The G4D Open

The G4D Open: Five Things To Know

The R&A

09 May 23

3 mins

The inaugural G4D Open at Woburn this week (10 – 12 May) has been established to provide a world-class stage for the very best golfers with disabilities to compete against each other.

The championship is being held in partnership between The R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association).

Here are five things to know…

Sport Classes

The G4D Open is one of the most inclusive golf championships ever staged – according to the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) – featuring nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups. Amateur and professional golfers will contest the 54-hole stroke play gross competition across the sport classes which cover various categories in Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting.

Field

A field of 80 male and female players will assemble to compete over the Duchess Course at Woburn, representing 17 countries including the USA, Australia, Canada, Slovenia, Denmark and Turkey. Their handicaps range from +4.7 to 35.9. Entries have been accepted from players exhibiting all IPC recognised eligible impairments.

Aimi Bullock is Director of Golf Development at EDGA and is also competing in the inaugural G4D Open at Woburn this week.

World-class

Eight of the top-10 players from the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) are in the field – and 13 of the top-20. They include world number one Kipp Popert from England, Brendan Lawlor (Ireland) at number two, Juan Postigo Arce (Spain) at number four and Kurtis Barkley (Canada) at number five. In the women’s field, Ireland’s Fiona Gray – the Lady Captain at St Patrick’s GC in County Down – is the top-ranked player.

Links to The 150th Open

Did you know Juan played in the Celebration of Champions on the eve of The 150th Open in St Andrews last summer, mixing with legends of the sport? “Obviously, being invited as a guest to play in St Andrews for the 150th Open, you can't expect more from this game I think,” he smiled. “It was an unbelievable experience to play in front of 25,000 people, to play with Jordan Spieth, Mark Calcavecchia and Ian Baker-Finch, nothing compares to that.”

Spectators

Spectators are welcome to attend this week’s G4D Open at Woburn free of charge and enjoy watching the first-ever championship – it is not to be missed!

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