G4D Tour Archives - Golf Post

Kipp Popert and Steven Alderson enjoyed the perfect climax to their seasons as they won their respective events at the inaugural G4D Tour Series Finale in Dubai.

The two-day season-ending tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth course featured a gross event and a net event as part of a revamp to reinforce the G4D Tour’s status as the most inclusive Tour in golf.

Popert, the top-ranked golfer on the gross World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD), entered the final round with a one-shot lead over Lachlan Wood but he carded a closing five-under 67 to finish at nine under for a five-shot victory.

It is his 13th G4D Tour title, fourth of the year – three of those coming as an individual – and the first of his career in Dubai.

“I’m chuffed,” he said. “I haven’t won this one yet. So, it was one I was really wanting and knew I was playing well coming in.

“I think my focus is when I get a lead, to be honest, I just like winning. But I also want to showcase how good we are and shoot the lowest score I can.”

A front-nine 32 saw Popert seize control of proceedings, before three birdies in a five-hole stretch from the 11th to the 15th saw him cruise to the title despite a bogey-bogey finish.

Australian pair Wood and Wayne Perske finished second and third in the gross competition, which featured seven players.

In the net competition, Alderson, playing off a three handicap, made it back-to-back G4D Tour victories in his first two starts after his emotional victory in Spain last month as he shot a 77 on Wednesday for a five-shot success of his own.

The 44-year-old mixed three birdies – including one at the par-five 18th – with three bogeys and two double bogeys as he held off the challenge of South Africa’s Robin Singh, who shot a 75.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” reflected Alderson. “It’s just great to have invitations to play in these tournaments. You don’t get invited all the time, so you have got to take your chance.

“Trent (his caddie) was really good this week. He worked twice as hard as we did in Spain because of the hot weather and the golf course is really, really tough.”
Written by European Tour Communication

Launched in 2022 with an initial seven-event schedule, the G4D Tour sees the world’s best golfers with a disability compete on the same course, the same week, as professionals on the DP World Tour.

The 2023 season will see additional uplifts to the G4D Tour, including the introduction of a season-long Order of Merit to crown the Number One player.

2023 G4D Tour schedule

Dec 2-4, 2022	Australian All Abilities Championship @ ISPS HANDA Australian Open	Victoria Golf Club, Australia
Jan 13-14, 2023	G4D Tour @ Hero Cup	Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Abu Dhabi
Feb 6-7, 2023	G4D Tour @ Singapore Classic	Laguna National Golf Resort Club, Singapore
TBC	Event TBC	TBC
Jun 5-6, 2023	G4D Tour @ Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed	Ullna Golf & Country Club, Sweden
Jun 26-27, 2023	G4D Tour @ Betfred British Masters	The Belfry, England
Aug 14-16, 2023	G4D Tour @ ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics	Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Northern Ireland
Sep 11-12, 2023	G4D Tour @ BMW PGA Championship, a Rolex Series Event	Wentworth Club, England
Nov 10-11, 2023	G4D Tour @ DP World Tour Championship, a Rolex Series Event	Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai

Each G4D Tour event is open to amateurs and professionals players of all eligible impairments, men and women. For 2023, players will be able to qualify from both their ranking on the gross division of the World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability (WR4GD) and events on the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) Tour, ensuring an international pathway to reach the G4D Tour. The European Tour group pays the expenses of players as they travel around the world, to ensure that the Tour is open to all players regardless of their financial circumstances.

To be eligible, all players must have a World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability and an EDGA Player Pass. Since the G4D Tour launched earlier this year, applications for a World Ranking and Player Pass have reached record levels, with 20% of all passes secured in 2022 alone – showing the impact the G4D Tour is having on raising awareness and increasing participation. The DP World Tour will continue to utilise its social media channels, and relationships with global broadcasters, to showcase the G4D Tour on a range of media platforms throughout the 2023 season.

This year’s inaugural season, which had its finale at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, saw England’s Kipp Popert win four G4D Tour titles and regain his position as World Number One on the WR4GD. The other tournament winners were England’s Mike Browne, Italy’s Tommaso Perrino and Sweden’s Rasmus Lia. Players from ten different nationalities competed, showing the international reach of the Tour.

The Australian All Abilities Championship, starting on Friday December 2, will be the first event of the 2023 G4D Tour season, with World Number One Popert leading the field of 12 competitors teeing it up at Victoria Golf Club. The Australian All Abilities Championship forms part of a festival of golf on Australia’s world-renowned sandbelt, taking place concurrently with the ISPS HANDA Australian men’s and women’s Opens.

“Tremendous success”

The tournament will be played across three rounds at Victoria Golf Club, with World Number Two Brendan Lawlor and Spaniard Juan Postigo Arce, ranked fourth on the WR4GD also competing. World Number 12 Geoff Nicholas leads the home charge, having made history in 2019 as the first amputee golfer to qualify for The Senior Open presented by Rolex at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Speaking about the enhanced 2023 schedule Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour group, said: “The G4D Tour has been a tremendous success since it launched earlier this year. We have seen unprecedented numbers of golfers with a disability enquire about playing on the Tour and getting a World Ranking, thanks to the ability for these inspirational players to play Tour level courses next to the best players on the DP World Tour.

“We have developed a very close relationship with EDGA and the European Tour group will continue to support the association in its focus on developing capacity within the golf industry, through a variety of education and development activities. I firmly believe that golf has the potential to be the most inclusive sport in the world and the G4D Tour is a major step in realising this ambition.”

Tony Bennett, President of EDGA, added: “The G4D Tour is the visible manifestation of EDGA’s development of golf for the disabled – a process that started 22 years ago. Since our first collaboration with the European Tour group and DP World Tour, there has been exponential growth at all levels. The G4D Tour has created greater awareness and resulted in a cascade effect with more tournaments at every level, more national federations building accessible activities, and of course, more grassroots programmes than ever before. The support that the European Tour group and DP World Tour provide to EDGA helps make all of this possible.”

(Text: Press release DP World Tour)