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IBGA Directors
True International Representation from Professional Business People
Mario Tobia: United States: Chairman
IBGA Director, Mario was born in Teramo, Italy and migrated to the United States as a young child. He was educated in the U.S., earning a degree in Computer Science, and pursued a successful career as a Computer Engineer, advancing to the position of Director of Information Technology.
At the age of forty, Mario lost his sight but continued his professional career with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the New Jersey Commission for the Blind.
Along with his IBGA Director's responsibilities, Mario has served as the Vice President of the United States Blind Golf Association since 2019 and serves as the President of the Middle Atlantic Blind Golf Association for the past 8 years.
Hugh Montgomery: Canada: Vice Chairman of Administration
"I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on October 13th, 1958. My wife, Laurie, and I currently live in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
"Professionally, I worked for Bell Canada from 1976 until retiring in 2013. I started as a field technician working my way up to a Senior Business System Solution Analyst.
"In the mid 80's, I was impacted with vision loss due to Stargardt's and am currently a B3 player. Up to this point in my life, I did not play golf. My interest and passion was in aviation and pursuing a career in that field. I did not know about Blind Golf until I met Gerry Nelson in 2015."
John Eakin: England: Vice-Chairman Finance
IBGA Handicap Secretary and Chair of the IBGA Handicap Committee
IBGA Director since 2019. John is a member of Blind Golf England. John lives in Surrey, England, having been born in 1958 in Malacca, Malaysia. He has been on the IBGA board of directors since 2019.
John is a member of England and Wales Blind Golf (EWBG) and a past trustee of their board for 15 years.
He is a member of Royal Ashdown Forest GC in Sussex, England. In 2014/15 he Captained his club, and remains a single figure handicapper.
Garrett Slattery: South Africa: Director
IBGA Director, Garrett, a Professor in Actuarial Science at Stellenbosch University, has been visually impaired since the age of ten. Garrett emigrated from the UK to South Africa in the 1970's and is married with a son.
Garrett was one of the founder members of the South African Blind Golf Association (SABGA) and has served as their Honorary Secretary/Treasurer for a number of years.
Garrett has been a member of the IBGA Board of Directors since 2012 and is a past Chairman of the Board.
Alejandro De Miguel: Spain: Director
Alejandro de Miguel was born in Pamplona Spain in 1992 and due to a congenital glaucoma, he lost his sight at the age of 21.
He started playing golf in 1998 and later joined the world of golf for blind players in 2018, his first participation being in the Italian Open played in Rome in which he obtained a second place.
This first tournament, was the beginning of many others becoming the winner of the British in 2022 and a member of the Rest of the World team in the Vision Cup in 2022 and winning the World Cup in 2023 played in South Africa.
Mark Eschbank: Australia: Director
Board Representative from Australia.
John White: Australia: Director
Representing Dr Handa
IBGA Director, John, a retired banker, lives in Perth Western Australia. An active golfer, he has been a member of the Nedlands Golf Club for 50 years.
He first met Dr Handa in 1989 at the inaugural Australian Blind Golf Championship held in Perth. John became Dr Handa's representative on the IBGA board in 2008.
Past Directors
Mr Yoshinori Ikezawa; Japan
Mr Ikezawa was born in 1959. He first encountered the sport of golf when someone asked 16-year-old Yoshinori to work part time as caddie at a distinguished golf course.
Yoshinori's future dreams include the realization of a tournament for all categories of eye sight and producing a world champion from Japan.
Gerry Nelson: Canada: Director
IBGA Director, Gerry, retired from his position as a provincial Client Service Co. with Canada's National Institute for the Blind in October 2021, was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan on November 9th, 1963.
At the age of six he was diagnosed with diabetes and became blind at the age of twenty-five.
Karin Becker: Austria
Former IBGA Director and Chairman and former Chair of the new Membership Growth Committee; Karin was born in 1972 in Austria and became visually impaired at the age of twenty-one.
Karin started playing golf while visually impaired and had her first contact with blind golf in 2010 and became a member of the IBGA in 2013.
Linda Port: USA
Linda, who is a resident of Southern California, was raised in Washington State where her father (totally blind) was teacher, athletic director and ultimately principal of the Washington State School for the Blind.
She learned golf at age 40 (while she still had most of her vision) and played on club teams for a few years in the early 1990s; she then returned to work for Ely Callaway (founder of Callaway Golf) as the project manager for his autobiography.
Andrea Calcaterra; Italy
Andrea Calcaterra from Milan, Italy, belongs to a family who have been involved in golf for 4 generations. He started playing golf at the age of 9 and his handicap continually improved, eventually playing off 3.
In the late 1990s he lost his eyesight and stopped playing. In 2001 he restarted playing, initially as a joke but quickly realised he could play and enjoy 18 holes.
Graham Coulton; Australia
Graham was born on 9 April, 1958 and is retired and was formally employed by the Office of Sport which is a division under the NSW State Government of Australia and he held the position of Program Coordinator - Motor Sport.
Graham commenced to play golf in 1994, in 1995, he played in his first Australian Open and since then he has now played in seven World Championships.
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