Leading golfers with a disability are set to compete on the world stage at the fourth edition of the Championship.
After three years at Woburn, the tournament is set to be held at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales for the first time.
Ireland’s Brendan Lawlor and Daphne van Houten from the Netherlands will look to defend their respective titles from the 14th to 16th of May.
The G4D Open, in partnership with The R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA, is one of the most inclusive championships ever held.
Eighty men and women golfers of amateur and professional status will compete across 54 holes of gross stroke play at the renowned Roman Road Course.
There will be an overall men’s and women’s winner, with trophies to be earned in each of the nine sport classes across the recognised impairment groups.
The groups cover Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting.
The field
The global field features representatives from 25 nations, five more than last year. The age range of players goes from the youngest in Sweden’s 16-year-old Ville Engqvist to Japan’s 70-year-old Shigeru Kobayashi as the oldest participant.
Among those are 19 players making their debut, including Richie Willis, a member at Celtic Manor for 25 years, who has played an estimated 3,000 rounds on the Roman Road lay-out.
Willis, 68, whose life dramatically changed after he needed an above-the-knee right leg amputation following a road traffic accident, will have the honour of striking the first tee shot at 8am tomorrow.
Richie Willis from Celtic Manor Resort will hit the first tee shot tomorrow. Credit: The R&A
He is one of two Welsh players in the field along with Dylan Baines.
England’s Lucy Leatham, another first-time player, is among 14 women in the field. She first gained awareness of the Championship following last year’s edition, after a life-changing car accident in 2023 saw her lose her right arm.
Lawlor looking to defend
The top four men’s players on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) will all be teeing up: the world number one and 2024 Champion Kipp Popert of England, Simon Seungmin Lee from the Republic of Korea, Australia’s Lachlan Wood and Lawlor.
Lawlor, 29, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, claimed a four-stroke win over Wood last year to add to his title success in 2023.
Three out of the top four women on the WR4GD are also ready to shine, namely world number one van Houten, Mette Wegge Lynggaard from Denmark and Germany’s Jennifer Sräga.
A year ago, van Houten, 27, who was born with scoliosis and since faced other health battles, claimed back-to-back women’s titles thanks to an 11-stroke victory over Sräga.
In preparation for hosting The G4D Open, the course has undergone a rigorous assessment and enhancement programme to ensure it meets the highest standards of accessibility.
In a first for the Championship, there will be a cut to the leading 20 overall men and ties and top ten overall women and ties.
In addition, the top three men in each sport class (if applicable) and top two women in each sport class (if applicable) will also qualify for the third and final round.
Brendan Lawlor from Ireland prepares for his title defence at The G4D Open at Celtic Manor Resort. Credit: The R&A
A week of inclusivity
A range of demonstration and education activities are also taking place to underline how inclusive and accessible golf can be.
Delegates from across the golf, health and sport industry, including national golf federations, are meeting to learn more about the G4D landscape.
Meanwhile, people of all ages from schools, charity and community groups are being encouraged to try golf or rediscover the sport following illness or injury.
These include local school children with special educational needs and disability, welcomed thanks to Wales Golf and the Golf Foundation.
The Roman Road staged three editions of the Wales Open on the DP World Tour from 2005-2007 while the Twenty Ten Course was being built for the Ryder Cup.
It also played host to the Wales Senior Open in 2015 and 2016.
Spectators are encouraged to attend at Celtic Manor for The G4D Open, with attendance and car parking free of charge.
Let’s hear from some of this week’s competitors.
Brendan Lawlor, Ireland
“The course looks quite open, a little bit different to Woburn. It looks like you can open up the shoulders a bit more this week.
“The work The R&A and DP World Tour have done at this Championship is truly incredible.
“From the very first year, from Woburn, to where it is now. The most different thing I see is the amount of new players we have, and who are going to be contesting at the end of the week.
“There’s a guy actually from Ireland, Conal Flynn, who is 17. I did a video with him a few years ago in Ireland.
“He has dwarfism, same as me, and he’s playing here this week. Stories like that, to see the young generation come up, is great.
“I’m playing well. I’ve done a lot of travelling at the start of the year and been in Australia and America. I’ve been playing a lot of golf, probably more of a busier winter than I’d usually have. It’s nice to get out and just feel ready coming here.”
Daphne van Houten, Netherlands
“I’m really excited to be at Celtic Manor. It’s beautiful, the scenery is amazing here. It will be good to defend my title and I’m excited to try and do that.
“However, I’ve had long COVID for three years now and I’m not practising as much as I did in the past. It’s really been catching up with me and I feel very tired. It makes you less confident and less comfortable.
“But I am confident that I will try to put everything into the three rounds and give it my all – that’s all you can do.”
The Netherlands’ Daphne van Houten is chasing more success at The G4D Open in Wales. Credit: The R&A
Richie Willis, Wales
“I’m thrilled and delighted to be hitting the first tee shot. It was a nice surprise to be asked.
“It will be a very proud moment for me to play alongside the world’s best golfers with disabilities in The G4D Open on my home course.”
The PGA Championship returns to Aronimink Golf Club for the first time since Gary Player's triumph back in 1962. Golf Today takes a look at the possible contenders at the second major of the year.
Hector Vickers
Hector is a freelance sports journalist with experience in both print and broadcast journalism. His main body of work comes from following the England men’s cricket team around the world, working with some of the top pundits in the game, whilst interviewing players and reporting on high-profile matches. His long-term infatuation with golf led him to St Andrews last summer, where he spent a month working as a caddy at Kingsbarns Golf Links, studying the tricks of the trade in links golf. He is beginning his golf journalism career as a Contributor for Golf Today, heading back to St Andrews and Kingsbarns to cover the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
