Deaf golf professional Kevin Hall held a Tri-County Association of the Deaf (TCAD) sponsored golf clinic for about 45 Deaf people at the Oxford Golf Academy in The Villages on Wednesday evening, April 5 at 5:00 PM.  This program is part of TCAD’s “Deaf Success” event to promote awareness about the Deaf people who are successful in their careers around the country.  Bernie Brown, TCAD Enrichment Program coordinator introduced Kevin Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, who has been staying in The Villages during the winter months.  This allowed him to participate in the Florida professional golf tournaments.  At the Ocala Open tournament on March 30-April 1 Kevin placed second against some 135 golf professionals and fourth place at the Advocate PGA tournament in Port St. Lucie on April 2-3.   While he was at the APGA tournament, he was inducted into its Hall of Fame.  Kevin graduated from St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati and went to Ohio State University (OSU) on a golf scholarship.  He was the first black golfer to be on the OSU golf team and led his team to win the NCAA Big East tournament.  During the golf clinic, Kevin demonstrated some preliminary warm-ups as well as some technicalities of his swings.  He hit many beautiful shots and even showed how he could draw or fade them.  One brave lady, Phyllis Levi, volunteered to stand about five feet in front of Kevin while he “flopped”  several chip shots over her head much to the audience’s delight.  He shared a story about playing with Tiger Woods and how he lost a $5.00 bet on a bet against him.  During the Q & A session some questions were asked such as why some people are playing better with hybrids instead of irons.  His answer was that he noticed older people play better with them as they provide more power.  Another question was asked about how Bubba Watson’s famous wedge hook shot out of the woods and landed on the 10th hole green during the sudden death playoff in 2012.  He showed how the club can be closed to force the ball to hook.  He even demonstrated to the audience how he did it!  One asked if he had problems with the high winds, he said he would position his club to prevent ball spinning and flying low so it would not be swayed by the winds.  Immediately after his golf clinic, he will be heading to Atlanta on golf business then back home in Cincinnati before flying to Las Vegas, Nevada for another professional golf tournament on April 11-12.  He will then travel to Scottsdale, Arizona for another tournament on April 18-19.  He plans to be back in Florida for the Billy Horschel Invitational Tournament to be held in St. Augustine on May 5-6.   At the end of the clinic, Bernie Brown expressed his appreciation for Kevin making time in his busy schedule  to give the golf clinic at The Villages and that the program would not be possible without the support of The Laurence W. Levine Foundation.  —