Wahbi ready for EDGA Hero Open in St Andrews

Hoping to secure a place in Dubai at the end of the season, Adem Wahbi can’t wait to return to action this weekend at the EDGA Hero Open.

The Belgian is one of eight golfers taking part in the EDGA Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews in Scotland and next week’s EDGA Cazoo Classic at London Golf Club as the field vies for a place in the EDGA Dubai Finale.

These next two events are the third and fourth 36-hole tournaments running alongside European Tour tournaments, with competitors taking on the same course setup as European Tour professionals.

Wahbi, who was born with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, is currently ranked 18^th on the World Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD). The rising star has previous experience of EDGA European Tour events, having played in EDGA Scottish Open in 2019.

“Because of my disability I couldn’t play at lot of sports when I was younger,” said Wahbi. “I tried golf on holiday when I was eight and I was beating everyone, so I got back home and started playing golf. I’ve been involved with EDGA for seven years and I’m loving it.

“You look at how good all the guys here on the European Tour are, I’m just enjoying it and I hope to play better than them this weekend. The course is amazing. I think I’ve fallen in love with Scotland. I don’t really have any predictions, I just hope to play some good golf. I’ll focus on winning.”

“The dream of every player on the European Tour is to play in Dubai at the end of the year, and we would love to go out there as well.”

The top four players from the two tournaments qualify for the returning EDGA Dubai Finale, held alongside the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – the final Rolex Series event of the year – at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Friday and Saturday (November 19-20).

Already qualified for the EDGA Dubai Finale are Brendan Lawlor, Tomasso Perrino, Felix Norrman and Mike Browne after their performances at the EDGA Cazoo Open and ISPS HANDA World Disability Invitational.

Scoring for the EDGA tournaments will feature on the European Tour’s website and App for fans to follow, while the tournament world feed broadcast will also feature updates across the weekend, with the winners also part of the main prize-giving ceremonies.

The first round of the EDGA Hero Open will begin at 15:40 on Saturday August 7.

Entry List – 2021 EDGA Hero Open and EDGA Cazoo Classic
Masato Koyamada (JPN)
Vincent Helly (FRA)
Chris Biggins (USA)
Kurtis Barkley (CAN)
Tero Tapani Peltola (FIN)
Petri Takuunan (FIN)
Adem Wahbi (BEL)
Kipp Poppert (ENG)

‘Golf for Good’ is the umbrella name for the European Tour’s overarching Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. It involves three main pillars:

Support for Worthy Causes: Which embraces all the charitable activity of the original 2020 Golf for Good initiative

Sustainability: Which embraces the Green Drive focus around our tournaments

Inclusivity and Health: Which embraces our Golfers with Disability and golf for all messaging, in addition to promoting the wider health benefits of the game

EDGA European Tour ScheduleEDGA Cazoo Open: The Celtic Manor Resort (July 24-25)

ISPS HANDA World Disability Invitational presented by Brendan Lawlor:

Massereene and Galgorm Castle (July 31 – August 1)

EDGA Hero Open:Fairmont St Andrews (August 7-8)

EDGA Cazoo Classic: London Golf Club (August 14-15)

EDGA Dubai Finale:  Jumeirah Golf Estates (November 19-20)