2022 US Adaptive Open

[Mr.Cleeks]

Not sure if this belongs in tour talk, but the Inaugural US Adaptive Open is taking place this week. One of the cooler events I've seen and kind of a shame that LIV is taking away any limelight from this.

 

 

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/2022/u-s--adaptive-open.html#!latest 

[golfer07840]

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

[Mr.Cleeks]

1 minute ago, golfer07840 said:

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

Love #6, kind of a shame there's no tv coverage

[golfer07840]

1 minute ago, KizIsTheMan said:

Love #6, kind of a shame there's no tv coverage

Agreed. 

 

Been a long time since I played it. For awhile it was the hardest course I had ever played. But at the time I was a beginner and probably a 30 handicap . I really had no business being on that course, but at the time my in-laws lived in Pinehurst, so got to play it for nothing. 

 

What a glorious 118 that was 😂. 

[jdl]

Was following a bit on twitter, some of these swings are pretty amazing!

[ebeck66]

Quite the tournament and some amazing swings.

[PorkChopExpress]

Pretty cool

 

Someone is gonna say so I might as well, "Look, 54 holes"

[Yuck]

As a teen, played golf several times with a man in his late 50’s who had lost his left arm and golfed righty.  He typically shot in the mid - 70’s at that point.  Back in the day he won what was called the national amputees championship a couple times.  My bet is you will see some great scores in this USGA event.

[psapitch13]

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

[aenemated]

2 hours ago, psapitch13 said:

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

 

As they should be. I assure you, they're not representative of the WRX community at large. 

 

Most of us found the event inspiring and I can say I personally have great admiration for all you folks who participated. 

[Mr.Cleeks]

3 hours ago, psapitch13 said:

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

 

Sorry for some of the comments. How was the experience?

 

[psapitch13]

7 minutes ago, aenemated said:

 

As they should be. I assure you, they're not representative of the WRX community at large. 

 

Most of us found the event inspiring and I can say I personally have great admiration for all you folks who participated. 

Your support is appreciated and this event was a culmination of years of hard work from people in the various impairment communities continually lobbying for representation in high-level golf.   

 

The representatives of the USGA and the volunteers were just as excited throughout the week as most of the players.  

[psapitch13]

8 minutes ago, KizIsTheMan said:

 

Sorry for some of the comments. How was the experience?

 

Couldn't have been better.  I can try to write a more thorough description of my experience if you're interested or if you have any specific questions.

Edited July 22, 2022 by psapitch13

[psapitch13]

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. 

I really liked the course. It was in excellent condition.  Blue tees played ~6800 yards for the players in the men's championship.  For reference, that is nearly 1000 yards longer than most adaptive events.  

[Soloman1]

I volunteered translating at a world amputee golf tournament held in Tsuchirua, Japan about 12(?) years ago. I lived about 25 minutes away at the time and played the Pete Dye course often.

 

Taken from my phone in winter, you can see the mounding typical of Peter Dye courses:

 

 

 

 

 

Had players from almost everywhere except Antarctica and some were great players and very competitive. When I was a young assistant, I also taught many amputees from a local VA hospital. I learned more from them than they did from me. It was always interesting to find ways to adapt their circumstances to a method that suited not only the physical, but their mental approach. Some leg amputees were OK sitting on back-side of a cart and some have would nothing to do with that. Whatever worked for them, not for me.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by Soloman1

[psapitch13]

@Soloman1Awesome! I'm hoping to get to some events outside the US in the next few years.

[deathbymuffin]

5 hours ago, psapitch13 said:

Couldn't have been better.  I can try to write a more thorough description of my experience if you're interested or if you have any specific questions.

Would love to hear a little more about the experience.  How did you play?  Did you meet your expectations?  How was the crowd?

 

By the way, I think it's awesome that the USGA is doing this.  I'm a childhood cancer survivor and though my docs were able to salvage my affected limb, it's been a minor disability for me my entire life due to effects from radiation and surgeries.  I've been playing golf for 30+ years without being able to post on my left leg, so I can sort of appreciate the inherent difficulty in playing the game when not fully abled.  

[psapitch13]

19 minutes ago, deathbymuffin said:

Would love to hear a little more about the experience.  How did you play?  Did you meet your expectations?  How was the crowd?

 

By the way, I think it's awesome that the USGA is doing this.  I'm a childhood cancer survivor and though my docs were able to salvage my affected limb, it's been a minor disability for me my entire life due to effects from radiation and surgeries.  I've been playing golf for 30+ years without being able to post on my left leg, so I can sort of appreciate the inherent difficulty in playing the game when not fully abled.  

Thank you for sharing. I’ll work on a more comprehensive write-up and post. 

[Mr.Cleeks]

35 minutes ago, psapitch13 said:

Thank you for sharing. I’ll work on a more comprehensive write-up and post. 

Would love that along with some pictures (only if you're comfortable sharing!)

[grm24]

14 hours ago, psapitch13 said:

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

Unfortunately there are always a couple of sad sack "those guys" in many threads around here lately. Congrats on your participation in the event. Please ignore the couple of people in their own sad sack way they have tried to denigrate/criticize this great event the USGA put on. You and all of the other competitors in the event are true inspirations.  Thank You.

[mshills]

On 7/22/2022 at 7:18 PM, psapitch13 said:

Thank you for sharing. I’ll work on a more comprehensive write-up and post. 

Would love that, please do!

 

My goal is to compete in 2023….can’t wait!

[psapitch13]

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. 

 

 

[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.