Welcome to this edition of the EDGA Golfers First Podcast. This week we look at the recently finished G4D Tour event at the ISPS World Invitational in Northern Ireland. We have a round-up of the players currently in position to qualify for the RSM European Net and Stableford Play-offs and give you the heads up on how we are helping in the development of golf's coaching professionals.
More and more people are starting to play golf; for some, it is the opportunity to spend time with friends in the open air; for others, it is the freedom to grab their clubs and go to hit a few balls or play some holes in solitude. Whatever the reason, golf is becoming a go-to sport for thousands who enjoy the unique opportunity that the game provides.
For a recent article in the media, I wrote that golf is a unique sport, in that each player has his or her own ball, meaning control of one player's performance by another is impossible. In golf, the ball is stationary, so players with a visual impairment or a physical impairment that restricts or inhibits movement have the time to prepare. Regardless of ability, gender, age, or ethnicity, every golfer needs to take a club to hit a ball to a target that may be near or far. But of course, you already know this - you are a player.
Sadly though, most of the world thinks that golfers with a disability play a different game, a game called disabled golf, which couldn't be further from the truth. The game that golfers with a disability play is golf, not an adapted version with bigger holes, shorter lengths, or with bumper bars on the side of the fairway to keep the ball in play. The game has some minimally modified rules where necessary, not as drastic as allowing for the playing of two drives where you can pick the best one or not counting penalty shots; there are no guidelines on the greens when putting. None of this is allowed, but rather golfers with a disability simply play the same game in the same conditions as everyone else.
The G4D Tour event at the ISPS World Invitational was played at Galgorm in Northern Ireland. The winner was Tommaso Perrino from Italy, who scored six under par over the two days of competition. With an opening round of minus 4, Tommaso was paired with local favourite and world number one Brendan Lawlor. As the winner of this, the fourth G4D Tour event of 2022, will now go on to play the DP World Finale in Dubai in November and join Kipp Popert and Mike Browne, who have already secured their place in the season-ending showcase.
Invitations for the 2nd RSM European Net and Stableford Playoffs are just a week away from being confirmed. The ranking for WR4GD week 32/22, published on the 17th of August, will decide the invitations, and with several events to fall off the ranking before then, it is likely that there will be changes in the ranking order. The RSM Play-offs are a great example of how RSM supports G4D across every level. Currently, the players in the top eight positions of the net ranking come from six different countries, and likewise, the same can be said of the Stableford ranking.
Once again, our Head of Development, Mark Taylor, has been working with the coaches, this time in South Africa. Our work to help ensure that coaches are well prepared to receive golfers with various impairments and help them with their games is stretching across the globe. The work we do with the national federations and PGAs to help ensure that today's and tomorrow's coaches are well prepared is ongoing. Although it gets very little fanfare from the media and is often drowned out by the press coverage of tournament golf, it is game-changing initiatives such as these that ultimately shape the landscape of golf and will make golf the most inclusive of all sports.
