TUCSON, Arizona — At this practice, Amanda Cunha can see where her tee shot is landing, but it's only because we're in an indoor facility called Project Par.
"This is a whole tech zone, here," said Cunha.
Known for her bubbly personality, Cunha was one of the nation's top high school golfers while growing up in Hawaii, but she was beginning to see that something wasn't right.
"I wasn't seeing the flag anymore," said Cunha. "I wasn't seeing the bunkers."
Following months of testes, Cunha was diagnosed as legally blind with leber hereditary optic neuropathy. It's a disease that robs people of their central nervous system.
"I had kind of gone through the process, mentally and emotionally, of coming to the realization that I'm blind."
While Cunha's focus could have been just on finishing high school, she wasn't ready to give up on the sport she loved. Despite needing help lining up her shots, Amanda still competed as a high school senior.
"I think I had a greater appreciation being someone who kind of had a disadvantage from everyone else."
Cunha decided to attend the University of Arizona, where she helped restart its adaptive golf program. While doing so, she became the first adaptive golfer on scholarship in the country.
"This is a really great community and I'm so grateful to be here."
Before Cunha arrived on campus last fall as a freshman, she won the United States Adaptive Open in the visually impaired category. It happened to be in Pinehurst, North Carolina, where she once competed as a junior golfer.
"Bringing home a trophy in my first tournament was pretty great."
Cunha repeated as champion this past July. She's now one of four University of Arizona adaptive golfers. Cunha describes her condition as stable. She wants to inspire one putt at a time.
"I want to be that person for high school kids out there that if they want to play adaptive sports, if they have a disability, no matter what it is, you can come and play sports."
