2022 US Adaptive Open

[Ferguson]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:35 AM, golfer07840 said:

Nice to see Pinehurst #6 being used too. That's a cool and very difficult course. 

 

Fazio course.

[golfer07840]

3 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

 

Fazio course.

I play a George Fazio course up here in NJ called Great Gorge. They sure knew how to design. 

[Ferguson]

51 minutes ago, golfer07840 said:

I play a George Fazio course up here in NJ called Great Gorge. They sure knew how to design. 

 

Always challenging features but pleasing to the eye with Tom and uncle George courses.  

 

 

 

Tom did Quail Hollow.  I know, I know - enough with Quail Hollow!!

[aenemated]

Awesome photos @psapitch13! I was born and raised about 30mins from Pinehurst and while me and dad only played there maybe a dozen times over the years back in the day, I still like to think of it as my "home course." (It's more exciting to say that than "Keith Hills") Stoked to hear they made it such a great experience! 

[me05501]

A local guy named Jordan Thomas played in the event. He's a double leg amputee, a scratch golfer and by all accounts a cool dude. 

 

He lost his legs in a boating accident a long while back when he was just a teenager. He has dedicated his life to a foundation that helps young people get prostheses. 

 

Jordan Thomas Foundation | Helping Kids Get Prostheses

 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by me05501

[deathbymuffin]

Awesome!  Thanks for the write-up (and pics), Zach!  Very cool!

[kb7]

This is awesome. As a player with a disability this was on my radar, but life got busy and I forgot to register. Hopefully next year! I'm glad to hear it was a great time. Nice to see the USGA and the golf world rolling out the red carpet for golfers with disabilities. 

[jonsnow]

On 7/25/2022 at 10:01 AM, psapitch13 said:

Introduction

My name is Zach, I played in the neurological impairment category (cerebal palsy).  I've been playing competitive golf since I was about 12 years old.  Now 36, I found out about adaptive golf a few years ago when I stumbled on EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association) and started trying to find the US equivalent.  The US Adaptive Open was the fifth event I played in and I can elaborate on the community if anyone has more interest.  

 

Course

I had no previous experience on any of the Pinehurst courses having only played Tobacco Road in the area.  I've been to Myrtle a few times and the conditioning of No. 6 reminded me of a Caledonia level course. Below I've listed the yardages we played from:

 

Approximate Yardage	Color	Men’s Impairment Categories	Women’s Impairment Categories
6500	Blue	Arm Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Leg Impairment, Multiple Limb Amputee, Neurological Impairment, Short Stature	--
6100	White	Vision Impairment	--
5100	Red	Seated Players	Arm Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Leg Impairment, Neurological Impairment, Vision Impairment
4700	Yellow	--	Multiple Limb Amputee, Seated Players

 

The course was great for the tournament for a variety of reasons: almost no forced carry,  easy terrain to walk, well conditioned, mostly level lie angles.  The only exception was the bunkers, which were very sloped and not very big which made it difficult for seated players using carts to get in the bunker, so they were forced to drop behind the bunker and take a penalty stroke. 

 

The hole designs were enjoyable but very repeatable.  Almost every par 3 played the same yardage, OB on each side of every hole, most of the holes were doglegs, and the greens were elevated with "run-off areas." The greens were rolling probably near 10 and they took it easy on the hole locations in my opinion.  

 

Event

I'll try to convey how cool the event turned out to be.  Everyone I talked to was blown away by the treatment and set-up of the facilities. They had multiple nights of activities and dinners for the players and their guests.  It was awesome to get to mingle with the USGA staff and hear about the amount of education and studies they did to figure out how to both accommodate the requirements for adaptive golfers while maintaining the integrity of putting on a world-class competition.  They had a waitlist of 100s for volunteering at the event and the volunteers were excellent from the driving range attendants to the "player assistants" who walked along and help however was needed.  The entire property was filled with smiling and happy people excited to be part of the first event and I hope that momentum continues to future years. 

 

 

What a great looking course. Glad it was such a great experience for you. That's interesting to me that the tees competitors played from was based solely on type of impairment? Playing ability/GHIN was not factored in? Seems like there could be a wide range of skill level within various impairments. 

[bladehunter]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:55 AM, psapitch13 said:

As a person who participated in the event, some of these comments are troubling.

Don’t worry.  It’s a very loud minority.  The rest of us are very much interested in your post.  Thank you for the information and pics.  

[Dan33185]

I used to work in a day facility with disabled adults, both mentally and physically. I hadn't really paid a whole lot of attention to things like Special Olympics, Paralympics, etc. before that, but since working there I realize how important events like those and this one are. Anything that can give people hope and joy in their life where there may not be a lot elsewhere should be celebrated.

[bladehunter]

3 hours ago, Dan33185 said:

I used to work in a day facility with disabled adults, both mentally and physically. I hadn't really paid a whole lot of attention to things like Special Olympics, Paralympics, etc. before that, but since working there I realize how important events like those and this one are. Anything that can give people hope and joy in their life where there may not be a lot elsewhere should be celebrated.

Yep. I dare say more important…. Or at least equal to.       Close by me there is a purpose built baseball field for a league called “ the miracle league”.   It’s a short field.  Artificial turf. No dirt.  And they host special needs and folks with other situations in teams where they get to experience a modified version ( safe ball ) of baseball.   I came to know this because it’s adjacent to the baseball fields my kid used to play on.  One night we heard the loudest cheers coming from the top tier field , and once my kids game was done we walked up to see.   I’m telling you it was pure joy.  Some kids required a helper ( blind ) Some in wheel chairs , some were just standouts ….. and really were heroes in the game. .  You’d just have to see it.  My son and I asked after if they ever needed any help , and to my surprise , the man told us they had a waiting list of volunteers about 50 people long.  Loll.  His exact words were “ it’s so popular , that we need a second field.  “.   The place was crowded. And the  players , my goodness I’ve never seen smiles like that. It truly was a pure sight.  And I can only imagine the self esteem boost that carried over to their entire lives.  
 

anyway, I had no idea the USga did this.  I’m very glad find out they do.  This is growing the game.  

 

 

 

https://carolinamiracleleague.org/about/

[psapitch13]

I hope ya'll were able to catch some of the coverage of the event this year!

[psapitch13]

For everyone interested in this event, they will now have some qualifying events taking place throughout the country!

 

https://championships.usga.org/usadaptiveopen/2024/articles/u-s--adaptive-open-to-conduct-nationwide-qualifying.html?fbclid=IwAR0IRJXHXdsnzqjofgeLLOCqQrPERlahvX5Eahv3zoJ2xsuuGkkURopiuss

[mshills]

^^^ saw that.  My play has been no where close to being competitive lately, but I will still enter this year and get an idea where I stand.  Can't wait!