Redefining What Is Possible: Amanda Cunha’s Journey in Adaptive Golf

From competitive junior golfer to legally blind college athlete and advocate for a more inclusive future in golf

Golf has a way of testing every player.

It asks athletes to adjust, stay patient and keep moving forward when the next shot—or the next chapter—does not look the way they expected. For adaptive golfer Amanda Cunha, those lessons extend far beyond the course.

On this episode of The Golf Mom Mindset Podcast, I welcome Amanda, a trailblazing adaptive golfer, college student and advocate whose journey is redefining what is possible in the game.

Born in Kazakhstan and adopted when she was nine months old, Amanda grew up in Hawaii and began playing golf at just five years old. She competed nationally as a junior golfer until her central vision began to deteriorate because of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, a rare condition that left her legally blind as a teenager.

The diagnosis changed how Amanda experienced the world, but it did not take away her love for golf.

With resilience, courage and joy, she adapted her game and continued competing. She went on to play in the USGA’s inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, where her talent and infectious personality helped make her a media favorite. Today, Amanda is a student and adaptive golfer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, while using her voice to advocate for greater inclusion in sports.

Amanda’s story is not simply about overcoming adversity. It is about identity, adaptability and refusing to let one life-changing diagnosis decide where a dream must end.

A Love for Golf That Began at Five Years Old

For Amanda, golf began in early childhood.

Starting at age five gave her years to develop her skills, build confidence and experience the competitive side of the game. She progressed into national junior golf, following a path that many young golfers and their families recognize: practices, tournaments, goals and dreams shaped around the sport.

When golf becomes part of a child’s life so early, it can grow into more than an activity. It becomes a community, an outlet and part of the way that child sees herself.

That is why an unexpected change in health can feel like more than a physical challenge. It can create uncertainty about the future and raise painful questions about whether the life an athlete imagined is still possible.

Amanda’s journey reminds us that the path may change without the passion disappearing.

When Her Vision Began to Change

As a teenager, Amanda’s central vision began to deteriorate because of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. The rare condition ultimately left her legally blind.

For any teenager, sudden vision loss would be life-changing. For a nationally competitive junior golfer—an athlete playing a sport that appears to depend so heavily on sight—it could have seemed like the end of the game she loved.

But Amanda’s story did not end there.

She faced the challenge by learning to adapt. Instead of allowing her diagnosis to erase her identity as a golfer, she began discovering what golf could look like in a new chapter of her life.

Adaptation is not pretending that a loss or challenge is easy. It is acknowledging what has changed while remaining open to new ways forward.

That is one of the most powerful lessons young athletes can learn: resilience does not always mean returning to exactly who you were before. Sometimes it means becoming someone new while carrying the same heart, passion and purpose with you.

Adaptive Golf Creates a New Path Forward

Adaptive golf makes room for athletes with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities to participate and compete in the game. It recognizes that golfers may need different forms of assistance or accommodation while still honoring their skill, discipline and competitive spirit.

For Amanda, adaptive golf offered a path to continue pursuing the sport after becoming legally blind.

Her journey challenges narrow ideas about what an athlete is supposed to look like and what ability means. She is not defined only by her vision loss. She is a golfer who has trained, competed and continued finding ways to perform within circumstances she never expected to face.

That distinction matters.

Athletes with disabilities deserve to be seen for their talent, work ethic and complete identities—not reduced to a diagnosis or treated only as inspirational because they participate.

True inclusion means creating meaningful opportunities to belong, compete and grow.

Competing in the Inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open

Amanda went on to compete in the USGA’s inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open, a landmark event that brought adaptive golfers together on a national stage.

Her participation represented more than a personal milestone. Events like the U.S. Adaptive Open increase visibility for golfers whose talent and stories have not always received the attention they deserve.

Representation has a ripple effect.

When a child with a disability sees an athlete like Amanda competing in a major golf event, possibility becomes easier to imagine. Parents can see that a diagnosis does not automatically eliminate every athletic opportunity. Coaches, organizations and golf facilities are encouraged to think more intentionally about accessibility.

Amanda became a media favorite not only because of her skill, but also because of the joy and personality she brought to the experience. That joy is an important part of her story. She shows that resilience can include determination and hard work while still leaving room for humor, connection and love for the game.

More Than an Inspiring Story

It would be easy to describe Amanda’s journey only as inspirational, but her impact reaches further.

Stories like hers should move the golf community toward action.

Inclusion requires more than celebrating an adaptive athlete after she succeeds. It asks us to consider whether young golfers with disabilities have access to instruction, equipment, facilities, competition and mentors before they ever reach a national stage.

It asks golf organizations to listen to adaptive athletes and include their perspectives when programs and events are created. It asks coaches to remain curious about how they can teach different learners. It asks other players and families to build communities in which differences are respected rather than treated as limitations.

Amanda’s advocacy helps make those conversations visible. By sharing her experience, she is helping create a future in which the next young adaptive golfer may not have to wonder whether there is a place for them in the game.

Continuing Her Journey at the University of Arizona

Today, Amanda continues her education and adaptive golf journey at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Reaching the college level is meaningful for any student-athlete, but Amanda’s path carries an additional message: athletic identity can evolve without disappearing.

The original plan may change. The route may require different support, new tools and a willingness to begin again. None of that makes the dream less valuable.

Amanda continues to be both a student of the game and an advocate for its future. Her presence in college golf helps widen the picture of who belongs in competitive athletics and what it can mean to pursue excellence.

For junior golfers listening to her story, the lesson is not that every obstacle will lead to the same outcome. It is that an unexpected change does not get to determine the full value or potential of their life.

What Parents Can Learn From Amanda’s Story

As parents, we naturally imagine a future for our children. We support their goals, invest in their development and hope their hard work will lead them toward the opportunities they dream about.

But we cannot guarantee that their path will remain predictable.

An injury, diagnosis, setback or change in circumstances can alter the plan. In those moments, our children need to know that their identity is larger than one ability, result or version of their dream.

Amanda’s journey offers several important reminders for sports parents:

• Listen before deciding what is possible. A challenge may require adaptation, but it does not automatically require giving up.

• Separate identity from performance. A child remains whole and valuable even when their athletic path changes.

• Make room for grief and hope. Young athletes can mourn what they have lost while still imagining a meaningful future.

• Celebrate courage without demanding constant positivity. Resilience includes difficult emotions, not only inspirational moments.

• Help children find the right community. Inclusive coaches, programs and mentors can make an enormous difference.

Our job is not to force a particular outcome. It is to remain beside our children as they learn who they can become—even when the journey moves in an unexpected direction.

Mindset Is More Than Positive Thinking

Amanda’s experience reflects an important truth about mindset: it is not simply telling yourself that everything will be fine.

Real mindset work includes accepting reality, processing difficult emotions and choosing how to respond to what cannot be controlled. It is the willingness to look at a changed situation and ask, What is still possible from here?

Golf teaches players to adapt constantly. The lie changes. The weather shifts. A good swing receives a bad bounce. The player cannot control every condition, but can choose how to approach the next shot.

Life asks the same of us on a much larger scale.

Amanda could not control the diagnosis that changed her central vision. What she could shape was the way she moved forward, the role golf continued to play in her life and how she would use her experience to encourage change for others.

That is resilience—not the absence of hardship, but the courage to keep building a meaningful life within it.

Why Representation in Golf Matters

The future of golf becomes stronger when more people can see themselves in it.

Young athletes need examples of golfers with different bodies, backgrounds, abilities and stories. Representation does not guarantee that every child will follow the same path, but it expands their understanding of what may be possible.

Amanda’s visibility also helps educate people who may know very little about adaptive golf or vision loss. Her story opens the door to curiosity, conversation and greater awareness.

Inclusion is not a separate part of growing the game. It is essential to growing the game.

When golf welcomes more athletes, the sport gains new talent, perspectives and communities. When accessibility becomes part of the conversation from the beginning, young golfers are more likely to experience belonging rather than feeling as though they must prove they deserve a place.

Redefining Success on and Off the Course

Amanda Cunha’s journey invites all of us to reconsider what success looks like.

Success is not only following the original plan without interruption. Sometimes it is finding the courage to create a new plan.

It is continuing to show up when the game looks different. It is allowing an experience to shape you without permitting it to define your limits. It is using your voice so that the path may become more accessible for the athletes coming behind you.

Amanda’s life reflects perseverance, adaptability and heart. She is a golfer, a student and an advocate helping build a more inclusive future for the sport.

Her story reminds junior golfers that they are more than the challenges they face. It reminds parents that our children may be capable of adapting in ways we cannot yet imagine. And it reminds the golf community that creating opportunity requires all of us to believe that the game belongs to everyone.

Listen to my conversation with Amanda Cunha on The Golf Mom Mindset Podcast and hear her powerful journey from competitive junior golf through vision loss, adaptive competition and college life.