Towson golfer is ‘best one-armed player in the United States’

ROCKVILLE — Vince Biser missed the cut at last year’s U.S. Adaptive Open by two strokes. On Tuesday, the 37-year-old Towson resident could not follow up a promising showing the day earlier and finished with an 82 at Woodmont Country Club.

Biser was eight shots from playing in the final round at this year’s tournament, but was hardly discouraged.

“It is what it is,” he said. “I’ve just got to do better next year.”

Biser’s participation in the tournament is nothing short of inspiring. He plays golf with only one arm — his left — due to being born with utero cerebral palsy and suffering a stroke before birth that left him without full use of the right side of his body.

Biser regularly suffered severe epileptic seizures before undergoing surgery at 16 for a hemispherectomy, which severs the connection between the brain’s two hemispheres by removing a part of the brain. Despite those hurdles, he maintains his own home in Rodgers Forge, drives his own car and worked at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix until it closed last September.

To his mother, the strides Biser has made would seem to outpace a minor hiccup such as missing a cut.

“I just can’t say enough — with all of the obstacles in his life — about how well he’s doing and how proud we are of him,” Nona Biser said as her voice swelled with emotion while watching her son sink a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole. “And he doesn’t even give himself enough credit a lot of times for what he has accomplished considering everything. We are so proud of him. He’s an amazing kid.”

Biser, who was included in the 96-player field at the U.S. Adaptive Open as a committee selection, doesn’t need your pity. He owns a 3 handicap, regularly crushes drives of more than 250 yards and has captured seven North American One-Armed Golfer Association national titles.

“I’m probably better than 99% of the golfers on the planet because I’m a 3 handicap, and not a lot of people can say that,” he acknowledged with a slight smile.

Alan Gentry, founder of the North American One-Armed Golfer Association, backed up Biser’s credentials.

“He’s the best one-armed player in the United States, and that’s backed up by his resume,” Gentry said. “And then when you throw CP on top of that, he’s one of a kind. He’s an amazing athlete.”

Vince Biser of Towson, Md.

Suffered a stroke at birth which left him without full use of the right side of his body. pic.twitter.com/HGlbgxIuXs

— Jonathan Coe (@jonathanmcoe) July 7, 2025

Biser’s athletic prowess hasn’t been limited to golf. As a child, he played soccer and pitched and manned left field for a Little League baseball travel team. When he enrolled at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and joined its sports program called the Bennett Blazers, he ran the 800-meter race in track and swam freestyle events at the Junior Paralympics and learned how to play wheelchair basketball.

Andy Biser, Vince’s father, credited Gerry and Gwena Herman, who coach the Bennett Blazers, with developing Vince’s love for athletics.

“Their motto is very simple: ‘We tell these kids they can before someone tells them they can’t,’” the elder Biser said, recalling a time when he visited the institute and watched in amazement as a one-armed girl swam several lengths of an indoor pool. “I said, ‘If they can teach her how to swim, this is the place for my kid.’”

But golf became Vince Biser’s passion. His paternal grandfather Robert Biser was an avid golfer who captured the Baltimore City 70-and-over championship, and Andy Biser said one of his earliest memories involved his son repeatedly striking a Wiffle ball with a plastic golf club in the family’s backyard.

“He’d do it for hours going back and forth,” Andy Biser said. “That developed his hand-eye coordination.”

Vince Biser played for the golf team at Towson High and adopted his grandfather’s philosophy of eschewing practice at the driving range for actual rounds on the course, which he does about four times per week. When the cost of trips to golf tournaments began to rise to $2,000 and more, a family friend helped him reach a three-year sponsorship deal with Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance — of which he is halfway through.

Biser’s success at golf is remarkable considering the inability to use the right side of his body. His right hand is partially closed, he has limited vision in his right eye, and his right leg has atrophied and undergone multiple operations to lengthen the leg and improve his gait. Andy Biser said his son once took a shower and didn’t realize he was holding a golf ball in his right hand until it dropped in the tub.

Although Vince Biser plays with only his left arm, he was not placed in the upper limb impairment category. Instead, he participated in the coordination impairment classification, which rankles his family and Gentry who feel Vince is at a competitive disadvantage with peers who can use both arms.

“This isn’t anything new,” Andy Biser said. “There’s always classification issues because there are small things that are different. It’s very hard to please everybody.”