Rules Manager, Jim Gough takes a look back at his experience refereeing at the inaugural G4D Open.
At the beginning of May I had the great privilege of leading the refereeing team at the inaugural G4D Open which was contested on the Duchess Course at Woburn Golf Club in England. The field was made up of 80 players from nine different sport classes across multiple impairment groups, including eight from the top-ten in the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD). The Championship brought together amateur and professional golfers, including men and women, who contested a 54-hole stroke play gross competition. It was an international field with 17 countries represented, including the USA, Australia, Canada, Slovenia, Denmark and Turkey.
The refereeing team for the Championship was made up of eleven referees, with six from The R&A, four from EDGA and one from the DP World Tour. It was a great opportunity for the three organisations to work together and, given the unknowns that come with staging an event for the first time, it was invaluable to be able to draw on everyone’s experience to help the Championship run as smoothly as possible. Having previously refereed at EDGA events for golfers with disabilities, I had met some of the players and had seen many of them in action before. Some players in the Championship were eligible to use Rule 25, which provides modifications to certain Rules of Golf for players with specific disabilities, but I knew from past experience that the application of Rule 25 is no different to applying any other Rule of Golf.
As can often be the case at championships held in the UK, one of the biggest challenges of the week was the unpredictable weather. Persistent rain in the weeks before the Championship had saturated the course and the rain was set to continue for the Championship rounds along with the unwelcome potential for thunderstorms to develop during the afternoons. As it turned out the weather did have a big part to play in the Championship, particularly in the form of a two-hour suspension for thunderstorms during the first Championship day, but thankfully we were able to get play started again and managed to get all three Championship rounds completed on time.
The course team at Woburn did a fantastic job to present the course in excellent condition despite the extremely wet weather. On top of that they had also built access ramps into all of the 27 bunkers on the Duchess course, which made a huge difference to the seated players. Quite often seated players are prevented from even attempting to play out of bunkers because the drop from the edge of the bunker down into the sand means that they are unable to get themselves in and out of the bunker. Rule 25.4n does allow players who use a wheeled mobility device to drop back on the line outside of the bunker for just one penalty stroke instead of two, but making bunkers accessible is a much better solution if it can be achieved. The bunker ramps were a great example of how a small change to the design can make a course accessible to all players without impacting other golfers. Woburn certainly set a great example for others to follow both on and off the course.
All of the referees were asked to record any rulings that they gave during the Championship and over the three Championship rounds approximately 130 rulings were reported. This number would be considered higher than average at a three-day championship with a relatively small field, but many of the rulings given were a result of the course conditions created by the weather, with multiple rulings where relief was given for temporary water or for a ball embedded in the soft ground. The other most common rulings were for immovable obstructions (e.g. man-made paths) and unplayable ball relief, which tend to be the most frequent rulings given at most tournaments.
It was a great feeling to see the final putt drop after a rollercoaster final day battle between the two runaway leaders Kipp Popert and the eventual victor Brendan Lawlor, who became the first ever G4D Open Champion. It was an intense battle with some superb golf being played and while Brendan was the overall winner, there was a feeling that the cheers and celebrations at the closing ceremony were also for each and every golfer who had contributed to this inaugural event.
Helping to create a platform for these players to showcase their talents in a major championship was incredibly rewarding and I hope that the Championship will continue to grow and inspire more people to take up golf, especially those who didn’t realise it is possible for them. The G4D Open was an opportunity to challenge any preconceptions about disabilities and through the excellent golf played on a difficult golf course, all of the athletes involved showed what is possible with greater inclusivity in the world of golf, and in everyday life.
I am honoured to have been part of this Championship, and I very much look forward to future editions of The G4D Open.
