Gary Burgess will become the first Western Australian golfer to tee it up in The G4D Open at Woburn next month.
A Major Championship for All Abilities golfers with physical, intellectual and visual impairments, The G4D Open was inaugurated in 2023 and is staged in partnership with the R&A and the DP World Tour. This year’s event takes place at Woburn’s famous Duchess Course from May 15-17.
With a limited field of 80 of the world’s leading All Abilities players, Burgess will be esteemed company alongside the likes of Kipp Popert and Brendon Lawlor – the two past champions – as well as Aussie heavyweights Cam Pollard, Steve Alderson and Lachlan Wood.
Wembley golfer Burgess (pictured above), who suffers from Becker Muscular Dystrophy, says he can’t wait to test himself against the world’s best on foreign soil.
“It’s such a great opportunity and the sort of thing you achieve very rarely in a career,” he told GolfWA. “I’ve had to work very hard to make the field and that’s sometimes difficult when you have a disability.”
Twice a runner-up at the WA PGA All Abilities Championship, nine-handicapper Burgess hopes to give a strong account of himself, although he says the three-day, 54-hole nature of the event will test him to his physical limits.
“With my condition, the muscles [in my legs] work when they want to work. I’m not used to playing for three days in a row, so that will be a challenge. However, if I play as well as I can, my aim will be to win the nett division in my classification.”
Gary Burgess hopes to win his nett classification at The G4D Open
Burgess says his experiences of playing in the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia’s All Abilities events will hold him in good stead for the rigours of Woburn’s Major championship course set-up.
“I’m sure the course will be set up to be pretty difficult, but I’m used to that,” he said. “When we play the [Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia] Webex Players Series events, we play off the same tees as the professionals in the same course conditions.”
A homecoming – of sorts
Prior to The G4D Open, Burgess will warm up his game at the PING Scottish Open for Golfers with a Disability, which takes place at Rowallan Castle Golf Course in Ayrshire the week before.
Interestingly, Burgess was born in Scotland before his parents relocated to Fremantle in the 1960s. He’ll take the opportunity to visit family in Kilmarnock during Scottish Open week and also hopes to sneak in a round at Open Championship host venue Royal Troon.
Another of WA’s leading All Abilities golfer will also compete in Europe in the coming weeks, with Nick Carroll (Dunsborough Lakes) set to tee up in the ISPS Handa Irish Open for Golfers with a Disability at Roganstown Golf Club from June 10-11.
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