The inaugural G4D Tour Nations Cup @Betfred UK Masters will take place on August 26-27 and will feature five players making their G4D Tour debut at The Belfry.
The G4D Tour is hosting its first team event, with 12 of the world’s top golfers with disabilities set to tee off on the historic venue that has hosted team golf’s grandest event, the Ryder Cup, four times.
One male player and one female player from Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States will tee off at Brabazon as the six nations compete for the inaugural G4D Tour Nations Cup.
The competition will adopt a stroke play system. On the first day, three groups of four-person four-ball matches will be held, and each team will take the lowest score on each hole. On the second day, the competition format will be changed to four-person two-ball matches.
England is represented by Kipp Popert, the most successful player in the history of the G4D Tour, who will be returning to the happy hunting grounds.
Born with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia, which impairs muscle movement in his legs, Poppet is the world's top-ranked golfer with a disability (WR4GD) and has won 10 G4D Tour events, including the event's most recent two individual titles.
Popert will be joined by Heather Gilks, who is making her G4D Tour debut this week and, like Popert, suffers from cerebral palsy, which affects both legs and her left arm.
The 19-year-old, 7.1 handicap player made history this summer when she and her mother, Martina, became the first mother and daughter to compete in the same G4D Open.
Brendan Lawlor is another player most people are familiar with and he forms an interesting rivalry with Poppet.
Born with the rare bone disorder Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome, which is characterised by short stature and short limbs, Lawler became the first disabled golfer to compete on the DP World Tour in August 2020, at the ISPS HANDA British Championship.
The 27-year-old will represent Ireland alongside Fiona Gray, who retired in 2014 after a distinguished 20-year career in the British Army, undergoing 10 knee operations during that time.
Canada will be led by G4D Tour regular Kurtis Barkley, who was born with scoliosis and has never won on tour despite seven runner-up finishes.
Buckley will be working with Natasha Stasiuk, who is on the autism spectrum and also has an auditory processing disorder.
Stasyuk and Gilkes are two of five G4D Tour rookies competing next week, along with Mari Berkers of the Netherlands, Eliseo Villanueva of the United States and Rene Schwenk of Germany.
Launching in 2022, the G4D Tour is a partnership between the DP World Tour and the EDGA (formerly the European Disabled Golf Association).
The G4D Players Pathway is designed to cater for people of all disabilities who want to play golf and for many the G4D Tour is seen as the pinnacle of the game, with players competing on the same courses and in the same week as the top professionals on the DP World Tour.
Thanks to the continued financial support of the European Tour Group, the EDGA is able to raise awareness, confirm qualifications, organize tournaments, and conduct golf development and coaching education around the world.
The number of disabled golfers in the world rankings increased by 32% compared to 2022, with players from 46 countries up from 33 countries the previous year.
To learn how to get involved in golf with a disability, visit www.edgagolf.com
The team lists of each country are as follows. Please click on the player's name to view the player's profile.
National male and female players
