Tyler Cashman stepped to the first tee of High Bridge Hills Golf Club in mid-July for a practice. The Oldwick golfer took a good look at the green and then tried to make a practice swing.
Cashman, 20, a business major at University of Richmond lined up in front of his bright orange ball.
George Cashman, his grandfather, gave him instructions in a quiet manner.
“A little left,” he said. Tyler adjusted his feet millimeters by shifting his weight. His grandfather replied, “Right here.”
Cashman watched the ball as it soared towards the fairway as any other golfer would. He couldn’t track his shot.
Tyler Cashman has less than 5% vision in his left and 20% in his right eye. For reasons that doctors have not been able explain, Tyler Cashman’s eyesight has been declining since birth.
Cashman is unable to distinguish between details and “blurry blobs”. The most clear images are about 3 inches from his better eye. This is where he keeps his phone and any other material he wants read, including college exam printouts, with letters in a 36 point font.
Cashman is not able to play golf without an assistant. This person, also known as a caddie or spotter, will help him pull the correct club from his bag, place his tee at the right location, and line up his shots.
His 69-year old grandfather is the one who guides him.
Cashman stated, “Without him you are just chasing balls to God knows where.” “I couldn’t possibly play one hole without a golf spotter.”
As a 20-year old blind golfer, I want to introduce other children with disabilities to the sport.
Tyler Cashman, from New Jersey, wants to do more than just finish high in his USAdaptiveOpen debut. @NJSGA1900 @MGA1897 pic.twitter.com/vtFTg3qdW5
USGA (@USGA July 10, 2020
Team Ca$hman – a family affair
Tyler Cashman, the youngest golfer in 2022’s Vision Cup of the International Blind Golf Association, helped Team North America win its first title. He won the B2 division of the association’s South African Open in March. After taking a day off, he finished second among 15 players at his vision level, at the IBGA World Championship.
Tyler finished second in the visually impaired golfers category at the U.S. Bill Pease, who finished fourth in the North Carolina Adaptive Golf Association’s Adaptive Golf Open, declared that “the future of blind-golf is here.”
IBGA is a non-profit organization with 400 members. 76 are registered in the U.S. Blind Golf Association is a non-profit organization founded in 1953 with the goal of growing the game for the visually impaired. The USBGA junior golf program was launched in 1992. Since then, over 5,000 people were introduced to this unique form of golf.
“Tyler doesn’t know what’s before him.” George Cashman who grew in Florham Park now divides his time between Phoenix, Ortley Beach and Phoenix.
“He depends on me.” It’s an issue of trust. I know how he swings so well. I know how to make adjustments. “I help him with all the little swing tips that he cannot see.”
Tyler Cashman was no different than any other golfer when he practiced on his home course, High Bridge Hills. His beige bag is filled with the standard golf clubs, but it’s decorated with badges from elite courses such as TPC Sawgrass, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, and the U.S. Adaptive Open.
Tyler Cashman and George Cashman compete wearing matching bright blue collared polo shirts, to which Tyler’s mother, Casey has added the “Team Ca$hman” logo.
Tyler counts the distance from his ball to the target on the green. He putsts while holding the flagstick in place, unlike most golfers. George rattles it sometimes to help his grandson find the cup. Tyler says that judging the slope of the greens is one of the most difficult parts of blind golf. In his practice round, Tyler birdied the first par-5 hole.
His grandfather jokingly said, “When things really get bad, I’m fired.” “Thank God, that happens less and less as his golf continues to improve.”
Tyler and a replacement caddie, who was brought in at the last minute to replace Cashman after his knee replacement surgery took second place in the category for visually impaired golfers at the United States Golf Association Adaptive Open held earlier this month.
The reunited Team Ca$hman will compete in the Canadian Open Blind Golf Championships, which are scheduled for late August, and the USBGA 77th National Championships in September.
“I wouldn’t have played without him.” Tyler told his grandfather that he was the reason he played. “I have fired him many times, but he always comes back.”
Tyler Cashman (20 years old and legally blind) from Oldwick plays a round of golf at High Bridge Hills Golf Club in July 2023. Tyler’s grandpa tells him which direction and distance to hit the ball. Photo: Chris Pedota NorthJersey.com/USA Today Network
From “small adaptation” to big inspiration
Casey Cashman believed that her son only needed glasses in fourth grade.
Tyler kept his declining eyesight a secret by memorizing the eye chart that the school nurse had used. Tyler was able to get nearly all the letters wrong after she changed charts.
Doctors believe that his loss of vision is genetic, even though he has not been diagnosed.
Cashman was a baseball player with sighted children until the eighth grade when his doctor deemed it unsafe. Cashman was not deterred and switched to the New Jersey Titans Beep Baseball team, which is a group of visually impaired athletes who play a modified form of baseball. Cashman was named offensive rookie of the year at the 2019 National Beep Baseball Association World Series, held in Oklahoma. He had a batting average of.650. Cashman was selected to the World Series offensive team two years later after hitting.581.
Cashman converted his baseball swing to golf at the now-closed Golf Range Branchburg. Cashman was a freshman when he tried out for the Voorhees Golf Team. He made junior varsity with Voorhees English Teacher Mike Crane as his caddie.
“His passion for the game outweighed the frustrations,” said Carmen Cook a retired Voorhees teacher and coach. “One of his first outings on the golf course was with me. I told him, ‘Hey great shot. “Did you see where it went?” He replied, “I have no clue.” He lost sight of the flight as soon as it took off.
Cashman was promoted to the varsity team as a junior and sophomore. Cashman was one of Voorhees’ top three players in his senior season and co-captain for a 15-3 team.
Cashman stated, “At the beginning, I did not like that (my vision was) so obvious.” Cashman said that the fact that other people could see it so clearly was a positive. “I started to see (the caddie as) a small adjustment I had to make so that I could play at the same level.”
Cashman, a marketing student, hopes that his future career will help raise awareness for visually impaired people. Cashman also plans to raise money for the U.S. As his mother, he will continue to raise money for the Pain Foundation, which is the largest nonprofit organization that helps people with chronic pain.
The Cashmans started Pediatric Pain Warriors when Tyler was in the seventh grade. Since then, the Cashmans have raised over $250,000 by hosting three family retreats and summer camps at Disney World, Great Wolf Lodge Water Park and Morgan’s Wonderland, in San Antonio. They also hosted a virtual retreat for COVID.
Cashman, a rising junior at University of Richmond uses iPad apps to scan and speak print pages. Cashman also uses Fusion, an application that both reads and enlarges text.
Cashman took part in two clinical studies to slow down his vision deterioration: one was for a new drug, and the other, in Cancun involved removing his stem cells and re-injecting them. Cashman’s condition has not improved, but the interventions may have been able to slow his decline.
Pease, who is legally blind and a former University of Virginia Professor, said: “He will not let his vision define him.” “That’s just not him. He will not make excuses. At 20 years old, he’s already a role model. I look up him. He has this incurable disease, but he keeps on going. He does not keep going for his own sake. He is trying to help other people. “He’s done more than most of us have on Earth.”
Jane Havsy writes for the Daily Record, DailyRecord.com and the USA TODAY Network. Subscribe today to get full access live scores, breaking stories and analysis.
Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @dailyrecordspts
