| No hyperbole, the most inspired I've felt this year was leaving a photoshoot in New York of the four adaptive golfers featured in our July/August issue by Senior Editor Luke Kerr-Dineen. I was greenside for Jon Rahm's Masters and Wyndham Clark's U.S. Open wins, both emotional, but those guys have nothing on The Incredibles.
"People hear disabled and think of slow play, folks just going out there to do something, but we're as serious as anyone about the game," says Brandon Canesi, who was born without hands and has shot even par. He'll spin back a bunker shot, the grip of the sand wedge tucked in his armpit, and whoever he's paired with might reflexively say something like "Nice hands!" and then become deeply embarrassed and apologetic.
Canesi always laughs and says not to worry. A wonderfully warped sense of humor, you learn, is a theme with adaptive golfers.
Chad Pfeifer, whose lead leg is amputated above the knee and who finished third overall in the inaugural USGA Adaptive Open with rounds of 70-78-68, has played on TV and once used Aimpoint just to mess with the commentators. Another time he drained a birdie putt on a similar line as a blind golfer who then told him, "Thanks for the read."
Cathy Walch, a single-arm competitor who is returning for her second USGA Adaptive Open, which begins today on Pinehurst No. 6., loves the camaraderie. "It's nice, for a change, to be at a place where we're the normies."
Our fourth subject, Trevor Stephens, is a trail leg amputee with whom I had the pleasure of playing this year at The Stanwich Club, a brawny test that has hosted the U.S Mid-Am and tops our Best In State ranking for Connecticut. Our foursome walked in three and a half hours, and Trevor outdrove me by 50 yards only once.
The USGA has some issues to sort with its newest championship. Sharper determinations around who's eligible and for what categories will lead to awkward and difficult conversations in the future. There's a balance between awarding many trophies and showcasing just the highest talent, but it's hard to know.
What's for certain is, adaptive golf has huge potential to grow in participation and become a powerful well of happiness and meaning in this world. Inclusion of golf in the Paralympic Games is a next big global step. It's all exciting and new. I highly recommend tuning into the USGA Adaptive Open this week (Golf Channel will have robust coverage) and perhaps catching our four star subjects. You'll learn something that can help your game.
Golf is continual adaptation. |
