Focus, tee shot, hole-in-one: Alex and Carsten, two of Team Germany’s athletes, were on the golf course at the second inclusive golf tournament at the Düsseldorf-Grafenberg Golf Club. After their successful participation in the Invictus Games The Hague 2022, the two ventured into new sporting terrain on May 13, 2022. But one aspect remains the same: As in The Hague, the two athletes set an example for lived inclusion and diversity.

On the way to an inclusive sporting event
Team Germany supports the cause of this tournament with its participation and has additionally informed the INVICTUS GAMES DÜSSELFORD 2023. The golf tournament is organized non-profit, played for a good cause. The goal is to financially support the German Federal Association of Special Olympics, which is currently preparing for the 2022 State Games in North Rhine-Westphalia. Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports movement for people with intellectual and multiple disabilities, with 5.2 million athletes in 174 countries. The North Rhine-Westphalia State Games, which will be held in a total of 15 sports, will take place in Bonn from September 7 to 10, 2022. The funds raised from the Düsseldorf golf tournament will go in full to the Special Olympics North Rhine-Westphalia. “Drawing new strength and creating new perspectives through sport, overcoming visible and invisible barriers together, and strengthening the perception of people with impairments in society. Three guiding principles that connect the golf tournament with the Invictus Games.” Says Henning Wachholz, physiotherapist of the German wheelchair tennis team and initiator and organizer of the tournament.

Stroke for stroke together
The golf tournament already lives the spirit of the Invictus Games: golfers from the Special Olympics, Para athletes, Team Germany Invictus and players from the Disabled Golf Association form inclusive flights of 4 together with golfers without impairments – a group that plays together from hole to hole. The game is played in Texas Scramble mode. Two teams with two or four players per team play against each other. After a warm-up for everyone taking part in the tournament, things got exciting from 11 a.m. on the day of the tournament: the meeting point for all participants was the putting green, where the starting shot was fired for the five-and-a-half-hour inclusive golf tournament. With the award ceremony and a joint barbecue, the day in the sign of inclusive sports came to an end.

Team Invictus Germany is looking forward to further tournaments full of encounters, exchange and sporting highlights and continues to support the organizers on their way towards becoming an inclusive sporting event.

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