Golfer with Potomac roots finishes tied for 10th in U.S. Adaptive Open
Tournament held at Rockville’s Woodmont Country Club for second consecutive year
By
Danny Chung-A-FungJuly 9, 2026 10:23 a.m.
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Ford Martin, a 33-year-old who grew up in Potomac, was one of nearly 100 golfers who descended on Rockville’s Woodmont Country Club for the 5th Annual U.S. Adaptive Golf Open, held from Monday to Wednesday.
While Martin, who now lives in Nashville, was less than pleased about his performance this year– he finished at even par and tied for 10th place–he was happy to put on a show for his hometown family and friends.
“I like showing off for them,” Martin told Bethesda Today on Wednesday. “I feel like it helps me not get up or get too down on myself because I’ve got to perform for them.”
The tournament, sponsored by the U.S. Golf Association (USGA), welcomes golfers with a range of disabilities from around the world. The golfers compete for an overall event championship as well as championships in disability categories including coordination impairment, intellectual impairment, lower limb impairment, multiple limb amputee, seated players, short stature, upper limb impairment and vision impairment. England’s Kipp Popert, who won the last three U.S. Adaptive Open championships, won for the fourth consecutive year, this year winning by six shots.
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Martin was born with bilateral neurogenic club feet, a condition that required four surgeries on each foot and to have his ankles surgically fused. As a result, Martin’s ankles are fixed at 90-degree angles and can’t move side to side or up and down. Martin uses orthotic devices to support his ankles and prevent him from falling over his toes, which would angle downward without them.
“It’s all I’ve ever known,” he told Bethesda Today. “So I just play with what I’ve got.”
A graduate of Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Martin played lacrosse, which he still coaches at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
“I think golf … is very similar to a mindset you have to have as a lacrosse goalie,” Martin said. “You’re going to get scored on in lacrosse, and you just got to reset for the next one and not let the last one affect you.”
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Martin competed in the U.S. Adaptive Open tournament the last two years and made it to the final round both times.
Kevin Keegan has been caddying with Martin since age 16. The two have known each other since the third grade when they were classmates at the Norwood School in Potomac.
Keegan, who works at Atlantic Union Bank in Bethesda as a commercial real estate lender, said that while he was still sending work emails from the course, he was happy to be out with his longtime friend.
“We used to jaywalk across River Road after school to play golf at Congressional” Country Club in Bethesda, Keegan told Bethesda Today.
Martin’s wife and 8-month-old son watched him play during the first round on Monday, and he also had his sister, cousins and some nieces and nephews cheering him on during Wednesday’s final round.
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The U.S. Adaptive Open is just one marquee golf event that has been held at Woodmont over the last few years. The country club recently hosted qualifiers for the U.S. Open back in early June, and is planning to host the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship in 2028.
Colton Dean, the U.S. Adaptive Open Championship Manager, said Woodmont has been “phenomenal.”
“They’ve really been proud to host this championship, and you can clearly see it with how the staff have worked so hard for these last two years to deliver a great USGA national championship for these players,” Dean said.
Olney’s Jack Bonifant, who also was competing in the coordination impairment category, did not make the cut for the final round.
Max Schaeffer contributed to this story.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine