England’s Kipp Popert and Natasha Stasiuk from Canada hold narrow leads after the opening round of The G4D Open, being staged at the Celtic Manor Resort for the first time.
On a day of challenging weather conditions over the Roman Road Course, Popert battled to a two-over-par round of 72 to underline his status as the number one player on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD).
Popert, who lives with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that affects his lower limbs, was unable to compete last year at Woburn after foot surgery. Now he is chasing his second G4D Open men’s title after his success in 2024, mixing four birdies with six bogeys on day one.
Popert, 27, leads by a shot from Cameroon’s Issa Nlareb after his 73, with defending champion Brendan Lawlor from Ireland and Australia’s Lachlan Wood, last year’s runner-up, on four-over. The chasing pack on five-over includes Simon Seungmin Lee, number two on the WR4GD.
Celtic Manor member Richie Willis enjoyed the honour of striking the opening tee shot at 8am.
In front of family and friends, the 68-year-old – whose life dramatically changed after he needed an above-the-knee right leg amputation following a road traffic accident – savoured his moment before going on to score a disappointing 87.
Mark Williams, the three-time World Snooker Champion from Wales, was among those who later enjoyed the day one action.
In the women’s event, Stasiuk signed for an 80 – highlighted with birdies at the 6th and 9th – as she opened up a one-shot advantage over Jennifer Sräga from Germany.
Stasiuk, 27, who has an auditory processing condition and autism, has won the intellectual impairment category of the US Adaptive Open three times in succession and is a five-time Canadian winner.
The G4D Open, staged in partnership with The R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA, is one of the most inclusive championships ever held.
Eighty men and women players of amateur and professional status are competing across 54 holes of gross stroke play, with overall men’s and women’s winners and trophies earned in each of the nine sport classes across the recognised impairment groups which cover Standing, Intellectual, Visual and Sitting.
The global field features representatives from 25 nations, five more than last year, with players aged from 16 to 70.
Spectators are encouraged to attend at Celtic Manor for The G4D Open, with attendance and car parking free of charge.
View scoring from day one at The G4D Open here.
Player Quotes
Kipp Popert, England
“I'll be honest, I hope to win more of these and I hope to keep playing well. I don't think I've got much to prove. I think my track record in disabled tournaments on the G4D Tour and others, US Adaptive Open, shows what I can do when I'm healthy.
“I want disabled golf to grow off the back of high-performance. Brendan is a close friend of mine. Brendan is an example of someone who's extremely high performing. It's nice to have an extremely close relationship – I was at his wedding – and to also have the competitive nature as well.”
Natasha Stasiuk, Canada
“I thought I played pretty well considering the conditions. It felt like home back in Canada because I played in the hail before and the wind and the rain and the cold.
“I'm hoping I can stay calm. I don't really have any expectations, just to play my hardest. Even though I've been under the weather the past couple days I'm just going to go and play.”
Brendan Lawlor, Ireland
“The biggest thing is staying patient out there and maybe not going for certain pins, just having a proper game plan when you play a course like this, which is fun. It means you have to tinker around a bit.
“When you play in America, you can make a lot of birdies but The G4D Open is designed to be hard and that's what it is. I'm going to try to stay calm, keep hitting greens and try to make putts. I said at the start of the week my goal is to get to the final group on Saturday and get myself in position to win it again.”
Richie Willis, Wales
“It was great at the 1st tee. My family were here so we got some nice photographs. It was really enjoyable. Perhaps some nerves kicked in first off, plus I had all my grandkids running around and my mind was all over the place at one stage. But I did my best and that's all I can do really.
“I would say I hit too many bad shots really, two tee shots cost me double bogeys. I would like to make the cut for Saturday and then they can come up on Saturday and follow me around.”
