On Friday 12th May, I set off from a slightly rainy Oxfordshire to Woburn Golf Club for The G4D Open, a competition which saw 80 of the best disabled golfers do battle over the Duchess course. Put simply, it’s given me a whole new perspective on golf!
Rocking up at 12.45pm, I was there to support our club captain and good friend of mine, Andrew Gardiner, a former disabled European No.1 and an individual who lost the lower portion of his right leg nearly 20 years ago. Essentially, he’s seen it all in the disabled golf game and was obviously eager for me to find out what was on offer in the county of Bedfordshire.
Walking across the car park and through the clubhouse, the halls were decked out with banners and screens displaying the leaderboards, with the putting green crowded with advertising hoardings and spectators who were there to support. It felt like a proper, professional tournament and, upon meeting Andy prior to his tee time, one of the first sentences he uttered was: “What they’ve put on this week is something that hasn’t really been seen before in the disabled game. It’s fantastic”.
Andy with playing partners Geoff Nicholas and Joakim Bjorkman
(Image credit: Getty Images)
To be there on the ground to experience it was something special, particularly given the logistics of organising a brand-new tournament of this stature. I’ve got to give a huge shout-out to the relevant parties involved – The R&A, DP World Tour, the European Disabled Golf Association and Woburn GC and its volunteers.
Within Andy’s group was Joakim Bjorkman, who was diagnosed with achondroplasia (meaning of short stature) at a young age. The Swede has over 35 worldwide titles at National, European and World level and has also featured in a video with golf YouTuber and Golf Monthly Top 50 coach, Peter Finch.
The final player in the group was Geoff Nicholas, a right leg amputee who has played in the Senior British Open and, according to his EDGA profile, actually beat Tiger Woods in the first round at the 1996 Australian Open. Yes, you read that correctly!
Back to the golf then and, with the way Woburn’s Duchess course is laid out, I was able to see three or so holes at the same time. Whilst the group I was following tackled the beginning of the tight layout, my eyes often wandered to other groups, one of which included a player with one arm and a golfer who was using a special mobility device that lifted said player from a sitting to a standing position.
I left the tee box…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly RSS Feed…