‘How good golf is’: Records shattered on first day of US Adaptive Open in Newton

No record was safe on Monday during the opening round of the U.S. Adaptive Open at Sand Creek Station in Newton.

The third annual national championship, which showcases the world’s best golfers with disabilities, featured a field of 96 golfers separated into eight different impairment categories that ranged in ages 15 to 78 and represented 32 different states and 11 different countries.

Kipp Popert, a 25-year-old from England who has cerebral palsy, set the men’s championship record score with a 7-under round of 65, while Bailey Bish, a 24-year-old from Tucson, Ariz. who has a neurological impairment, shot a 3-under round of 69 to shatter the women’s record.

“Anyone likes to shoot 7-under, so I’m chuffed,” Popert told USGA . “This course is set up for scoring. There is not too much rough and the fairways for me coming from Europe are massive. My strengths are wedge play and putting, and I got to do a lot of that today.”

The national tournament, which is the second USGA championship event hosted at Sand Creek, is a 54-hole tournament slated to make a cut for the first time following Tuesday’s second round.

The cut will include the top 20 overall males, the top 10 overall females, the top three men from each impairment category, the top two women from each impairment category and any player within five strokes of the leader in their impairment category.

The different impairment categories include upper limb impairment, lower limb impairment, multiple limb amputee, vision impairment, intellectual impairment, neurological impairment, seated players and short stature.

Both a male and female overall champion will be crowned, as they will also receive exemption into future U.S. Adaptive Opens with their name inscribed on a plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions at the USGA Golf Museum.

Hutchinson native Kirk Holmbeg, who competes with a neurological impairment and is the only Kansan in the field, shot an opening-round score of 81.

Popert carded six birdies and an eagle to break the previous record of 67 set by Conor Stone in last year’s tournament. He leads Spaniard Juan Postigo, who tied the previous record with a round of 67, by two strokes.

“You can understand the greatness of the game we play, that really everyone can play the game of golf,” said Postigo, who competes with a lower limb impairment. “It doesn’t matter your disability, age or gender. So I think you realize how good golf is.”

Meanwhile, in her second appearance in the U.S. Adaptive Open, Bish bested the previous record by four strokes, which was set last year by Kim Moore.

She told USGA that she had difficulty playing 18 holes as recently as two years ago, let alone a 54-hole tournament. She has been diagnosed with dystonia, which is a neurological movement disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions.

“I remember two years ago watching this tournament on TV and being unable to play because I couldn’t play 54 holes at the time,” Bish said. “To do all this hard work and see that it’s really paid off, it’s incredible. Between physical therapy and other treatments that I’ve been receiving, I’ve improved a lot physically.”