Lawlor Aims to Elevate Disability Golf to Mainstream Status
Brendan Lawlor, the driving force behind the Irish Invitational event, hopes to spark a revolution in disability golf by showcasing the sport’s potential. The tournament, held at Carton House in Co Kildare, featured the world’s top golfers with disabilities competing for a prize fund of nearly £30,000.
At just 27 years old, Lawlor is a passionate advocate for promoting disability golf. He plays on the Golf for the Disabled (G4D) Tour, launched in 2022 under the DP World Tour umbrella. With a prize pool of €35,000 (£29,230) at this week’s event, he envisions regular high-stakes competitions in the future. “We needed someone to do it, to get it started everywhere else,” Lawlor stated. “We’re trying to prove to the DP World [Tour] that we’re athletes. We train the same as Rory McIlroy, if not harder, with some of the limitations these guys have.”
Lawlor’s mission extends beyond just golf; he aims to inspire young patients in hospitals, showing them a pathway to excel in the sport and make a living from it. “I want them to see a future for them to get to a really good level of golf,” he said.
The tournament concluded with Kipp Popert winning, marking his fourth consecutive victory on the G4D Tour. Lawlor, who has Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, a condition that affects bone growth, made history as the first disabled golfer to compete on the DP World Tour during the UK Championship in August 2020.
Despite initial skepticism about large prize funds in disability golf, Lawlor is determined to demonstrate the sport’s viability. “It might go nowhere or start a huge trend,” he admitted. “We’re trying to turn disability golf into what the PGA Tour is, what the DP World Tour is.”
Popert, the event’s winner and a talented golfer born with spastic diplegia, expressed the importance of opportunities in disability golf. “The only reason I’m not pro is there isn’t the opportunity for disabled golf,” he noted. “I don’t believe that other disabled people shouldn’t have the option to play for a living.” The success of the Irish Invitational could be a crucial step in changing that narrative.