The second event of the 2024 G4D Tour season will take place in Ras Al Khaimah from January 22-23, with ten debutants taking part in the Tour's first net tournament for golfers with a disability.
Competitors will take part in the two-round event at Al Hamra Golf Club, with all those participating making their first starts in a G4D Tour event.
Net tournaments have been introduced to the schedule for the first time on the G4D Tour, now in its third season, in an effort to further opportunities for golfers with a wider spectrum of disabilities.
Eight men and two women from the Net division of the World Ranking for Golfers with a Disability (WR4GD) have been invited to compete, with Canada’s Kevin Delaney (handicap 7.2) set to arrive in the United Arab Emirates as the highest-ranked player in fifth.
Delaney, a right arm below-elbow amputee since birth, won the Stableford Division in Golf Canada’s national event for golfers with a disability in 2022, and has finished inside the top ten of the Gross division in the same tournament two years running.
Joining him in the field are South Africans Robin Singh (10.2) and Iglin Grobbelaar (4.2), Philip Ritzinger of Austria (1.9), Irishman Kevin Cassidy (13.1), the Italian pair of Riccardo Biancciardi (9.9) and Angelo Colussi (11.4) and Kenji Motoki of Japan (10.7). The two female competitors are Italy’s Luisa Ceola (14.9) and England’s Michelle Lau (14.7).
The 54-year-old has had a lifelong struggle with a rare genetic condition affecting her legs, joints, spine and circulation, that is thought to have led to a heart attacked at 29. She also had to battle a rare cancer in her right leg at the age of 43.Ceola enjoyed an excellent 2023 season, winning the Italian Open for Golfers with a Disability by seven strokes at Royal Park I Roveri in April and then returning to the same venue in October to win the EDGA President’s Cup by five shots.
When he tees it up next week, Motoki will become the first Asian player to participate in a G4D Tour event. Motoki, from Japan, started playing golf when he was 34 after losing his right leg after a traffic accident and recent inspiration came in 2022 at the Japan Open Golf Championship for People with Disabilities, when he played alongside one of his country’s leading golfers with a disability, Hayato Yoshida.
Live scoring for the G4D Tour @ Ras Al Khaimah Championship will be available on the DP World Tour’s website, with highlights shared on the DP World Tour’s social media channels.
