Scappaticci, 71, is serving as assistant chair for this week's Western Canadian blind golf championship at The Willows. He'll also play, as is his custom.

"I'd love to see young people with vision problems come out," says Scappaticci, who is always the lone Saskatoon entry at the various provincial and national events he enters. "There's money for helping them get lessons and things like that, and (playing) lets them realize life isn't over if they happen to lose their vision. Nobody enjoys golf any more than I do. I love it."

Scappaticci's vision deteriorated after the onset of diabetes in the 1980s. He last drove a car in 1991 and he now has approximately 12 per cent vision. He can make out the ball on the tee, but can't see it once it leaves his club.

Scappaticci is labeled a C3, which represents the highest level of sight allowed for blind golfers. C1 golfers have no sight at all.

All three categories will be represented in the 18-person field.

Scappaticci's wife often helps him around the course, lining up putts and pointing him in the right direction. When she's not there, his fellow golfers at The Willows serve as his unofficial coaches during rounds.

"The guys at The Willows are used to (having a blind golfer on the track), but now and again, we'll get visitors coming in, and they'll say 'You're kidding,' " Scappaticci says.

But he takes the sport seriously. His best score this year at The Willows was 96 and he hopes to score in that range this week.

He also plans to play at blind tournaments in Europe later this summer, one in Scotland and the other in Britain.

"I can tell an awful lot by sound," Scappaticci notes with a chuckle. "I know when somebody else has had a good shot or a bad shot, too -- whether they've struck it sweet or not. My ears are very perceptive to the sound. But I've gotten out of the habit of saying 'Good shot' in case their beautiful shot goes straight into the water or into a trap. Now I say 'That sounds good.' That way you don't get somebody saying 'Don't be silly.' "