Ashlyn Johnson has gone to the driving range since she was five years old with her father, Dave. A self-described “big sports person” who tried out basketball, soccer, and flag football, golf was the sport that stuck out to her.
It didn’t matter at all that she was deaf.
Johnson was born in 2007, and once it became clear she could not hear as other babies could, her parents looked into other options.
First, it was hearing aids when she was two. Then, it was a newer technology: a cochlear implant, a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to individuals with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. While far more common nowadays, Johnson was glad she was able to receive one young — and that many other deaf individuals do as well.
“It’s pretty cool that more kids are getting them because they're life-changing,” Johnson said, “They changed my life more than I could imagine.”
Johnson got a second implant when she was 10 — right around the time she started playing golf competitively. And she quickly showed she could play.
She won youth tournaments left and right, traveling first around California, then the country. Her father switched from a dad on the range to Johnson’s caddy as the tournaments became bigger and bigger. And soon enough, they found out about the US Deaf Championships, where deaf golfers around the nation compete without the use of any implants to hear.
While golfing in those Deaf Championships, or the Deaflympics for that matter, there’s no sounds of chatter from fans, teammates, or even coaches.
Just golf.
Johnson won tournaments in Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin to quickly catch the attention of other people in the community. Before long, she was scheduled to travel with Team USA to compete in the London Deaflympics at only 13; though the tournament was cancelled due to COVID, Johnson knew she’d be back.
Two years later, she would capture the individual silver medal, competing alongside Diksha Dagar, the first golfer in history to have competed in both the Olympics and the Deaflympics and a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour. Dagar, 25, and Johnson, 19, are two of the youngest players in the tournaments — something the latter would love to change.
“It would be cool to bring in others who are deaf or hard of hearing so they can be part of something that's really cool,” Johnson said, “It can change their lives forever, just like it did with mine.”
Ultimately, Johnson finished ninth in individual play and placed fourth in mixed play alongside her partner, Alabama native McGowin Miller.
