CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Golf is a challenging sport, testing the mental and physical game. One golfer will represent the Coastal Bend on the national level at the fifth U.S. Adaptive Open, proving that no matter the obstacle, anyone who works hard enough will have a shot.
"Once you hear you hit that perfect shot and it just flies perfectly and you're like 'oh man' that's what keeps bringing everybody back to golf," said golfer Josh Tankersley.
The Riviera resident is one of 96 golfers who will compete at the tournament. His obstacles go beyond the slope. Tankerlsey plays with a prosthetic lower left leg.
"Oh it just means the world," Tankersley said. "I mean you have pretty close to 1,000 people in the world who have disabilities and play on the adaptive tour like I do."
He began golfing around 10-15 years ago at Fort Sam, right around the time he lost his leg. Staying active was a challenge, so the Army introduced the former soldier to his new favorite hobby on the green.
"They'll give you a free bag of clubs and stuff like that, so I was like okay let's just try it. It got me up moving around," Tankersley said. "I was in a wheelchair for about a year. I owe a lot to golf. I owe my life to golf pretty much."
Tankersley is not only playing the game, but now he's giving back. He recently accepted an offer to lead Riviera as the girls golf head coach.
"It's been great," Tankersley said. "The last year I was able to kind of help out the golf team and help out the coach there, Coach Moreno."
This is Tankersley's third U.S. Adaptive Open appearance, and first since 2023. An experience that is made possible by tournament sponsor Deloitte and MedFitPro's Jonathan Luna who built Tankersley's leg, which allows him to love the game.
"If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be out here walking, so I owe a lot to him," Tankersley said. "I'm not here and I'm not being able to qualify and be able to compete without a lot of people like him and a lot of my friends and family."
The 5th U.S. Adaptive Open Championship is set for July 6-8 at the Woodmont Country Club in Maryland. For the second year in a row, the final round of the U.S. Adaptive Open will be broadcast live on Golf Channel, made possible through Deloitte’s continued support.
The championship is open to both male and female professional and amateur golfers with a World Handicap System™ Handicap Index of 36.4 or less and an eligible impairment confirmed by a WR4GD Pass. The championship will be contested over 54 holes of stroke play, with a cut after 36 holes. Multiple sets of tees will be utilized.
The current field is as follows:
Russell Aide, of Canada, 19, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Andrew Austen, of Radnor, Pa., 28, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Ryder Barr, of Prosper, Texas, 17, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Andrew Berglund, of Stillwater, Minn., 26, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier
Chris Biggins, of Birmingham, Ala., 34, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Bailey Bish, of Tucson, Ariz., 26, Coordination Impairment, Exempt
Amy Bockerstette, of Phoenix, Ariz., 27, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier
Jack Bonifant, of Silver Spring, Md., 36, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Kenny Bontz, of Bradenton, Fla., 56, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Erik Bowen, of Charlotte, N.C., 46, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier
Albert Bowker, of Buellton, Calif., 29, Short Stature, Qualifier
Austin Brown, of Richland, Wash., 29, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Mike Browne, of England, 48, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Brandon Canesi, of Northfield, N.J., 34, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier
Justin Carlock, of Eaton, Colo., 31, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Luke Carroll, of Nashville, Tenn., 20, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Tyler Cashman, of Oldwick, N.J., 23, Vision Impairment, Qualifier
Larry Celano, of Chandler, Ariz., 57, Seated Players, Qualifier
Jonathan Chown, of England, 32, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Wellman Kody Conover, of Las Vegas, Nev., 31, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier
Amanda Cunha, of Kaneohe, Hawaii, 22, Vision Impairment, Exempt
Abigail Davis, of Houston, Texas, 24, Upper Limb Impairment, Exempt
David de Garavilla, of Telford, Pa., 43, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Mario Dino, of Denver, Colo., 23, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Thomas Duffy, of Utica, Ill., 27, Seated Players, Qualifier
Zachary Duncan, of Cornelius, N.C., 26, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier
Meredith Dwyer, of Teaneck, N.J., 31, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Aimee Eckert, of Clarksville, Ohio, 39, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Conor Ennis, of Wake Forest, N.C., 35, Short Stature, Qualifier
Maria Rita Fernandez, of Argentina, 57, Vision Impairment, I.C. Minimum
Jesse Florkowski, of Canada, 36, Upper Limb Impairment, Exempt
Alex Fourie, of Charlotte, N.C., 33, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Billy Fryar, of Bigelow, Ark., 54, Seated Players, Qualifier
Jarrett Fultz, of Queen Creek, Ariz., 25, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Kenny Gentile, of Angola, Ind., 69, Vision Impairment, Qualifier
Kelly Gorman, of Delmar, N.Y., 31, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Kenny Green, of Smyrna, Tenn., 44, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Zachary Grove, of York, Pa., 40, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Ann Hayes, of Lee, Mass., 63, Seated Players, I.C. Minimum
Dogyoung Heo, of Republic of Korea, 17, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier
Luke Hiser, of Chicago, Ill., 31, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier
Kirk Holmberg, of Hutchinson, 58, Kan., Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Sophia Howard, of Hudsonville, Mich., 19, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Benjamin Hulin, of Salt Lake City, Utah, 44, Seated Players, Qualifier
Josh Hunke, of Canada, Upper Limb Impairment, 41, Qualifier Medalist
Ryanne Jackson, of St. Petersburg, Fla., 28, Coordination Impairment, Exempt
William Jacobsen, of Auburn, Ala., 22, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Stacey Johnston-Gleason, of Ronan, Mont., 59, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Gary Joiner, of Bluffton, S.C., 62, Vision Impairment, Qualifier
Kiefer Jones, of Canada, 36, Vision Impairment, Exempt
Trevor Kennison, of Winter Park, Colo., 33, Seated Players, Qualifier
Sunyoung Kim, of Republic of Korea, 26, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Zdenka Kitagawa, of Alpharetta, Ga., 63, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Kelsey Koch, of Grand Blanc, Mich., 34, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Zachary Larose, of Charlotte, N.C., 34, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Brendan Lawlor, of Ireland, 29, Short Stature, Exempt
Cindy Lawrence, of Lehigh Acres, Fla., 63, Multiple Limb Amputee, I.C. Minimum
Nancy Lee, of New York, N.Y., 59, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Simon Seungmin Lee, of Republic of Korea, 29, Intellectual Impairment, Exempt
Brock Leitner, of Canada, 28, Seated Players, Qualifier
Michael Madsen, of Meridian, Idaho, 45, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Evan Mathias, of Indianapolis, Ind., 30, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier
Joseph McCarron, of Orange Beach, Ala., 63, Vision Impairment, Qualifier
Kim Moore, of Fort Wayne, Ind., 45, Lower Limb Impairment, Exempt
Tommy Morrissey, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., 15, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Michael Nicholson, of Tampa, Fla., 37, Seated Players, Qualifier
Issa Nlareb, of France, 35, Multiple Limb Amputee, Exempt
Chris Oviatt, of Milwaukie, Ore., 62, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Chad Pfeifer, of Caldwell, Idaho, 44, Lower Limb Impairment, Exempt
Joshua Philbeck, of Broken Arrow, Okla., 51, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier
Kipp Popert, of England, 28, Coordination Impairment, Exempt
Juan Postigo, of Spain, 30, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Ricky Reilly, of Syracuse, N.Y., 25, Short Stature, Qualifier
Chris Roberts, of Lewisville, Texas, 37, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Mandi Sedlak, of Johnson Lake, Neb., 46, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Cassie Sengul, of Manassas, Va., 20, Coordination Impairment, Exempt
Brad Smith, of England, 31, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Garrett Smyth, of Raleigh, N.C., 56, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Natasha Stasiuk, of Canada, 28, Intellectual Impairment, Exempt
Trevor Stephens, of Greenwich, Conn., 41, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Joshua Tankersley, of Riviera, Texas, 39, Lower Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Jordan Thomas, of Nashville, Tenn., 37, Multiple Limb Amputee, Qualifier Medalist
Dawson Thompson, of Pascagoula, Miss., 24, Short Stature, Qualifier
Max Togisala, of Ogden, Utah, 22, Seated Players, Exempt
Tessa Trojan, of Canada, 37, Intellectual Impairment, Qualifier Medalist
Kellie Valentine, of McKean, Pa., 55, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Justin VanLanduit, of Chaska, Minn., 46, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Rose Veldman, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., 26, Multiple Limb Amputee, Exempt
Karen Veriato, of New Braunfels, Texas, 64, Coordination Impairment, Qualifier
Dennis Walters, of Jupiter, Fla., 76, Seated Players, Qualifier
Joshua Williams, of Canada, 41, Lower Limb Impairment, Exempt
Chris Willis, of Canada, 45, Upper Limb Impairment, Qualifier
Lachlan Wood, of Australia, 35, Lower Limb Impairment, Exempt
