Yes, professionals and amateurs can enter the championship.

Yes, the USGA has announced the following exemptions for the 2024 U.S. Adaptive Open:

• Female and Male overall winners of the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open Championship (this is a five-year exemption).

Kim Moore (2022, Female)
Ryanne Jackson (2023, Female)
Simon Lee (2022, Male)
Kipp Popert (2023, Male)

• From the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, the five lowest overall female and male scorers, plus ties.

FEMALE
Ryanne Jackson
Kim Moore
Bailey Bish
Amanda Cunha
Natasha Stasiuk

MALE
Kipp Popert
Simon Lee
Conor Stone
Mike Browne
Rasmus Lia
Anton Glass 

• From the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open Championship, the lowest female scorer and lowest male scorer from each Impairment Category, plus ties.

Kurtis Barkley
Mike Browne
Amanda Cunha
Abigail Davis
Annie Hayes
Ryanne Jackson
Kiefer Jones
Cindy Lawrence
Simon Lee
Evan Mathias
Kim Moore
Kipp Popert
Natasha Stasiuk
Conor Stone
Max Togisala

This year’s U.S. Adaptive Open will feature three new exemption* categories:

• Overall male champion and overall female champion from the 2023 Canadian All Abilities Championship, presented by BDO (Chris Willis and Natasha Stasiuk)  
   
• Overall male champion and overall female champion from The 2024 G4D Open (to be contested May 15-17) 
   
• From the current WR4GD Gross Ranking – the top 10 men's point leaders and ties, and the top five females and ties, as of Apr. 3 (one week before entries close)   

*-Must meet eligibility requirements

It’s easy to get a Handicap Index®! It only takes three 18-hole scores to get started, which can be made up of any combination of 9- or 18-hole rounds (and it can include rounds you have already played).

The simplest way to get a Handicap Index is to visit usga.org/getahandicap and join the USGA/AGA Community in your area.

You can also contact your local Allied Golf Association (state or regional golf association) for assistance with finding a club in your area that best suits your needs.

For players outside of the United States:

Contact your National Association for assistance with getting a Handicap Index.

The eligible impairments are:

• Impaired Muscle Power

• Impaired Passive Range of Movement

• Limb Deficiency

• Leg Length Difference

• Short Stature

• Hypertonia

• Ataxia

• Athetosis

• Vision Impairment

• Intellectual Impairment

  Source: International Paralympic Committee

  For more information, please see the Championship Regulations.

   

The USGA uses the following Impairment Categories to set the field, assign tees, and award prizes:

• Intellectual Impairment
• Lower Limb Impairment
• Multiple Limb Amputee
• Neurological Impairment
• Seated Players
• Short Stature
• Upper Limb Impairment
• Vision Impairment

For more information, please see the Championship Regulations.  

A WR4GD Pass certifies eligibility to compete in the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship.  Information on how to apply can be found here.

Players with Intellectual Impairment will need to start the process in the USA by going to Athletes Without Limits and applying for Virtus II1 International Eligibility. Players outside of the USA can look up their national Virtus contact here. 

As it can take some time to apply for and receive a WR4GD Pass and Virtus II1  International Eligibility, players who have not already begun this process may not receive eligibility in time. 

In the USA, players with Intellectual Impairment who have not submitted completed applications to Athletes Without Limits by February 10, 2024, may not receive Virtus II1 International Eligibility in time to have their entries accepted for this year’s championship. For players from other countries, please go to https://www.virtus.sport/member to receive confirmation regarding timelines.

The following medical assessors are available:

• Dr. Prakash Jayabalan, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Chicago, Ill., by appointment: (312) 238-7326.  
  
  
• Ross Brakeville, DPT, Atlanta, Ga., by appointment: Ross@georgiasportsmedicinespecialists.com or (678) 469-3007.
  
  
• Dr. Adam Kassam, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by appointment:  adamkassam@gmail.com

To view your WR4GD Pass number, please visit https://edgagolf.com/online/players/. You can also visit your EDGA profile by going to the upper right corner of the EDGA home page, and clicking on Login.  Enter your e-mail address and select Forgot Password if you do not know your password. Questions? Email applications@edgagolf.com.

If you have Virtus II1 International Eligibility, but don’t know your number, please go to: https://www.virtus.sport/eligibility-master-list.

Entries open on Feb. 22, and you can register online at champ-admin.usga.org.  

Yes there will be qualifying. Entries open on Feb. 22.

Each qualifying site has a maximum capacity, so those spots will fill on a first come, first served basis.  Players who don’t enter early run the risk of not getting accepted into their preferred qualifying site location.

A Qualifying Score Value (QSV) is the mechanism that will be used to compare players in each Impairment Category across all of the qualifying sites and determine which ones will make it to the Championship.   

A QSV is an adjusted Score Differential^TM.  The adjustments are as follows:

1. A unique playing conditions calculation (PCC) will be created using scores only from each qualifying site field.  Scores made on each course that day by players not participating in the qualifier will not be included. All scores that were 10.0 or more strokes above their expected score (relative to their Handicap Index®) were not considered within this unique PCC.

2. Scores used to determine the QSV for each player will not be adjusted for net double bogey.

3. For Impairment Categories where multiple tees are used, the Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™ from the longest tees played within the Impairment Category will be used at each course to determine the QSV for all players in that Impairment Category.   

As a result of these adjustments, players may have a QSV that differs from the Score Differential that is posted and used in the calculation of their Handicap Index®.

There will not be a senior division, but seniors can enter.

Please click here to volunteer for the 3rd U.S. Adaptive Open.

Any questions not answered by the above information can be sent to champs@usga.org.