Winning the inaugural G4D Open for golfers with disabilities would be an achievement to “treasure forever”, says world number one Kipp Popert.
The Englishman will be among 80 male and female players competing to win the title at Woburn from 10-12 May.
“It would be a big deal to win,” said Popert, who was born with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia.
“Only one person is ever going to win the first one and if I put my name on that trophy, that will be incredible.”
The championship, held in partnership with the R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association), will be one of the most inclusive ever staged, featuring nine sports classes across multiple impairment groups.
“What they are doing for grassroots golf for people with disability has been brilliant and important, but those getting into the game need something to aspire to and that is what I’m trying to achieve,” added Popert, who is among 14 of the top 20 players from the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) competing at the event.
“I hope people watching the G4D Open come away thinking that anyone can play golf. It doesn’t matter what your disability is.”
The 54-hole stroke play tournament will feature players from 19 countries competing in standing, intellectual, visual and sitting categories with winners in each.
Kris Aves, a 41-year-old former Metropolitan Police officer who was injured in the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge in March 2017, will be playing in the sitting category.
He was paralysed from the waist down after being struck by the attacker’s car and spent 10 months at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
“Going through my rehab in hospital, there were three things I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to do properly again,” said Aves. “One was that I didn’t think I’d ever play golf again.”
However, he was encouraged to try a ParaGolfer – a special mobility device that lifts people from a sitting to a standing position.
“I got inside and was able to make a swing,” he said. “That first hit brought tears to my eyes. Even though I knew I’d never get back to the standard I had been, I was able to play again.”
A fundraising day at his local pub helped him buy his own and he will now tee it up at Woburn’s Duchess Course.
“I was over the moon to get a place. I’m looking forward to seeing how well I perform against the seated golfers. But, really, I’m looking forward to simply taking part.”
