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.
