The Special Olympics Shows Golf at Its Best

Spend enough time around competitive golf and it's easy to believe the scorecard is all that matters. Spend an afternoon at the Special Olympics USA Games, like Skratch's Claire Rogers did, and you'll quickly remember that's never been true.

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The Games took place this week in Minneapolis, MN, and hosted 3,000 athletes across 16 sports, including golf. Golf is divided into five competition levels, ranging from individual skills challenges (Level 1) to a full 18-hole stroke-play championship (Level 5).

Levels 2 and 3 are played as alternate shot over nine and 18 holes, respectively, with strokes switching between the athlete and their Unified Partner (someone of the athletes choosing without intellectual disabilities). Often–but not always–that role is held by family.

Kayla Possai, a 28-year-old representing Minnesota at this week’s games, played alongside her father and Unified Partner, Kurt.

“I think we calm each other down,” Kurt said. “We’re focused, and we try to encourage each other as best we can.”

“I make sure he doesn’t [throw] out his back,” Kayla said.

When we asked Kayla how golf and her participation in the Special Olympics has impacted her life, her first thought was the players she’d gotten to meet, and how it had brought her to Abu Dhabi in March of 2019.

“I had a lot of fun,” Kayla said.

Krista Dahlke, like Kayla, plays in Level 2 representing Minnesota. She’s joined by friend and Unified Partner Lexxi O’Brien. The duo have been together for five years now, ever since Lexxi moved north.

Image Credit: Lexxi O'Brien via Minnesota Monthly

As Minnesota Monthly reported ahead of the USA Games, Krista and Lexxi have spent the last five years learning from one another on the course. Krista keeps the ball in play. Lexxi provides extra distance. Together, they've learned that their biggest advantage isn't either skill on its own—it's how the two complement each other.

“It’s friendship,” Lexxi told Skratch, standing alongside Krista in matching Minnesota-themed garb. “It’s just how you would treat anyone else.”

Sometimes we can get too bogged down in the errant drives, flubbed chips and missed putts. At least, I know I can. But this week has been a great reminder of why we play this sport. Kayla and Kurt weren't talking about pars. Krista and Lexxi weren't talking about trophies. They were talking about each other. That's probably as good a reminder as you'll find of what keeps people coming back to this game.

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Article Header Image Credit: Special Olympics USA Games