Watts hoping to build the status of disabled golf in SA
After being crowned the KZN Sports Awards Sportsman with a
Disability winner this past weekend, David Watts is continuing his journey to
put disabled golf on the map in his new role with the South African Disabled
Golf Association (SADGA).
Watts has been appointed as the new Business Development officer for SADGA and is in the process of trying to increase the profile of disabled golf in order to help South African golfers realise their dreams of playing overseas.
He has had the opportunity to play overseas in his short career as a disabled golfer and he's eager to try and improve the local disabled golf tour in order to give players a better chance to qualify for international events.
This year saw Watts travel to the United States to play in the USA Adaptive Open on Pinehurst No.6 and Watts finished the three rounds in tie for 31st. He is also heading to Dubai to play in the G4D Tour Season Finale.
He won the third event on the G4D Tour this year in Singapore and will head to try and defend his Cape Town Disabled Open title before jetting to Dubai for the season ending finale.
For Watts, finding disabled golf changed his approach to the sport and meant that he was able to compete on a level playing field.
“As a junior I never played disabled golf,” he said. “I always played abled bodied golf and the reason I actually shifted to disabled golf was because I needed a golf cart in the longer competitions because it was tough for me to walk 36 holes in a day.
“In order to do that I had to become a registered disabled golfer and that was in April last year and I played in five of the SADGA events and I was fortunate enough to win all five.”
The G4D Finale in Dubai will coincide with the Race to Dubai on the DP World Tour where the disabled players will play on the famous Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
“The winners of the G4D events throughout the year will play in the tournament at the Earth Course and we play at the same time as the DP World Tour pros so it will be a great experience and a good tournament to win.
“I say at the same time but we will tee off before them, but we play the same course as them.
“I’m really looking forward to that and I’ve been working hard towards it for quite a long time.
“Dubai is quite nice in that it’s warmer and more like Durban than playing in Europe where it can be cold.
“I’ve been playing pretty well lately so I am looking forward to it and I’m confident going into the competition,” Watts added.
