Angelo Colussi will take a one-shot lead into the final day of the G4D Tour’s inaugural Net tournament in Ras Al Khaimah.
The two-round event at Al Hamra Golf Club is the second of the G4D Tour’s third season and features an entire new field of eight men and two women from the Net division of the World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability (WR4GD).
Colussi carded a four over 76 on Monday to hold a slender advantage over fellow Italian Riccardo Bianciardi, South Africa’s Robin Rambo Singh and England’s Michelle Lau.
Canada’s World Number five Kevin Delaney, the highest-ranked player in the field, and Iglin Grobellaar of South Africa sit a shot further adrift after rounds of 68.
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Net tournaments have been introduced to the schedule for the first time in an effort to further opportunities for golfers with a wider spectrum of disabilities.
Held at the venue of this week’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship, the third consecutive DP World Tour event in the United Arab Emirates, all ten competitors are making their debut on the G4D Tour.
Colussi, 53, who lost movement and the extension in his left arm following a motorbike accident in his mid-20s, began the day with a birdie at the first before a bogey at the fifth saw him hit the turn in level par.
Bogeys at the tenth and 16th, either side of a double bogey at the 13th, saw the World Number 10 settle with a four-over-par total on his first outing on the G4D Tour.
"I am very surprised [to be first], said Colussi.
"I was trying to play solid, be happy. What happens, you never know.
"It is an incredible course. This is the first time I have been in this kind of atmosphere, such a special tournament with good players."
Also at five over was Lau, the first player to compete on the G4D Tour with autism, after she made five birdies in her total, with Bianciardi managing three birdies in his opening-day score.
Delaney, a right arm below-elbow amputee since birth, registered the only eagle of the day at the par-five third as he moved under par for the day through his opening ten holes before falling down the leaderboard over the closing stretch.
Grobbelaar mixed two birdies with four bogeys and two double bogeys in his opening 78 to also sit two adrift of the halfway lead.
Live scoring for the final round of the G4D Tour @ Ras Al Khaimah Championship will be available on the DP World Tour’s website.
