What Happened
In Round 2 of the Inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open on Tuesday at Pinehurst Resort’s Course No. 6, more inspiring stories emerged of players overcoming challenges to compete at a national championship level. No one has done it better so far than Simon Lee, who shot a second consecutive 1-under-par 71 to surge to a two-stroke lead over Felix Norrman of Sweden in the men’s division, while first-round women’s leader Kim Moore of Portage, Mich., struggled a bit but still holds a four-stroke edge heading into Wednesday’s final round.
Lee, a 25-year-old professional from the Republic of Korea who grew up in the U.S., was diagnosed with autism at a young age and has difficulty communicating. But Lee excels with a golf club in his hands, as he showed again on Tuesday. He carded three birdies, including two in his last six holes, and his 142 total is the only 36-hole under par.
Upon being told that he was leading the championship, Lee expressed surprise. “I didn’t realize it,” he said. “I don’t look at leader boards.”
When asked to name his favorite part of golf, Lee responded with a smile, “Driving.” Lee’s caddie, Seulgi Yun, confirmed his player’s analysis by simply stating, “He drives the ball really well and makes birdies.”
Moore, who has a leg impairment, was even par through seven holes, then went double bogey-bogey to finish the front nine and didn’t feel completely comfortable afterward. “The last nine was kind of a grind for sure,” said Moore, who is the head women’s golf coach at Western Michigan University. “I think I was starting to overheat. I’m glad I finished strong with a par, and I’m still leading, so that’s always good. Hopefully I can put together a better round tomorrow and stay a little more hydrated out there.”
Moore’s closest pursuer for the overall women’s title is Ryanne Jackson, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who has a form of muscular dystrophy. Jackson shot a second consecutive 80 for a 16-over 160 total, four strokes behind.
The first-round men’s division leader, Chad Pfeifer of Caldwell, Idaho, wasn’t able to keep pace with Lee, carding a 78 in Round 2. He sits alone in third place, six strokes behind the leader at 4-over 148, but will be in the final group on Wednesday and is eager to rebound.
“I’ll just try to play my best tomorrow,” said Pfeifer. “Maybe being with who I’m chasing might help. I’ll be able to judge off of his game. I’m still going to try to be aggressive and stick to the game plan.”
Also looking for a big final day to perhaps get into contention for the title are Jack Bonifant, of Kensington, Md., and Kipp Popert, of England, who sit seven strokes behind Lee at 5-over 149. Five-time PGA Tour winner Ken Green is one stroke farther back at 6-over 150.
What’s Next
The final round will take place on Wednesday. Tee times will again begin at 8 a.m., with the leading groups going off last.
Notable
Jeremy Bittner, of Moore Township, Pa., recorded his first hole-in-one and the first in championship history on the 189-yard 4th hole. “It was playing downhill and I just took a little off a 6-iron. When it disappeared I actually thought, oh no, what happened, and then everybody started screaming and I was like, oh, that was a good thing. For the next 10 minutes I was shaking.” Bittner finished the day at 6-over 78
Sarah Larson, of Green Bay, Wis., has had too many big numbers on her scorecard through two rounds to be among the contenders in the arm impairment category. But Larson had a highlight-worthy moment on the par-3 12th hole when she stroked a birdie putt from 40 feet that dropped into the side of the hole for a birdie. The putt made it onto Golf Channel’s “Golf Today,” with hosts Damon Hack and George Savaricas providing play by play and speculating on whether Larson had a cheesehead in her golf bag. (She doesn’t). Larson called the Golf Channel appearance “so cool.
Chris Biggins, 30, of Birmingham, Ala., was born with cerebral palsy, slowing his physical development and requiring him to use a walker to get around as a child. He has no issue walking when he plays golf, however, and in fact, he embraces it. Biggins is one of the few Adaptive Open competitors to decline the use of a golf cart, walking the fairways with his caddie. “It helps me stay loose,” Biggins said. “I feel like an athlete when I’m out there.” While Biggins struggled during his second round, shooting an 81 after a first-round 74, he is still in position to contend for the top prize in the neurological impairment category.
A handful of players made significant jumps up the leader board on Tuesday by bouncing back with much lower scores. Rasmus Lia of Sweden, who has a leg impairment, recorded a 2-under 70 that was 14 strokes better than his first-round 84. “I holed a bunch of putts, had more birdies and I played a bit more conservative from the tee, and that kind of helped,” he said. Mandi Sedlak, also with a leg impairment, shot an 80 to improve by 12 strokes over her first-round 92. That moved the Kearney, Neb., resident into third place in the women’s division.
Quotable
“If you look at the leader board, there’s some pretty damned good golfers here. Hopefully this tournament continues to grow and we get more and more people playing, and it’ll be exciting times in the future for sure.” – Jesse Florkowski (arm impairment), 32, of Canada
“I think when the general public sees us or other adaptive people in general that maybe aren’t inspired by golf, I think that they’re going to look at this as hey, I can do this, too. There’s a lot of people that are maybe embarrassed about a disability or a setback that they may have in life, and maybe this will give them courage to go out and try something new. I also think that it’s going to give not only amputees but adaptive players in general more respect on their normal golf courses back home.” – Mandi Sedlak (leg impairment), 42, of Kearney, Neb.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever felt as close to like a Tour event as possible. I’ve been to a lot of golf tournaments before, nothing this spectacular, and to be told by every single person you meet, every volunteer, every spectator, that they’re so impressed and so inspired by everybody and what they’re doing out here, especially some of those at the top of the leader board, that’s some incredible golf. It’s really fun.” – Kiefer Jones (vision impairment), 31, of Canada
“I don’t really play much competitive golf. The feeling of the nerves is very real for me. I was a little nervy on the last, on the first. But to be a part of this field, I was again with Amy [Bockerstette] today and my pairing was amazing. So every time I just look out, the joy and the celebration, for me to be here is just a privilege.” – Jordan Thomas (multiple limb amputee), 33, of Nashville, Tenn
Pinehurst N.C. – Results from Tuesday’s second round of the 2022 U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, played at par-72 Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 6).
Men Overall
Simon Lee, Republic of Korea (II) — 71 – 71 — 142
Felix Norrman, Sweden (II) — 75 – 69 — 144
Chad Pfeifer, Caldwell, Idaho (Leg) — 70 – 78 — 148
Jack Bonifant, Kensington, Md. (N) — 72 – 77 — 149
Kipp Popert, England (N) — 74 – 75 — 149
Ken Green, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Leg) — 77 – 73 — 150
Jordan Thomas, Nashville, Tenn. (MLA) — 76 – 74 — 150
Douglas Shirakura, Somers, N.Y. (Leg) — 75 – 77 — 152
Jesse Florkowski, Canada (Arm) — 75 – 77 — 152
Lucas Jones, Louisville, Kentucky (Leg) — 77 – 77 — 154
Rasmus Lia, Sweden (Leg) — 84 – 70 — 154
Conor Stone, Ireland (Arm) — 81 – 73 — 154
Chris Biggins, Birmingham, Ala. (N) — 74 – 81 — 155
Kurtis Barkley, Canada (SS) — 79 – 76 — 155
Rob Walden, Queen Creek, Ariz. (Arm) — 78 – 78 — 156
Kenny Bontz, Parrish, Fla. (Leg) — 78 – 78 — 156
Eli Villanueva, Fort Bragg, N.C. (Arm) — 78 – 80 — 158
Mario Dino, Denver, Colo. (N) — 76 – 83 — 159
Trevor Stephens, Greenwich, Conn. (Leg) — 75 – 84 — 159
Hayato Yoshida, Japan (Leg) — 81 – 78 — 159
Kiefer Jones, Canada (VI) — 80 – 79 — 159
Luke Carroll, Old Hickory, Tenn. (N) — 79 – 82 — 161
Brian Bemis, Lansing, Mich. (Leg) — 78 – 83 — 161
Ryan Brenden, Pierce, Neb. (Leg) — 88 – 75 — 163
Evan Mathias, Indianapolis, Ind. (MLA) — 83 – 80 — 163
Peyton Zins, Indianapolis, Ind. (N) — 86 – 78 — 164
Shigeru Kobayashi, Japan (Leg) — 82 – 82 — 164
Jeremy Bittner, Moon Township, Pa. (Leg) — 86 – 78 — 164
Dustin Trout, Mount Vernon, Ind. (Leg) — 83 – 81 — 164
Joakim Bjorkman, Sweden (SS) — 82 – 82 — 164
Ryan Cutter, Helena, Mont. (MLA) — 83 – 81 — 164
Masato Koyamada, Japan (Arm) — 86 – 79 — 165
Josh Williams, Canada (Leg) — 77 – 88 — 165
Krystian Pushka, Canada (II) — 80 – 86 — 166
Spencer Easthope, Canada (N) — 87 – 79 — 166
Zach Grove, York, Pa. (N) — 85 – 81 — 166
David Watts, South Africa (Leg) — 85 – 82 — 167
Wooshik Park, Republic of Korea (Leg) — 86 – 82 — 168
Adem Wahbi, Belgium (N) — 85 – 83 — 168
Michael Madsen, Meridian, Idaho (Leg) — 81 – 87 — 168
Wayne Blankenship, Union, Mo. (Leg) — 87 – 81 — 168
Erik Bowen, Oakland, Calif. (MLA) — 82 – 87 — 169
Greg Hollingsworth, Peck, Kan. (Leg) — 85 – 84 — 169
Dennis Walters, Jupiter, Fla. (S) — 86 – 84 — 170
Albert Bowker, Buellton, Calif. (SS) — 83 – 88 — 171
randon Canesi, Doral, Fla. (MLA) — 85 – 87 — 172
Brandon Rowland, Jackson, Tenn. (MLA) — 89 – 83 — 172
Floyd J. Carroll III, Whitney, Texas (Arm) — 86 – 86 — 172
Tim Herrmann, Cologne, Minn. (Leg) — 87 – 86 — 173
Jonathan Snyder, Charlotte, N.C. (Arm) — 89 – 84 — 173
Tracy Ramin, Montrose, Mich. (Leg) — 94 – 81 — 175
Andrew Berglund, Stillwater, Minn. (II) — 87 – 89 — 176
Kevin Valentine, Winter Garden, Fla. (Leg) — 93 – 84 — 177
Trevor Arnone, Lewiston, Idaho (SS) — 89 – 89 — 178
Alex Fourie, Knoxville, Tenn. (Arm) — 95 – 83 — 178
Cedric Lescut, Belgium (Leg) — 86 – 94 — 180
Adam Benza, Hellertown, Pa. (Leg) — 98 – 82 — 180
Mariano Tubio, Argentina (S) — 94 – 86 — 180
Jeremy Poincenot, Carlsbad, Calif. (VI) — 91 – 90 — 181
Josh Tankersley, Fort Worth, Texas (Leg) — 94 – 88 — 182
Conor Ennis, Wake Forest, N.C. (SS) — 94 – 88 — 182
Pat Garrison, Folsom, Pa. (N) — 91 – 92 — 183
Yangwoo Lee, Republic of Korea (II) — 85 – 98 — 183
Willy Ray Pease, St. Augustine, Fla. (VI) — 91 – 93 — 184
Randy Shack, Sulphur Springs, Texas (S) — 95 – 91 — 186
Steven H. Shipuleski, Plainfield, Conn. (Arm) — 96 – 91 — 187
Tommy Marks, Danville, Pa. (VI) — 98 – 89 — 187
Larry Celano, Chandler, Ariz. (S) — 91 – 99 — 190
Austin Morris, Bend, Ore. (Arm) — 99 – 94 — 193
Trevor Reich, South Africa (Leg) — 93 – 101 — 194
Billy Fryar, Bigelow, Ark. (S) — 98 – 96 — 194
JoJo McCarron, Orange Beach, Ala. (VI) — 92 – 103 — 195
Zachary Duncan, Cornelius, N.C. (II) — 95 – 101 — 196
Mauricio Gutiérrez Zamora, Mexico (S) — 98 – 101 — 199
Steven Pennell, Jefferson, N.C. (MLA) — 109 – 94 — 203
Joey Hill, Tampa, Fla. (II) — 104 – 100 — 204
Jake Olson, Huntington Beach, Calif. (VI) — 102 – 103 — 205
Rick Oldach, La Selva Beach, Calif. (Leg) — 88 – WD
Women Overall
Kim Moore, Portage, Mich. (Leg) — 76 – 80 — 156
Ryanne Jackson, St. Petersburg, Fla. (N) — 80 – 80 — 160
Mandi Sedlak, Kearney, Neb. (Leg) — 92 – 80 — 172
Grace Anne Braxton, Fredericksburg, Va. (II) — 85 – 90 — 175
Natasha Stasiuk, Canada (II) — 89 – 88 — 177
Amanda Cunha, Kaneohe, Hawaii (VI) — 86 – 92 — 178
Han Jeongwon, Republic of Korea (Leg) — 91 – 98 — 189
Cindy Lawrence, Lehigh Acres, Fla. (MLA) — 95 – 99 — 194
Cathy Walch, Buford, Ga. (Arm) — 103 – 94 — 197
Amy Bockerstette, Phoenix, Ariz. (II) — 108 – 100 — 208
Stacey Rice, Suwanee, Ga. (Leg) — 105 – 103 — 208
Annie Hayes, Lee, Mass. (S) — 98 – 112 — 210
Elaine Greyserman, Boca Raton, Fla. (N) — 103 – 109 — 212
Sophia Howard, Hudsonville, Mich. (Arm) — 106 – 106 — 212
Deborah Smith, Rockford, Ill. (Leg) — 113 – 102 — 215
Judi Brush, Alexandria, Va. (Leg) — 115 – 117 — 232
Sarah Larson, Green Bay, Wis. (Arm) — 118 – 115 — 233
Kellie Valentine, McKean, Pa. (Arm) — 119 – 118 — 237
Photos by Sandhills Sentinel Photographer Wendy Hodges.
Contributed.
