Thursday, 27 October, 2022: Atlanta, Georgia: Christiaan Bezuidenhout joined forces with the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research and IWC Schaffhausen for a charity golf day at The Atlanta CC on Monday raising funds to support children and adults who stutter. 

Bezuidenhout, who has been affected by a stutter his whole life, signed a formal partnership with Arthur M. Blank Foundation in 2021. The 28-year old South African, a five-time European Tour winner and Tokyo Games Olympian, endorses the Blank Center’s ‘DREAM.SPEAK.LIVE’ initiative, led by Dr Courtney Byrd, which raises awareness in the stuttering community of the importance of stuttering openly, speaking confidently, and pushing back against fluency conformity. Christiaan even has the words ‘DREAM.SPEAK.LIVE’ stamped on the back of his Callaway wedges (pictured below). 

“I want to personally thank everyone who supported us on this golf day,” commented Christiaan. “We hope this will be an annual event from now on. This really is a dream partnership for me and I’m so grateful that Mr Blank has given me this opportunity. Back in the day, we never had any education about stuttering or how to deal with it. We know so much more now. What Dr Byrd is doing at the Blank Center is life changing for these kids. I know from my own experience that stuttering can affect your confidence and hold you back, it can affect your ability to mix with other kids; it can be very isolating and that’s sad. The wonderful thing about this partnership is together we can educate people about stuttering and teach them how to handle certain situations better.”

Around 100 players took part in the golf tournament, organised in partnership with the American Junior Golf Association, with invitees including famous athletes, celebrities, top-level executives, and CEOs. Those present could participate in a hole-in-one challenge, which took place on the 3rd hole. One of Christiaan’s sponsors, IWC Schaffhausen, donated one of its iconic Portugieser Perpetual Calendar watches with an 18-carat 5N gold case as a prize to the winner. As no one struck it lucky on the day, the watch will now be auctioned with the proceeds going to the Blank Center. 

Funds raised at Monday’s event will now be used to support new international speech camps in South Africa, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. It will also provide scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students in speech-language pathology, as well as travel support and scholarships to families from underrepresented and marginalised communities so they can receive the Blank Center’s programming. 

Dr. Courtney Byrd is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Founding Director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research. She commented, “Our perspective at the Blank Center is supported by decades of research. We understand that this is the natural way that you talk. Society should be okay with it! We empower children to speak confidently, build their resiliency, and push back against that fluency conformity and the pressure to be like everyone else. You can be the most educated person in the room and still stutter. And through that you can teach the world how to make it a better place for other people who stutter.”

Dr Byrd goes on to say, “We don’t have a goal within our programming for fluency. Paradoxically, for many people who come to our program they leave stuttering even more. And that’s because they’re no longer hiding it, no longer avoiding it, no longer shorten what they say. But if you ask them, they’ll tell you that they’re stuttering less. Because in their mind, they are. Because they’re speaking freely, they’re not trying to hide it and acting against it. They’re just talking openly. And that provides a sense of freedom and perspective about their own speech, that is, what it should be: this is just how I talk.”

About the Arthur M. Blank Foundation
The Arthur M. Blank Foundation established the Arthur M. Blank Center for Stuttering Education and Research (the Blank Center) in 2020 at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) Moody College of Communication. The Blank Center, founded and led by Doctor Courtney Byrd, advances the understanding of the nature and effective treatment of stuttering. The Center’s slogan of ‘DREAM. SPEAK. LIVE.’ champions the belief that communication should not be defined by fluency and that stuttering should not stop people from pursuing their dreams. It offers international programming globally, running camps for children and adults at no cost.

About IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN
IWC Schaffhausen is a leading Swiss luxury watch manufacturer based in Schaffhausen in the north-eastern part of Switzerland. With collections like the Portugieser and the Pilot’s Watches, the brand covers the whole spectrum from elegant to sports watches. Founded in 1868 by the American watchmaker and engineer Florentine Ariosto Jones, IWC is known for its unique engineering approach to watchmaking, combining the best of human craftsmanship and creativity with cutting-edge technology and processes. 

Over its more than 150-year history, IWC has earned a reputation for creating professional instrument watches and functional complications, especially chronographs and calendars, which are ingenious, robust, and easy for customers to use. A pioneer in the use of titanium and ceramics, IWC today specialises in highly engineered watch cases manufactured from advanced materials, such as coloured ceramics, Ceratanium®, and titanium aluminide. 

A leader in sustainable luxury watchmaking, IWC sources materials responsibly and takes action to minimise its impact on the environment. Along the pillars of transparency, circularity, and responsibility, the brand crafts timepieces built to last for generations and continuously improves every element of how it manufactures, distributes, and services its products in the most responsible way. IWC also partners with organisations that work globally to support children and young people.