GolfWA’s inaugural All Abilities Sand Greens Championship of WA has been announced for October and will be the first event of its kind to be held in the world.
Taking place at Katanning Golf Club from October 10-11, the championship will be an official World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) event.
It will slot into the All Abilities schedule between existing competitions at the WA Open (October 5-8) and WA PGA Championship (October 12-15), offering players from across Australia the chance to play three ranking events on WA soil in quick succession.
While the All Abilities championships at the WA Open and WA PGA have limited fields and tight handicap restrictions, the All Abilities Sand Greens Championship of WA has no such constraints.
There will be a 36-hole stroke play championship for players with a GA handicap of 18.4 and under, with a concurrent 36-hole Stableford event for those with handicaps of 18.5 upwards.
Announcing the championship, Neil Goddard, GolfWA’s Operations Manager, said: “We are committed to providing as many opportunities as possible for people to play competitive golf in all formats, and we’re delighted to announce the All Abilities Sand Greens Championship of WA.
“Not only is this event a first for Australian golf, we believe it may be the first All Abilities ranking event on sand greens to take place anywhere in the world.
“For some of our competitors, this will represent their first experience of playing on sand greens. We’re confident that the unique challenge this form of golf provides will be enjoyable as well as providing a stern test of players’ short games.”
Christian Hamilton, Head of Programs and Inclusion at Golf Australia, added: “It’s fantastic to see the diversity of golf championships for people with disability continue to expand. This will be another world first for golf, a world ranking event for golfers with disability (WR4GD) played on sand scrape greens.
“No doubt It will be a unique experience for the competitors and attract a lot of interest now and years to come from golfers with disability across Australia and New Zealand.”
The inaugural All Abilities Sand Greens tournament is proudly supported by Peter Rundle (Deputy Leader of The Nationals WA) and Member for Roe; CLAAS Harvest Centre, Katanning; Drummond Golf Mandurah; Farmers Centre Katanning and the Katanning City Council.
