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Opening Drive
The Inspirational Growth of Adaptive Golf
THE VIRGINIA STATE GOLF ASSOCIATION’ S foray into adaptive golf is relatively new, but the seeds were planted years ago, thanks to inspiration found at the national level.
In 2022, Fredericksburg’ s Grace Anne Braxton had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot at the inaugural U. S. Adaptive Open, a national championship for players in eight impairment categories.
Braxton, who competes in the intellectual impairment category, is a Virginia Golf Hall of Fame member who has been playing highly competitive golf worldwide via the Special Olympics for decades. When the USGA began formulating its invitation list for the inaugural Adaptive Open, Braxton was an easy choice, as was fellow Virginian Judi Brush.
A year later, the VSGA sent representatives to Pinehurst not only to support the second-year event, but to learn how the association might be able to move forward with future adaptive golf programming. That led to discussions at the committee level and eventually among the Board of Directors, culminating in the VSGA’ s first adaptive clinics and play days in 2025.
The adaptive golf space is only going to grow, and the VSGA is proud to be part of that growth. Arthur Utley gives you an inside look at the VSGA’ s adaptive efforts in this issue’ s cover story.
• I wanted to share our editorial thought process here in the continually changing situation with National Links Trust, the U. S. government, and the early termination of NLT’ s 50-year lease with Washington, D. C.’ s three public golf courses— East Potomac, Langston, and Rock Creek. We’ re certainly aware of the ongoing situation, but because of our deadlines and the lag between when the magazine is put to bed and when it hits mailboxes, it’ s not prudent to write about it in this space until there is a final resolution to the matter. We support NLT’ s mission to provide affordable and accessible golf not only in D. C., but nationwide. Please visit nationallinkstrust. org for the latest information on the situation and ways you can help their mission.
• Pinehurst is a regular destination for VSGA members. It’ s a short drive away in North Carolina for most and features an immense amount of golf. Planning a Pinehurst trip for the first time? Check out Scott Kramer’ s handy guide in this issue’ s Virginia Explorer on visiting the property, one that now features 10 championship golf courses along with The Cradle par-3 course.
Thanks for reading, and as always, my inbox is open for suggestions, constructive criticism, and story ideas.
Chris Lang, Editor clang @ vsga. org by CHRIS LANG
Three VSGA members competed in the 2025 U. S. Adaptive Open: Cassie Sengul, Grace Anne Braxton, and Jason Hasty. Sengul finished fourth on the women’ s overall leaderboard after holding the 36-hole lead.
“ Saying Goodbye” Cont’ d...
George Skinner, envisioned establishing a premier national amateur event and that dream was realized for many decades. While the championship has a proud tradition, the club has concluded that the tournament no longer serves its original purpose as a member and promotional event for Elizabeth Manor.
“ In addition, hosting The Eastern Amateur requires the golf course to be closed to members for a full week during the prime summer season and places significant demands on the club’ s staff. As the scope and complexity of the event have grown, so too have the operational challenges associated with staging the championship.”
The club added that there are no current plans in place for the tournament to return in future years.
Several factors played into the decision:
• The rise of the Elite Amateur Golf Series. The nation’ s best players flock to the seven-event series, which begins with the Sunnehana Amateur in mid-June and concludes with the Western Amateur in early August. The North and South Amateur at Pinehurst and the Southern Amateur are also part of the series. Add in USGA championships and state-level events, and players need breaks. Events like the Eastern Amateur suffer.
• The loss of the golf course for two weeks during the heart of the summer— one week for the championship and practice rounds, and another week before the event to allow the course to be in prime condition for the championship.
• An aging volunteer base.
• The reality that top juniors and college players essentially overpowered Elizabeth Manor’ s sub-7,000-yard layout in recent years. The two best four-round scores have come in the last 12 years— Christopher Hickman’ s 258 in 2014 and Jake Albert’ s 261 in 2024.
“ This decision was not made lightly,” Elizabeth Manor general manager Jack Stone said.“ But it reflects the current realities facing the championship and our host club.”
The Eastern is left with a fantastic legacy of high-level champions, including Giles, Curtis Strange, Deane Beman, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Liebler, Tom McKnight, and Roger Newsom. Four of the final five Easterns were won by VSGA members— Albert in 2025, Trey Marrion in 2024, and Evan Beck in 2021 and 2022.
6 V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH / A PRIL 2026 vsga. org