Florida golfer reaches state tournament despite double vision
It's now common knowledge that DeLand (Fla.) High golfer Carianne Wright earned a berth in the Florida state girls golf tournament. What isn't so common knowledge is the disability she's overcome to reach that pinnacle. There's a good reason for that, too, as the health issue isn't an obvious one to see … unless you're Wright, in which case you see it twice.
That's because Carianne Wright suffers from double vision. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the teen was born with the condition, and has somehow found a way to excel in golf -- a sport that requires an inordinate amount of focus on small objects -- despite the inoperable visual condition.
"I see two of everything," Wright told the Sentinel. "When I look down at the golf ball, the real golf ball is a little bit lower than the fake one."
Make no mistake: Double vision is a serious setback for any athlete. The official optometrist of the Orlando Magic told the Sentinel that it's extremely rare for someone with double vision to pursue athletics because of the severe lack of depth perception it causes.
Yet that hasn't held back Wright, who said the path to golf normalcy has been one hewn of steady work and longer consideration of all of her shots. After two varsity seasons, the DeLand star has emerged as one of the top golfers in Florida, a status confirmed by her recent round of 72 at the District 16 tournament, a score which won her medalist honors.
For Wright, double vision has been a natural condition for every aspect of her life. The teen told the Sentinel that she didn't tell her father she saw two golf balls until she saw an optometrist at age 9, simply because she thought everyone saw the ball(s) that way.
Obviously they don't, which makes Wright's competitors -- like Lake Mary (Fla.) Prep star Alessandra Kutz -- all the more impressed with her ability to overcome the disability and excel in such a fine-tuned sport.
"If double vision is what I think it is, for her to hit the ball down the line with the pin, she's like superwoman," Kutz said. "She can do anything."
That includes excelling in the classroom, where Wright somehow overcomes "colliding words" when she reads to earn an impressive 3.92 GPA.
As for her next step, the teenager hopes to earn a college scholarship and eventually move on the LPGA tour. Given what she's already overcome, it seems foolish to question those goals. If anything, her determination might be setting the stage for twice the success.
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