An outstanding amateur golfer who finished second at the 1995 US Women’s Amateur and was named Ladies European Tour Rookie of the Year 12 months later, Knight’s ultimate move into coaching as a PGA Professional was centred around helping others to play better golf.

Life changer? Never a consideration.

Yet an opportunity offered by the late Peter Ormsby to conduct a coaching session with a group of disabled golfers in Adelaide challenged both Knight’s abilities as a coach and her understanding of golf’s potential impact.

Knight works across a wide variety within the disability sector including amputees, blind golfers and children with Autism, but it is her work with people diagnosed with younger onset dementia that has unveiled golf’s hidden powers.

A relationship stretching back close to a decade, Knight has seen first-hand the difference golf can make to a person’s life.

“There was a lady by the name of Lee Martin who just stayed at home every day,” recalls Knight, who coaches out of the Anne-Marie Knight Golf Academy at West Beach Parks.

“No family, no one came to visit her, and the ACH (Aged Care and Housing) program encouraged her to come out and play golf.

“She’d never played golf before, and it just transformed her life.

“It has slowed down her condition and she’s got friends for life who go out to the movies together and do pottery together.

“I get goosebumps when I hear stories like that.”

In a story published by The Sunday Mail, Lee spoke of the difference connecting with others through golf made to her life.

“I wouldn’t go out and I was quite fed up with my life,” said Lee, who was diagnosed with younger onset dementia at just 57 years of age.

“I didn’t have a life before I met these girls. Now I’ve got lots of friends.”

One of the most difficult challenges faced by those with younger onset dementia – a condition that occurs in people between the ages of 14-65 – is a withdrawal from friends and family and from social situations.

This is often due to those closest to them being unaware of a condition that can be difficult to diagnose in the first place.

“For some, it’s just the outing. For others, it’s making connection to a golf ball and that sense of accomplishment,” says Knight.

“It’s not competitive-based at all; it’s just about that social connection.

“They’re always smiling, they’re interacting with you and that interaction improves over time and they trust you.

“It’s just such a beautiful, beautiful thing to be able to experience that.”

Acknowledging that the demand from the disability sector for access to golf continues to increase – “I could almost work full-time with disability groups” – Knight wants to see golf’s influence grow with it and change even more lives for the better.

“There are all these groups of golfers that might not have been afforded opportunities in other sports, but golf can provide that space for them,” Knight adds.

“There are some awful stories of what their lives were like, so if I can provide that little bit of hope and that little bit of happiness in their lives, then I know I’ve done my part.”

The PGA All Abilities Coach Accreditation equips PGA Professionals and their venues/facilities with additional training and resources in providing support for those golfers with physical, sensory or intellectual disability. To find your closest PGA Professional visit golf.org.au/pga-all-abilities-coaches/