World-first tournament hopes to 'break down barriers' between the golf and disability communities
Athletes from Golf Programs Australia Incorporated are planning, promoting, preparing, and supporting a professional golf event (ABC Sunshine Coast: Meg Bolton )
If you ask golfer Bailey Smaldon, he will tell you he has the best swing among his teammates and has the medals to back it up.
The 22-year-old, who has an intellectual disability, placed first in the Special Olympics Golf Classic's nine-hole division on the Gold Coast last month.
"I'm pretty good,"Mr Smaldon said.
His favourite part of the sport was to "hit [the] golf ball far".
Bailey Smaldon won first place in the Special Olympics Golf Classic's nine-hole division in October. (Supplied)
Mr Smaldon attends a weekly golf program at Golf Programs Australia Incorporated (GPAI), which is affiliated with the Special Olympics, on the Sunshine Coast.
The Nambour-based not-for-profit association delivers specialty golf programs and provides training and employment opportunities for people with a disability at its charity golf pro-shop.
'More than a world-first golf tournament'
It's set to hold a "world-first" event in which people with an intellectual disability will organise and staff a professional golf tournament on December 4.
GPAI's founder and president, Darrell Dalton, said the charity pro-am event would be the first-time people with intellectual disabilities would have roles in planning, promoting, preparing, and supporting a professional golf event anywhere in the world.
Darrell Dalton is the founder and president of Golf Programs Australia Incorporated. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Meg Bolton )
He said it was "more than a world-first golf tournament, it is a statement about inclusion, opportunity, and breaking down barriers".
The landmark inclusive contest is set to feature Professional Golfers Association of Australia (PGA) professionals teamed up with amateurs in a combined Stableford format at the Glenview Par 3 Golf Course.
"To have the PGA recognise our work and ask us to host this event is not only a significant milestone for the charity, but also for our differently abled golfers and golf generally," Mr Dalton said.
Mr Dalton says he wants the golf world to be inclusive towards people with a disability. (Supplied)
During the event, GPAI's golfers would hand out welcome kits, manage car parking, direct players to registration, photography, and on-course staging, and hold quiet-please signs.
Mr Dalton admitted golf was not an inclusive sport, but he hoped to change that.
"It's a catchcry at the moment," the 64-year-old professional golfer said.
"There are some golf clubs that are inclusive, and they're becoming more inclusive, but it's just about breaking down those barriers.
"Once people meet our people, they just fall in love with them."
Mr Smaldon is on the welcome team for the tournament. (Supplied)
Mr Smaldon, who is on the tournament's welcome team, said he hoped to ask the professional for some tips.
"I'm looking forward [to it]," he said.
The national tournament coordinator for the PGA of Australia, Peter Welden, said the event was a welcome addition to the professional golf calendar.
"There has been a major focus in recent years to promote inclusivity in many of our main tournaments, and we see this event as a natural extension of that," he said.
Mr Dalton says event was another step towards the charity's goal of creating a purpose-built golf facility fully staffed by 80 to 90 people with intellectual disabilities. (Supplied.)
On the day of the event, Mr Dalton said he would be feeling a "sense of achievement".
He said GPAI had been an "11-year overnight success," having been established in 2014.
"Since first sharing our vision for this tournament, it has been exciting to have teams and sponsors signing on, and the community get behind the pro-am," Mr Dalton said.
He said the event was another step towards the charity's goal of creating a purpose-built golf facility fully staffed by 80 to 90 people with intellectual disabilities.
"But we need the support of the golfing industry and the golfing community," Mr Dalton said.
Stephen Hassall says the golfers at GPAI are like a family to him. (Supplied)
'Like a duck to water'
GPAI has given golfers like Stephen Hassall a sense of purpose in life.
"I'm getting myself back in the workforce after a long period where I had to retire basically," the 53-year-old, who has a disability, said.
Before joining the charity in 2022, Mr Hassall said he didn't believe he could play golf.
"I took to golf like a duck to water," he said.
He said, despite a bit of competitiveness on the course, all the athletes supported and encouraged each other.
"We are all great mates … like a family atmosphere. I really feel like I belong,"Mr Hassall said.