Chad Pfeifer Captures His Second U.S. Disabled Open Championship; Bailey Bish Takes Women’s Division

By Craig Dolch

Published on Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Chad Pfeifer won his second U.S. Disabled Open Championship at PGA Golf Club.

As expected, Chad Pfeifer won the 5th United States Disabled Open on May 10 at PGA Golf Club for the second time in the last three years.

But the way the dominant player in disabled golf won another title was so unexpected.

Pfeifer of Nampa, Idaho, started the final round tied for the lead, but found himself three shots behind after eight holes to Jeremy Bittner – who was a scorching 4-under through his first six holes. Plus, Pfeifer didn’t make a birdie on the Ryder Course for the second consecutive day.

“I wouldn’t think there was any way I wouldn’t make a birdie,” said Pfeifer, who made six in the first round.

Chad Pfeifer splashes out of a bunker during Round 2 at PGA Golf Club.

What mattered, however, was Pfeifer kept making pars and eventually Bittner gave him an opening that Pfeifer charged through. For the second consecutive day, Pfeifer made 16 pars and two bogeys for a 73 that gave him a two-shot victory over Bittner. Pfeifer, who lost part of his right leg while serving in the Army in Iraq in 2007, finished at 4-over 217.

“It means a lot to win,” Pfeifer said. “I know I have a target on my back because a lot of guys are looking to try and beat me. That doesn’t always make it easy.”

Bailey Bish, of Tucson, Arizona, won the women’s overall title for her first victory in a 54-hole disabled event. She shot her best round of the week, an 88, to beat Kelsey Koch by eight shots.

Bailey Bish (middle) won the Women's Division of the fifth U.S. Disabled Open.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Bish, who suffers from dystonia on her right side and uses crutches to get around the course. “Three years ago, I couldn’t even play nine holes, much less win a 54-hole tournament. I am so proud because I have worked really hard the last three years.”

World Golf Hall of Famer Dennis Walters of Jupiter, Florida, won the Seated Division by 18 shots at 28-over.

Eliseo Villanueva was hoping to defend his title after he started the final round tied with Pfeifer, but he bogeyed the first two holes and finished third after a 77.

Bish putting during the final round of the U.S. Disabled Open.

The consolation for the 56-year-old from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was he won the overall Senior Division title.

“I’m happy with the way I played all week,” Villanueva said. “I think the nerves got me on the first couple holes. But I settled down and made a lot of good pars.”

Five-time PGA Tour winner Ken Green of West Palm Beach, Florida, shot 73 and finished tied for fourth with Jack Bonifant at 9-over 222.

Bittner made it look easy early in his round, as he tried to improve on last year’s runner-up finish to Villanueva. Bittner birdied the first hole, eagled the par-5 fourth hole when he holed a 50-yard chip and birdied the sixth to take the three-shot lead.

“It was fun to watch,” Pfeifer said, “but it was not fun to be on the opposite end of it.”

But Bittner’s lead vanished when he made a triple bogey at the par-4 ninth, after he couldn’t find his tee shot. He made a bogey on his second tee ball.

“Just a bad swing at 9,” said Bittner, who lost a part of his left leg when he was 4 due to a lawnmower accident. “No excuses; I just pulled it. There’s a big mental adjustment you need to make after coming off that hot start.”

Bittner fought back with birdies at the 10th and 13th holes, but five bogeys on the back nine had him settling for another second-place finish.

“It’s always fun to be in the mix, to have that rush of adrenaline everyone who plays competitively wants to have,” Bittner said. “It was an emotional roller coaster, but congrats to Chad. He played solid. He kept his head down, and he earned it.”

Pfeifer, Bish and Villanueva with their trophies.

Pfeifer took the lead for good when Bittner bogeyed the 15th hole. Another bogey by Bittner at the 17th hole allowed Pfeifer to play the final hole conservatively with a bogey.

One of Pfeifer’s skills is his unflappability during a round. He never gets too up or too down.

You would have never known, for instance, he didn’t make a birdie in his last 36 holes by his actions on the golf course.

“I’m sure some of that is through my military training,” Pfeifer said. “If I hit a bad shot, nobody is shooting at me.”

The United States Disabled Open is run by the US Disabled Golf Association with the PGA of America serving as Presenting Partner of the Championship.

FINAL LEADERBORD

G1 Men’s

1.Pfeifer, Chad 217 2. Bontz, Kenny 234 3rd Sissom, Mark 235 4th Roach, Sam 236

Women’s

1. Koch, Kelsey

G2 Men’s

Bittner, Jeremy 219 2 Green, Ken 222 3 Lynn, Justin 232

G2 Women’s

Smith, Deborah 2Brush, Judi

G3 Men’s

Mathias, Evan 227 2 Bowen, Erik 232 3 Cutter, Ryan 246

G4 Men’s

Fourie, Alex 234 2 Dobreff, Xander 235 3 Biser, Vince 245

G4 Women’s

Valentine, Kellie 2nd Larson, Sarah

G5 Men’s

Villanueva, Eliseo 221 2 Walden, Rob 225 3 Leos, Isaac 233 4 Grove, Zach 248

G5 Women’s

Howard, Sophia

G6 Men’s

Canesi, Brandon 245 2 Brandenberger, Andreas 289

G7 Men’s

Ramin, Tracy 2 Smith, Jacoby

G8 Men’s

Bonifant, Jack 222 2 Carroll, Luke 223 3 Donarski, Robby 234

Women’s

Bish, Bailey

Tubio, Mariano 246 2 Miller, Justin 264 3 Fryar, Billy 303

G10 Men’s

Walters, Dennis 241 2 Graff, Mac 259 3 Tipton, James 260

Women’s G10

Hayes, Annie

Men’s g12

Mathis, William

Men’s G14

Wilkening, Timothy 259 2 Crough, Ethan 286

Men’s G15

Conover, Kody 256 2 Urban, Nicholas 269 3 Duncan, Zachary 270

Women’s G15
Bockerstette, Amy

Seniors

Villanueva, Eliseo 221 2 Walden, Rob 225 3 Leos, Isaac 233 4 Sissom, Mark 235
5 Willoughby, George 237

Overall Women’s

Bish, Bailey 2 Koch, Kelsey 3 Hayes, Annie

Smith, Deborah 5 Valentine, Kellie 6 Bockerstette, Amy
7 Howard, Sophia 8 Brush, Judi 9 Larson, Sarah

Men’s Overall Black Tee

Pfeifer, Chad 2 Bittner, Jeremy 3 Villanueva, Eliseo 4 Green, Ken 5 Bonifant, Jack
6 Carroll, Luke 7 Walden, Rob 8 Mathias, Evan 9 Lynn, Justin 10 Bowen, Erik

Field for the 2023 Open

Dan Aldrich
Greg Alessi
Timothy Alto
Michael Anderson
Adam Benza
Vince Biser
Bailey Bish
Jeremy Bittner
Amy Bockerstette
Jack Bonifant
Kenny Bontz
Erik Bowen
Andreas Brandenberger
Ryan Brenden
Ben Brown
Carlos Brown
Judi Brush
Brandon Canesi
Luke Carroll
Scott Caveney
Larry Celano
Kody Conover
Ethan Crough
Ryan Cutter
Abigail Davis
Xander Dobreff
Robby Donarski
Zachary Duncan
Spencer Easthope
Pat Finan
Alex Fourie
Billy Fryar
Hernan Garcia
Alexander Gibbs
Adolfo Gomez
Mac Graff
Ken Green
Zach Grove
Annie Hayes
Tim Healea
Tim Herrmann
Kevin Holland
Greg Hollingsworth
Gary Hooks
Sophia Howard
Steve Husome
Bobby Hutchinson
Brian Johnson
Ben Jones
Keegan Kilroy
Kelsey Koch
Sarah Larson
John LeMieux
Isaac Leos
Ryan Lukkari
Justin Lynn
Timothy Masters
Evan Mathias
William Mathis
Vic McClelland
Justin Miller
Chad Pfeifer
Marcus Pierce
Tracy Ramin
Shawn Reimold
Humberto Reyna
Sam Roach
Mike Shadday
Albee Shanefelter
Steven Shipuleski
Mark Sissom
Deborah Smith
Jacoby Smith
Jonathan Snyder
Natasha Stasiuk
Joshua Stephenson
Shea Taylor
Stephen Terpak
James Tipton
Mariano Tubio
Nicholas Urban
Johan Uys
Kellie Valentine
Kevin Valentine
Eliseo Villanueva
Rob Walden
Dennis Walters
Timothy Wilkening
George Willoughby
Daniel Wiseman

PGA Golf Club to Host
2023 United States Disabled Open Golf Championship

Championship to be held on the Tom Fazio-designed Ryder Course, May 8-10, 2023; Registration opens Nov. 23, 2022 on USDGA.net

FRISCO, Texas and PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2022) – The 2023 United States Disabled Open Golf Championship, conducted by the US Disabled Golf Association, will be held at PGA Golf Club’s Ryder Course in Port St. Lucie, Florida, May 8-10, 2023. The PGA of America will serve as presenting partner of the Championship.

The US Disabled Golf Association’s mission is to provide people with physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities an opportunity to showcase their ability in a golf championship at a high level.

Known as “The Ultimate Golf Experience,” PGA Golf Club is owned and operated by the PGA of America. The facility features 54 holes of championship golf at PGA Golf Club designed by legends Tom Fazio and Pete Dye. PGA Golf Club also features the best in golf instruction taught by PGA Professionals and the PGA Gallery, with memorabilia exhibits that trace the history of the game, all within one spectacular golf destination.

“We’re really looking forward to bringing the United States Disabled Open Golf Championship to PGA Golf Club for the first time next year,” said PGA Director of Golf/Head Professional Holly Taylor. “The event will showcase top playing golfers from across America who have overcome disabilities to play the game at an impressive level. PGA Golf Club is proud to continue a tradition of reaching out to golfers everywhere to experience the game at our beautiful facility.”

Designed by Tom Fazio, the Ryder Course is named in honor of Samuel Ryder, the namesake and founder of the Ryder Cup. With its majestic pine trees and challenging water hazards, the Ryder Course has a distinctive Carolina-feel. With various hole locations, you could play this course every day and discover a different layout.

“We are ecstatic to be bringing the Championship to PGA Golf Club and the Treasure Coast,” said USDGA Founder Jason Faircloth. “Since day one, we wanted to create a championship that showcases the players’ talents—along with that feeling of a ‘Major.’ Our 5th Open will be one to remember and talked about long after the final putt.”

The 2022 United States Disabled Open Golf Championship was won by Eliseo Villanueva, of Fayetteville, North Carolina (Mens); and Deborah Smith of Rockford, Illinois (Womens), among 61 golfers in the field at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Fairfax, Virginia.

The inaugural championship was held in 2018 at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, with 48 golfers from eight countries participating.

Media Contact
Michael Abramowitz PGA of America mabramowitz@pgahq.com 561-389-4647
Jason Faircloth USDGA Jason@usdga.net
Stu McDonald USDGA norlinksdigital@gmail.com