Cape Town hosts Blind World Champs golf in hopes to inspire: 'You can conquer anything'

This week, Cape Town plays host to the SA Blind Open and then the 2023 International Blind Golf Association (IBGA) World Championships. 

48 of the best blind golfers from 14 countries will brace the Cape winds in a 36-hole tournament set from 30-31 March at Milnerton Golf Club.

It'll be the first time the World Championships will be staged on African soil.

The last championship was hosted in Rome in 2018 and SA will host the first World Championships post-Covid disruption. Milnerton Golf Club will be open to the public for free.

SA Blind Open and IBGA World Championship tournament director Jurie Mare underlined the test that Milnerton Golf Club will provide for the world's best.

"For everyone at the SA Blind Golf Association, it is a great honour to stage the IBGA World Championship at Milnerton Golf Club as South Africa will become the first African nation to host this prestigious tournament," said Mare in a statement.

"We are thrilled to welcome such a cosmopolitan field to our shores and have no doubt that Milnerton Golf Club will be a stern test for the assembled competitors, particularly if the wind blows."

Each player has a sighted guide who describes the hole, helps with club selection and then ensures that the club head is directly behind the ball. From then on, it's down to the golfers' swing.

The South African Blind Open formed the opening act for the World Championships, where South Africa's Charlene Pienaar had a three-shot overnight lead and stamped her authority in the ladies division to win in Milnerton.

Pienaar stormed to victory in the ladies division, shooting rounds of 104 and 100 en route to a mammoth 24-stroke victory over Austria's Karin Becker.

"It was a big relief, there's always a bit of nerves (playing