Trevor Kennison Doesn't Do Ordinary And Neither Does His Golf Story

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Nobody would've guessed Trevor Kennison's next big challenge would come on a golf course—not even Trevor himself.

He'd grown up casually playing the game with his dad, but it was never the main event, that title belonged to the mountains. Kennison is a bit of a daredevil, chasing adrenaline through dirt biking, surfing, skiing—anything that got the heart pumping.

Then, in November 2014, a snowboarding accident in Colorado's backcountry changed the trajectory of his life. While attempting to land a jump, Kennison crashed, shattering two vertebrae, puncturing his spinal cord and dislocating his back. He spent nearly three hours lying in a blizzard before rescuers reached him.

More than a decade later, he's standing on the first tee at Woodmont Country Club for the fifth U.S. Adaptive Open.

[It's] pretty crazy, honestly, just to even be here.

And as if his story couldn't get more unbelievable, this championship marks just the third tournament of his competitive golf career. Only 13 months ago, Kennison decided to take golf seriously as a seated player. Now he's competing in one of the premier events in adaptive golf—a remarkable rise for someone who never expected the game to become his next great challenge.

The U.S. Adaptive Open isn't just another championship—it's become a showcase for some of the most remarkable stories in golf.

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In just five years, the Open has given adaptive athletes a stage that simply didn't exist before, at least not on this level. It's a week of celebrating elite competition while introducing fans to players whose journeys are every bit as compelling as the golf itself—and Kennison fits that mold perfectly.

Thirteen months into his competitive golf career, he's already standing alongside some of the best adaptive players in the world, a testament to his athleticism and competitive drive and a championship that's changing who gets seen in golf.

Trevor Kennison plays his tee shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the 2026 U.S. Adaptive Open at Woodmont Country Club (South Course) in Rockville, Md. on Monday, July 6, 2026. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)

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Competition has always been part of Kennison's DNA. His mom, Olga, is an accomplished marathon runner herself, described Trevor as the kind of kid who was constantly moving. "As a little boy he just had so much energy," she told Skratch. "His life was always meant to be in motion, it was what he was born to do."

One look through his Instagram paints the exact kind of picture of who he is. Kennison loves an adventure, whether if its on the snow or in the fairways, staying still just isn't in his nature.

After his injury, the reality of mourning his old life and rebuilding a new one set in and Trevor fell into a depression. He shared that he wasn't doing much of anything, and drank his days away to ease the numbness that he felt. But that wasn't him, that isn't the kind of person he wanted to be, so the gym became an outlet.

At first he wanted nothing to do with the snow, finding motion in basketball. His sister Ashley, who Olga explained was the one to really push Trevor throughout is healing process, encouraged him to seek community. Which is how he got connected with some folks from the High Fives Foundation, whose mission is to support those with physical disabilities resulting from a life-altering accident and cognitive disabilities to recover through their network to get back into their active lives.

Fifteen months after driving himself home from the hospital, Kennison was back on the snow.

It wasn't about erasing what had happened or pretending life looked the same. It was about reconnecting with the part of himself that had never changed: the competitor.

With the support of the foundation and its growing community of adaptive athletes, Kennison returned to the mountains with the same fearlessness that had always defined him. Since then, he's become one of the world's premier adaptive free-ride skiers, and has an award-winning documentary titled Full Circle that chronicles his jounrey going back to the place that changed his life. It's his way of showing the world that the accident hadn't taken away his willingness to push boundaries—it had simply changed how he did it. Which is what makes golf such an unexpected chapter.

Kennison's past with the game never looked to be anything more than casual pastime, but now that he's picked it up with real intention as a seated player, golf has offered him something the mountains never could. Kennison still loves the rush—he always will—but golf gives him something different: stillness.

Golf for me is just so grounding...You hit a good shot and it keeps you coming back for more.

Every shot demands patience. Every round asks him to slow down, think differently and embrace a challenge that can't be conquered through fearlessness alone. For someone who has spent a lifetime chasing adrenaline, golf became the perfect counterweight—equal parts competition, meditation and therapy.

That's what makes his rise feel so fitting. Trevor Kennison has never stopped being an athlete. He's never stopped chasing challenges. Golf just happens to be the latest one.

Skratch on Site For The U.S. Adaptive Open