You don’t have to hear the putt of the putter or the ping of the 7-iron to enjoy a good game of golf.
Eighth grader Melinda Tran can show you that. A deaf pupil at Bell Elementary School on Chicago’s Northwest Side, she just started taking lessons through a new program at her school.
And she loves it, both the game and her instructor, PGA Golf Pro Emanuel Worley, who teaches golf twice a week to 30 deaf children.
Thursday, on a makeshift putting range in a school hallway, Worley knelt down and tried to guide Melinda through a 10-foot putt. The girl had to get the ball through a two-inch space between two orange cones, but she was hitting it too hard.
To correct the problem, Worley used some sign language, Worley-style. He made a muscle with his arm, pointed to it, and nodded no, hoping she would understand she was hitting it too hard.
Melinda got the point. She eased up on her swing, tapped the ball lightly and sliced it down the hall, right between the two cones.
Worley extended his hands, smiled, and said “See!”
Melinda smiled back.
“I just love to teach,” said Worley, a golf instructor since 1988. “I think anyone can play.”
Worley’s golf class started last week and is part of an ongoing program involving the Chicago Park District, the Chicago Public Schools and Kemper Golf Management, where Worley works. With the help of a $2,000 grant raised by private donations, Worley is providing an eight-week golf course at at Bell School.
But, Worley isn’t teaching his beloved sport all on his own. He has a crucial aide by his side: his wife Kiva, a certified interpreter for the hearing impaired and teacher for deaf children.
Kiva Worley said she enjoys helping the children understand the sport and enjoy it.
The person responsible for recruiting the Worleys to teach golf was Enid Chesler, who teaches physical education at Bell School, 3730 N. Oakley Ave.. A novice golfer, she had read a magazine article last spring about a golf program in the Chicago school system and wanted to bring it to her school too.
It wasn’t until September, however, that she found the Worleys. Chesler had gone for a bike ride in Jackson Park, where Worley golfs, and bumped into him by accident. She had heard that he helped teach golf to children throughout the Chicago area and asked him if he would be interested in teaching golf to deaf students at her school.
Worley expressed an interest, but gave Chesler even more good news. He told her his wife was an interpreter for the deaf, which Chesler didn’t know. That sealed the deal on the golf program, she said.
“We said, `It has to be. It’s just like fate,’ ” Chesler said.
