From hockey to biking, adaptive sports have allowed everyone to enjoy the sport they love and compete. One upstate New Yorker’s driving and putting talents are taking him to the world stage.
Ricky Reilly started his golf career at a young age.
“There’s nothing I love more than to be able to go out on this golf course and beat anybody,” Reilly said.
Reilly put in so many hours on the golf course once he realized faster sports weren’t going to work out for him.
“The amount of hours I’ve spent here is probably a sickening amount of hours,” he said. “Golf has truly taken over my life. As a short-stature athlete, to be able to take a sport so seriously and have opportunities, it means the world. It’s the coolest thing.”
Reilly has dwarfism and one of those opportunities was the Adaptive Golf Open, where people with disabilities compete on a national stage.
“We’re going to go out and show you that not only we’re the best adaptive golfers in the world, to us, we think we can be the best golfers in the world no matter what,” said Reilly.
Growing up, Reilly would have to use youth clubs or cut down a regular-sized club. To perform at the highest level, he recently got a custom set of clubs from the leading adaptive golf company, PING.
“For PING to send me these clubs and have them ready to go right out of the box, it’s so cool as a short-stature athlete,” he said.
While driving to practice earlier this year, Reilly got a call that changed his life.
“I immediately called my dad,” he said.
He got the call that he would be competing for Team USA at the Phoenix Cup, the adaptive golf version of the Ryder Cup.
“You know, it means the world. It’s so cool,” Reilly said. “It gives me chills. It gives me goosebumps to think that I’m going to be representing my country and giving it my best and doing what we can to send the Europeans back home overseas with a little frown on their face.”
In September, Team USA will be welcoming the European team to Arizona, which will put Reilly on an international stage. He’s hoping to inspire people like him.
“At the end of the day, if I can inspire one kid whether they have a disability or not, just to know that there is a future for them, whether they play golf or play video games or they play whatever, all I want is for somebody to know that there is a place in this world for them,” Reilly said.
