U.S. ADAPTIVE OPEN

July 10, 2023

Amanda Cunha

Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 6)

Press Conference

Q. Amanda Cunha, 8-over, fourth place. Can you tell us a little bit about your round today?

AMANDA CUNHA: Yeah, it was not what I was hoping for. I really worked hard this summer, and I was okay with how I shot. There were some drives that I need to work on, but overall I think I did okay.

Q. Coming into the few practice rounds, how did you feel coming into today, and how do you feel your preparation helped you throughout the round?

AMANDA CUNHA: Yeah, I felt that the practice rounds were really good. We got some rain this week, so that kind of sucked a little bit, but the practice rounds give me an opportunity to kind of get a feel of the course. I haven't played it obviously for a year. So it's good being out here again.

Q. How would you say your experience last year maybe helped you get ready again for this year?

AMANDA CUNHA: It definitely gave me the confidence that I can play in this type of tournament. I was really nervous last year, extremely nervous, so coming this year I felt a little bit more comfortable. Still nervous, definitely, but not as bad.

Q. What did it mean to come back here. Obviously this is the national championship for this event.

AMANDA CUNHA: Oh, it means the world. This is like the one event that I'm always looking forward to. Now I can look forward to each and every year hopefully.

Being here at Pinehurst, obviously it's so historic, so iconic, and I think that's the best part. Seeing everyone, saying hi to all my friends, it's pretty great.

Q. When did you see that sign going down to the first tee that had your picture on it?

AMANDA CUNHA: Oh, that was pretty wild. We saw it on the first day of the practice round. My mom mentioned it to me. It was pretty cool.

Q. We had a winner yesterday from Hawai'i, Allisen Corpuz won the U.S. Women's Open. Do you have a relationship? Do you know her much?

AMANDA CUNHA: No, I don't, but I'm so happy for her, and I'm so proud that she's winning. That Hawai'i representation.

Q. Were you watching yesterday?

AMANDA CUNHA: I was, yeah, watching and playing pool with my family.

Q. Who is here with you this week?

AMANDA CUNHA: I have my parents and my brother and my aunt and uncle came up from New York. I'm really excited that they're out here watching me.

Q. I think you talked about it a little bit, but just being able to participate in this event, the fact that it exists, the fact that it's here, what does that mean to you on a personal level?

AMANDA CUNHA: It means a lot because having the opportunity to have this on such a big stage, obviously it being USGA hosting the event, it allows other people to see what we're all about, and I think that's the best part about it, because if a random person is not going to look up adaptive golf, they're not aware of it, so having it be mainstream and having other people kind of see that we're out here playing great golf, I think that's what's great about it.

Q. What would you want people who may not know about adaptive golf, what would you want them to know about it personally?

AMANDA CUNHA: I would want them to know how hard everyone is working. There's so many misconceptions with people with disabilities. If you watch some of the shots that people are hitting, it's incredible. I think that's what they should be taking away, is just because we may look different, we may seem different, it has nothing to do with our golfing ability, and I think that's great.

Q. Obviously there's a lot of camaraderie here in the adaptive golf community, but you're also here to win. How do you balance the competitive aspect of wanting to win but also, like you said earlier, seeing your friends and seeing people you know? How is that balance?

AMANDA CUNHA: The balance is kind of okay. I mean, I always haven't been a great golfer. I've been recently taking it a lot more seriously.

Having had that experience of like not being the No. 1 always in a tournament, not being even the top half, it gives me definitely perspective, and it has humbled me throughout the years.

Seeing all of my friends, it really gives me the sense of, like, it doesn't matter what anyone shoots. We're all friends at the end of the day.