The Draw of the U.S. Adaptive Open

There is an argument that many of the best pro golfers don’t even love golf, rather they love being good at it. At some point, the incredible talents bestowed upon them start to feel as much a curse as a blessing. To be sure, it’s not a hard life. But the game becomes their job, and the job is to make money. That’s probably not why they started playing the game, stuck with it, and dove deeper. So the relationship becomes something different, maybe a little less enjoyable, even annoying, but rewarding for the competitive success and money it might bring, not the actual practice. Do I even enjoy this? Or do I just enjoy the spoils?

At the U.S. Adaptive Open, you’re watching people who might go to hell and back, and maybe have already, to play golf. Of course they love the game, that much is obvious. It’s also trite and incomplete. They love the competition and achievement it can still bring. The fulfillment. The restorative effects. Mental benefits. Chasing a driver off the deck. When you watch up close what these excellent golfers go through often to hit each and every shot, you don’t feel pity or curiosity but more awe and inspiration, both for them and the game that can put it on display.

Issa Nlareb pursued a tour life but now, as he told me after his round at Woodmont on Tuesday, “I am in the adaptive community, now I feel I need to deliver up this side of golf.” Nlareb lost his mom at 11 years old in Cameroon, left without a home and any real prospects. He found golf, picking range balls and developing a game. He made it to the European feeding Alps Tour and was one of the better players in Africa when he contracted meningitis, which led to the loss of both his legs below the knees and all but two fingers on his left hand. For each full swing, he uses his right hand to wrap what in effect looks like an Ace bandage around his left hand and the grip of the club to keep it in place. Then he rips. 

Nlareb won the multiple limb amputee category last year in his first-ever trip to the States to play golf. He’s likely to win it again this year. But he was pissed on Tuesday. He’s there to compete, and while he made the cut, he has almost zero chance of winning the overall Adaptive Open (that should be the DOMINANT Kipp Popert, who shot 61 in the first round). 

“It’s not easy because my game is not there right now,” he said after his second round. “You have ups and downs in life, so like these two first days were horrible for me because I almost putted for 30 birdies and I didn’t make any one.” The odds that he’s here playing competitive golf of any kind are absurd, but here he was talking about life’s “ups and downs” of not being able to buy a putt. The guy who was left with next to nothing in Cameroon, found golf, developed a pro game, and then lost multiple limbs and fingers. “Golf is like the game of life, so you know you never give up,” he added. “Tomorrow can be the best day though.”

Nlareb was pissed because he said he’s there to win a trophy. And that’s what the USGA has done with the creation of this national Adaptive Open. There’s a trophy and an elite competition for elite golfers. The USGA has stepped up. Woodmont, a fancy club, has stepped up to host this year and next. Golf Channel stepped up and will broadcast the final round. 

Taking in the U.S. Adaptive Open, hearing the stories of the competitors, and seeing them execute shots with both power and grace furthers your own appreciation for golf. You’re happy you are drawn to this game that can showcase this. It’s the same one that captures you by showcasing a meteoric draw down to the 15th green at Augusta National or a perfectly clipped wind cheater in Scotland this week.

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