Augusta, Ga- When the Augusta women's golf team hosts the Valspar Augusta Invitational this weekend, they'll do so with a golfer who's passion for the sport is above and beyond most others.
Marine Legentil came to Augusta University wanting to play Division One golf. She spent two years at Columbus State and was familiar with the team and program. The timing was right and now she's in the lineup on a regular basis with the Jaguars.
What separates Legentil from others, she was born blind in her left eye. In a sport that requires tremendous hand-eye coordination, Legentil has found a way to excel. But it didn't happened without some battles.
"I've kind of struggled with depth perception, which can be a little tricky sometimes," said Legentil with a laugh. "For example, something I always laugh at with my teammates and my coach is that if I'm 20 yards off the green, I'll pull out my range finder because I literally can not tell how far it is."
Since she hasn't known anything else, it's no big deal to her and has accepted it. Another struggle she has at times, is one every golfer has had, following where the ball goes.
"It can be a little scary because when I don't know where it is, I'm not sure if I'm in trouble or not," said Legentil.
You certainly can't tell by watching her that she is blind in one eye, and very rarely will her competitors realize it when they are on the golf course. She doesn't shy away from it, but she just goes about playing her game.
Legentil followed in her brother's footsteps when she took up the sport.
"I was seven years old and I started because my brother played golf. He started thanks to my grandmother, and was obsessed with it and I decided I'm going to try too," she said.
She readily admits she didn't like the game early on since she would swing and miss the ball and was frustrated by it.
"As it turns out, I kept going to practice with him and I was never able to stop playing," Legentil said.
Originally from France, Legentil also spent ten years in South Africa with her parents so she was able to pick up English quickly and was comfortable coming to the United States. She knows how big golf is in Augusta and said this was the right move.
Her game has struggled a bit this year and said part of that was playing places she wasn't that familiar with. Now it is trending in the right direction.
"I think now in the spring, I'm starting to settle in a bit more and hopefully get some low scores by the end of the season," Legetin said.
She is really looking forward to the Valspar Augusta Invitational.
"I'm really excited," she said. "I love Forest Hills Golf Club. In my previous two years, I played the Peach Belt Conference tournament on this course so I've played it in tournaments before and I feel really good about it. Also the fact that we'll have a lot of people supporting us and knowing that we're home is going to feel really good."
