PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | Brandon Canesi remembers the moment when he realized how other people see him on the golf course.
Canesi was playing in his first tournament for golfers with disabilities in 2018 and, looking around, his world view changed.
“I was so blown away watching everyone else with their limitations. It was eye-opening for me. This is how people see me,” said Canesi, 31, who was born with no hands and went on to become a teaching pro and competitive player.
“I see myself as just a golfer.”
At the second U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6 this week, Canesi is one of 96 players – 75 men, 21 women – competing with various physical challenges.
There are eight categories (arm impairment, intellectual impairment, leg impairment, multiple limb amputee, neurological impairment, seated players, short stature and vision impairment), and there will be overall men’s and women’s champions determined Wednesday after 54 holes (men’s results / women’s results).
It is an extraordinary event, both impressive and inspirational. It’s also competitive, the juice of tournament play pulsing through the players. When Canesi signed for 89 in the first round, his disappointment was evident. A fellow competitor gave him a hug and reminded Canesi that he still had two more rounds to play.
“More of this stuff should happen in the world,” said Sonny Canesi, Brandon’s father and caddie this week. “This is like a ‘Wow.’”
Canesi was 6 years old and visiting with his grandfather in Hollywood, Florida, when he was introduced to golf. His grandfather lived on a golf course and played left-handed. Canesi grabbed a club, tucked the grip into his armpit and away he went.
By the time Canesi was 16, he’d grown to the point that he needed clubs to accommodate his size and his disability.
“I was talking to my uncle, saying I want to figure a way to play. Let’s make some longer clubs,” Canesi said.
“We made some homemade clubs in his basement. He’s an old-time handyman, with every tool you could have. I literally held a broomstick under my arm and measured it from the back of my arm to the floor.”
“From the first tournament, being surrounded by people not exactly like myself but like myself and we all love golf and want to challenge ourselves, it’s an amazing environment.” – Brandon Canesi
What Canesi and his uncle came up with was a set of clubs built with two steel shafts, one inside the other for added length. They sounded funny when Canesi hit shots with them, but they got him on the course.
With clubs that better fit him, Canesi started to lower his scores. He went from shooting in the low-90s to the mid-80s.
“I fell in love with the game,” he said.
That passion led Canesi to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he spent 16 months studying at the Golf Academy of America. The school eventually went out of business, but Canesi had the running start that he wanted on his career in golf.
While in Myrtle Beach, Canesi made a hole-in-one, and the video went viral. He began playing with a wider group of players, and eventually a friend suggested that he tee it up in an adaptive tournament.
“From the first tournament, being surrounded by people not exactly like myself but like myself and we all love golf and want to challenge ourselves, it’s an amazing environment,” Canesi said.
“I’m so passionate and love it so much, given the opportunity to do it more and at more of a professional level is awesome.”
Canesi has been based in the Miami area for the past five years and he worked for more than four years at Trump National Doral. He gradually worked his way up the ladder, and when LIV Golf played at Doral last fall, Canesi was supervising the golf shop.
It cut into his playing time, so Canesi decided to caddie, giving him more time to work on his own game. He also did some teaching, including leading some adaptive golf clinics.
He’s in the process of relocating back home to Northfield, New Jersey, where he intends to spend more time cultivating his career.
“We wanted him to be a kindergarten teacher. ‘What are you going to do with your life?’ That’s what every parent asks their kid,” Canesi’s father said.
“This is what he loves. You have to find your calling. This is his calling. He wants to get more people involved.”
Canesi is sponsored by Cobra and Puma, playing specially designed clubs. He has worked with the lead innovators at Cobra and has another fitting scheduled this summer to further adapt his equipment. His driver is 58 inches long, and he plays with 56-inch irons to allow him to anchor them under his arm.
“Everyone adapts to their swing. I adapted my clubs to my body,” Canesi said.
He is an ambassador for the game he plays.
“I may make it look easy at times, but it’s not that easy,” Canesi said.
“I was playing so much golf and I was weirdly talented at it, especially for a guy with no hands, I was such a unique entity. Everywhere I played, I explained myself or people would look at my clubs. It was like an inner voice.
“Sometimes on the course you have days when you can’t do anything wrong. I have those days sometimes, and I know deep down this is something I love doing, so why not go for it and invest in myself?”