A Historic Event Happened at Pinehurst Last Month A landmark tournament took place last month, but little notice was made of it. The USGA held the first-ever U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst. A woman who is the Head Coach of the Western Michigan University Golf Team won the event and will forever have her name on the trophy. The men’s winner, Korean Simon Seungmin Lee is autistic, but plays the game at a high level. His is a remarkable story, as he became the first golfer with a developmental disability to gain conditional status on the Korean PGA Tour in 2017. At the age of 20, he was assessed to having the communication skills of a 10-year-old. Lee’s symptoms were first diagnosed early in his childhood, and he has attributed golf as a way for him to communicate with other people. We have followed the work of the U.S. Adaptive Golf Association for several years and applaud them and the USGA for working together to get this tournament started. It will become an annual national championship conducted by the USGA, just like the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. This is what we feel the USGA is all about, bringing a diverse group to the game and providing a venue for them to compete at the highest level. Golf travel continues to be a booming business post-COVID. This month, in addition to our Pinehurst feature, we have articles talking about Michigan’s BOYNE Resort, Sand Valley in Wisconsin and a very welcoming Sky Valley in northeastern Georgia. We urge you to visit all these wonderful destinations. Finally, we visited a new putter manufacturer right here in Ohio. Area 419 is producing high-quality putters that we know will improve your short game. That’s all for now. Thanks for checking out the August issue and I hope I see you on the Back 9. FRED ALTVATER PUBLISHER Back 9 Media Group Also Publishes: Michigan Golf Journal Indiana Golf Journal Back 9 Report Ohio Golf Journal
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