LIFE can change in a heartbeat. “You won’t get many more famous, wealthy people than Tiger Woods, yet he could have been within half an inch of losing his leg and becoming a golfer with a disability,” said Tony Bennett, the president of the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA) as he reflected on the frightful car crash that almost cost golf’s biggest superstar a limb. “Disability is so indiscriminate.”
Woods was lucky. Others are not so fortunate, but golf continues to provide a welcoming embrace. Having spent a decade or so promoting and nurturing the disabled game with tireless, enthusiastic gusto, Bennett has witnessed some significant advances, in both opportunity and attitudes.
Golf, as we all know, has taken its fair share of brickbats down the years. Some of these withering pelters have been justified. Issues around sexism, for instance, have burdened the game for yonks. But others – such as the notion that it is riddled with exclusivity – can be the results of lazy assumptions and fusty, cliched perceptions. In many ways, golf is the most inclusive game of all.
