A pair of adaptive golf events will take place in Tucson this week, with competitors coming from all over the world.
Monday’s TIU4ALL Shootout will take place at Oro Valley Country Club. The 18-hole scramble will benefit various local sports programs.
Tuesday marks the start of the three-day Conquistador Paragolf Championship, the first major tournament on the adaptive golf calendar. The Conquistador Paragolf Championship, held at El Conquistador Resort, is open to anyone with a valid U.S.G.A or R&A handicap. Participants are coming from all over the U.S., Canada, Argentina, and Chile to compete.
Founded four years ago by Tucson’s Jon Moore, TIU4ALL helps operate other major adaptive golf events nationwide.
Moore’s son Chris Schmitt, who is blind, was his inspiration to start TIU4ALL. Schmitt played other sports growing up never thought to try playing golf until his dad mentioned it.
Schmitt lost his eyesight almost five years ago because of a brain tumor that affected his left optic nerve. Schmitt later went on to become back-to-back champion for the United States Blind Golf Association nation in 2018 and 2019.
Schmitt chose golf in part because he could feel the vibrations of a well hit-ball with his hands.
“It’s like a tuning fork going off in your hands … You can feel a ball that has struck well, it feels good,” he said.
Schmitt will be competing in the Conquistador Paragolf Classic. The tournament’s competitors have different disabilities.
Sarah Larson an operations manager from Wisconsin, has been playing adaptive golf for about eight years. She was born without half of her left arm.
“Golf is something anyone can play,” she said.
Larson played in the TIU4ALL Shootout last spring during the inaugural tournament event, and said she’s excited to return to Tucson.
Nick Kimmel, a University of Arizona Adaptive Sports athlete, chips his ball at hole 16 during last year’s event.
“I have been counting down the days,” she said.
Larson met Moore and heard about TIU4ALL when she had been paired with Schmitt for several national tournaments. Moore was Schmidt’s caddy at the time, and offered Larson one of the last spots in last year’s TIU4ALL event.
There are expected to be more than 72 athletes participating in this year’s tournament, a 10% increase from last year.
