Lawlor living the dream Down Under
DUNDALK Golf Club’s Brendan Lawlor will continue his dream trip of a lifetime in Melbourne tomorrow when he tees it up in the ISPS HANDA Disabled Golf Cup.
The 21-year old showed last week that physical disability is no barrier to great golf when he finished second in the Australian All Abilities Championship in Sydney.
His finish copper-fastened his position as one of the top disabled golfers in the world.
But having rubbed shoulders with the professionals who were playing in the Emirates Australian Open at East Lake Golf Club, Lawlor was thrilled to tee it up in practice at The Metropolitan Golf Club where Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne were preparing for the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf
“To play with these guys today was one of the best experiences of my life,” he said after his practice round for ISPS HANDA Disabled Golf Cup – a Ryder Cup-style event between six disabled golfers from the rest of the world and six Australians,
which will be played tomorrow and Saturday, immediately following second and thirdround play in the World Cup.
The 36-hole invitational is golf’s opportunity to showcase the world’s leading players with a disability (R4GD) as they push its case for inclusion on the 2024 Paralympics programme in France
Lawlor finished 10 shots behind Sweden’s Johan Kammerstad in the Australian All Abilities Championship but while disappointed not to win, it was an experience he’ll never forget as he held on to edge out Belgium’s Adam Wahbi and take the runners-up spot.
“It was the best experience of my life,” Lawlor said. “Playing in front of 5,000 people was incredible, and when you shoot the same score as some of the pros you know you did okay.”
The disabled golfers played a 54-hole tournament starting on Friday and that was the only difference to the professionals competing for the Australian Open who began their 72-hole competition on Thursday.
Lawlor and his fellow competitors played off the championship tees and experienced the same conditions as the pros over their three days of a competition that attracted huge media attention in Australian and saw the Louthman feature regularly on TV coverage of the event.
“I am disappointed with not winning but second on a stage like this is more than amazing,” he said.
One of the purposes of this event was to increased the profile of disabled golf with a view to it becoming a Paralympic sport in 2024 but such was the successes of the event in Australia that there is now speculation that it may feature at next year’s Open Championship in Portrush.
One of Lawlor’s big goals is to set up an Irish Disabled Golfers Association and as he continues to make headlines, he’s certainly taken a major step in the right direction.