Four Michiganders to Play in the 2nd USGA Adaptive Open
By Tom Lang
Kelsey Koch of Grand Blanc was born 31 years ago without a tibia bone in her left leg, but it hasn’t slowed her down.
Fast forward during a life of always wearing a prosthetic leg, because her parents decided at age 8 months for an amputation, Koch played high school golf and a few local events. Yet she had never heard of the national level adaptive golf opportunities until last year when she caddied an exhibition at the Ally Challenge for 2022 USGA Adaptive women’s champion Kim Moore of Battle Creek.
Now Koch will be playing in the same event at Pinehurst for her first time, July 10-12, while Moore defends her national title. Brian Bemis of Lansing (no right leg) and Sophia Howard of Hudsonville (no right hand) will also represent Michigan in the event, as all three did last year.
The USGA received 285 entries for the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open, and the 96-player final field includes competitors from 28 states and 11 countries. In the field of golfers ranging age 15 to 75, 66 played last year, and 30 will be making their championship debut.
“I was speechless to be honest, and that’s rare for me,” Koch quipped about first hearing she was invited. “Being able to have this experience for me is so overwhelming, in a positive way.”
Koch, who on a good day stands 5-feet tall and weighs 85 pounds, learned to walk at a young age only on a prosthetic.
“I don’t feel any different, I don’t want to know anything different. I think it’s a big blessing for me,” she said, but added that never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d be able to have such a golf experience as this one.
“And I can speak for my family when I say they would have never thought so either, and here we are. And it speaks for the people who aren’t here. I have lost a few good people in my life, and I just feel like this (event) is because of them, and for them.”
Playing golf as a child with her grandparents, both now passed, are her best memories of the game. Now Koch coaches the JV golf team at Grand Blanc High, and teaches golf and yoga at Accension Health Club, among many other duties.
When her parents made their decision, Koch’s surgeon performed the procedure, but tragically died two days later in a horseback riding accident, so she never made notes on the operation. Koch said that normally, leg amputations are done above the knee or below the knee. Her surgeon went through the knee, which today allows her to use a micro-processor knee, which allows Koch some fluctuation in the knee joint.
“No one knows why she went through the knee, but she did and I’ve never had one problem with it and have lived a very blessed life as an amputee,” Koch said. “I don’t have the struggles with (the leg) I know I could have, although life has given me other struggles, but my leg is not one of them.”
Koch said her troubles came in another form – but thankfully she made the choice to get sober from alcohol abuse over two years ago, “and that’s been my greatest blessing,” she told me. “None of this would be happening if it weren’t for that. I look back and don’t know how I functioned, but I survived and we’re here now and life can only get better.”
Moore is the head coach of the Western Michigan University women’ golf team and is a former college and mini tour golfer herself. Since her USGA win last summer, she has played golf with Jack Nicklaus and represented the U.S. in many adaptive golf competitions worldwide. Bemis works at the Country Club of Lansing, and Howard is a high school student in west Michigan. We shared their stories last year at: https://www.migolfjournal.com/june-2022
