Scot Gordon McLay ready for 'big occasion' in The G4D Open at Woburn

Prestonpans man Gordon McLay plays a shot prior to last year's The G4D Open on the Duchess Course at Woburn Golf Club. Picture: Luke Walker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images.

Second edition of event is one of the most-inclusive ever staged in golf

Gordon McLay, who savoured several major moments inside the ropes as a caddie on the over-50s’ golf circuit, is among the talented golfers with disabilities teeing up at Woburn this week in The G4D Open.

Established last year, the event, held in partnership between The R&A and the DP World Tour and supported by EDGA (formally the European Disabled Golf Association), is one of the most-inclusive ever staged.

It features nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups, with 80 men and women players of both amateur and professional status competing over Woburn’s Duchess Course. With an age range from 15 to 68, players from 19 countries across the globe are represented, including from the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Africa.

McLay, a 61-year-old Scot who is making his second appearance, had his right leg amputated below the knee in 2022, the result of shattering injuries sustained when a car smashed into his motorbike some 15 years earlier. Before that happened, he was a bagman for Senior Tour stalwarts Steen Tinning and Roger Chapman.

“Being a caddie at big events has given me lots of experience and the bigger the occasion the better,” said the Prestonpans man. “It doesn’t faze me. I loved The G4D Open last year and can’t wait to get back to Woburn.”

A year on from his historic win in the inaugural championship, Brendan Lawlor takes his place in a world-class field. The 27-year-old edged out Kipp Popert to win by two shots last May and arrives ranked second on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD).

Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis–van Creveld syndrome, characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs, and Popert are among 14 of the world’s top 20 players competing at Woburn, including all of the top five.

England's Popert, a nine-time winner on the G4D Tour who was born with a form of Cerebral Palsy called Spastic Diplegia, is the world No 1.