindfitness.org.