Published: Saturday, February 2, 2008
Blind Florida Golfer, 92, Ho-Hums Firing a Hole-in-One
By RODNEY PAGE
St. Petersburg TImes
ATOYIA DEANS | ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
Leo Fiyalko speaks to a gathering in Clearwater on Jan. 24 to recognize a hole-in-one by the blind golfer.
So he made a hole-in-one on the 110-yard, par-3 fifth hole at Cove Cay Country Club in Clearwater.
So what if it was the 92-year-old's first hole-in-one in more than 60 years of playing golf?
Big deal.
And who cares if he is legally blind, with a condition called macular degeneration?
Fiyalko doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.
"It was my first hole-in-one, and I never saw it," Fiyalko said. "I was just trying to put the ball on the green."
That's about all he'll say on the subject. But that didn't stop his friends in the Twilighters Club golf group from presenting him with a plaque on Jan. 24 commemorating the feat. There is a picture on the plaque of the fifth hole and a line that reads: "Leo Fiyalko, hole-in-one, five iron, 110 yards."
The feat came on Jan. 10 when Fiyalko and his group teed it up for their weekly nine-hole best-ball outing. The group of 20 to 40 golfers, who range in age from 70 to 90-plus, have gathered every Thursday afternoon during the winter for at least 20 years.
Fiyalko, who has been playing golf since he moved to St. Petersburg from Warren, Ohio, in the 1950s, was playing with Larry Kellaris, Dorothy Mrkvica and Jean Gehring. In his prime, Fiyalko played to a seven handicap, but now he needs help lining up his shots and finding his golf balls.
"Dorothy actually shot before Leo and her ball went into the water," Gehring said. "We were all over by the water trying to find the ball and I looked up and Leo was about to hit. I said, 'Hey, somebody has to watch Leo.' So I went up there and saw him hit and it was a pretty good shot. I could tell it went on the green, so when we got up there I didn't see it. I looked in the hole and there it was."
Gehring said Fiyalko reacted with a simple, "How 'bout that," and continued with his round. When he got to the clubhouse after the round, his friends had to prod him to tell his wife, Pat, about the feat.
"When he got back to the clubhouse we told him to tell Pat what he did," said Sue Rogan, who has run the Twilighters for the last seven years. "He said no, he didn't want to. So Pat says, 'I suppose you made a hole-in-one.' He said, 'Yes, I did.'"
Fiyalko's macular degeneration started about 10 years ago and has gradually gotten worse. He now has no vision in his left eye and can use only his peripheral vision in his right eye.
"Dad has to sit sideways to see the television," daughter Sandra Taylor said. "I don't know how he does it on the golf course. But he still gets out there and plays."
WOW! I can't even hit the green, much less the hole!!! 