Fultz, Sengul out in front after Round 1
A pair of event returners saddled the top of the leaderboard following Round 1 of the 2nd GAP Adaptive Championship at Indian Valley Country Club Monday.
| Scoring | Round 1 Notebook | 2025 GAP Adaptive Championship Digital Program | GAPTV Feature: Brandon Canesi |
Jarrett Fultz of Buena Vista, Va. and Cassie Sengul of Manassas, Va. lead the Men’s Overall (par 72, 6,359 yards) and Women’s Overall (par 72, 4,950 yards) divisions, respectively. Fultz carded a 1-over-par 73 to finish one shot clear of Indian Valley member David de Garavilla of Telford, Pa. Sengul, the defending Women’s champion, posted an 86 to finish a shot ahead of Nancy Lee of New York, N.Y.
“I was really proud of my irons and wedges. I hit a lot of shots not close, but I gave myself chances,” Fultz, 24, said. “I sometimes get a little yippy on the short ones. I missed a couple of those, but outside of that, I played really solid.”
“It was tough out there,” Sengul, 19, said. “I was really good off the tee. [My] driver is pretty consistent, so I was setting myself up well.”
The GAP Adaptive Championship is a 36-hole stroke-play event contested across two days. The 60-player field is comprised of 52 men and eight women. The championship is a WR4GD points-eligible event.
The Championship’s Final Round begins tomorrow at 8 a.m. Men’s and Women’s Overall champions will be crowned as well as winners in 17 disability classifications.
Last year, GAP launched GAP Adaptive to grow and serve the growing Adaptive Golf community. A set of instructional opportunities, titled No Limit Clinics, and an Adaptive Championship, for the world’s premiere Adaptive Golfers, were created to expand GAP’s mission of preserving, protecting and promoting the game of golf.
The Championship’s opening round unfolded against the backdrop of clear skies and uncharacteristically warm October temperatures swelling into the low 80s.
Fultz went out in 2 over par. On Indian Valley’s second nine, he circled red figures on three occasions to get to his final number. On No. 13 (par 4, 391 yards), he hit a sand wedge from 89 yards to three feet. After his second shot found the right rough on No. 15 (par 5, 532 yards), he lifted a 9-iron from 160 yards to three feet. He carded a final red figure on No. 18 (par 4, 360 yards) after canning a 25-footer following a 54-degree from 110 yards.
“It’s a test. The greens are tricky,” Fultz, who played on the Men’s Golf Team at Southern Virginia University, said. “I just try to hit the middle of the green and give myself looks. If they fall, they fall. If they don’t, [I] try not to miss the short one.”
Fultz, who lives with cerebral palsy, competes in the G8: Neurological impairment category. In addition to an impact on his movement and balance, his condition causes shaking in his arms, which can make executing shots on and around the green difficult.
“They call it intentional tremors,” Fultz, who now assistant coaches at his alma mater, said. “When I’m trying to do something, the shaking will show up more.”
While playing in the U.S. Adaptive Open, Russ Holden, a caddie who spent time on Bernhard Langer’s bag, caddied for a member of Fultz’s group. He suggested that Langer count in his head to keep his mind occupied while swinging the putter. Fultz now keeps the idea top of mind.
“I’m not counting all the time, but I’m doing math problems, or counting, or a song or something in my head to keep my focus elsewhere,” Fultz said. “Something in my head to keep my focus elsewhere because I know if I let my body take over, I can do it.”
Fultz tees off at 9:48 a.m. Tuesday. His strategy remains the same for the Final round.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing, [and] try to stay in the present,” Fultz said. “I tend to get a little overly frustrated at times, and I think it happened to me once today and I didn’t let it overly affect me which I was really proud of.”
Sengul, a sophomore marketing major at Drew University, went out in 42. A stretch of pars from Nos. 3 (par 5, 370 yards) to 6 (par 3, 155 yards) illuminated her card. Sengul held steady on the back nine to get to her final number.
Like Fultz, Sengul lives with cerebral palsy and competes in the G8: Neurological impairment category.
“I try to focus on what I can do out there,” Sengul, said. “Giving myself easy pars gave me some momentum on the front.”
The inaugural GAP Adaptive Championship in 2024 was Sengul’s first Adaptive win. She also won the inaugural Arizona Adaptive Open presented by PING later that year.
“I haven’t won since Arizona, so I’m really just trying to bring a win back this year,” Sengul said. “It feels like I’ve got a job to do, and I’m really excited to try to do it tomorrow.”
Sengul tees off at 9:36 a.m. While exclusively having her name on the GAP Adaptive Championship trophy is at the forefront of her thoughts heading into Round 2, she is reflective of the Championship’s community aspect in year two.
“Some of the best women come to GAP,” Sengul said. “We’ve got some new people here which I’ve met and I’m so happy they came this year.”
GAP Adaptive
In 2024, GAP (Golf Association of Philadelphia) launched GAP Adaptive to continue its mission of promoting, preserving and protecting the game of golf for all. GAP’s Adaptive Golf committee opened the season with its first program titled No Limit Clinics, a season-long series of instructional Adaptive Golf events taking place at various GAP Member Clubs. The GAP Adaptive season culminates with the GAP Adaptive Championship, a WR4GD-counting event. The field consists of local and international Adaptive Golfers.
| Round 1 | |
| Name, city, state | |
| Men’s Overall | R1 |
| Jarrett Fultz, Buena Vista, Va. | 73 |
| David de Garavilla, Telford, Pa. | 74 |
| Albert Bowker, Buellton, Calif. | 78 |
| Douglas Shirakura, Somers, N.Y. | 79 |
| Ricky Reilly, Syracuse, N.Y. | 80 |
| Zach Grove, York, Pa. | 81 |
| James Van Noord, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. | 81 |
| Vince Biser, Baltimore, Md. | 84 |
| Brandon Canesi, Northfield, N.J. | 84 |
| Tracy Ramin, Montrose, Mich. | 84 |
| Steven Blatz, Nazareth, Pa. | 84 |
| Fred Heller, Schnecksville, Pa. | 85 |
| Dawson Thompson, Pascagoula, Miss. | 86 |
| Steven Shipuleski, Plainfield, CT | 87 |
| James Voland, Glenshaw, Pa. | 87 |
| George Willoughby, Danville, Va. | 87 |
| Jason Hasty, Chester, Va. | 88 |
| Adam Benza, Hellertown, Pa. | 88 |
| Pat Garrison, Folsom, Pa. | 88 |
| Anthony Maldonado, Tucson, Ariz. | 88 |
| Albee Shanefelter, Silver Spring, Md. | 88 |
| Charles Lippincott, Center Valley, Pa. | 89 |
| Matthew Snowdon, Annapolis, Md. | 89 |
| Andrew Austen, Radnor, Pa. | 90 |
| Greg Alessi, Tinton Falls, N.J. | 90 |
| Grant McGuigan, Rochester, N.Y. | 91 |
| Jeffrey McDonald, Jamison, Pa. | 91 |
| Brayden Tucker, Cortland, N.Y. | 91 |
| Michael Tallman, Fair Haven, N.J. | 91 |
| Matthew Landcastle, Palmyra, N.Y. | 91 |
| Kevin Holland, Washington, Mich. | 91 |
| Tyler Cashman, Oldwick, N.J. | 92 |
| Russell Aide, Belleville, ON, Canada | 93 |
| Jimmy Moceri, Rochester Hills, Mich. | 93 |
| Ryan Matthews, Anderson, Ind. | 93 |
| Kevin McBride, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada | 94 |
| Jeffrey Heisey, Gilbertsville, Pa. | 94 |
| Will Valkner, Parker, Colo. | 95 |
| Ryan Lukkari, West Bloomfield, Mich. | 96 |
| Adolfo Gomez, Bogotá, Colombia | 96 |
| Matthew Hills, Upper St. Clair, Pa. | 96 |
| Zachary Duncan, Cornelius, N.C. | 96 |
| John Platek, Doylestown, Pa. | 97 |
| Tom Terp, Woodstown, N.J. | 98 |
| Steve Kuketz, Quincy, Mass. | 99 |
| Mark Hartney, Williamsburg, Va. | 99 |
| Karl Cooke, Fairfax, Va. | 100 |
| Eric Tye, Warminster, Pa. | 102 |
| Jerry Cronin, Perkasie, Pa. | 102 |
| Jason Faircloth, Clinton, N.C. | 104 |
| Dan Carney, Harleysville, Pa. | 108 |
| Matthew Gang, Oakton, Va. | 109 |
| Women’s Overall | |
| Cassie Sengul, Manassas, Va. | 86 |
| Nancy Lee, New York, N.Y. | 87 |
| Sophia Howard, Hudsonville, Mich. | 94 |
| Meredith Dwyer, Hackensack, N.J. | 94 |
| Kellie Valentine, McKean, Pa. | 96 |
| Tessa Trojan, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada | 97 |
| Kelsey Koch, Grand Blanc, Mich. | 107 |
| Alison Seber, Belle Mead, N.J. | 116 |
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