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Richard
DelVecchio
USGTF Level III Member, Tucson, Arizona
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I lost my hearing at the age of two from severe meningitis. Because
of running such a high fever, they diagnosed me with severely profound
deafness. My parents had me do very intense speech therapy training,
and the training continued from kindergarten all through high school.
As an adult, I am very lucky to be able to speak well and read lips.
Growing up, my dad was an avid golfer, who introduced me
to golf when I was eight years old. My dad and I played a lot of golf
together and he taught me how to play. I have continued playing as
much as I can since then.
After high school, I went to work with Delphi Packard Electric.
Twenty-one years later I took an early retirement from Delphi, and that
is when I decided to get serious with golf. First, I played on the Michelob
Amateur Tour for a year. Ohio had been my home all of my life, and I
could only play and practice golf seven months out of the year due to
weather, so I decided to move somewhere I could play all year round.
Two years ago, I decided Tucson, Arizona, is where I would settle myself
and truly dive into golf.
Presently, I have a scratch handicap and will hopefully play on the
Pepsi Tour or Gateway Tour in the near future. Many people ask me
to help them with their swings out on the golf course. Noticing there
are a lot of deaf people of all ages playing golf, but having yet to see a
deaf golf professional teaching them, I realized it was an opportunity to
become a professional golf teacher who was able to communicate with
them using sign language.
In 2009 I decided to attain my golf teaching professional certification.
After a week of learning hands-on, I passed the tests and PAT with flying
colors. I learned so much from my teacher, Bob Wyatt. Thank you so
much, Bob. The program is exciting, informative and gave me the
confidence I needed to teach properly.
My goal is to teach the deaf community, young or old, and even
hearing people, too. I would like to bring more deaf and hearing people
into the golf world. I am going to apply what I love to do best and help
as many people as I can. What better job to have than applying what
excites you and helping others?
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