World’s No 1 disabled golfer Kipp Popert: ‘The best need to play for a living. The sport has stopped’

Kipp Popert in action during the G4D Tour Series in Alcúdia, Spain, last year. Photograph: Octávio Passos/Getty Images

Indeed, Popert is hopeful his long-held ambition of Paralympic participation can be realised at Brisbane in 2032. Yet he offered a caveat: “The Paralympics is incredible and provides a brilliant lens for disabled sport but it also only happens every four years.

“That’s what golf had been doing so well, thanks to the DP World Tour. It is tough to fund but there is a lot of money in sport and a lot of opportunity in sport. Maybe 100 years ago, women were in the same situation. It might not be a funding issue as such but a distribution of funds one.”

This is not a binary conversation. The DP World Tour ordinarily does not struggle to attract sponsors, as their overall growth in that sector shows. Insiders at the DP World Tour cite a lack of competition and depth of talent in disabled golf as problematic. Popert, of course, could argue back; you must see it to be it. He cites Max Togisala, a wheelchair golfer, shooting five under par at last year’s US Adaptive Open as motivating. Deloitte backed that competition with each player receiving a $3,000 stipend. Popert has witnessed Kiefer Jones, who is blind, break par umpteen times.

Popert hosted his own tournament on Monday, the raising of £145,000 from corporate entities meaning all 18 entrants could receive a cheque to use as they pleased. His commitment to others is further demonstrated by the funding of golf lessons for disabled children and donation of buses to schools. His is a genuine and worthy cause. But are enough people taking notice?

“If you go to the R&A museum, there are pictures of disabled people playing golf 150 years ago,” Popert says. “Thousands of people before me were talented but never got an opportunity. I want disabled children who love golf to have opportunity in this sport.

“A big narrative in golf is growing the game. One in six people has a disability and golf is an amazing sport for that; if you are elite from 100 yards and in, be it with one leg or one arm, you can shoot under par. This is a real opportunity for the sport to grow. If there is not a way sustainable for people not to make a living but even cover costs then is it growing the game, really?”

Popert, who has a form of cerebral palsy, has participated in able‑bodied events and doubtless will do so again. “Those tours are not designed for disabled people,” he says. “To keep a Challenge Tour card, you probably have to play 25 events a year. As much as I believe I can play at that level, I can’t play in 25 events.” The trouble is, for the time being there are precious few alternatives.