Ryanne Jackson has learned a lot in the past eight years, and most importantly, it’s that she is not alone.

As one of 12 players in the Australian All Abilities Championship starting Thursday at Kingston Heath as part of the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, she is surrounded by people who have met their challenges and triumphed.

They are an inspirational group, to say the least.

Michigan-based Jackson, 27 and also the only woman in the field, has been managing scapuloperoneal muscular dystrophy since she was 19 and at college.

It’s a degenerative condition more common in men, and it took time to nail down. “I got made fun of at high school, I wouldn’t say that I was bullied, but there were a lot of jokes,” she says. “I played basketball, and my running was awkward, and I was kind of slow. I think that was the first sign.

“My Dad was like ‘this is weird, I have two other girls who were good athletes. Something isn’t right here. I know she’s trying’. My Dad started asking questions of my paediatrician when I was a sophomore in high school, I would say. It took a few years to say ‘this is it’.”

She has golfed since she was two; her father DJ is a longtime golf coach, and both her elder sisters played growing up in Florida. She scarcely had a choice but to pick up a club early.

But a couple of years ago she was ready to quit the game. Her condition mostly impacts her shoulders and ankles and causes severe general fatigue – she equates it with that of a marathon runner post-race – and plainly makes the game much more difficult.

Many people with muscular dystrophy cannot walk, let alone play golf.

“When we went back and told my paediatrician what it was after all these years, she said: ‘I don’t know how you can swing a golf club, you shouldn’t even be walking’. I’m lucky I came from a sports family where … I was one of those kids who played soccer when I was young because it’s easy to learn. I moved through basketball and into golf. I was always pretty active and if I wasn’t, I don’t think I could walk now.”

The turning point came a couple of years ago when the USGA introduced what it calls ‘adaptive golf’ championships. She won the first national title, and suddenly her passion was reignited. “Some days are better than others. Through adaptive golf, I’ve learned to accept where I am more, I think. I saw other people playing golf despite their disabilities and it made me accept where I am more than I had before.”

She plays to a handicap of five and has learned to manage her condition even though that with no cure, she is well aware that her time in the game could be short.

“I’m not someone who’s able to stand on the range and just hit balls for hours like some people,” she said. “I would hit maybe 50 balls at most, and that’s a good day. It’s picking one thing to do on a particular day. I don’t show up to the course super early for a tee time because I’ll just tire myself out.

“A lot of it’s just figuring out a happy medium, what’s not enough to keep getting better but what’s not too much and my body rejects what I’m doing.”

All Abilities golf is having a wonderful impact for everyone involved, she says. “For someone like me, it’s low impact enough that I’m still able to play it. It’s kind of forcing my body to do things that I wouldn’t do on a normal day. It’s helping me. If it weren’t for golf I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am today. I do think it’s slowing the progression of my condition. I enjoy coming to Australia, I enjoy seeing the people I play with, it’s something for me to look forward to.’’

The Australian All Abilities Championship runs from Thursday to Saturday at Kingston Heath, with first tee times from 1.39pm with many of the world’s best taking part including Briton Kipp Popert, Irish professional Brendan Lawlor and recent Australian winer Steven ‘Spud’ Alderson.

Jackson saw the course and thought it long, and tough. "I hope my short game is on point," she said. But by merely teeing it up, she is a winner this week.

TEE TIMES ROUND ONE 1.39 Cameron Pollard, Juan Postigo (Spain), Kipp Popert (Eng) 1.44 Wayne Perske, Johan Kammerstad (Sweden), Brendan Lawlor (Ireland) 1.50 Steven Alderson, Ryanne Jackson (USA), Mike Browne (Eng) 1.55 Geoff Nicholas, Kurtis Barkley (Canada), Simon Seungmin Lee (South Korea)