The Ohio Adaptive Open was held earlier this month at Cleveland Metropark’s Seneca Golf Course with several winners recognized.
The U.S. Adaptive Golf Alliance (USAGA) has been holding regional, national and international tournaments for several years. The United States Golf Association (USGA) studied their format and last year held the first-ever U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst. Since then, several states have held Adaptive Golf Tournaments.
Ryanne Jackson is the reigning U.S. Adaptive Open champion and continued to dominate the women’s categories in the Ohio Adaptive Open. In the Women’s Overall category, she held the lead after the first round and didn’t allow a rocky start in the second round to discourage her, firing a one-under par 35 on the back side to seal the victory.
“Today started off kind of rough”, Jackson said. ”I had a really bad front nine and after nine holes I figured I just need to be able to come back around and be proud of the round I shot, and I ended up shooting my best nine-hole competition score on the back nine. Mentally being able to get out of some tough spots I put myself in and still make no worse than bogey, other than one bad hole, was the key. I wasn’t hitting my driver very well which isn’t very common for me. I usually drive the ball pretty well, but I only hit four or five fairways all day. I really enjoyed the course; it was very different playing here than back home in Florida and the tournament was great.”
WOMENS DIVISION:
1 Ryanne Jackson 77-79=156
2 Kellie Valentine 94-86=180
3 Jennifer Wesolowski 113-107=220
Jarrett Fultz’s solid play was rewarded with wins in both the Men’s Overall title, as well as the Men’s Neurological Impairment categories. His first round two-over par 74 combined with another two-over par total in the second round left him at four-over par for the tournament, good enough to claim both titles.
“It was great”, said Fultz. ”I feel like I got a lot out of not entirely knowing where I was going off the tee. I had a couple penalty strokes and ended up hitting some good shots to make up for those. For the way I was hitting the ball off the tee, I played really well, that was my saving grace these last two days. It felt really good to make a lot of putts to keep me in there. It was awesome, I love the course, nice and tight, not great for hitting bad tee shots but the course was in great condition. The staff was amazing, they were super helpful and nice, I loved it, it was so much fun.”
Jonathan Snyder took home the top spot in the Men’s Arm Impairment category. His two rounds of 84-81.
Kellie Valentine bettered her first-round score by eight shots the second day to claim victory in the Women’s Arm Impairment category.
Andrew Berglund took home the trophy for the Intellectual Impairment category.
In the Leg Impariment category, Brandon Williams came out victorious. His second round wasn’t quite as good as his first-round 76, but he prevailed over Kyle Erickson and Tracy Ramin to win the division.
Christopher Critchfield didn’t play his best golf in the tournament, but still came away victorious in the Seated Player.
Joakim Björkman came in runner-up at the U.S. Adpative Open, but wanted an outright win in Ohio. Not only did he finish first in the Short Stature category, but he also finished second in the Men’s Overall division. On day two he fired an impressive three-over par 75.
Men’s Final Results
1 Jarrett Fultz 4 / 74 / 74 / 148
2 Joakim Bjorkman 13 / 82 / 75 / 157
3 Brandon Williams 14 / 76 / 82 / 158
4 Kyle Erickson 16 / 78 / 82 / 160
5 Tracy Ramin 18 / 84 / 78 / 162
T6 Rick Oldach 21 / 85 / 80 / 165
T6 Jonathan Snyder 21 / 84 / 81 / 165
T6 James Lawson 21 / 84 / 81 / 165
9 Andrew Berglund 25 / 85 / 84 / 169
10 Charles Lippincott 26 / 91 / 79 / 170
11 Jason Hasty 28 / 83 / 89 / 172
12 Jason M Rose 34 / 86 / 92 / 178
T13 Christopher Critchfield 39 / 86 / 97 / 183
T13 Matthew Landcastle 39 / 91 / 92 / 183
15 Michael Gegick 43 / 93 / 94 / 187
16 Brian Warner 49 / 101 / 92 / 193
17 Michael Haggard 52 / 97 / 99 / 196
18 Tom Rechin 59 / 106 / 97 / 203
19 Sean Collins 61 / 101 / 104 / 205
WD Aidan Horan
We applaud the efforts of the USGA and the USAGA to bring adaptive golf to the forefront and help everyone enjoy competing in organized events.
