The new USGA event this summer at Pinehurst will showcase the world’s best golfers with disabilities.
Ryan Cutter, PGA has played golf since the age of three. Growing up in Bend, Oregon, his parents had got him involved in all kinds of sports, so he didn’t consider this unusual. He also didn’t consider his bilateral amputation, which he underwent at birth, a disability.
“As a child, I always dreamed of a putt on the 18th hole to win a major championship,” said Cutter. When he moved to Los Angeles, California, he played golf on his high school golf team but knew it was unlikely that he would be playing professional golf on TV someday.
After high school, Cutter moved to Denver for college and spent some time figuring out who he was.
“The first couple years of college is when it really hit me, my disability. I was just trying to find out who I was as a human being‒trying to find my place in this world.” He took on two full-time jobs, one of which was at a golf course. He found himself back in love with the game and decided to take his PAT and become a PGA Member.
Cutter interned at Broken Top GC in Bend, Oregon and Indian Ridge CC in Palm Desert, California before taking his current position at Green Meadow CC in Helena, Montana. An accomplished player, he is also an ADM-certified PGA Coach and deeply involved with junior golf. He won the 2021 Western Montana PGA Chapter Assistant Golf Professional of the Year Award and Youth Player Development Award, in addition to being recognized by the Pacific Northwest PGA Section as the 2021 Deacon Palmer Award recipient.
Now Cutter has qualified for one of 96 spots available in the U.S. Adaptive Open, a new USGA national championship that will showcase the world’s best golfers with disabilities. The inaugural competition will be conducted at iconic Pinehurst Resort on July 18-20, 2022.
Champions of this new event on Pinehurst No. 6 will see their names recorded in the annals of golf history alongside many of the game’s storied figures.
“Being able to participate in this event means the world to me,” stated Cutter. “The fact that I was accepted to play in a USGA Open championship has made all of my childhood dreams come true.” He will get to share the experience with his girlfriend, Megan Cuneo, as his caddie.
“Not only will this championship be great for me, but it will open the world of adaptive golf to the general public,” he continued. “For most people that will get to watch this event, it will show to them that golf is a game for everyone.”
“To say that Ryan is and should be an inspiration to all of us is an understatement,” said Howie Pruitt, PGA, Pacific Northwest PGA Section President. He in turn quoted Harriet Tubman: “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Cutter started a GoFundMe page to help pay for the expense to traveling to Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Donations can be made securely online at: https://gofund.me/9d477cc7.
