Golf Series: Natasha Stasiuk
“Playing golf is where I feel free and don’t feel judged. It’s my happy place. It’s where I feel most confident in life,” says Natasha as she explains what golf means to her.
Natasha Stasiuk, from Oakville, Ontario, clearly loves the game. When considering her own improving performances, winning tournaments and helping to fly the flag for Canada, she will agree this is partly due to a lot of hard work and support, but success for her also means the joy she feels in playing on a golf course, looking for the perfect swing; all an antidote to the anxieties of life.
At 26, this golfer is becoming more used to the pressure of the first tee, more experienced in gathering her strength for the challenge ahead, while not forgetting the challenges of the past.
Living with Autism for Natasha includes also managing an auditory processing condition. This can be evident when completing a scorecard, or following the speech of a stranger. She and her father Peter say that often when people are in the third sentence in their conversation with her, Natasha is still thinking about the first sentence. Such an issue for an anxious person can leave them feeling like they have a mountain to climb, and that’s if their condition is treated with respect to begin with.
Sometimes during Natasha’s childhood, other golfers would take advantage, confusing her, adding a few strokes on to her score in order to win themselves.
“When I was younger I couldn’t count my score. I still have trouble to this day,” says Natasha, who can understandably become emotional when recalling those early days. Thankfully, her parents, and later by extension the game of golf itself, have been saviours for her in many ways.
