Kipp Popert and Chris Biggins visited a Cerebral Palsy unit as part of the G4D Tour’s first visit to Africa to highlight the wide-reaching benefits of playing golf.
Popert and Biggins, who were both born with the disability, joined representatives from the DP World Tour and EDGA at Parklands Primary School in Nairobi on Monday.
More than 100 children attend the specialist centre supported by Young Jains, which is served by specialist teachers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
While cerebral palsy is incurable, Englishman Popert was pleased to showcase how golf can be a therapeutic and rehabilitative tool, whatever the exact nature of the condition.
“For everyone in that room you could see how you can adapt golf to suit everyone’s needs,” said World Number One Popert, who went on to win his ninth G4D Tour title at Muthaiga Golf Club on Tuesday.
The hope is the first touch session for the children will further fuel the growth and drive interest around opportunities in golf for the disabled in Kenya and across Africa.
American Biggins said: “If you show these kids that adaptive recreation is out there and it is something you can do. It is so much more fun than typical physical therapy.
“If you play sports, even if you are not the greatest in the world, you can find a way to play golf and that is going to help you with tonnes of things, whether it be your grip, how you use your arms.
“That is such a cool thing about the G4D Tour, it has given us more reason to play golf and have our recreational medicine.”
But above all, what struck both Popert and Biggins was the happiness the children took from their visit and the introduction to the game of golf.
“To see how excited they were over such small things,” Popert reflected. “It is quite inspiring when you see how happy they are.”
He added: “We both want to try to get some support to help keep continuing to provide opportunities for these children.”
