Kipp Popert is eager to do something nobody else will ever have the chance to and become the inaugural G4D Open champion at Woburn next week.
The Number One in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability has already blazed a trail in the all abilities game, claiming four victories on last season's inaugural G4D Tour and another this campaign to sit top of the 2023 Order of Merit.
The G4D Open, held in partnership with The R&A and DP World Tour and supported by EDGA, will see a field of 80 male and female players from nine sports classes across multiple impairment groups tee it up over the Duchess Course from May 10-12.
Popert - who was born with a form of Cerebral Palsy called Spastic Diplegia and spent most of his teenage years undergoing surgery and treatment on his legs and feet - knows there can only ever be one inaugural champion and he is eager to take his place in the history books.
“It would be a big deal to win the inaugural G4D Open,” he said. “Only one person is ever going to win the first one and if I put my name on that trophy then that will be incredible. It will be a memory I will treasure forever.
“What The R&A, DP World Tour and EDGA 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.
"I hope people watching the G4D Open come away thinking that anyone can play golf. It doesn’t matter what your disability is.”
Amateur and professional golfers will contest the 54-hole stroke play gross competition across the sports classes which cover various categories in Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting. An overall winner will be determined at the end of the three rounds, along with an opposite sex winner and a gross prize in each category.
Martin Slumbers, CEO of The R&A, said, “We have established The G4D Open to provide a world-class stage for the very best golfers with disabilities to compete against each other and realise their ambitions at an elite level of the sport.
“The World Health Organization states that one in six people has a disability and so we want to show that golf is open to everyone regardless of ability. We are grateful for the guidance offered by EDGA in creating this championship and look forward to working with the DP World Tour to stage the inaugural event at Woburn.”
The establishment of The G4D Open follows on from the inclusion of the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disabilities into the Rules of Golf from the start of this year and The R&A and USGA’s ongoing administration of the WR4GD.
During the week of the championship, there will also be a symposium bringing together national federations from around the world to discuss important topics relating to the growth and development of golf for the disabled.
