Oakville's Natasha Stasiuk is heading to Berlin, Germany, in June. She will be representing Canada at the Special Olympic World Games as the only golfer chosen from Ontario.
Natasha has trouble with verbal learning. Losing words has often presented a challenge when taking on any new activity. But when golf pro Nick Starchuk came to her school for a demonstration, she was inspired to try golf. It turned out her autism came with exceptional visual learning skills. She soon began to enjoy success and went on to win different trophies at events. Most recently, Natasha won the Clublink Heron Point Women’s Championship (2019 and 2020), Golf Ontario Disability Women’s Championship (2019, 2020 and 2021), and the inaugural Canadian All Abilities Women’s Championship in 2021.
When she heard of the USGA having their Inaugural Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6 this year, she put her name in immediately.
There are very few golfing opportunities for those with a disability where they can feel comfortable and not judged. Intellectually challenged, Natasha has shown great determination, and she loves the joy she gets from playing.
With a 4.1 handicap, Stasiuk was chosen as one of seven Canadians (and the only female) to take part in the event from Jul 18-20. The 3-day event was no cut and included 96 golfers from ages 15-80. There were 11 countries represented and 8 impairment categories (arm, leg, multiple limbs, intellectual, neurological, seated, short stature and vision).
Stasiuk finished 5th of 18 female players and 2nd in the intellectual impairment category (2 strokes behind the winner).
Now she will be representing Canada. The Special Olympics World Games take place from June 17th to 25th in Berlin. Oakville is very proud of you Natasha: we will be rooting for you in Germany, and we know you will represent your country well.
