David de Garavilla’s rise continues in adaptive golf with third straight trip to the USGA Adaptive Open
The Telford native suffered a life-altering injury as a teenager, which resulted in the amputation of his right leg. But de Garavilla, 43, has never lost his competitive edge.
David de Garavilla has always been a competitor.
As a child, the Telford native played every sport he could — from soccer, to baseball, basketball, wrestling, and football.
Even after a life-altering injury during his sophomore year at Downingtown West High School resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee, de Garavilla never questioned whether he would compete again.
“Sports were always something that I had done, so I wanted to continue doing it,” said de Garavilla, 43. “I’m going to do it if I’m able, so I was going to try everything and figure out a way to make it work.”
With his competitive nature pushing him through, de Garavilla will be teeing off today in the USGA’s U.S. Adaptive Open, which runs through Wednesday at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. It marks the third consecutive year he has qualified for the championship, and de Garavilla is among 96 players to earn a spot in this year’s field.
The USGA received 250 entries for the 2026 Adaptive Open and hosted eight 18-hole qualifying events across the country.
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“It’s no easy feat qualifying for a USGA event,” said Matt Hensel, his friend and caddie. “It’s hard to do that once, but three times in a row just shows his passion and love for the game, and his motivation to win.”
In 1998, de Garavilla was playing in a junior varsity football game for Downington West when he broke his left leg. Doctors tried to fix his leg, but three weeks later, after several complications, his leg was amputated below his knee. Immediately following his surgery, he was fitted for a prosthetic and endured months of strenuous rehab.
Soon after, he was back competing. He padded his prosthetic and by the start of his junior year in 1999, he returned to the football field, playing offensive line on junior varsity and long snapper for the varsity team.
After his injury his sophomore year, the Eastern Amputee Golf Association in Bethlehem, Pa., learned of his amputation and reached out to de Garavilla with information about adaptive golf opportunities. The EAGA’s main goal is to organize and host amputee golf events for physically impaired individuals and teach them about the sport. At the time, he had little interest because he had never played golf.
It wasn’t until after wrestling at Johns Hopkins University that de Garavilla bought his first set of clubs, looking for another opportunity to compete.
“Sports dried up after college, and I didn’t have anything to do competitively,” de Garavilla said. “At that point I was just working, but there was a nine-hole work golf league, so I went out and tried that.”
Golf quickly became his primary competitive outlet, he said. He never had any formal lessons, so he taught himself by studying the game.
“I watch a lot of golf, read about golf, watch videos about people talking about the mechanics of golf,” he said. “I’m a nerd in that sense.”
Over the past 15 years, he has developed into one of the area’s top adaptive golfers. He won the second Golf Association of Philadelphia Adaptive Open at his home course, Indian Valley Country Club, in 2025, and competes often against able-bodied golfers.
However, competing in an USGA event is the biggest honor, he said. The growth of adaptive sports de Garavilla has seen since his injury has been significant.
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“It’s really cool that these organizations are creating an event like this,” he said. “It isn’t a charity event to celebrate people with disabilities, it’s really run just like a real U.S. Open. You truly feel like you’re a part of a professional event as a participant.”
Hensel met de Garavilla at Indian Valley Country Club when they started playing golf around the same time and has caddied for him at the Adaptive Open since 2024. Hensel, who works with people with intellectual disabilities daily, said he’s grateful to be de Garavilla’s caddie and be surrounded by hardworking athletes at a USGA event.
“Adaptive athletes’ stories are really inspiring, but at the end of the day, they’re competitors and they’re good golfers, and I think that’s the real story behind it,” Hensel said. “They’re out there to win, and David is definitely like that. From my perspective, it’s just cool to see all the different types of folks out there competing and grinding, and it is definitely inspiring to see.”
