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From Adversity to Achievement: Max Togisala Headlines Opening Round of USDGA Championship
By Craig Dolch
Published on
Max Togisala expected to be playing golf the rest of his life. Just not like this. Not strapped to a wheelchair, unable to walk off a bogey on his final hole Monday or dance after three consecutive birdies on his front nine.
Togisala learned you can’t choose what happens to you in life, only how you deal with it.
Togisala’s life changed four years ago when, about to attend Central Wyoming on a golf scholarship, he suffered a skiing accident at Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. His spinal cord was severed and he was left paralyzed from the waist down.
So much for golf. Or so he and his family thought.
“It just kind of broke my heart because it wasn’t exactly how I thought his life was going to be,” said his mother, Amber, who watched her son Monday at PGA Golf Club in the eighth PING USDGA Championship Presented by PGA of America.
“While he was going through rehab, he saw the USGA Adaptive Open on TV and he said, ‘I’m going to play in that next year and I’m going to win.’”
That’s exactly what Max did. He headed back to a golf cart, got fitted for a VertaCat cart and re-learned the game without the use of his legs. He has won the last three U.S. Adaptive Open’s seated division category, last year setting a tournament record with a 67.
Togisala was having another stellar round Monday. The 22-year-old from Ogden City, Utah, was three-under after five holes after the three consecutive birdies on the back nine of the Ryder Course, atop the leaderboard.
“I chipped in on the first hole, so I got a little lucky,” he said. “Then I got into a groove.”
His groove was slowed, however, when his group made the turn. What had been a swift front nine turned into a wait-and-hit back nine. He played the back nine in 4-over.
“That maybe got into my head a little bit,” he said of the slower play. “But it was a blast. It was fun.”
The resulting 1-over 72 left him tied for fourth in the men’s overall division and leading the seated category. He wasn’t happy with his finish, but thrilled with the setting. His wife also followed him and his father, Max, caddied for him.
“Golf means everything to me,” Togisala said. “There's a lot of life lessons in golf and that's what I love about it. Whenever something bad happens, moving on to the next one and moving forward is tough, but that's what you got to do.”
His mother no longer mourns the accident and savors the comeback. She measures his life by his smiles, not his scores.
“As I saw how truly happy he was, it healed my heart,” Amber said. “We were mourning the way we thought his future would be, but he’s had so many opportunities that he would have never had. Like here we are, surrounded by this beauty and all these amazing athletes.”
Togisala doesn’t want to think where he would be without golf, and he doesn’t have to. He works in a pro shop and shares the course with 88 other adaptive golfers this week.
“It’s great hearing their stories and what they've been through and what they've overcome,” he said. “It’s really motivating for me.”
As Max is to the rest of us.
England’s Mike Browne, who finished runner-up last year to three-time champion Chad Pfeifer, is tied for the men’s overall lead at even-par 71 with Rob Walden and Chris Willis. Togisala is tied with Victor Postillion and Carson Lane. Pfeifer is T7 at 73.
Two-time U.S. Adaptive Open champion Kim Moore of Fort Wayne, Ind., leads the Women’s Division after a 7-over 78. Nancy Lee is two back in second place.
Kenny Bontz of Lakewood Ranch, Fla., shot even-par 71 and leads the Senior Division by four shots over defending champion Eli Villanueva of Fort Bragg, N.C.
The 54-hole event runs through Wednesday at PGA Golf Club. Spectators are allowed.
