Golfer born with a rare disability plays in a European Tour event

Brendan Lawlor took two steps forward, and there was no stepping back now. “On the tee from Ireland,” the first tee announcer barked, “Brendan Lawlor.” He shoved his tee into the ground, took one final look down the fairway and let it rip. He stepped away before it landed. When it’s straight, you know you’ll find it. He stepped forward down the fairway.

This was a pro tournament, and Lawlor was a pro.

“Woke up this morning and felt very relaxed, and I said to Dad this week, it’s a week we’re going to enjoy,” he said afterward. “It’s something very different and I was very grateful to be here this week. First tee, there was nerves there, but I had a calm enough approach, hit a good drive down the middle.”

On Thursday, at the ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry in England, Lawler became the first professional disability golfer to play in a European Tour event. Some 23 years ago, he was born with a rare condition called Ellis-Van Creveld, a type of dwarfism characterized by a shorter stature and shorter limbs. Some 23 years later, he was playing on the European Tour. 

Lawler played well, too. He parred that first hole and the second. Birdied the third. From there, he struggled a bit and finished with a 12-over 84. He’ll be back Friday. 

“First three holes were good – I was 1-under after three, but then, unfortunately, it wasn’t good after that,” Lawler said on the ISPS Handa social media accounts. “I really, really enjoyed me day. It was fantastic.”

It was a long ways from grandpa’s garden. 

Lawler started playing when he was 4, about three years removed from a ninth-month hospital stay after his birth due to a hole in his heart. Grandpa would create small greens at his home. Lawler would hit to them, he wrote recently on the European Tour’s Player Blog.  

“It became an addiction for me,” he wrote. 

Lawler wrote that he didn’t take up golf “properly” until he was 15 because he “was never big enough or strong enough.” At 18, he was a 3-handicap. Today, he’s ranked fourth in the World Rankings for Golfers with Disability, a professional and sponsored. He’s represented by Modest Golf and backed by ISPS Handa, which gave him a sponsor’s invite to this week’s tournament, and TaylorMade. 

Lawler is 4-foot-11. He hits it about 260 yards off the tee. His driver and 3- and 5-woods are standard length. His irons are a half-inch shorter. His putter is 32 inches. His competitiveness is unmeasurable. He knows what players sometimes think while playing against him. 

“People walk up to the tee against me and think, ‘All right, handy match here’ and then they’re losing on 15 or 16 and they don’t know what’s happened,” he told Irish Golfer last year. 

Wait till they see him this week. 

He’ll step to the tee again Friday. He hopes, too, others follow in those steps. 

“The feedback we’ve been getting on social media this week has been incredible.” he said on the ISPS Handa social media accounts. “And that’s why I’m here this week. I’m just looking to change lives and looking to show people that anything’s possible and no barrier should affect you from what you want to do and that’s the role I lead here this week. 

“Anyone watching on, if you have the confidence to want to do it, go out and do it. And golf is a fantastic game for gaining friends and gaining confidence. Just out and enjoy it.”