GAP Adaptive Championship: Round 1

October 14, 2024

2024_adaptive_golf_trophy_shots5

Nlareb, Sengul lead Inaugural Championship

| Scoring Portal | Notebook | Round 1 Video | History |

In total, 13 disability classifications are represented in the two-day, 36-hole competition. Round 2 begins Tuesday at 8 a.m. at nearby Doylestown Country Club. There is no cut in the championship, so all players are destined for Doylestown. 

Early tee times were advantageous for competitors as winds increased in strength as Round 1 progressed. Issa Nlareb of Cameroon navigated the gales in the Men’s Overall (par 73, 6,418 yards) competition with a 1-over 74. After prevailing in the Men’s Overall Division of the Texas Adaptive Golf Championship just five days ago, he’s looking to collect more Adaptive Golf hardware during his second trip to the United States. 

“Today was not an easy day. Windy outside, the greens are so fast but I gave it my best. Even now, I say I left some strokes on the course,” Nlareb, who won the Men’s Multiple Limb Amputee Division in the 2024 U.S. Adaptive Open, said. “I’m happy that [I shot] plus one. I’ll keep going because tomorrow is another day. You don’t know what will happen.”

“Golf is something we will get to share with everyone.”

Nlareb, playing in the day’s first group, went out in even par. On Lookaway’s back nine, with the breeze freshening, he carded two birdies against three bogeys. On No. 14 (par 5, 477 yards), Nlareb’s approach shot landed in the greenside bunker, 20 yards away from the hole. He splashed out to two feet away. He found his final red figure on No. 16 (par 4, 384 yards) after his pitching wedge from 158 yards settled six inches away.

His closest pursuer is former 1989 U.S. Ryder Cup team member Ken Green of New Fairfield, Conn. who currently stands a 5-over-par 78. 

“I practiced on [Doylestown], so I hope I will have the chance to keep the swing like this,” Nlareb said.

Nlareb competes in the Multiple Limb impairment category. In 2017, while attending a golf tournament in Egypt, he contracted coma-inducing bacterial meningitis. Upon awakening, he had experienced necrosis, a medical event where cells in an organ or tissue die due to disease or injury, in all his extremities. Despite testing, doctors failed to uncover the reason for his infection. Later, he made the difficult decision to have both of his legs and several of his fingers amputated.

With golf still at the forefront of his thoughts during recovery, he said he spent the year of 2019 coaching Africa’s Boys’ National Team. Frustrated with the team’s performance in a championship event, Nlareb consulted his doctor on solutions to get him playing again.

“My doctor asked me, ‘What do you need to play?’ I [told] her, ‘I don’t have the grip in my left hand, I can’t grip the club. That’s the problem,’” Nlareb said “She [brought] out my straps that I use to tie my feet with, she gave me [one] to tie my hand to the club.”

Nlareb still uses the strap in competition today. 

Despite his disability, he is grateful that golf remains a part of his life.

“Golf is something we will get to share with everyone. Today, we know in our world that people with disabilities, we used to put them to the side. In Africa, there is nothing like GAP or any organization for people with disabilities,” Nlareb said. “GAP [is] doing great, and I’m happy [for] that and I will continue to support and to participate at some events before we get to provide this [at home].”

Cassandra Sengul of Manassas, Va. leads the Women’s Overall (par 73, 5,353 yards) competition with her opening round of 8-over 81. She is searching for her first Adaptive Golf title in her second Adaptive Golf tournament. Her first was this year’s U.S. Adaptive Open.  

The Drew University freshman thanks her naturally low ball flight for her position atop the leaderboard. 

“I didn’t play as well as I was hoping, but with how conditions were today. I realized I did end up having a pretty good round,” Sengul, 18, of Manassas, Va., said. “The course was in beautiful shape. It was really scorable, so I feel like I tried to capitalize on moments I had a chance and I executed, so I’m pretty happy.”

Sengul opened with a front nine score of 41. She got into red figures early with a birdie on No. 3 (par 5, 443 yards). She hit a 9-iron from 95 yards that settled 15 feet from the hole.

She bettered her front-nine score on Lookaway’s back nine by a shot, and circled two more red figures to her card. On No. 11 (par 3, 111 yards), her 8-iron settled long of the green. No problem, she chipped the next one in from 15 feet. On No. 14 (par 5, 419 yards), she carded her final red number after she hit on in two with a 4-hybrid from 150 yards. She two-putted from 30 feet. 

“It was difficult. I have a low ball flight, so it actually didn’t bother me that much,” Sengul, who studies psychology and marketing, said. “Taking extra note, looking at what the pins were blowing like around the green [and] really utilizing course guides to navigate the course as well [helped me].” 

Sengul lives with Cerebral Palsy, a neurological disorder affecting movement and balance. She finds difficulty holding her posture and rotating her body during the golf swing. She plays in the Women’s Neurological impairment category. An active person since childhood, she found her niche in golf. 

“I always needed to play a sport while growing up, so I tried about every sport,” Sengul said. “Golf was the one that really stuck with me. I felt like I was a lot like the other girls playing it. It was great exercise walking the courses, because during junior golf you didn’t have a cart.”

She said she’s made it a point to play in more Adaptive Golf events this year. 

“It’s really cool that state associations are starting to offer [Adaptive Golf],” Sengul said. “[It] is really inspiring knowing that there’s going to be associations for kids in the future and adults.”

Amanda Cunha of Kaneohe, Hawaii currently stands at 21-over, she will look to close the gap tomorrow.

Sunrise brought the first GAP Adaptive Championship tee shots. Tuesday, sunset will solidify the first Champions.

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. 

Men’s Overall
Player, city, stateScore
Issa Nlareb, Cameroon74
Ken Green, New Fairfield, Conn.78
Fred Heller, Schnecksville, Pa.79
Albert Bowker, Buellton, Calif.80
Brandon Canesi, Northfield, N.J.80
Vince Biser, Baltimore, Md.80
Kyle Erickson, Minneapolis, Minn.81
Eli Villanueva, Fayetteville, N.C.81
Jarrett Fultz, Queen Creek, Ariz.82
James Van Noord, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.82
David DeGaravilla, Telford, Pa.83
Luke Carroll, Old Hickory, Tenn.84
Brandon Rowland, Jackson, Tenn.85
Adam Benza, Hellertown, Pa.85
Jason Hasty, Chester, Va.85
Pat Garrison, Folsom, Pa.85
Steven Shipuleski, Plainfield, Conn.86
Mariano Tubio, Argentina87
Tracy Ramin, Montrose, Mich.88
Ryan Matthews, Anderson, Ind.88
Ricky Reilly, Syracuse, N.Y.89
Will Valkner, Parker, Colo.90
Brian Bemis, Lansing, Mich.91
Larry Celano, Chandler, Ariz.92
Ryan Lukkari, West Bloomfield, Mich.93
Greg Alessi, Tinton Falls, N.J.94
Mike Tallman, Fair Haven, N.J.94
Charles Lippincott, Center Valley, Pa.95
Grant McGuigan, Rochester, N.Y.96
Jason Rose, Commerce Township, Mich.97
Albee Shanefelter, Silver Spring, Md.98
Steven Blatz, Nazareth, Pa.98
James Voland, Glenshaw, Pa.99
Karl Cooke, Fairfax, Va.99
John Nicholas, Fairfax, Va.99
Andrew Austen, Charleston, S.C.100
Mark Hartney, Williamsburg, Va.100
Dan Carney, Harleysville, Pa.102
Jason Faircloth, Clinton, N.C.104
Roger Johnson, Collinsville, Va.105
Eric Tye, Warminster, Pa.107
Jimmy Nolan, Verona, N.J.110
Bart Oliva, Pompton Lakes, N.J.116
Matthew Landcastle, Canandaigua, N.Y.116
Keegan Kilroy, Kittery, Maine120
Shane Hurst, East Earl, Pa.123
Matthew King, Oldbridge, N.J.129
Jerry Cronin, Perkasie, Pa.139
Jonathan Snyder, Westmont, Ill.DQ
Jeffrey McDonald, Jamison, Pa.DQ
John Bell, Weeki Wachee, Fla.WD
Alex Fourie, Hoover, Ala.WD
Women’s Overall
Player, city, stateScore
Cassandra Sengul, Manassas, Va.81
Amanda Cunha, Kaneohe, Hawaii94
Ryanne Jackson, Madeira Beach, Fla.98
Tessa Trojan, Ontario, Canada100
Judi Brush, Alexandria, Va.120
Kellie Valentine, McKean, Pa.132
DQ-disqualification; WD-withdrawal

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