Tag: U.S. Adaptive Open Championship

Ryanne Jackson, Kipp Popert win titles at 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst

The USGA’s newest championship will head to Sand Creek Station in Kansas next year.

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VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — The defending champions put up a good fight but it wasn’t enough as the United States Golf Association has crowned two new winners.

Ryanne Jackson and Kipp Popert claimed the women’s and men’s overall titles at the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open, the USGA’s newest championship that puts the world’s best disabled golfers – 96 this year – in the spotlight.

The field is spread across eight categories: Arm Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Leg Impairment, Multiple Limb Amputee, Neurological Impairment, Seated Players, Short Stature and Vision Impairment. Players must have a WR4GD Pass and a handicap index of 36.4 or less, Players with an Intellectual Impairment must also have Virtus II1 International Eligibility.

Jackson, 25, won the neurological impairment category in 2022 but finished runner-up in the overall to Kim Moore last year in the North Carolina Sandhills but got her revenge Wednesday at Pinehurst No. 6. The St. Petersburg, Florida, native shot a 4-over 76 to finish at 9 over for the championship, five shots clear of Moore (76). Jackson, who was diagnosed with scapuloperoneal muscular dystrophy as a college freshman after a decorated high school athletics career in both basketball and golf, also claimed the neurological category for the second consecutive year.

“I knew coming in that there were some new people entering the tournament that I hadn’t heard of,” said Jackson. “I didn’t know what to expect with their games, but I knew Kim Moore was going to be my biggest returning competitor since she was the reigning champ. So being here at the end is a very nice feeling.”

Currently an EMT, Jackson is starting paramedic school in August.

Playing in the final foursome of the day, Popert was in a tightly contested battle the entire round with defending men’s champion Simon Lee, 18-hole leader Conor Stone and Mike Browne. Just when it seemed like the Englishman was going to cruise to the victory, Popert made bogey on No. 17 and double bogey on the par-4 18th to open the door for Simon, whose putt to force a playoff on the last just slid past the cup.

“I worked really hard for many years,” said Popert. “I didn’t envision winning it with a double, but sometimes you’ve got to win ugly. It was good out there. I played well today. I’m extremely chuffed to win.”

Popert started playing golf when he was 3 years old. The 25-year-old was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth and has undergone several surgeries, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the world’s best disabled golfers. Last May he won Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour Betfred British Masters and finished fourth here at the Adaptive last July.

All four players in the final men’s grouping finished even or under par, and each won their respective impairment categories with ease by four shots or more.

2023 U.S. Adaptive Open
The champions of the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort No. 6 in Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo: Jeff Haynes/USGA)

2023 U.S. Adaptive Open results

Arm Impairment

  • Men: Conor Stone, 1 under
  • Women: Abigail Davis, 42 over

Leg Impairment

  • Men: Mike Browne, Even
  • Women: Kim Moore, 14 over

Multiple Limb Amputee

  • Men: Evan Mathias, 23 over
  • Women: Cindy Lawrence, 114 over

Intellectual Impairment

  • Men: Simon Lee, 1 under
  • Women: Natasha Stasiuk, 33 over

Neurological

  • Women: Ryanne Jackson, 9 over
  • Men: Kipp Popert, 2 under

Seated Players

  • Men: Max Togisala, 16 over
  • Women: Ann Hayes, 81 over

Vision Impairment

  • Men: Kiefer Jones, 24 over
  • Women: Amanda Cunha, 33 over

Short stature

  • Men: Kurtis Barkley, 5 over
  • Women: None entered the category

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She said yes: Kelsey Koch gets engaged on the green at 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open

Koch won’t leave Pinehurst with a trophy or medal, but she will take home a brand new ring.

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Kelsey Koch won’t leave the Sandhills of North Carolina with a trophy or medal, but she will take home a brand new ring.

Following her final round of the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6 on Wednesday afternoon, Koch was proposed to by her boyfriend and caddie, Josh White, on the ninth green, her last hole of the championship. And of course she said yes.

“I did not have any idea but I hoped and prayed. I hoped and prayed because life is so much more than golf and what better of an opportunity,” she said after the round. “This experience as a whole has been so humbling to be here. Like I always say, it’s not what you do on the course it’s what you do off the course, right? To be here and to have this, we’re so blessed to start this way.”

The 31-year-old made her adaptive debut this week in the leg impairment category. Koch was born without a left tibia bone and her leg was amputated at 11 months old.

“I don’t know any different,” said Koch, who owns a yoga studio back home. “I don’t want to know any different.”

The Grand Blanc, Michigan, native finished 20th out of 21 women in the field, and while she may not have had the week she wanted on the course, she’ll leave Pinehurst with countless new memories, a fiancé and wedding to plan.

“Golf has been difficult for me this week,” said Koch as she hugged her husband to be, “but that doesn’t matter.”

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Meet the 22 golfers at the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open with plus handicaps

Of the 96 players in the field this week in Pinehurst, 22 have handicaps better than scratch.

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VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — A field of 96 golfers descended upon Pinehurst No. 6 this week for the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open, the second playing of the USGA’s newest championship that showcases some of the best disabled golfers from around the world.

Just how good are they? A total of 22 players boast plus handicaps, with 10 coming in at a full shot better than scratch.

There’s a four-way tie at the top for best handicap, with Kipp Popert (Neurological Impairment), Simon Lee (Intellectual Impairment), Hayato Yoshida (Leg Impairment) and Mike Browne (Leg Impairment) all owning handicaps of +3.7.

Get to know the 22 players in the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open field who play with plus handicaps.

Four 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open competitors team up to make a difference with Moving Foreward foundation

“No golf instructors know how to really navigate what anybody out here is dealing with.”

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VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — “I don’t want to slow anyone down.”

“I don’t have the right equipment.”

“We don’t have anybody to teach us.”

Adam Benza has heard those responses time and time again as reasons why more people from the disabled community haven’t tried to play golf. There are clinics all over the country for adaptive golfers, but a lot are run by instructors who aren’t familiar with the community they’re teaching.

That’s why nearly ten years ago Benza enlisted the help of fellow 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open competitors Kenny Bontz, Chad Pfeifer and Kellie Valentine to create Moving Foreward, a foundation that aims to get more disabled people involved in the game through clinics and by providing equipment for those in need.

‘I was like, ‘Hey, we’re the best of every category. We’re some of the best players in United States,’” said Benza, 41, who lost his leg to Ewing’s sarcoma at 9 years old. “Let’s do this, go and teach golf professionals to make it more available so they have more knowledge on how our prosthetics work, how we swing, Kellie has one arm, they’re both (above knee amputees) and I’m a (below knee amputee).”

PHOTOS: 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open

“No golf instructors know how to really navigate what anybody out here is dealing with,” added Benza, who studied professional golf management at Penn State. “So that was kind of our main goal, to make it more accessible for all of the communities so they could go to a golf professional and know that they know what they’re talking about and how to deal with this us.”

“Adam does a lot of the day-to-day stuff,” said Pfeifer. “He does a lot of clinics, he’s helping teach other pros how to teach adaptive people, how to adjust to whatever their disability is, all the different adaptive equipment that’s out there.”

None other than 13-time PGA Tour winner Jordan Spieth, whose parents went to the same high school as Benza, was the foundation’s first donor, but Benza didn’t shy away from his disappointment that more people don’t want to donate.

“We would like to do more clinics, more for awareness, golf tournaments raising money for people to go to events like this, but people don’t understand that it’s all coming out of our own pockets,” he explained. “To be able to go to people and say, ‘You’ve never played an adaptive event, we’re gonna pay for you to go out there, we’ll get used clubs,’ stuff like that, that’s our main goal, just to get more and more people out there.”

“That’s what we want to do, it’s just when push comes to shove and you go to ask somebody they’re like, ‘We already have our budget planned out for this year. We’ll talk to you next year.’”

But next year doesn’t always come.

“We’re always looking for money, that drives a lot, but that money goes towards great things like getting these players out on the golf course and golf clubs in their hands,” added Pfeifer. “Any kind of support is always helpful. Even if you know somebody who might have a disability, let them know about us and let them know about adaptive golf. We’d love to see him out here, no matter what their injury is.”

Find out more information on Moving Foreward here.

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Player feedback helps USGA improve 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open after positive debut

“We never felt like we were working. It’s really exciting to be here and be a part of this and still is.”

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VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — The United States Golf Association unveiled its 15th championship last summer here in the Sandhills of North Carolina, and after an overwhelmingly positive reaction, the U.S. Adaptive Open is back with very few tweaks to its inaugural set up.

“The reaction was so positive. It was just so much fun for all of us,” said championship director Stephanie Parel. “We never felt like we were working. It’s really exciting to be here and be a part of this and still is.”

It’s rare for the USGA to hold a championship in the same location two years in a row, but it’s been a luxury for golf’s governing body in the states to host the Adaptive at Pinehurst No. 6 once again. The championship will take the next step as it heads off to Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas, July 8-10, 2024, but for two more rounds its proud to call the Cradle of American Golf home.

“The resort staff here and their volunteers are exceptional. They made it very easy for us,” said Parel. “We really like this golf course for this championship, it has special features that align well with this championship.”

With its tee-to-green catch players and easily accessible bunkers, Pinehurst No. 6 is a perfect course to host the championship, and few changes were needed for 2023.

2023 U.S. Adaptive Open
Kellie Valentine plays a shot on the fifth hole during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Monday, July 10, 2023. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

“We didn’t change a whole lot about the course setup in terms of like grass heights and things like that. We did add another set of tees so that we have now three for men and three for women,” said Parel. “That allows us to set it up for the same for both genders and all impairment categories.”

For example, players in the arm impairment category who are playing with just one arm will tee it up from the middle tees, while players with two hands or a hand and attachment on the club will play form the back tees. The front tees will only be used by seated players.

Thanks to feedback from players, the USGA is also using yellow flagsticks and caddie bibs for visually impaired players this year.

“We want the players to know we really embrace this demographic of the player and we want to do everything we can for them and give them the national championship they deserve,” explained Parel. “We really feel lucky to be providing that opportunity, and we’re listening to them. We asked for feedback, they gave it and we were really pleased to receive it.”

The three-day, 54-hole event, which started Monday, will crown both men’s and women’s overall champions from the field of 96 players, as well as individual winners from both genders from the eight categories: Arm Impairment, Leg Impairment, Multiple Limb Amputee, Vision Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Neurological Impairment, Seated Players and Short Stature.

Golf Channel will dedicate the final 30 minutes of Wednesday’s Golf Central (5-6 p.m. ET) to the U.S. Adaptive Open trophy ceremony. Entry to the championship is free, and unlike most golf events, there are no rope lines, which means fans can get close to the action and experience just how great the Adaptive Open is.

“First and foremost, these are phenomenal players who love golf like the rest of us. They have exceptional skill and they’re also just fun to be around, they really are enjoying themselves out here,” said Parel. “They’re great with everybody, they really enjoy the social aspect of the game, which you don’t often see in competitions. It’s really a pleasure to be around them.”

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How Conor Stone went from not being able to swing a club two weeks ago to leading the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open

“Yeah, to be honest, it was easy. I don’t know where it came from,” said Stone of his opening round.

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VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — Conor Stone couldn’t swing a club the last two weeks.

The 28-year-old from Ireland won the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open male arm impairment category in the inaugural year of the championship for golfers with disabilities, but he was planning to withdraw from this year’s championship. Fortunately for Stone, he already had his flight and hotel booked.

So, his physiotherapist Jerry McDonough got to work on his back and Stone made the trip to Pinehurst No. 6, where he shot a 5-under 67 to not only lead his category but the men’s overall leaderboard after the first round on Monday.

“Yeah, to be honest, it was easy. I don’t know where it came from,” a laughing Stone said of his opening round. “But happy to be able to hit a golf ball good again. I’ve always been able to shoot these scores, but I just haven’t done it in a long time, so it’s nice to do it on a big stage like this.”

Stone, born in Dublin, began playing golf at 13 and was a scratch player four years later. During his Paddy Harrington Scholarship at Maynooth University in Ireland, Stone was diagnosed with a progressive form of Kyphoscoliosis. Less than a decade after picking up a game he loved, Stone was unable to play due to the severity of the pain and curve to his spine. From there, Stone underwent a 15-hour surgery before his 22nd birthday to correct his spine, but he was left with little flexibility and wasn’t able to rotate. Following two long years of rehab, Stone has worked his way back and is now on the positive side of scratch with a handicap of +1.1.

The Irishman got off to a hot start with an eagle on the first hole and added five birdies and two bogeys to hold a one-shot lead over defending men’s overall champion Simon Lee (68) and a three-shot advantage over Kipp Popert (70) in third.

“I was kind of nervous after that because the juices were flowing after I holed that putt for eagle on the first, so I was slightly nervous going forward. But then three or four holes in, I kind of settled it, and I felt fine after that,” Stone said of his round. “If I had made a birdie putt or a two-footer for birdie, I probably would have felt a lot better. But yeah, obviously I’m happy with the eagle, so it kicked off the round.”

Stone got off to a slow start last year and attributed his low round of the day on Monday to course knowledge and the July humidity in the Sandhills of North Carolina.

“I was not used to the heat and the humidity that we had here. I was much more confident coming over this time,” said Stone. “Well, in my mind, the way my golf was, I wasn’t confident, but I felt more comfortable on the course.”

Stone plays in the arm impairment category, but his real issue is his spine, where he has 60 pieces of metal holding it together.

“I have good days and have bad days, and to be honest I thought my time was up,” he explained. “I thought my back was just giving in because I’ve lost 15 miles an hour club head speed in the last six, seven months. I’ve lost 20, 30 yards off my irons. It’s been scary. I’ve been worried about what’s happened to my body.”

“But I’m hitting it shorter now, and look, it’s fine. The ball was going straight. I was still hitting greens,” he continued. “I might be hitting two clubs more than what I did last year, but yeah, it’s fine. But I have to stretch, trying not to do too much. I have to keep loose, keep moving, and hope that I don’t do too much.”

After Saturday’s practice round, Stone did a range session and felt his back giving out on him. He’s self-admittedly “not too holy of a person, but I was saying my prayers Saturday night that I could still swing a club Sunday morning,” he said with a chuckle.

The Dublin native has a day job where he works 40-50 hours per week for McGuirks Golf – think the Irish version of the PGA Tour Superstore – and praised his boss, Michael McGuirk, for letting him bring his laptop and work on the road. He even had to go log a few hours after his round.

“I’m very lucky to have people around me that are helping me do things like this,” said Stone. “It’s worked out well.”

With two more days of solid work on the course, Stone might be bringing a trophy back home with him.

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Photos: 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6

Check out some of the best photos of the week from Pinehurst.

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. — The defending champions put up a good fight but it wasn’t enough as the United States Golf Association has crowned two new winners.

Ryanne Jackson and Kipp Popert claimed the women’s and men’s overall titles at the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open, the USGA’s newest championship that puts the world’s best disabled golfers – 96 this year – in the spotlight.

The field is spread across eight categories: Arm Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, Leg Impairment, Multiple Limb Amputee, Neurological Impairment, Seated Players, Short Stature and Vision Impairment. Players must have a WR4GD Pass and a handicap index of 36.4 or less, Players with an Intellectual Impairment must also have Virtus II1 International Eligibility.

Nichols: Forget the LIV-PGA feud; the U.S. Adaptive Open has reminded us of golf’s true spirit

Many believe the very soul of golf is at stake. But not those who attended the U.S. Adaptive Open.

Golf has been in a chaotic state of late. Many believe the very soul of the game is at stake. But not here at the U.S. Adaptive Open. Not at Pinehurst No. 6, where the only talk of money came when friends lined up at the bar to get a drink off Jeremy Bittner after he bagged the championship’s first ace.

Talk of tour golf centered around whether or not this giant leap in the adaptive game could lead to a circuit linked with the PGA Tour. Much like the DP World Tour has with the G4D (Golf for Disabled) Tour, a seven-event series that utilizes the same course during the same tournament week.
Brian Bemis almost missed his first-round tee time on No. 6 because he forgot his parking pass. The fact that the event required a parking pass was a testament to how official everything felt to these 96 players. Bemis, a man who plays golf with crutches because, after 57 surgeries and three amputations, he can no longer wear a prosthetic, took great pride in clipping on the same kind of player badge he’s seen U.S. Open contestants wear for decades.

“This is the greatest thing I have ever received from playing golf,” he beamed.

To witness Bemis hit a golf ball on one leg is nothing short of extraordinary. Jake Olson, a blind golfer who works as a strength and conditioning coach by trade, played alongside Bemis for two rounds.

“That dude, by swinging on one leg,” said Olson, “probably does more athletic movement and more incredible movement than I’d say any athlete bilaterally on any major sports team in the country.”

Respect runs deep at the Adaptive Open. Contestants and their families understand the amount of fortitude and strength it has taken to become part of this historic field. There are 24 players with handicaps that are better than scratch. Pros and amateurs, men and women, compete alongside each other. The oldest player is 80-year-old Judi Brush (leg impairment) and the youngest is 15-year-old Sophia Howard (arm impairment).

“This isn’t about money and contracts,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan, “this is about meaning.”

Ken Green won five times on the PGA Tour before losing his leg in an RV accident. In the final round, Green teed it up with Jordan Thomas, a 33-year-old who lost both legs in a boating accident at age 16. Thomas started a foundation that provides prosthetics to children while he was still in the hospital and plays off a handicap index of +1.6.

Players in this field talk about growing the game in ways that are life-changing. Even life-saving.

Randy Shack, an Army vet whose spinal cord was injured by five roadside bombs, was homebound for nearly a decade because he didn’t want to go out in public in a wheelchair.

Now he’s an ambassador for PGA HOPE, a program that seeks to engage veterans in the game. Shack, who competed in the seated category at Pinehurst, marveled that this is the first adaptive tournament he’s played in that had wheelchair-accessible bathrooms on the course.

Gratitude overflows here.

As with any first, there’s room for improvement. Finding a way to televise what happened here would be a fine place to start. A “Live From” show on Golf Channel that highlights not only what these players have overcome, but their jaw-dropping athleticism would go a long way toward showing what’s possible.

The world needs to see this.

Dennis Walters plays from a. greenside bunker during a practice round at the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Sunday, July 17, 2022. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

Dennis Walters, the renowned trick-shot artist who is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, said at the start of the week that this must have been what it felt like to be Horace Rawlins in 1895, when the first U.S. Open was staged with 11 competitors. There were seven this week in Walters’ seated category.

“This is the first one,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to be here.”

But not without his dog, Gussie, short for Augusta. There were two service dogs in the field this week, the millionth reason why this event was better than any other this year.

Luke Carroll, 17, was one of four teenagers in Pinehurst. When he was 10, Carroll played AAU basketball and was the quarterback on his football team and the left-handed pitcher on his travel baseball team. One Saturday, Carroll complained about back pain after a basketball game. The next day, he was paralyzed from the waist down with idiopathic transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord.

Carroll had to learn how to walk again and refused to live his life in a wheelchair. He fell in love with golf, and now carries a +0.3 handicap index and a dream of playing college golf at Vanderbilt.

“I’ve never played with anyone else like me,” said Carroll of his first adaptive tournament.

Luke Carroll, Neurological Impairment, hits his tee shot on hole 12 during the first round at the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

Bemis would like to see the USGA expand the Adaptive Open to include regional qualifiers for players who aren’t already exempt, like they do for other championships.

“That way it’s more of a truer Open, if you will,” he said.

This week was an important step toward adding golf to the Paralympic Games, a hot topic of conversation in this close-knit community.

The USGA’s 15th championship will no doubt inspire both the disabled and able-bodied to push through boundaries in the pursuit of excellence.

As one parent on the range said before the start of the final round, what a gift this week has been.

No one here will ever be the same.

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PGA teaching pro Chris Biggins, born with cerebral palsy, carries a +2.8 handicap and is among favorites at U.S. Adaptive Open

“It just felt cool to do stuff that was extraordinary … stuff that you really shouldn’t be able to do, I guess.”

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. ­­– Chris Biggins remembers standing in the front yard in Clarksville, Maryland, and calling a golf shot that hooked 30 yards around a tree to his brother, who caught the plastic ball with a baseball glove. Biggins’ friend, Ian Chalmers, called it one of the most incredible things he’d ever seen.

“As someone who is not very impressive even walking,” said Biggins, who was born with cerebral palsy, “being able to impress people with something was something I got addicted to. It just felt cool to do stuff that was extraordinary … stuff that you really shouldn’t be able to do, I guess.”

Chris Biggins watches his tee shot on hole 14 during the first round at the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6) in Village of Pinehurst, N.C. on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Robert Beck/USGA)

Biggins, 30, opened up the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open with a 2-over 74, four shots off the pace set by U.S. Army veteran Chad Pfeifer in the men’s division at Pinehurst No. 6. The best golfer in his county growing up, Biggins played collegiate golf at Methodist and is now Director of Player Development at The Country Club of Birmingham. Last year, the plus 2.8 handicap shot 9-under 63 en route to victory at the GSGA Adaptive Golf Championship.

“Looking back,” said Chalmers, who drove over five hours from Maryland to watch Biggins compete on Monday, “we didn’t give him a break for a second. We didn’t treat him any different from the start.”

•••

At her son’s one-year check-up, Robin Biggins asked the doctor how she could teach him how to go from lying to sitting and from sitting to standing. After checking out a few things, the doctor came over and hugged Robin, telling her that she’d need to have him checked out at the local children’s hospital.

Robin fought back tears on the 17th hole Monday as she relived that life-changing moment.

As they started going to therapy twice a week, Robin couldn’t help but think they were taking up someone else’s spot. As Chris grew older, however, the tightness became more apparent.

Biggins had braces on both legs until the 10th grade. In all, he’s had 17 procedures. Robin said it usually takes two therapists to pull his legs apart, they’re so tight from the spastic diplegia. Robin said Chris pushed himself to do everything his brothers, Patrick and Michael, did.

While many in the field this week use a cart, Biggins walks the fairways to keep from tightening up even more.

“He didn’t realize, I think, that he was different until the second or third grade,” said Robin. “There were one or two bullies, and the other kids didn’t put up with it.”

Chris Biggins and fiancé Heather Tapscott post after Round 1 at Pinehurst No. 6. (Golfweek photo)

Heather Tapscott met her fiancé on Bumble, an online dating app. She saw a picture of Biggins high-fiving his dog Hank in the mountains and was smitten. Several days after their match, Biggins told her about his disability and said he’d understand if she didn’t want to pursue anything.

“I felt awful when he told me that,” she said. “He shouldn’t have to tell people that.”

Their first date was Sept. 13, 2019. They plan to elope next February in Zion National Park. Biggins would’ve liked a wedding, she said. He’s been the best man in so many already. But, as a person who can count her dear friends on two fingers, Tapscott didn’t want to begin a deep search to even out the wedding party.

They’ll have a gathering when they return to Birmingham.

“Anywhere we go in town,” she said, “everybody loves Chris.”

Especially the kids. Coach Biggs, as he’s known, runs the junior program at The Country Club of Birmingham and last year, 243 kids competed in the club championship. Biggins expects even more when it’s held in two weeks. Tapscott recently went to the club to watch Biggins play Elvis in a skit. Naturally, the crowd went wild.

When asked if the kids were blowing up his phone this week, Biggins said he’d kept it off, just as he tells his students to do at tournaments.

“I can’t possibly break my own rules,” he said, smiling.

In fact, Biggins said competing against the 10- to 18-year-olds at the club ahead of this event has been the best training he’s had in years.

“I’m playing for them,” he said.

•••

For years, Biggins dreamed of skiing in the Paralympics. Every winter he’d go out to Park City, Utah, for several months to train at the National Ability Center. After last season, he decided to hang up his skis and focus on the next chapter of life with Tapscott.

But the Paralympics dream is still alive, however – for golf. Biggins’ father, Mark, hopes that with the USGA and R&A now so supportive of Adaptive Golf, that golf might soon be included.

Biggins already travels the world for the G4D (Golf for Disabled) Tour, a DP World Tour-sponsored, seven-event circuit that is held on the same course during the same tournament week. Next month, he’ll travel to Northern Ireland for an event held during the ISPS Handa World Invitational. Mark said officials take care of the disabled players in those events as if they were Rory McIlroy.

Biggins brothers: Patrick, Michael, Chris courtesy photo)

As Mark Biggins made his way around No. 6, he made a point to thank volunteers. One by one, they responded with how inspired they feel this week.

“I look around,” said Mark, “and all I see is heroes all around me.”

Biggins didn’t try to ride a bike until high school, his mom said. The motion of flexing the foot proved extremely difficult, but he made it work.

Chalmers laughed as he recalled a time he and Biggins were waiting for the school bus when Biggins fell down the icy hill in front of his house. When Chalmers tried to help, he too fell down, and they spent a good deal of time flailing around on the ice as the bus waited.

The kind and laid-back Biggins always has had a good sense of humor about things. His fiancé says she’s responsible for the beer when they go out to breweries.

“He shouldn’t be carrying delicate things,” she said.

With the exception of the trophy, of course.

“This is going to be one of the greatest weeks of my life,” said Biggins.

“Regardless how I end up shooting. It’s just such a monumental event. Hopefully, people watching will want to pick up golf and want to start playing because of us.”

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5 things to know about the new U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst, including who’s in the field and details on four separate tees

Here’s what you need to know about the USGA’s newest championship.

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, North Carolina – The inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open begins on Monday at Pinehurst No. 6 and 96 competitors are on hand for the historic event.

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Amy Bockerstette, who rose to fame with her fabulous par from a greenside bunker at the WM Phoenix Open alongside playing partner Gary Woodland, will compete in the intellectual impairment category. She recently fielded a good-luck call from One Direction’s Niall Horan. She talks to Woodland weekly.

“I love playing golf tournaments,” said an excited Bockerstette on the eve of the event. Bockerstette and her family have since founded the I Got This Foundation to provide golf instruction, playing opportunities and organized events for people with Down Syndrome and other intellectual disabilities.

The 54-hole Adaptive Open will be staged July 18-20 and will feature at least five male players and two females in each impairment category: arm impairment, leg impairment, multiple limb amputee, vision impairment, intellectual impairment, neurological impairment, seated players and short stature.

There are 15 players in the field with a Handicap Index better than 0.

Here are five things to know about the USGA’s 15th championship: