Latest news with #U.S.AdaptiveOpenChampionship
USA Today
5 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
U.S. Adaptive Open tees off Monday. What you need to know about this feel-good event
There may not be a more feel-good golf tournament than this. The U.S. Adaptive Open Championship returns for a fourth year and in 2025, Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland, is the host venue. Once again, this tournament is sure to produce a slew of amazing stories. The U.S. Golf Association received 260 entries and the field for the 2025 tournament will have 96 golfers. What is the U.S. Adaptive Open? The USGA says the Adaptive Open is "open to any professional or amateur golfer with a Handicap Index not exceeding 36.4 who has an eligible impairment confirmed by a WR4GD Pass." Those impairments are upper limb impairment, lower limb impairment, multiple limb amputee, vision impairment, intellectual impairment, coordination impairment (formerly neurological impairment), seated players and short stature. More from the USGA: Now in its fourth edition, this national championship showcases the world's best golfers with disabilities. The U.S. Adaptive Open Championship serves as the USGA's 15th national championship, showcasing and celebrating the adaptive golf community by providing them the stage to achieve their dreams and compete for a national championship. What is the format for the 2025 U.S. Adaptive Open? The format calls for 18 holes of stroke play on each of the three days. There will be a cut after 36 holes for the low 20 scores and ties for men, the low 10 scores and ties for women, the low three men and ties and the low two women and ties from each impairment category, plus any player within five strokes of their impairment category leader. Watch: Scenes from the 2024 U.S. Adaptive Open at Sand Creek Station How to watch the 2025 U.S. Adaptive Open The final round of the 2025 U.S. Adaptive Open will be live on the Golf Channel for the first time. Coverage will start at 2 p.m. ET and go for two hours. The USGA will have coverage on that will include live scoring, video highlights, course information, written features, photos and video features.
USA Today
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Unbreakable record? Trick shot artist Dennis Walters went 51 years between USGA events
Dennis Walters holds a USGA record that likely never will be broken. The 75-year-old World Golf Hall of Fame member and trick-shot artist extraordinaire, who will compete in the fourth annual U.S. Adaptive Open this week in Maryland, went 51 years between USGA championships. When Walters first heard that the USGA was creating a championship for disabled golfers, he called the USGA and asked if his service dog, Augusta or Gus, Gussy or Gus Man, his co-star in his inspirational hour-long golf show, could sit in his cart during the championship. When told that Gussy would be allowed, Walters hung up and filed an entry. 'So Gussy gets all settled in his seat on the cart and he sits there and he doesn't move," Walters said. 'At nine, I give him a pee break and lunch and then at 18 he gets another pee break and a snack.' Walters won the seated division of the inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, a tournament open to male and female golfers with confirmed world rankings in eight separate impairment categories, in 2022, a span of 51 years since he had competed in the 1971 U.S. Amateur, which at that time was contested at medal play, at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware. The top eight at the time qualified for the Masters. He finished 11th, two strokes out. 'I'm still upset about it,' he said. Walters is the Adaptive Open's oldest player this year. Of the 96 players in the 54-hole event field, 72 previously played in one or more of the past iterations of the USGA's newest championship and 24 will be making their championship debut, which begins Monday. Walters is the most famous seated golfer in the adaptive golf world. He plays and performs from a specialized golf cart with a seat that swivels, allowing him to strike shots, while strapped with his legs dangling from the side of the cart. In 2019, Walters was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and previously was awarded an Honorary Lifetime Member of The PGA of America and recognized as a winner of a Ben Hogan Award for Courage. This week he returns to Woodmont Country Club (South Course) in Rockville, Maryland, just a short drive from our nation's capital. Fifty-three years ago, on Woodmont's North Course, Walters advanced through second stage of PGA Tour Q-School. He flunked out of Final Stage at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif., and planned to try again. But he never had another chance after being paralyzed from the waist down in a golf cart accident at age 24. Since 1977, Walters has hosted 'The Dennis Walters Golf Show,' a one-hour golf trick shot clinic, traveling over 3.5 million miles to conduct more than 3,000 performances. 'I cut back last year, I did 52 shows. I used to do 100. Had a motorhome and went for like six months,' he said. 'Now I go for like 3 ½-four months, 120 days at the Hampton Inn. I'm not crazy about that but I'm all in on my shows and trying to learn how to play golf better. I still enjoy the shows and I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to get better at golf at 75, which I think is kind of cool. It's just what I do. I think about it every second of every day. I'm a golf nut. I just played in a night golf tournament the other day. One of my friends says, 'You can't get enough golf during the day? You are real sick boy.' First hole, I made a 40-footer. I said, 'I can't make a 40-footer in broad daylight.' ' But he did sink a 20-footer on the final hole to shoot 74 on Oct. 29, and break his age while playing in the Florida Adaptive Open at Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort, the site of an annual PGA Tour event, near Tampa. 'That's a pretty good feat for anyone let alone a guy who has been sitting in a wheelchair for 51 years,' said Walters, whose scorecard is displayed in his locker at the Hall of Fame in Pinehurst, N.C. During the winter Walters, who makes his home in Jupiter, Florida, often tees it up at the Palm Beach Par-3 Golf Course, where he is a threat to shoot even par when retired PGA Tour executive Duke Butler, a friend since 1968 and among the first to visit him in the hospital, comes to town. 'He has the best attitude of any golfer I have ever met,' Butler said. Breaking his age has boosted Walters's confidence, who said his biggest opponent is "father time" and the likes of two-time seated division defending champion Max Togisala, who is 54 years younger than Walters. But Walters loves the challenge and prepped for the competition with a few practice rounds at Oakmont Country Club, site of last month's U.S. Open. One of golf's great inspirational stories, Walters continues to spread his motivational story. Even though he can't walk on his own two legs, he stands tall. He hopes that golf fans will learn the stories of all 96 competitors and tune into the final round on June 9, which is being televised by Golf Channel for the first time. 'I played with a guy in the U.S. Adaptive Open and it was like 95 out and it took six hours to play. We went in the clubhouse afterwards and he took both legs off and had a beer. I said, 'Holy cow,' you know, and he broke 80, too. So, I mean, there's a lot of great stories out here.'
USA Today
02-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
She has dreams of playing for the USA at the Paralympics, but first the U.S. Adaptive Open
Don't be surprised if Meredith Dwyer is competing for Team USA at the Paralympics in 2028. That's her next goal. And while the 30-year-old from Teaneck hasn't been an amputee for very long, she has plenty of experience living up to her own high expectations. Dwyer is one of three New Jersey residents who qualified for the fourth U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, which starts July 7 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland. She was the female medalist at the April 23 qualifier at Haworth Country Club. Brandon Canesi, a 33-year-old from Northfield who was born without hands, finished second on the fourth playoff hole to earn his spot in the 96-player field, which includes individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. Tyler Cashman, a legally blind 22-year-old from Oldwick, is back for another Adaptive Open after finishing second among visually impaired competitors last summer. Dwyer was a three-sport athlete at Academy of the Holy Angels in Demarest, despite being born with a left clubfoot. When her parents, Jim and Joan Dwyer, first met the exuberant toddler at an orphanage in Novgorod, Russia, Jim Dwyer recalled her "running out with this clubfoot and a big smile on her face, jumping over the toys that are there. We fell in love with her." A lifetime playing through pain For years, Meredith walked on the side of her twisted left foot. She had her first surgery at 18 months old. But it didn't correct the problem, so Dwyer dealt with constant pain. She tried braces and orthotics during childhood, but didn't want to be held back. Dwyer just wanted to play sports like any other kid. She played soccer, basketball, tennis and golf while growing up in Teaneck. She earned a spot on the tennis team at Loyola University in Maryland and played for two years. She had her first reconstructive foot surgery in 2016, between graduating from college and starting a master's in social work program at NYU. That started a cycle Dwyer would rather forget. "You're in pain, then you're recovering, then you're rehabbing, then you're ready for the next surgery," said Dwyer, who had the labrum in her right hip repaired twice. She then had another procedure to shave down bones in her foot to try to ease her pain, and finally, in 2020, surgery to fix hip dysplasia. In 2022, Dwyer was living in Santa Barbara, California, and working as a project manager for Amazon Alexa's sports team. She returned to the golf course, and also tried beach volleyball and surfing. Dwyer stepped in a pothole while hiking with her dog and hurt her clubfoot again. After another major surgery, she wasn't healing well. "I couldn't walk two blocks. I had to drive everywhere. I couldn't go to the beach." She recalled thinking, "Is this how I have to live my life? ... Right then, my priority was, 'I don't want to be in pain anymore.'" After meeting with specialists at hospitals around the country, Dwyer moved back to New Jersey and elected to amputate her left foot in October 2023. "I made a decision, but for me, there was no decision. I did everything I could, and this was the last thing left," said Dwyer, who nicknamed her stump "Lefty." "It was surreal to go through it. It's part of me, but I can talk about, 'Lefty is sore. Lefty's in pain.' It helped me heal mentally and cognitively with the process. ... It's not what I planned, but I'm really happy with how it turned out." Dwyer isn't shy about showing Lefty off, even if she's spotted people staring or even taking photos on the street. Her prosthesis is metal with no skin-like covering, and she often chooses to wear skirts instead of pants. More: NJ bill would make insurers cover artificial limbs for athletes. But some feel left out According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one in four Americans is living with a disability, about 14% of which impact mobility. Nearly half of those adults with disabilities get no aerobic physical activity. "I want to own this and be proud of who I am," said Dwyer, who admitted that seeing herself in the mirror without her prosthesis is still sometimes shocking. "I want to show the world what an amputee can do, the quality of life we have. It doesn't hold us back." Championship dreams reborn Dwyer did post-surgery rehab and physical therapy with an eye toward returning to competitive sports. She joined the Navigators Adaptive Sports Club, trying track and field for the first time. Dwyer received a grant from the Challenged Athletes Foundation to buy a running blade and competed for the first time in May. But she discovered she prefers shot put and discus to the track. Dwyer joined CrossFit to build more strength and power. Recent physical therapy sessions have focused on hip rotation and improving her core strength. "She achieves one goal and she's on to the next one," said Giancarlo Rozon, who works with Dwyer at Edge Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Paramus. "She's very driven to keep getting better, which is very inspirational. It's one achievement after the other. I can't even keep up with her." Dwyer has already achieved her goal of qualifying for the Adaptive Open. Next up is improving her game enough to be in the top five female adaptive golfers – and to compete in tournaments alongside non-amputees. The 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles are also a distant dream, but Dwyer would compete in the throwing sports, since adaptive golf isn't on the program. As a front-post golfer, Dwyer has had to adjust her swing to put more weight on her prosthesis. But she's still got solid distance on her drives. She is working on her short game: wedges and putting. She's also focusing on "trying to stay in the moment" and being more relaxed as she goes around the course, according to Daniel Hammer, the teaching pro at Newton Country Club – and another below-knee amputee. Dwyer, who lives with her boyfriend, Brett Gray, in Hackensack, is currently No. 2 in the G2 classification on the USGA rankings, behind one of her mentors, Nancy Lee from New York City. "We went from zero to 100 real quick. This has just exploded," she said. "I have that drive. I always want to be first. ... It's still so new, but I'm an athlete. I want to keep competing."
