Countywide : Golfers Prepare to Tee Off Against MS

When golf enthusiast Sandi Coffer felt the first symptoms of her illness, she was steadying her club for a solid shot to the green. Suddenly, she lost vision in her right eye.

Her sight returned, and doctors were at a loss to explain what had caused her temporary partial blindness.

A few years later, however, Coffer woke from an afternoon nap and could not move the entire right side of her body. After that episode, multiple sclerosis was diagnosed.

“It’s so very frightening,” said Coffer, now 49. “You don’t know if you’re ever going to walk again or what’s going to happen to your life.”

Today, she is challenging her disability. Besides working to improve her game--a two handicap, she boasts--Coffer has started a campaign to raise money for research into multiple sclerosis, which has no known cause or cure.

On Monday, she will host the inaugural Sandi Coffer Summer Classic, a golf tournament at the Newport Beach Country Club, which has so far collected about $80,000 in pledge contributions. More money will be raised at an auction of donated items, including artwork and travel packages.

The tournament has 120 spots available for players. As of Friday, 112 had been reserved by golfers who paid $250 each to participate.

Rockwell International, the tournament’s sponsor, contributed $25,000. Other donations have come from private and corporate sponsors.

At the Newport Beach course, where Coffer golfs three or four times a week and has won eight women’s championship tournaments, she is as much a fixture as the greenskeepers and pro-shop attendants.

“I love this game so much,” she said. “I didn’t want to give it up. I’ve been fortunate though.” Multiple sclerosis, she said, “is not as hard on me as it is for lot of people, who are totally debilitated.”

The disease affects the central nervous system, impairing motor functions, vision and speech. Coffer walked with a cane for a while.

She attributes her improvement to meditation, avoiding stress, getting plenty of rest--and positive thinking.

“The symptoms are still there, but I can keep them under control,” she said. “I still walk funny, and my speech isn’t as good as it could be.”

Despite that, Coffer is one if the top female players at the club, said Pam Higgins, an instructor who has worked with her.

“She has a strong mental game,” Higgins said. “She has a nice style and never gets down and depressed or kicks the clubs.”

Living with the disease, Coffer said, has altered her perspective. The immobility, she said, “could happen again at any time. You have to live your life moment by moment. That’s about all you can do.”